Nurturing the Seeds of Sustainability Education: Information Regime in Brazilian Public HEI

We are currently living the Anthropocene, a period in which humans have generated impacts on nature that corresponds to a geological force capable of modifying the planet’s biophysical parameters, affecting its sustainability. Knowledge is a condition for emancipation, and citizens endowed with sustainability knowledge will be able to influence political decisions and the society. Currently, the universities are expected to provide tools for understanding environmental issues from a more holistic perspective, rather than relying on traditional reductionist approaches. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the Brazilian Federal Technological Scientific Professional Education Network’s (RFEPCT) commitment to relevant environmental issues raised by the Anthropocene. Additionally, the ‘information regime’ approach was selected to identify factors that may contribute or influence its composition and the information-power relationships. The results show that the RFEPCT members’ actions are carried out in isolation, needing an element that integrates information and effectively articulates their social networks. The managerial priority was mostly motivated by economic issues or by public regulation and requirements. This study presents an original and unique Mapping on RFEPCT Information Regime elements and offers a HEI Environmental Agenda as a contribution.

The Inside Information Regime of the MAR andthe Rise of the ESG Era

The rise in ESG investing has been characterized as an “investor revolution” and a manifestation of “social change”. The current coronavirus pandemic will arguably intensify the impact of such social change, with the “S” and “G” components of ESG, in particular, having been brought into sharper focus during the crisis. The issue of the extent to which ESG factors are (currently) of considerable importance – and, in particular, are likely to become even more so in the future – for the performance of share prices remains a highly controversial one in financial economics. However, where an empirically substantiated impact of ESG-related information on the prices of financial instruments can be shown, the question of whether such information is also of relevance to the inside information regime of the Market Abuse Regulation (“MAR”) arises and must be answered. This article explores the potential impact of ESG-related information and an increase in ESG-compliant investments on the prohibition on insider dealing and the obligation to publicly disclose inside information. We believe that the ESG preferences of a critical mass of real-life investors and, as a corollary, ESG-related information, are and will continue to be of great importance to the inside information regime. However, the intense debate regarding the precise depiction of the ‘reasonable investor’ within the meaning of Art. 7 MAR indicates that the relevance of ESG-related information to the inside information regime of the MAR is by no means clear. In light of these uncertainties, and given its efforts to promote sustainable finance, the EU legislature would be well advised to further specify the concept of inside information with a particular focus on ESG-related information.

Capturing Institutional Change

Institutions are norms that undergird organizations and are reflected in laws and practices. Scholars point towards the ‘stickiness’ of institutions as stubbornly persisting on the historical landscape. As institutions tend to persist, the related political, administrative, and social processes persist as well. Therefore, it is puzzling when perpetuating institutions change paths. This book unravels one such puzzle by examining the process of institutional change through the lenses of transformation in the ‘information regime’ in India by tracing the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. Historically, in India, the norm of secrecy was entrenched within the state, perpetuating since colonial times. Yet, in 2005, the RTI Act was enacted heralding an institutional shift from the norm of ‘secrecy’ to the new norm of ‘openness’. What explains this institutional change? Based on new historical evidence overlooked in the mainstream literature, this book shows that the RTI Act was path-dependent on ideas of openness that emerged within the state since Independence. It argues that an endogenous policy discourse on enacting legislation on access to information had begun since Independence; it incrementally evolved and reached a ‘tipping point’ and, after surviving many political challenges, resulted in institutional change. Initially these ideas emerged gradually and incrementally as part of opposition politics, but eventually became part of mainstream politics. The book presents an alternate perspective to the mainstream narrative explaining the evolution of the RTI Act and makes theoretical contribution to the literature on institutional change.

SIMULATION OF PARASITIC TUNNEL CURRENTS IN FLASH-MEMORY ELEMENTS BASED ON SHORT-CHANNEL MOS-TRANSISTORS

Simulation of parasitic currents in Flash-memory cells based on short-channel MOSFET. In present paper the distributions of parasitic tunneling current as well as mean electron energy and mobility along the channel are calculated for short-channel MOSFETs by using Monte Carlo simulation of electron drift in such devices. The effect of drain bias in Flash-memory cells on these distributions is investigated for reading information regime. It is shown that the value of parasitic current is very small at considered conditions. But long storage can be change the charge in a floating gate of short-channel MOSFETs.

Circularity in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. Comparison of a Manufacturer’s Danish and Norwegian Operations

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as a reverse supply chain (RSC) has a low degree of circularity, mainly focusing on recovering or recycling. Targets to increase the circularity have recently been introduced in the EU WEEE directive. In this case study, we have investigated how WEEE is handled within an electric and electronic (EE) equipment manufacturer. The case study includes findings from two different Nordic countries, Norway and Denmark, with interviews of six stakeholders. The case study shows that there are significant differences in how the case company fulfills its extended producer responsibility (EPR), especially related to reporting. The study also found that there is a mismatch between the ambitions in the WEEE directive and a company’s approach related to circularity in the end-of-life phase of an EE product. Based on the results of this case study and from the literature we propose recommendations on alignment with other directives and on a common information regime within the WEEE RSC.