A business incubating unit to sustain technology transfer: Vyas’s Dilemma

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Baljeet Singh ◽  
Kushankur Dey
Keyword(s):  
Technology Transfer ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Indian Council ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Innovation Project ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The University

Learning outcomes: The paper aims to understand the process of transfer of agricultural technology, which comprises incubation of the technology business, valuation, evaluation, licensing and commercialization, to examine various dimensions of the process of technology transfer and the effectiveness of transfer object use criteria, to explore ways of sustaining incubation and commercialization through an autonomous unit responsible for technology transfer, to peruse the role of agribusiness incubators in creating an effective agri-entrepreneurship eco-system and to study the factors that promote or inhibit the sustainability of business incubators in an academic or research institution setting. Case overview/synopsis: An innovative technology for production of liquid bio-fertilizers was developed and nurtured to market levels by Anand Agricultural University (AAU), a State Agricultural University in Gujarat. The technology for production of liquid bio-fertilizers, developed during 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 was licensed to some of the state public and private sector undertakings under the World Bank-financed National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) implemented through Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). For commercializing the technologies from the University, a Business Planning and Development (BPD) Unit was set up at AAU along the lines of a technology transfer office, under the aegis of NAIP during later part of 2009. The NAIP funding from World Bank for BPD Units ceased in June 2014 with closure of the project. With funding no more available, Rajababu V. Vyas, a research scientist at the Microbiology and Bio-fertilizer Department of the University and Head of the BPD Unit, had serious concerns about the BPD unit’s sustainability, as well as sustaining the process of technology transfer from the University. Complexity academic level: Anand Agricultural University (AAU), a state-run university in Gujarat, developed and incubated a technology to produce liquid biofertilizer, licensed the technology and marketed its product through a few state-run and private fertilizer firms. The technology was developed between 2009/2010 and 2013/2014 as part of the National Agricultural Innovation Project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research with funds from the World Bank. A unit to incubate agri-businesses, referred to as Business Planning and Development Unit (BPDU), was set up in late 2009 to expedite the process of technology transfer from AAU to agribusiness firms. Rajababu V. Vyas, a research scientist at the Microbiology and Bio-fertilizer Department of the university, was concerned about the unit’s sustainability, because funding from the World Bank had ceased from June 2014, and wondered how to sustain the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the field in the light of the data available to him. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code Entrepreneurship

The IMF, its mandate and influence in prevention of financial sector abuse

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 987-1011
Author(s):  
Norman Mugarura
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Secondary Data Sources ◽  
Work Done ◽  
The Imf

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to articulate the mandate of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not least in promoting a sound legal regulatory environment for markets to operate globally and its inherent challenges. While acknowledging the plausible work done by the IMF in supporting countries to achieve their macro-economic stability, the paper articulates some of its shortcomings as a global institution. It is evident that the post-war climate in which the World Bank and IMF were created has drastically changed – which presupposes that these institutions now need to reposition themselves to reflect on contemporary global challenges accordingly. The author has argued in the past that a robust regulatory system should be devised taking into account the dynamic challenges in the market environment but also to prevent them from happening again. Design/methodology/approach The paper has utilized empirical evidence to evaluate the mandate of the IMF in addressing its dynamic challenges such as the global financial and debt crises in Europe and the USA and prevention of financial sector abuse globally. The IMF is one of the Bretton Woods Institutions charged with the oversight responsibility to enforce policies and enable countries to manage their macro-economic challenges efficiently. Findings The findings demonstrate that the IMF is as relevant and important as it was when it was created in 1945. However, there is a need for intrinsic and structural changes within this institution to continue discharging its mandate in a changed global regulatory landscape. The IMF is still crucial in fostering a fundamental stabilization function to fragile global economies in areas of financial and technical assistance, and developing requisite legal and supervisory infrastructure within fledging member countries. Research limitations/implications The paper was written by analysis of both theoretical and empirical data largely based on secondary data sources. It would have been better to first present the findings in an international conference to solicit wide views and internalize them accordingly. Practical implications While acknowledging the plausible work done by the IMF and its counterpart the World Bank in facilitating global financial markets regulation and prevention of financial sector abuse, as oversight institutions, they need to constantly review their mandate to respond robustly to their dynamic challenges such as the global and debt crises and financial sector abuse. Oversight institutions need to constantly review and adapt their mandate accordingly, if they are to discharge their varied responsibilities efficiently. They cannot stand still in the face of challenges because they will be superseded and kept at a back foot. Social implications Markets and states are embedded in each other, and the way they are regulated is of a significant importance to varied stakeholders and people. Originality/value This paper is one of its kind, is unique in its character and evaluates embedded issues using empirical evidence in a way not done in its context before. Secondary data sources have been evaluated to achieve a thoughtful analysis of the objectives of the paper.

Major obstacles facing business enterprises in an emerging economy: the case of Ghana using the World Bank Enterprise Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-487
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Mohammed ◽  
Alhassan Bunyaminu
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Emerging Economy ◽  
Probit Regression ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Business Enterprises ◽  
World Bank Enterprise Survey ◽  
Enterprise Survey

PurposeThis paper aims at identifying the major obstacles to business enterprise in an emerging economy and how these obstacles are associated with different characteristics of the enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThe study relied on the World Bank Enterprise Survey data on Ghana and applied binary and ordinal probit regression techniques to estimate the associations between the characteristics of the enterprises and the identified obstacles. Significance testing of the associations is also conducted.FindingsThe five main obstacles perceived by most of the enterprises in the study are access to finance, electricity, access to land, customs and trade regulations and tax rates. These obstacles are associated in different ways to growth rate (high vs low growth), scale (small and medium vs large), age, size of employees, the experience of the top manager and ownership (wholly domestic vs foreign ownership).Research limitations/implicationsAs a cross-sectional study focusing on Ghana, the findings are informative about the major obstacles facing business enterprises in an emerging economy; however, the ecological validity of these findings may be limited to factors specific to Ghana.Originality/valueGiven the representativeness of the Enterprise Survey, policymakers can rely on these findings to formulate useful policies to promote the operations of business enterprises.

East and West will divide over new Bosnian viceroy

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
East And West ◽  
Dayton Agreement ◽  
Negative Behaviour ◽  
Roll Out ◽  
The Eu

Significance The summit’s avowed aim was to renew the EU-US ‘Transatlantic partnership’, including committing to upholding the international rules-based order built around the UN. It called for cooperation with Russia in areas of common interest despite its repeated “negative behaviour”. Such strains include Russia’s opposition to appointing a new high representative for Bosnia. Impacts Vucic’s call for regular reports from the high representative recognises his legitimacy while asserting Serbian interest in BiH. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic’s support for the 1995 Dayton agreement weakens outside backing for Bosnian Croat separatism. The World Bank has left its growth forecast for BiH unchanged from January, provided vaccine roll-out accelerates.

Cognitive abilities and income: preliminary evidence from a developing country

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raufhon Salahodjaev ◽  
Ziyodakhon Malikova
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Standard Deviation Increase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Unconditional Model ◽  
The World

Purpose Related literature finds that human capital proxied by cognitive abilities is an important antecedent of numerous specific life outcomes. The purpose of this study is to extend existing evidence by investigating the link between cognitive skills and income in Tajikistan. Tajikistan is a landlocked low-income country situated in Central Asia. Its population is 9.1 million people and gross domestic product per capita of US$822. According to the World Bank, Tajikistan has made significant progress in decreasing poverty levels from 83% in 2000 to 29.5% in 2017. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study comes from the 2013 Jobs, Skills and Migration Survey conducted by the World Bank and the German Society for International Cooperation. The main explanatory variable of the study is the cognitive abilities index of the respondents. The survey used item response theory (IRT) approach to estimate the ability of respondents. IRT is a method or a set of statistical frameworks, used to explore assessment item data, such as cognitive abilities assessment data. The wage function was estimated using the ordinary least squares method because the results are easier to interpret (Jencks, 1979; Bowles et al., 2001; Groves, 2006). Findings The baseline results are reported in Table 2. The results in Column 1 demonstrated the link between cognitive abilities and income without control variables (unconditional model). As expected, cognitive abilities are positively and significantly related to income (a1 = 0.0715, p < 0.01). The results from the unconditional model suggest that one standard deviation increase in cognitive abilities is associated with a nearly 17% increase in income. Research limitations/implications However, the study has a number of limitations. First, the dependent variable measures the overall income of the respondent, which includes the profit from other businesses. The survey does not provide data on monthly wages of respondents. Second, the sample may not perfectly represent the overall population of Tajikistan. To partially resolve this issue, this paper re-estimated out results for various sub-samples. Another important limitation of this study is the lack of respondent’s family background, which is an important correlate of human capital and income. Practical implications The results in the study offer preliminary evidence on the link between cognitive abilities and income in Tajikistan. However, the results of the study also suggest that both measures of human capital are positively related to income. Therefore, policymakers in Tajikistan should invest greater resources to health care, education and training programs as cognitive skills can be built in particular in the early stages of the life cycle. Indeed, Tajikistan has a significant potential for economic growth model driven by human capital. According to the World Bank, the adult literacy rate in Tajikistan is 100%, which is significantly above of what is observed in other developing countries. This may imply that the human potential in this country is considerable, and further investment in soft and hard skills would have a positive impact on economic growth. Originality/value This paper offers new evidence on the link between cognitive abilities and income, using data from Tajikistan. First, this paper finds that cognitive abilities are positively and significantly correlated with income. Second, this paper finds that this link remains robust even when this paper control for a large set of personal and job-related characteristics. The results from the unconditional model suggest that one standard deviation increase in cognitive abilities is associated with nearly a 17% increase in income.

Global reduction in 'unbanked' numbers to gather pace

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Financial Access ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Credit Creation ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Reduction

Subject Progress in the reduction of the number of unbanked people. Significance The World Bank has set an ambitious goal of universal financial access for everyone by 2020. The latest statistics show that many countries are making significant progress towards this goal. Some technological measures that increase access to financial services may increase transparency, stemming corruption and curtailing money laundering. However, by making it easier to spot corruption, these measures may boomerang, leading to the withdrawal of some institutions, particularly international ones, from problematic markets. Impacts Lack of access to financial services will remain a global problem that traps individuals in cycles of poverty. The World Bank encourages people to use bank accounts; having one in name only has little positive impact. Countries that mistake credit creation for improving financial access risk exacerbating financial and economic instability.

Economic gloom portends instability in Zimbabwe

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regional Market ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
South African Rand

Significance Mawarire is the founder of the 'This Flag' movement, which has been a driving force behind a wave of demonstrations and strikes earlier this month against graft, unemployment and economic mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe's government. Impacts Import bans will adversely affect South African exporters, for whom Zimbabwe is a key regional market. Use of the South African rand in Zimbabwe will remain unpopular, due to concerns about its weakness against the dollar. The government will prioritise cash for paying the salaries of the security forces, since these underpin the regime's survival. Loans from the African Export-Import Bank will help Harare to begin paying the World Bank some of its arrears.

Sharing globalisation gains would encourage free trade

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Global Trade ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Ethnic Factors ◽  
The Imf

Subject The October annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank devoted attention to ailing (or even failing) globalisation. Significance Global trade growth has slowed recently, and although much of this slowdown has been due to structural factors, greater protectionism has also played a part. These factors will persist and the world will gradually adjust to a 'new normal' for global trade. The IMF, along with other multilateral agencies such as the OECD, are studying rising inequality and other factors thought to be driving the protectionist trend in order to consider ways in which gains from trade can be shared more equally in coming years. Impacts Globalisation benefits have been uneven but the benefits of moving to less free trade are likely to be no more equal. Setting policy to reinvigorate trade requires not only economic incentives to be considered, but also social, regional and ethnic factors. Technology will continue to lower transportation and communication costs, putting pressure on labour markets; robotics will add to this.

Waste management is key to sustainable global growth

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Urban Waste ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Informal Workers ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Point Of Purchase ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Global Growth

Subject Global waste management. Significance The World Bank estimates that by 2025 cities will be creating 2.2 billion tonnes of solid waste annually, nearly double the 1.3 billion tonnes produced in 2012. Systems to manage vast quantities of urban waste already account for more than 20% of many cities' budgets, and this will rise. Yet despite the cost, the profile of waste management lags other utilities, hampering the ability to attract political attention and financing to build, improve and maintain effective systems. Impacts Manufacturers and product designers will increasingly be tasked with preventing the creation of waste, not merely reducing its footprint. Integrating waste and resource management into the education curricula will foster generational behaviour change. Waste-pickers collect, sort and recycle up to 20% of developing countries waste; policies will increasingly support informal workers. Fee structures to manage waste will move to point-of-purchase rather than using municipal taxes to raise fees at the point-of-collection.

Nigeria’s infrastructure backlog could worsen

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Internal Migration ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Capital Projects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Additional Funding ◽  
Alternative Sources

Subject Infrastructure shortfalls. Significance Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun stated on December 11 that Nigeria will release an additional 750 billion naira (2.1 billion dollars) to federal ministries and agencies for implementation of capital projects. Adeosun has previously said the country must explore alternative sources of financing in the short term to deliver critical road, rail and power infrastructural projects. However, there are concerns about whether additional funding will lead to the delivery of such projects; the World Bank recently said that 50 infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) projects have not met their objectives because they were hastily designed. Impacts Slow-burning conflict between farmers and herdsmen will cause more internal migration to cities, further straining infrastructure. Major infrastructure gaps will be worst in states such as Lagos and Abia, which are struggling to cope with new migrants and residents. Persistent corruption and a 'kickback' culture will result in higher infrastructure delivery and maintenance costs.

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