Our purpose is to distinguish two theories that relate economic development and democracy and to examine some facts in light of these theories. While ultimately the interesting questions concern the mechanisms that mediate between economic development and the dynamics of political regimes, we must nevertheless identify the facts to be explained before plunging into explanations. Hence, we stick...

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We present results from an independent analysis of friction that more generally addresses all crystalline materials by an extension of coincident site lattice theory and dislocation drag. Calculations for graphitic friction are carried out and agree in magnitude with experimental friction forces. More interestingly, static, dynamic and anisotropic friction forces, incommensurability effects and...

Executive summary Dramatic forces of change are sweeping the banking industry. The age of the empowered customer is here, changing the way financial products are being created, delivered, sold and serviced by banks. Relationships with clients, partners and regulators are more complex than ever. The digital world has leveled the competitive environment and the inflexibility of a traditional bank...

In an 80-country panel since the 1960s, the convergence rate for per capita GDP is around 1.7% per year. This “beta convergence” is conditional on an array of explanatory variables that hold constant countries’ long-run characteristics. The introduction of country fixed effects generates a much higher—and, I argue, misleading—convergence rate. In a much longer time frame—28 countries since 1870...

    Over the past few decades, the family affected by the processes, and consequences of modernization has experienced profound changes in both objective-structural and semantic-subjective levels. The family has faced new issues, some of which represent progress and welfare, and some suggest traumatic social issues which reduce the pace of development in the society as hindering factors. Thus, ...

Objectives Analysis of the increased financial effort state related to intensification process developing country's defense potential, including in particular programming and financing development Polish Armed Forces. Methods Theoretical empirical scientific methods have been used this publication. The theoretical are analysis synthesis source documents comparative analysis. method was particip...

Many times, change in architecture is bolstered by circumstances beyond an individual’s control. Discussing the reforms to Santiago Municipal Theater building, from its inauguration 1857 until almost a century later, Germán Hidalgo recounts many forces that drive change: natural disasters, stylistic debates, urban modernization, among others. The foyer occupies central role this narrative, a...

Global fits to precision cosmological data which show that there is a dark energy component comprising about 2/3 of the total cosmological energy also hint that a dark energy with w = P/ρ < −1 is viable, even favored. Here we discuss implications of such a surprising w, including whether it jeopardizes vacuum stability. It appears to be secure in microscopic processes, but why bulk dark energy ...