School Engagement in Times of Confinement: A Stress Process Approach

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - The first COVID-19 confinement induced dramatic changes in the lives of adolescents, but little is known about the processes that affected youth engagement with...     

BUILDING ENFORCEMENT CAPACITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE MEXICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM

Building enforcement capacity, that is, attaining and sustaining control in order to implement changes, is crucial for the success of public management reforms. However, this aspect of public management reform does not receive much theoretical or empirical attention. This paper analyzes the process of building enforcement capacity for the case of the Mexican Professional Civil Service reform. Although this reform experienced several complications (e.g., limited support, resources, and credibility), important goals were attained and some control was achieved. We study how officials attained control over implementation through the adaptive management of combinations of different types of control strategies (regulatory, normative, and procedural). The case study, focused on the analysis of in‐depth interviews with the highest officials involved in the implementation of this reform, finds evidence for three combinations of strategies next to a general pattern characterized by a trade‐off between compliance and coordination. This trade‐off shows that the process of building enforcement capacity may affect the goals of the reform, deviating from lawmakers' original intentions Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Negotiated peace versus victor's peace: the geopolitics of peace and conflict in Sri Lanka

In examining the failure of the 2002 peace process between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), this essay argues for the need to go beyond the power dynamics of the local actors. The peace process was dismantled and military victory by the Sri Lankan government made possible not so much by the Sinhala nationalist discourse, which opposed administration of development aid by the LTTE, as by the global security discourse associated with geo-strategic interests. The EU-led development discourse, which was informed by the liberal internationalist ethos, could have facilitated resolution and transformation of the conflict. In its place a security-based, realist discourse was prioritized in South Asia by the UK and US governments, particularly after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. This was the discourse which provided the material basis for the Sinhala nationalists to consolidate their power in pursuing a military victory. The post-war era is marked by geopoliticization of the human rights discourse, deepening the conflict. This essay explores the correlation between the liberal peace model, human rights, international relations and geopolitics.     

Growth and Poverty Revisited from a Multidimensional Perspective

The actual impact of economic growth on poverty reduction is of fundamental importance to the development agenda. This paper offers new empirical evidence on growth and poverty measured from a multidimensional perspective using the global Multidimensional Poverty Index. Results from a First Difference Estimator Model suggest that while economic growth reduces multidimensional poverty, this impact is well below a one-to-one relationship and lower than the impact of growth on income poverty. Results from a cross-section model additionally suggest that countries with higher levels of exports, higher share of industry and services and higher control of corruption have lower multidimensional poverty.     

How has the private sector reacted to the international standard against transnational bribery? Evidence from corporate anticorruption compliance programs in Argentina

In the last 20 years, the risks of bribing foreign public officials have greatly increased for multinational companies based in OECD countries and those listed on their stock markets. Generally, these risks can be mitigated through corporate compliance programs. Such compliance programs are directed at reducing bribery and other unethical behavior in the private sector. This paper assesses how the international standard against transnational bribery has impacted anticorruption compliance programs in Argentina. It first traces the origins and logics behind corporate anticorruption compliance. It later describes the international standard against transnational bribery and, in the light of information collected through 16 in-depth interviews and a survey conducted among 70 companies based in Argentina, it assesses how corporate anticorruption programs work in this country. After distinguishing between “paper”, “cheap-talk” ideal-type programs and sound, truly committed ideal-type policies, it suggests that anticorruption compliance in Argentina is placed closer to the former than the latter, and it offers possible reasons for such findings.     

Estimating intersectoral technology spillovers for Brazil

This paper aims to evaluate the main intersectoral R&D flows in the Brazilian economy, determining their direction and magnitude. Unlike other studies that focus exclusively on rent spillovers flows of R&D, this paper also calculates spillovers with total spending on innovation in addition to R&D expenditure. In the case of developing countries, where R&D is of lower relative importance, we assume that technological effort is measured more accurately if it is considered as different types of innovative expenditure. We used data from the Technological Innovation Survey, conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics with the support of Ministry of Science and Technology and data from an input–output matrix for the Brazilian economy, calibrated by Laboratório de Analises Territoriais e Setoriais—LATES of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora. The analysis is from the year 2011 and covers 32 sectors of economic activity resulting from the compatibility of the two databases. The main results show a mapping of the intersectoral flow of knowledge embodied both by the total expenditure on innovation and by in-house R&D to Brazil for the year 2011. It is important to highlight the wealth of detail of such a mapping, as it characterizes not only by sectoral interdependence of these aspects, but it also shows the direction of flows, the sectoral hierarchy in terms of “donation” of technical knowledge and the intersectoral flows in terms of technological intensity.     

Accuracy of developing tooth length as an estimate of age in human skeletal remains: the deciduous dentition

Dental age assessments are widely used to estimate age of immature skeletal remains. Most methods have relied on fractional stages of tooth emergence and formation, particularly of the permanent dentition, for predicting the age of infants and very young children. In this study, the accuracy of regression equations of developing deciduous tooth length for age estimation (Liversidge et al.) is tested on a sample of 30 Portuguese subadult skeletons of known age at death. Overall the method shows high accuracy and the average difference between estimated and chronological age is between 0.20 and -0.14 years when using single teeth, and 0.06 years, when using all available teeth. However, there is a tendency for the deciduous molars to provide overestimates of chronological age. Results show that age estimates can be obtained within +/-0.10 years with a 95% confidence interval when several teeth are used. Overall between-tooth agreement in age estimates decreases with increasing age but there is less variability of estimates with more teeth contributing to overall mean age. One seemingly limitation of this method may be the fact that it was developed by combining the maxillary and mandibular teeth. The other is related to the accuracy with which radiographic tooth length can be used as a valid surrogate for actual tooth length. Nevertheless, the advantages of this metric method surpass the limitations of chronologies based on stages of dental development.     

A Checklist of Calliphoridae Blowflies (Insecta,Diptera) Associated with a Pig Carrion in Central Brazil*

Abstract: Although the Cerrado is the second major Brazilian biome, few studies have been undertaken about its entomofauna. Blowflies have an important role in forensic entomology, helping in the determination of postmortem intervals. The main goal of this exploratory study was to identify and to catalog the blowfly species associated with a pig carcass. The study was conducted in a pasture in Brasília, Distrito Federal. A pig (Sus scrofa) was killed with a .22 caliber shot in the frontal region of the head. Adult blowflies were surveyed daily from June 1 through 30, 2004. A total of 14,910 adult calliphorids were collected, representing eight species: Chrysomya albiceps, C. megacephala, Cochliomyia macellaria, Chloroprocta idioidea, Hemilucilia semidiaphana, H. segmentaria, Lucilia cuprina, and L. eximia. C. albiceps was the most frequent species, amounting to 94.76% of the catch. Five decomposition stages were observed, and for calliphorids, the most attractive stage was the bloated one.     

How are Argentina and Chile facing shared biodiversity loss?

Biodiversity loss remains one of the most pressing issues for global governance. This situation can be seen in Argentina and Chile through the effects of biodiversity loss caused by the introduction and expansion of beavers in Southern Patagonia. This case is interesting because, despite the Beagle conflict (i.e., the border dispute) between these countries some decades ago, nowadays Argentina and Chile are facing shared environmental problems and both are actively seeking solutions. The main question in this paper is, how did Argentina and Chile search for a solution to shared environmental problems caused by the expansion of beavers in Southern Patagonia? This paper tackles this question and presents the results of the conducted qualitative research. The results indicate that, in order to understand what Argentina and Chile are doing to achieve a solution to their shared environmental problems, research cannot be exclusively focus on domestic affairs. Instead, this issue requires taking into account how international dimensions influenced domestic policies. As this paper argues, in Argentina and Chile, international cooperation is a method of influencing biodiversity governance through funds granted by international organizations and international expert recommendations.