Governance Strategies and Welfare Effects: Vertical Integration and Contracts in the Catfish Sector in Vietnam

Abstract

Using an original dataset from the Vietnamese catfish sector, we study the impact of vertical coordination options on household welfare and the implications of different stages of vertical coordination for the success of the whole sector. The welfare gain from contract farming and employment on processor-owned estate farms is estimated using a maximum simulated likelihood estimator. Our results show positive welfare effects from participating in contract farming, but not from employment on processor-owned estate farms. The results imply that contract farming presents opportunities for economic growth, but additional effort is required to make the contracts more accessible to smallholders.     

Proxy Politics,Economic Protest,or Traditionalist Backlash: Croatia’s Referendum on the Constitutional Definition of Marriage

This article sheds light on the popular sources of opposition to the extension of gay rights in Eastern Europe by analysing the results of the 2013 Croatian referendum on the constitutional definition of marriage—the first referendum of this kind in Europe. Contrary to popular interpretations, our aggregate-level analysis reveals that the referendum results primarily reflected the pattern of support for the two principal electoral blocs, rather than communities’ traditionalist characteristics or grievances stemming from economic adversity. The article thereby stresses the importance of embedding the issue of contention over gay rights in Eastern Europe into the context of conventional political competition.     

Mir-Said Sultan-Galiev and the idea of Muslim Marxism: empire,Third World(s) and praxis

Abstract

This paper revisits the idea of Muslim Marxism, as espoused through the life and work of the Tatar Muslim and Bolshevik intellectual and revolutionary Mir-Said Sultan-Galiev (1892–1940). I argue that Sultan-Galiev’s oeuvre – a unique synthesis of Marxist, Muslim modernist, anti-colonial and Third World praxis – represents a path-breaking take on Muslim selfhood and practices of belonging.     

“One,none, and a hundred thousand” recipes for a robust response to turbulence

Turbulence appears to be a “new normal” in current societies, and public organizations need to learn how to react and adapt to it. Scholars agree on the need for robust actions to respond to turbulence. Through a qualitative comparative analysis performed on the vaccination campaigns of all 20 Italian regions, our paper explores whether different and alternative models of robustness may exist to cope with turbulence. Results shed light on three alternative models featuring static, hybrid, and dynamic robustness. They also highlight that robust governance appears to involve a capacity to learn, and to employ this learning as circumstances demand.     

How many truths are there? Reconciliation and agonistic dialogue in the former Yugoslavia

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we offer a possible interpretation of reconciliation in the former Yugoslav area. In a conflicting past and not-reconciled region, it is presumed that the truth should be the main pillar of reconciliation. However, according to our empirical analysis of 146 reconciliation projects implemented in the period between 2002 and 2015, there are many interpretations of truths in the region which are opposed to each other. These interpretations are the result of different national political constructions, supported by the dominant structures of the societies in question. Accordingly, instead of insisting on a single factual truth, we propose the introduction of the ‘agonistic dialogue’ principle, where multiple truths would coexist, thus turning former war enemies into political adversaries in the post-conflict setting.     

Identification and analysis of human remains recovered from wells from the 1991 War in Croatia

From 1996 to the present, the remains of 61 individuals killed during the 1991 War in Croatia were recovered from both dried out and functioning wells. Positive identification was established in 60.7% or 37/61 cases. Remains recovered from the same geographical region but from non-well settings were identified in 77.4% or 1256/1623 cases. The purpose of this paper is to report on the taphonomic, demographic and trauma characteristics of remains recovered from wells and identify factors responsible for the discrepancy in the identification ratios. The age and sex distributions in the well and non-well series were similar, as were the frequencies of recovered personal documents, jewelry and other artifacts. The taphonomic features of the remains were, however, significantly different. Preservation of remains was considerably better in non-well settings (1400/1623 or 86.3% compared to 40/61 or 65.5% in wells). Congruently, commingling of remains was more frequent in wells (26/61 or 42.6% compared to 77/1623 or 4.7% in non-well settings). In bodies recovered from non-well settings the preservation, state and commingling of the remains were strongly correlated with positive identification. None of these features were correlated with the identification of bodies from wells. Instead, identification of remains from wells was significantly affected by the presence or absence of water in the well. As both series have similar frequencies, and identical rankings of identification factors, the reason for the discrepancy in the identification ratios lies in the fact that by themselves, these factors were rarely sufficient for positive identification. In both series the majority of identifications (51.4% in the well, and 58.1% in the non-well series) were established through a combination of biological and non-biological features. The significantly lower identification ratio in the well series resulted from the difficult recovery conditions in wells with significant amounts of water, and the negative effect that water had on the preservation of clothing, personal artifacts and some dental features. Significant differences were also noted in the types and locations of perimortem traumas. There is a significantly higher frequency of entrance gunshot wounds to the back of the head, suggestive of execution style murders, in the well series.