区域水资源共享冲突的网络治理模式创新

水资源是关系国计民生的重要战略性自然资源,具有多种属性。2009年世界水日的主题(跨界水:共享的水、共享的机遇)引发了各国对跨界水资源治理制度的关注。典型的市场治理或科层治理机制已经无法解决跨界水资源多维属性的复杂问题,其治理效果和效率在不断降低。本文从我国的水资源共享冲突区域现实及9+2合作区的构建出发,认为我国的区域水资源共享冲突治理需要借鉴西方的网络治理模式,以提高治理效率。西方学者提出的共享型治理、领导型网络治理和行政型网络治理三种不同的网络治理结构模式在我国不具备独立存在的环境,认为水资源的共享治理创新将涉及流域沿途的不同区域不同部门,以及同一区域不同层次的各部门。应该建立一种兼具领导型网络与行政型网络的复杂治理结构,即按照传统的自上而下层级结构建立纵向的权力层次,并按照新兴的各种利益集团组织建立横向的行动规则,形成区域公共物品或公共服务的共享供给和实施决策机制。     

A study of Spanish companies＇ hedging strategies in Latin America

This paper looks at the impact that unanticipated changes in the exchange rate, specifically the currency crises that took place in Latin America between 1998 and 2004, had on the value of Spanish companies in this emerging region. It also studies the strategies, decisions, measures and initiatives that these firms made to improve the effectiveness of their hedging activities. Building upon previous studies in industrialized countries, the study applies a broad perspective as it takes a cross-functional approach by including finance, strategic planning, marketing, and operations management in the analysis. The data was collected from interviews containing structured and open-ended questions with senior managers and directors of the largest Spanish investors in Latin America and then analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative study involves a time series regression to calculate a foreign exchange exposure coefficient. The qualitative analysis uses a systematic approach to develop categories from the data gathered in the interviews. The research results suggest that foreign companies exposed to exchange risks in emerging markets gain resilience when decentralizing the decision-making and implementation of hedging initiatives to subsidiaries to： （1） Elaborate scenarios, （2） assess possible impacts of exchange rate variations, （3） design pre-emptive measures, and （4） set alternative strategies to mitigate potential impacts. This multi-functional and systemic approach to manage risks seems to offer companies higher flexibility and new knowledge that can be shared among subsidiaries working in similar economic and political environments.     

Not just any toilet – women’s solutions to sanitation in informal settlements in Nairobi

Evidence suggests sanitation development is more effective when women are involved. The purpose of this study was to provide women with an opportunity to share their perspectives and solutions to sanitation in informal settlements. Data were collected through 55 in-depth interviews with women in Mathare Valley informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. The most common solution was to build more toilets, but women had a variety of suggestions – including gender-specific solutions. Findings from this study suggest that it is imperative to start addressing women-specific burdens associated with sanitation in informal settlements.     

关于精装房交付标准的探讨——以王某诉某房地产公司商品房预售合同纠纷案为例

目前,关于精装房的交付标准并没有法律规范作出具体的要求。然而精装房的特殊性决定了其对于装修质量有着更高的要求,比如空气质量等。但是如果业主与开发商在商品房预售合同中没有作出关于交付标准的特别约定,业主并不能以交付房屋的空气质量不符合相关文件规定为由主张开发商违约。类似纠纷在司法实务中日趋常见,相关装饰装修验收标准法律位阶较低且不具统一性,很难成为业主抗辩开发商的有力依据。所以,根据精装房的特点,修改并完善目前的住宅交付使用标准是保护业主权益,保障房地产市场健康发展的必然选择。     

FDI in small states and unattractive markets: the case of São Tomé and Príncipe

ABSTRACT

Studies on Small States, ‘unattractive’ markets, namely those from Africa, are very scarce. São Tomé and Príncipe (STP), a Small State, insular economy, has had considerable momentum in attracting FDI in the last decade albeit its geographical and demographic constraints and relative weak economic growth. The current study uncovers the potential determinants of FDI in unattractive markets using STP as a case study. Based on (robust) logistic estimations on a sample of 56 Portuguese companies that have trade relations with African countries, we show that in the case of Small States economies and unattractive markets, the relevance of institutional factors and resource seeking strategies surpass internalisation and location factors related to market size and dynamics. We further uncovered that foreign companies’ characteristics, namely size and (general) human capital, are critical in explaining companies’ likelihood to invest in an ‘unattractive’ market.     

Market men and station women: changing significations of gendered space in Accra,Ghana

It is impossible to understand the gendered relation between women and public space without taking into account its other, that is, male engagements with and in space. Our joint paper contrasts the public spaces of a market and a bus station in central Accra, Ghana. While the former is historically associated with female entrepreneurship, masculinity is deeply inscribed in the activities defining the latter. However, recent developments gradually undermine these gendered divides. By focusing on interpersonal claims to entrepreneurial places in the two locations, we illustrate how the configurations and co-constructions of gender and space are exposed to on-going, often subtle shifts, which are impelled by dialectically grounded transformations of quotidian spatial practices and social relations. Expanding upon the notion of viri–/uxorilocality, we explore shifts in the gendered strategies of newcomers establishing their presence in the two spaces and the extent to which these practices may alter gendered spatial significations.     

Why is basic service access worse in slums? A synthesis of obstacles

Many residents of urban areas face joint obstacles to basic service access, but these barriers are more prevalent and severe in slum settlements. Analyses of obstacles have typically been conducted in a piecemeal rather than synthetic framework and have focused on access to single services rather than the range of services needed to support household welfare. By contrast, this study uses data from fieldwork in four slum settlements situated in Hyderabad, India to develop a typology synthesising the obstacles – economic, spatial, social, institutional, and political – to the full range of service access desired by residents. Economic differences explain little of the access deficit within this population. While social and institutional obstacles are more likely to explain slum formation and residence over the long term, variation in spatial and political factors present the most acute short-term access barriers. The article concludes by suggesting the most promising means for slum residents and supporting stakeholders to overcome multi-faceted obstacles.     

Reputation in a dark network of online criminals

This paper focuses on criminals who could easily be labelled as entrepreneurs and who deal in compromised computer systems. Known as botmasters, these individuals use their technical skills to take over and control personal, business and governmental computers. These networks of hijacked computers are known as botnets in the security industry. With this massive computing power, these criminals can send large amounts of spam, attack web servers or steal financial data – all for a fee. As entrepreneurs, the botmasters' main goal is to achieve the highest level of success possible. In their case, this achievement can be measured in the illegitimate revenues they earn from the leasing of their botnet. Based on the evidence gathered in literature on legitimate and illegitimate markets, this paper sets to understand how reputation could relate to criminal achievement as well as what factors impact a heightened level of reputation in a criminal market.     

Carbon markets and the new ‘Carbon Violence’: A Ugandan study

Abstract

This article examines the expansion of the global carbon economy, including a critical evaluation of its local level impacts. The authors describe the growing international support for carbon markets amongst governments, international institutions and financial investors as a response to human-induced climate change. By putting a price on carbon, proponents argue that carbon markets represent a win-win-win scenario; delivering benefits to local landholders where ecosystem services occur, as well as conferring benefits to investors and the environment. Plantation forestry represents a rapidly expanding sector in the broader carbon economy, with plantations representing one of a number of ‘flex crops’ able to be variously sold on the basis of their value as fuel, timber and carbon storage. To examine the impacts of expanding plantation forestry carbon markets, we take the case of Green Resources, reportedly the largest plantation forestry operator on the African continent. Drawing from in-depth research in 2012-2013 with affected communities in Uganda, the article examines the diverse historical and contemporary structural violence on which expansion of plantation forestry allegedly relies. Building upon earlier literature on violence (for example, Galtung [1990] and Watts [2001]), the authors introduce a new term ‘carbon violence’ to frame the distinctive forms of reported violence occurring alongside the burgeoning plantation forestry industry.