Recently there have been increasing instances of the return of the state as the central agent of development in resource-rich nations globally. Characterised by both a rhetorical and substantive commitment to increasing control over national resource revenues, this so-called new/neo-extractivism has attracted a debate concerning the extent to which it offers a viable alternative to the imperatives of neoliberal resource extraction. Using two examples, this paper analyses the ways in which the Ghanaian and Ecuadorean states discursively imagine such structural transformations. It highlights the value in analysing the politics of language for strengthening studies of neo-extractivism.
Despite a recent expansion in housing finance, Brazil still faces a severe housing shortage, especially among lower-income people, and it is important to examine the development, limitations and prospects of the country`s housing finance market. This paper investigates the recent evolution of that market in Brazil, focusing on whether the current expansion in mortgage lending is the result of institutional and economic improvements favoring economic stability and compliance with contractual obligations or is merely an effect of the higher level of housing loans imposed by the government on financial institutions. Different explanations are found for private and public institutions.
Abstract. Research and theoretical developments on the theory of cognitive dissonance are reviewed. After considering the self-consistency, self-affirmation, and aversive consequences revisions, the authors review research that has challenged each of the revisions and that supports the original version of the theory. Then, the authors review the action-based model of dissonance, which accepts the original theory's proposal that a sufficient cognitive inconsistency causes dissonance and extends the original theory by proposing why cognitive inconsistency prompts dissonance. Finally, the authors present results from experiments examining predictions derived from the action-based model and neural processes involved in dissonance reduction.
Participative management is still hard to sell in the post‐Soviet world with its 50‐year tradition of ruthless authoritiarianism, fear and mistrust. The authors heard repeatedly that what Western consultancies offered was often rejected outright because there are too few antecedents in the Central and Eastern European experience for people to find Western management techniques credible or culturally congruent. Consequently, an attempt is made to cull from 100 years of management theory "conceptual stepping stones" that could lead to the accommodation of the participative methods that have proved to be success‐ and profit‐producing. Recommendations are presented for a CEE‐specific manager development model.
The current research investigates the sustainability and its changing paradigm in rural development in Sindh. Data were collected from 400 respondent's five districts Nawabshah, Nausheroferoze, Matyari, Dadu, and Tando Allayer, by using simple random technique. Structural questionnaire was the basic tool for measuring the change. It was revealed that creation of institutions, such as, officials elected representatives at districts block and village level. Such decentralization of institutions have been to promote a participatory strategy for rural development at Micro/or village level. It was further revealed that To achieve sustainable development it is still seems to be an elusive one until there is a determined government effort to allow officials (RD) and non-official (PRIs) to work in harmony for the betterment and reduction in the number of rural poor.
Every nation, no doubt, is interested in development. But what sort of development, development at what cost, devel- opment for whom - are serious questions to be addressed. Given the situation in India today, one must look for a right paradigm of development. A lengthy analysis of the notion o f integral and health developmet is presented. Genuine development must be based on justice that ensures equal opportunities in education, job opportu- nities and realizing all other potentialities. It is clear that without justice authentic and integral development is impossible. The paper points out that it is not proper to always blame the Government for everything and the citizens of the nation should realize their respon- sibilities as well. Drawing insights from the recent writings of Pope Francis, like Laudato Si as well as Misericordiae Vultus, the paper finally seeks to propose a model for an integral and sustainable de- velopment that is suitable in India.
This special issue represents a contribution to the re-examination of contemporary African informality through an institutional analysis of the nature and impact of informal organization in various spheres of political and economic development. Focusing on the areas of health in Benin, state building in Somaliland, forest management in Ethiopia, water management in Ghana and international academic cooperation between African and German scholars, the articles assembled here examine the potential as well as the limitations of informal institutions in fostering progressive change in contemporary Africa. In addition to considering empirical issues regarding the role of African informal institutions in development, these articles also raise, implicitly or explicitly, conceptual issues about the adequacy of informal institutions as a tool for getting at the key developmental issues of contemporary Africa. The varied thrust of the articles reveal that these are ongoing debates, with some authors expressing doubts about whether informal institutions represent the most effective way of conceptualizing current problems of institutional development. Adapted from the source document.
The article shows that, studying the tasks of the development of state control, it is noted that the institution of public control is an integral element of the system of administrative law, since it is the norms of this branch of law that determine the order of its organization and functioning.
Purpose The purpose of this case study is to explore the principles and practices of sustainable development (SD) in the university curriculum.
Design/methodology/approach To explore the principles linked with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the learning and teaching practices in sustainability at the International University of Catalonia (Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, UIC, in Catalan), an empirical study was carried out by using a mixed methodology for data collection. Indicators related to SDGs found in the University curriculum (quantitative analysis) were measured using Excel, combined with in-depth semi-structured interviews to the deans of different faculties (qualitative study), which were analysed using Atlas.ti.
Findings Several visions, difficulties and challenges were identified in this mixed-method study around the concept of sustainability, which allowed the authors to describe and portray a specific starting position in relation to the SDGs at the UIC.
Research limitations/implications The presence of dimensions linked to the SDGs in the University curriculum were analysed by means of a quantitative study. However, global competences related to education for sustainable development were not studied.
Practical implications Special emphasis was given to the challenges and opportunities for training future graduates and the whole University community in SD.
Originality/value This paper shows a methodological exploration of the principles related to the SDGs and the learning and teaching practices in sustainability in higher education.
Abstract The United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) has become an important tool for measuring and comparing living standards between countries and regions. However, the HDI has also attracted a fair share of conceptual criticism. Starting from Andrea Wagner's historical estimations of a HDI for Germany in the interwar and early postwar period, we take up part of that criticism by implementing three essential modifications to the mode of calculation. We test how far they alter our picture of the relative living standard in the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the Federal Republic of Germany. First, we replace the arithmetic mean by the geometric mean, which is said to solve the problem of perfect substitutability; second, we extend the HDI by an additional fourth dimension measuring economic and political freedom – an important, though neglected, dimension; and third, as the perhaps most crucial conceptual intervention, we develop weighting schemes for the partial indices that are theoretically backed by happiness economic research. Thus, we challenge the common, but arbitrary fundamental assumption that all partial indices receive equal weights. Our results show that the HDI for Germany reacts very sensitively to conceptual interventions, making it difficult to use it for the intertemporal and international comparison of living standards. We also find that the proposed modified HDIs allow for a re-evaluation of the living standard in interwar Germany; and in contrast to what the reference estimations on the HDI for Germany say, there is a profound discontinuity between the Third Reich and post-war Germany in terms of living standards.
This report discusses the CDBG program, which administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the federal government's largest and most widely available source of financial assistance to support state and local government-directed neighborhood revitalization, housing rehabilitation, and economic development activities.
This updated edition of the influential Development Against Democracy is a critical guide to postwar studies of modernisation and development. In the mid-twentieth century, models of development studies were products of postwar American policy. They focused on newly independent states in the Global South, aiming to assure their pro-Western orientation by promoting economic growth, political reform and liberal democracy. However, this prevented real democracy and radical change. Today, projects of democracy have evolved in a radically different political environment that seems to have little in common with the postwar period. Development Against Democracy, however, testifies to a revealing continuity in foreign policy, including in justifications of 'humanitarian intervention' that echo those of counterinsurgency decades earlier in Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Irene L. Gendzier argues that the fundamental ideas on which theories of modernisation and development rest have been resurrected in contemporary policy and its theories, representing the continuity of postwar US foreign policy in a world permanently altered by globalisation and its multiple discontents, the proliferation of 'failed states,' the unprecedented exodus of refugees, and Washington's declaration of a permanent war against terrorism.
This special issue is based on a seminar held at the Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization (IDE‐JETRO) in 2017, focusing on human capital. In a panel discussion at the seminar, the audience and speakers posed questions and offered comments. Below are the interactions summarized according to three major topics covered in this discussion, that is, China's human capital, cluster‐based industrial development, and urban development.
Major U.S. cigarette companies for decades conducted research and development regarding cigarette ignition propensity which has continued beyond fire safety standards for cigarettes that have recently been legislated. This paper describes recent scientific advances and technological development based on a comprehensive review of the physical, chemical, and engineering sciences, public health, and trade literature, U.S. and international patents, and research in the tobacco industry document libraries.
This article examines the relationship among a country's democratic experience, its level of economic development, and the prevalence of clientelistic and programmatic modes of democratic accountability. In contrast to the commonly accepted wisdom that clientelistic politics will decrease monotonically as a country's economy develops and its democracy consolidates, the authors argue theoretically and demonstrate empirically that clientelism tends in fact to increase as a country moves from low to intermediate levels of democracy and development. They also uncover preliminary evidence that a history of regime instability may have independent consequences on the prevalence of one or the other linkage mechanism. Finally, the results suggest that a country's level of economic development and exposure to the international economy are more consistent predictors of programmatic effort and coherence than are measures of a country's regime type. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright holder.]
