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Dragged down in important part by disapproval over the U.S. position on the Gaza war, the popular image of the United States abroad has declined over the past year, according to a new poll of public opinion in 34 countries released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.The survey, the latest in an annual series that dates back more than two decades, also found that international confidence in U.S. democracy has fallen. A median of four in ten of the more than 40,000 respondents said U.S. democracy used to be a good model for other countries to follow but no longer is. That view was most pronounced in the ten European countries covered by the poll.This year's survey also found that respondents in 24 of the countries have more confidence in President Joe Biden to "do the right thing" in world affairs than they have in his rival, former President Donald Trump, while Trump was favored over Biden in two countries (Hungary and Tunisia). It found that there was no significant difference in confidence in the two men in the remaining eight countries.At the same time, however, confidence in Biden's stewardship of international issues fell over the past year in 14 of the 21 countries that were polled by Pew both this year and in 2023, by double digits in eight of the countries, notably South Africa, Australia, the UK, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Israel, and Japan.The survey was conducted from early January this year through the latter part of May. In addition to Hungary, the UK, Poland, Sweden, and Spain, European countries included France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands. In the Americas, the poll covered Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.In the Asia-Pacific region, ten countries were polled. In addition to Australia and Japan, they included Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Besides South Africa, sub-Saharan African countries included Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria.Overall, views of the United States remained more positive than negative across all of the countries with a median of 54% of respondents offering a favorable opinion, with the most positive ratings found in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. In ten of the 21 countries that were also surveyed last year, however, favorable views fell by six percentage points or more, with the biggest declines found in Australia, Israel, South Africa, and Germany. As for confidence in Biden "to do the right thing" in world affairs, confidence was highest in sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of South Africa where opinions were evenly split. In the Middle East, on the other hand, nearly 90% of respondents in both Turkey and Tunisia said they had "no confidence" in the U.S. president whose ratings were also mostly negative in Latin America (with the exception of Colombia), southern Europe, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, France and Hungary.Of five specific issues on which respondents were asked to rate Biden's performance, by far the most negative appraisals were related to his handling of the Gaza war. A median of 31% across the 34 countries said they approve of his conduct in that conflict, while a median of 57% said they disapproved. The most negative assessments were recorded in predominantly Muslim Turkey (8% approval), Tunisia (5%), and Malaysia (15%). Twenty-five percent or less of respondents in Hungary, Italy, Peru, Mexico, and Chile also said they approved of Biden's policy on Gaza.With respect to the war in Ukraine, a median of 39% of respondents voiced approval of Biden's policies. The most positive views of his performance in that war were recorded in Canada and Europe, particularly in Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and the UK. In Asia, views were most favorable in Japan and South Korea, although they still fell short of 50%. As with Ukraine, a median of 39% of respondents said they approved of Biden's approach to China with his strongest support of around 50% coming from respondents in Poland, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Kenya, and Nigeria.Asked to rate their confidence in four current national leaders "to do the right thing" in world affairs, French President Emmanuel Macron scored highest at 44% of all respondents, followed closely by Biden at 43% . Chinese President Xi Jinping received a median confidence score of 24%, and Russian President Vladimir Putin placed lowest at 21%. The lowest confidence scores for Putin came from European respondents (with the exception of Greece), Japan, South Korea, Australia, Israel, Brazil, and Chile. European respondents also gave Xi poor marks, as did respondents in Japan, South Korea, Australia, Israel, Turkey, Brazil, and Chile.

The continued use of existing structures is of great importance because the built environment is a huge economic and political asset, growing larger every year. The assessment of existing structures is now a major engineering task. The structural engineer is increasingly called upon to devise ways for extending the life of structures whilst observing tight cost constraints, so obsolescence analysis is fundamental in the process of life extending. It is fundamental to establish principles for the assessment of existing structures, since it is a process based on an approach which is obviously different from designing new structure. Moreover, the process of assessment requires knowledge beyond the scope of design codes. Engineers may apply specific methods for assessment in order to save structures and to reduce a client's expenditure. The ultimate goal is to limit the interventions to the minimum needed and to consider the various solutions, such as refurbishment, adaptive reuse or demolition; those goals are clearly in agreement with the principles of sustainable development. Moreover, it is worth noticing that demolition is not the only possible solution. This document is intended as an example of principals and procedures for the obsolescence analysis and the assessment of aging structure. Various concepts are introduced and studied in this research: useful life, physical life and target life, which are compared each other. Moreover, various practical examples are carried on, dealing with the case study. The aim of this research, that was developed in collaboration with OTH – Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule of Regensburg and with a meeting at the Klokner Institute - Czech Technical University of Prague, is based on the study and applications of the ISO 13822 (Bases for design of structures), ISO 2394 (General principles on reliability for structures) and on the analysis of Eurocode 8 (Seismic design of buildings). The basis for reliability assessment is contained in the performance requirements for safety and serviceability of ISO 2394. This Standard enables the possibility to regulate, verify and document the adequate safe performance of structures, and also to consider them in a broader sense as part of societal systems; it provides approaches at three levels, namely: risk informed, reliability based and semi-probabilistic approach. The methodical basis for this edition of the ISO 2394 is described in JCSS (2008), JCSS (2001) and EN 1990 (2007). The building of Scuola Rossini (Firenze) is an adequate case study, since it is an aging and obsolete building; it was subjected to the earthquake of 1919, whose epicentre was in Mugello, and to a flood in 1966. The mentioned structure is affected by several decay phenomena that occurred during the years, because of ordinary and extraordinary causes. The goal of the surveys which were conducted on the structure is to understand how and why the deterioration phenomena were originated. Furthermore, the case study is a significant example since its structure is a mixture between masonry and reinforced concrete frames. Since masonry structures constitute a huge part of the buildings heritage, their assessment is an important engineering task nowadays, and it requires the application of sophisticated analysis methods, based on national building codes and on International Standards. Since the masonry behaves according to a set of specific macro-elements, namely of rigid-bodies, the structural analysis mainly concerns the identification of these macro-elements and the related failure mechanisms activated by specific actions, such as earthquakes. Seismic and kinematic analysis were done on the building. Dealing with seismic and seismic vulnerability too, this research was focused on the seismicity of Firenze: the European requirements are analysed together with the Italian ones; the attenuation laws depending on intensity and acceleration are studied too, and a practical example is provided. The seismic and kinematic analysis bring to a complete picture of the case study, and the seismic risk indexes are provided and discussed too. The study is organized in accordance with a step-by-step procedure, such as the flow chart of the ISO 13822 suggests: in the first step the preliminary assessment was performed, considering the available documentation and results from inspection and check; the following step concerns a more detailed appraisal, in which the structural analysis is carried out.

Background: Eutrophication of aquatic environments is a major environmental problem in large parts of the world. In Europe, EU legislation (the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive), international conventions (OSPAR, HELCOM) and national environmental objectives emphasize the need to reduce the input of nutrients to freshwater and marine environments. A widely used method to achieve this is to allow water to pass through a created or restored wetland. However, the large variation in measured nutrient removal rates in such wetlands calls for a systematic review. Methods: Searches for primary studies were performed in electronic databases and on the internet. One author performed the screening of all retrieved articles at the title and abstract level. To check that the screening was consistent and complied with the agreed inclusion/exclusion criteria, subsets of 100 articles were screened by the other authors. When screening at full-text level the articles were evenly distributed among the authors. Kappa tests were used to evaluate screening consistency. Relevant articles remaining after screening were critically appraised and assigned to three quality categories, from two of which data were extracted. Quantitative synthesis consists of meta-analyses and response surface analyses. Regressions were performed using generalized additive models that can handle nonlinear relationships and interaction effects. Results: Searches generated 5853 unique records. After screening on relevance and critical appraisal, 93 articles including 203 wetlands were used for data extraction. Most of the wetlands were situated in Europe and North America. The removal rate of both total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) is highly dependent on the loading rate. Significant relationships were also found for annual average air temperature (T) and wetland area (A). Median removal rates of TN and TP were 93 and 1.2 g m(-2) year(-1.), respectively. Removal efficiency for TN was significantly correlated with hydrologic loading rate (HLR) and T, and the median was 37 %, with a 95 % confidence interval of 29-44 %. Removal efficiency for TP was significantly correlated with inlet TP concentration, HLR, T, and A. Median TP removal efficiency was 46 % with a 95 % confidence interval of 37-55 %. Although there are small differences in average values between the two quality categories, the variation is considerably smaller among high quality studies compared to studies with lower quality. This suggests that part of the large variation between studies may be explained by less rigorous study designs. Conclusions: On average, created and restored wetlands significantly reduce the transport of TN and TP in treated wastewater and urban and agricultural runoff, and may thus be effective in efforts to counteract eutrophication. However, restored wetlands on former farmland were significantly less efficient than other wetlands at TP removal. In addition, wetlands with precipitation-driven HLRs and/or hydrologic pulsing show significantly lower TP removal efficiencies compared to wetlands with controlled HLRs. Loading rate (inlet concentrations x hydraulic loading rates) needs to be carefully estimated as part of the wetland design. More research is needed on the effects of hydrologic pulsing on wetlands. There is also a lack of evidence for long-term (>20 years) performance of wetlands. ; Funding Agencies|Mistra Council for Evidence-based Environmental Management (Mistra EviEM); Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra)Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research

CL 2005 has been effective for more than eight years. Its impact on corporations and corporate participants has been a popular topic in the academic world. In response, the rules of CL 2005 in regulating limited liability companies, which have not attracted intensive attention of scholars, have considerable influence on the Chinese business environment and are less subject to government control, will be examined in this thesis. With reference to law and economics analysis which asserts the contractual nature of the firm, this thesis lays the theoretical foundation for evaluating CL 2005: 1) the character and the content of legal rules, and 2) the allocation of authority in decision-making and agency problems indicated by the application of agency theory in the context of close corporations. Based on this analytical framework, the relevant rules on the book and in action will be examined in this thesis. Specifically, it will be argued in this thesis that overlap between ownership and management is an established norm in allocating authority in limited liability companies and this norm requires that shareholders have discretion in choosing the way of management that is tailored to their own special needs. The way of management has a variety of different forms; accordingly, company law should respect and facilitate the private contracting of shareholders by adopting enabling rules in respect of the corporate governance structure of limited liability companies. Nonetheless, the relevant rules on the books fail to meet the requirement of the established norm, as their mandatory character offers a rigid and inflexible statutory governance structure though inclined to shareholder centralism. Although it is found in the work carried out in this thesis that courts relieve shareholders from such a strict regulation in many cases, it is suggested that the character of the relevant rules be clarified as enabling to reduce the uncertainty around their application in practice. Under the established pattern of allocation of authority, minority shareholders usually depend on the discretionary performance of majority shareholders, and consequently agency problems between shareholders then arise. After demonstrating the inappropriateness of the appraisal remedy in addressing the agency problems, three liability rules under CL 2005 will be analyzed in this thesis. Contrary to deregulators' claim on the default character of the rules, it will be argued in this thesis that mandatory liability rules with appropriate content should be provided by company law to constrain the discretion of majority shareholders. The three liability rules are considered to be mandatory and the theoretical scope of restraints imposed by them onto the conducts of majority shareholders seems to be somewhat adequate to address oppression. Nevertheless, it is discovered in this thesis that the adoption of the actual legality test by some courts may condone majority shareholders in a number of oppressive cases; when some courts carry out a substantive examination on the conducts of majority shareholders, there is no consistent principle that guides this examination. Therefore, the constraining effect of the rules on oppression and their mandatory character are weakened by the conservative and inconsistent application in practice by courts. To strengthen the protection of minority shareholders, this thesis will propose detailed suggestions for the formulation of the content of a desired mandatory liability rule and recommendations to apply the rule by courts. ; published_or_final_version ; Law ; Doctoral ; Doctor of Philosophy

Book Reviews in This Article Carl Menger and the Origins of Austrian Economics. By Max Alter. (Oxford, Westview Press, 1990, pp Economic Theory, Welfare and the State: Essays in Honour of John C. Weldon. Edited by Athanasios Asimakopulos, Robert D. Cairns and Christopher Green. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp Project Appraisal for Developing Countries. By Robert J. Brent. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp A New Economic Policy for Britain: Essays on the Development of Industry. Edited by Keith Cowling and Roger Sugden. (Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1990, pp The Evolution of Economic Systems: Essays in Honour of Ota Sik. Edited by Kurt Dopfer and Karl‐F. Raible. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp Comparative Advantage and Growth: Trade and Development in Theory and Practice. By H. David Evans. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp Current Issues in Open Economy Macroeconomics: Paradoxes, Policies and Problems. By J. L. Ford. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp A History of Australian Economic Thought. By Peter Groenewegen and Bruce McFarlane. (London, Routledge, 1990, pp Transaction Costs and Trade Between Multinational Corporations: A Study of Offshore Oil Production. By C. Paul Hallwood. (London, Un win Hyman Limited, 1990, pp Wages and Profits in the Capitalist Economy: The Impact of Monopolistic Power on Macroeconomic Performance in the USA and UK. By Andrew Henley. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp Collected Works of Michal Kalecki. Volume I. Capitalism: Business Cycles and Full Employment. Edited by Jerzy Osiatyski. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990, pp Rethinking International Trade. By Paul R. Krugman. (Cambridge, Mass, and London, The MIT Press, 1990, pp The Scottish Contribution to Modern Economic Thought. Edited by Douglas Mair. (Aberdeen, Aberdeen University Press, 1990, pp Export Promotion Strategies: Theory and Evidence from Developing Countries. Edited by Chris Milner. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp The Economics of European Integration. By Willem Molle. (Aldershot, Dartmouth Publishing Company Limited, 1990, pp The History of Econometric Ideas. By Mary S. Morgan. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp Social Welfare and Economic Policy. By Yew‐Kwang Ng. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp Alfred Marshall's Mission. By David Reisman. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp The History of Swedish Economic Thought. Edited by Bo Sandelin. (London, Routledge, 1990, pp A World Ruled by Number: William Stanley Jevons and the Rise of Mathematical Economics. By Margaret Schabas. (Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1990, pp Time, Expectations and Uncertainty in Economics. Selected Essays of G. L. S. Shackle. Edited by J. L. Ford. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp Unknowledge and Choice in Economics. Proceedings of a Conference in Honour of G. L. S. Shackle. Edited by Stephen F. Frowen. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp The Labor Market as a Social Institution. By Robert M. Solow. (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1990, pp Economic Papers, 1941‐88. By Josef Steindl. (Basingstoke, Macmillan Press, 1990, pp Alfred Marshall in Retrospect. Edited by Rita McWilliams Tullberg. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp Conflict in Economics. Edited by Yanis Varoufakis and David Young. (Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, pp The Economics of Trade Protection. By Neil Vousden. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp Industrial Organization. Edited by Oliver E. Williamson. (Aldershot, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1990, pp

[spa] La Tesis expone de forma diacrónica la evolución del catastro de propiedad y la tasación de esta misma entre mediados del siglo XVI hasta la actualidad en Chile. La investigación permitió definir a través de la revisión de fuentes primarias y secundarias la evolución que tuvo el registro predial y el consiguiente pago del impuesto territorial. Se presenta una visión global del avance del catastro predial a escala nacional, sustentada en información relevante que aportó al estudio. Si bien son numerosas las instituciones involucradas en dicho proceso, así como las diversas leyes que se dictaron y se actualizaron acorde a las necesidades del momento, es posible identificar un interés desde el Estado por desarrollar esta labor. El estudio permitió comprobar la existencia de un registro predial desde la llegada de los conquistadores al territorio nacional y que la propiedad tuvo un valor y tasación al momento de asignarla como compensación por las labores efectuadas. Posterior a esta etapa se evidencia la valorización de la propiedad por parte de los usos y sus rendimientos económicos, generándose disputas entre los vecinos involucrados, por problemas de deslindes prediales que se suscitaban por sus parcelaciones. Paralelamente, el naciente Estado republicano necesitó catastrar los recursos del país para conocer sus recursos con cierta exactitud y para ello se ve en la necesidad de contratar a inicios del siglo XIX a una sucesión de científicos europeos, especialmente franceses, para que ayudaran al levantamiento cartográfico y así identificar y expandir el conocimiento de la nación. Hacia finales del siglo XIX y comienzos del siglo XX se diseñan instituciones públicas que con la finalidad de fortalecer al conocimiento y tasación predial, entre ellas destacan la Oficina de Mensura de Tierras, el Servicio de Impuestos Internos, el Instituto Geográfico Militar, el Ministerio de Bienes Nacionales y el Sistema Nacional de Coordinación de Información Territorial, cada una con labores específicas al aporte del catastro de propiedad. Así como una serie de leyes que abordan el avalúo y la tasación predial. Se suma a las entidades la labor que realizan los municipios en el desarrollo de esta actividad. El municipio de Santiago es puesto en el centro del análisis porque es el caso que ostenta ser el ejemplo que representa la evolución de los sistemas catastrales desde la fundación hasta el día de hoy. Se concluye que es posible constatar un interés constante por parte del Estado por valorar la propiedad en diferentes períodos de la historia del país, complejizado dicha actividad por el desconocimiento que se tenía de las características del territorio que comprendía la nación y por la necesidad de tener un catastro predial unificado, que diese cuenta de un modo efectivo de los usos y actividades que puedan servir de modo efectivo a las arcas fiscales ; [eng] The thesis describes in a diachronic way the evolution of the property cadastre and its appraisal, between half of XVI century until the current time in Chile The research enabled the definition - trough the review of primary and secondary sources – of the evolution that had the land registry and the subsequent payment of territorial tax. It is also introduced a global overview of the progress of land cadastre, at national level and supported by the relevant information that contributed to this research. Besides of the many institutions that are involved in this process - the same as Laws issued and updated according to the needs of the moment - it is also possible to identify an interest from the State to develop this work. The research proved the existence of a land registration from the arrival of conquerors to the national territory, and also the evidence that the land was appraised at the time of its distribution, as a way of compensation for the work performed. Later there is the evidence of the land value according to its uses and economic performance; and debates among the involved neighbours, due to problems related to land boundaries that arose during its subdivisions. In parallel, the arising Republican State needed to cadastre the national resources with some accuracy, and for this reason European scientists were hired in the early nineteenth century, especially French ones, to assist the mapping, identification and expansion of the knowledge about the nation. By the late nineteenth century and early twentieth there were public institutions created to strengthen the land knowledge and its appraisal; among them are outstanding: The Mensuration Land Office, The National Tax Office, The Military Geographic Institute, The Ministry of National Goods and the National Department for the Coordination of Land Information, each one with specific tasks to contribute with land cadastre works. In addition to these organizations there is a Municipal action related to the development of this activity. The Municipality of Santiago is placed in the center of the analysis because it represents the example of the evolution of cadastral systems from its founding to current days. Finally the conclusion is that it is s possible to find along history a constant interest of the State for appraising properties, making this activity a more complex process due to the lack of knowledge about the characteristics of the land that formed the nation and by the need of a unified cadaster, which could have shown in an effective way the uses and activities that may have contributed effectively to the State incomes.

Agricultural development is still central to economic activity and employment in Vietnam. The developments in modern agriculture have led to a host of environmental concerns because it impinges on natural resources and heavily relies on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals. Agricultural developments include various influences on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services such as destruction of wildlife habitat, organic and nutrient enrichment, pollution risks, etc. The research throws light on an area not always foregrounded in the discussion of agricultural development surrounding protected areas in Vietnam. It raises an important question about how can manage agricultural production of protected area buffer zones to achieve economic viability and ensure ecological sustainability. This research has sought to analyze the agricultural development of local people and provide some perspectives on sustainable development toward agroecology nearby protected sites which are significant for Vietnam. The structure and emphasis of this research have been shaped mainly by the material gathered through the interviews. Through the application of the systemic approach of agroecology (objectives-practices-outputs), this research reviews the current situation of agricultural development surrounding Xuan Thuy National Park, the first Ramsar site in Southeast Asia. In the protected area buffer zone, there is an existence of diverse farming systems (mono and poly-culture) but there is a dearth of ecological-based knowledge and practices of farm households. One indication that there have not different cultivation guidance and management for farmers in the communal buffer zone as compared with outer communes. Agricultural advisory services from the local government have been disseminated similarly in the whole district including the protected area buffer zone. Whole-farm performances gained with different levels of sustainability. From socio-economic perspectives, farm households achieve some profitability but less efficiency. From ecological perspectives, there are many issues related to environmental pollution including the spontaneous drainage of farm effluents, inordinate application of pest and disease control, unwise utilization of synthetic fertilizers, wide use of antibiotics, and water conflicting between group users. Through RAAIS (Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Information System) analysis, this research identifies a vast range of elements that constitute constraints and underlying causes that hinder sustainable agricultural development and the application of ecological-based management practices in the protected area buffer zone. The top three clusters of constraints to achieving the development are mismanagement practices at the farm-scale, economic issues and environmental pollution. The analysis is undoubtedly brought about improvements in understanding the challenges and particular problems for agricultural developments around the protected area. Then the research focuses on the analysis of interlinked causes of the constraints. The first cause relates to the poor policy development associated with low enforcement of agroecologically-based methods for the agriculture sector nearby protected areas. Meanwhile, literature and policy documents show that Vietnam has numerous laws, policies and regulations for sustainable agriculture and eco-friendly cultivation, they have not been effectively transferred into practices at this zone. There is no restriction upon the unwise use of agrochemicals such as chemical pesticides and fertilizers around the sensitive area. At the same time, there is a lack of economic incentives for farmers who conserve nature near the protected area. Authorities at district and commune levels manage agriculture toward intensification but deficient ecological knowledge. Xuan Thuy National Park management board has very little authorization in monitoring improper practices of peripheral communities even though the park has technicians working on the issues related to environmental protection and conservation. Farmers have little interaction with the park for agricultural production. Furthermore, the enforcement of environmental standards in farming activities is limited despite the existence of environmental regulations and laws. The weak enforcement attributes by the dearth of facilities, resource-conserving equipment, laboratories, and staff from district to communes. In other words, environmental standards are given too much emphasis, while they have not transferred into practice and materialized in this site. The second emergent cause call for a reorientation is the agricultural advisory service system due to its low performance. Packages of technical advisory and problem-solving skillsets have not yet satisfied various needs of farmers or improved the economic and environmental outcomes of diverse production systems. Advisory providers have little role in assisting farmers to confront regional issues including negative impacts from pesticide contaminants and pond effluents, a disease outbreak in production, drastic weather, water conflicting between groups of farmer users, etc. Another critical interlinked constraint is related to the gap between the objectives of farmers and the park authority. Primary, farmers have the top priority for profits and they want to satisfy their own needs rather than feeling responsible for long-term maintenance. This clearly expresses the improper farming methods in the land-use systems and thus partly leads to the undesirable environmental performance in surveyed farms. While the conservative authorities expect both conservation and development, but in most cases economic factors shaped the decision-making of provincial government and lower agencies. From the preservation perspective, there have not clear indicators or measures of environmental sustainability for agriculture. Lastly, the findings of the research point out that farmers' knowledge of ecological agriculture is deficient, and these have an impact on the limited adoption of environmentally friendly production methods. Several implications are arising from this research to reflect on what needs to be put in place to ensure the form of agriculture nearby sensitive sites. These include ways of the policy-making process and stakeholder engagement as well as fostering of local knowledge and capacities and sustainable management practices in the response of agricultural development and pollution mitigation. The changes require helps to regulate agriculture toward the preservation of local ecosystems. ; Le développement agricole est toujours au cœur de l'activité économique et de l'emploi au Vietnam. L'évolution de l'agriculture moderne a suscité de nombreuses préoccupations environnementales, car elle empiète sur les ressources naturelles et dépend fortement des engrais synthétiques, des pesticides et d'autres produits chimiques. Le développement agricole influence diversement la biodiversité et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes et des services tels que la destruction de l'habitat faunique, l'enrichissement en matières organiques et en éléments nutritifs, les risques de pollution, etc. La recherche met la lumière sur une zone qui n'est pas toujours au premier plan dans la discussion du développement agricole entourant les zones protégées au Vietnam. Elle soulève une question importante sur la façon de gérer la production agricole des zones tampons protégées pour atteindre la viabilité socio-économique et assurer la durabilité écologique. Cette recherche a cherché à analyser le développement agricole des populations locales et à fournir des perspectives de développement durable vers l'agroécologie à proximité des sites protégés qui sont importants pour le Vietnam. La structure et l'importance de cette recherche ont été façonnées principalement par le matériel recueilli au cours des entrevues. En appliquant l'approche systémique de l'agroécologie (objectifs-pratiques-résultats), cette recherche examine la situation actuelle du développement agricole autour du parc national Xuan Thuy, le premier site Ramsar en Asie du Sud-Est. Dans la zone tampon de l'aire protégée, il existe divers systèmes agricoles (mono et polyculture), mais les pratiques de production écologiques des ménages agricoles sont rares. Il n'existe pas de différence dans les directives agricoles pour les agriculteurs dans la zone tampon et ceux des zones extérieures. Les services de conseil agricole du gouvernement local ont été diffusés de façon similaire dans l'ensemble du district. Les performances des exploitations agricoles en ont bénéficié et atteignent différents niveaux de durabilité. Du point de vue socio-économique, les ménages agricoles atteignent une certaine rentabilité, mais moins de stabilité, d'efficacité et de résilience. Du point de vue écologique, il existe de nombreux problèmes liés à la pollution de l'environnement, notamment le drainage spontané des effluents agricoles, l'application excessive de pesticides contre les ravageurs et les maladies, l'utilisation peu judicieuse d'engrais synthétiques, l'utilisation généralisée d'antibiotiques, et le conflit pour l'eau entre les utilisateurs du groupe. En utilisant l'analyse par RAAIS (Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Information System), cette recherche détermine des éléments qui entravent le développement agricole durable et l'application des pratiques de gestion écologiques dans la zone tampon de l'aire protégée et les causes de ses contraintes. Les trois principaux groupes de contraintes à la réalisation du développement sont les mauvaises pratiques de gestion à l'échelle de la ferme, les problèmes économiques et la pollution environnementale. L'analyse est certainement amenée à améliorer la compréhension des défis et des problèmes particuliers du développement agricole autour des aires protégées. Ensuite, la recherche se concentre sur l'analyse des causes interdépendantes des contraintes. La première cause est liée au faible développement des politiques associé à une faible application de celles-ci au secteur agricole à proximité des aires protégées. En ce moment, le Vietnam a de nombreuses lois, politiques et réglementations pour une agriculture durable et une culture respectueuse de l'environnement, mais elles n'ont pas été effectivement transposées dans les pratiques de cette zone. Il n'y a aucune restriction quant à l'utilisation imprudente de produits agrochimiques comme les pesticides et les engrais dans la zone sensible. En même temps, il manque d'incitations économiques pour les agriculteurs qui conservent la nature à proximité de l'aire protégée. Les autorités, au niveau du district et de la commune, poussent l'agriculture vers l'intensification, mais avec une connaissance écologique insuffisante. Le conseil de gestion du parc national Xuan Thuy a très peu d'autorité pour surveiller les pratiques inappropriées des communautés périphériques, même si le parc a des techniciens qui travaillent sur les questions liées à la protection et à la conservation de l'environnement. Les agriculteurs ont peu d'interactions avec le parc pour la production agricole. De plus, l'application des normes environnementales dans les activités agricoles est limitée malgré l'existence de lois et de règlements environnementaux. Les faibles retombées de l'application de la loi sont dues au manque d'installations, d'équipement de conservation des ressources, de laboratoires et de personnel des districts et communes. Autrement dit, on met trop l'accent sur les normes environnementales, alors qu'elles ne se sont pas matérialisées dans ce site. La deuxième cause émergente, appellée à une réorientation, est le système de conseil agricole en raison de ses faibles performances. Les ensembles de compétences techniques de conseil et de résolution de problèmes n'ont pas encore répondu aux divers besoins des agriculteurs ni amélioré les résultats économiques et environnementaux des divers systèmes de production. Les comités de conseils ont peu de moyens pour aider les agriculteurs à faire face aux problèmes régionaux, y compris les effets négatifs des contaminants, des pesticides et des effluents des étangs, une maladie dans la production, des conditions météorologiques extrêmes, des conflits pour l'eau entre les groupes d'agriculteurs utilisateurs. etc. Une autre contrainte essentielle, c'est l'écart entre les objectifs des agriculteurs et ceux de l'autorité du parc. Dans le secteur primaire, les agriculteurs donnent la priorité absolue aux profits et ils veulent satisfaire leurs propres besoins plutôt que de se sentir responsables de l'entretien à long terme. Cela exprime clairement le caractère inapproprié des méthodes agricoles dans les systèmes d'utilisation des terres et conduit donc en partie à des performances environnementales indésirables dans les exploitations recensées. Alors que les autorités en charge de la conservation de la nature attendent à la fois la conservation et le développement, dans la plupart des cas, ce sont les facteurs économiques qui ont façonné la prise de décisions du gouvernement provincial et des organismes des échelons inférieurs. Du point de vue de la préservation, il n'y a pas d'indicateurs ou de mesures clairs de la durabilité environnementale pour l'agriculture. Enfin, les résultats de la recherche soulignent que les connaissances des agriculteurs en matière d'agroécologie sont insuffisantes et qu'elles ont un impact sur l'adoption limitée de méthodes de production respectueuses de l'environnement. Plusieurs implications découlent de cette recherche pour réfléchir à ce qui doit être mis en place pour déterminer la forme de l'agriculture à proximité des sites sensibles. Il s'agit notamment des processus d'élaboration des politiques et de mobilisation des parties prenantes, ainsi que de l'amélioration des connaissances et des capacités des responsables locaux et des pratiques de gestion durable pour le développement agricole en vue de l'atténuation de la pollution. Les changements nécessaires aident à réglementer l'agriculture pour la préservation des écosystèmes locaux.

The Beras untuk Rakyat Miskin (Raskin) program was introduced as an emergency food security program in 1998; it delivers rice to be purchased at subsidized prices, prioritized to poor and near-poor households. In terms of government expenditure, Raskin remains the largest permanent social assistance transfer targeted to poor households in Indonesia. Though developed as a response to crisis, Raskin has become a permanent program and in real expenditure terms is one of the few social assistance programs with a larger budget in 2010 than in 2005. In 2010 Raskin accounted for nearly 53 percent of all household-targeted social assistance spending carried out by the central government. Over 2000 to 2010, the amount of rice allocated by the Raskin program has averaged over 2 million tons per year; in 2010 the almost 3 million tons allocated could have delivered between 30 and 40 kilograms per month to the approximately 6.2 million households at or below the poverty line. The distribution of Raskin rice does not closely align with the objectives laid out in program manuals and official documentation for at least three reasons. First, not all of the rice procured for the Raskin program makes it to households. In the three most recent years for which there is audited budget data (2007 through 2009), nationally representative household surveys indicate that only half (or less) of the rice procured for Raskin is purchased by households. The readily-available budget and administrative records cannot indicate where the bulk of this "missing" rice exits the delivery chain, and no single agency or authority is in charge of Raskin rice from procurement to household purchase. This note assesses the operation and implementation of the Raskin program to determine how well poor households are served by the program and the overall cost of program resources. The note provides quantitative analysis of the coverage, incidence, and average benefit levels of Raskin to determine both the progressivity of the program's targeting and the adequacy of benefit levels. Qualitative information on program delivery and program operations will also shed light on areas for reform. An evidence-based appraisal of the household-based transfer currently consuming over 50 percent of the entire social assistance budget envelope can provide inputs to the Government of Indonesia (GOI) as it continues to try to achieve both Pro-Poor development for all Indonesians and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Institutionalising European defence : main trends in European public perceptions in the age of the global war on terror / Yantsislav Yanakiev -- Between alliance and home front considerations : the German armed forces and security-related opinion polls / Sabine Collmer -- Managing diversity in all-volunteer forces : theoretical perspectives, institutional assessment and policy implications / Yantsislav Yanakiev -- Women in conflictual situations in the war-torn Darfur, Sudan : an exposition / Oluyemi O. Fayomi -- Gender integration policies in the armed forces : a double-edged sword? / Helena Carreiras -- Women in the military profession : the Greek case / L. Nicolaou-Smokoviti -- Thirty years of gender integration : cadet perceptions of women at the U.S. Air force academy / David R. McCone, Wilbur J. Scott -- Parents voice : the intergenerational relationship, worry, appraisal of the deployment, and support among parents of deployed personnel / Manon Andres, Ren(c)Øe Moelker -- Military families and deployments abroad in Italy. In search of adequate answers for a new issue / Marina Nuciari, Guido Sertorio -- Pakistani military's role in the Asian context / Riaz Ahmed Shaikh -- End of conscription and problems of manning : the case of Slovenian Armed Forces / Uro Svete, Ljubica Jeluic -- Military educational institutions and their role in the reproduction of inequality in the Philippines / Leslie V. Advincula-Lopez -- A basis of Mongolian defense policy and armed forces for self-defense / Turtogtoh Janar -- Foreign aid, war/military, and state building of cold war Taiwan : in search of a theoretical and comparative framework / Yu-Wen Fan -- From military professionalism to coup d'etat : concordance theory in India and Pakistan / Rebecca L. Schiff -- Whose job, what job? Security sector performance in a local Communist frontline in central Philippines / Rosalie Arcala Hall -- EU harmonisation reforms, democratisation and a new modality of civil-military relations in Turkey / Nilufer Narli -- The convergence and divergence in perceptions of security issues By military professionals and civilians in South Korea / Doo-Seung Hong, Chon-Hwan Chong -- Civilmilitary relations of modern Korea : from a patriarchal army to a professional army / Mahn-Geum Ohn -- Civilmilitary relations of Korea in the 21st Century / Byeong Jo Kim -- General conscription in Finland after 2008 : some reasons behind Finland's population's and conscripts attitudes towards general conscription / Olli Harinen, Jukka Leskinen -- Demilitarizing politics in South Korea : toward a positive consolidation of civilian supremacy / Il Joon Chung -- Changes in military profession in Latin American countries / Omar Guti(c)Øerrez -- Slovene public opinion about security issues : a coincidence or a consistent pattern? / Marjan Maleic, Vinko Vegic -- Introduction / Giuseppe Caforio. - There could be no better homage to recently deceased sociologist Charles C. Moskos than dedicating to him this selection of the papers presented at RC01's international conference in Seoul (July 2008). It offers an up-to-date view of the panorama of social studies on armed forces and conflict resolution in a context of fast-moving change that renders many preceding theoretical previsions obsolete. Just to cite two aspects of this change, one can point first of all to how the presented studies move beyond the very concept of globalization, after which the conference had been named. It in fact emerged with clarity that the new dimensions of the context in which militaries and military policy must move are those of a constant, diffuse interaction of the 'local' and the 'global', so-called globalization. A second aspect, in the international area, is the shift towards a multipolar global order with the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, Latin America, Japan and India all manoeuvring for position, a shift that has significant consequences on military action as well

Conclusion: Having described the alchemy through which mandates are forged and having analysed problematic aspects of mandates, how can one conclude the study and appraise the process? One obvious difficulty is that of selectivity. By focusing on the interventions shaped by mandates, those situations that fall outside the realm of the possible in international politics also fall outside the appraisal process. So appraising mandates tells us nothing about the fate of Chechnya or self-determination for Kurdish people or the future of Tibet. Focusing on the interventions themselves poses further problems of appraisal. Is an intervention successful because fighting stopped or ceasefires were maintained? This is often the media interpretation of events and thus a key component in shaping public perceptions. But the fundamental question of the health of the polity that is the subject of the intervention remains unanswered if we look simply at the cessation of hostilities. Measuring state building is a difficult medium to long-term venture. Perhaps the best political measurement is the satisfaction with the UN intervention by the parties principal including not only the leaders and factions within the polity but also the key actors in the international community such as the permanent members, the troop and civilian staff contributors and the neighbouring countries. It is perhaps on this basis that the 1995 Agenda for Peace claimed that in most cases the interventions have been conspicuously successful with Namibia, Angola, El Salvador, Cambodia and Mozambique drawing particular praise. Many commentators would agree with this general comment. The success of an intervention tells us that the clear and practical mandate was well suited to the result being sought. But the success of the intervention is also due to the five other factors said to be critical: the cooperation of the parties in implementing that mandate; the continuing support of the Security Council; the readiness of Member States to contribute the military, police and civilian personnel, including specialists, required; effective United Nations command at Headquarters and in the field; and adequate financial and logistic support. So the mandate is only one part of the formula. Within the process of judging the intervention as a whole, mandates need to be appraised on their clarity and practicality. A workable mandate will comprise mainly of action tasks that are simply described for the benefit of both the implementers and the subjects. Many of these tasks will be measurable in terms of performance, cost and timeliness. A workable mandate will avoid vague compromise words that paper over essential differences and thus leave the dilemma unresolved and in the hands of the implementers. A workable mandate will have direction and closure. The end point may not always be predictable but the direction should be clear and a point should be ascertainable where the emergency intervention ends and the regular processes of development assistance take over. A workable mandate will have a defined division of labour. This may be based on subject matter, on geographical area or on organisational competence. One of the avoidable problems referred to in Agenda for Peace concern difficulties with coordination arising from the various specific mandates decreed for the agencies by discrete intergovernmental bodies. The UN has the responsibility to coordinate its various inputs into a coherent effort. It is open from the foregoing analysis to conclude that the UN process of developing mandates for democratisation and state-building purposes have improved with practice. Mistakes have clearly been made but they have contributed to the learning and drafting process. It would be unrealistic to demand that the vagaries of international politics be somehow eliminated from the process of decision-making and formulation of mandates. The power of the permanent members can be seen as a way of channelling realpolitik into the decision-making process. For that reason alone, it would be futile to demand consistency. Interventions that have a direct impact on one of the permanent members will not be treated in the same way as the more remote situations. To what extent should democratisation be a priority in the mandate? The problem with asking this question is that democratisation competes with the reestablishment of security and the provision of humanitarian aid as the three major thrusts of mandates. There can hardly be a process of democratisation without a generally secure environment and humanitarian aid in an emergency situation is clearly a priority for the subject peoples. The better way of posing the question is to ask whether sufficient priority is being given to the democratisation process. That is a valid question because without a democratisation process it is unlikely that the polity can ultimately achieve a form of governance that will encourage reconciliation and favour long-term recovery socially and economically. The reply, inevitably, is yes and no. Yes, democratisation has found a place in the UNs rhetoric and in its mandates. As one practitioner noted ruefully, even delegates from non-democratic countries happily accept the inclusion in mandates of provisions for free and fair elections and support for civil society. Mandates have become more sophisticated and the UNs response is improving with experience. There have been significant achievements in half a dozen difficult situations and a willingness to build on these processes in the future. But there is also a negative response. The problem is one of maintaining focus. Democratisation is not achieved by putting out fires, nor is it established by a single transition election; it is a long-term process requiring the patience to endure setbacks and to accept the slow pace of reform. Each new crisis faced by the UN naturally detracts attention from the smoky ruins of the last fire. The funds required for the long haul are often inadequate and the benefits gained initially are put at risk. A mandate can therefore only begin a process of democratisation. It can put some of the basic foundations in place and set a certain direction. Thereafter the process of democratic transition and consolidation is in the hands of many actors and political forces. No more should be asked of the UN interventions in the field.

Conclusion: Having described the alchemy through which mandates are forged and having analysed problematic aspects of mandates, how can one conclude the study and appraise the process? One obvious difficulty is that of selectivity. By focusing on the interventions shaped by mandates, those situations that fall outside the realm of the possible in international politics also fall outside the appraisal process. So appraising mandates tells us nothing about the fate of Chechnya or self-determination for Kurdish people or the future of Tibet. Focusing on the interventions themselves poses further problems of appraisal. Is an intervention successful because fighting stopped or ceasefires were maintained? This is often the media interpretation of events and thus a key component in shaping public perceptions. But the fundamental question of the health of the polity that is the subject of the intervention remains unanswered if we look simply at the cessation of hostilities. Measuring state building is a difficult medium to long-term venture. Perhaps the best political measurement is the satisfaction with the UN intervention by the parties principal including not only the leaders and factions within the polity but also the key actors in the international community such as the permanent members, the troop and civilian staff contributors and the neighbouring countries. It is perhaps on this basis that the 1995 Agenda for Peace claimed that in most cases the interventions have been conspicuously successful with Namibia, Angola, El Salvador, Cambodia and Mozambique drawing particular praise. Many commentators would agree with this general comment. The success of an intervention tells us that the clear and practical mandate was well suited to the result being sought. But the success of the intervention is also due to the five other factors said to be critical: the cooperation of the parties in implementing that mandate; the continuing support of the Security Council; the readiness of Member States to contribute the military, police and civilian personnel, including specialists, required; effective United Nations command at Headquarters and in the field; and adequate financial and logistic support. So the mandate is only one part of the formula. Within the process of judging the intervention as a whole, mandates need to be appraised on their clarity and practicality. A workable mandate will comprise mainly of action tasks that are simply described for the benefit of both the implementers and the subjects. Many of these tasks will be measurable in terms of performance, cost and timeliness. A workable mandate will avoid vague compromise words that paper over essential differences and thus leave the dilemma unresolved and in the hands of the implementers. A workable mandate will have direction and closure. The end point may not always be predictable but the direction should be clear and a point should be ascertainable where the emergency intervention ends and the regular processes of development assistance take over. A workable mandate will have a defined division of labour. This may be based on subject matter, on geographical area or on organisational competence. One of the avoidable problems referred to in Agenda for Peace concern difficulties with coordination arising from the various specific mandates decreed for the agencies by discrete intergovernmental bodies. The UN has the responsibility to coordinate its various inputs into a coherent effort. It is open from the foregoing analysis to conclude that the UN process of developing mandates for democratisation and state-building purposes have improved with practice. Mistakes have clearly been made but they have contributed to the learning and drafting process. It would be unrealistic to demand that the vagaries of international politics be somehow eliminated from the process of decision-making and formulation of mandates. The power of the permanent members can be seen as a way of channelling realpolitik into the decision-making process. For that reason alone, it would be futile to demand consistency. Interventions that have a direct impact on one of the permanent members will not be treated in the same way as the more remote situations. To what extent should democratisation be a priority in the mandate? The problem with asking this question is that democratisation competes with the reestablishment of security and the provision of humanitarian aid as the three major thrusts of mandates. There can hardly be a process of democratisation without a generally secure environment and humanitarian aid in an emergency situation is clearly a priority for the subject peoples. The better way of posing the question is to ask whether sufficient priority is being given to the democratisation process. That is a valid question because without a democratisation process it is unlikely that the polity can ultimately achieve a form of governance that will encourage reconciliation and favour long-term recovery socially and economically. The reply, inevitably, is yes and no. Yes, democratisation has found a place in the UNs rhetoric and in its mandates. As one practitioner noted ruefully, even delegates from non-democratic countries happily accept the inclusion in mandates of provisions for free and fair elections and support for civil society. Mandates have become more sophisticated and the UNs response is improving with experience. There have been significant achievements in half a dozen difficult situations and a willingness to build on these processes in the future. But there is also a negative response. The problem is one of maintaining focus. Democratisation is not achieved by putting out fires, nor is it established by a single transition election; it is a long-term process requiring the patience to endure setbacks and to accept the slow pace of reform. Each new crisis faced by the UN naturally detracts attention from the smoky ruins of the last fire. The funds required for the long haul are often inadequate and the benefits gained initially are put at risk. A mandate can therefore only begin a process of democratisation. It can put some of the basic foundations in place and set a certain direction. Thereafter the process of democratic transition and consolidation is in the hands of many actors and political forces. No more should be asked of the UN interventions in the field.

History is an important determinant of current economic development. One reason is cultural learning, which includes imitating behaviors from ancestors in order to save individual learning costs. Amongst anthropologists, there is widespread agreement that it is cultural learning that makes humans so adaptive in comparison to other species, which imitate less or worse. Nevertheless, culture also makes humans less adaptive than economists assume for the homo economicus (because humans imitate many behaviors without appraisal, inefficient behaviors might persist for a long time before they are changed). In this PhD research, much attention is focused on a cultural trait called self-efficacy. The concept has been developed by psychologist Albert Bandura and describes how much a person believes to have the ability to achieve self-chosen goals. Research has shown that self-efficacy affects which goals are chosen and how effectively they are pursued. Individuals with low self-efficacy in a domain either avoid it, or are unmotivated to invest sufficient effort, especially in the face of obstacles. The thesis begins with an investigation of whether colonial experiences persist to affect current contract farming performance in Ghana. During colonial times, the British government established cocoa export cooperatives and Christian missionaries established schools. The performance of the cocoa export cooperatives is found to have shaped the long term self-efficacy of the farmers in regard to the profitability of such global value chains and the Christian missionary schools persistently lowered village level social capital. Thus, historically rooted cultural differences currently explain the performance of contract farming in different communities. Even earlier causes of divergent cultures are the experiences with pre-industrial subsistence farming systems. Where the biogeography incentivized cereal farming, farmers were rewarded for agricultural investments and thus developed self-efficacy regarding agricultural investments. Where the biogeography incentivized other farming systems based on roots, tubers, or tree crops, investments were less rewarding and farmers developed lower investment self-efficacy. These differences are found to significantly explain income differences amongst Ghana's current pineapple farmers. The causal channel are investments, which are critical for the profitability of pineapple and which are determined by the farmers' investment self-efficacy. A special feature of self-efficacy is furthermore, how people react to adversity. Whereas high self-efficacy leads people to increase their efforts after failure, low self-efficacy leads to decreased efforts. It is found that farmers with high self-efficacy are able to mitigate a significant share of lost income from droughts. The reason is that they are more likely to adopt a climate smart innovation that conserves water when rainfall decreases. Their peers with low self-efficacy are not found to adapt. Investing which farmers achieve higher incomes than predicted by ancestral' experiences, it is the well known variables education and social capital. Thus, overcoming history is not found to require special policies, at least for the pineapple farmers in Ghana. Agricultural trainings about innovations are also a potential policy tool to increase rural incomes in Ghana. However, a significant effect is only found for more complex innovations, whereas simpler innovations can easily be learned from other farmers. Globally, a very different relationship between culture and economics is investigated. Attempting to explain why not all World Heritage sites are promoted as such, it is found that site and regional specific, economic variables explain the pattern well – whereas constraints and the collective benefit do not matter much. To strengthen the brand, it is thus either necessary to help more sites to benefit, or to make promotion mandatory. ; Geschichte erklärt ökonomische Unterschiede – zwischen Weltregionen, Ländern, Regionen und Individuen. Ein Grund dafür ist Kultur. Kultur ermöglicht es uns, Lernkosten einzusparen, weil Verhaltensmuster unser Vorfahren übernommen werden, ohne das wir sie genau verstehen müssen. Anthropologen sind sich weitgehend einig, dass es unsere Fähigkeit der Imitation ist, die uns Menschen so anpassungsfähig macht, im Vergleich zu andere Spezies, die entweder weniger oder einfach schlechter imitieren. Allerdings macht uns Kultur auch weniger anpassungsfähig als es häufig in der Ökonomie für den Homo Oeconomicus angenommen wird. Schließlich führt Kultur dazu, dass Verhaltensmuster oft einfach imitiert werden, ohne in Frage gestellt zu werden. In dieser Doktorarbeit sind mehrere Kapitel dem Konzept der wahrgenommenen Selbst-Wirksamkeit gewidmet. Die Bedeutung der Selbst-Wirksamkeit wurde vor Allem von Psychologe Albert Bandura erforscht. Es beschreibt wie sehr eine Person daran glaubt, die Fähigkeit zu haben, ihre selbst gewählten Ziele zu erreichen. Dieser Glaube beeinflusst, welche Ziele gewählt werden, und wie effektiv ihre Erreichung verfolgt wird. Personen mit niedriger Selbst-Wirksamkeit in einer Domäne vermeiden sie entweder vollständig, oder sind unmotiviert genügend zu investieren – insbesondere wenn auch noch weitere Hürden hinzukommen. Eine der Haupt-Forschungshypothesen dieser Arbeit war, dass wahrgenommene Selbst-Wirksamkeit historisch-kulturell bedingt ist und Relevanz für die Entwicklungsökonomie hat. Die Arbeit beginnt mit einer Analyse, ob Koloniale Erfahrungen in Ghana den Erfolg von Produktions-Verträgen in der Landwirtschaft beeinflussen. Zu Kolonialzeiten etablierte die britische Regierung Kooperativen für den Kakao Export und Christliche Missionare etablierten Schulen. Der damalige Erfolg der Kooperativen beeinflusst noch heute die Selbst-Wirksamkeit der Landwirte im Bezug auf globale Wertschöpfungsketten, und die Christlichen Missions-Schulen beeinflussen noch immer ihr Sozial-Kapital. Beide Variablen sind sehr wichtig für den Erfolg der Vertragslandwirtschaft, welche wiederum ein wichtiges Werkzeug zur Armutsbekämpfung ist. Sogar noch früher als die kolonialen Erfahrungen sind Erfahrungen mit Vor-Industriellen Produktionssystemen. In Regionen, in denen die Biogeographie den Anbau von Getreide bevorzugte, entwickelten die Landwirte hohe Investitions-Selbst-Wirksamkeit, weil Getreide Investitionen belohnte. In anderen Regionen, in denen die Biogeographie eher andere Anbausysteme bevorzugte, entwickelten die Landwirte eher niedrige Selbst-Wirksamkeit, weil zum Beispiel Wurzeln und Knollen wie Cassava und Yams, Investitionen weniger erforderten und auch weniger belohnen. Im heutigen Ananas-Anbau spielen Investitionen eine sehr wichtige Rolle. Interessanterweise investieren die Nachfahren von getreideanbauenden Landwirten deutlich mehr als die Nachfahren von anderen Landwirten, weshalb sie deutlich höhere Einkommen haben. Eine besondere Eigenschaft der Selbst-Wirksamkeit ist, dass sie die Reaktion auf Rückschläge beeinflusst. Individuen mit hoher Selbst-Wirksamkeit reagieren mit erhöhter Motivation, während Individuen mit niedriger Selbst-Effektivität möglicherweise ganz aufgeben. Für die Landwirte in Ghana ist der Regen eine wichtige Einkommens-Determinante. Spannenderweise kann man in der Tat beobachten, dass Landwirte mit hoher Selbst-Wirksamkeit auf Dürren mit der Übernahme wassersparender Innovation reagieren, während Landwirte mit niedriger Selbst-Effektivität sich gar nicht anpassen. Diese Ergebnisse führen natürlich zu der Frage, welche Faktoren es wohl Personen und Regionen ermöglichen, bessere ökonomische Ergebnisse zu erzielen, als von ihrer Geschichte prognostiziert. Die Antwort: Bildung und Sozial-Kapital. Trainings in ausgewählten Innovationen können ebenfalls helfen. Es ist allerding klar, dass Trainings nicht für alle Technologien gleich effektiv sind. Im Hinblick auf nachhaltige Intensivierungs-Technologien ist das Ergebnis, dass eher simple Innovation leicht von anderen Landwirten gelernt werden können, wodurch deutlich weniger Training notwendig ist, als für komplexere Innovationen, die stark und lange vom Training profitieren. Zum Ende wird global eine ganz andere Beziehung zwischen Ökonomie und Kultur untersucht. Die Weltkulturerbeliste der UNESCO soll besondere Orte beschützen und kommunizieren. Eine wichtige Frage für die UNESCO ist jedoch, warum sich nicht alle gelisteten Orte klar als Weltkulturerbestätte identifizieren. Die Antwort ist eine Reihe orts- und regions-spezifischer Anreize, häufig verbunden mit Tourismus-Einnahmen. Die Kosten der Weltkulturerbe-Vermarkung und die Motivation das Program voranzubringen spielen im Gegensatz kaum eine Rolle. Ein großer Anteil des Verhaltens ist rein kulturell bedingt, sodass Orte im nahen Osten zum Beispiel gar nicht als Weltkulturerbe-Stätte vermarktet werden, und besonders in Asien sehr stark.

The power and energy sector is one of the success cases of the present government during its earlier regimes. This has happened because of undertaking targeted initiatives over the last one decade with a view to come out from the crisis of electricity in the country. The sector is moving towards attaining long term goals for ensuring energy sustainability: 27,400 MW (in 2030), and 51,000 MW (in 2041) (PSMP, 2016). It is the appropriate time to revisit the achievements till date. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the performance of the power and energy sector over the last one decade with a view to identify the areas of weaknesses and challenges and to put forward a set of recommendations on long term sustainability. From methodological point of view, present exercise is a gap analysis on the sector with a view to identify the weaknesses (Fig. 1). Most of the data has been collected from the secondary sources such as Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Petrobangla, Rural Electrification Board (REB), Bangladesh Economic Review and World Bank. Besides, various newspaper reports (national and abroad) have been used as references. The structure of the document is to highlight the key issues of concerns and to raise questions which need to be answered. However, one of the limitations of the study is that some of the information collected from the newspaper reports which have been used in the report as references need cross-checking. The paper highlights fifteen different issues related to the power and energy sector value chain. These include condition of energy and power sector value chains, access and quality of demand for electricity, power sector Master Plan and power generation, concerns on selected power plant projects, efficiency in power generation, situation of country's gas reserve, challenges in gas exploration, direction of the energy mix, import of LNG in the country, regulating LPG market, administered energy tariff and beyond, growing concerns in the governance system which include lack of transparency, corruptions and irregularities and concluding remarks.

Cambodia is one of the world's most open economies, sustaining high levels of growth in an environment of relatively weak governance. Emerging from a legacy of genocide and civil conflict, the country has sought to address human and social capital deficits across sectors, weaknesses in public finance, and corruption. Despite improvements in access to basic services, governance constraints persist and may threaten gains from economic integration. Over the 2004-10 period, the Bank's engagement on Governance and Anticorruption (GAC) issues in Cambodia was not defined by a single, overarching priority or entry point (such as core public sector management, natural resource management, or service delivery). Rather, the Bank was opportunistic, opting to support the government's GAC efforts across multiple sectors and institutions. The relevance of this opportunistic approach is judged to be moderately relevant. The Bank's objectives on public financial management (PFM) were highly relevant given Cambodia's nontransparent and weak public expenditure management and limited capacity. The Bank's response to sectoral governance weaknesses such as red tape, inefficiencies, and other forms of rent-seeking in customs is rated modest given the need for the government to implement its World Trade Organization commitments. The Bank's project level engagement is rated as moderately relevant. As a basis for reinstating suspended projects, portfolio-wide measures included the use of an Independent Procurement Agency (IPA) for the International Development Association (IDA) procurements, and the implementation of Good Governance Frameworks (GGF) for all IDA projects.

The severe conditions in Zimbabwe, which reached a nadir in 2008 and 2009, led to a collapse of basic systems including the reliability and safety of water supply and sanitation services, leading to an outbreak of cholera with more than 4,000 deaths and over 90,000 people infected. The World Bank provided Technical Assistance (TA) to the City of Harare to improve water and sanitation services in the period October 2012 to June 2014 to the value of approximately 600,000 US dollars. This Summary Note summarizes the key elements of the work undertaken and makes a set of recommendations to the City of Harare, the adjacent local authorities of Chitungwiza, Epworth, Norton and Ruwa, and Government of Zimbabwe to inform a strategic plan to improve water and Sanitation services in the greater Harare area. This Summary Note also sets out the context at the commencement of the TA, summarizes the work undertaken in the TA and the outcomes from this work, and makes recommendations for the way forward.