Remittances and the Brain Drain: Evidence from Microdata for Sub-Saharan Africa

Based on unique microdata from five Sub-Saharan African countries that contain comprehensive information on both migrants and their households at the origin country, we investigate the effect of migrants’ education on their remittance behaviour. Our results reveal that migrants’ education has no impact on the likelihood of sending remittances, but a positive effect on the amount of money sent, conditional on remitting. The latter effect holds for internal migrants and migrants in non-OECD countries, while it vanishes for migrants in OECD destination countries once characteristics of the origin household are controlled for.     

Part-time Work,Job Satisfaction and Well-being: Evidence from a Developing OECD Country

We estimate the effects of part-time work on job and life satisfaction using new data for Chile. While part-time work is being promoted to increase female labour participation in many countries, there are concerns about its quality and the overall effect on well-being of such policies. We estimate models for job and life satisfaction addressing for endogeneity and selectivity bias. We found that part-time work has a negative effect on job satisfaction and well-being for men; however, when looking at just women, the negative effect is reversed. This should be considered when designing public policies oriented at increasing female labour participation through part-time work.     

New partnerships for social development: business and the third sector

One of the main issues for Latin America now that it is entering a new period of economic growth is the process of speeding up social development to catch up with economic trends. This may be seen by some as a highly profitable investment, but by most as a moral obligation. A long history of exploitation and the most recent decades of misgovernment have provoked a legacy of social injustice and disparities incompatible with the region's economic potential.

Structural adjustment policies impose a significant reduction in the size of governments which have shown an unequivocal tendency to retreat from their responsibilities regarding the social sector. Current trends of the new world order raise many concerns regarding the social perspectives of the less privileged layers of the population.

Besides the new economic opportunities, redemocratization of the region has led to a new socio-political environment in which paternalistic patterns have given way to a more participatory and mature relationship between government, civil society and business.

The so-called third sector has become of increasing importance and is growing rapidly in most countries. Business is also assuming new roles in terms of its responsibility towards social development. There is a change in culture and there are new opportunities to develop innovative forms of participation. The retreat of the State is opening up a new niche for the third sector and business to establish partnerships that can speed up social development without the risks of the heavy paternalistic and patronizing influence of governmental branches. Overall, one can observe a shift in responsibilities. Partnerships will involve the three actors, with government participating heavily in financing the operations of the third sector, while business lends its’ efficiency as well as material resources.

The business sector in Latin America is rapidly learning the social responsibility of participating in community initiatives and the benefits that such an approach can bring. Foreign companies have played an important role in bringing new values, strategies and experience of this participation. Local businessmen are adopting these values and adjusting them to their realities. The new economic and political environments have created a new sense of citizenship and there is an observable advance in the approach that business is taking in relation to the potential of its participation and of its responsibilities regarding social growth and development.

Corporate philanthropy -- or community relations, or corporate citizenship, as the local culture prefers to call it -- assumes several forms. Grantmaking is still the least frequent as companies prefer to maintain tighter control over the use of resources, either by operating their own projects in a joint effort with target communities, or by establishing partnerships with small organizations of the third sector. Stimulating volunteer work of their employees is also a form of participation.

More recently, in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico we have witnessed the emergence of associations of grantmakers and philanthropists, similar to those of the United States. Through these organizations, corporations, corporate foundations and independent foundations can share their experiences and values, coordinate their efforts and exert influence in the social and political environment.     

The Effect of New Legislation on the Disclosure of Performance Indicators: The Case of Spanish Local Governments

This article analyzes the effect of new accounting legislation on the disclosure of performance indicators in the financial statements of Spanish local governments. Based on agency and institutional theories, the article also assesses whether the disclosure of performance indicators is used to make the monitoring of local government performance easier for stakeholders or merely to project an image of good management. The results show that the enactment of new legislation has only led to a partial implementation, most local governments disclosing financial and budgetary indicators but very few providing indicators related to the performance of public services. The institutional theory (symbolic value) seems to be the rationale that best explains this pattern of disclosure.     

Do Electoral Risks Moderate the Effect of Partisan and Electoral Cycles on Debt-Financed Local Spending?

Governments’ use of debt as a political instrument has been widely studied from the perspective of partisan and electoral cycles, mainly concerning central government. On the whole, previous studies have attempted to determine the effects of political ideology and the proximity of elections on the opportunistic use of public spending. The current study aims to broaden the scope of attention to the effect of partisan and electoral cycles on debt, by means of a broader consideration of the motives that lead politicians to take on a deficit and that are usually linked to the associated electoral risk. More particularly, we examine whether, during the electoral period, greater confidence in re-election can modify party behaviour concerning the use of public spending, and if so, whether the change is greater or smaller depending on the ruling party’s ideology. The results obtained show that local administrations need to incur debt, although politicians take on more liability than is appropriate to their demographic and economic characteristics, especially in an election year. It was also found that political stability favours a reduction in the public deficit, a pattern that is maintained in electoral periods. This effect was found to be independent of the partisan cycle.     

Members of Parliament representing Barcelona during the rise of the Spanish parliamentary system (1834–54)

SUMMARY

The province of Barcelona became one of the major industrial regions at the outset of the first industrial revolution in Spain. The province of Barcelona had a distinctive place in the Spanish monarchy and it was an area where agriculture was the most important economic activity. This situation coincided with the beginning of liberal parliamentarism in Spain and it determined the profile of the Catalan MPs. For this reason, this article explores the profiles of the 85 deputies elected by the province of Barcelona during the period of liberal parliamentarianism (1834–54). The date and place of birth, profession, parliamentary experience and political militancy are examined, as is the development of cursus honorum, the ladder of political career advancement, based on the ‘course of honours/offices’ that operated in ancient Rome for men of senatorial rank and comprised a mixture of administrative and political posts. A quantitative analysis indicates a characteristic profile that is also aligned to a general European pattern. For instance, liberal professionals and public officials were significant in the professional status of the MPs. Besides, this study also considers the issues and questions which attracted the attention of the Catalan MPs and which were also willingly used by the MPs to mobilize public opinion. Furthermore, the MPs chosen by the province of Barcelona during the rise of the parliamentary system acted in an autonomous manner. Important examples of this autonomous political behaviour include the defence of a unitary position concerning industrial issues, military intervention in the province of Barcelona, and with tax policies.     

Identification of Human Remains by DNA Analysis of the Gastrointestinal Contents of Fly Larvae

Dipterous fly larvae (maggots) are frequently collected from a corpse during a criminal investigation. Previous studies showed that DNA analysis of the gastrointestinal contents of maggots might be used to reveal the identity of a victim. However, this approach has not been used to date in legal investigations, and thus its practical usefulness is unknown. A badly burned body was discovered with its face and neck colonized by fly larvae. Given the condition of the body, identification was not possible. Short tandem repeat (STR) typing was performed using the gastrointestinal contents of maggots collected from the victim and was compared to STR profiles obtained from the alleged father. The probability of paternity was 99.685%. Thus, this comparative DNA test enabled the conclusive identification of the remains. This is the first reported case of analysis of human DNA isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of maggots used to identify a victim in a criminal case.