Federal Support for Adoption Subsidies

ABSTRACT

Federal Title IV-E Adoption Assistance is an essential resource for states moving children from foster care to adoption. Secondary analyses indicate that federal funds support nearly half the costs of all adoption subsidies. Due to variations in eligibility, federal matching rates, and states' use of the program, the proportion of total subsidy costs supported by Title IV-E funds ranges from 25 to 72 percent among states. Multivariate analyses of recent adoptions demonstrate the importance of Title IV-E utilization for adopted children and their families, in that Title IV-E-eligible children are more likely to receive subsidies and to receive larger subsidies, compared to children who are not Title IV-E eligible. Variations in Title IV-E utilization have potential impacts on children, adoptive families and state child welfare agencies.     

On the stalling of the Malaysian industrialization project

Abstract

In a recent article in this journal, Henderson and Phillips (2007 Henderson, J. and Phillips, R. 2007. Unintended consequences: Social policy, state institutions and the ‘stalling’ of the Malaysian industrialization project. Economy and Society, 30(1): 78–102.  [Google Scholar]) argue that Malaysian industrialization is ‘stalling’ because it is locked into low- to medium-technology operations. They attribute this to an affirmative policy that sidelined the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) capable of benefiting from linkages with transnational corporations (TNCs) and an immigration policy that provided cheap foreign labour and weakened the pressure on firms to upgrade themselves. While not disputing these explanations, this paper shows that the evidence they provide is unconvincing and, sometimes, undermines their case. Their argument is further weakened because they fail to explain why the proportion of high-tech exports in total Malaysian manufacturing exports is surprisingly high, unlike that of an economy concentrating on low- or medium-tech production.     

Emergence and equivocal autonomization of a Kurdish literary field in Turkey

Drawing on field theory, this paper aims to shed light on the development and functioning of the Kurdish literary world in Turkey, characterized, in particular, by the use of a non-official language. It argues that this “small literary world” is to be understood in relation to a “double macrocosm”: the sphere of Kurdish politics and the national Turkish sphere, which provide specific constraints and resources. The paper argues that in such a context the emergence of a literary field, autonomous from other social fields and independent from political stakes, follows an unpredictable path, and will not always be achieved political dimension of the literary act stresses its dependency on political stakes and the field of politics. This however does not impede the emergence of autonomous literary institutions. The multilingualism of the actors involved drives also toward another heteronomy: this small literary world is also to be understood in relation to the Turkish literary field. The paper first presents the macrocosms in which Kurdish literary activities developed. It then examines the progressive integration of a field freeing itself from political constraints. Lastly, it focuses on the trajectories of a few writers, the analyses of which show the intertwining of the different worlds.     

Agile small state agency: heuristic plays and flexible national identity markers in Finnish foreign policy

Studies of small state foreign policy tend to draw relatively bleak conclusions when it comes to small state agency. However, I will examine alternative and more positive modalities of small state agency. One such modality is agility, the strategic maneuverability to take advantage of a chancy environment. Besides leading to dangerous rigidities and biases, particular types of foreign policy imageries and heuristics may also facilitate experimental and agile agency. In studying this possibility, Finland is chosen as an illustrative case because historically Finland has faced a particularly constraining geopolitical context and because it has managed to adapt to multiple upheavals and to different geopolitical contexts. The emphasis is on the heuristic dynamics inherent in Finnish foreign policy culture that have allowed it to actively meet the emerging challenges. Instead of taking a detailed historical approach, I seek to understand the role of the relatively flexible and combinable embodied cultural models, i.e. thick images. They allow for agency-related experimentation that may bring added value that allows Finland to exceed the constraints of the brute geopolitical position. After reviewing multiple embodied foreign policy images, I will use them to analyse New Year's speeches by the Finnish Presidents Ahtisaari and Halonen in order to see how the fickle present is made to resonate innovatively with the known, commonplace, and mythical.     

Defining Civil War by Examining Post-Soviet Conflicts

Great many violent events happened during 1991–2005 in the 12 states that emerged after the collapse of the USSR but only a few civil wars are registered in the major datasets. That brings up a number of questions about the operational definitions of civil war that generally point in the direction of shifting the research attention from refining the quantitative parameters to grasping the essense of the phenomena in question. It is proposed that civil war partially overlaps with several other type of violent crisis: inter-state wars, civil unrest and revolutions, internal repression, military coups and mutinies, banditry and organized crime, and terrorism. These overlaps create six ‘gray zones’ where only very nuanced examination rather than application of rigid criteria could help in distinguishing civil wars from other crises. Therefore, data collection based on a single “robust” definition, which incorporates several verifiable parameters, is not necessarily the only path to scientific knowledge about civil wars.     

论小额速裁程序的优化与完善

201 3年新民诉法推出了小额速裁程序,然而可供司法实践适用的规定匮乏。小额速裁程序实行一审终审,当以司法效率为重,保证底线正义。在司法运行中,小额速裁程序存在着适用条件不完善、启动机制不明确、审理程序不简化及救济程序缺失等问题,应当从严限定小额速裁程序的适用范围,法院享有启动权,简化和优化审判程序,设置判决异议程序,疏导当事人救济诉求,尽快健全与完善小额速裁程序。     

网络经济下中小企业营销策略研究

随着信息技术的迅猛发展和网络基础设施的完善以及智能手机的日益普及,我国已经真正进入到网络经济时代。中小企业应认真分析消费者的现状和网络经济带来的机遇与挑战,掌握网络经济下的主要营销方式。要将互联网渗透到4P营销组合策略中,融合线上线下形成整合的营销大系统,积极利用移动互联网开展营销,充分利用数据营销,不断促进营销创新升级。     

中国直接投资东盟新四国的区位分析与对策研究

东盟新四国由于有着相似的市场特征与发展共性,适合作为细分后的投资整体区位来研究.通过新近的数据和实证资料,分析东盟新四国直接投资环境的利弊因素以及国企业投资过程中存在的一系列问题,进而提出优化并有效扩大中国企业对东盟新四国直接投资的综合对策.     

中小企业融资困局的经济法对策

直接融资适合于具有较高成长性的高新技术企业,而众多劳动密集性中小企业由于自身性质形成的信息不对称也难以成为银行等金融机构间接融资的对象.中小企业的融资困局是市场缺陷造成的,政府干预是弥补市场缺陷的主要方式,政府在解决中小企业融资困局中所形成的经济关系是经济法的调整对象.在借助"政府-社会中间层-市场"三元框架分析政府、与中小企业融资有关的社会中间层和中小企业的定位的基础上,应从经济法的主体角度进行相关的制度设计,探索长效机制解决中小企业的融资困局.