Analysis of off-farm work decisions among smallholder farm households in Burkina Faso

This article investigates off-farm work decisions by smallholder farm households. Using data on 1,101 households from Burkina Faso, it demonstrates that in addition to the usual household socio-demographic characteristics, remittances, access to information and beneficiary of specific training affect off-farm work decisions, as well as rainfall factors and idiosyncratic health shocks. Community characteristics such as accessibility and number of inhabitants are also key factors. While suggesting that off-farm work is less likely to be undertaken for accumulation purposes, these results have important policy implications. In particular, policy measures should consider each segment as a separate entity.     

Facilitating industrial symbiosis programmes in developing countries: reflections from Gauteng,South Africa

This viewpoint reflects on how to improve the process of introducing facilitated industrial symbiosis programmes (FISPs) to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Although FISPs are a long-established industrial practice, their formal introduction to SMEs in developing countries has only recently begun, mostly through support from international development agencies. Based partly on anecdotal evidence from Gauteng, South Africa, we identify six key questions which need to be addressed to improve the process of facilitating FISPs.     

Shaking off the neoliberal shackles: “democratic emergence” and the negotiation of democratic knowledge in the Middle East North Africa context

ABSTRACT

There is a general assumption in democracy promotion that liberal democracy is the panacea that will solve all political and economic problems faced by developing countries. Using the concept of “good society” as analytical prism, the analysis shows that while there is a rhetorical agreement as to what the “good society” entails, democracy promotion practices fail to allow for recipients’ inclusion in the negotiation and delivery of the “good society”. Contrasting US and Tunisian discourses on the “good society”, the article argues that democracy promotion practices are underpinned by neoliberal parameters borne out from a reliance on the transition paradigm, which in turn leave little room to democracy promotion recipients to formulate knowledge claims supporting the emergence of alternative conceptions of the “good society”. In contrast, the article opens up a reflective pathway to a negotiated democratic knowledge, which would reside in a paradigmatic change that consists in the abandonment of the transition paradigm in favour of a “democratic emergence” paradigm.     

东盟东增长区的发展与引资成效

自20世纪90年代初以来,东盟次区域经济合作非常活跃,先后出现了新加坡、马来西亚柔佛和印尼的廖内群岛等组成的"新柔廖增长三角",又被称为"东盟南增长三角";印尼、马来西亚、泰国相邻部分组成的"东盟北增长三角";文莱、印尼、马来西亚和菲律宾相邻部分组成的"东盟东部经济增长区(简称东盟东增长区)"等.这些由东盟各国自愿组成的各种增长三角已成为东盟进行合作的重要形式,促进了东盟各国间经济联系和相互合作,带动了贸易和投资的发展.本文选取东盟区域内最大的、最年轻的东盟东增长区,分析其带动资本流动的效果,探讨其发展成效.     

“上海合作组织”框架下的中国与中亚国家金融合作目标及途径

金融合作是“上海合作组织”各国经济合作的重要领域,也是实现区域经济一体化的前提条件。在金融合作尚处于初级阶段的情况下,确定合理科学的金融合作目标,探索切实可行的金融合作途径,对于推动“上海合作组织”的金融合作进程具有十分重要的意义。根据《上海合作组织成员国多边经贸合作纲要》的原则,“上海合作组织”框架下的金融合作应分阶段进行,目标规划也应该划分为近期、中期和远期三个阶段。当前的工作重点是,积极推动成员国之间双边或多边的功能性金融合作。合作的具体进程要采取“双轮驱动”策略:既要开展以银行业务和功能完善为特征的金融合作;又要开展以金融组织和机制创新为特征的金融合作。     

公务员精神培育的伦理路径：角色把握、职责担当、合作定位

公务员精神具有明显的时代性,在建设和谐社会的今天,公务员精神作为公务员的价值信念,指引、评价和规范公务员的行为,体现着公共行政的精神和行政文化的价值观。通过角色期待、角色领悟和角色实践,公务员可以准确把握其角色的特殊性内涵,理解公共管理的多元性、政治性以及公共性这些特质。社会角色赋予了角色承担者特殊的社会关系,这种社会关系往往通过职责体现,包括责任和义务,担当职责是角色的必然要求。公务员要出色地完成其职责,合作是最好的选择甚至可以说是唯一的选择。沿着角色把握、职责担当、合作定位这一伦理路径,公务员精神的公共性、正义性、廉洁性才能得以实现。     

Remortgaging Women's Lives: The World Bank'sLand Agenda in Africa

In recent months, the World Bank has issued a series of draft policy reports on land relations. This is the first time in over two decades that the Bank has sought to review its policy on lending in the land sector. Access to the draft reports and participation in the consultation process has, however, been severely limited. Nonetheless, the World Bank expects to issue the final Report by the end of this year. This paper presents a gender analysis of the two draft documents that have been made available to date. It assesses their implications for gender relations in Africa. It explores the World Bank's promotion of formal rural credit and challenges the assumption of the availability of women's unpaid agricultural labour. The paper argues that, far from being over, the struggle over land relations which has characterised the last decade in Africa, must continue. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

我国反对恐怖主义国际合作与刑事立法

恐怖主义对世界和平与安全已经构成严重威胁。我国境内从事民族分裂活动的恐怖主义分子在境内多次制造恐怖事件 ,对边疆的社会稳定和民族团结造成了现实危害 ,并对我国领土完整和国家主权构成严重挑战。我们反对任何恐怖主义 ,既反对我国的恐怖主义 ,也反对国际上一切恐怖主义。为了反对恐怖主义 ,我们积极参加区域的、多边的和双边的国际合作 ,与其他国家联手 ,共同打击恐怖主义 ;同时通过国内刑事立法加强对恐怖主义犯罪的打击力度     

俄罗斯与欧盟的经济关系

在当今的国际关系格局中,俄罗斯与欧盟的关系占据着重要的地位,其中双方的经济关系由于发展迅速更是备受世人关注。俄罗斯独立以来,特别是进入21世纪以后,出于各自的需要,俄欧双方积极展开了在贸易、投资和能源等经济领域的全面合作,并取得了相当大的成效。短期内,俄欧经济关系仍将维持以能源合作为主,其他合作为辅的基本格局,长期来看,俄欧经济关系能否取得突破主要还是取决于俄罗斯能否逐步完善市场经济体制的改革,改变畸形的经济结构并尽快恢复和扩大加工工业产品的出口。