Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Developing countries/social'

New concepts and a synthesis of existing theories may assist in studying the relationship between social structure, development and rural development. The concept of social structure encompasses the concept of economic structure which may be analysed in terms of three "Moments" of production. On this basis, one can distinguish between heterogeneous and homogeneous relations of production structures. "Homogeneous relations" together with "system dynamics" and ''reproduction", define the concept of a mode of production. "Development" refers to the expansion of total productive capacity, premissed on advanced means of production, and corresponding to the particular relations and forces of production in an economic system. The capitalist mode of production has both tendencies and countertendencies to development. The latter prevail in the Third World due to the admixture and heterogeneity of production relations there, and to their subordinate articulation within an international capitalist economic system. In this context, underdevelopment is the result of the specific factors of monopoly competition, dependence-extraversion, disarticulation-unevenness, the three-tier structure of the peripheral economy, surplus transfer, and class structures and struggles. Rural development can be understood in terms of the specific contribution of agriculture to development, theorized as the "Agrarian Question". Agrarian capitalism has been slow to develop in the Third World, and the state of agriculture remains a problem there. "Rural development" has emerged as a deliberate and interventionist state strategy designed to restructure agrarian relations for development. This has contributed to the formation of particular heterogeneous relations of production articulated to the capitalist mode. In this context, the character of the associated classes has left the Agrarian Question unresolved. "Rural development" continues because it has an important~ and even primary, political significance - although this is not without contradictions.

Research (e.g., Strike, Gao, & Bansal, 2006) has pointed out that international firms diversifying geographically can be both socially responsible and socially irresponsible. However, the research has failed to provide a strong theoretical explanation based on a major theory. I propose to address this gap by testing two competing perspectives based on institutional theory, i.e., the institutional-transfer approach and the institutional-void approach. Based on relevant literature, I propose a contingency model predicting the different effects of geographic diversification (GD) on corporate social performance (CSP) by focusing on the institutional differences between developed and developing countries. Moreover, arguing that the institutional approaches should also consider the effects of internal firm resources, I also predict the moderating effects of firm slack resources (the slack) on the relationship between the diversification and CSP. Adopting the approach that considers the slack in a continuum of managerial discretion, i.e., low- and high-discretion slack resources (George, 2005), I argue that high-discretion slack can strengthen the relationship between GD and CSP while low-discretion slack can weaken this relationship. To test the above hypotheses, I analyze the data of multinational enterprises (MNEs) listed on the New York Stock Exchange from 2000 to 2015. The whole sample contains 477 MNEs or 1,560 firm/year observations. Through analyzing empirical data, I have obtained evidence that there is a positive relationship between GD and corporate social responsibility (CSR) when MNEs diversify into developed countries. On the other hand, the results show a negative relationship between GD and CSR and a positive relationship between GD and corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR) when MNEs diversify into developing countries. Moreover, low-discretion slack can weaken the relationship between GD and CSR in developing countries. Theoretically, this thesis makes four contributions to the literature. First, it contributes to the GD literature by focusing on CSP. Second, it enriches institutional theory by testing the predictive validity of its two approaches (i.e., institutional-transfer approach and institutional-void approach) on the GD-CSP relationship. Third, it enriches the understanding of CSP research. Finally, it reveals that different types of slack resources could affect the GD-CSP relationship. In addition to the theoretical contributions, this thesis provides findings with practical implications for managers, governments, and stakeholders. First, managers should be aware of the institutional environments where their firms diversify. Second, managers should maintain an appropriate utility to different kinds of slack resources in their firms. Third, the government should reinforce its supervision on MNEs' diversification strategies, especially in developing countries. Fourth, stakeholders should stay alert that MNEs from developed countries can also perform CSIR behaviors.

L’emprenedoria social es reconeix cada vegada més com un element crucial per al progrés de les economies i la societat. Per tant, els acadèmics i els responsables polítics s’han interessat pels factors que podrien determinar aquest fenomen. Si bé diverses disciplines han analitzat els antecedents de l’emprenedoria, els enfocaments institucionals han cobrat rellevància per la seva capacitat per oferir un marc en el qual els emprenedors prenen decisions en funció de l’context en què es troben inserits. Aquesta visió teòrica permet explicar les diferències institucionals entre països. Per tant, resulta que les institucions formals i informals són útils per comprendre per què els individus decideixen convertir-se en emprenedors socials i / o emprenedors comercials i, a el mateix temps, com aquestes institucions contribueixen a la satisfacció de l’emprenedor social als països en desenvolupament. Per tant, aquesta investigació explora els factors institucionals que influeixen en l’emprenedoria social en els països en desenvolupament, utilitzant la perspectiva de l’economia institucional com a marc teòric. Específicament, la investigació estudia les tendències en la literatura sobre emprenedoria social amb èmfasi en el context institucional; determinar la influència de l’context institucional (formal i informal) en l’esperit empresarial social i comercial en els països en desenvolupament; determinar la influència de factors socioculturals (institucions informals) sobre l’esperit empresarial social i comercial en països desenvolupats i en desenvolupament, durant i després de la crisi financera; i analitzar el paper de l’context institucional en la satisfacció dels emprenedors socials en els països en desenvolupament. La metodologia utilitzada és quantitativa i es refereix principalment a les estimacions de diverses equacions (regressions logístiques, efectes marginals i regressió de mínims quadrats parcials). Per tant, per a l’equació que tracta sobre institucions i emprenedoria, aquesta investigació va emprar dades de l’Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) i una base primària d’emprenedors socials a Mèxic, per mesurar diferents variables de l’activitat emprenedora. Els principals troballes d’aquesta tesi revelen que efectivament hi ha una relació que va des del context institucional, incidint en l’emprenedoria social. D’aquesta manera, es troba que les institucions informals (carrera emprenedora, model a seguir, impacte mediàtic, oportunitats percebudes, por a el fracàs i habilitats emprenedores) són més importants per a l’emprenedoria que les formals (regulacions, lleis i polítiques governamentals). Així mateix, aquests resultats donen suport a la importància dels factors institucionals per a l’activitat emprenedora social. Finalment, aquesta investigació té implicacions teòriques i de política pública. Pel que fa a l’debat teòric, l’estudi aporta a la literatura l’aplicació de l’economia institucional com a marc conceptual adequat per a l’anàlisi dels determinants ambientals que fomenten o inhibeixen l’activitat emprenedora social en diferents contextos. Aquest estudi pot aportar evidència empírica a la idea que l’economia institucional determina i expliquen factors fonamentals que condicionen la satisfacció de l’emprenedor social. En aquest sentit, s’ha demostrat que l’emprenedoria social es veu afectat per factors institucionals i, a el mateix temps, influeix en resultats com el desenvolupament social i el creixement econòmic. D’altra banda, des d’una perspectiva gerencial i política, aquesta investigació ha de ser presa en compte per al disseny de polítiques de suport a l’emprenedoria social en diferents entorns considerant la influència de les institucions en la creació d’una empresa social.
El emprendimiento social se reconoce cada vez más como un elemento crucial para el progreso de las economías y la sociedad. Por lo tanto, los académicos y los responsables políticos se han interesado por los factores que podrían determinar este fenómeno. Si bien varias disciplinas han analizado los antecedentes del emprendimiento, los enfoques institucionales han cobrado relevancia por su capacidad para brindar un marco en el que los emprendedores toman decisiones en función del contexto en el que se encuentran insertos. Esta visión teórica permite explicar las diferencias institucionales entre países. Por lo tanto, resulta que las instituciones formales e informales son útiles para comprender por qué los individuos deciden convertirse en emprendedores sociales y / o emprendedores comerciales y, al mismo tiempo, cómo estas instituciones contribuyen a la satisfacción del emprendedor social en los países en desarrollo. Por lo tanto, esta investigación explora los factores institucionales que influyen en la actividad emprendedora social en los países en desarrollo, utilizando la perspectiva de la economía institucional como marco teórico. Específicamente, la investigación estudia las tendencias en la literatura sobre emprendimiento social con énfasis en el contexto institucional; determinar la influencia del contexto institucional (formal e informal) en la actividad empresarial social y comercial en los países en desarrollo; determinar la influencia de factores socioculturales (instituciones informales) en la actividad empresarial social y comercial en países desarrollados y en desarrollo, durante y después de la crisis financiera; y analizar el papel del contexto institucional en la satisfacción de los emprendedores sociales en los países en desarrollo. La metodología utilizada es cuantitativa y se refiere principalmente a las estimaciones de diversas ecuaciones (regresiones logísticas, efectos marginales y regresión de mínimos cuadrados parciales). Por lo tanto, para la ecuación que trata sobre instituciones y emprendimiento, esta investigación empleó datos del Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) y una base primaria de emprendedores sociales en México, para medir diferentes variables de la actividad emprendedora. Los principales hallazgos de esta tesis revelan que efectivamente existe una relación que va desde el contexto institucional, incidiendo en el emprendimiento social. De esta manera, se encuentra que las instituciones informales (carrera emprendedora, modelo a seguir, impacto mediático, oportunidades percibidas, miedo al fracaso y habilidades emprendedoras) son más importantes para el emprendimiento que las formales (regulaciones, leyes y políticas gubernamentales). Asimismo, estos resultados apoyan la importancia de los factores institucionales para la actividad emprendedora social. Finalmente, esta investigación tiene implicaciones teóricas y de política pública. En cuanto al debate teórico, el estudio aporta a la literatura la aplicación de la economía institucional como marco conceptual adecuado para el análisis de los determinantes ambientales que fomentan o inhiben la actividad emprendedora social en diferentes contextos. Este estudio puede aportar evidencia empírica a la idea de que la economía institucional determina y explican factores fundamentales que condicionan la satisfacción del emprendedor social. En este sentido, se ha demostrado que el emprendimiento social se ve afectado por factores institucionales y, al mismo tiempo, influye en resultados como el desarrollo social y el crecimiento económico. Por otro lado, desde una perspectiva gerencial y política, esta investigación debe ser tomada en cuenta para el diseño de políticas de apoyo al emprendimiento social en diferentes entornos considerando la influencia de las instituciones en la creación de una empresa social.
Social entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as a crucial element for the progress of economies and society. Therefore, scholars and policy-makers have been interested in what factors might determine this phenomenon. Although several disciplines have analyzed entrepreneurship antecedents, the institutional approaches have obtained relevance due to their capacity to provide a framework in which entrepreneurs make decisions based on the context where they are embedded. This theoretical view allows to explain the institutional differences across countries. Hence, it turns out that formal and informal institutions is useful for comprehending why individuals decide to become social entrepreneurs and/or commercial entrepreneurs, and at the same time, how these institutions contribute to social entrepreneur satisfaction in developing countries. Therefore, this investigation explores the institutional factors that influence social entrepreneurial activity across developing countries, using the institutional economics perspective as the theoretical framework. Specifically, the research study the trends in the social entrepreneurship literature with emphasis on institutional context; determining the influence of institutional context (formal and informal) on social and commercial entrepreneurial activity in developing countries; determining the influence of socio-cultural factors (informal institutions) on social and commercial entrepreneurial activity in developing and developed countries, during and after the financial crisis; and analyzing the role of institutional context on social entrepreneur satisfaction in developing countries. The methodology used is quantitative and mostly regards the estimations of various equations (logistic regressions, marginal effects and Partial least squares regression). Thus, for the equation dealing with institutions and entrepreneurship, this research employed data from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and a primary base of social entrepreneurs in Mexico, to measure different variables of entrepreneurial activity. The main findings of this thesis reveal that effectively there is a relationship that runs from the institutional context, influencing social entrepreneurship. In this way, it is found that the informal institutions (entrepreneurial career, role model, media impact, perceived opportunities, fear of failure, and entrepreneurial skills) are more important for entrepreneurship than the formal ones (regulations, laws, and government policies). Likewise, these results support the importance of institutional factors to social entrepreneurial activity. Finally, this research has theoretical and public policy implications. In terms of the theoretical debate, the study contributes to the literature by applying institutional economics as an appropriate conceptual framework for the analysis of the environmental determinants that foster or inhibit social entrepreneurial activity in different contexts. This study may provide empirical evidence for the idea that institutional economics not only those determinants that explain the desire to be a social entrepreneur, but also those fundamental factors that condition the social entrepreneur satisfaction. In this sense, social entrepreneurship is proven to be affected by institutional factors, and at the same time, to influence outcomes such as social development and economic growth. On the other hand, from a managerial and policy maker’ s perspective, this research should be taken into account for the design of policies to support social entrepreneurship in different environments by considering the influence of institutions on the creation of a social business.
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Creació i Gestió d'Empreses

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an increasingly significant element in contemporary business. Globalisation, a growing concern for environmental degradation, and evident social inequality have installed CSR on the global agenda. Companies around the world are introducing CSR programs, and many of the Schools of Management or Business Schools have CSR courses in their core programmes, including their MBAs. Organisations such as EFMD (www.efmd.org), ABIS (www.abis.org) and PRME (www.prme.org) are prompting universities and business schools to implement CSR as well as sustainability courses and seminars. Conceptual research concerned with the influences on firms’ socially responsible actions has recently emphasized the importance of institutional factors. However, current institutional accounts of corporate social responsibility implicitly assume the presence of well-developed and relatively stable institutional characteristics found in developed countries. In order to address this gap, this thesis presents a conceptual model, which explores how institutional pressures configure a local company’s CSR practices in developing countries. This thesis presents empirical findings drawn from in depth open-ended interviewees to managers of local companies in Argentina, taking into account type of industry, size, and the presence of multinational companies (MNCs). In so doing, this study contributes to extending the application of institutional theory to developing countries context and to theoretical analysis of local companies CSR practices in such contexts. Within this analysis, this study places particular emphasis on the role of MNC and the State in the processes of adoption of CSR practices by local companies in a developing country. Finally, this thesis contributes with practical implications for mangers of local companies and managers of MNCs’ subsidiaries in developing countries.

My thesis comprises of three stand‐alone papers, which are connected by the theme of social protection and human capital accumulation. In the first paper, using experimental data from South Sudan, I focus on evaluating the effects of food transfer on household labour supply decisions and crowding‐out of informal private transfers. I do not observe significant impact on either of these two domains, except reduction in child labour. This effect corresponds with increased school enrolment of children. I find that positive income shocks from short‐term food transfers induced the households to invest in durable goods, and child ‘non‐work’ is a luxury good for the ultra‐poor. The second paper evaluates the effects of a policy related to exam standard on labour market performance of secondary school graduates in Bangladesh. Using a natural experiment, the paper shows that lowering standard reduced labour market returns for the graduates. General equilibrium effects of increased supply of graduates and lower human capital accumulation due to lower standard have been identified as possible mechanisms underlying this labour market effect. In my third paper, I evaluate the effects of an asset transfer programme for the ultra‐poor in Bangladesh on children’s enrolment. I find that despite exceptionally large positive impact on household income, asset transfer did not increase enrolment rates. Moreover, there was increased demand for child labour in these households. The evidence suggests that asset transfer may not be sufficient to increase school enrolment among households in extreme poverty and may have unintended effects on child labor.

Cette thèse fournit trois essais sur le design et l'évaluation des filets sociaux de sécurité. Le Chapitre 1 contribue à la littérature sur les performances des méthodes de ciblage en général et sur le Proxy Means Testing en particulier. En utilisant une enquête expérimentale en Tanzanie, ce chapitre cherche à mesurer si les performances de ciblage du Proxy Means Testing sont biaisées lorsque les données de consommation sont sujettes à des erreurs de mesure non-aléatoires. Les résultats indiquent que les performances du Proxy Means Testing sont assez vulnérables aux erreurs de mesure non-aléatoires quand l'objectif est de cibler les ménages pauvres dans l'absolu, mais qu'elles restent en grande partie non affectées quand l'objectif est de cibler une part fixe de la population. Le Chapitre 2 étudie l'impact sur la migration d'un programme argent-contre-travail aux Comores. Ce programme a alloué de manière aléatoire à des ménages pauvres des transferts monétaires en échange de leur participation dans des travaux publics. En utilisant des données de première main, ce chapitre montre que le programme a augmenté la migration vers Mayotte -- l'île Française voisine et plus riche. Entre 2016 et 2018, les ménages traités ont reçu jusqu'à 320USD et, par conséquent, étaient trois points de pourcentage plus susceptibles d'avoir un membre du ménage qui migre à Mayotte (une hausse statistiquement significative de 38 pourcent comparé au groupe de contrôle). Ce résultat semble être expliqué par la réduction des contraintes de liquidité et de risque à la migration. Le Chapitre 3 explore les effets productifs des programmes argent-contre-travail dans le contexte du Productive Safety Net Project en Ethiopie. Avec plus de 8 millions de bénéficiaires, le Productive Safety Net Project est parmi les plus grands programmes de filets sociaux d'Afrique. Il est aussi souvent considéré comme le programme d'adaptation au changement climatique le plus large d'Afrique avec ses activités concentrées sur l'amélioration des terres et des mesures de conservation des sols et des eaux. Des estimations en différence-en-différence couvrant toute l'Ethiopie sur la période 2000-2013 ne montrent aucune évidence pour supporter que les travaux publics aient eu des impacts mesurables sur la productivité agricole et sur la résilience aux chocs climatiques
This thesis provides three empirical essays on the design and evaluation of social safety nets. Chapter 1 adds to the literature on the performances of targeting methods in general and Proxy Means Testing in particular. Using a unique survey experiment conducted in Tanzania, it investigates whether and to what degree Proxy Means Testing targeting performances are biased when household consumption data are subject to non-random errors. The results indicate that Proxy Means Testing performances are quite vulnerable to non-random errors when the objective is to target absolutely poor households, but remain largely unaffected when the objective is to target a fixed share of the population. Chapter 2 studies the impact on migration of a cash-for-work program in Comoros that randomly offered poor households cash transfers in exchange for their participation in public works projects. Using first-hand data, this chapter shows that the program increased migration to Mayotte – the neighboring and richer French Island. Between 2016 and 2018, treated households received up to USD320 in cash and, as a result, were three percentage points more likely to have a household member migrating to Mayotte (a statistically significant 38 percent increase relative to the control group). This result appears to be driven by the alleviation of liquidity and risk constraints to migration. Chapter 3 explores the productive effects of cash-for-work programs in the context of the Productive Safety Net Project in Ethiopia. With more than 8 million beneficiaries, the Productive Safety Net Project is among the largest safety net programs in Africa. It is also often considered as Africa’s largest climate change adaptation program due to its focus on activities such as land improvements and soil and water conservation measures. This chapter relies on satellite and geo-referenced data to evaluate the effects of these activities and overcome the lack of household data. Difference-in-differences estimates covering whole Ethiopia over the 2000-2013 period show no evidence to support that public works had measurable impacts on agricultural productivity and resilience to climate shocks

Currently, some microfinance institutions in Bolivia are adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a concept whereby sompanies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and publish the results. CSR is applied mostly by big companies in the North and in sectors more in the eye of the public, such as oil production or textile and apparel. Bolivia has been the pioneer in the commercialization of microfinance through microfinance NGO transformations. The objectives of this investigation was to asses and compare the reasons why the selected Bolivian commercial MFI's were engaged, or not engaged, in CSR. Secondly, to determine which stakeholders are more relevant for each MFI analysed, assessing how they influenced the decision to adopt or not adopt CSR and thirdly, to compare the current social performance of the selected MFI's within the framework of corporate social responsibility.

Using the assumptions of various schools of thought on development as the theoretical framework, an attempt is made to examine the effects of foreign investment on the socioeconomic growth of 50 developing countries by means of multiple regression models that utilize some external and internal variables assumed to affect the growth rate of GNP. Results from these models indicate that new inflows of foreign investments and amounts of domestic investments are positively related to growth while accumulated stocks of foreign investments have no effect on growth. This suggests that development funds, designed specifically for increased domestic investments, would be the most effective way to increase GNP.

Abstract The purpose of the thesis has been to investigate the relation between human capital and economic growth in developing countries around the world. The main research question is how the human capital impact on the economic growth in developing countries during the period of 2010 -2015.The world is mainly divided into two major groups, which are Developed & Developing countries, as well as poor & rich countries. In this thesis mainly concern only developing and poor countries and their role of the economic growth. The key factors of economic growth are GDP/capita, per capita income, birth rate, death rate, population growth rate, life expectancy at birth, working age population, education, literacy rate and investment in technology. The world is populated day by day such has never been before. In the past history it look back to 123 years to increased from one billion to two billion from 1804 to 1927.Then, next billion took 33 years. The following two billions took 14 years and 13 years, respectively (Ray, Development Economics).             The data has been taken from the Developing countries around the world which is taken a cross sectional data set and data has been analysed with multiple liner regressions model with ordinary least squares (OLS). For this purpose which applied the difference tools & theory which are human capital and technology development, economic growth, norms, externalities and human social capital.   The previous studies is examined the most important factors of economic development that is economic growth and human capital investment. Similarly, the theoretical discussion is described the Solow model, human capital theory, technological progress, demographic transition and social capital. For examine the data is divided into two groups which are dependent and independent variables. Economic growth GDP/capita, GDP/capita growth rate are dependent variable and Ln. GDP initial, life expectancy at birth, population growth rate, education, working age population and investment in technology are independent variables.   This analysis shows the majority of the variables in the study have positive significant relation to the GDP/capita growth. This result furthermore support the developing countries provides insight on the world economic development status towards the independents variables.

This PhD thesis focuses on determinants of labour market outcomes in development economics with a special interest in South Africa and China. After an introduction in chapter 1, the key chapter 2, Ethnic Diversity and Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Post-Apartheid South Africa joint with Sara Tonini, investigates how ethnic diversity amongst black South Africans affects their employment opportunities in the post-Apartheid era. We find that ethnic diversity has a positive impact on the employment rate of the black South Africans, and it only affects ethnic groups with relatively large population size. To address the endogeneity of ethnic composition, we explore the location of historical “black homelands” and argue that districts more equally distant to multiple homelands are more ethnically diverse. In our instrumental variable regressions, a one standard deviation increase in ethnic diversity index increases employment rate by 3 (5) percentage point in 1996 (2001), which is around 8% (13%) of the average employment rate. We then propose a model of a coordination game to explain these findings. A more ethnically diverse place requires a higher rate of inter-ethnic communication to maintain social connection. As inter-ethnic communication requires more skills than intra-ethnic connection, people in ethnically diverse districts are motivated to invest more in social skills to be able to communicate with those outside their own group. The acquisition of these social skills makes them better equipped for the labour market. The remaining two chapters look into the intergenerational transmission of socio-economic status in South Africa and China. Chapter 3, Returns to Education, Marital Sorting and Family Background in South Africa joint with Patrizio Piraino, applies the model of Lam (1993, JPE) which combines intergenerational transmission of ability and assortative mating to investigate the relative explanatory power of father-in-law’s and father’s background for male wages. In the empirical analysis, after correcting for potential measurement errors in earnings and education, we find that father-in-law’s schooling is more correlated with male workers’ labour market earnings, employment rate and labour force participation than own father’s schooling in contemporary South Africa. This difference is more obvious when parental educational levels are higher. Chapter 4, Higher Education Expansion and Intergenerational Mobility in Contemporary China, studies how higher education affects the upward mobility of people from relatively disadvantaged families. Intergenerational occupational mobility is stimulated when children from different social classes end up in similar occupations. Whether or not they have similar occupational status depends not only on their level of education but also the occupational returns to education. Given there is already a convergence in educational achievements between children from different social classes in contemporary China, in this paper, I focus on their occupational returns to education. Occupational status is measured by the widely-accepted ISEI scaling system ranging from 16 to 90 points with large number indicating higher occupational status. I take advantage of an exogenous college expansion policy in 1999 as a natural experiment and find that one additional year of education increases the occupational status of their first job by 2.243 (2.774) points on average along the ISEI scale in OLS (IV) regressions. And children from upper-class families do not necessarily have higher returns to education than children from other social classes. The average occupational returns to education are higher for the most recent job than the first job, but the difference among social classes is still not significant.

This thesis focuses on the composition of tax revenue in developing countries and analyses its determinants and consequences. The first part examines the political economy factors shaping tax revenue composition, by considering the impact of elections and democratization, while the second part deals with the consequences of specific tax revenue compositions in terms of tax revenue stabilization and social welfare. Several results emerge. Elections have a significant influence on tax revenue composition since indirect tax revenues are decreased in election times (Chapter 1). These electoral manipulations are less strong in countries where democracy is well-established. Moreover, Chapter 2 found that a more democratic political regime, with strong constraints on the executive, helps to enhance domestic tax revenues that are necessary to replace the lost revenues from trade liberalization. The second part of the thesis reveals interesting results on the effects of tax revenue composition on the stabilization of tax revenue and on its social incidence. Chapter 3 highlighted the importance of finding remedies to tax revenue instability since it induces public spending instability which in turn decreases the level of public investment. A higher reliance on domestic indirect taxes in total tax revenues has been found to lead to the stabilization of tax revenue. In addition, the results of Chapter 4 showed that the value-added tax significantly reduces tax revenue instability in the developing countries where it was adopted. The social incidence of domestic indirect taxes was compared to the social incidence of tariffs in Chapter 5 and it was established that tariffs are more regressive than taxes on consumption in Burkina Faso.

This thesis examines how bank market structure affects industry performance in developing countries. A high degree of bank concentration would be associated with tight constraints and high borrowing costs, while it has also been argued that, it would be easier for firms to access credit if the banking system is concentrated. Foreign banks are seen to promote financial development and spur economic growth; while critics suggest that a larger foreign bank presence in developing countries is associated with less credit to the private sector. Also, government ownership of banks is responsible lower economic and slow financial development, while others argue that government banks promote long-run growth. The implications of bank market structure on the real economy are examined using cross-country, cross-industry panel data from developing countries, along with a variety of econometric techniques, and standard measures of industry performance. The research aims to ascertain whether bank market structure in developing countries influences financing for firms differently as a result of industry-specific characteristics. It also examines if institutional characteristics helps in explaining industrial performance in the short-run. As a follow-up to one of the findings, the research examines if banks would prefer to fund innovative firms in a liberalized environment by exploring the impact of financial development on the export structure. The main empirical findings are as follows: first, it may not be possible to identify robust or consistent findings concerning the effects of good institutions; secondly, it might not necessarily be the case that financial development specifically benefits firms based on specific industry characteristics; and finally, the research finds that banking sector development reduces export sophistication and increases export concentration. This may suggest that banking sector development enforces specialization according to existing comparative advantage.

There is limited understanding of how both trends and determinants of neonatal mortality vary from post-neonatal mortality, and more specifically how health care variables are associated with deaths in the first month of life. In particular the association between care at delivery and neonatal mortality is difficult to determine: in developing countries many women only seek skilled care once complications arise, making poor outcomes more probable. It is therefore inappropriate to directly compare outcomes from those who did and did not receive care at delivery due to this heterogeneity between the groups. This three-paper PHD thesis attempts to address some of these issues. Chapter 1 provides an overview of what is known about the determinants of neonatal and child mortality, before developing a conceptual framework for the analysis of neonatal and post-neonatal deaths. Chapter 2 (paper 1) provides a comprehensive analysis of the quality of Demographic & Household Surveys (DHS) data, before describing how trends in neonatal mortality differ from post-neonatal mortality over the short- and medium- term. It then examines how the associations between gross domestic product and neonatal, post-neonatal and early childhood mortality at national level differ using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Chapter 3 (paper 2) uses DHS data from Bangladesh to carry out bivariate and multivariate analysis to determine how the determinants of neonatal mortality vary from those of postneonatal mortality. It also tries to identify groups of women who are at ‘high’ or ‘low’ risk from institutional deliveries and compares rates of neonatal mortality. The risk categories are based on socio-economic, maternal health and health care utilisation factors that influence whether or not they are likely to have planned their delivery care or sought hospital care only in the event of complications. Chapter 4 (paper 3) furthers this work using Indian DHS data by examining how the association between health care determinants and neonatal mortality differ by asset quintile, mother’s education and state-level access to professional attendant at delivery. In this chapter I also use instrumental variable methodology to overcome the problem of endogeneity between delivery care variables and neonatal mortality. This technique enables me to examine the association between professional assistance at delivery while adjusting for the heterogeneity between women who do and do not seek such care. Chapter 5 concludes with a summary of key findings, as well as outlining areas for further research in this area.

La tesi è finalizzata a indagare l’efficacia dell’imprenditoria sociale quale strumento di contrasto a situazioni di grave povertà e disagio sociale nei paesi in via di sviluppo. Particolare attenzione è rivolta alle principali sfide derivanti dal molteplice sforzo di promuovere lo sviluppo socio-economico locale, garantire la sostenibilità economica delle iniziative e - talvolta - tutelare l’ambiente naturale. La prima parte della tesi fornisce un framework teorico sull’imprenditoria sociale, con specifico riferimento ad alcuni aspetti critici della sua stessa essenza, alle sue potenzialità nella lotta alla povertà e ai caratteri distintivi del suo processo di implementazione. La seconda parte presenta due analisi empiriche sviluppate con il metodo dei casi e afferenti, rispettivamente, gli ambiti del non-profit e del for-profit. La prima esamina i processi di identificazione delle opportunità e di costruzione del business model, al fine di mettere in luce le divergenze esistenti tra le prospettive sociale, economica ed ambientale, e di comprendere come coniugarle; la seconda identifica alcune cruciali variabili - interne ed esterne - che incidono sul processo di implementazione ed implicano la necessità di conciliare finalità, approcci e strumenti tipici degli ambiti filantropico e imprenditoriale, ai fini di una efficace creazione di valore socio-economico.
The thesis aims at investigating social entrepreneurship attitude to truly act as a crucial tool in the fight against deep poverty and social disadvantages in developing countries, with a particular focus on the main challenges faced by social entrepreneurial organizations in their attempt to promote local social-economic development, while ensuring their own economic viability, and (sometimes) preserving global environment. The first part of the thesis provides a theoretical framework about social entrepreneurship landscape, with specific attention to some crucial aspects of its essence, its potentiality against poverty, and some distinctive features of its implementation process. The second part presents two empirically-based analyses carried out by using case-study method, respectively from the for-profit and the not-for-profit domains. The former investigates the processes of opportunity recognition and business model design, with the aim to highlight the divergences among social, economic, and environmental perspectives, and to understand how to combine them; the latter identifies some crucial - internal and external -variables affecting the implementation process and implying the need for a mix between charitable and business aims, approaches, and tools, for a successful blended value creation.

Workers in labour-intensive industries in developing countries have been described as the ‘hidden hands’ in the making of valuable goods in global production networks (GPNs). The process of improving the rights and entitlements of workers in GPNs have been referred to as ’social upgrading’. However, literature on social upgrading has tended to overlook the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and there is still little scientific understanding of how small businesses in developing countries can engage in social upgrading. The aim of this thesis is to enhance the understanding of how SMEs in developing countries can improve working conditions and labour rights. Through a qualitative case study, this study goes beyond statements of leading Fair Trade brands to provide insights based on voices of both workers and owner-managers in a small garment factory in Nepal. This study brings forward observations where SMEs, shaped by their characteristics, are enabled to evade responsibilities concerning working conditions and labour rights.

publisher version
The rapid expansion of social protection in the South provides a rich diversity of experiences and lessons on how best to reduce poverty and ultimately eradicate it. Knowledge on how best to ‘grow’ social assistance, understood as long-term institutions responsible for reducing and preventing poverty, is at a premium. This article examines the expansion of social assistance in Brazil and South Africa, two of the middle income countries widely perceived to have advanced furthest in ‘growing’ social protection. It examines three aspects: the primacy of politics in explaining the expansion of social protection and assistance, the tensions between path-dependence and innovation in terms of institutions and practices, and the poverty and inequality outcomes of social assistance expansion. The article concludes by drawing the main lessons for other developing countries.

In a world that is increasingly united in time and distance, I examine why the world is increasingly divided socially, economically, and digitally. Using data for 35 variables from 93 countries, I separate the countries into groups of 31 each by gross domestic product per capita. These groups of developed, lesser developed and least developed countries are used in comparative analysis. Through a review of relevant literature and tests of bivariate correlation, I select eight key variables that are significantly related to information communication technology development and to human development. For this research, adoption of the Internet in the developing world is the innovation of particular interest. Thus, for comparative purposes, I chose Internet Users per 1000 persons per country and the Human Development Index as the dependent variables upon which the independent variables are regressed. Although small in numbers among the least developed countries, I find Internet Users as the most powerful influence on human development for the poorest countries. The research focuses on key obstacles as well as variables of opportunity for Internet usage in developing countries. The greatest obstacles are in fact related to Internet availability and the cost/need ratio for infrastructure expansion. However, innovations for expanded Internet usage in developing countries are expected to show positive results for increased Internet usage, as well as for greater human development and human capital. In addition to the diffusion of innovations in terms of the Internet, the diffusion of cultures through migration is also discussed in terms of the effect on social capital and the drain on human capital from developing countries.

This study investigates the effective measurement of employee commitment within the Nigerian banking sector. The relevance of the research originates from various research findings that shows that in most organisations, evidence abounds of employees' emotional and physiological distancing of themselves from their organisation even when the pay is highly competitive. In addition, there are also evidences of inconsistencies in research outcomes when Western commitment scale is employed within non-Western organisation. This study is therefore aimed at filling literature gaps on identified inconsistencies from the use of Western scales in measuring commitment in non-Western organisations and also to comprehend employee commitment behaviour in organisations within non-Western culture. In exploring the above issues, this research developed a 28-item, 7-point Likert scaled questionnaire, distributed to 200 participants with a 42% response rate. The research also employed exploratory factor analysis in the form of PCA and Varimax for factor extraction and scale reduction and Cronbach's Coefficient alpha internal consistency measure for reliability assessment. To take the study a step further, the scale was additionally subjected to statistical test using One Way ANOVA, Pearson's Chi-Square test, and Spearman' s rank order correlation in measuring employee commitment behaviours, using two variables: income and age. The outcome from the study was two-fold. The 28 items were reduced to 18 usable items with 3-factor extractions representing three components of commitment. Scale reliability was also measured. The first outcome shows that the scale is indeed a culturally suitable and usable (valid and reliable) scale for the assessment of employee commitment to their organisation in Nigeria with an alpha score of .930, evidence of strong scale reliability. The second outcome was from the test aimed at assessing the behavioural aspect of employee commitment to their organisation in relation to the two variables income and age. The outcome shows that the higher income earning Nigerian employees (employees within the income band 1.1 million and above), and employees within the age group 31-35 are likely to be less committed to their organisations than their counterparts. The study concludes with the view that to effectively measure employee commitment to organisations in non-Western Nigerian cultures, requires the development and use of an appropriate and culturally motivated usable and suitable (consistent and dependable) scale. The conclusions are also discussed in terms of the links between income, age and commitment. It identified that high income and age are not necessarily indicators of commitment; rather some factors associated with culture might have stronger influence on employee expression of commitment to their organisation.

This thesis deals with different policy challenges in the human capital formation of children in developing countries. Using a quasi-experimental design, the first chapter analyzes a national initiative in rural India which aimed at reducing gender disparities in elementary schooling through the supply side. The bundle of girl-focused school resources provided within the intervention increased enrollment rates for girls and narrowed the gender gap in enrollment. The second part evaluates an infant nutrition program in Ecuador. The intervention reduced the mortality rate and induced more health check-ups among young children in treatment communities. The final chapter studies how households in the Philippines adjust to early childhood diseases. The short-run costs associated with foregone maternal work and health expenditure are statistically significant, but of limited magnitude.
Aquesta tesi tracta de diferents reptes polítics amb relació a la formació del capital humà de nens i nenes a països en vies de desenvolupament. Basat en un disseny quasi-experimental, el primer capítol analitza una iniciativa nacional a l'Índia rural que tenia com a objectiu reduir les desigualtats de gènere en l'escolarització primària a través de l'oferta. El conjunt de recursos escolars dirigits a noies dins del marc de la intervenció va augmentar les taxes d'inscripició escolar i va reduir-ne la diferència de gènere. La segona part avalua un programa de nutrició infantil a l'Equador. La intervenció va fer disminuir la taxa de mortalitat i va suposar més consultes de salut entre els nens i nenes a les comunitats de tractament. L'últim capítol investiga com les llars a les Filipines s'ajusten a malalties d'infantesa primerenca. Els costos a curt termini associats amb la feina maternal perduda i les despeses de salut són estadísticament significatius, però de mida limitada.

This thesis focuses on the social exclusion of children of primary school age in India and Mozambique by examining two related aspects: the policies that have been adopted in both countries to tackle social exclusion and the indicators they have used to identify it. It is argued that existing policy indicators in both countries can provide a partial answer to the question of how far they have been able to address social exclusion but that indicators and analyses need to be more fine grained both to monitor social exclusion and provide leads as to how it can better addressed. The purpose is not to compare the two country analyses in order to evaluate how they differ in terms of magnitude or severity in the form of the exclusion. Rather, it is to understand the diverse nature of exclusion, and the different remedies and analyses that are required in the two countries. This analysis suggests that one size fits all policies, as once suggested by the World Bank, are inappropriate. The thesis develops an understanding of the concept of social exclusion and contrasts it with previous accounts of poverty in countries like India and Mozambique. It also adopts a normative Human Rights approach in viewing primary schooling as crucial to questions of social exclusion. It also shows how these key concepts can be related. Through the two country analyses offered in this thesis, it can be shown that because data collection processes are largely based on aggregate indicators, there is insufficient information to undertake an adequate analysis of social exclusion. In order to establish this point, official data sets are reanalyzed to see how far they can take us in helping to understand the complex nature of social exclusion. In particular, it will be shown that the indicators related to the education status of children are insufficiently disaggregated to enable an improved understanding of the characteristics of children that continue to be excluded. From this analysis it will be argued that a broader list of indicators needs to be developed related to the dynamics at the level of the school, community and household. However, given that social exclusion may be structured differently in various contexts it is argued that participatory research is required that facilitates the assessment and analysis of these dynamics by all the key stakeholders, including children, at the various levels. In particular, policy makers fail to involve children in the process of assessing and analyzing the reasons for exclusion, and therefore do not benefit from their perceptions and insights. Further analysis of the various dynamics which relate to exclusion provide useful insights to better understand the policy and programmatic initiatives that effectively address the social exclusion of children from primary school.

This study attempts to address the performance of military and civilian regimes in promoting socioeconomic development and providing military policy resources in the Third World. Using pooled cross-sectional time series analysis, three models of socioeconomic and military policy performance are estimated for 66 countries in the Third World for the period 1965-1985. These models include the progressive, corporate self-interest, and conditional. The results indicate that socioeconomic and military resource policies are not significantly affected by military control. Specifically, neither progressive nor corporate self-interest models are supported by Third World data. In addition, the conditional model is not confirmed by the data. Thus, a simple distinction between military and civilian regimes is not useful in understanding the consequences of military rule.

The study has explored the social sustainability of biogas production in a local village of Sogwala which is located in the Lower Gweru District of Zimbabwe. The social sustainability assessment was based on the two concepts of social sustainability, namely human capital and social capital with particular emphasis on their respective elements and aspects. Qualitative and quantitative research methodology methods were used on a sample of 100 households using biogas and some key informants. Analysis of the variance was used to determine whether biogas production could account for any effects on the social and human capital elements of the Sogwala community. An overview and descriptive statistics analysis of the findings from the study have been provided where the biogas users’ experiences, perspectives are discussed and results were assessed. For instance, effects on the aspects of social capital elements which include increases in the social group membership of households after the introduction of biogas production the village; the performance of biogas energy as compared with other fuel sources in terms of accessibility, efficiency and the degree of labour needed for continual production of biogas. In view of the human capital element, assessment is done on the economic status per household before and after the production of biogas, where emphasis is placed on the aspects of employment, education and health indicators within the social sustainability context. The fundamental benefits from biogas production are considered and discussed with the technical issues surrounding biogas production also being presented. This is not just a technical unit for providing alternative energy supply, but it requires management, labour and knowledge, skills to operate on a daily basis for it to have an impact that can bring positive change to the daily social lives of both the young and old.

This thesis consists of a short introduction and three self-contained analytical chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the question of learning gaps and divergence in achievement across countries. I use unique child-level panel data from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam to ask at what ages do gaps between different populations emerge, how they increase or decline over time, and what the proximate determinants of this divergence are. I document that learning gaps between the four countries are already evident at the age of 5 years and grow throughout the age trajectory of children, preserving country ranks from 5 to 15 years of age. At primary school age, the divergence between Vietnam and the other countries is largely accounted for by substantially greater learning gains per year of schooling. Chapter 2 focuses on learning differences between private and government school students in India. I present the first value-added models of learning production in private and government schools in this context, using panel data from Andhra Pradesh. I examine the heterogeneity in private school value-added across different subjects, urban and rural areas, medium of instruction, and across age groups. Further, I also estimate private school effects on children's self-efficacy and agency. I find modest or insignificant causal effects of attending private schools in most test domains other than English and on children's academic self-concept and agency. Results on comparable test domains and age groups correspond closely with, and further extend, estimates from a parallel experimental evaluation. Chapter 3 uses panel data from the state of Andhra Pradesh in India to estimate the impact of the introduction of a national midday meal program on anthropometric z-scores of primary school students, and investigates whether the program ameliorated the deterioration of health in young children caused by a severe drought. Correcting for self-selection into the program using a non-linearity in how age affects the probability of enrollment, we find that the program acted as a safety net for children, providing large and significant health gains for children whose families suffered from drought.

Alors que les nations du monde se rapprochent et deviennent plus interdépendantes, le contexte global changeant nécessite une recherche académique plus adaptée. Les théories développées pour les démocraties avancées au vingtième siècle ont maintenant besoin d’additions complémentaires, ou peut-être de contreparties divergentes, pour expliquer les processus de développement des pays émergents. Pour traiter ces changements, les académiques ont soit créé de nouvelles théories soit étendu d’anciennes pour les adapter aux pays en développement. Cependant, malgré d’encourageants progrès, la nature dynamique des pays en cours de développement, à la fois économiquement et politiquement, implique qu’une large travail reste à accomplir. La littérature sur les développements institutionnels dans le domaine de l’économie politique pour les pays avancés est, tout en évoluant, bien établie. Les théories qui soutiennent cette thèse viennent d’études de capitalisme comparatif (CC) sur les pays avancés. Cette thèse donne un aperçu de l’impact de la structure économique sur les institutions économiques et politiques, l’évolution de ces institutions, et comment ces institutions affectent l’état social d’un pays, avec une importance particulière accordée aux résultats de l’état social. Après un premier chapitre introductif, le chapitre deux suggère que les pays en développement caractérisés par des économies plus coordonnées devraient avoir des systèmes électoraux plus proportionnels. Le chapitre trois continue avec cette idée et suggère que les économies coordonnées devraient produire des états sociaux plus généreux avec de hautes dépenses gouvernementales. Aussi, ces pays devraient avoir des résultats sociaux plus optimaux, tels que des baisses d’inégalités et des niveaux de pauvreté. Cette évolution connective peut être expliquée par la co-évolution des institutions économiques et politiques. Afin de mieux comprendre la formation et la variété des états sociaux dans les pays en développement, le chapitre quatre ne considère qu’une région, Afrique Subsaharienne (AS). Ce chapitre considère aussi comment la générosité de l’état social influe les résultats de la protection sociale
As nations around the world become closer and increasingly interdependent, the changing global context requires a parallel advancement of academic research. Theories developed for advanced democracies in the twentieth century now require complimentary additions, or perhaps diverging counterparts, to help explain the developmental processes of developing countries. To address these changes, scholars have created new theories or extended old ones to consider developing countries. However, despite the positive and thorough advancements thus far, the dynamic nature of countries undergoing development and transition, both economic and political, means that the work is far from finished. The literature on institutional developments in the political economy for advanced democracies is, while still evolving, well established. The theories supporting the research within this thesis rely on comparative capitalism studies and the varieties of capitalism approach focused on advanced democracies. The purpose of this thesis is, using the key tenants of comparative capitalism and the varieties of capitalism theory, to expand this literature to developing countries. After the introduction found in chapter one, chapter two suggests that developing countries with more coordinated economies should have more proportional electoral rule systems, which are a type of political institution. Chapter three continues along the idea of this subject by suggesting that these coordinated economies, which have more proportional electoral rules systems, according to chapter two, should produce more generous welfare states with higher government spending and more optimal welfare outcomes, such as low inequalities and low levels of poverty. This connective story can be explained by the co-evolution of economic and political institutions. In order to understand more deeply welfare state formation and variety, along with how welfare generosity affects welfare outcomes in developing countries, chapter four takes a closer look at one region in particular, Sub­-Saharan Africa

This study builds an integrative framework to delineate the process of growing entrepreneurial firms in developing countries. Deriving from the existing entrepreneurship literature, this thesis uses two notions to delineate the process of growth of indigenous firms: entrepreneurial intent and entrepreneurial capability. Then, drawing on the literature of economic development, it identifies three key sectors, the state, the market and the social sector, that foster entrepreneurial intent and cultivate entrepreneurial capability.
The research setting is the information technology (IT) industries in China and Taiwan, each of which has had impressive performance when compared with their counterparts in other developing countries. This study differentiates the growth of entrepreneurial firms into three stages, getting started, getting there, and staying there, and proceeds to analyze the comparative-historical experiences of six IT firms, three in China and three in Taiwan. The firms in China are the Advanced Technology Service Division (ATSD), Lenovo Computer, and Great Wall Computer. The firms in Taiwan are United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), Acer, and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS).
It is found that at the stage of getting started, the government tends to be key among the three sectors, and can broadly influence the firms' entrepreneurial intent by building the national institution context, and more specifically through industrial policies. At the stage of getting there, the domestic social sector becomes more salient, and can transfer technology to entrepreneurial firms either from abroad or from their own research; they can also help defend entrepreneurial firms in intellectual property disputes with multinational firms. At the stage of staying there, due to their advanced technology, multinationals as forces in the market become more prevalent, and can enhance or destroy the capability of entrepreneurial firms. Overall, the state can act as context builder, champion and confronter; the social sector can play the roles of capability builder and capability defender, while the market, via multinational firms, can play the roles of capability destroyer and capability enhancer.

Although social capital had been found to solve collective action problems, social capital at work or workplace social capital has only recently begun to be researched. This is noteworthy given that most of our waking hours are spent in the workplace. While workplace social capital is suggested to improve workplace performance, job satisfaction had been found to improve workplace performance. However, workplace social capital and job satisfaction have never been examined together with regard to workplace performance. Furthermore, most studies on workplace performance have focused on developed countries with evidence from developing countries is lacking. The aims of this thesis were to investigate 1) whether workplace social capital affects job satisfaction; 2) the relationship of social capital, job satisfaction and workplace performance; 3) whether individual characteristics differ in determining job satisfaction in developed and developing countries; and 4) whether context of organisations in developed and developing countries differ in determining the relationship of social capital, job satisfaction and workplace performance. To achieve those aims, this thesis selects two sets of secondary data representing developed countries: EWCS2010 in Europe combining workers with their regions and countries and WERS2011 in Britain linking workers to their workplaces; while primary data froma developing country have been gathered from public hospitals in Indonesia associating workers with workplaces. As such, this thesis exploits two approaches using structural equation modelling in multilevel models. First, the customary Macro-micro approach is used to examine the relationship between workplace social capital and job satisfaction treating both variables as latent constructs. Second, the less common micro-Macro approach is exercised to investigate the relationship between workplace social capital, job satisfaction and workplace performance. Results from developed countries show that workplace social capital is positively associated with individual outcomes such as job satisfaction and well-being even in times of financial crisis. Comparing the results between developed and developing countries, workplace social capital is positively significantly associated with job satisfaction in Britain and in Indonesia. With regard to higher level outcomes, workplace social capital is associated with better financial performance, while job satisfaction is associated with higher quality in British general industry. Turning to results from Indonesia, workplace social capital is associated with lower expenditure per bed; job satisfaction, however, failed to be associated with any workplace performance measures. Several individual and workplace characteristics in both developed and developing countries have similar influences on job satisfaction and workplace performance. Nevertheless, there are some contrasting results regarding the influence of those characteristics in developed and developing countries.

One of the striking features of modern globalization is the rising prominence of international law as governing institution for state-market relations. Nowhere has this been as pronounced as in the international investment regime. Although hardly known to anyone but specialized international lawyers merely 15 years ago, bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have today become some of the most potent legal tools underwriting economic globalization. This thesis seeks to explain why developing countries adopted investment treaties as part of their governing apparatus. The study combines econometric analysis with archival work as well as insights from more than one hundred interviews with decision-makers in the international investment regime. On this basis, it finds ‘traditional’ explanatory models of international policy diffusion insufficient to account for the BIT-movement. Instead, both qualitative and econometric evidence strongly indicates that a bounded rationality framework is best suited to explain the popularity of BITs in the developing world. Although careful cost-benefit considerations drove some developing countries to adopt investment treaties, this was rare. By overestimating the benefits of BITs and ignoring the risks, developing country governments often saw the treaties as merely ‘tokens of goodwill’. Many thereby sacrificed their sovereignty more by chance than by design, and it was typically not until they were hit by their first claim, officials realised that the treaties were enforceable in both principle and fact. The thesis is relevant to a wide range of literature. Apart from being the first comprehensive international relations study on investment treaties, its multimethod approach provides a robust and nuanced view of the drivers of international policy diffusion. Moreover, the study is the first major work in international political economy literature applying insights on systematic – and thus predictable – cognitive heuristics found in the behavioural economics discipline.

Corporate governance is currently on the agenda of many countries, and is receiving considerable attention in the business world as well as in the area of academic research, which is an indication of its importance for business development and for society as a whole. A large body of the currently available knowledge addresses this phenomenon from the perspective of the developed economies. Although the knowledge base about corporate governance in developing countries appears to be limited, it is growing. The main aim of this study is to investigate current corporate governance practices, perceptions and obstacles within Libya following the introduction of the Libyan Corporate Governance Code (LCGC). To achieve this aim, the study investigates: first, the nature and extent of applying current corporate governance; secondly, the perceptions of listed companies' staff (senior managers and employees in financial positions) and Libyan financial experts (academics and auditors) regarding the introduction of the LCGC; thirdly, the current obstacles facing the application of LCGC; and, finally, the views of the Libyan regulators and officials in relation to the obstacles identified and how they may be reduced. In order to accomplish the research objectives, a mixed research methodology was adopted: This involved using two types of research methods for collecting data: semistructured interviews and a questionnaire survey divided into three sequential stages: firstly, interviews were conducted with board members of the companies surveyed; secondly, a questionnaire was distributed to selected staff of the companies surveyed and Libyan financial experts; thirdly, further interviews were conducted with Libyan regulators and officials. The findings of the study revealed that corporate governance in Libya is in its early stages of development and is characterised by a weak legal environment, lack of knowledge about corporate governance, poor leadership, lack of training among directors and weak investment awareness among investors. Therefore, the influence of social, cultural and economic factors is evident. The results also suggest that urgent action is needed in order to facilitate the implementation of a good corporate governance system in Libya.

This paper addresses the question if income security can enhance economic growth in developing countries? It takes its starting point in the income security problems of a developing country and summarizes evidence from published empirical research on formal income security mechanisms. We conclude that the findings on incomes security efficiency effects are ambiguous. A limited econometric study based on data from Chile is carried out with a regression showing that social securities total effect on economic growth is negative but more econometric research on total effect on growth are needed to give a definite answer.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When considering the attitude of a workforce towards their work and ways of increasing their motivation, attention must be given to their culture. Attitudes within In this study the influence of culture on the implementation of ergonomics was studied with specific reference to the transfer of technology in developing countries. Cultural diversity factors such as language/communication, religious beliefs, anthropometrics, educational background time, ethnicity values, attitude and values was measured using a specially designed questionnaire. It was completed by eighteen managers representing seven large industries in the Mpumalanga province. The cultural factor with the highest significance was 'time'. Others with high significance were educational background, attitude, language/communication and values. Ethnicity values, anthropometrics and religious beliefs were cultural factors which was not considered to be significant, however the population was very small and it is considered that they do contribute towards the implementation of ergonomICS. Training, imported technology and management are external factors, which make a useful and practical contribution to the subject of Ergonomics and the implementation thereof in organizations. If understood, cultural factors provide a much richer environment and different viewpoints, which can increase productivity by the effective use of technology. an organization are due to the attitudes that exist in the culture from which the members of the organization have come. Management practices, therefore, must cope with the attitudes and prejudices of the cultures within the organization. These cultures have been influenced by many factors like religious doctrine and history, not primarily concerned with the efficiency and productivity of the organization. Ergonomics aim at the optimization of the interaction between human and machine and the operating environment. This can provide the information necessary to promote an acceptable and efficient interaction between human-machine and environment in any form of a human-at-work system. In the process of technology transfer from Industrial Developed Countries to Industrial Developing Countries, emphasis is laid on economic progress. Although improvement of the economic situation and the standard of living is important to achieve, neglecting ergonomic considerations is both economically expensive and socially disturbing, thus creating negative effects in the country acquiring the technology. Ergonomics serve as a link between human factor considerations and the transfer of technology. A comprehensive systems model of Ergonomics was used, which indicates the interaction between facets emphasizing information as a core dynamic process, which can be useful to ensure optimality of choices of technology.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Wanneer 'n werkerskorps ondersoek word met betrekking tot hul houdings teenoor werk en wyses om hul motivering te verhoog, moet aandag geskenk word aan hul kultuur. Houdings binne 'n organisasie ontstaan uit houdings wat reeds bestaan in die kultuur waaruit lede van die organisasie oorspronklik kom. Bestuurspraktyke moet die houdinge en bevooroordelings van kulture binne die organisasie hanteer. Hierdie kulture is beYnvloed deur vele faktore soos geloofsdoktrines en geskiedenis wat nie primer gerig is op die effektiwiteit en produktiwiteit van die organisasie nie. Ergonomika het ten doel die optimisering van die interaksie tussen mens en masjien en die omgewing van funksionering, wat die nodige inligting kan voorsien wat nodig is om aanvaarbare en effektiewe interaksie te bewerkstellig tussen mens, masjien en die omgewing ten opsige van enige mens-by-sy-werk sisteem. In die proses van tegnologiese oordrag vanaf Industriele Ontwikkelde Lande na Industriele Ontwikkelende Lande, word klem gele op ekonomiese vooruitgang. Alhoewel verbetering van die ekonomiese situasie en 'n verhoging van die standaard van lewe belangrik is om te bereik, sal die verwaardlosing van ergonomiese oorwegings beide ekonomies duur en sosiaal verontrustend wees en gevolglik negatiewe effekte veroorsaak binne die land wat die tegnologie moet verkry. Ergonomika dien as 'n skakel tussen die menslike faktor oorwegings en die oordrag van tegnologie. 'n Omvattende sisteem model van Ergonomika dui op die interaksie tussen belangrike fasette van inligting as 'n dinamiese kern proses wat bruikbaar kan wees by die optimisering van keuses van tegnologie. In hierdie studie word die invloed van kulturele faktore op die implementering van ergonomika bestudeer met spesifieke verwysing na die oordrag van tegnologie. Kulturele diversiteitsfaktore soos taal/kommunikasie, gelowe, antropometrie, opvoedkundige agtergrond, tyd, etniese waardes, houding en waardes is gemeet deur 'n spesiaal ontwerpte vraelys. Dit is voltooi deur agtien bestuurders wat sewe groot industriee in die Mpumalanga provinsie verteenwoordig. Die kulturele faktor wat as die mees beduidend gemeet het is 'tyd'. Ander beduidende faktore is opvoedkundige agtergrond, houdings, taal/kommunikasie en waardes. Nie beduidende faktore naamlik, etnisiteit, antropometrie en gelowe is weI beskou as bydraend in die implementering van ergonomika aangesien die populasie wat gemeet is as relatief klein beskou kan word en moontlik in 'n groter populasie as beduidend kon meet. Opleiding, ingevoerde tegnologie en bestuur is eksterne faktore wat 'n waardevolle en praktiese bydrae maak tot die vakgebied en die implementering van Ergonomika. Kulturele diversiteit voorsien 'n ryk omgewing met verskillende uitgangspunte en indien dit verstaan word kan dit lei tot verhoogde produktiwiteit deur verbeterde gebruik van tegnologie.

The growth literature has put much emphasis on explaining the role of physical capital, human capital, innovation and institutions on economic growth. However, sociologists raise the importance of understanding the structures of social relationships because they help shape economic actions. It is not until recently that the concept of ‘’social capital’’ has been at the forefront of economic debates. While the vast majority of studies have shown that social capital is unconditionally good for economic growth, several studies argue that the impact of social capital depends on a country’s level of development. Therefore, an OLS regression is estimated using a panel data from 53 developed and developing countries to analyze the relationship between social capital, proxied by trust and GDP/capita growth. The results suggest that social capital is significant and positively related to GDP/capita growth in developed and developing countries. However, the relationship between social capital and GDP/capita growth is much stronger in developing countries. Policymakers can use this valuable insight while making growth-strategy decisions, especially in developing countries.

The availability of abundant renewable resources, lack of fossil fuels and difficult geographical terrain for grid line extensions contribute to the advantages of renewable based decentralized rural electrification in Ne-pal. Solar home system (SHS) and micro-hydro are the most commonly adopted off-grid renewable energy technologies in the country. This dis-sertation examines the market of renewable energy based rural electrifi-cation within prevailing policy and programmes framework. The study verifies whether the market has been able to serve the poor in Nepal. It also captures the perception of various stakeholders (e.g. private sup-ply/installation companies, NGOs, financial institutions and the donor‘s programme) regarding the business, financing issues and the role of gov-ernment policy on the market development. In addition, the study dis-cusses and analyses renewable based rural electrification supply models, the economics behind rural electrification, market drivers and market distribution in the rural areas of Nepal. The financial mix in the off-grid rural electrification is generally charac-terized by subsidy, equity and credit. The study shows that awareness about renewable energy technologies and willingness to pay for electricity access has increased considerably. However, there is a huge financial gap between the cost of electrification and affordability among the poor. The distribution analysis shows there is significant increment in the extensive growth but decrease in the intensive growth rate of rural electrification thus indicating market expansion with uneven penetration among the ru-ral people. Solar PV technology is still not in the reach of the economic poor. Access to credit and cumbersome subsidy delivery mechanisms have been perceived as the major factors affecting the expansion of rural electrification by the stakeholders, requiring innovation in the credit and subsidy delivery system so that a larger rural population can be given ac-cess to electrification.
QC 20110502

The HIV and AIDS pandemic has resulted in 14 million children being orphaned worldwide. In Lesotho alone, where this study was carried out, there are about 180 000 of these children (UNAIDS, 2007). Teachers, especially in Lesotho‘s primary schools need to be equipped to better deal with the challenges that result from having these children in their classrooms. At the Lesotho College of Education, where I have worked for 12 years as a teacher educator, pre-service and in-service student teachers are not trained to offer care and support to orphans and vulnerable children. They experience problems in the classroom emanating from the needs of these children. This study followed an action research design to find ways to support teachers to better deal with the issues they face as a result of having orphans and vulnerable children in their classes. Using a qualitative approach, educators perceptions, feelings, attitudes and experiences in dealing with orphans and vulnerable children in their schools were identified, and it became apparent that educators were negatively affected on a personal and professional level. It was concluded that the development of resilience in educators would help them to better cope with orphans and vulnerable children in their classes. The chosen intervention Resilient Educators Programme (REds) was implemented and evaluated and findings revealed that it was beneficial in increasing educator resilience. Recommendations, based on the findings of the study, were made for future teacher education in this area.

Background - The main concern of this study is that the perspectives at the foundation of the deployment of information and communication technologies (ICT) undermine the pertinent long-term benefits in developing countries. Not only that, but they also affect the ways in which communities in the global information society engage themselves in the diffusion process of ICT. Claim of the study - The innovation and diffusion process of ICT in developing countries of Africa is foreign and sponsor driven. Consequently, the process is infested with a focus on the realizations in the short-term, with a continued domination of technological innovations by the technologically advanced communities. The argument in this study is that Africa's developing countries need to change their perspectives, and play an active role to drive the diffusion process of ICT in local contexts for long-term developmental impacts. Purpose of the study - The main aim of this study is to explore the conceptions surrounding ICT processes in theory and practice, for the purpose of gaining insight into the improved approaches for applied ICT. The study looks into ways through which local communities and their governments in Africa's developing countries can play a role in cultivating the enhancement of ICT to promote productivity, like it has happened in other places of the world. Problem statement - The assumption for the problem statement draws from the expressed main concern in the background. That is, there is a need for adequate theoretical foundations to appropriately guide the ICT deployment and application initiatives for effective social development in Africa's DCs. In the other words, theoretical contributions in the discipline of information systems are needed to explain the relationships between long-term impacts of ICT and societies, and the frameworks for practice to realize the impacts.

Bicycle-sharing programs are a new trend in urban transportation. The main difference of a bicycle-sharing program with a regular bicycle rental is that is possible to get a bicycle in one station and return it in any other station. There are many models of bicycle sharing, each model with its pros and cons. This study analyzes the bicycle-sharing models in order to build a proposal of a bicycle-sharing program suitable for Brazilian median cities. The study begins with an overview of bicycle transportation, followed by the analysis of different bicycle-sharing programs. The last chapter formulates a proposal of a bicycle-sharing program suitable for Brazilian median cities. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. The analysis includes a case study on the bicycle-sharing program in Stockholm. This case study is based on interviews with the manager of the program in the company in charge, and with the responsible official in Stockholm municipality. A questionnaire was moreover handed out to users of the program. This case study is complemented with a questionnaire sent by email to managers of bicycle-sharing programs in some cities around the world, this in order to provide more examples on how bicycle sharing can be organized. Finally, another case study was carried out in a Brazilian median city in order to evaluate the local awareness concerning bicycle transport, and the possibility of implementing a bicycle-sharing program there. A questionnaire was handed out to a sample of the local population and an interview was made with the local transport authority. The analysis of all data results in a proposal for a bicycle-sharing program suitable for the Brazilian context. The proposal comprises the choices of bicycles, stations, equipment related to the hiring process and service vehicle. It includes a complete financial appraisal with the necessary capital for implementing and managing the program. It shows that it is possible to build an affordable bicycle-sharing program adapted to Brazilian median cities. The program will create job opportunities and can contribute to a changed view of bicycle transportation in these cities. The proposal could also be applied in countries with the same characteristics as Brazil.
www.ima.kth.se

The main research question of this thesis is: How can cross-border access to human genetic resources, such as blood or DNA samples, be governed to achieve equity for developing countries? Access to and benefit sharing for human biological resources is not regulated through an international legal framework such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, which applies only to plants, animals and micro-organisms as well as associated traditional knowledge. This legal vacuum for the governance of human genetic resources can be attributed (in part) to the concern that benefit sharing might provide undue inducements to research participants and their communities. This thesis shows that: (a) Benefit sharing is crucial to avoiding the exploitation of developing countries in genomic research. (b) With functioning research ethics committees, undue inducement is less of a concern in genetic research than in other medical research (e.g. clinical trials). (c) Concerns remain over research involving indigenous populations and some recommendations are provided. In drawing its conclusions, the thesis resolves a highly pressing topic in global bioethics and international law. Originally, it combines bioethical argument with jurisprudence, in particular reference to the law of equity and the legal concepts of duress (coercion), unconscionable dealing, and undue influence.

It is widely accepted as fact that the creation of a stable financial system is the catalyst which facilitates economic development and prosperity. However, developing countries which embark on a path of change often forget the cardinal rule: addressing the needs of those who suffer from poverty, inequality, and political strife. In other words, change starts from the ground up; not the other way around. First among the challenges facing these countries, is the need to change the lending rules followed by traditional financial institutions--banks and other private lenders--who are unwilling to provide their services to individuals with little income and few if any assets that can be used as collateral. Second, global organizations like the United Nations, World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund have failed to provide aid in a way that forces the creation of positive and sustainable change for fragile and destabilized societies. For this reason, many developing countries which receive financial aid are no better off than they were before the interventions occurred, and in some cases worse. Finally, other aid programs and even well-intentioned government efforts to reduce poverty fail simply because they are misguided. Too much attention and financial resources are devoted to grand schemes of long-term duration and not enough is given to impacting human lives in the present. In 1973, visionary economist Muhammud Yunus witnessed his beloved country of Bangladesh sinking into the deepest realms of poverty; much of its population in despair and left without hope of extricating itself from a bleak existence. The problem was compounded by the fact that its government was preoccupied with matters of State rather than those of its people; its financial institutions were oblivious to the pain and hunger which surrounded them, and international donors were simply giving away money without any form of control or direct involvement.; Out of this scenario, Yunus started with an idea that would alter not only his life, but the lives of people in Bangladesh and the world over: micro-finance. To this day, nearly every text written on the subject calls micro-finance a weapon in the fight against global poverty, but only a mere few recognize just how much of the gains made in this "fight" are attributable to the direct involvement of women in micro-financing. This thesis posits that while Muhammud Yunus created an idea for the benefit of "the global poor", it actually became a medium for the empowerment of women around the world. In fact, much of the praise awarded to micro-finance as success omit recognition of what should be obvious: the driving force behind the success of micro-lending is (poor) women. This statement does not seek to diminish the merits of an idea which has put a significant mark on the global economy, or to ignore the accomplishments of millions of men who through hard work have overcome poverty. However, what began as a genderless effort to help the poor of Bangladesh soon changed to one that overwhelmingly favored women. To this day, lending primarily to women has become the modus operandi of the microfinance industry for one reason above all: because women have proven they are a good business risk. The first part of this thesis will analyze the birth and development of the micro-financing system with special emphasis on its creator, Muhammed Yunus and the financial institution he founded for the purpose of implementing his idea, Grameen Bank. The second part will review the growth of micro-financing across the world with focus on Kiva, a web-based organization which represents the melding of micro-finance with 21st century technology. Finally, the thesis will look at Pro Mujer, a micro-financing organization which has successfully operated in Latin America for the last 20 years and developed a niche that expands the horizons of empowerment.
ID: 029808766; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-113).
M.A.
Masters
Political Science
Sciences

The adoption and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is widely regarded as essential in contemporary organisational environments. Such technologies have substantial effects on an organisation’s productivity and competitiveness. However, the nature of the effects varies across types of organisation (small to large), by country-context (developed and developing countries) and with the type of ICT adopted. This thesis focuses primarily on Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in a less-researched developing country context, the region of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with special reference to Oman. In terms of the ICT under investigation, recognising the emergence of more interactive forms of technology, this thesis focuses on social media applications. It is widely recognised that the adoption and use of these applications change the ways in which organisations conduct their activities and represent a critical business opportunity for SMEs. This opportunity will only be realised by SMEs if, and when, social media are adopted in their organisations. This therefore creates a requirement to understand the factors that influence SMEs in making the adoption decision. The research related to such factors is scarce, not least because the technologies are relatively new. By using the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework, this study therefore attempted to understand the factors influencing the decision by SMEs to adopt social media. It employed a sequential, exploratory mixed method, where both qualitative and quantitative approaches were combined to meet the research objectives. In the first stage, a preliminary TOE model of 18 factors was developed from the analysis of semi-structured interviews with 18 SMEs owner-managers in Muscat, the capital city of Oman. In the second stage, a survey involving 205 SMEs in Muscat was conducted to examine empirically the preliminary model. The survey data were analysed using logistic regression (LR). Of the factors examined, compatibility, observability, trialability, trust, image, perceived lack of managerial time, market scope, customer pressure and family and friends’ support were found to have significant influence on SMEs’ decisions to adopt social media. These findings have important implications and value for the research community, SMEs and policy makers (in particular, the Public Authority for SME Development (PASMED)) in terms of formulating improved strategies for social media adoption. The resulting research model proposed in this thesis can improve these stakeholders’ understandings of why some SMEs have chosen to adopt social media technologies, while other SMEs which face similar market conditions have not.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to think anew about the involvement of the Christian churches in strategic development. The author undertook such an exercise in an abstract and general manner, not by undertaking specific case studies, but by applying various development and social sciences debates to come to a new understanding of the churches' meaningful participation in the broad area of development. The notion of the churches as 'idea' and 'value' institutions in the field of development was particularly developed. The study found its critical point of departure in the ecumenical theological debate on development over the last four decades. The first three chapters show how the charity-development juxtaposition in ecumenical development discourse problematises and frames the historical and actual participation of the churches in development. It is indicated that this discourse poses a critical theoretical and ideological challenge not only to the churches' socio-economic involvement through charity, but also to the mainstream secular development enterprise. It is concluded through the pragmatic debate in the broader ecumenical development discourse that an enduring divide exists between progressive theoretical thinking on the churches' participation in development and the actual development practices of the churches. It is concluded, akin to an historical charity involvement, that the churches have, generally speaking, been over-investing in project approaches to development at the cost of modes of engagement which highlight an idea- and value-centred development praxis. In chapters four to seven the argument is further developed through the conceptual framework of third and fourth generation development strategies. Through ideas on this conceptual framework, which were first formulated by David Korten in NGO and peoplecentred development debates, but which have also been extended to broader 'alternative' development and social sciences debates within the analytic framework of this study, the idea- and value-centred perspective in this study was further worked out and applied to the churches. It is concluded that the conceptual framework of third generation development strategies poses an appropriate (public) challenge to the churches to become involved in the policy-making, managerial and organisational processes of development. In contrast to a 'politics of limited space' which the third generation mode presents to the churches, it is maintained that the 'unlimited political space' of the fourth generation mode of development involvement is more appropriate to the churches. It is argued that the churches could most effectively and meaningfully participate in the new transnational social movement 'value' and 'idea' politics (e.g. peace, human rights, women, environment, democracy, people-centred development) prioritised in the fourth generation strategic perspective. This argument is further worked out in the final chapter through the proposal of four beacons of action that may guide the churches to become meaningful participants in fourth (and third) generation strategic development action, namely (i) the new social movements, (ii) the new communication solidarities, (iii) alternative development policy, and (iv) 'soft culture'.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die studie was om opnuut te dink oor die strategiese betrokkenheid van die kerke in ontwikkeling. Die skrywer het sodanige oefening op 'n abstrakte en algemene wyse onderneem deur geen spesifieke gevalle studies te doen nie, maar deur verskeie ontwikkelings- en sosiaal wetenskaplike debatte toe te pas om tot 'n nuwe verstaan van die kerke se betekenisvolle deelname in die breë veld van ontwikkeling te kom. Die konsep van die kerke as 'idee' en 'waarde' instellings in die veld van ontwikkeling is spesifiek ontwikkel. Die studie het die ekumeniese teologiese debat oor ontwikkeling van die laaste vier dekades as kritiese vertrekpunt geneem. In die eerste drie hoofstukke word aangetoon hoe die barmhartigheid-ontwikkeling jukstaposisie in die ekumeniese ontwikkelingsdiskoers die historiese en teenswoordige deelname van die kerke in ontwikkeling problematiseer en bepaal. Daar word aangedui hoe hierdie diskoers nie slegs 'n kritiese teoretiese en ideologiese uitdaging aan die kerke se sosioekonomiese betrokkenheid deur middel van barmhartigheidswerk bied nie, maar ook aan die hoofstroom sekulêre ontwikkelingsonderneming. Aan die hand van die pragmatiese debat in die breër ekumeniese ontwikkelingsdiskoers word die gevolgtrekking gemaak dat daar 'n blywende skeiding bestaan tussen progressiewe teoretiese denke oor die kerke se deelname aan ontwikkeling en die teenswoordige ontwikkelingspraktyke van die kerke. Daar word gekonkludeer dat die kerke op 'n soortgelyke wyse as hulle historiese betrokkenheid deur middel van barmhartigheidswerk in die algemeen oorgeïnvesteer het in projek benaderings tot ontwikkeling ten koste van maniere van betrokkenheid wat 'n idee en waarde gesentreerde ontwikkelingspraktyk beklemtoon. In hoofstukke vier tot sewe word die argument verder ontwikkel aan die hand van die konseptuele raamwerk van derde en vierde generasie ontwikkelingstrategieë. Aan die hand van idees oor hierdie konseptuele raamwerk, wat eerstens deur David Korten in NRO en mensgesentreerde ontwikkelingsdebatte geformuleer is, maar binne die analitiese raamwerk van hierdie studie ook neerslag vind in wyer 'alternatiewe' ontwikkelings- en sosiaal wetenskaplike debatte, is die idee en waarde gesentreerde perspektief in die studie verder uitgewerk en toegepas op die kerke. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat die konseptuele raamwerk van derde generasie ontwikkelingstrategieë 'n gepaste (publieke) uitdaging aan die kerke bied om betrokke te raak by die beleidmakende, bestuurs- en organisatoriese prosesse van ontwikkeling. Teenoor 'n 'politiek van beperkte ruimte' wat die derde generasie wyse van betrokkenheid vir die kerke verteenwoordig, word volgehou dat die 'onbeperkte politieke ruimte' van die vierde generasie wyse van betrokkenheid meer gepas is vir die kerke. Daar word geargumenteer dat die kerke op 'n mees effektiewe en betekenisvolle wyse sou kon deelneem aan die 'waarde' en 'idee' politiek (bv. vrede, mense regte, vroue, omgewing, demokrasie, mensgesentreede ontwikkeling) wat in die vierde generasie strategiese perspektief voorrang geniet. Hierdie argument word verder uitgewerk in die finale hoofstuk deur die voorstel van vier bakens van aksie wat as rigtingwyser kan dien vir die kerke se voorgenome betekenisvolle deelname in vierde (en derde) generasie strategiese ontwikkelingsaksie, naamlik (i) die nuwe sosiale bewegings, (ii) die nuwe kommunikasie solidariteite, (iii) alternatiewe ontwikkelingsbeleid en (iv) 'sagte kultuur'.