Book Reviews

The past decade has seen many developments in anti‐discrimination law in Great Britain, from the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Treaty of Amsterdam 1997, to the EU framework directive for equal treatment in employment introducing three new protected grounds between 2003 and 2006 (and the subsequent extension beyond employment, in national law, of two of those grounds). All of these, and myriad implementing regulations, build on the national foundations set by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976. With formal equality remaining the dominant model, this article looks at the scope for positive measures within British anti‐discrimination law.     

The ‘Anti-politics machine’ in India: Depoliticisation through local institution building for participatory watershed development

This article investigates the rationale and implications of creating non-elected community-based bodies for India's national watershed development programme in 1994. A discourse of depoliticisation is in use to justify the creation of ‘apolitical’ watershed committees in contrast to ‘political’ panchayats, ostensibly unsuitable for participatory development for their embodiment of political contestation and vested interests. The discourse masks conflicts between key actors in India's development process and is highly malleable, acquiring pertinent meanings in specific contexts. Case-study evidence from two project villages in a south Indian district shows that the attempt to depoliticise this programme of panchayat politics fails, but sets up the ground for depoliticisation of another sort, by distancing watershed project spaces from pro-poor progressive politics.     

Overcoming Selection Bias in Microcredit Impact Assessments: A Case Study in Peru

There are several potential sources of bias in microcredit impact assessments. This paper uses a panel data set from a Peruvian MFI to test for impact of credit on microenterprise profits, while controlling for these biases. We find that those who will eventually become borrowers have significantly higher incomes than those who will not become borrowers, implying that selection into the lending programme is a substantial problem. After controlling for this selection, we find that an average microentrepreneur who borrows earns significantly higher enterprise profits than one who does not borrow, and that naïve models, which do not control for selection, overestimate this impact. Fixed effects estimates give roughly the same results as the quasi-experimental cross-section analysis.     

Part-Time Work,Gender and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from a Developing Country

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between part-time work and job satisfaction in Honduras. In contrast to previous work for developed countries, this paper does not find higher job satisfaction among women working part-time. Instead, for both women and men, job satisfaction is higher when in full-time work, although this finding is stronger for men. Consistent with an interpretation of working part-time as luxury consumption, the paper finds that partnered women with children, poor women or women working in the informal sector are more likely to report higher job satisfaction when working full-time than single women, partnered women without children, non-poor women or women working in the formal sector.     

Foreign direct investment and technology capabilities in the developing countries: a review

Economically developing countries are facing the very difficult problems of mastering the skills involved in newly emerging science-intensive industries. To improve technological capabilities, they must expend resources to establish themselves in industries that are technologically mature. Transfer of knowledge is the crux of the direct investment, so in this context transfer of technology (ToT) plays a vital role in the economic and technological development. So, the wide spread discussion of “economic globalization” has involved an important debate on the role of technology in “economic globalization” and economic growth. Much of that debates has concentrated of corporate behaviour within the developed countries but transfer of technology (ToT) combines the development of indiginous technological capabilities also. At the same time, organizational skills, procedure, and assumptions within the globalization of technology need to be adapted to fit the new technology in the developing countries. Thus this paper try to explain the story of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economic growth and development of technology through technological capabilities that provides for an increasingly intense end of domestic competition. The paper also analysis and review the effect of access to technology and level of competition, on the level of technological capabilities by inference a strategy for the success acquisition of technology in developing countries.     

Unpacking the Global Perspective: Examining NISPAcee Region-Focused Public Administration Research in American Scholarly Journals

Comparative and international public administration research in the United States (US) has enjoyed moments of both prestige and inattention over the last several decades, variation that is important in that it reflects the efforts of a scholarly field to contribute to improved individual and organizational performance. These contributions are, in and of themselves, worthy of attention and critical reflection. This article examines public administration research focused on the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe region published in US-based academic journals from 1997 to 2012, discussing trends that have characterized empirical and conceptual research during that period. The article concludes with comments on collaboration in public administration research.     

A review of the main determinants and characteristics of centre-local relations in Zimbabwe

This paper examines the main determinants shaping the ultimate nature of centre -local relations in the world' s countries with particular reference to Zimbabwe. These determinants are seen to result in two broad and generalist types of centre-local relations, namely, functional and territorial centre-local relations. Zimbabwe's colonial and post-colonial centre-local relations are then examined within the framework of the two broad models of centre-local relations, and are seen to be largely consisting of functional centre-local relations despite the post-colonial politicians's rhetoric in favour of more territorial relations. The Regional, Town and Country Planning Act (1976), the Urban Councils Act, the Rural Councils Act and the District Councils Act, all indicate a functional prevalence in the content of centre-local relations. The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe's 1984 Directive on decentralisation of administrative structures and the appointment of provincial governors equally indicates a functional preference by design or default in centre-local relations. The paper concludes by emphasizing the relationship between centre-local relations and planning systems at national, regional and local levels.     

Municipal forecasting practice: “demand” and “supply” side perspectives

Findings from a nationwide survey of Government Finance Officers Association members confirm previous research that indicates an over reliance on judgmental as opposed to quantitative forecast methods, for both revenue and expenditures. While incumbents in larger cities, and with advanced degrees, evidence greater forecast training than their small-city, baccalaureate-only counterparts, this differentiation fails to materialize in forecast practice. MPA's are at a disadvantage relative to MBA's In regression and econometrics. Content analysis of leading public administration texts suggests why utilization may be retarded in practice: forecasting, like many other “nuts and bolts” areas in public financial management, is displaced by continued treatment of budget format, budget theory, and public finance. This lends credence to recent reports of increasing practitioner dissatisfaction with academic-based consulting and training in the field, and raises questions about the need for NASPAA to exercise greater control with regard to the public financial management curriculum.