What price access to the open seas? The geopolitics of oil and gas transmission from the Trans-Caspian republics

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was the world's largest hydrocarbon producer. The landmass over which these resources are distributed is vast and the reserves mostly landlocked. To convey these hydrocarbons to refineries and to market, the Soviets constructed the largest integrated pipeline networks in the world. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, new competing national interests have produced tensions over these energy resources and transmission corridors, with economically detrimental and often irrational consequences. In Central Asia, the post-Soviet Republics of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan produce significant amounts of hydrocarbons and export their oil and gas to or through Russian Federation territory. Russian government policy aims to continue exercising political control over these resources and to maximize Moscow's share of profits from their export. This paper examines oil and gas transmission issues in Central Asia, against a backdrop of emerging new relationships between the Russian Federation and the three post-Soviet republics, the resurgent strategic competition between Russia and the United States, China's developing power base in the region and Iran's potentially key geographic position for channelling Caspian energy supplies towards the Persian Gulf.     

Measuring the Effects of Post-Government-Employment Restrictions

The "revolving door" problem linking private interests and governmentdecision makers has become an important mechanism in the implementationof influence peddling. The "revolving door" problem is premisedon the assumption that a market exists for the services of formergovernment employees. However, no attempt has been made to providea measure of the value of these services, nor to evaluate theeffect of regulations intended to curb the problem. This articleattempts to fill this gap by utilizing an event-study methodologyto measure the effect of gaining "access" to government underalternative regulations.     

Democracy,credibility, and sound economics: The Israeli hyperinflation

The 1985 Israeli economic stabilization program provides a rare case of stable (as of late 1996) success under democratic auspices without major social disorder. Existing explanations for the success of the Israeli reforms overemphasize economics at the expense of politics. This paper analyzes the political causes of the early 1980s Israeli hyperinflation. The program's economic measures and performance are reviewed. The Israeli economic stabilization program succeeded because it was considered credible by the Israeli public. The social and political factors that contributed to the program's credibility are investigated and their importance is ranked. The applicability of the paper to other economic reforms under democratic auspices is highlighted and future research is outlined.     

Not searching,but finding: how innovation shapes perceptions about universities and public research organisations

Previous research about firms’ perceptions on the usefulness of public research has not distinguished between technological innovators and non-innovators. With the exception of openness of search, we find that factors shaping such perceptions differ in both types of firms. Non-innovators need market power and the presence of an R&D department to profit from public knowledge. Innovators need less sheltered environments and lesser R&D effort, though the availability of resources and absorptive capacity is necessary. Using a sample of 1,031 Spanish manufacturing firms, we conclude that practical experience in technological innovation enhances firms’ perceptions on the usefulness of public research, not directly but by enabling certain internal changes, i.e. it produces encounters between corporate choices and public research.     

Memories of parenting practices are associated with psychopathy in juvenile male offenders

Despite the large body of research documenting parenting practices as risk factors for the development of child and adolescent disruptive behaviour, the association with psychopathy is notably less known. The goal was to examine, in 75 institutionalized juvenile male offenders, the association between self-reported memories of parenting practices during childhood (Alabama Parenting Questionnaire) and psychopathy (Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version). Results showed that ineffective parenting practices as inconsistent discipline and poor monitoring/supervision were significantly associated with increased levels of psychopathic traits. Interestingly, only two of the four facets of the construct, lifestyle and antisocial, were associated with these parenting behaviours. Findings highlight the importance of considering parenting practices in the study of the early development of psychopathy and suggest that the facets could be rooted in distinct underlying etiologic-dispositional factors with differentiated developmental pathways and different psychosocial correlates. The study lends support to the multidimensional approach of psychopathy as a syndrome.     

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.     

El federalismo cooperativo como factor catalizador de un Gobierno Abierto

The paper aims at outlining a framework of analysis that substantiates the significance of collaboration among governments, under the assumption that a rigid system of competition tends to result in the splintering of public affair solutions in government agendas. Cooperative federalism, to the degree that it may produce intergovernmental relations, points towards a support of holistic solutions to demands written into the action plan that serves as a precondition to enrollment in the Open Government Partnership (ogp). The proposal presented by Mexican representatives during the June 2012 meeting in Brasilia, envisioning governmental aperture at the subnational and local levels, would have more possibilities of success if minimal bases for cooperative federalism that may serve to manage public affairs are set forth previously.     

Effect of Temperature on Bone Tissue: Histological Changes

The analysis of burned human remains has been of great interest among forensic anthropologists largely due to the difficulty that their recovery, classification, reconstruction, and identification present. The main purpose of this analysis is to present histological methodology for the interpretation of bones altered by thermal processes. We include analyses of the microscopic changes among bones exposed to different temperatures, with the goal of establishing categories of histological morphology in relation to fire temperature. Samples of bone (ilium) were exposed systematically to controlled temperatures. Analysis of the resulting histological changes has allowed the formation of a clear four‐stage classification of the alterations observed. This classification should prove useful in assessing bone changes in relation to temperature of exposure, particularly in cases where this temperature was previously not known.