Matching supply and demand in local public services,part 1 — Preliminaries; productivity and quality control

The local government 'modernisation agenda' has important implications for research in local government, a function which has been neglected in recent years. This article argues that modernisation, especially Best Value, requires authorities to develop as 'intelligent learning organisations' and to build the capacity for research to support processes of learning and improvement. Based on the findings of recent research, the article discusses lessons for local government in enhancing research capacity and utilisation, referring both to internal factors and to the potential for collaborative arrangements. It is concluded that central government might do more to assist the development of such capacity but ultimately authorities' approach to research must be developed to support achievement of their defined purpose, role and objectives.     

Speaking for Themselves: Hope for Children Caught in High Conflict Custody and Access Disputes Involving Domestic Violence

The Speaking for Themselves (SFT) project sought to enhance the physical, emotional, and psychological safety of children exposed to domestic violence and high conflict custody and access disputes. Children were provided with both a trauma therapist and a lawyer, in an attempt to ensure their well-being while providing decision-makers with reliable and authentic information about these children’s circumstances. This project was an attempt to balance the “best interests” approach applied in family law decision-making with the value placed on a child’s right to be heard, an approach espoused by children’s rights advocates. This article presents the SFT philosophy, model program, and evaluation results.     

R&D Venture: proposition of a technology transfer concept for breakthrough technologies with R&D cooperation: A case study in the energy sector

At times when the market demands strong active innovation, large industrial corporations with established R&D organizations benefit from screening and developing breakthrough innovation. The ability of established organizations to absorb for future technologies is a key to successfully recognize, explore and capture breakthrough innovations. R&D Venturing is a practical way of bringing about technology transfer and exploration of future technologies through R&D cooperation, which is described in this paper by a multiple case study in the energy sector. Existing literature has been reviewed and an R&D Venturing concept will be suggested with a number of propositions for implementation. The results of the case study strongly support that different perspectives of the concept from industry, academia and the ventures themselves have to be carefully understood. Based on the results of the case study, a conceptual framework and propositions for a successful implementation have been derived. A critical discussion of the R&D Venturing concept shows the need for further empirical investigation.     

Managing the EU Crises: Another Way of Integration by Stealth?

Europe has been hit hard by the financial and economic crisis, and there is no fast solution in view. The problem facing the EU is a problem of governance both technically and politically. Most actors, with the possible exception of the ECB, are in disarray because they are caught between the necessity to act and the political reluctance to acknowledge fully the consequences of a multi-level governance system, notably democratic legitimacy and accountability. The discrepancy between political rhetoric and actual practices during the crisis appears as a new form of government by stealth. There is not yet an obvious way out of this morass. The first one seems the easiest as it would be nothing more than ‘muddling through’ as usual, whereas the second option, a two-speed Europe, though more politically attractive, is technically very difficult to implement institutionally. The third possible solution is paradoxically the one that surreptitiously persists at present: a ‘federalism of executives’ that is both unmanageable in the long run and unacceptable from a democratic point of view.     

Theorizing strategies: Households and markets in 15th-century Tuscany

This article uses empirical evidence from rural Tuscany in the 15th century to compare three frameworks for conceptualizing household strategies: Chayanov's analysis of the domestic economy, Bourdieu's treatment of social reproduction, and Weber's distinction between budgetary units and profit-making enterprises. Although Bourdieu's framework did not work well in this context because there was little evidence that peasants employed strategies to prevent the division of land, there was considerable evidence to support Chayanov and Weber. As Chayanov predicted, many households allocated labor according to a tradeoff between providing for family members and avoiding drudgery. The Weberian perspective also worked well because it explained why these smallholders often divided their holdings and used money in their household strategies.     

Fetal Age Estimation Using Orbital Measurements: 3D CT-Scan Study Including the Effects of Trisomy 21

Abstract:  This study evaluates a new method of fetal age estimation based on orbital measurement and including the potential trisomy 21 of the fetus. Six orbital and one facial CT-scan measurements were taken on 71 fetuses ranging from 14 to 41 weeks of gestational age. Forty-eight fetuses were "normal" and 23 fetuses presented the Down syndrome (trisomy 21). The anatomy/imagery correspondence was evaluated comparing our results to those obtained by direct bone measurements on the same fetuses and revealed no significant differences between the two kinds of measurements. Moreover, a multiple linear stepwise regression was realized to estimate fetal age and showed that the "trisomy 21 parameter" is not conserved in the final determination model. Therefore, we conclude that the good radio-anatomical correspondence offers an interesting alternative to direct bone measurement (necessitating dissections) and allows a reliable fetal age determination, whatever is the trisomy 21 condition of the fetus.     

Data protection legislation: What is at stake for our society and democracy?

The author starts by questioning the main privacy challenges raised by our present and future information society viewed as a “global village”. Apart from a comparison with the traditional village of our parents, he identifies the two complementary and not dissociable facets of our privacy: the right to seclusion and the right to participate fully in our society. According to the first German Constitutional Court recognizing the right to informational self-determination as a new constitutional right, he underlines the need to analyse the data protection as a tool for ensuring both the citizens' dignity and our democracy.     

Detecting Specialization in Offending: Comparing Analytic Approaches

Offending specialization continues to be a subject of empirical inquiry for scholars interested in criminal careers. Early research consistently spoke to the generality of offending profiles, but more recent work has revealed somewhat mixed findings. These results have emerged alongside newly developed and applied methods that detect and describe offending specialization. To what extent these methods shape divergent conclusions and/or provide overlapping insight remains unclear, however. Therefore, the degree to which more recent inquiries are actually studying the same operational definition of specialization is unknown. In order to consider this issue further, this study utilizes four frequently applied approaches with a single data set. The study indicates when and where findings converge and also describes any unique insights provided by each method. The work concludes with a discussion surrounding the utility of applying multiple strategies in assessing specialization in criminal offending.     

Hommage à Gérard Cornu

Sans résumé

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Sex, Maids, and Export Processing: Risks and Reasons for Gendered Global Production Networks

Increasing numbers of women have become sex workers, maids, or employees in export production networks—all largely female sectors—to earn incomes in the restructured global economy. Many must migrate domestically and internationally. Women encounter many risks and much insecurity in these sectors: low wages, no benefits, long hours, harassment, health hazards, and lack of rights or legal recourse. By examining work in these three sectors simultaneously, we find that, as a result of globalization, economic restructuring, and crises, 1) women have increasingly been forced into such income-earning activities and 2) many governments have been pushed into strategies that foster these occupations.