Learning-Shaping Crises: A Longitudinal Comparison of Public Personnel Reforms in Italy, 1992‒2014

Abstract

This article analyses the attempts to reform public administration, notably personnel management, in Italy between 1992 and 2014, with a focus on implementation and the period following the multiple crises that have unfolded since 2008. By untangling the policy learning processes between multiple crises, past reform attempts and domestic and European “contexts in motion”, the article finds that efficiency-oriented reforms have floundered regardless of the political color of governments or indeed of the nature – political or technocratic – of the governments. Domestic factors, notably the frequency of government alternation, i.e. government instability, and European pressure have further reinforced the orientation towards single-loop lessons, i.e. the almost exclusive effecting of short-term cost-cutting measures.     

“Vivimos en Jaula de Oro”: The Impact of State-Level Legislation on Immigrant Latino Families

This study sought to learn from Latino immigrant parents which and how state-level immigration policies impact their families. Fifty-four Latino immigrant parents participated in interviews. Constructivist grounded theory methods were used to complete the analysis. Results indicate that fear of detainment, deportation, and family separation affects participants emotionally and behaviorally. Participants experience exploitive practices in the workplace and through traffic infractions. Social support networks are constantly changing and weakened when families relocate in search of immigrant friendly communities. Simultaneously, parents develop strategies to protect their families against stringent immigration enforcement. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.     

How Single-Parent Children Speak About Poverty and Social Exclusion: Policy Implications From a Comparative,Qualitative, Cross-National Project

This article presents some of the key findings from a comparative, qualitative research study carried out in the United Kingdom, Greece, and Cyprus. The main goal of the study was to investigate single-parent children's experiences and understandings of poverty and social exclusion in their everyday lives and to make relevant policy recommendations. The article highlights children's voices and illustrates the utility of integrating them in efforts to develop sensitive policies which meet their needs as these stem from their own experiences of poverty and social exclusion while also making the case for the utility of comparative, qualitative, cross-national research.     

Fathers,adolescent daughters and gender in a low-income South African community

Knowledge about father–adolescent daughter relationships is mostly based on research in North-American and European contexts. Furthermore, it tends to rely on either fathers' or daughters' perspectives, and not on dyadic data. Informed by a social constructionist perspective, this study investigated the fatherhood constructions of fathers and adolescent daughters in a South African low-income community. We used Charmaz' social constructionist grounded theory method. Forty-two interviews were conducted separately with fourteen fathers and their adolescent daughters. Five conceptual categories were identified: (i) Predominance of fathers' provider role; (ii) Fathers and daughters having an ‘understanding’ in which daughters apparently complied with fathers authoritarian positions; (iii) explicit expressions of affection were mostly limited to special occasions; (iv) Fathers wished a better future for their daughters and attempted to keep them on track to such a future and (v) lastly, Fathers' expected daughters to follow their instructions and not their bad examples. Our findings highlight the influential and constricting role of dominant masculine and feminine gender notions in the discourses and practices of the fathers and adolescent daughters in our study. However, some evidence of contestations were present that suggests the potential of a shift towards more equitable gender relations.     

Public sector innovation,e-government,and anticorruption in China and India: Insights from civil servants

Both China and India are adopting information and communication technologies to facilitate openness and transparency in their governments, and hence reduce corruption. Distinctive from their traditional anticorruption approaches, is the innovative e-government approach an effective solution to corruption in these two large developing countries? This paper addresses the question through comparative in-depth interviews with 44 mid- or senior-level officials in the public sector in these two countries. The first study of its kind, our research shows that civil servants in both countries overall think positively about transparency and technology in reducing corruption. However, to what extent these innovative measures will be effective is conditional on various factors, such as political willingness, income inequality, and infrastructure readiness. What is worth noting is that the Chinese respondents were more positive regarding the role of transparency, whereas the Indian respondents were more positive about the role of technology, which may reflect the different facilitators of corruption and the constraints of anticorruption in China and India.     

Buyer and Seller Differences in Business‐to‐Business Negotiations

The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to examine the differences between buyers' and sellers' use of negotiation tactics in face‐to‐face business‐to‐business (B2B) negotiations and second, to explore how negotiators' professed negotiation styles influence buyers' and sellers' use of tactics. The methodology is a multiple case study analysis of eighteen negotiators representing twelve companies in six real‐life buyer–seller negotiations in B2B settings analyzed using qualitative research methods, including both comparative analysis and frequency analysis. We found some difference between buyers' and sellers' use of negotiation tactics, which suggests this question deserves further empirical study. Buyers' and sellers' use of specific tactics differs according to which overall strategy the negotiators chose, and sellers generally use a greater number of negotiation tactics than buyers. The findings challenge previous findings that suggest that B2B negotiations are collaborative and that negotiators communicate in a collaborative manner. The findings also increase our understanding of buyers' and sellers' variable use of tactics in the course of everyday practice as well as the interplay between negotiation tactics and strategies.     

论我国中小企业界定标准的完善

为了扶植中小企业发展，各国均制定有促进中小企业发展的法律政策，这些法律政策首先要解决的问题就是对扶持对象——中小企业进行科学的界定。我国目前中小企业划分标准在实施中遇到了一些问题，应该采取定性和定量标准相结合的方式，重新界定小企业的内涵，简化中小企业的划分指标，细化中小企业划分标准，并将中小企业界定标准覆盖到全部第三产业。     

盗窃罪与职务侵占罪研判

盗窃罪与职务侵占罪的辨析一直是办案实务中的争议难点。文章对盗窃罪及职务侵占罪进行细化分析并就如何准确定性进行了研判,提出四大定性法则:即"工作之便"抑或"职务之便"定性法则,是否"具有合法权限持有、管理单位财物"定性法则,法益定性法则,被侵犯财物的状况定性法则。     

挂失并取走自己出借银行卡内钱款行为的刑事法律定性——以法律关系的分析为路径

借卡人与名义持卡人之间存在事实行为形成的债权债务关系；名义持卡人与银行之间存在法律行为所形成的债权债务关系；借卡人与银行之间不存在影响行为定性评价的法律关系。所以，挂失并取走他人存在借用本人银行卡内钱款的行为在民法层面，只是不履行债务行为的一种，并且这种不履行完全属于当事人意志之外的不履行，因此缺乏对该种行为进行刑法规制的必要性。