The visual politics of corruption

Despite the fact that corruption is essentially invisible, communication campaigns by the global anti-corruption industry regularly feature photographic images. So far, however, we do not know much about the narratives that are encoded in these images. Through the theoretical lens of postcolonialism, this paper takes a first step towards developing an understanding of the visual representation of corruption. Specifically, the paper applies semiotic and iconographic methods to two photography competitions run by Transparency International – the major non-governmental player in the anti-corruption industry. The analysis shows, first, that the anti-corruption industry reinforces colonial stereotypes, suggesting that the ‘sinful’ and ‘irrational’ Global South is waiting to be civilised by the North. Second, through its visual imagery, the anti-corruption industry also emphasises ideas of a ‘humanitarian family’, which serves to cover up the North’s role in transnational webs of corruption. These findings are triangulated with semiotic/iconographic analyses of the Transparency International logo and the Corruption Perceptions Index map.     

Why do men rape? Understanding the determinants of rapes in India

Abstract

The study examines the determinants of rapes in India using state-level data for the time period 2001–2015. The panel model analysis indicates that there is no impact of education and economic growth, pointing towards a larger role of social and cultural factors in this context. The effect of deterrence variables (such as the number of police stations) is non-existent, possibly pointing towards the incompetency of the police force. Social attitude towards women emerged as the most robust predictor of the extent of rapes in India. We argue that the fundamental problem lies in the misogyny deeply rooted in the Indian society.     

Benchmarking Tax Compliance Efficiency Among South African Retail Firms Using Stochastic Frontier Approach

Random selection of taxpayers for audit mostly nets tax compliant taxpayers. There is hence a need to adopt other methods that are efficient and and effective in performing their specific and general deterrence roles. This article uses profit efficiency benchmarking to analyze selected retail firms tax compliance risk in South Africa over the 2005–2006 period. It seeks to identify firms that should be audited because of their suspected tax compliance risk, using a stochastic frontier analysis. The profit efficiency estimates of 24 retail stores are used to rank them in terms of their performance. They are also tracked over time. Approximately, 50 percent of the firms performed better than the average profit efficiency of 0.39. The top 10 firms are significantly performing better. However, the bottom 50 percent of the retail firms performed poorly and could be targeted for tax audit.     

HRM: Performance Relationship: Need for Further Development?

The last decade of empirical research on the HRM value additions, also known as the “HRM and performance” debate, demonstrates evidence that HRM does matter (Huselid, 1995 Huselid, M. 1995. The impact of human resource management on turnover, productivity and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3): 635–672. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Guest et al., 2003 Guest, D.E., Michie, J., Conway, N. and Sheehan, M. 2003. Human resource management and corporate performance in the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 41(2): 291–314. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Wright et al., 2003 Wright, P., Gardner, M. and Moynihan, L. 2003. The impact of HR practices on the performance of business units. Human Resources Management Journal, 13(4): 21–36.  [Google Scholar]; Rehman et al., 2010). Unfortunately, the relationships are often statistically weak and the results ambiguous. This article reviews and attempts to extend the theoretical and methodological issues in this debate. Its aim is to build an agenda for future research in this area. A brief overview of achievements to date is followed by the theoretical and methodological issues related to what constitutes HRM, what is meant by the concept of performance, and the nature of the link between these two. In the final section, it is argued that research designs should start from a multi-dimensional concept of performance, including the perceptions of employees, and build on the premise of HR systems as an enabling device for a whole range of strategic options. This implies a reversal of the strategy-HRM linkage.     

Political-Administrative Relations in Collaborative Environmental Management

One of the central ideas of liberal democracy is to ensure broad-based citizen participation in the governance process that goes beyond simply voting. However, evidence shows that on many occasions it has been failing to do so both in the developed and developing countries. As such, this paper, based on an empirical study, analyzes the scopes, forms, and nature of citizen participation in the urban local governance process in Bangladesh. It is found that citizen participation has been nominal in the local governance process due to a number of social, political, and institutional factors, for example, electoral politics, limited citizen’s accesses to various decision-making bodies, the existence of clientelistic politics and the presence of a weak civil society.     

Citizen Satisfaction: A Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis

Governments across Europe face the challenge of responding to public demand for more valuable, responsive, and efficient and effective services. In this article we will evaluate the public services in Greece. More specifically, this article refers to a citizen's satisfaction web survey for Citizens’ Service Centers. The analysis of the data is based on the MUSA (Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis) method. MUSA is an ordinal regression model which is based on the principles of multicriteria decision analysis. The method is an instrument to evaluate quantitative global and partial satisfaction levels and to determine the weak and strong points of citizens Service Centers. Furthermore the results of this study will help the Citizens Service Centers to develop more effective services.     

Applying Functional Analysis to the Case of a Malfunctioning Education System: Addressing System Complexity and Tangled Causes

A 4-year decline culminating in a collapse of school leaver exam results sent shockwaves through the Tanzanian state education system. Students and citizens attribute the collapse to visible deficiencies in classroom teaching, which is the product of a complex, government-administered system of teacher training colleges, schools, schools inspectorate, an examinations council, and a curriculum development institution. A model of the system is constructed and ‘interrogated’ to establish a research framework of key questions and propositions for functional analysis and evaluation of the system.     

政府购买居家养老服务:模式分析与战略设计——基于比较研究的视角

政府购买居家养老服务不仅是我国应对"银色化浪潮"的重要战略选择,也是完善养老制度的重要组成部分。我国老龄化日益严重,具有"未富先老"的特点。在比较分析相关研究的基础上,总结我国政府购买居家养老服务的迫切性,概括国外政府购买居家养老服务的实践,并从我国现有的法律和文件、购买模式及面临的问题归纳现阶段政府购买居家养老服务的现状。为政府购买居家养老服务提出对策建议,以期新养老方式不断得以完善与推广,更好地满足老龄化社会的需求。     

地方政府有效引导网络舆论思考

网络舆论的日益发展和兴起给地方政府带来了新的挑战和考验,网络舆论引导成为地方政府面临的新课题。尽管地方政府非常重视网络舆论引导,但在重视程度和引导效果方面依然存在差距,普遍存在网络舆论引导效果不彰的问题。因此,不断增强地方政府网络舆论引导性的有效性是各级地方政府亟待解决的问题。     

The Needs of Women Offenders

Abstract

Recent corrections research indicates that programs and community services providing assistance and training for women offenders are lacking. Using a sample of 402 female felony offenders, women's needs, including those thought to be criminogenic (i.e., characteristics and circumstances that heighten an individual's recidivism risk), are examined to determine whether certain groups of women possess similar sets of needs. Cluster analysis is used to identify combinations of needs shared within subgroups of female felons. Identification of common and co-occurring needs, particularly those associated with high risk for recidivism, can assist program staff, advocates for women offenders, and correctional administrators in determining what combination of program elements should be available to women, and the degree to which programming must address multiple domains.