The implications of red-tape barriers (RTBs) under lobbying pressures differ markedly from those traditional trade barriers. RTBs affect the extensive margin and may respond in opposite ways to reductions tariffs versus natural costs: former induce a protectionist backlash that reduce both at intensive margin, whereas latter reduction magnifying direct trade-increasing effects. Furthermore, if ...

In this paper we construct an information-theoretic model of architectural drawings. This model is then used to quantify and measure the complexities and similarities of drawings. The approach is applied within a linear qualitative shape representation but can be generalized to other types of representation. The descriptive and analytic power of the proposed methods are demonstrated by studying...

The low turnout at the 2001 general election heightened concerns about the state of representative democracy and political participation in the UK. Increasingly, the Internet and other Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been seen as offering a possible means of reinvigorating political organisations and institutions in the UK. Enthusiasts have suggested that such technologies ca...

RATIONALE Policymakers want health information technology (health IT) to support consumer engagement to help achieve national health goals. In this paper, we review the evidence to compare the rhetoric with the reality of current practice. CURRENT REALITY AND BARRIERS Our environmental scan shows that consumer demand exists for electronic access to personal health information, but that techni...

Solar energy in Malaysia was first introduced as one of the five fuels in electricity generation through the Fifth Fuel Policy in 2001. However, the current real harnessing of available solar sources is still below its actual potential. This study examined the non-technical barriers towards solar energy implementation in Sabah located on the Borneo Island on eastern part of Malaysia. Following ...

Women live within complex and differing social, economic, and environmental circumstances that influence options to seek health care. In this article we report on a metasynthesis of qualitative research concerning access disparities for women in the Canadian province of Ontario, where there is a publicly funded health care system. We took a metastudy approach to analysis of results from 35 rele...

introDuction An effective highway safety culture is an environment in which public and political attention is paid to motor vehicle injuries commensurate with the size of the problem, and there exists a balanced, evidence-based approach for reducing the problem, incorporating behavioral, environmental, and vehicle factors. There are barriers to achieving an effective safety culture, largely hav...

This paper reports on a secondary analysis of a previously completed case study that aimed to investigate knowledge sharing (KS) in Chinese hospitals. Specifically, the secondary analysis aims to identify, qualify and theorise external barriers that prevent and hinder patient-centred KS in healthcare organisations. The analysis revealed that healthcare KS is strongly influenced and hindered by ...

thought-based and wisdom-centered actions have always made different civilizations and cultures closer together. these actions need continuous and stable trends. remaining fixed in a changing world inflicts severe damages on the society and culture. in this regard, the dialogue among civilizations can open many new ways which were non-existent or hardly achievable in the past. meanwhile, the di...