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Existing literature on relationship between financial development (FD) and economic growth (EG) has presented dichotomous observations: a linear relationship by many of the studies and yet an inverted U-shaped relationship observed by number of renowned researchers. Most of the studies used narrow measures like credit to GDP growth ratio for measurement of financial development. Moreover, many of the researches have taken only the post-Global Financial Crisis data or neglected the data pre-1990s and most of the researches related to developing countries are on single-country data. Therefore, this relationship requires re-estimation to arrive at some conclusive results. This paper explores the relationship between financial development and economic for both developed and developing countries based on broader measures of financial development (financial access, financial depth, and financial efficiency). Panel Corrected Standard Error regression model is used to evaluate the relationship for 23 developed and 35 developing countries. Our results observe contrasting facts for developed and developing countries. For developed countries, we observed an inverted U-shaped relationship between FD and EG. The contributing sub-components of FD are financial depth and efficiency. However, financial access is observed to have a U-shaped relationship. However, for developing countries, we don't observe an inverted U-shaped relationship but linear relationship between FD and EG. The contributing sub-components are financial depth and financial efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner abuse (IPA) is widespread, and denial, minimization, justifying, and blaming (DMJB) are common among people who have committed IPA. Views on the function of DMJB in IPA are mixed, often based on the theoretical standpoint of the authors. This systematic review brings together the knowledge of how distorted accounts operate in IPA committed by men. A systematic review of primary research related to DMJB in heterosexual men who have committed to IPA was conducted. In all, 31 papers were found to meet the inclusion criteria (adult, male-to-female abuse, in western culture, peer reviewed and published in English) and were quality appraised. Data were extracted and analyzed using narrative synthesis. The findings indicate the way DMJB operates in this group is complex. It can represent facilitators of abusive behavior, a way to protect the individual's identity and self-esteem, and a tool men use instrumentally to achieve goals. Themes were present within and between studies highlighting the complex function of DMJB. A model representing the hypothesized intertwined function of DMJB for IPA is proposed. The limitations of the review are discussed and implications and recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) have gained attention as enablers of innovation and entrepreneurship. This paper explores entrepreneurial ecosystems in developed countries. Entrepreneurship is a globally important phenomenon for economic development and addressing socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty. Systematic literature review (SLR), with the aid of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was used in the items selection process. A final sample of 28 primary articles was used. Additionally, bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer software to determine publication patterns and citation trends. More relevant and recent articles were incorporated into the bibliometric analysis to improve the results. Isenberg's six domains of entrepreneurial ecosystems framework, supported by the Dynamic capabilities (DC) theory underpinned the study. Results show that though entrepreneurial ecosystems are prevalent, they face many challenges. However, opportunities are also available but may be difficult to access. Globally, scholars agree that entrepreneurial ecosystems enhance economic development, and they help to solve socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty. This paper recommends that entrepreneurial ecosystems should be fostered in all regions to promote economic development and provide solutions to solve socio-economic problems. Local and global leaders should invest in the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems to promote economic development. The original value is based on exploring the dynamic nature of entrepreneurial ecosystems in the global environment using a developed country perspective. The findings provide important insights to policymakers and other stakeholders for developing strategies and interventions for enhancing economic growth through entrepreneurship. Plain Language Summary: How businesses collaborate in developed countries The purpose of the paper is to explore entrepreneurial ecosystems in developed countries. Entrepreneurship is a globally important phenomenon for economic development and addressing socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty. Systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis (using VOSviewer software) were used as research methods. Isenberg's six domains of entrepreneurial ecosystems framework, supported by the Dynamic capabilities (DC) theory underpinned the study. Results show that though entrepreneurial ecosystems are prevalent, they face many challenges, but opportunities are available. Entrepreneurial ecosystems should be fostered in all regions to promote economic development and provide solutions to solve socio-economic problems. The findings provide important insights to policymakers and other stakeholders for developing strategies and interventions for enhancing economic growth through entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines democracy's impact on the labor share of income: the share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dedicated to wages, salaries, and benefits. I hypothesize democratic regimes afford labor the opportunity to increase its share of national income. While previous empirical work finds cross-sectional evidence for the hypothesis, this paper employs a time-series cross-sectional analysis using data for 119 countries between 1950 and 2017, indicating the labor share of income is higher in democratic countries. The estimates are robust to different specifications of the statistical model. This paper also examines a potential causal mechanism that links democracy to a higher labor share through the supply of labor (the average number of hours worked in the economy). The relationship between democracy and the supply of labor lends additional evidence to my hypothesis. In a world characterized by diverging democracy, the results imply the path countries choose between democracy and dictatorship matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been little research on domestic violence (DV) within ethnic minority communities in high-income countries. This study reports on the findings of a meta-ethnography that examined the barriers and facilitators of help-seeking behaviors in South Asian women living in high-income countries who have experienced DV to inform practice, understand the limits of the evidence, and identify research gaps. Qualitative studies were identified which were available in English by electronic databases. After an initial search, 2,465 articles were reviewed by title and abstract and 135 articles were reviewed for full text. Thirty-five papers were included for this review and were synthesized using meta-ethnography. Key findings included barriers and facilitators of help-seeking behaviors: (1) Socio-cultural norms to prohibit help-seeking behaviors, (2) Fear of negative consequences, (3) Negative aspects of immigration status, (4) Insufficient support from statutory, and voluntary agencies, (5) Safety strategies and facilitators for surviving. Although this review investigated the perceptions of two different populations (survivors and service providers) both groups had similar views about the barriers and facilitators of help-seeking behaviors. It is crucial for the government and non-government organizations to understand the barriers for women who are DV survivors to seek help from their organizations and also from South Asian ethnicities. The awareness and understanding of these barriers and facilitators may help support the development of interventions to encourage effective help-seeking amongst South Asian women affected by DV. Suggestions for research, practice, and policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature on women's leadership in higher education in the last 20 years. This literature review employed a systematic review of 64 articles published worldwide with 28 articles specifically published in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam. The aim of the study is to determine if there are any differences in barriers and enablers of women leaders between the developed countries chosen for this study and Vietnam in higher education and how the countries are progressing towards gender equality. The study concluded that most of the research in women's leadership in higher education had been done in the US and Canada, with a dearth of literature on women's leadership in higher education in Asia, and only six studies have been done in Vietnam till 2019, with only two studies done before 2017. The findings suggested that women leaders in developed countries and Vietnam still face almost the same challenges as in the past but, with family support, these challenges are becoming less in Vietnam. Mentor support was found to be an enabler in other developed countries which was missing in Vietnam. Vietnam is gaining importance in research in women's leadership in higher education, which may be due to an increased female labour participation rate and higher growth in gross domestic product rates. The future of women leaders seems to be bright, especially in Vietnam, due to higher female educational attainment. There is a small number of literature review studies on barriers and enablers in the field of women leaders in higher education comparing developed nations and a developing country. Hence, the current study aims to fill this gap to provide an overview of the difference between the enablers and barriers faced by women leaders between developed countries and Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the relationship between the crises of capitalist growth and democratic politics, this paper discusses the notions of degrowth and conviviality. Both concepts are often interpreted as making similar proposals in response to questions of environmental transformation. However, they bear on different strands of critique. While degrowth criticizes the momentum of capitalist accumulation, conviviality originates in the search for alternatives to the instrumental use of technologies in industrial societies. Although these two rationalities predominantly go hand in hand in the development of modern societies, they are sometimes in conflict and different strategies are required to deal with their consequences. Therefore, the differences between degrowth and conviviality should not be obscured. Instead of using the concepts in an ethical or moral fashion as normative claims directed at some diffuse agency of states, companies and the people, the paper argues for a thorough examination of issues and propositions to overcome the environmental crisis from the perspective of materialist science and technology studies. Since one key factor here is the level of global production and consumption of meat, this paper turns toward a controversial attempt to break new ground in meat production: the vision of artificially producing meat in the laboratory. Lab-grown, cultured meat provides a powerful case study for exploring political and democratic challenges of post-growth societies, all the more so as questions of animal welfare and interspecies conviviality are addressed as well. By taking a closer look at the role of animals in proposed solutions for degrowth and conviviality in meat production and consumption, the complementarity of such claims can be questioned, and a light can be shed on the inherent political implications of such technological innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner violence (IPV) around the time of pregnancy is a recognized global health problem. Ethnic minorities and immigrant pregnant women experiencing IPV require culturally responsive health services. The aim of this scoping review was to identify aspects of cultural sensitivity in interventions to prevent or reduce IPV among ethnic minorities and immigrant pregnant women in high-income countries. Eight databases were searched in November 2019. Any type of scientific research, quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods studies regarding interventions against IPV among pregnant women were considered for inclusion. Resnicow et al.'s definition of cultural sensitivity was used to identify aspects of cultural sensitivity. Ten papers relating to nine interventions/studies met our inclusion criteria. These studies, which included randomized controlled trials, a mixed methods study, a program evaluation, and a longitudinal study, were conducted in Australia, Belgium, Norway, and the United States. Aspects of surface cultural sensitivity, including the translation of intervention content into the language of the target group(s) and the involvement of bilingual staff to recruit participants, were identified in eight studies. Deep structure aspects of cultural sensitivity were identified in one study, where the intervention content was pretested among the target group(s). Results that could be related to the culture-sensitive adaptions included successful recruitment of the target population. Three studies were planning to investigate women's experiences of interventions, but no publications were yet available. This scoping review provides evidence that culturally sensitive interventions to reduce or prevent IPV among immigrant pregnant women are limited in number and detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No reviews to date have summarized the views of parents on the functional challenges and/or strengths of their children with autism spectrum disorder. We set out to perform a scoping review aiming (a) to identify and collate global results to provide a broad description of parental perspective of functioning research and (b) to summarize these using the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health–Child and Youth version framework. The International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health provides a language to describe the functional skills of an individual with a health condition in terms of their body structures, body functions, activities and participation, their environmental and personal factors. Given the influence that context has on functioning, and the potential impact of economic status on availability of resources, we were specifically interested to compare perspectives from high-income countries and low-/middle-income countries. Two researchers conducted a comprehensive search of English peer-reviewed studies published between 1990 and June 2016. Articles were accessed and summarized using thematic analysis. Meaningful phrases were extracted from key findings and linked to second-level International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health–Child and Youth categories following international linking rules. Thirty-three studies were identified of which only six originated from low/middle-income countries (n = 6/33, 18%). Two studies compared perspectives from low-/middle-income countries and high-income countries (n = 2/33, 6%). Functional themes from high-income countries included a range across the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health–Child and Youth bio-psychosocial framework while functional themes from low-/middle-income countries were predominantly focused on environmental factors. We propose further research should consider a systematic comparison of high-income and low/middle-income countries across functional categories to get a more accurate impression of the impact of context on functioning. No paper to date has summarized parents' views on the functional challenges and/or strengths of their children with autism spectrum disorder. In this review we set out to perform a scoping review aiming to (a) find and compare existing research from around the globe on parental perception of functioning and (b) summarize results from these papers using the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health–Child and Youth version framework. Since we know that the place and circumstances we live in can have a significant influence on our functioning in daily life, we were specifically interested in comparing perceptions from high-income countries and low-/middle-income countries. Two researchers conducted a comprehensive search of English studies published between 1990 and June 2016. Papers were summarized and key findings were linked to International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health–Child and Youth categories. Thirty-three studies were identified, of which most were conducted in high-income countries (n = 25/33, 76%) with only six studies in low/middle-income countries (n = 6/33, 18%). Two studies compared views from low/middle-income and high-income countries (n = 2/33, 6%). Functional themes from high-income countries included a range across the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health–Child and Youth framework while functional themes from low-/middle-income countries were mostly focused on environmental factors. It was difficult to directly compare studies from low/middle-income and high-income countries because they investigated and discussed such different parts of functioning. We suggest that future research should use an approach that will allow researchers to directly compare functional categories in order to get a more accurate impression of the impact of context on functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current COVID-19 pandemic has put the problem of equitable access to health technologies in the limelight because governments, even in the economically advanced countries, are struggling to meet the health needs of their populations. Tiered pricing of innovative health technologies, which involves the division of markets into different tiers or groups, provides a legitimate policy tool to alleviate some of the COVID-19 financial burdens on global health systems. Differential pricing denotes the practice of companies to charge different prices for the same product depending on the different classes of purchasers. This paper examines the legality and practical significance of tiered pricing as a price-reducing policy option and discusses some of the key limitations of this important policy tool. This study proposes the adoption of a global framework for sustainable pricing and tiered pricing of innovative health technologies. The proposed global framework will help in achieving a balance between fair access and fair profit levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This viewpoint paper argues for the need for more socially sustainable care systems that can better contribute to equitable utilization of health care in a post-pandemic era. Health care systems in developed nations need to rethink their role, particularly with regard to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) as well as becoming more sustainable societies. Socially sustainable care systems will recognize that systemic factors and processes (social, economic, environmental, cultural) need to be addressed simultaneously in order to achieve health equity. Moreover, these systems are likely to be of paramount importance for post-COVID-19, because of the potential increase in demand for health care due to forgone health care and the increased burden of chronic diseases as spillover effects related to COVID-19 mitigation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we empirically investigate the effects of oil price changes on inflation over the period 1991-2016 for eight industrial countries: the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, and the UK. In doing so, we use an oil-augmented Phillips curve with unobserved components and we consider time-varying coefficients. The results show that even over a period of low and stable inflation, oil prices play a significant role in the dynamics of inflation. In all the countries except Germany, oil pass-through into inflation increased from the early 2000s up until the global financial crisis. In the United States it has nearly doubled in the last fifteen years. These findings suggest that central banks must continue to monitor oil prices closely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The centenary of the end of the First World War allows an opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned from dissent, not only in political life but also in shoulder surgery. It is not commonly known that the young Winston Churchill had an unstable shoulder that was to affect him from his younger days into his later career. Although he chose to treat his shoulder problem conservatively, one of his contemporaries, ASB Bankart proposed a surgical approach that has come to be the 'gold standard' of management of the unstable shoulder. This paper reviews the historical record of Churchill's shoulder instability and the lessons he learned from his experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homelessness is an obvious moral challenge, given the fact that it is a problem that millions of people in the developed world have to deal with on a daily basis. In the relatively scarce literature on this subject, there appear to be—roughly—three main approaches, namely, what I will refer to as the “difference approach,” the “liberal approach” and the “care approach.” In the paper I will critically review these three moral perspectives on the issue of homelessness. I will argue that the difference approach and the liberal approach in the end are unconvincing. Homelessness can hardly be interpreted in terms of an internally valued group identity nor in terms of autonomy and its preconditions. I will defend a version of the care approach instead, an approach that focuses on the concrete and particular needs of the homeless. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reverse innovation, defined as the flow of ideas from low- to high-income settings, is gaining traction in healthcare. With an increasing focus on value, investing in low-cost but effective and innovative solutions can be of mutual benefit to both high- and low-income countries. Reverse innovation has a role in addressing maternal health challenges in high-income countries by harnessing these innovative solutions for vulnerable populations especially in rural and remote regions. In this paper, we present three examples of 'reverse innovation' for maternal health: a low-cost, easy-to-use blood pressure device (CRADLE), a diagnostic algorithm (mini PIERS) and accompanying mobile app (PIERS on the Move), and a novel method for mapping maternal outcomes (MOM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK, pubs are often the nodes and centres of the local social network. Particularly in villages and rural areas, pubs play an important role in stimulating community cohesion and social capital by enhancing socioeconomic activities, such as communal initiatives and business activities, within communities. Despite this, there has been a constant decline in the number of British pubs during the past decades. The factors influencing this decline are many and diverse: the rise of pub chains and theme pubs which target a more commercial type of custom, the result of progressively tougher drink-driving laws, rising prices and alcohol duties, the increased popularity of home entertainment, and the smoking ban. Since village pubs work as a network tier for the entire area, their disappearance often means the disappearance of major centres of social aggregation. This also has a significant impact on rural economies, given the importance of these businesses for local supply chains. The creation of Industrial and Provident Societies (l&PSs) in villages and small communities may represent a valid way to rescue a number of village pubs from closure. An l&PS is an organisation carrying on an industry, business, or trade, either as a cooperative or for the benefit of the community. This paper discusses the functioning of I&PSs and their potential with regard to pubs in rural areas by presenting original data obtained from primary research, including interviews held with owners, managers, and customers of village pubs. In addition, the paper provides case studies of communities who used an I&PS to save their local pubs and assets, and explores how this solution may help villagers to keep their centres of social aggregation economically viable and sustainable. It is concluded that l&PSs can represent a valuable solution for many rural communities, It is also concluded that the level of community cohesion among villagers, the investment required for setting up the I&PS, and the availability of financial grants and public sector support all have an important impact on their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the assertion that economic globalization has led to the decline of welfare spending in recent decades. Although it is often argued that the increasing intensity of globalization has led to such a decline in the industrialized states, the paper finds that there has been little, if any, downturn in either levels of state expenditure in general or in levels of welfare spending in particular. However, the experience of the developing states has been rather different. In their case, the last few decades indicate that stagnation or a decline in welfare spending has occurred, particularly during the period of structural adjustment implementation. It is argued that the OECD countries still manage to provide a high level of social welfare to their populations that closely resembles the compensatory state model. In contradistinction, many of the states in the South have struggled to maintain their levels of social expenditure and therefore most resemble Cerny's competitive state model. In order to explain these two divergent outcomes, the paper examines the way in which the behaviour of certain key international financial actors (investors, multinational companies, international financial institutions) differs with regard to these two sets of countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographers and sociologists have recognised the emergence of new variants of the middle-class neighbourhood characterised by a strong focus on the development of human capital, a high level of connectedness to global networks, and a strong sense of identity based on aesthetics and taste. Such neighbourhoods are typically associated with the inner areas of 'metropolitan' centres and, according to Bourdieu, are manifestations of 'milieux' in which residents increasingly use taste as a basis for the ascription and enjoyment of status by way of contrast to residents in neighbourhoods in 'suburban', 'provincial', and 'small-town' settings where status continues to derive primarily from occupation and/or the ownership of key consumer products. This paper explores the extent to which qualitative evidence for the existence of these different milieux can be supported by quantitative evidence, using classifications of residential neighbourhoods originally developed by commercial organisations to assist marketers target the promotion of consumer products. The paper uses a study by Peter Hall, which locates urban centres in England and Wales on a central place hierarchy, to differentiate those types of middle-class neighbourhood whose location is characteristically inner metropolitan from those principally associated with suburban and/or small-town locations. These types of neighbourhood are then contrasted in terms of their residents' role within the urban system, in terms of their spatial distribution, and in terms of their consumption of products and media. Results from similar classification schemes developed in other countries are used to evaluate the extent to which these types of metropolitan habitus are characteristic of other advanced industrial societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why does metropolitan reform have such a poor track record in the United States as compared with other industrialized countries? The most common answer is the exceptional localism of US culture, which has embedded itself over the years in institutions that foster political fragmentation and sprawl. This paper, inspired by recent .developments in Europe, offers an alternative explanation in the divided sovereignty of the US federal system. Sovereignty, a highly debated concept at the global level, remains a very real political hurdle at the local level because it constitutes the primary field of struggle for any claims for local self-government. The significance of divided sovereignty is the potential recourse that a second sovereign can offer to metropolitan reformers. A reframing of the issue from a constitutional perspective reveals a sharp contrast in the political conditions for metropolitan reform between Europe and the USA today: as sovereignty has moved up in Europe, secured by treaties that have shifted whole realms of authority and fight to the European Union, it has been moving down in the USA, pushed by a generation of Republican presidents and an activist Supreme Court. It also highlights a political fault line that has been largely missing from theoretical and policy debates over metropolitan reform in the USA: the conflict between the big cities and their direct sovereign, the subnational states. In this paper I reconsider the troubled history of metropolitan reform in the United States from this constitutional perspective, situating efforts to achieve metropolitan self-governance in the context of the shifting division of sovereignty in the US federal system over the past seventy years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its release in the mid-1990s, close to 37 000 facilities have been certified to ISO 14001, the international voluntary standard for environmental management systems. Yet, despite claims that the standard can be readily adapted to very different corporate and geographic settings, its take-up has been highly geographically variable. This paper contributes to a growing body of work concerned with explaining the uneven diffusion of ISO 14001 at the global level. Drawing from the existing theoretical and empirical literature we develop a series of hypotheses about how various economic, market, and regulatory factors influence the national count of ISO 14001 certifications. These hypotheses are then tested using econometric estimation techniques with data for a panel of 142 developed and developing countries. We fred that per capita ISO 14001 counts are positively correlated with income per capita, stock of foreign direct investment, exports of goods and services to Europe and Japan, and pressure from civil society. Conversely, productivity and levels of state intervention are negatively correlated. The paper finishes by offering a number of recommendations to policymakers concerned with accelerating the diffusion of voluntary environmental standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens in rich countries should shoulder the burden of alleviating global poverty because they are harming the poor, or so many argue. But the baseline for assessing harm is often unclear. This paper recommends a baseline for harm as rights violations. This baseline makes it clear that many of the attributions of harm made by proponents of the harm argument, instead of representing cases of harms caused, are rather instances of benefits withheld from the poor. A moral case can be made that benefits should be extended by the rich countries toward poor ones, but this case will look very different from a case for responsibility for harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the absence of domestic standard-setting, it seems that the legislative landscapes of poor countries are subject to the policy direction of key developed countries which seek the highest returns from transnational trade and wish to have their economic interests broadened via the conduit of bilateral trade agreements. Consequently, a classic pattern that has tended to create deep concern among African countries lately is the priority given to the UPOV Convention-style Plant Breeders’ Rights over effective sui generis regimes under the TRIPS Agreement. This paper identifies a regional bilateral trade agreement—the African Growth and Opportunity Act 2000, which is already a failed initiative, as the source of political pressure on African countries to enact Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation as opposed to the reasonable and effective sui generis regimes under the TRIPS Agreement. The author will show that after signing the African Growth and Opportunity Act initiative, African countries have surrendered their territorial sovereignty to the extent that they are now under political pressure to prioritise the commercialisation of agro-biotechnology resources via the UPOV Convention-style Plant Breeders' Rights in line with the commercial interests of the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the application of the GTAP 8.0 model to simulate the potential effects of carbon tariffs to reduce global emissions in the agricultural sector. The results indicate that: (i) carbon tariffs could facilitate a reduction in global carbon leakage for all countries (regions) except those in the EU; (ii) the structural effects of emissions reduction reflect the differences in economic structure, energy efficiency and energy-saving and emissions reduction potential among different countries (regions); and (iii) carbon tariffs have complex effects on emissions reduction in the global agri-sector. Whilst agriculture in developed countries could achieve emissions reduction, the rest of the world, and developing countries in particular, will have slight increases in carbon emissions in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, local activists in the Global North and South have been organizing to improve degraded and abandoned spaces in marginalized neighborhoods by creating parks, playgrounds, urban farms, or community gardens. This paper integrates existing knowledge on urban place attachment and sense of community with scholarship on environmental justice in order to understand the role of place attachment in environmental mobilization in distressed neighborhoods across political systems and urbanization contexts. It examines the different forms of connections that activists develop and express toward neighborhoods with long-time substandard environmental conditions and how their experience of the neighborhood shapes their engagement in environmental revitalization projects. This comparison of three neighborhoods in Barcelona, Boston, and Havana shows that activists in all three places intend for their environmental endeavors to express grief at the loss of community, fears of erasure, and emotional connection and feelings of responsibility to place. To address environmental trauma, they aim to construct nurturing, soothing, 'safe havens,' recreate rootedness, and remake place for residents. De Trauma Ambiental a Refugio Seguro: Apego al Lugar y Transformación Espacial en Tres Barrios Marginales en Barcelona, Boston y La Habana(Isabelle Anguelovski) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In industrial societies, dominant mechanic rhythmicalities were treated by critical thinkers and artists as forces of dehumanization and alienation. Organic rhythmicalities (bodily or cosmic ones) were alternatively explored in an effort to create a possible harmonious synthesis of nature and machine civilization. Rehumanizing the city-machine has, however, ceased to be a meaningful venture in post-industrial societies. Contemporary post-industrial cities are characterized by site-specific rhythms which create a multifaceted urban normality. Each urban enclave has its specific rules and rhythms of use, and is controlled through a localized 'state of exception' in which certain general laws and rights are suspended. Contesting contemporary rhythmicalities might thus mean contesting the rhythmicalities of exception which establish spatiotemporal separations and discriminations. Profiting from an ongoing discussion about the inventive tactics of the weak and the dispossessed, this paper focuses on the 'squares movement' in order to discover exemplary acts of such a possible 'polyrhythmical' resistance. In the occupied squares people have devised ways to escape the imposed normality of urban 'enclavism' in search of polyrhythmical spaces and practices of commoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nepotism is widespread in organizations in developing countries but has so far received scant attention in cross-cultural management research. The paper seeks to contribute to the underdeveloped research topic suggesting an anthropological explanation of nepotism. It is argued that nepotism reflects the presence of tribal and peasant social morals in organizations where they replace norms and principles typical of industrial society. Examples from African and Latin American organizations show how nepotism works, and drawing on quantitative data it is suggested that nepotism is relatively common in countries at the earlier stages of industrial development. Four managerial approaches to nepotism are outlined: managers can accept nepotistic ambiguity; they can attempt to strengthen the modern organization; they can use the tribal and peasant norms underlying nepotism as the basic principle of the organization; or they can codify the pre-industrial norms and make them part of the formal organization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Asymmetrical fitness benefits between parents and offspring result in the ideal spouse not being the ideal in-law. This enables parents to attempt to control the mating behavior of their children, and when they succeed, parental choice becomes a primary sexual selection force. A number of studies indicate that parental choice is dominant in contemporary pre-industrial societies. This paper presents evidence from the historical record which indicates that parental choice was also dominant during the later stages of human evolution. More specifically, 40 variables have been coded for a sample of 16 historical societies. Consistent with the model of parental choice, it is found that mating is controlled by parents, male parents exercise more control over marriage arrangements than females, and more control is exercised over female than male offspring. Finally, the specific qualities that parents desire in an in-law and offspring desire in a spouse have also been identified. The implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an offset mechanism designed to reduce the overall cost of implementing a given target for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in industrialized Annex B countries of the Kyoto Protocol, by shifting some of the emission reductions to Non-Annex B countries. This paper analyzes how CDM projects may lead to leakage of emissions elsewhere in Non-Annex B countries. Leakage occurs because emissions reductions under a CDM project may affect market equilibrium in regional and/or global energy and product markets, and thereby increase emissions elsewhere. We also account for potential reverse or negative leakage effects in Non-Annex B from higher emissions cap in Annex B. Our conclusion is that net leakage typically is positive and sizeable, thus leading to an overall increase in global GHG emissions when CDM projects are undertaken. Leakage is greater when the different fossil fuel markets are more segregated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, there has been a devolutionary tendency in many developed and developing countries. In this paper we propose a methodology to decompose whether the benefits in terms of efficiency derived from transfers of powers from higher to municipal levels of government (the 'economic dividend' of devolution) might increase over time. This methodology is based on linear programming approaches for efficiency measurement. We provide an application to Spanish municipalities, which have had to adapt to the European Stability and Growth Pact as well as to domestic regulation seeking local governments' balanced budget. Results indicate that efficiency gains from enhanced decentralization have increased over time. However, the ways in which these gains accrue differ across municipalities—in some cases technical change is the main component, whereas in others catching up dominates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Surveillance of infectious diseases is recognized as the cornerstone of public health decision-making and practice. The aim of the evaluation of communicable diseases surveillance systems (CDSS) is ensuring that communicable diseases are monitored efficiently and effectively. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the experiences of both developed and developing countries in the evaluation of CDSS in order to learn lessons from these experiences to improve systems everywhere. Methods: A literature review of studies published in English in PubMed and databases of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Center of Diseases Control (CDC) from 1981 to 2007 was undertaken assessing CDSS. The studies were divided into those from developed and developing countries. Results: A total of 32 studies were included, 20 from developed and twelve from developing countries. Both developed and developing countries faced difficulties in CDSS. Studies from the developed countries have been analysed based on the quality of the system alone. In developing countries, most of the studies have been on the integrated diseases surveillance (IDSR) and have been performed shortly after the adoption of the IDSR. Thus it might be too early to make a fair evaluation. Some of the systems over-centralized, while some lacked private health sector involvement in the system. Further, some of the systems were affected by conflicts and civil wars which are common problems in developing countries. Conclusions: None of the countries had ideal CDSS. The strategy of integrated diseases surveillance seems to be functioning well especially in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an overview of laws and regulations for the protection of data submitted by pharmaceutical companies for the purposes of obtaining marketing approval for a drug in Member States of the World Trade Organization, which must comply with intellectual property provisions set in the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Article 39.3 of the agreement requires countries to protect undisclosed test or other data against unfair commercial use but not the adoption of exclusivity periods to protect such data. In general terms, today all developed countries have implemented an array of data exclusivity provisions with specific periods of protection, whereas most developing and least developed countries have often adopted language similar to that of Article 39.3. There are exceptions to this, mainly those countries that have negotiated free trade agreements with the United States such as Chile, Morocco and Jordan, and others that have agreed to adopt periods of exclusivity under pressure from other governments and industry groups. Furthermore, trade agreements have gradually broadened the scope of the protection thus undermining generic competition and therefore consumers’ access to more affordable drugs.Journal of Generic Medicines (2007) 5, 9–25. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jgm.4950087; published online 24 July 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I seek to review the literature regarding the spaces of memory and forgetting outside the geographical core of the Western discipline. This takes in two bodies of literature. First, works from outside the geographical discipline on memory and forgetting, as conceived at both the individual and the collective scale. Second, I move beyond the scope of ‘developed’ countries to look at works on memory in India, where subaltern, communal, and rural memories have been explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since entry into force of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994, negotiations on controlling future greenhouse gas emissions have turned into one of the largest development issues of our time. In February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force and 9 months later a historical first meeting of the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 1) was held in Montreal side-by-side with the 11th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 11). After several years of stalemate, the Montreal meeting has resulted somewhat unexpectedly in a constructive outcome that has opened the door for new momentum in climate talks. Along with several key technical decisions, an agreement was reached to hold separate talks to discuss the futures of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. This paper discusses the main outcomes of the conference and explores possible ways forward. It concludes that success in the UNFCCC process is imperative to address climate change in both developing and developed countries, even if the most effective actions are taken outside the immediate context of the legal process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To review the evidence on the mental health and psychosocial consequences of rising rates of cannabis use among young people in developed countries. Method: This paper critically reviews epidemiological evidence on the following psychosocial consequences of adolescent cannabis use: cannabis dependence; the use of heroin and cocaine; educational underachievement; and psychosis. Leading electronic databases such as PubMed have been searched to identify large-scale longitudinal studies of representative samples of adolescents and young adults conducted in developed societies over the past 20 years. Results: Cannabis is a drug of dependence, the risk of which increases with decreasing age of initiation. Cannabis dependence in young people predicts increased risks of using other illicit drugs, underperforming in school, and reporting psychotic symptoms. Uncertainty remains about which of these relationships are causal although the evidence is growing that cannabis is a contributory cause of psychotic symptoms. Conclusions: We face major challenges in communicating with young people about the most probable risks of cannabis use (dependence, educational underachievement and psychosis) given uncertainties about these risks and polarized community views about the policies that should be adopted to reduce them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to clarify the controversial role of energy in productivity growth. This is done by reconciling conventional approaches to the measurement of aggregated productivity growth with the microeconomic foundations provided by the energy economics and frontier productivity measurement literature. The use of Malmquist productivity indices allows us to broaden previous research by decomposing productivity growth into technological progress and technical efficiency change as well as analysing the relationship between energy and both sources of productivity change. By doing so, our findings are that energy indeed matters and that the consideration of technical efficiency contributes to a better understanding of both the temporal evolution and cross-country variability of aggregated productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The steel industry is one of the largest sources of global CO2 emissions and hence a candidate for climate policies. A carbon tax on emissions in industrialized countries, however, will cause relocation of steel production to non-industrialized countries, and because of their relatively high emission intensities the effect on total emissions is ambiguous. Using a partial equilibrium model of the steel industry, this paper finds that global emissions from this industry are likely to decline substantially. This is primarily due to factor substitution within the integrated steel mills in the industrialized countries, and to some extent a shift between steel making technologies. Such effects are not well accounted for in economy wide models, which typically lump individual industries into aggregates. Furthermore, it is shown that border taxes on steel products are potentially useful instruments for achieving a given reduction in global emissions with less restructuring of domestic steel industry in the industrialized countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically closely associated with interventionist growth strategies, the demise of corporatism was widely predicted as neo-liberalism became the dominant economic paradigm from the late 1970s. The experience of social dialogue and social pacts in continental Europe during the 1980s and 90s, however, suggests that corporatism may have found a new economic purpose in the era of neo-liberalism. Similarly, in the developing world, the intellectual aversion to government accommodation of ‘special interest groups’ that accompanied the early phase of economic liberalization has given way to a more sophisticated appreciation of the economic advantages of social compromise. Using the case of South Korea, a country that recently established a social pact in support of its economic liberalization drive, this paper seeks to extend our knowledge about the compatibility between neo-liberalism and incorporation. The results contribute to the wider debate about the possibilities of diverse patterns of government–business–labour relations under ‘actually existing’ neo-liberalism. As one of the most advanced and successful newly industrialized countries, South Korea shares structural–institutional affinities with both advanced and developing societies. Hence, it represents an intermediate case of relevance to both the mature European and ‘third wave’ democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the divergence among countries in level of development in terms of primary and secondary uneven development, both resulting from the process of accumulation. Primary uneven development arises because of the more dynamic expansion of capitalist countries relatively to countries in which capitalism is incipient, This difference is inherent in the social relations of capital. Secondary uneven development occurs within the group of predominantly capitalist countries, due to competition and adoption of technical innovations within the social relations of capital. The former generates divergence; the latter exhibits a cyclical pattern of convergence and divergence, with convergence the long term tendency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is concerned with the role played by rituals in the politics of advanced industrial societies. First, after considering the disputes of the anthropologists, a working definition of ritual is offered. The central, critical part of the paper discusses a range of attempts that have been made to to apply a particular theory of ritual -- Durkheimian theory to the politics of modern societies, specifically the United States and Britain. These 'neo-Durkheimian' analyses (of Shils and Young, Blumler et al., Lloyd Warners Bellah and Verba) are criticized for using too simple a notion of social integration, and for making too narrow a selection and offering too narrow an analysis of political rituals. Their approach is further criticized for closing off a whole range of significant and critical questions about political rituals questions which bring out their cognitive role and the cognitive dimension of the exercise of power in stratified, conflictual and pluralistic modern industrial societies. Finally, it is suggested that, once those questions are asked, one arrives at a view of many political rituals that pictures them, not as promoting value integration, but as crucial elements in the 'mobilization of bias'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fred Hirsch's book, The Social Limits of Growth (1977) has proved erroneously fruitful in provoking and structuring debate about the relationship between economic development and individual satisfaction in advanced democracies. In this paper, we attempt to review the approach of the book, to explain why it is so influential and to test one aspect of the argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys OECD energy and oil demand over the past three decades, analyzing the different paths of transportation oil, non-transportation oil, and non-oil energy--both over time, and relative to income growth. We review both the OECD as a whole, and make regional comparisons within the OECD. We focus especially on the price-irreversibility of oil demand: why oil demand has not surged now that oil prices have returned to pre-1974 levels. Among our conclusions are the following. There has been an asymmetric, smaller demand response to the price decreases of the 1980s than to the price increases of the 1970s. We expect a smaller demand response to future price increases than to those of the 1970s. The demand response to future income growth will be not substantially smaller than in the past. Finally, given the prospect of growing dependence on OPEC oil, in the event of a major disruption the lessened responsiveness of demand to price increases could cause dramatic price increases and serious macroeconomic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of class struggle and formation are seldom tied systematically to the social movement and collective action literature. We attempt in this paper to apply some of the concepts developed first in the collective action literature to the successful efforts of U.S. capital to hinder the organizing efforts of trade unions in the years before the New Deal. Specifically, we identify the interests of capital in destroying workers' self-organization both through structural analyses of the relationships among productivity, wages and unionization and through the statements of employers themselves. We then show how capital organized and mobilized itself to struggle against unions, demonstrating that its anti-union strategies were quite successful. Our results indicate generally that formal models of collective action must include the "counter-mobilization" of movement adversaries and suggest a fruitful strategy for linking the study of class conflict to that of social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past century, Japanese society has undergone a radical change in its temporal experience, moving from one following the rhythms of nature to one of mathematical precision, namely, the western time system. Why did Japan westernize its time? This paper argues that it was for the sake of industrialization, where time was equated with profit. The accelerating sense of time reflected Japan's desperate efforts to catch up with the western level of industry in the shortest possible time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the author attempts to highlight the socio-historical logic of the dialectic between (paid) labour and free time among industrial societies with a market economy. The main stages of a cultural mutation are shown and related to changes in the globa1 social structure On the eve of post industrial society a new orientation toward life (ethos), which developed within the framework of free time, privacy and leisure activities, has come to dominate all sectors of human life. The possibility that this new orientation could help to overcome the antinomy between work (as paid labour) and free-time activities is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a cross-national research study examining the argument that the values and attitudes generated by post-industrial society tend to be incongruent with the imperatives of industrialism. The empirical findings suggest that the 'economic culture' of the Western public, as indicated by attitudes toward economic growth and technological change, as well as by work-values and commitment, is generally supportive of the logic of industrialism. However, there also exists evidence for significant inter- and intra-societal differences which reflect the mediation of various contextual effects on the outcomes of industrialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the dramatic rise in national expenditures for medical services the past quarter century is due to a number of factors, this paper investigates the hypothesis that an increase in the supply of physicians is one major factor. Longitudinal analysis of trends for the United States from 1940 to 1981, and the cross-sectional analysis of eight industrialized countries and nine census regions in the United States, support the hypothesis. Since the increase in physicians is largely due to deliberate policy decisions in the past, the increase in costs, which policymakers are now trying to contain is in large part the result of actions that policymakers themselves have made. The increase in the supply of physicians (the "physician surplus") will put upward pressures on the national expenditures for medical care in the years ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]