Public–Private Partnership in Tunisia: Enfidha Airport Assessment of an Infrastructure Achievement

One of the largest recent private-sector investments and the first airport private-sector concession in the Maghreb is Enfidha Airport, a key factor in the success of the Tunisian Government’s public–private partnership (PPP) strategy. However, since Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution, political and social turmoil is sweeping the country and worsening the economic indicators. This article aims to assess this PPP infrastructure, allowing us to determine if it is profitable in the long term and contributes therefore to the economic growth. The case study reveals the key role of the economic, social, and political environment in Tunisia, the dawn of the Arab Spring.     

Short term interests,long term perspectives: Balancing South Africa's peace and security approach in the EU–SA Strategic Partnership

ABSTRACT

South Africa’s peace and security outlook in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership has been guided by the content and substance of the founding document, which incorporates an interdependent approach to development. For South Africa, engagement in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership is framed by its historical background, its identity and the content of its foreign policy. South Africa's foreign policy in particular adopts an integrated approach to securing the state within its surrounding regional and continental geography. This article reviews South Africa's approach to peace and security, in the context of the strategic partnership. The article argues that, overall, South Africa's definition of peace and security is compatible with that of the EU; however, Pretoria's vision of how it provides peace and security has naturally changed in line with the varying international circumstances in which it has found itself. While this has proved difficult at times to reconcile, peace and security collaboration in the strategic partnership has managed to remain intact.     

Is social concertation a viable alternative under globalization? Reconsidering the case of Ireland

By exploring how the Irish social partnership was established and evolved, this article highlights the validity of a social concertation model, and takes a critical look at hasty attempts to identify the causes of its breakdown. The article holds that the collapse of Irish social partnership in the current economic crisis does not suggest the irrelevancy of social concertation under globalization, as neoliberals argue, nor does it confirm a predetermined path generated by the absence of supportive institutions or the structural nature of neoliberal social partnership. To the contrary, the social concertation model remains viable as an alternative to the neoliberal free market under globalization, and it can be used even in the absence of strong institutional arrangements. Contesting the accounts of neoliberals and Marxist-inspired structuralists, the article argues that social partnership has achieved a greater success in Ireland than neoliberal Britain, under similar globalization challenges. Against institutionalist accounts, it holds that social partnership was able to survive over two decades even in the absence of supportive corporatist institutions. The article's core argument is that domestic politics, rather than institutional and structural determinism, are needed to form social consensus in building and sustaining social concertation.     

对合资经营相关法律问题的几点思考

对于“JOINTVENTURE”,应突破仅从企业形态对其认识的藩篱,其实质上是一种直接投资方式,译为合资经营,指两个或更多主体共同致力于一项特定商业事业的结合。国家投资政策与投资法律的要求、外国投资者的天然劣势、分散风险与争取待遇上的优惠等诸多因素促使了合资经营的产生与发展。但我国在利用合资经营这种投资方式时视野较狭窄、立法欠缺统一性且诸多规定与实际不符。建议取消以三资企业法为主体的外资法群,将合资经营直接规定于统一的外资法典的投资形式一章,而合资经营的具体法律形式,则交由相应的国内部门法调整。     

拼租房屋的法律问题研究

目前,我国对于拼租房屋的法律规制仍处于空白阶段,这使得拼租房屋在实践当中产生了一系列纠纷并且无法可依、无章可循.拼租房屋与群租房屋概念的混淆也使得法律对于拼租房屋的规制产生了一定障碍.在明确拼租房屋中的法律关系后,对于拼租房屋的人均居住面积进行合理地规定是解决拼租房屋产生的纠纷之理性选择.     

Reconstructing the “Monsters” and the “Failures”

SUMMARY

“Monsters” and “Failures” are becoming the words of choice by many teachers, parents, administrators, and other adults when describing children and their behaviors. Ascribing the label can be constricting to the child and does very little to promote solutions to situations. Adults working with children can develop ways to look past the behavior and see the child and the child's needs, and acquire expectations of children that are in line with their development. This article explores the notion that family therapists, specializing in systems theory and parent education, are professionals, who are suited to help parents and school personnel interact with children in constructive and meaningful ways that promote development and minimize negative labeling. Family therapists can help the parent/teacher/administrator view the interactions among the components of the child's support system as dynamically interacting with one another and the child, and thus, strengthen the school-parent-community triad. Therapists, working col-laboratively with early childhood developmental education professionals, can assist adults in aligning their assessment and expectations of children with developmental understandings, thereby modifying the behaviors on the part of the adults, and ultimately eliciting more appropriate responses on the part of the children. A family systems approach to the rearing and teaching of children allows adults to reinforce the constructive behaviors of the child in a supportive and positive manner, leading to the social and cognitive growth of the child. The case material offered in this article presents ways in which family therapists can collaborate with education professionals and families in fostering the strength of the family-school-community relationship, and ensuring situations that are more child-friendly and developmentally appropriate.     

The Legacy of the Northern Way?

Abstract

The Northern Way (NW) was a pan-regional, multi-level initiative between three English northern regions, set up to promote economic growth and close a £30 billion output gap. Some limited research on progress prior to 2006 exists, but hardly anything about achievements between 2008 and closure in 2011. This paper redresses the limitations with data from existing evaluations and key stakeholder interviews. Findings reveal that partners developed good collaborative working, gathered robust data on critical economic and social issues, and learnt much during 2004–2008. Between 2008 and 2011, activities were refocused on a narrower set of critical priorities and partners developed real policy learning and became a credible voice for the Northern regions. After closure, it became evident that NW left a ‘vacuum’ as an effective coordinator of evidence and views from three Northern regions. Many issues that it sought to address remain as critical today as they did when it was created.     

BALANCING RESEARCH AND ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING IN FRONT‐END PROJECT DESIGN: EXPERIENCES FROM DANIDA'S ENRECA PROGRAMME

North–South research capacity building (RCB) partnerships have attracted considerable academic attention during the last two decades, especially with regard to issues related to partnership governance. Less attention has been given to the management aspects of partnership implementation, but in order for partnerships to comply with general governance‐level recommendations, a better understanding is needed of how specific context‐dependent factors influence the development and execution of projects. In this article, we aim to contribute to the understanding of factors influencing the design phase of RCB partnerships and examine how they influence the balance between performing collaborative research and developing general organizational capacity. Data collection was based on a survey (n = 25), and individual interviews and focus group discussions with 17 Danish project managers from the Danish Bilateral Programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity in Developing Countries. Our results lead to rejection of the proposition that RCB projects are either focused on building capacity for research or conducting merit‐based research. Because of the ‘politics’ of the front‐end process, reality is more complex. We identify 11 specific factors influencing front‐end project management related to structure, process and relationship, and we theorize about how these factors influence the choice between research and more general capacity development activities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

金融操作风险及其治理

金融操作风险虽然形式多样,但在我国,却主要表现为金融业高管腐败的日趋严重、金融业违规操作的日益严峻、金融违法犯罪的日益猖獗和操纵证券市场的屡禁不止。而监管体系结构的失衡、监管治理机制的薄弱和监管规则的相对滞后等多种因素的综合影响和交互作用,则是根本的症结所在。总之,我国金融操作风险的有效防范和金融业核心竞争力的提高,不仅需要进行监管制度创新,统一金融监管权威,建立存款保险制度,而且应当健全金融法规体系,发展金融同业公会,以构建政府掌舵——市场约束——社会参与的新型金融监管体系。     

城市治理体系及其分析维度

城市治理中的利益相关者众多而繁杂,如何按照城市治理的要求进行系统的梳理就是本文的任务。城市治理主体作为一个包容性的体系,众多的利益相关者按照参与的目的和动机,从组织形式上可以归结为三类利益主体:政府部门、私营部门和非营利组织。本文进而提出了城市治理主体的利益定位、利益关系、利益互动三个分析维度,以此作为分析城市治理中伙伴关系运行机制的指南。