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Considers the implications of the fragmentation trend in higher education institutions that will target particular constituencies, suggesting that information technology will soon make it possible to deliver knowledge & education to disparate communities by learning businesses. Contrary to many commentators, it is argued that the introduction of market relations into higher education is not to be feared. Rather, these market relations should be understood as catering to a post-baby boom generation of US information workers who are in need of continuous learning opportunities. In this context, fragmentation is to be welcomed because it promises to create a broader variety of higher education institutions that can serve different populations. Individuals horrified by this prospect ought to give up their traditional elitism & recognize that vocational training is needed by large segments of the population. D. Ryfe

This article examines whether greater fragmentation in local government improves efficiency. Tiebout (1956) "exiting" is the general theoretical underpinning for the belief that fragmentation should improve efficiency. The article argues that previous evidence for the greater efficiency of fragmented government is weak because the complex nature of many local government systems is not consistent with the institutional structures supposed in the models and does not allow for simple testing. Using evidence from England where institutional structures more closely resemble those in the Tiebout model, efficiency is analyzed both at the jurisdictional and metropolitan level in a straightforward manner. No evidence for the supposed positive effects of fragmentation is found. Voice mechanisms may explain why fiscal mobility does not lead to efficiency in the fragmented system of metropolitan England.

This article examines whether greater fragmentation in local government improves efficiency. Tiebout (1956) "exiting" is the general theoretical underpinning for the belief that fragmentation should improve efficiency. The article argues that previous evidence for the greater efficiency of fragmented government is weak because the complex nature of many local government systems is not consistent with the institutional structures supposed in the models and does not allow for simple testing. Using evidence from England where institutional structures more closely resemble those in the Tiebout model, efficiency is analyzed both at the jurisdictional and metropolitan level in a straightforward manner. No evidence for the supposed positive effects of fragmentation is found. Voice mechanisms may explain why fiscal mobility does not lead to efficiency in the fragmented system of metropolitan England.

The scholarly debate over the rival merits of local government consolidation and fragmentation is an old but enduring one. However, in this debate very little attention has been focused on the political dimension of council amalgamation and fragmentation – yet political considerations play a central role in both the formulation and outcomes of de-concentration policy. The purpose of this article is to fill a gap in the literature by examining local government fragmentation in Ghana from 1988 to 2014. The article does this by identifying the key players and analysing their interests and gains, as well as the tensions arising from the fragmentation exercise. The implications from the Ghanaian case for more general theories of fragmentation are drawn out.

The concept of segmentation is mainly used to describe division in the labor market and the formation of primary and secondary markets, or division within the firm into a core and a peripheral labor force. This theoretical formulation that focuses on employment terms and conditions, although valid at a general level, becomes inadequate once the researcher observes closely actual workplace conditions. I argue that there is a multiplicity of segmentation factors and levels, social as well as work‐related, which produce identifications and differentiations and social cleavages, which reflect and sustain differentials of power resulting in labor force fragmentation. Gender, ethnicity, and age may combine with skills and occupational positions leading into the construction of formal and informal hierarchies. Drawing on data from Cyprus, this article illustrates the basic institutional, economic, cultural, and social factors producing labor force fragmentation contributing to the relevant literature with new empirical findings.

Fragmentation is a potential problem in an international legal system that has seen the creation of new courts and tribunals around the world, with the chance for different judicial approaches to develop in different courts. This book addresses this issue by analyzing judicial practice in three areas: genocide, immunities, and the use of force

It is argued that fragmented & decentralized policy-making structures can generate major policy innovation as well as can centralized structures. The fragmented committee structure of the US Congress is shown to facilitate innovation in the example of federal water pollution control legislation. Thorough consideration of four dimensions of costs & benefits strengthens the case for disjointed innovation, since it "promotes entrepreneurship, encourages competition, minimizes the costs of change, & promotes legitimacy $...." HA.

The present study tests the assumption that size affects party system fragmentation. Three dependent variables are used: the number of parties, the electoral support for the leading party, and the effective number of parties. The study operates on two levels. On the macro level, the research population consists of 77 countries with free party systems. On the micro level, local units in Great Britain and Finland constitute the object of research. The impact of the following intervening variables is controlled for: the effective threshold, presidentialism, socioeconomic diversification, and ethnic and religious diversity. On the macro level, the results show that size contains far more explanatory power than any other variable. This holds true for countries using a plurality electoral system as well as those using a proportional electoral system. On the micro level, there is a strong association between the size of the population and the number of parties, whereas the other dependent variables are insensitive to variations in size.

The present study tests the assumption that size affects party system fragmentation. Three dependent variables are used: the number of parties, the electoral support for the leading party, & the effective number of parties. The study operates on two levels. On the macrolevel, the research population consists of 77 countries with free party systems. On the microlevel, local units in GB & Finland constitute the object of research. The impact of the following intervening variables is controlled for: the effective threshold, presidentialism, socioeconomic diversification, & ethnic & religious diversity. On the macrolevel, the results show that size contains far more explanatory power than any other variable. This holds true for countries using a plurality electoral system as well as those using a proportional electoral system. On the microlevel, there is a strong association between the size of the population & the number of parties, whereas the other dependent variables are insensitive to variations in size. 5 Tables, 2 Appendixes, 28 References. Adapted from the source document.

Italy's political economy is characterized by international weakness and internal fragmentation and polarization. Since 1947, Italy's foreign economic policies have been defined by a broadly-based political and social coalition dominated by the Christian Democratic party (DC). This coalition has incorporated or maintained close links with ministerial bureaucracies, the Bank of Italy, state-controlled industrial and commercial enterprises, large corporations, and Catholic trade unions. It has attempted to foster a postwar climate receptive to business interests and to foreign investment; one which would facilitate the maintenance of a stable domestic political and social order. At the same time, the DC coalition is so fragmented by factionalism and personal competition that economic policy making has lacked direction and has been marked by personalism and by improvisation. Italian policy makers operate in a precarious environment in that they must use political and economic weaknessin order to mobilize the international assistance needed to maintain the internal social order as well as external economic survival.

This paper focuses on the entangled relationship of smell, affect, and environmental contamination. I show how olfactory memory mediates the relationship between breathing and the uneven distribution of respiratory risks from polluted air. To do so, I examine Cesar Majorana's work "The Syntax of Smell," which is performed in the context of an open laboratory. During the performance, Majorana engages with the audience, creating a scent based on their stories, bringing attention to the connections between their memories, their perception of artificiality, and pollution. This paper is divided into two sections focusing on syntactic fragmentation and scentimentality respectively. In the first section, I illustrate how "The Syntax of Smell" manifests both as the concepts of breathing and olfactory aesthetics. I demonstrate how the performance paradoxically criticises and utilizes bio- and necropolitical forces of smell production. In the second section, I explore the affective qualities of olfactory entanglements by zooming in on the relationship between affective responses and toxicity in relation to Michael Eigen's concept of toxic nourishment as well as cognitive dissonance. Lastly, building on social psychological research, I show that the performance's olfactory memory-triggering qualities might contribute to its effectiveness in increasing awareness of air pollution.

"Avec la conjonction de la crise financière, d'alarmes croissantes concernant le changement climatique, de la misère persistante dans de nombreux pays, le débat sur la mondialisation se déploie désormais sur fond de questions plus radicales à propos de l'avenir même des capitalismes. Le libéralisme économique et politique ne semble plus être le mieux placé pour résoudre ces problèmes. La mondialisation actuelle a certes de nombreux précédents, mais elle est singulière. Elle est la combinaison de quatre " globalisations ": globalisation des firmes, de la finance, du numérique, de la nature. Elle se définit également par une mise en compétition généralisée par les firmes globales de l'ensemble des territoires, mais aussi par une mise en compétition des firmes globales par les investisseurs institutionnels via la finance de marché. Ce processus aggrave certaines inégalités et en réduit spectaculairement d'autres. Il favorise les émergences rapides, mais provoque des fragmentations. Dans ce contexte, quels sont les scénarios pour l'avenir ? Les acteurs économiques sont-ils tous appelés à devenir nomades pour rester compétitifs ? Les Etats ont-ils encore un rôle " régulateur " à jouer ? Quel est l'avenir des pays " occidentaux " et celui des régions du monde qui sont encore laissées pour compte ? Sans désespérer du futur, Pierre-Noël Giraud apporte des réponses lucides et argumentées à ces questions en levant quelques idées reçues" [source : 4e de couv.]

International audience ; This article supports, on the one hand, that the invention of capitalism and the generalization of the market were born in Europe because the European territory was fragmented and good for polycentrism (1). The invention of market illustrates the theory of institutional competition. It argues, on other hand, that the geography and the European polycentrism do not explain all. Europe also discovered the good institutions for the development because it was unified between V° and X° century by the Christian religion. This religion was good to the recognition of the freedom ethics which is the cultural condition to the identification of the market institution (2). ; Cet article soutient que l'invention du capitalisme et la généralisation du marché sont nés en Europe parce que le territoire européen était fragmenté et favorable au polycentrisme et à la concurrence institutionnelle (1), mais aussi parce que l'Europe avait été unifié entre le V° et X° siècle par la religion chrétienne qui portait un rapport au monde favorable à la reconnaissance de l'éthique de la liberté qui est ici pensée comme la condition idéologique nécessaire au développement économique d'une nation (2).

International audience ; This article supports, on the one hand, that the invention of capitalism and the generalization of the market were born in Europe because the European territory was fragmented and good for polycentrism (1). The invention of market illustrates the theory of institutional competition. It argues, on other hand, that the geography and the European polycentrism do not explain all. Europe also discovered the good institutions for the development because it was unified between V° and X° century by the Christian religion. This religion was good to the recognition of the freedom ethics which is the cultural condition to the identification of the market institution (2). ; Cet article soutient que l'invention du capitalisme et la généralisation du marché sont nés en Europe parce que le territoire européen était fragmenté et favorable au polycentrisme et à la concurrence institutionnelle (1), mais aussi parce que l'Europe avait été unifié entre le V° et X° siècle par la religion chrétienne qui portait un rapport au monde favorable à la reconnaissance de l'éthique de la liberté qui est ici pensée comme la condition idéologique nécessaire au développement économique d'une nation (2).