(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-07-03)
Catalan, Pablo
For most of the one billion people living in extreme poverty worldwide, access to an adequate water supply and basic sanitation (WSS) is limited, resulting in substantial health, economic and social burdens. Although the international community has actively explored solutions to this crisis, primarily focusing on bottom-up approaches in which the beneficiaries participate in the design and implementation of their own WSS solutions, significant problems remain. Innovation presents an important source of feasible solutions in this sector for those in need, but insufficient study exists to allow scholars to determine the dynamics that trigger WSS innovation. In light of the recent emphasis on a bottom-up approach to water issues and the dearth of analysis with regard to the role WSS innovation plays in seeking solutions, the present dissertation sets out to explore innovation dynamics in relation to the establishment of rural Water Supply and Sanitation Community-Based (WSS-CB). The answer comes through an application of a qualitative methodology that focuses on the implementation of two publicly-run and sustainability-oriented programs - the Blue Flag Ecological Program (BFEP) and the Sanitarian Quality Seal Program (SQSP) - in three rural communities in Costa Rica. A theoretical model based on the conceptual frameworks of Systems of Innovation (SI), Community Based/Community Management (CB/CM), and the Institutional Analysis Development (IAD) theory is proposed, including two set of hypotheses addressing the contribution of two independent variables, the participation of the community and the capacity of the community, to local sustainability and local learning. The results show that the dynamics relating to leadership and a sense of ownership do, in fact, affect both dependent variables and further identify participation and interaction at decision-making and social venues as innovation drivers.
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007-04-09)
Catalan, Pablo
The study presents an analysis of the role of science and technological (S and T) policies in natural resource-based economies, focusing on the cases of Chile and Finland. The exploitation of natural resources has been identified by several authors as a limited-long-term factor that affects economic growth. Finland following a technology-intensive path has combined natural resource abundance (NRA) with high growth rates. On the other hand, Chile whose economy depends mainly on NRA industries such as mining and forestry has not attained the Finnish economic level in spite of the successful reforms undertaken during the last two decades. Using analytical tools I define the S and T contribution to national income per capita over the 1981-2000 period, and analyze the complementarity of the relationship between S and T expenditures and NRA in both countries. I explain the diverging S and T performances in lights of three factors: institutions, education, and decentralization