Who Benefits? The Interactional Determinants of Microfinance’s Varied Effects

Since its emergence as a development tool, scholars and practitioners have questioned microfinance’s short- and long-term impacts but have had insufficient empirical evidence to assess them. To address this gap, this paper draws on mixed method research to assess the effects of microfinance loan and educational services over time. It explores why, even within the same microfinance institution (MFI), some borrowers benefit from microfinance services more than others in the short-term, and examines how this translates into long-term impacts. The article identifies understudied sources of intra-group variation: the diversity and choices of borrowers and MFI employees interacting with each other and their broader contexts.     

Public health financing,environmental quality,and the quality of life in Nigeria

This study explores the relationship between health financing, environmental quality, and the quality of life in Nigeria. The Bayer and Hanck cointegration test affirms cointegration. Findings further reveal that CO₂ emissions have no meaningful impact on life expectancy in the short run. In the long run, urbanization significantly deteriorates the quality of life. Also, public health expenditure has not contributed meaningfully to the quality of life. The study discovers no evidence of a feedback causality, but a one‐way causality flowing from urbanization to CO₂ emissions. Policies that can enhance a sustainable environment and improve the quality of life are discussed.     

The Consequences of Victim Physical Attractiveness on Reactions to Injustice: The Role of Observers’ Belief in a Just World

Two studies explored Dion and Dion’s (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 775–780, 1987) suggestion that the belief in a just world may contribute to the “beauty is good” stereotype. In Study 1, we found that participants rated the death of a woman as more tragic and unfair when she was physically attractive than less attractive. Participants were also more punitive towards agents of harm when the victim was physically attractive. In Study 2, we varied the extent to which a woman suffered from a house fire and asked participants to later recognize the woman’s picture among several choices varying in physical attractiveness. Participants who learned that the woman suffered a great deal remembered her to be less physically attractive than when her suffering was minimal. The results are discussed in terms of how the justice motive contributes to the evaluative and moral importance attached to physical attractiveness.

A model of parental involvement in adolescent drinking and driving

This article presents a model of parental involvement in prevention of teenage drinking and driving. Research findings are reviewed on why adolescents drink and drive, and what parents' knowledge, attitudes, and practices are related to youthful impaired driving. Reasons for parents' ineffectiveness at intervening to prevent their teenagers from drinking and driving are described. It is suggested that parents' effectiveness at preventing alcohol use and alcohol-impaired driving among their teenagers depends upon their stage of involvement. The different stages of parental involvement are defined as awareness, acceptance, action, and consequences. The specific components of these stages are described, and evidence is presented indicating that parents tend to be unaware of the true extent and nature of teen drinking, and thus less prone to acceptance and action.Received Ph.D. in social psychology from Syracuse University. Research interests: impaired driving, adolescent risk taking, substance abuse, and health threat perception.Received M.P.H. in health education from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Research interests: alcohol-impaired driving.     

Attitudes to corruption amongst Russian police officers and trainees

The police are perceived by overseas agencies to play a key role in thedevelopment of democratic states. In the Russian Federation, the promotion of trust between the police and the public has been hampered by the fact that police are perceived by the public, and reported by the media, to be open to using their positions at work to obtain money, goods or services. Survey research about beliefs and values concerning corruption was conductedamongst students and serving officers attending a police institute, whichprovides the most promising Russian police recruits with a four-year higher education leading to the rank of ``officer'. From these ranks will come those police who are likely in future to shape both policy and institutional values. The data provided evidence that ``fast-streamed' police recruits think that corruption is often justifiable and/or morally acceptable underparticular circumstances, or for particular goals.     

Remembrance of Things Past: the Lingering Impact of History on Contemporary Polish–Ukrainian Relations

This article investigates the continuing influence of the past on contemporary politics in Poland and Ukraine by examining the impact of the vocal ‘informed’ segment of public opinion on mutual relations between the two countries. The section ‘What history?’ examines the question of exactly what understanding of history matters so much in Polish–Ukrainian relations. The following sections examine how history influences the present, what are the contours of public opinion on Polish–Ukrainian relations within each state, and what is the impact of shared history on the contemporary politics of Polish–Ukrainian relations. Finally, the article suggests a potentially generaliseable hypothesis for future research.     

Political ad portraits: a visual analysis of viewer reaction to online political spoof advertisements

• The democratization of the Internet and the growing popularity of amateur video production have given rise to historic levels of voter engagement. In recent times, the populace has turned to YouTube and other similar websites to publicly voice their opinions through the posting of, and response to, amateur political videos. Political communication and campaign managers frequently struggle to consolidate, analyse, and respond to the vast array of commentary posted on the Internet in reply to these videos. The ability to quickly consolidate and interpret viewer responses to political videos provides campaign and communications' managers the opportunity to quickly make policy, positioning, or image changes. This is especially valuable considering that viewer responses provide a potentially unbiased picture of actual voter sentiment. Using the visualization software, Leximancer, we show how conversations around online political spoof videos can be mapped, interpreted, and used as a basis for strategic brand decision‐making. We discuss the implications of our findings, outline the technique's limitations, and trace avenues for further research.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.