Market,Freedom and the Illusions of Microcredit. Patronage,Caste, Class and Patriarchy in Rural South India

Abstract

As a market tool, microcredit is expected to promote individual freedom, for women in particular. By drawing on a southern Indian case, this paper argues that microcredit is in fact shaped by the power structures it is supposed to eradicate. Even if they are partly reshaped, local structures of power remain unavoidable to protect populations (something that microcredit fails to do) but also to build the microcredit market and ensure its legitimacy, for donors, local political arenas and local populations. Far beyond microcredit, our findings question the uneasy relationships between markets and individual freedoms.     

Comparison of Impact of Procedural Justice and Outcome on Victim Satisfaction: Evidence From Victims’ Experience With Registration of Property Crimes in India

Crime victim–police interface and registration of crime are the early and fundamental interactions in the criminal justice system. The process of lodging a complaint is marked by the pain of victimization, sharing of information, and expectation of quick remedial action from the police. The nature and quality of experience of the victim and outcomes impact the level of satisfaction with services of police. Through a survey of victims of property crimes, in different areas of a state in India, the author examines the impact of procedural justice and outcomes on victim satisfaction. The study illuminates the outcome oriented expectations of the victim, and the unique dynamics of victim–police interaction, which strains the legal ethical framework of the criminal justice system.     

Moving beyond nation-state: Framing state-level politics in India

The article refers to the processes that have been critical to the emergence of states as significant categories for the analysis of politics in India after a considerable period of academic neglect. It is in this context that the article considers the following research questions for discussion while referring to the state politics literature: what has been the contribution of the “first generation” of state-specific studies and to what extent has the “second generation” of inter-state comparative studies been able to take this forward? What could be the specific advantages of inter-state studies over single case studies? Finally, the article argues in favour of a need to develop further what may be considered the “third generation” of studies in the discipline, that remain comparative in nature but are in search of a much-nuanced grounded analysis; this would move beyond state-specific or inter-state studies and start taking up intra-state comparative studies, focusing on historical-cultural substate regions that have emerged as political (and economic) units within and across the constituent states of the Indian Union.     

Assessing the “will of the people”: an investigation into town service delivery satisfaction

Abstract: The “will of the people^‘’ is considered to be the highest authority in a democracy and said to be the driving force behind public policies. Yet not many past studies have assessed the level of citizen satisfaction with government services and identified ways of improving service delivery. At a municipal level, there is even less emphasis on measuring consumer satisfaction. This study measures citizens' satisfaction with municipal services in a town in Atlantic Canada. A taxonomy of government services based on user experience with the service and heterogeneity of consumer needs was developed and tested. Results indicate that while consumer satisfaction with municipal services is high, it does vary based on the nature of the service. Some action guidelines are suggested at the end of the paper to improve town service delivery. Sommaire: La «volonté du peuple» est considérée comme étant la plus haute autorité dans une démocratice, et l'on dit même que c'est elle qui est à l'origine des politiques publiques. Pourtant, peu d'études ont examiné le niveau de satisfaction du citoyen en ce qui concerne les services gouvernementaux et ont tenté de cerner les moyens permettant d'améliorer ces services. Au niveau municipal, on fait encore moins d'efforts pour mesurer la satisfaction des consommateurs. La présente étude mesure la satisfaction des citoyens à l'égard des services municipaux dans une ville située dans la région Atlantique du Canada. Une taxonomie des services gouvernementaux basée sur l'expérience des utilisateurs et sur l'hétérogénéité des besoins des consommateurs a été mise au point et testée. Les résultats indiquent que, bien que la satisfaction des consommateurs face aux services municipaux soit élevée, elle varie selon la nature de services. À la fin de l'article, on suggère quelques lignes directrices pour améliorer la prestation de services des villes.     

Shareholder wealth effects of legislative events: The case of airline deregulation

This paper presents empirical evidence about the impact on shareholder wealth of legislative events leading to the enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. In contrast to prior regulatory event studies, this paper examines not only the final legislative enactment but also the Congressional hearings that preceded it. No significant effect on shareholder wealth is indicated when averaged across all airline firms and all legislative events. Impact of deregulation, however, was expected to be different for trunk airlines than for local airlines. Moreover, market expectations likely changed with the change in the political climate during the course of deregulation deliberations, from an industry financial health emphasis under a Republican (Ford) administration to a consumer welfare emphasis under a Democratic (Carter) administration. We find that trunk airlines experienced significant positive abnormal returns during the Ford administration, but negative abnormal returns during the Carter administration. In contrast, local airlines exhibited significant negative abnormal returns during both the Ford and Carter eras. Systematic risk of both trunk and local airlines also increased with the change in the political climate.     

The Microbial Rosetta Stone database: A common structure for microbial biosecurity threat agents

Infectious microorganisms are important to multiple communities engaged in biodefense and biosecurity, including the agencies responsible for health, defense, law enforcement, agriculture, and drug and food safety. Many agencies have created lists of high priority infectious microorganisms to prioritize research efforts or to formally control the possession and distribution of specific organisms or toxins. However, the biological classification of infectious microorganisms is often complex and ambiguous, leading to uncertainty and confusion for scientists involved in biosecurity work. To address this problem, we created a database, known as the Microbial Rosetta Stone, which resolves many of these ambiguities and includes links to additional information on the microbes, such as gene sequence data and scientific literature. Here we discuss the efforts to coordinate organism names from pathogen lists from various governmental agencies according to biological relatedness and show the overlap of high-priority organisms from multiple agencies. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive coordination of pathogens, synonyms, and correct taxonomic names. The organized tables and visual aids are freely available at http://www.microbialrosettastone.com. This website provides a single location where access to information on a broad range of disease-causing organisms and toxins is available to members of the biosecurity community.