Institutions and Caribbean Economic Performance: Insights from Jamaica

We explore the impact of social institutions on economic performance in Jamaica through a reinterpretation of the plantation economic model. In its original form, the plantation model fails to develop a causal link between the plantation legacy and persistent underdevelopment. Despite its marginalization, the model remains useful for discussions on growth and development. Consequently, we offer a reappraisal using the causal insights from Kenneth Sokoloff and Stanley Engerman. We use two examples to demonstrate how inequality encourages the formation of institutions that are inconsistent with growth, and an empirical analysis to confirm the hypothesized relationship between inequality, institutions, and economic development. Since inequality is expected to influence growth indirectly, we use a structural specification, which follows William Easterly’s recent test of Sokoloff and Engerman’s argument. Our reliance on a time-series specification is unique. We demonstrate that the expectation that, on average, inequality and growth is negatively related and that institutions may compromise growth are accurate for Jamaica, the most cited Caribbean nation in the current discourse. Our results carry several policy implications, including support for the recent calls in Jamaica for political restructuring. However, both the paucity of similar studies and the importance of the implications for sustainable growth and development demand further analyses.

Old and New Labour Narratives of Whitehall: Radicals,Reactionaries and Defenders of the Westminster Model

This article argues that throughout its history, the leadership of the Labour Party has chosen to embrace a benign view of the Civil Service, as part of a wider acceptance of the constitutional status quo reflected in the Westminster model. There has nevertheless been a long tradition in the wider Labour movement that has questioned whether Whitehall is capable of working for a government with radical aspirations. This article examines Labour's historical approach towards Whitehall, before reflecting on the extent to which the present Administration, while appealing to radical and reforming rhetoric has, like its predecessors, continued to embrace the status quo. It concludes by arguing that a contemporary and credible narrative capable of challenging the Westminster model has yet to emerge from the broader movement.     

西部地区银行性金融机构网络化的发展前景

银行性金融机构电子化进程在短短的十年间取得了长足发展,对推动经济发展起到了积极的作用,但发展是不平衡的,区域银行特别是西部地区中小规模的银行性金融机构的电子化进程发展相对滞后,需要针对其环境特点及现状进行具体的分析研究,以确定合适的发展模式和发展策略,使西部地区中小规模的银行性金融机构在网络浪潮中抓住机遇,提高核心竞争力。     

学习化社会中的成人教育模式

成人教育是学习化社会的实现途径、终身教育体系中不可或缺的重要部分 ;成人教育的发展有赖于包括目标模式、组织与机构模式和课程模式等多层面的发展模式的有效组织与实施。     

脑络欣通对大脑中动脉阻塞再灌注模型大鼠神经干细胞增殖分化的影响

目的 观察脑络欣通对大脑中动脉阻塞再灌注（middle cerebral artery occlusion-reperfusion,MCAO-R）模型大鼠神经干细胞增殖分化的影响。方法 采用线栓法复制MCAO-R大鼠模型,将30只健康雄性SD大鼠随机分成假手术组、模型组和给药组。分别采用神经功能评分和TTC染色鉴定模型大鼠的神经功能缺损和脑缺血面积,采用免疫荧光染色法观察大鼠海马CA1、CA2、CA3、齿状回（dentate gyrus,DG）区巢蛋白（Nestin）和神经丝蛋白-H（hypophosphorylated neurofilament-H,NF-H）表达水平。结果 给药组Nestin阳性表达主要发生在DG区,NF-H阳性表达主要发生在CA3区。脑络欣通促进神经干细胞增殖的作用在DG、CA1、CA2、CA3区均十分明显,以DG区尤为突出,促进神经干细胞分化的作用主要表现在CA3、DG、CA2、CA1区。与模型组比较,给药组大鼠海马各区的Nestin、NF-H阳性细胞均明显增多,差异具有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。结论 脑络欣通具有促进海马区神经干细胞增殖并分化为神经细胞的作用。     

论中国-东盟自由贸易区争端解决机制及其完善

中国—东盟自由贸易区始建于2002年《中国—东盟全面经济合作框架协议》的签署,按照规划将于2010年建成,它是一个包括11个成员国的区域经济一体化组织。本文考察了中国—东盟自由贸易区与其他自由贸易区的法律模式,并对其利弊得失作了恰如其分的比较,在此基础上分析了以2005年生效的《中国—东盟全面经济合作框架协议争端解决机制协议》为基础的中国—东盟自由贸易区争端解决机制的优点和存在的缺陷,探究了欧盟和北美自由贸易区的争端解决机制,提炼出可供借鉴的合理成分和可取之处,在总结归纳的同时,提出了完善和改进中国—东盟自由贸易区争端解决机制的具体建议和设想。     

Children’s attitudes towards animal cruelty: Exploration of predictors and socio-demographic variations

ABSTRACT

Assessing the risk for animal cruelty is imperative, yet understudied and problematic due to the sensitivity of the topic. Early prevention is critical, yet very little research examines cruelty when it first appears in childhood. The aim of this study was to explore children’s attitudes towards types of animal cruelty, to investigate potential demographic differences, and to examine potential associations between acceptance of cruelty and cognitive and affective factors that place children ‘at-risk’ for cruelty perpetration. Questionnaire data was collected from 1127 children in schools. The results indicate that cruelty attitudes are predicted by some demographic variables such as urban living, being male, younger age and not having pets, but depend on the type of animal cruelty. Acceptance of cruelty predicted low compassion and low reported humane behaviour towards animals. Acceptance of cruelty was predicted by negative attitudes towards animals, lower beliefs in animal minds and low attachment to pets, signifying the importance of targeting such variables in future prevention programmes. This study is an original contribution to research into childhood animal cruelty in the general population, with implications for designing and implementing early prevention programmes that tackle problematic attitudes to cruelty.     

‘Without Education You Can Never Become President’: Teenage Pregnancy and Pseudo-empowerment in Post-Ebola Sierra Leone

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the emergence of ‘teenage pregnancy’ as a new policy focus in post-Ebola Sierra Leone and explores how Sierra Leoneans interpret the problem of ‘teenage pregnancy’. I argue that the new policy focus is not indicative of changing or new problems. Rather, ‘teenage pregnancy’ has created opportunities for donors and the Government of Sierra Leone to continue cooperation in gender politics. At the same time, Sierra Leoneans are clearly concerned about ‘teenage pregnancy’, and many agree with sensitization campaigns that responsibilize young women and girls while downplaying structural factors that render them vulnerable to arrangements involving transactional sex.     

Development as recolonization: the political ecology of the Endosulphan disaster in Kasargod,India

This paper examines the Endosulphan pesticide disaster in Kasargod, Kerala, India. The paper argues that the pesticide disaster was the culmination of an agrarian modernization project implemented in the region by the state-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK). An exploration of the political ecology of the disaster shows the recolonization of residents and nature by PCK through neocolonial forms of centralized and exclusionary spatial and resource control mechanisms. In this context, the paper questions the glorification of the “Kerala model” of development from the standpoints of environmental justice and resource rights, relying on the lived experiences of the people of Kasargod.     

In Search of Master Negotiators: A Negotiation Competency Model

Over the last four decades, the field of negotiation has become a fully recognized academic discipline around the world and negotiation courses and competitions have become increasingly popular. Although it is believed that negotiators may be trained and that negotiation is a skill that can be taught and evaluated, the question of how to assess negotiation performance systematically and comprehensively remains largely unanswered. This article proposes a negotiation competency model for evaluating negotiation performance. The model includes a set of selected negotiation competencies together with proficiency levels and their behavioral indicators. Our goal is to help scholars design more effective negotiation courses and fairer negotiation competitions, improve negotiation pedagogy, and train negotiators who are well prepared to handle conflicts in our increasingly complex society.