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By comparing the HRM practices in Indian and European MNE subsidiaries located in four of the Southern African Development Community countries, this paper tests the relevance of the country-of-origin effect and analyses the strength of institutional and firm-level influences. Examining data from 865 MNE subsidiaries obtained from the World Bank enterprise survey data, the paper finds that Indian MNEs have higher labour costs in relation to total sales than their European counterparts, that Indian MNEs make more use of temporary labour than their European counterparts, that Indian MNEs invest in less training than their European counterparts. No support is found for the hypothesis that Indian MNEs have a lower ratio of skilled workers in comparison to European-owned subsidiaries. The study shows that country-of-origin effects are weakened if they are not consistent with host country ideology and that as economies evolve so too do their expectations of HR policy and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As international relations actors in the post-Second World War world, international organisations have played a significant role in the standardisation of global policy concepts during the 20th century, and humanitarian assistance has been no exception. While the study of the role of international organisations in shaping a dominant model of humanitarian aid has recently gathered pace, few historians have focused on different, less successful models and interpretations developed by other international organisations. Recently declassified Commonwealth Secretariat records show that discussions within the Secretariat and among member states regarding the potential objectives and scope of Commonwealth humanitarian assistance programmes took place as early as the 1960s, and continued throughout the following decades. This article provides an overview of the origin and evolution of the Commonwealth’s approach to humanitarian assistance since the 1960s. Its objective is to document this hitherto little known aspect of Commonwealth assistance policies, and, based on an initial literature and archival survey, to contribute to the identification of further research questions and gaps in this aspect of Commonwealth history. Although they are very different in nature and scope, the Commonwealth and the European Union share at least one common feature in so far as humanitarian assistance is concerned, namely their difficulty in reaching a consensual definition of it. By exploring the links and discrepancies between, as well as within, each organisation’s approach to humanitarian assistance, and by examining the initiatives of some of their member states, this paper seeks to highlight the plasticity of the definition of humanitarian assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Africa is a giant market with a population of Europe and Japan combined, and highly diversified with respect to culture, natural resources, economic development, and political regimes. Yet, the continent is largely ignored with respect to research on the multinational activities of U.S. firms. In this paper, we provide the first evidence regarding the operating characteristics of U.S. firms that operate in Africa. We find that firms with operations in Africa are larger, more diversified, and more profitable than a matched control sample of multinational firms. This paper also shows that technology firms, manufacturing firms, and mining firms dominate the rest of companies operating in Africa. Certain geographical regions in Africa also seem to attract more companies than others, with Southern Africa being the most preferred region, while Central Africa is the least preferred. Finally, when a multinational firm invests in a specific country in Africa, it tends to do so in several business sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This introduction to the special issue entitled ‘Africa<>Europe: Transnational Linkages, Multi-Sited Lives’ outlines the history of the African migrant presence in Europe, gives an account of the contexts which shape contemporary migration, and surveys the approaches to international migration from Africa which have influenced researchers since the 1960s. Linking the contributions to the special issue is the theme of migrants’ transnational ‘double engagement’ with both Africa and Europe. The paper examines this theme across three domains of the lived experience of African migrants and refugees in Europe: ‘Livelihoods’, ‘Families’, and ‘Identities’. We conclude with an assessment of what can be learned (theoretically and methodologically) from the study of African transmigration, and suggest future lines of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional consumption of edible insects is common in one third of the world's population, mostly in Latin America, Africa and Asia. There are over one thousand identified species of insects eaten in some stage of their life cycle; and they play important roles in ensuring food security. The most common way to collect insects are from the wild, which is seasonal with limited availability and has an increasing demand resulting in a disruption to the ecosystem. There is a growing interest shown in rearing insects for commercial purposes, and an industrial scale production will be required to ensure steady supplies. Industrial production will need to take into account the living environment of insects, the nutritional composition of their feed and the overall efficiency of the production system. We provide a short overview on the consumption of and rearing insects in Africa, Asia and Europe. For Africa, a snapshot is given for Nigeria, Ghana, Central African Republic, Kenya and Uganda, while the following countries are reported for Asia: China, Japan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Thailand and Vietnam. In addition, a list of insect species with the highest potential for food and feed in the European Union is provided with some reference to The Netherlands and Finland. The review concludes that there is need to better understand the rearing and farming procedures that will yield high quality edible insects in Africa, Asia and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a former colonial power in Africa, Portugal has been a conspicuously neglected case in the contemporary academic literature on Europe–Africa relations. This article explores Portugal's role in European Union (EU) relations with Africa, focusing on the issue of political conditionality. The analysis considers how active Portugal has been at the EU level regarding that controversial issue and to what extent Lisbon has tried to mediate between its European partners and Africa. Taking into account the limited contributions on the topic, this article makes great use of primary sources and takes a long-term perspective. The findings show that Portugal's general stance was mainly reactive and cautious. However, Portuguese policy-makers ingeniously used intra-EU pressures towards conditionality to highlight Portugal's conciliatory position and buttress a bridging role between Europe and Africa. This study contributes to the literature on Portuguese foreign policy in the EU–Africa context and provides useful insights for other studies on smaller EU member states as well as Europe–Africa relations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study that determines ways on how to effectively manage children with Wilms tumor in Africa and Europe. It offers information on the number of children affected by the disease in both regions and the offers overview of the principles of treatment and supportive care adopted to address the condition. It also mentions the challenges associated with the treatment of the disease and proposes the importance of supportive care programs to ensure effective management.

This article, by providing an overall assessment of the relations between Africa and the EU since the adoption of the Joint Africa Europe Strategy in Lisbon in 2007, tests the hypothesis of a ‘continental drift’. It looks in particular at four key variables in the relationship: economy, development, governance and politics, and multilateralism. A continental drift is in the making, associated with widening cracks in economic blocks: most of the trade between the two continents is concentrated on a dozen countries on each side. Although the EU has lost some of its leadership in development policies, its funding capacities are still attractive for countries in need: the donor–recipient relation is largely maintained. Both sides have agreed to disagree or to remain quiet about their reciprocal political inconsistencies: the management of governance and political dialogue is thus carried out in a pragmatic manner. The continent-to-continent relationship remains largely a vision. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]