Decentralisation and corruption: evidence from drinking water sector

This article presents empirical findings regarding the relationship between decentralisation of provision of water supply and corruption in provision of services. The current policy advice from the international agencies of aiming for decentralisation as an end in itself is questioned. The conventional wisdom that decentralisation brings management closer to the service recipients and is therefore likely to reduce corruption is also disputed. Drawing on a large database from two large Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the interaction between various actors is analysed. We find that the level of corruption in water supply agencies run by local governments is higher than that in the agencies run by the regional government. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

发展中的东盟“中国观”：从威胁到机会？

本文旨在分析为何东盟国家曾经将中国视为威胁，如今却转变观念，将中国视为促进地区稳定和一体化的重要推动力。第一部分将阐述东盟国家对中国的官方立场的变化，即从“中国威胁论”向“中国机会论”的转变。在80年代，当中国的经济开放促进了其与南部周边国家之间的关系时，这种观念的转变尤为突出。第二部分认为，在欧美日经济发展呈现出保护主义趋势，并遭遇发展瓶颈的情况下，中国的发展为东盟国家的经济增长提供了新契机。同时，笔者着重分析了中国从地区的不稳定根源向地区安全保障者转化的原因。第三部分指出，尽管中国与东盟国家之间建立起了特殊关系，但中国无法排斥其他大国，尤其是日本与美国在该地区的影响力。     

Urbanization Patterns,Information Diffusion,and Female Voting in Rural Paraguay

We use a field experiment to evaluate the impact of two informational get‐out‐the‐vote campaigns to boost female electoral participation in rural areas of Paraguay. We find that public rallies had a small and insignificant effect either on registration or voter turnout in the 2013 presidential elections. Households that received door‐to‐door canvassing treatment were 4.6 percentage points more likely to vote. Experimental variation on the intensity of the treatment at the locality level allows us to estimate spillover effects, which are present in localities that are geographically more concentrated, which may favor social interactions and diffusion of information. Reinforcement effects on the already treated population are twice as large as diffusion effects on the untreated. Our results underscore the importance of taking into account urbanization patterns when designing informational campaigns.     

Longitudinal Associations between Parental Support and Parental Knowledge on Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Adolescents

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - When testing longitudinal effects of parenting practices on adolescent adjustment, an integrated consideration of externalizing and internalizing behaviors is a...