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Why do some local governments privatize water services, while others opt for public management? Economic literature has been unable to demonstrate that private management is more efficient than public management, so there must be other reasons that lead governments to privatize the service. But what are they? This paper presents the results of a study that analyses the factors behind the privatization of water services with data from 741 municipalities located in the South of Spain over a period dating from 1985 to 2006. A discrete choice model analyses the influence of each factor on the likelihood of privatization. One of the novelties of this paper is that we take the value of the explanatory variables at the time when water services are privatized. Among our findings, it is worth highlighting the importance of the size of municipalities, their financial burden and the neighbouring effect. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of this work is to contrast the arguments put forward at two international forums -- the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN & the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- concerning access & exchange of agricultural germ plasma samples, with the aim of portraying the social actors involved & the interests they each promote. Taking these considerations as a starting point, the authors dwell on the meanings related with capital consolidation, trade regulation, governability of the nation-state system, & the role of universities in the context of the commercialization process & innovation of agricultural genes. The ideological discourse on the international development of markets is the driving force in negotiations; it has imposed homogeneous protocols on nation-states to operate global-market oriented goods. As a result, a radical shift in production forms has taken place in the rural culture, the arrangement of agricultural spaces, & the scopes of education & research institutions. 34 References. Adapted from the source document.

The results of an immigrant student census in a port-of-entry school district are used to describe the educational backgrounds of Mexican immigrant students and to distinguish types of Mexican immigrant students by school entry patterns. Interviews with recently arrived Mexican immigrant parents reveal the educational and occupational expectations they hold for their children in the U.S. The study findings are used as a basis for raising policy questions and generating research issues.

This paper studies the influence of ideology and political motives on the choice of management for urban water services. Our contribution is two-fold. Firstly, we use a considerably more detailed set of variables to represent ideological and political motives than previous research. Secondly, the variables that explain local politicians' decisions are observed at the time decision-making occurs, rather than at a later date. Beyond pragmatic reasons, we find that ideological and political motives also matter when explaining decisions regarding the management of water services. Furthermore, considering the time dimension of decision-making noticeably improves the explanatory power of our model. Adapted from the source document.

The Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla share a series of territorial, legal, economic and demographic characteristics, including a border with Morocco and a more limited form of autonomous government than the regions in areas such as education, health and employment, in which the Spanish state retains competence. Research on the social realities of life in Ceuta and Melilla is quite limited, as the cities are frequently overlooked in studies that deal with the autonomous regions or treated as a single unit. This article examines the social situation in both cities and the actions and decisions of the different administrations in each case. The study is divided into two sections: the first deals with the 2008 financial crisis, while the second focuses on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The methodology combines statistical analysis of social indicators with the opinions of professionals, collected through interviews and focus groups. The results reveal significant differences between the cities, including different levels of social spending during both periods of crisis. The results also show an increased level of social risk in both instances as a consequence of the recent global health emergency. ; Ceuta y Melilla son dos ciudades autónomas españolas que comparten una serie de características territoriales, jurídicas, económicas y demográficas. En ambos casos se trata de contextos fronterizos con Marruecos. Asimismo, ostentan un estatus de ciudad autónoma, si bien con limitadas potestades legislativas respecto a las comunidades autónomas, en varios ámbitos (Educación, Sanidad o Empleo), dependiendo en ellos del Estado para cubrir las necesidades de los ciudadanos de ambas ciudades, donde la diversidad cultural es otra de sus peculiaridades. Dadas las características de dichas ciudades autónomas su realidad social es bastante desconocida, ya que se omiten en un gran número de estudios autonómicos o bien se ofrecen sus datos de forma conjunta. Con el fin de llenar este vacío, este trabajo ofrece una ...