Suchergebnisse

Climate change is a global problem, yet it is experienced at the local scale, in ways that are both place-specific and specific to the accidents of weather history. This article takes the dichotomy between the global and the local as a starting point to develop a critique of the normative approach within climate science, which is global in various ways and thereby fails to bring meaning to the local. The article discusses the ethical choices implicit in the current paradigm of climate prediction, how irreducible uncertainty at the local scale can be managed by suitable reframing of the scientific questions, and some particular epistemic considerations that apply to climate change in the global South. The article argues for an elevation of the narrative and for a demotion of the probabilistic from its place of privilege in the construction and communication of our understanding of global warming and its local consequences.

AbstractMultinational Enterprises expect to retain repatriates (i.e., returning employees from international assignments) and to gain from the new knowledge and experience they bring back from international assignments. Drawing insights from social exchange theory and using the perspective of psychological contracts, our study findings demonstrate that repatriate perception of recognition of foreign experience influences their job satisfaction, and this influence is mediated by perceived growth opportunities in the organization. Further, this mediation is nuanced in that it is stronger when there is an organization repatriation plan in place. The study contributes to the theoretical underpinnings of the antecedents of repatriate job satisfaction. Moreover, it demonstrates the need to have a strong repatriation plan in place along with growth opportunities within the organization to heighten job satisfaction of these highly valued employees upon their return from an international assignment.

This research examined the nexus between the environment, conflict and security in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria as well as the factors that led to the conflict. Since the discovery of oil in 1956, the Niger Delta has been entrapped in environmental degradation as a result of oil mining, spurring a wide range of developmental challenges. Subsequently, by the 1990s, deepening poverty and underdevelopment, exacerbated by ecological problems, opened the space for the emergence of youth restiveness and a violent arms struggle. This violent struggle by the Niger-Delta youth seeks to challenge the legitimacy of the Nigerian state and the perceived corporate irresponsibility of Multinational Oil Companies (MNCs). Thus, the region faces security challenges triggered by neglect on the part of international and local oil companies and the failure of Nigeria's central government to meet the developmental, environmental and security demands of local communities. Given this background, the research questions are: (1) In what ways do natural resources contribute to conflicts and environmental despoliation in Nigeria's Niger Delta region? (2) Do the federal government and oil companies meet the demands of the community regarding environmental protection and the development and security of inhabitants? (3) Who are the actors in the resource conflict? To address these questions, the research used a triangulation approach, using primarily qualitative primary data sourced through 28 in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions of 5-7 people per group. The data obtained were coded and analysed thematically, and secondary quantitative data was used to supplement primary data. The original contribution of this research is in three main aspects: First, my research reveals a complex relationship between the local oil servicing contractors and the militant groups. There is strategic destructive alliance between these two actors underpinned by moral hazard. The oil servicing contractors employ the services of the local people to vandalise the oil pipelines in order for the MNCs to award contract to them for repair of the vandalised pipelines. Second, the Presidential Amnesty granted to the militants appear to have produced unintended outcomes in undermining productive economic activity and exacerbating insecurity in the region. The monthly payments of allowances to former militants under the amnesty programme incentivised the otherwise peaceful youths to join militancy to benefit from amnesty benefits. This intervention gives credence to the view that the federal and state governments only listen to those who take up arms against the state. Third, this research proposes a revised theoretical model that integrates two previous frameworks to illuminate the nature and context of resources curse. This integrated model brings together the rentier model and Dutch disease/resource curse to explain the characteristics and complexities of natural resource governance issues in Nigeria. It can be applied to other regions with similar challenges and profiles. Overall, the research has elicited significant theoretical and empirical insights into different views of the oil extraction, security and development. Recommendations are provided for future research and policy interventions.

Purpose
– This paper sets out to identify and categorize existing academic literature using the CSA/FSA matrix as it relates to environmentally responsible management in an international business context. It further identifies current trends and potential future research avenues.


Design/methodology/approach
– This paper undertook an examination of the literature as it pertains to international business activities of multinational enterprises (MNE) and environmentally responsible management (ERM) practices. In keeping with the focus of this review, only articles that discussed ERM in an international or multinational setting were considered, meaning that research focused on practices in only one country was not included.


Findings
– Some general themes were found in the literature regarding ERM activity and development in an international business context. One overriding theme is the relationship between the strategies, organization, goals and values of MNEs on the one hand versus the conditions and natures of host countries on the other. The CSA/FSA matrix uncovered a significant lack in FSA based research suggesting a focus for future research.


Originality/value
– The paper provides a thorough review of existing literature and supplements future research by categorizing major areas of focus and methodologies. This review generates significant building blocks for future research avenues and paths to be discovered through the use of the CSA/FSA matrix and the interaction between the factors.

State and local governments use many types of property tax incentives to increasebusiness development. This report reviews those incentives, summarizes the literatureregarding their effectiveness, and makes recommendations for reforming their use tohelp policy makers and local government officials improve the odds of achieving theirdevelopment goals.

Unlike most mammals, human fathers cooperate with mothers to care for young to an extraordinary degree. Human paternal care likely evolved alongside our unique life history strategy of raising slow-developing, energetically costly children, often in rapid succession. Adaptive frameworks generally assume that paternal provisioning played a critical role in this pattern's emergence. We draw on nonhuman primate data to propose that nonprovisioning forms of low-cost hominin male care were potentially foundational and ratcheted up through evolutionary time, helping facilitate social contexts for later subsistence specialization and sharing. We then argue for expanding the breadth of anthropological research on paternal effects in families, particularly in three domains: direct care and teaching;social capital cultivation; and reduction of family conflict. Anthropologists can greatly contribute to conversations about the determinants of children's development across contexts, but we need to ask more expansive questions about the pathways through which caregivers (including fathers) affect child outcomes.