Modelling trust and contractual arrangements in a local economy

This article investigates trust among dairy value-chain actors to understand the innovative process in a local productive sector in Tunisia. It uses a sample of 45 smallholder farmers chosen randomly nearby existing collection centres in the region. A trust variable is constructed employing 11 ordinal variables based on principal component analysis, and institutional arrangements then modelled to examine the effect of trust on contracting decisions and cooperative membership. The results show that trust is defined by values such as “integrity”, “competence”, and “existence of credible information”, which are preconditions to sustainable contracts. The article contributes to the growing literature which considers social capital, networking and trust as determinants of farmer’s behaviour, as opposed to the classical model of rationality.     

Towards an era of official (involuntary) accountability of NGOs in India

In the recent past, governance reforms in India have resulted in the government and corporate sectors making serious efforts to enhance and showcase their accountability to their principals, namely citizens and shareholders. Similarly, NGOs have been pushed to demonstrate their accountability to multiple stakeholders, namely donors, communities and most importantly, the state. This viewpoint highlights this transition and also reflects on the changing contours of NGO accountability debates in India.     

Reproductive health services: “Business-in-a-Box” as a model social innovation

Access to reproductive health services and products in remote and rural communities is a critical area of concern for developing countries. This article considers a pilot intervention in three districts of Pakistan where “Business-in-a-Box” as a model of place-based social innovation is used to improve the socio-economic conditions of women in remote rural settings through socially responsible micro-franchising. It finds that such programmes help build a sense of community, ownership and grassroots capabilities and skills. The article also discusses the impacts of such actions on the individual and community life, and the need to upscale and sustain these initiatives.     

Uncovering land tenure insecurities: tips for tenure responsive land-use planning in Ethiopia

Land-use planning, although a mechanism for development, can also generate insecurity during its implementation. This article argues that tenure security and land-use planning should not be implemented in isolation from each other. It posits that land-use planning – rather than restricting the security of people's tenure – has the potential to serve as a means of securing tenure. The article explores tenure (in)security elements in land-use planning as a crucial challenge in the urban town of Gelan Sidama Awash, Ethiopia. Using data collected through stakeholders’ interviews, it uncovers their tenure security challenges, and outlines a set of measures for enhancing tenure security through land-use planning.     

Facilitating industrial symbiosis programmes in developing countries: reflections from Gauteng,South Africa

This viewpoint reflects on how to improve the process of introducing facilitated industrial symbiosis programmes (FISPs) to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Although FISPs are a long-established industrial practice, their formal introduction to SMEs in developing countries has only recently begun, mostly through support from international development agencies. Based partly on anecdotal evidence from Gauteng, South Africa, we identify six key questions which need to be addressed to improve the process of facilitating FISPs.     

Theorizing Gender and Musical Composition in the Computerized Classroom

Classroom The increased use of information technology in schools is generally perceived as a positive, dynamic step into the future. By providing IT facilities for all children throughout their education we are affording them access to a wider range of career opportunities and educational experiences. Feminists have long debated the extent to which technology can be exclusionary for women because of its construction as a masculine domain, emphasizing 'masculine' characteristics of mastery, skill and control. By focusing on the music classroom, Armstrong explores gender and the compositional process and the effects of an overtly technological approach to composition. In the early part of the essay, she draws on Sherry Turkle's early work based on observations of male and female computer programmers. Despite observing a variety of computational styles Turkle concluded that, although technology allowed for this diversity, computer culture did not, noting that many females preferred a style that did not favour the canonical, plan-oriented, abstract thinkers who 'constitute an epistemological elite'. In her own research, Armstrong found that girls often became alienated from their own creative work because the culture of the music classroom appears to privilege a particular style of working. By focusing on the singing voice and the corporeal, Armstrong draws on aspects of cyberfeminism to illustrate how girls can transcend and subvert this masculine culture.     

析刑事技术在一起杀人抛尸案中的作用

2008年6月13日,云南省兰坪县发现一个无受害人、有人血痕迹的现场。经刑侦人员对现场情况进行勘查、分析后,确定案件为一起杀人抛尸案。现场勘查确定案件性质、领导重视、技术人员认真细致的工作是成功破案的关键。     

我国计算机犯罪的特点及刑事司法对策

我国计算机犯罪的刑事司法对策有:加强和完善计算机的立法工作,建立较为完善的法律体系;加强计算机犯罪案件的侦查破案工作,降低犯罪黑数值;强化侦查讯问策略,加大追讯力度;加强侦查协和,提高效率。     

论社区矫正前的调查制度

在实施社区矫正前对被矫正人员进行调查,是为了确认其是否适合适用社区矫正。调查内容包括医学检查、心理学检查和社会调查,而人格调查是这一调查制度的核心。矫正前调查要以一定原则为指导,并采用科学的方法、技术,对被矫正人员的有关信息系统地进行收集。     

Cross-state learning and service delivery in India’s federal system

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to place the issue of cross-state learning and borrowing experiences in service delivery in India in the specific context of political incentives in India’s federal democracy as well relating it to the findings of the comparative literature on subnational policy diffusion in federal systems. It presents four types of borrowing experiences from a selection of six case studies of the past few years, and point towards ways in which learning/borrowing across states can be usefully incorporated into policy.