Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Policy advice'

While development cooperation largely consists of policy advice, the suggestions and inputs on development that policymakers in the Global South receive from donors and other international actors, little research exists on what makes policy advice useful to these policymakers. The aim of this study was to find out why policymakers in the Global South find some advice useful and some not. This was done through a field study in Kenya, using interviews with 23 policymakers and advisors. The analytical framework that was applied to the material reconciled the SCL model of analysing policy advice in terms of its content, with a critical postcolonial perspective which regarded the delivery of advice. The study showed that  the usefulness of policy advice for Kenyan policymakers is as dependent on the delivery of the advice as it is on its content, unlike what has been implied previously by Western research on think tanks. The study also concluded that not only is it possible to merge the two theoretical perspectives of policy advice and postcolonial theory, despite the difference in abstraction levels, applying a postcolonial perspective can be crucial in order to examine the full scope of what makes policy advice useful to policymakers in the Global South.

Die Studie schließt an die Debatte in der vergleichenden politikwissenschaftlichen Verwaltungsforschung an, die sich mit der Rolle interner Beratungsakteure in Regierungsorganisationen beschäftigt. Ziel dieser Studie ist es, die Mechanismen zu erklären, durch die interne Beratungsakteure die ihnen zugeschriebene Bedeutung im exekutiven Entscheidungsprozess erlangen. Dabei werden jene Organisationseinheiten untersucht, die proaktiv an exekutiven Entscheidungsprozessen mitwirken und mit ihrer Beratung politischer Akteure in Konkurrenz zur Ministerialverwaltung stehen können. Die Einflussmechanismen dieser Akteure in der exekutiven Entscheidungsfindung werden als Formen einer "Institutionenpolitik" aufgefasst, bei der Akteure die institutionellen Bedingungen von Politikformulierungsprozessen bzw. die "Spielregeln exekutiver Entscheidungsfindung" verändern, um ihre eigene Position bzw. die ihres "Klienten" zu stärken. Das theoretische Argument dieser Arbeit folgt der neo-institutionalistischen Wende in der Organisationstheorie und definiert Institutionenpolitik als graduelle Institutionalisierungsprozesse zwischen Institutionen und organisationalen Akteuren, wobei einem weiten Institutionenbegriff folgend die Objekte solcher Veränderungsprozesse durch regulative, normative und kognitive Säulen gekennzeichnet sind. In Anwendung des "power-distributional approach" lassen sich graduelle Institutionalisierungsprozesse durch institutionenbezogene Charakteristika erklären, d.h. die Beschaffenheit der Objekte von Institutionenpolitik, insbesondere die Interpretationsfreiheit ihrer Anwendung, sowie die Restriktionen des institutionellen Kontexts. Zudem lässt sich Institutionenpolitik durch akteursbezogene Charakteristika erklären, d.h. den Ambitionen der Akteure sich als "potentielle institutionelle Agenten" zu engagieren. Diese beiden Erklärungsdimensionen drücken sich in vier idealtypischen Mechanismen von Institutionenpolitik aus: Sedimentation, Ersetzung, Drift, und Konversion, die mit vier Agententypen korrespondieren. Die Studie untersucht die institutionenpolitischen Ambitionen der Akteure explorativ, die Relevanz des institutionellen Kontexts wird mithilfe von Erwartungshypothesen zu den Effekten von vier Merkmalen analysiert, die in der bestehenden Debatte als relevant gelten: (1) die Parteienzusammensetzung der Regierung, (2) die Strukturprinzipien von Kabinettsentscheidungen, (3) die Verwaltungstradition sowie (4) die formale Politisierung der Ministerialverwaltung. Die Studie folgt einem "most similar systems design" und führt qualitative Fallstudien zur Rolle interner Beratungseinheiten im Zentrum deutscher und britischer Regierungsorganisationen, d.h. der Regierungszentrale und dem Finanzministerium, über einen längeren Zeitraum durch (1969/1970-2005). Es werden jeweils drei Zeitperioden pro Untersuchungsland betrachtet, die britischen Fallstudien analysieren die Beratungsakteure im Cabinet Office, Prime Minister's Office und dem Finanzministerium unter den Premierministern Heath (1970-74), Thatcher (1979-87) und Blair (1997-2005). Die deutschen Fallstudien untersuchen die Beratungsakteure im Bundeskanzleramt und dem Bundesfinanzministerium unter den Bundeskanzlern Brandt (1969-74), Kohl (1982-1987) und Schröder (1998-2005). Für die empirische Untersuchung wurden die Ergebnisse einer Dokumentenanalyse mit den Erkenntnissen aus 75 semi-strukturierten Experteninterviews trianguliert. Die vergleichende Analyse zeigt unterschiedliche Muster von Institutionenpolitik. Die deutschen Beratungsakteure agieren anfänglich in Ersetzung, später vornehmlich in Sedimentation sowie Drift, d.h. ihre institutionenpolitischen Aktivitäten widmen sich nach anfänglicher Ersetzung bestehender institutioneller Grundlagen zunehmend der Addition neuer Elemente sowie der deliberativen Nicht-Entscheidung zur Anpassung existierender institutioneller Grundlagen an Umweltveränderungen. Die britischen Beratungsakteure sind zumeist in Ersetzung sowie Konversion engagiert, trotz gelegentlicher Sedimentation, d.h. einer direkten Ersetzung bestehender institutioneller Grundlagen durch neue Spielregeln exekutiver Entscheidungsfindung sowie einer bewussten Umwandlung und Neuausrichtung existierender institutionellen Grundlagen, gelegentlich auch eine Addition neuer Elemente zu bestehenden Regeln. Die institutionen- und akteursspezifischen Charakteristika sind für diese Muster von Institutionenpolitik erklärungsrelevant. Erstens weist die Studie nach, dass der institutionelle Kontext die institutionenpolitischen Aktivitäten in Deutschland beschränkt und in Großbritannien begünstigt. Zweitens ist die Interpretationsfreiheit der Anwendung institutionenpolitischer Objekte bedeutsam, wie sich anhand der institutionenpolitischen Ambitionen der Akteure im Zeitverlauf und im Ländervergleich zeigt und somit drittens bestätigt, dass diese Interessen der Akteure an Institutionenwandel die Mechanismen von Institutionenpolitik beeinflussen. Die Arbeit schließt mit der Erkenntnis, dass die Rolle interner Beratungseinheiten in der exekutiven Politikformulierung nicht nur aus ihren inhaltlichen, parteistrategischen oder medial-beratenden Funktionen für politische Akteure in Regierungsämtern folgt, sondern insbesondere aus ihren institutionenpolitischen Aktivitäten, deren Resultate die institutionellen Restriktionen aller Akteure in exekutiven Entscheidungsprozessen beeinflussen – und somit auch ihre eigene Rolle in diesen Prozessen.
This study follows the debate in comparative public administration research on the role of advisory arrangements in central governments. The aim of this study is to explain the mechanisms by which these actors gain their alleged role in government decision-making. Hence, it analyses advisory arrangements that are proactively involved in executive decision-making and may compete with the permanent bureaucracy by offering policy advice to political executives. The study argues that these advisory arrangements influence government policy-making by "institutional politics", i.e. by shaping the institutional underpinnings to govern or rather the "rules of the executive game" in order to strengthen their own position or that of their clients. The theoretical argument of this study follows the neo-institutionalist turn in organization theory and defines institutional politics as gradual institutionalization processes between institutions and organizational actors. It applies a broader definition of institutions as sets of regulative, normative and cognitive pillars. Following the "power-distributional approach" such gradual institutionalization processes are influenced by structure-oriented characteristics, i.e. the nature of the objects of institutional politics, in particular the freedom of interpretation in their application, as well as the distinct constraints of the institutional context. In addition, institutional politics are influenced by agency-oriented characteristics, i.e. the ambitions of actors to act as "would-be change agents". These two explanatory dimensions result in four ideal-typical mechanisms of institutional politics: layering, displacement, drift, and conversion, which correspond to four ideal-types of would-be change agents. The study examines the ambitions of advisory arrangements in institutional politics in an exploratory manner, the relevance of the institutional context is analyzed via expectation hypotheses on the effects of four institutional context features that are regarded as relevant in the scholarly debate: (1) the party composition of governments, (2) the structuring principles in cabinet, (3) the administrative tradition, and (4) the formal politicization of the ministerial bureaucracy. The study follows a "most similar systems design" and conducts qualitative case studies on the role of advisory arrangements at the center of German and British governments, i.e. the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Finance, for a longer period (1969/1970-2005). Three time periods are scrutinized per country; the British case studies examine the role of advisory arrangements at the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister's Office, and the Ministry of Finance under Prime Ministers Heath (1970-74), Thatcher (1979-87) and Blair (1997-2005). The German case studies study the role of advisory arrangements at the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of Finance during the Brandt government (1969-74), the Kohl government (1982-1987) and the Schröder government (1998-2005). For the empirical analysis, the results of a document analysis and the findings of 75 semi-structured expert interviews have been triangulated. The comparative analysis reveals different patterns of institutional politics. The German advisory arrangements engaged initially in displacement but turned soon towards layering and drift, i.e. after an initial displacement of the pre-existing institutional underpinnings to govern they laid increasingly new elements onto existing ones and took the non-deliberative decision to neglect the adaption of existing rules of the executive game towards changing environmental demands. The British advisory arrangements were mostly involved in displacement and conversion, despite occasional layering, i.e. they displaced the pre-existing institutional underpinnings to govern with new rules of the executive game and transformed and realigned them, sometimes also layering new elements onto pre-existing ones. The structure- and agency-oriented characteristics explain these patterns of institutional politics. First, the study shows that the institutional context limits the institutional politics in Germany and facilitates the institutional politics in the UK. Second, the freedom of interpreting the application of institutional targets is relevant and could be observed via the different ambitions of advisory arrangements across countries and over time, confirming, third, that the interests of such would-be change agents are likewise important to understand the patterns of institutional politics. The study concludes that the role of advisory arrangements in government policy-making rests not only upon their policy-related, party-political or media-advisory role for political executives, but especially upon their activities in institutional politics, resulting in distinct institutional constraints on all actors in government policy-making – including their own role in these processes.

This research seeks to evaluate the policy advice on educational matters provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), particularly through its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The thesis assesses the “value” of the OECD education policy advice (EPA), that is, whether the EPA is advice worth following because there is evidence that it could help or has helped countries to achieve the goals of greater quality and equity in education. Firstly, a multi-agent practical reasoning model and political discourse analysis are applied to OECD publications to extract education policy recommendations. The EPA is thus comprehensively reconstructed, summarised and organised. The EPA is analysed in terms of its internal coherence, its consistency over time and over publications, as well as its soundness: whether there is empirical evidence that what the OECD suggests that countries should do could work in principle. In the second part of the thesis, evidence of effective EPA-aligned country policies is sought using national and cross-national level data and a mixed-methods approach. From a cross-national perspective, country alignment with the EPA is analysed by collecting 61 expert judgements from 30 PISA countries using a specifically-developed online questionnaire. The plausible impact of EPA-aligned policies is inferred by applying multilevel growth models to PISA trends in performance and equity. The cross-country analysis is complemented by two case studies: The Republic of Ireland and the French Community of Belgium. Data on 50 policies is collected from more than 800 policy documents and through 25 semi-structured expert interviews carried out over two study visits. Policy alignment is analysed with a visual adaptation of the delta-convergence method to account for qualitative data. The effectiveness of EPA-aligned policies is evaluated using a framework developed by Prof J. Douglas Willms and adopted by the OECD, as well as national evaluation reports.

The study of foresight methodology has traditionally focused on the anticipation and development of future scenarios. It is somewhat surprising that, despite the impact that the advice generated with foresight may have had on Research and Innovation(R&I) policy action, the analysis of the process whereby foresight actually creates policy recommendations has so far been ignored in the literature. This thesis explores this process, trying to identify those elements that have a greater influence in the final advice characteristics. The research draws on the study of two European cases, which are analysed with very different methods. The first case is addressed with critical discourse analysis, which constitutes a methodological innovation in the area of foresight evaluation. The second case is explored through action research, which facilitated an in-depth examination of the foresight process and an exhaustive tracking of the activities that gave rise to the final recommendations. In both cases special attention is paid to the role and utility of future anticipation. The combination of these methods helped in understanding: the effect that repositioning advisors’ mindsets in highly transformed futures has in the volume and originality of the insights generated, the importance of achieving a balanced representation of the R&I actors in the discussion groups, and the relevance that argumentation has in the formation of final advice. Understanding these factors would contribute to improve the quality and consistency of foresight advice discourses, thus augmenting their possibilities for acceptance and implementation by policy makers.

Governments, the community and industry expect public policy to be implemented effectively and efficiently, particularly when that policy and regulation affects the economic well being and environmental values of the nation. The offshore petroleum exploration and production industry is a case where public policy and regulation are attracting national focus through discussions on the timing of world peak oil production and the future of national and global oil and gas production. An overseas history of famous environmental disasters associated with petroleum exploration and production and transportation also ensures a specific focus on the environmental regulation of the industry. This study elaborates the history and characteristics of the offshore petroleum E&Pindustries in Australia and the US, and the systems and processes used to provide technical advice that informs and advises the regulation of those industries. The study then analyses the management of technical advice for government regulation of the offshore petroleum exploration and production (E&P) industry in Australia using the US equivalent as benchmark. Further, the analysis develops a model that incorporates strategic and operational elements of such advice. Strategic elements include openness, transparency and accountability, and operational elements include use of expertise, timeliness and peer communication. The study illustrates the relative challenges to providing technical advice under Australia�s Westminister form of government which can be less open, transparent and accountable when compared to the US Congressional form of government. The study also shows the greater use of expertise and peer communication associated with the more extensive petroleum research effort in the US, reflecting the greater age and size of its petroleum industry.

Of the many components of reform to Australian government administration in the 1980s, the introduction of systematic program evaluation is perhaps one of the least examined. This thesis seeks to assess the Federal Labor Government's evaluation strategy as an instrument for enhancing what are here termed the policy management capacities of central agencies. It proceeds in two steps. First, the thesis traces in detail the development of program evaluation policy in Australian federal government from the effectiveness reviews of the Coombs Report of 1976 to the current evaluation strategy, and argues that, despite competing purposes for it, evaluation was intended primarily to serve decision making in central government. This policy aim was cemented by the economic crisis of the mid 1980s and framed around budgetary issues by its steward, the Department of Finance. Second, in order to assess the impact of the evaluation strategy, the thesis develops a framework for analysing program evaluation as one instrument for strengthening the core policy management functions of central agencies. In this context, policy management is essentially a coordination task. The contribution of evaluation to two aspects of policy management-resource coordination, and policy development and coordination-is examined. The findings confirm that attempts to formalise evaluation processes have had a variable impact- central budgetary processes remain dependent on relatively informal assessment procedures, although recent attempts to enhance policy coordination through the evaluation of policy advising processes have proved potentially to be more influential. In conclusion, the thesis argues that the evaluation strategy represented a credible attempt to better inform policy making in central government, but suffered for want of clear policy design and firm execution that resulted in only a marginal impact on these processes.

This is a study of approaches to fisheries management in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1945 and 1996. It examines the choices and incentives faced by UK Governments when designing policy instruments to deliver international commitments to sustainable fishing. The failure of international agreements to sustainably manage fisheries resources is often attributed to international institutions, the politicization of negotiations and their distributive outcomes. This thesis makes an original contribution by arguing that the success of international agreements was also dependent upon local negotiations that shaped the design of national delivery mechanisms. The central research question concerns the role and influence of local interests in delivering global economic and environmental agendas and how national governments accommodate local tensions within this process. A sustained content analysis of UK Government archives is used to argue that local political and sectional industry interests had a significant bearing on the development of UK fisheries policy and the design of domestic delivery mechanisms. The exception was UK policy on the international distribution of fisheries resources at the United Nations Law of the Sea Conferences (1958, 1960 and 1973-82). Economic considerations drove early environmental policy with sectional fishing industry interests of secondary importance to the potential economic benefits associated with the more valuable energy resources. In then seeking to implement controls on fishing activity, this thesis argues that UK fisheries management mechanisms were designed to compensate for tension between global commitments mandating a reduction in fishing effort and the local fleets and communities that had to bear the costs of industry contraction. This created a policy-making environment in which social and political motivations continually trumped the application of economic and scientific advice. This advice advocated a contraction in the size of the fleet which had become necessary as technical change and falling stocks resulted in overcapacity. The use of fisheries policy as a political tool to ease local tensions incentivised policy choices that directly contributed to the UK's failure to reduce fishing pressure and deliver international commitments. This thesis demonstrates the importance of local negotiations and interests in the construction of national and international approaches to environmental and natural resources problems.

Due to growing global concern regarding climate change and CO2 emissions, the use of soil as a potential carbon (C) sink has become increasingly recognised as a potential mitigation measure. Global agricultural soil has the estimated capacity for sequestering C at around 20 to 30 Pg (Peta grams) of C over the next 50 to 100 years if correct land management practises are applied. The benefits on improving soil C levels are not limited to reduced CO2 emissions and climate change mitigation however. It is widely accepted that improved organic C levels provide an array of positive benefits, including enhanced soil fertility, soil structure and water holding capacity and generally improve soil biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Therefore, the pursuit of increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) levels in agricultural soil could create a win-win-win scenario. To improve SOC levels in agriculture, there are two key components that need to be fully effective. The first being the scientific understanding of SOC and its responses to different farming practices and systems. Secondly, the policy and advisory environment needs to be effective and conducive, promoting those practices and systems which are proven to increase SOC levels. This research therefore, explores these two components by conducting a series of investigations into current on-farm practices for managing SOC, the current policy and legislation structure, the quality and extent of farm-facing SOC related advice, and the scope for improving SOC levels through farm management practices and agri-environmental policy. A critical review and synopsis of global, European and national policy and advice was conducted to identify those policies that encourage the improvement of SOC and to highlight those areas where SOC does not currently feature as a management issue. Whilst soil and SOC do not feature heavily at the European or national level, there are a number of mechanisms which have the potential to improve SOC levels through their ability to reach a large audience of farmers and via the promotion of suitable management practices. The review of current policy was supplemented by interviews with those responsible for providing advice to farmers and farmers themselves. The interviewed farmers and advisors were relatively engaged with the subject of SOC although the results demonstrated that there was scope to improve current levels of understanding and practice. The currently policy environment at the national level, was not, in general, creating changes in management practices with those interviewed, so any potential enhancement of SOC that the policy mechanisms had the ability to create, were being missed. A review of the scientific literature regarding SOC and data gathered from subsequent soil sampling under a range of farming practices has allowed for the exploration of the potential and realisation to increase SOC levels through various management approaches. Practices which promote an increased use of organic matter amendments, reduced tillage systems and organic farming systems were of particular focus; with all three demonstrating the potential in improve SOC levels. Combining the social and natural science aspects of the issue of SOC has allowed for an exploration of the potential approaches to improve SOC within English agriculture. Critically, research and development of the subject needs to be improved to further the scientific understanding of SOC in relation to farming practices and land use. Development is also required of current national policy, in particular agri-environment schemes (AES), which despite reaching a wide farming audience, would appear to create minimal management changes and therefore has minimal impact on improving SOC levels. The two sides of this issue, the social and the natural sciences, must be addressed together otherwise a full understanding and an appropriate approach forward cannot be reached. This is why an interdisciplinary approach has been viewed as a suitable research framework for this thesis. The concluding aim of this work is to present a ‘best practice approach’ in terms of physically improving SOC levels by enhancing current advisory pathways and developing an effective policy environment.

Traditionally, employment advice and guidance services in the UK have occupied distinct realms despite government efforts to align and integrate the education and skills and welfare-to-work frameworks. Conceptually, studies of front-line service delivery have often adopted a street-level perspective. This study offers a governance approach that focuses on how adviser behaviour is steered through managerial methods and how advisers steer user behaviour through the use of discretion and trust. The study explored how advisers mediated the tensions between managerial concerns and user needs to achieve policy goals, among others to turn service users into more active citizens. Based on 38 semi-structured interviews with service managers and advisers in combination with service characteristics and policy aims, a service typology was developed which was then applied to eight case study services. The analysis showed that employment advisers in the different service types applied very diverse strategies to achieve an outcome for the service user, but that within service types the strategies were similar. Due to the different service structures and advisers’ varying ability to apply discretion, various kinds of trust could be established, which potentially allowed the advisers to influence a change of service user behaviour. This could range from highly coercive methods to empowering individuals. The findings showed that advisers were subject to similar pressures as they applied to service users when mediating managerial influences. There was evidence that ability to use discretion was a vital pivot point in how advisers mediated tension between the service demands and user needs. This in turn was related to the adviser’s ability to achieve sustainable outcomes for the service user.

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This thesis focuses on deepening depoliticization of the expressions of social issues in health, remained expressed in the hegemonic medical model and public health in the organization, operationalization of actions / services within the health policy. The participatory dimension intersects this context, with a strong tendency to the impermeability of health policy for civil society participation in Primary Health Care, accentuated by neoliberal hegemony. We analyze the expressions and trends in society participation in Primary Health Care, as well as its limits and possibilities. The research was based on bibliographic and documentary, complemented by empirical research in Primary Health Care in the Federal District, more precisely the Region of Itapoã through interviews with people from popular segments of organized / local / users, health professionals and manager. The trend in society participation in social policies in the current context of neoliberal hegemony has characterized a set of practices and actions of managerial nature, aimed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policies to ensure legitimacy, optimize scarce resources, among other things. There is an erosion of local participatory processes, the struggle for health is now almost exclusively by institutional channels, limiting itself to questions of financing, organization, management. Recognizing the limits of strategies participacionistas, which alone are not carriers of processing capacity, the study suggests two dimensions of participatory health considered important in the APS: the first refers to the institutionalized spaces, such as councils and conferences. The second relates to the field of implementation of health policy. It is important to recognize the use of participatory strategies in health, clarity of its limits, in different spheres of activities and services in order to enhance their political-educational component of re-politicization of health, which contributes to the expansion of political bases and in the struggle for social rights to health, with the formation of new individuals and groups
Esta tese centra-se no aprofundamento da despolitização das expressões da questão social no âmbito da saúde, expresso na permanecia do modelo médico hegemônico e sanitarista na organização, operacionalização de ações/serviços no âmbito da política de saúde. A dimensão participativa se entrecruza a esse contexto, com forte tendência à impermeabilidade da política de saúde à participação da sociedade na Atenção Primária à Saúde, acentuada pela hegemonia neoliberal. Analisam-se as expressões e tendências da participação da sociedade na Atenção Primária à Saúde, assim como seus limites e possibilidades. A pesquisa apoiou-se em estudo bibliográfico e documental, complementadas por pesquisa empírica na Atenção Primária à Saúde no Distrito Federal, mais precisamente a Região do Itapoã, por meio de entrevistas com sujeitos dos segmentos populares organizados/entidades locais/usuários, profissionais de saúde e gestor. A tendência da participação da sociedade no âmbito das políticas sociais no atual contexto de hegemonia neoliberal vem caracterizando um conjunto de práticas e ações de caráter gerencial, voltada para melhorar a eficiência e eficácia das políticas, garantir legitimidade, otimizar recursos escassos, dentre outros aspectos. Há esvaziamento dos processos participativos locais, a luta pela saúde passa a ser quase que exclusivamente pelos canais institucionais, limitando-se às questões de financiamento, organização, gestão. Reconhecendo os limites das estratégias participacionistas, que por si só não são portadoras de capacidade de transformação, o estudo aponta duas dimensões do processo participativo em saúde considerados relevantes no âmbito da APS: o primeiro refere-se aos espaços institucionalizados, como conselhos e conferências. O segundo diz respeito ao campo de execução da política de saúde. É importante reconhecer a utilização de estratégias de participação em saúde, com clareza dos seus limites, nos diferentes espaços das ações e serviços, de modo a valorizar o seu componente político-educativo, de repolitização da saúde, que contribua para a ampliação das bases política e social na luta pelo direito à saúde, com a formação de novos sujeitos individuais e coletivos

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Since 1998 it has increased the number of Community Development Banks, there are currently more than 100 operating in the country. They are a recent phenomenon and there are few studies on the cumulative impacts of this initiative in its service territory. In addition is relevant to quote the coordination and community mobilization, promotion of social currency, cultural activities, environment, health and education. These banks work with credit services, most of the time with productive credit lines and consumption, some banks proffer housing credit for renovation, expansion and even production of new housing with the self technical advice. This dissertation will examine in particular the relationship of housing production through the housing microfinance promoting by Banco Bem, Vitória -ES, and the development of its territory, with the guiding hypothesis that the Community Development Banks, in particular the Banco Bem, promote Territorial Development with its housing microcredit and free technical advice to the self, allowing housing improvements, fostering trade in materials and services in the chain of housing production and through community organization and mobilization due to the Local Development Forum. Thus is an initiative more suited to the reality of substandard clusters and potential guideline / model for Public Policy Housing in these territories. In this context, the research aims to examine the relationship between the Housing Credit via Community Development Bank, housing production, technical advice for self, Territorial Development and its dialogues with the Public Policy.
Desde de 1998 vem crescendo o número de Bancos Comunitários de Desenvolvimento, atualmente existem mais de 100 atuando no território nacional, são um fenômeno recente e existem poucos estudos acumulados sobre os impactos desta iniciativa em seu território de atuação. Além de articulação e mobilização comunitária, fomento de moedas sociais, ações de cultura, meio ambiente, saúde e educação, estes bancos trabalham com serviços de crédito, na maioria das vezes com as linhas de crédito produtivos e consumo, alguns bancos ofertam o crédito habitacional para reforma, ampliação e até produção de novas habitações com assessoramento técnico a autoconstrução. O presente trabalho analisará em específico as relações da produção habitacional por meio do microcrédito habitacional do Banco Bem, de Vitória-ES, e o desenvolvimento do seu território, com a hipótese norteadora de que os Bancos Comunitários de Desenvolvimento, em particular o Banco Bem, promovem o Desenvolvimento Territorial com seus microcréditos habitacionais e assessoria técnica gratuita à autoconstrução, viabilizando melhorias habitacionais, fomentando o comércio de materiais e serviços na cadeia da produção da habitação e por meio da organização e mobilização comunitária decorrente do Fórum de Desenvolvimento Local, sendo uma iniciativa mais adequada a realidade dos aglomerados subnormais e potencial diretriz/modelo para Política Pública Habitacional nesses territórios. Neste contexto a pesquisa tem como objetivo examinar as relações existentes entre o Crédito Habitacional via Banco Comunitário de Desenvolvimento, produção de habitação, assessoria técnica para autoconstrução, Desenvolvimento Territorial e seus diálogos com as Políticas Públicas.

The relationship between a country's political decision-making and top military leadership is central, but also debated. Not least whether the military side should take political life into account and to what extent one should become a part of it. This essay aims to increase the understanding of the challenges of the military-political relationship, focusing on the borderland between peace and war that is usually described as a gray zone. Through scenario-based interviews with senior officials and politicians within the Swedish government and government office, it is investigated what impact a gray zone problem can have on the military advice provided. By combining a future scenario with interviews, an empirical material unique to the research field is created. The results show that the gray zone affects the strategic decision-making process, but not really by adding any completely new challenges, but mainly by strengthening and partly developing existing ones. The logic of peace, rather than war, on strategy should therefore form the basis for how the gray zone is viewed from a decision-making process perspective. The gray zone's character of ambiguity creates and reinforces tensions between different actors in the strategy process, which in turn risks delaying strategic decisions. The ambiguities arise mainly in three areas: the view of the strategic problem, the political consequences and the organization that will deal with the gray zone. Some of the ambiguities are amplified by the opponent, while others are more the result of internal factors. In order to reduce the negative effects of the gray zone problem, a much closer integration between the military and politics is proposed than in peacetime: policy-making must take place jointly and traditional boundaries need to be redrawn. The key is spelled relationships and these must be created and maintained in good time before the gray zone enters.
Relationen mellan ett lands politiska beslutsfattning och högsta militärledning är central, men också omdebatterad. Inte minst huruvida den militära sidan ska ta hänsyn till det politiska livet och i vilken grad man själv ska bli en del av detta. Denna uppsats syftar till att öka förståelsen för den militär-politiska relationens utmaningar, med fokus på det gränsland mellan fred och krig som brukar betecknas som en gråzon. Genom scenariobaserade intervjuer med högre tjänstemän och politiker inom Sveriges regering och regeringskansli undersöks vilken påverkan en gråzonsproblematik kan ha på de militära råd som lämnas. Genom att kombinera ett framtidsscenario med intervjuer skapas ett för forskningsfältet unikt empiriskt material. Resultatet visar att gråzonen påverkar den strategiska beslutsprocessen men egentligen inte genom att tillföra några helt nya utmaningar, utan främst genom att förstärka och till del utveckla redan existerande. Fredens, snarare än krigets, logik på strategi bör därför ligga till grund för hur gråzonen betraktas ur ett beslutsprocessperspektiv. Gråzonens karaktär av otydlighet skapar och förstärker spänningar mellan olika aktörer inom strategiprocessen, som i sin tur riskerar att försena strategiska beslut. Otydligheterna uppstår främst inom tre områden: synen på det strategiska problemet, de politiska konsekvenserna och den organisation som ska hantera gråzonen. Vissa av otydligheterna förstärks av motståndaren, medan andra mer är ett resultat av interna faktorer. För att minska gråzonsproblematikens negativa effekter föreslås en betydligt närmare integrering mellan militär och politik än i fredstid: policyskapandet måste ske gemensamt och traditionella gränser behöver dras om. Nyckeln stavas relati-oner och dessa måste skapas och underhållas i god tid innan gråzonen träder in.

A considerable amount of research has shown traditional illicit drug policies represent a critical source of inequity and ongoing health-related harms on a global scale. The harms associated with these policies have spurred several calls for “evidence-based” policy reform whereby policies that criminalize drug users be replaced with public health approaches. These calls for policy reform, and the persistence of criminal justice based approaches, have raised questions about the strategies and tools scientists, researchers, academics and/or health practitioners may mobilize to support this objective (herein referred to collectively as scientists). In this context, the primary objectives of this thesis were to: 1) synthesize what is known about conventional activities and strategies scientists use to advance evidence-based drug policies and 2) to describe and evaluate in detail the Vienna Declaration campaign, the largest scientist-led mobilization to support evidence-based illicit drug policy to date, and 3) to generate insights into strategies that may support the advancement of evidence-based illicit drug policy, especially as they related to public and political discourse. This work reveals scientist-led efforts to promote evidence-based drug policy have not traditionally made use of the Internet and related tools. Findings from an analysis of the Vienna Declaration campaign reveal that the Internet and social media are important dissemination tools that support science-based efforts to advance evidence-based drug policy. Given the deficit of research in this area and long-standing limitations to scientists’ proficiency engaging the public, media, and policymakers, the thesis concludes additional research is needed to better understand the tools and strategies available to scientists working in this area. It speculates that such a research agenda may also serve as a culturally appropriate way of engaging scientists and influencing their future knowledge translation efforts.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Graduate

Preliminary investigation at the beginning of this research showed that informatics on point-of-care (POC) devices was limited to basic data generation and processing. This thesis is based on publications of several studies during the course of the research. The aim of the research is to model and analyse information generation and exchange in telehealth systems and to identify and analyse the capabilities of these systems in managing chronic diseases which utilise point-of-care devices. The objectives to meet the aim are as follows: (i) to review the state-of-the-art in informatics and decision support on point-of-care devices. (ii) to assess the current level of servitization of POC devices used within the home environment. (iii) to identify current models of information generation and exchange for POC devices using a telehealth perspective. (iv) to identify the capabilities of telehealth systems. (v) to evaluate key components of telehealth systems (i.e. POC devices and intermediate devices). (vi) to analyse the capabilities of telehealth systems as enablers to a healthcare policy. The literature review showed that data transfer from devices is an important part of generating information. The implication of this is that future designs of devices should have efficient ways of transferring data to minimise the errors that may be introduced through manual data entry/transfer. The full impact of a servitized model for point-of-care devices is possible within a telehealth system, since capabilities of interpreting data for the patient will be offered as a service (c.f. NHS Direct). This research helped to deduce components of telehealth systems which are important in supporting informatics and decision making for actors of the system. These included actors and devices. Telehealth systems also help facilitate the exchange of data to help decision making to be faster for all actors concerned. This research has shown that a large number of capability categories existed for the patients and health professionals. There were no capabilities related to the caregiver that had a direct impact on the patient and health professional. This was not surprising since the numbers of caregivers in current telehealth systems was low. Two types of intermediate devices were identified in telehealth systems: generic and proprietary. Patients and caregivers used both types, while health professionals only used generic devices. However, there was a higher incidence of proprietary devices used by patients. Proprietary devices possess features to support patients better thus promoting their independence in managing their chronic condition. This research developed a six-step methodology for working from government objectives to appropriate telehealth capability categories. This helped to determine objectives for which a telehealth system is suitable.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Defense Decision-Making and Planning)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004.
Thesis advisor(s): David S. Yost. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-64). Also available online.

This thesis focuses on Margaret Thatcher's involvement in policy making in Northern Ireland in the period building up to the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) of November 1985. The findings in this research are surprising: that Thatcher's involvement in Northern Ireland, though intermittent, was much greater than has previously been appreciated, and without this involvement there could have been no AIA. Although we already know a lot from the scholarly research on Thatcher and Northern Ireland, the literatures are somewhat disconnected resulting in a distinct gap in the literature of studies looking at Thatcher's role in Northern Ireland matters. The rolling programme of archival releases under the 30-year rule provides an opportunity to reassess, and revise, what we know already about Thatcher and Northern Ireland in light of the new empirical evidence. This thesis unveils new information which transforms our view of Thatcher and provides new answers to existing questions on Northern Ireland. It fills in the gaps from during this period by focusing on the roles of the Prime Minister and Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland in greater depth than ever before. It will make a significant contribution to our knowledge by bringing new insights into Thatcher's relationship with the Irish Taoiseach, and her determination to do something about Northern Ireland, as well as her relationship with the Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland and key advisors such as the Cabinet Secretary Robert Armstrong. The primary research question that this thesis answers is 'To what extent was Margaret Thatcher involved in policy making in Northern Ireland, specifically from 1979 until 1985, and what was the impact of this?' In order to answer this question, two sub-research questions will also be addressed along the way. The first sub-research question relates to Thatcher as Prime Minister and her style of leadership. For the first time we have key respondent interviews with the full archival record to deepen and enrichen our understanding of the role of the key actors. This will help us to understand what sort of a leader Thatcher was - autocratic and ideological or pragmatic. The second sub-research question relates to Thatcher as Prime Minister and ministerial relations. To understand Thatcher we have to look at her Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland. We can learn about her leadership in Northern Ireland through these relationships, allowing an emerging picture of Thatcher to build up over subsequent chapters in this thesis. In order to be able to answer these questions, this thesis combines rigorous archival research, using newly released government archives under the thirty year rule, and an extensive programme of elite interviews with insights drawn from a political science literature on the core executive. This allowed me to construct a robust historical narrative informed by inter-disciplinary insights, bringing the Thatcher and Northern Ireland literature together in a way which has not been done before.

Thesis (M.A.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2006.
"A dissertation undertaken in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the M.A. in Public Policy and Management, City University of Hong Kong." Title from title screen (viewed on Oct. 26, 2006) Includes bibliographical references.

Catastrophic disaster represents a vital issue in emergency management for many countries in the European Union (EU) and around the world. Given the damage to human lives that different hazards represent, evacuation operations can be the only option available to emergency managers to mitigate the loss of life from catastrophic disaster. However, due to the amount of time needed to effectively evacuate a large area, the decision to evacuate must occur when there is a relatively low probability of the event. An explicit understanding of the evacuation decision can lead to better organisational preparedness in advance of catastrophic disaster events. This research represents work performed with 159 emergency experts and professionals across ten countries. The goal of this research was to create decision-making aids for evacuations in advance of a variety of catastrophic disaster scenarios. Traditional Decision Theory (DT) provides a rational approach to decision-making that emphasizes the optimization of subjective preferences combined with uncertainty. Within evacuation decision-making, DT and its respective outputs are appealing; however the analytical process can be difficult due to the lack of observed data to support quantitative assessments from catastrophic events and relative infrequency of evacuation operations. This research explored the traditional use of DT applied to catastrophic evacuation scenarios. Theoretical contributions to DT and emergency management include: 1) identification of evacuation decision criteria, 2) inter-model analysis between decision structures called Influence Diagrams (IDs), 3) complete application of quantitative decision analysis to support evacuation decision-making and 4) multi-criteria analysis for evacuation vulnerability using spatial data. Important contributions from this work include:1) An analysis of evacuation criteria for a variety of catastrophic disaster scenarios2) Inter-model analysis of evacuation scenarios (flooding, nuclear dispersion and terrorist attack) to identify common probabilistic structures to support multi-hazard strategy planning3) Quantitative decision models to support evacuation strategies, identify key uncertainties and policy analysis 4) Process to use spatial data to support multi-criteria evacuation vulnerability analysis 5) Organisational self-assessment for evacuation decision-making and spatial data use based on findings across all participating countries.

The Republic of Botswana was formerly the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland and subsequently adopted its present name upon independence in 1966. The country has had four decades of uninterrupted civilian leadership, progressive social policies, and significant capital investment creating one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Mineral extraction, principally diamond mining, dominates economic activity, though the tourism sector is growing in leaps and bounds possibly due to the country's conservation practices and extensive nature preserves. By the end of 2003, Botswana had the world's highest known rate of HIV/AIDS infection but also one of Africa's most progressive and comprehensive programs for dealing with the disease.

”Nu är goda råd dyra”, heter det sedan gammalt i en svensk krissituation. I denna licentiatavhandling, vars rubrik kopplar till talesättet, behandlas svensk energirådgivnings utveckling och framtid. Forskning visar att i ett alltmer digitaliserat samhälle behöver energirådgivningen utvecklas för att bättre nå målgrupperna - hushåll, småföretag och organisationer. Digitala tjänster ger många möjligheter, men den viktiga personliga kontakten med energirådgivaren går inte att ersätta fullt ut. Med hjälp av fokusgrupper, intervjuer och samtal med energirådgivare, villaägare och enskilda experter har kunnat konstateras att den personligt genomförda rådgivningstjänsten är efterfrågad, angelägen och framgångsrik när byte av värmesystem, större ombyggnationer eller nybyggnationer är aktuellt. Att pröva idéer och lösningar, helst i hemmamiljön inför en ombyggnad, är uppskattad rådgivning. I samtalet, där inte enbart tekniska detaljer och lönsamhet diskuteras, kan alla i hushållet engageras. Energirådgivningen kan bli mer framgångsrik, men då krävs ett större kommunalt engagemang och en tydligare samverkan med andra statliga styrmedel. Hållbara råd kan alla få i Sverige idag och de goda råden är gratis! Med hjälp av dessa kan kanske kriser undvikas…
Att använda energin effektivare än vad som görs idag inom både industri, transporter och byggnader är en väg till ett mer hållbart samhälle. Den rika delen av världen har här ett speciellt ansvar. I Sverige har den kommunala energirådgivningen under närmare fyrtio år varit ett av statens styrmedel för att på olika sätt bistå lokala beslutsfattare att effektivisera energianvändningen, men också öka andelen förnybar energi i systemet. Denna licentiatavhandling har studerat energirådgivningen under tidsperioden, men också dokumenterat och analyserat rådgivningen ur ett samhällsperspektiv. Forskning visar att i ett alltmer digitaliserat samhälle behöver energirådgivningen utvecklas för att bättre nå målgrupperna - hushåll, småföretag och organisationer. Internet är idag den vanligaste sökvägen för de som önskar information kring energirelaterade frågor. Digitala tjänster ger många möjligheter, men den viktiga personliga kontakten med energirådgivare går inte att ersätta fullt ut. I studien har fokusgrupper, intervjuer och samtal med energirådgivare, villaägare och enskilda experter genomförts och analyserats. Resultat visar att den personligt genomförda rådgivningstjänsten är efterfrågad, angelägen och framgångsrik när byte av värmesystem, större ombyggnationer eller nybyggnationer är aktuellt. Studien visar också att personliga samtal med energirådgivare är värdefullt för att pröva idéer och lösningar som är hämtade från internet samt att hemmet är den lämpligaste platsen för framgångsrik rådgivning. I denna situation är rådgivarens sociala kompetens central. Kvinnors synpunkter och erfarenheter har ofta gått förlorade. Vidare har ett för stort fokus lagts på tekniska detaljer och lönsamhet, medan många beslut tas av miljöskäl eller sociala orsaker som upplevd ökad komfort. Energirådgivningen kan bli mer framgångsrik, men då krävs ett större kommunalt engagemang och en tydligare samverkan med andra statliga styrmedel.
Improving the efficiency of energy use across all the sectors – industrial, transport and households – is one of the many necessary approaches to be adopted to ensure sustainable development. The countries of the developing world have to play a key role in such a transition. In Sweden, for close to half a century now, the municipal energy-advising function has been a governmental instrument to support decision-makers in bringing about systemic changes to improve energy efficiency on the one hand and the share of renewable energy in the mix, on the other.  This licentiate thesis has its focus on this function over the said time-period. It has also documented and analysed the energy-advising function from a social perspective. The research shows that in an increasingly-digitalised society, energy-advising must be developed further to be able to reach and impact different categories of energy users – households, small and medium scale enterprises and organisations – more effectively. The Internet happens to be the first resort of most people seeking information on energy-related issues, these days. Digital services do offer a range of possibilities but cannot substitute for the much-needed personal contact, which is provided by the energy-advising function. In this thesis, focus groups, interviews and conversations with energy advisers, homeowners and experts have been availed of, and subsequently analysed. The results also show that personal energy advice is actually popular, indispensable and effective, where replacement of interior heating systems, refurbishment or new building constructions are concerned. This research also shows that interactions with energy advisers are useful to test and verify the suitability of ideas and solutions obtained from the Internet. Besides, the home in which these solutions may eventually be tried out, is the perfect place for having such conversations. In this context, the social skills of the energy adviser assume paramount importance. It has been noticed that the viewpoints and experiences of women in households have often been ignored.  Further, the focus on finding solutions has sometimes been narrowed down to the technical and economic aspects, while at other times, decisions have been based on environmental or social factors like maintenance of comfort levels. In order to make the energy advising function more effective and avail of what it has to offer for the journey towards greater sustainability, it needs to be given the importance it deserves by the municipalities and there is also a need of stronger interplay among the other governmental instruments.
Bo och leva energieffektivt. Kommunal energirådgivning som medspelare i människors vardag

Ce travail est une étude du processus de production de connaissances réalisée avec le Programme international pour le suivi des acquis des élèves (PISA) tel que l'effectue la Direction de l'Éducation de l'OCDE. On trouve, au centre de ce travail, les mécanismes et stratégies de l'objectivation de l'enquête PISA et de la légitimation de l'OCDE dans le rôle de coordinateur et producteur de connaissances mais aussi, les pratiques et stratégies de traitement, analyse, interprétation et communication des données de la Direction de l'Éducation. Acteur autonome, la Direction de l'Éducation de l'OCDE qui dirige, interprète et diffuse les résultats PISA de manière spécifique n'a guerre fait l'objet de recherches scientifiques. Cependant, de par sa portée globale, le taux élevé de produits PISA et leur usage répandu dans les sciences, la politique et les médias, l'OCDE est un acteur important qui influence l'interprétation et l'usage des données et des résultats PISA. Par l'examen de l'action et de l'argumentation de la Direction de l'Éducation avec PISA, ce travail veut contribuer à expliquer l'influence globale de l'OCDE sur les politiques en éducation internationales. Ce travail se fonde sur une approche ethnographique. Il se base sur les connaissances et expériences que la chercheuse a obtenu par une participation observante dans la Direction de l'Éducation de l'OCDE ainsi que sur les connaissances obtenues avec des entretiens d'experts du personnel de la Direction de l'Éducation. En outre, avec l'analyse de documents des publications PISA, les spécificités du processus de production de connaissances de l'OCDE sont étudiées. Les résultats de ce travail montrent une production de connaissances croissante, à partir des données PISA, au Secrétariat de l'OCDE entre 2001 et 2014, qui s'accompagne d'un nombre croissant de publications et de matériaux, des nouvelles formes d'analyse de données ainsi qu'une communication des résultats en direction d'un public croissant, afin d'augmenter l'influence politique, pratique et sociale de l'enquête et de ses résultats. L'exigence de la Direction de l'Éducation d'augmenter son attractivité auprès des politiques, des pratiques éducatives et de la société au sens large, est en partie en contradiction avec l'exigence d'une rigueur scientifique des résultats et conclusions de l'enquête PISA. En resumé, les résultats de ce travail plaident pour une politisation croissante de la production des connaissances avec PISA dans la Direction de l'Éducation depuis la première publication des résultats en 2001
This study examines the process of knowledge production through the OECD Directorate for Education's Programme of International Student Assessment. The focus is on the mechanisms and strategies of objectivisation of the study and legitimatisation of the OECD as co-ordinator and knowledge producer with PISA, as well as the practices and strategies of data treatment, analysis, interpretation and communication in the OECD Directorate for Education. The OECD Directorate for Education, as an independent actor with a specific thematic orientation, interpretation and diffusion of PISA results has hardly been the focus of scholarly research. Yet, due to its global outreach, its high output rate of PISA products and the widespread use of its products in science, politics and media, the OECD is an important actor in shaping the interpretation and use of PISA data and results. By studying the acting and reasoning of the OECD Directorate for Education with PISA, this study intends to make a contribution to the understanding of the global influence of the OECD in international education policies. This study uses an ethnographic approach. It draws on knowledge and experiences which the researcher has gained through “observing participation” (Soulé, 2007) in the OECD Directorate for Education as well as on knowledge obtained from expert interviews with OECD staff members. Features of the knowledge production of the OECD were also studied by doing document analysis of PISA publications. The findings of this study show an increasing knowledge production with PISA data in the OECD Secretariat between 2001 and 2014, visible in the growing number of publications and materials, but also in new forms of data analysis as well as in public oriented data communication with the aim of raising the relevance of the study and its results in politics, educational practice and society. The pretension of the OECD Directorate for Education to achieve the highest possible attention from society, media and politics is partly in contradiction with the claim for scientific rigour of the results and inferences. Overall, the findings of this thesis suggest a growing politicisation of the knowledge production with PISA in the OECD's Directorate for Education since the publication of first PISA results in 2001
Die Forschungsarbeit untersucht den Prozess der Erkenntnisproduktion mit dem Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), der sich innerhalb des OECD-Bildungsdirektorat vollzieht. Im Zentrum stehen Mechanismen und Strategien zur Objektivierung der Studie und zur Legitimierung der OECD als Koordinator von und Wissensproduzent mit PISA, sowie Praktiken und Strategien der Datenaufbereitung, -analyse, -interpretation und -kommunikation im OECD-Bildungsdirektorat. Das OECD-Bildungsdirektorat als eigenständig handelnder Akteur mit einer spezifischen inhaltlichen Ausrichtung, Interpretation und Verbreitung von PISA-Ergebnissen stand bisher kaum im Fokus der Forschung. Dabei ist die OECD aufgrund ihrer globalen Reichweite, ihrer hohen Output Rate an PISA Produkten und der weit verbreiteten Nutzung ihrer Produkte in Wissenschaft, Politik und Medien ein bedeutender Akteur, der die Öffentlichkeit hinsichtlich der Deutung und Nutzung von PISA-Daten und Erkenntnissen prägt. Durch die Untersuchung des Handelns und Räsonierens des OECD-Bildungsdirektorat mit PISA möchte diese Arbeit einen Beitrag dazu leisten, den weltweiten Einfluss der OECD auf die internationale Bildungspolitik zu erklären. Der Arbeit liegt ein ethnographischer Ansatz zu Grunde. Sie stützt sich auf Kenntnisse und Erfahrungen, die von der Forscherin im Rahmen einer beobachtenden Teilnahme im OECD-Bildungsdirektorat erworben wurden sowie auf Wissen, das mittels Experteninterviews mit Angestellten des OECD-Bildungsdirektorats gewonnen wurde. Zudem wurden mittels Dokumentenanalyse anhand von PISA-Publikationen Besonderheiten in der Erkenntnisproduktion der OECD untersucht. Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen eine wachsende Erkenntnisproduktion mit PISA-Daten im OECD Sekretariat im Zeitraum von 2001 bis 2014, sichtbar in einer zunehmenden Anzahl an Publikationen und Materialien, neuer Arten von Datenanalyse sowie einer zunehmend öffentlichkeitswirksamen Datenkommunikation um den politischen, bildungspraktischen und gesellschaftlichen Einfluss der Studie und ihrer Ergebnisse auszubauen. Der Anspruch des OECD-Bildungsdirektorats mit PISA möglichst hohe gesellschaftliche, mediale und politische Aufmerksamkeit auf sich zu ziehen steht zum Teil im Widerspruch mit dem Anspruch an die wissenschaftliche Güte der Ergebnisse und ihren Schlussfolgerungen. Insgesamt sprechen die Ergebnisse für eine zunehmende Politisierung der Erkenntnisproduktion mit PISA im OECD-Bildungsdirektorat seit Veröffentlichung der ersten Ergebnisse im Jahr 2001

The unprecedented growth of the aging population in Tennessee is a significant demographic trend that highlights the necessity for healthcare policy that tackles end-of-life issues. This study examined the perceived quality of end-of-life healthcare in Tennessee, areas that are in need of improvement, policies that have the potential to influence improvements, and the role of politics in end-of-life healthcare policy. It also assessed the support for end-of-life healthcare policy that would advance quality of care and expand end-of-life choices for Tennesseans, while evaluating the policy-making process that legislators employ. For this study, data were collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with an open interview guide. These interviews were conducted in a two-tiered format. Tier 1 included ten leading experts in various areas of end-of-life healthcare and aging in Tennessee. Tier 2 included nine legislators who were members of the health committees of either the Tennessee House of Representatives or the Tennessee Senate. Qualitative data were organized into numerous categories, and an initial phase of open coding was completed. From this phase of coding, emergent themes and focuses were discovered. This was followed by focused coding on all nineteen interviews using coding software to organize subtleties. Findings of the Tier 1 interviews indicated that there are many areas of end-of-life healthcare that need improvement including increased funding, expanded caregiver support, improved doctor-patient communication, and increased use of advance directives. Emergent themes included the influence of money, having difficult conversations, the stigma of death and dying, and supporting the caregiver. Tier 2 findings highlighted the motivations behind voting decisions and the level of awareness legislators have in areas of end-of-life healthcare policy. Both tiers also explored the support and opposition of physician-assisted death. The findings of this dissertation are intended to inform health professionals and state legislators. The data gathered through this exploratory research and the knowledge gained will lead to a greater understanding of end-of-life healthcare in Tennessee, and what needs to be done to improve its quality. This will allow individuals and families faced with end-of-life decisions to navigate the process with expanded options, access, and support.

Hospital admissions for patients close to the end of life are considered ‘inappropriate’ in contemporary English health policy. Hospitals are supposedly unable to offer a ‘good’ death for patients, and dying there is thought to contradict patient choice, since patients are assumed to want to die at home. However, almost half of all deaths in England in 2015 occurred in hospital, and of these, nearly a third died within three days of admission. This thesis seeks to explore why these admissions are considered to be a problem and how they occur. Through a systematic review of UK literature I found that it cannot be stated that most patients want to die at home, because of the extent of missing data (preferences not asked, expressed, reported or absent). This finding challenges the justification that admissions are inappropriate because they contravene patient choice. Similarly inconclusive evidence about the undesirability, cost, and lack of need for patients to be in hospital were also found in a review of policy. Together with analysis of historical trends in hospital and hospice provision, it is apparent that attitudes towards end-of-life admissions reflect existing tensions about the role of hospital as an acute provider, and as a place of death. An analysis of interviews conducted with healthcare staff and next-of-kin involved in the admission of patients (case-patients) who died shortly after being admitted to Meadowbridge, a large English hospital explored these tensions further. I found that whilst hospital was not recognised as a place where ‘good’ deaths typically occurred, it was acknowledged as an emergency place of care. In this context, patients without obvious need for hospital care were nevertheless admitted to the hospital and the environment was subsequently recognised to offer distinct benefits. The need for emergency care reflected the difficulties of providing end-of-life care in the community. For dying to occur appropriately, home had to be adapted and care organised by healthcare staff. Both tasks were complicated by the unpredictability of dying, and family carers helped to absorb much of the uncertainty and support patients to die at home. Ambulance staff became involved when patients had care needs that exceeded care quickly and easily available in the community. When called to the case-patients, ambulance staff instituted familiar practices in transferring them to hospital. Hospital was recognised as a default place of care because ambulance staff struggled to facilitate alternative care and lacked sufficient professional authority to keep patients at home. The admissions of the case-patients represent the best attempts of staff to navigate the tangled practices of end-of-life care. These practices are the result of the actions of the staff, which in turn both constrained and enabled their action in providing care to patients. The term ‘inappropriate’ to describe admissions does not encompass these attempts, and moreover, devalued the significant care provided by healthcare staff in the community and hospital.

Cette thèse traite des interactions entre les sphères financière et réelle de l'économie. Elle se compose de quatre chapitres. Dans les deux premiers chapitres, nous étudions l'existence et les fluctuations d'une bulle spéculative rationnelle, comme source de la volatilité des prix d'actifs, en prenant en compte les imperfections financières dans la modélisation des choix des ménages. L'existence d'un choix de portefeuille et de frictions financières favorisent l'émergence des fluctuations d'une bulle et des cycles économiques endogènes. Dans un tel contexte, nous analysons le rôle stabilisateur des politiques fiscales et/ou monétaires. Dans le chapitre 1, nous montrons qu'une politique monétaire répondant aux prix des actifs permet de stabiliser l'économie dans son ensemble. Dans le chapitre 2, nous comparons les vertus stabilisatrices d'un impôt progressif sur le revenu de capital à celles d'une politique monétaire régie par une règle de Taylor. Nous montrons qu'un impôt progressif sur le capital permet de stabiliser l'économie en réduisant la probabilité d'apparition des fluctuations endogènes, alors qu'une règle de Taylor a des vertus stabilisatrices mitigées. Nous étudions, dans le chapitre 3, l'existence de bulles rationnelles dans une économie ouverte à deux pays et la transmission internationale de leur éclatement. L'éclatement de la bulle dans un pays se transmet nécessairement à l'autre pays. L'effet de l'éclatement peut être positif ou négatif sur l'autre pays. Dans le chapitre 4, nous analysons le rôle de l'hétérogénéité sur la dynamique des prix d'actifs et les inégalités lorsque les agents ont des préférences pour la richesse
This thesis deals with the interplay between the financial and real sectors of the economy. This thesis consists of four chapters. In the first two chapters, we study the existence and endogenous fluctuations of rational speculative bubbles, as a source of volatility in asset prices, taking into account the financial imperfections at the household level. We argue that the existence of a portfolio choice and financial frictions promote the emergence of bubble fluctuations and endogenous business cycles. In this context, we analyze the stabilizing role of fiscal and/or monetary policies. In Chapter 1, we show that a monetary policy responding to asset prices can stabilize the economy as a whole. In Chapter 2, we compare the stabilizing virtues of a progressive taxation on capital income with those of a monetary policy managed by a Taylor rule. We show that a progressive taxation on capital may rule out endogenous fluctuations, whereas a monetary policy under a Taylor rule has a mitigated stabilizing role. In Chapter 3, we study, the existence of rational bubbles in a two-country economy, and the international transmission of their bursting. A bubble bursting in a country necessarily transmits to the othercountry. The effect of a bubble crash in one country onthe bubble issued by the other country can be positive or negative. In Chapter 4, we analyze the role of heterogeneity on the dynamics of asset prices and inequalities when economic agents have preferences for wealth. Heterogeneity in preferences, but also in income, can heighten social inequalities and increase the asset price in the long run, but also promote asset price volatility in the short run

Cette thèse construit un modèle théorique qui renouvelle l’approche traditionnelle de l’équilibre du marché. En introduisant dans le paradigme néo-classique le principe de préférence pour la quantité, il génère de façon optimale des stocks dans un marché concurrentiel. Les résultats sont très importants, car ils expliquent à la fois l’émergence des invendus et l’existence de cycles économiques. En outre, il étudie le comportement optimal du monopole dont la puissance de marché dépend non seulement de la quantité de biens étalés, mais aussi de celle de biens achetés. Contrairement à l’hypothèse traditionnelle selon laquelle le monopoleur choisit le prix ou la quantité qui maximise son profit, il attire, via un indice de Lerner généralisé la demande à la fois par le prix et la quantité de biens exposés. Quelle que soit la structure du marché, le phénomène d’accumulation des stocks de biens apparaît dans l’économie. De plus, il a l’avantage d’expliquer explicitement les achats impulsifs non encore traités par la théorie économique. Pour vérifier la robustesse des résultats du modèle théorique, ils sont testés sur des données américaines. En raison de leur non-linéarité, la méthode de Gauss-Newton est appropriée pour analyser l’impact de la préférence pour la quantité sur la production et l’accumulation de biens, et par conséquent sur les prévisions de PIB. Enfin, cette thèse construit un modèle à générations imbriquées à deux pays qui étend l’équilibre dynamique à un gamma-équilibre dynamique sans friction. Sur la base de la contrainte de détention préalable d’encaisse, il ressort les conditions de sur-accumulation du capital et les conséquences de la mobilité du capital sur le bien-être dans un contexte d’accumulation du stock d’invendus
This thesis constructs a theoretical model that renews the traditional approach of the market equilibrium. By introducing into the neoclassical paradigm the principle of preference for quantity, it optimally generates inventories within a competitive market. The results are very important since they explain both the emergence of unsold goods and the existence of economic cycles. In addition, it studies the optimal behavior of a monopolist whose the market power depends not only on the quantity of displayed goods but also that of goods that the main consumer is willing to buy. Contrary to the traditional assumption that the monopolist chooses price or quantity that maximizes its profit, through a generalized Lerner index (GLI) it attracts customers’ demand by both the price and the quantity of displayed goods. Whatever the market structure, the phenomenon of inventory accumulation appears in the economy. Furthermore, it has the advantage of explicitly explaining impulse purchases untreated by economics. To check the robustness of the results,the theoretical model is fitted to U.S. data. Due to its nonlinearity, the Gauss-Newtonmethod is appropriate to highlight the impact of consumers’ preference for quantity on production and accumulation of goods and consequently GDP forecast. Finally, this thesis builds a two-country overlapping generations (OLG) model which extends the dynamic OLG equilibrium to a frictionless dynamic OLG gamma-equilibrium. Based on the cash-inadvance constraint, it highlights the conditions of over-accumulation of capital and welfare implications of capital mobility in a context of accumulation of stock of unsold goods

碩士
國立臺北大學
資源管理研究所碩士在職專班
92
ABSTRACT The role of expert advice research in Taiwan’s nuclear policy risk perception by Chen,Ding-Hai July 2004 ADVISOR(S)：Dr. Chang, Ssu-Li DEPARTMENT: INSTITUTE OF NATURL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MAJOR: NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DEGREE: MASTER OF MANAGEMENT The goal of this research is to discuss the decision-making of nuclear policy process.the government, expert''s in the risk perception foundation, to it in the policy role localization. According to the correlation domain literature review, we discovered the government in the making energy policy process, stresses from the expert''s viewpoint, to the public of acceptance as the intention transformation, the decision-making lacked of the rational discussion with public''s participation, to research the correlation subject also put much emphasis on the risk analysis and the risk assessment. Investigated its reason still to lie in the policy which Taiwan passed mainly in the pursue of economy development, in many policies processes less concerned about the environment and external factor, but economy fast growth in recent years also met the global climate change, caused everybody to think highly of the environmental protection. The recent years democracy development has promoted people''s knows power. The formation of policy in the past, was considered one kind of arbitrary decision-making, therefore often faced "the environment risk" the challenge, has created in many administration conflicts, phase-out " To construct the fourth nuclear power plant " is the typical example. The economy condition of Taiwan seriously depen as on the foreign trade, the stable energy supply is the basic condition to maintain this economic capacity. It counld avoid the government crosses in the energy policy decision-making, because the different perception creates the statement of the economy competitive ability draining, therefore this research draws up the different perception which possibly produces to each different expert''s energy risk to analyze, seeks each kind of different standpoint of the expert or the association and so on. To compromise the way to the risk perception disparity, simultaneously inspect the correlation theory and the real diagnosis examination passes through, be able to supply the plan and management of the strategy of the domestic electric power public utilities correlation facility, difference of based on the risk perception, the resistance and the conflict event which causes,, slows down the conflict of the communication and the management suggestion, achieves the energy policy to be optimal. Keywords: risk perception, risk communication, environmental risk perception, nuclear policy, qualitative heuristic.

Of the many components of reform to Australian government administration in the 1980s, the introduction of systematic program evaluation is perhaps one of the least examined. This thesis seeks to assess the Federal Labor Government's evaluation strategy as an instrument for enhancing what are here termed the policy management capacities of central agencies. It proceeds in two steps. First, the thesis traces in detail the development of program evaluation policy in Australian federal government from the effectiveness reviews of the Coombs Report of 1976 to the current evaluation strategy, and argues that, despite competing purposes for it, evaluation was intended primarily to serve decision making in central government. This policy aim was cemented by the economic crisis of the mid 1980s and framed around budgetary issues by its steward, the Department of Finance. Second, in order to assess the impact of the evaluation strategy, the thesis develops a framework for analysing program evaluation as one instrument for strengthening the core policy management functions of central agencies. In this context, policy management is essentially a coordination task. The contribution of evaluation to two aspects of policy management-resource coordination, and policy development and coordination-is examined. The findings confirm that attempts to formalise evaluation processes have had a variable impact- central budgetary processes remain dependent on relatively informal assessment procedures, although recent attempts to enhance policy coordination through the evaluation of policy advising processes have proved potentially to be more influential. In conclusion, the thesis argues that the evaluation strategy represented a credible attempt to better inform policy making in central government, but suffered for want of clear policy design and firm execution that resulted in only a marginal impact on these processes.

UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE FAKULTA SOCIÁLNÍCH VĚD Institut sociologických studií, katedra veřejné a sociální politiky Bc. Richard Kokeš Policy-making in Czech Republic: case of higher education law novelization Abstract Praha 2014 Abstract The work Policy-making in Czech Republic: the case of higher education law novelization has its main aim in explaining final form of higher education norm novelization which was created in the period Petr Fiala was a minister of education, youth and sports in government of Petr Nečas (2012 - 2013). To answer research question this work chooses constructivist approach and qualitative methodology. The basic research unit is policy network, which consisted from creators of novelization. Those actors composed working group whose activities took almost half a year. Using theoretical approach of understanding policy-making through concept of "policy work", this work explains final form of novelization through working activities which concrete actors did in monitored period. The main understandings this paper presents are substantive causes of final form of novelization like mid to long term concrete personal involvement in policy making in higher education, engagement of concrete actors for work in working group, setting of information exchange system between engaged actors and...

U źródeł podjętych w rozprawie rozważań leży przekonanie, że relacje wiedzy i polityki to problem istotny – zarówno z teoretycznego, jak i praktycznego punktu widzenia. W szczególny sposób zwracają uwagę interesujące i wciąż niezagospodarowane poznawczo procesy zachodzące niejako na styku wspomnianych domen, w przestrzeni ekspertyzy politycznej. Rosnąca złożoność materii, do której odnoszą się decyzje polityczne sprawia, że autorytet eksperta staje się coraz bardziej nieodzownym źródłem legitymacji. Nasilony popyt na sprawdzone informacje prowadzi jednak do jednoczesnego osłabienia (niejako „odczarowania”) pozycji eksperta. Jak przekonuje P. Weingart (2001), polityka się „ekspertyzuje”, ale i ekspertyza „upolitycznia”. Równolegle zachodzi także jej uspołecznienie, a polityczni zleceniodawcy przestają stanowić dominujące audytorium. Wszystko to sprawia, że możemy mówić o potrójnym otwarciu: zmieniają się „dostawcy” ekspertyzy, zmieniają się jej odbiorcy, zmieniają się wreszcie treści. Celem rozprawy jest ustalenie, co mieści się we współczesnym zakresie pojęcia ekspertyzy politycznej i jakie procesy nadają jego znaczeniu obecny kształt. Wypełniając lukę w literaturze przedmiotu, rozprawa łączy analizę na poziomie teoretycznym i pojęciowym (w Części „Wiedza a polityka. Nowy kontekst i modele relacji”) z podejściem empirycznym, odnoszącym się do symptomatycznego wycinka eksperckiej rzeczywistości, jaką są ośrodki analityczne (w Części „Think tanki: mikrokosmos ekspertyzy”). Jej fundamentem teoretycznym są teoria pól P. Bourdieu, koncepcja przestrzeni między polami G. Eyala i G. Pok oraz teoria wyznaczania granic T. F. Gieryna. Zastosowane w rozprawie metody badawcze obejmują zaś jakościową analizę prezentowanych w Internecie misji polskich think tanków, przeprowadzoną wśród nich ankietę oraz częściowo ustrukturyzowane wywiady z kierownictwem wybranych ośrodków eksperckich. Rozprawa omawia relacje wiedzy i polityki, osadzając je w kontekście coraz bardziej krytycznego spojrzenia na autorytatywność naukowych sądów oraz klimatu „pluralizmu wiedzotwórczego” (przywołując m.in. koncepcje tzw. mode 2 czy trzech fal ekspertyzy). Systematyzuje problematykę doradztwa politycznego, odwołując się do koncepcji, klasyfikacji i analiz, jakie odnaleźć można w literaturze przedmiotu (w tym modeli J. Habermasa oraz R.Hoppego). W rozważaniach poświęconych konceptualizacji ekspertyzy politycznej przedstawia różne warstwy znaczeniowe tego pojęcia, analizuje problematykę zakresu ekspertyzy oraz przywołuje liczne typologie ekspertów, zwracając uwagę na niejednoznaczność eksperckiej roli naukowców. Ekspertyza polityczna zostaje także przeanalizowana przez pryzmat węzłowych problemów (nie)równości, władzy, (nie)prawdy i (nie)zaangażowania oraz (nie)odpowiedzialności. Część druga wychodzi od usystematyzowania głównych dyskusji teoretycznych poświęconych think tankom, w dalszej kolejności podejmuje zaś próbę opisu instytucji eksperckich w oparciu o dane pochodzące z badania przeprowadzonego na potrzeby niniejszej pracy, uwzględniając zarówno wskaźniki w rodzaju liczebności, statusu prawnego czy kondycji finansowej i kadrowej polskich think tanków, jak i znaczenie, jakie nadają swojej aktywności sami eksperci. Rozprawa prezentuje argumenty przemawiające za tym, że: 1) W zakresie znaczeniowym ekspertyzy politycznej mieszczą się współcześnie tradycyjne wzorce powiązanej z ideałami nauki neutralności, ale i nowe wzorce ideowego zaangażowania z pozycji eksperckich. 2) Ekspertyza polityczna staje się coraz bardziej pluralistyczna (co wynika ze zmian warunkowanych współczesnym kontekstem percepcji i wytwarzania wiedzy, a przejawia się w zróżnicowaniu jej odmian), wielowymiarowa (tj. wykracza poza pomocnicze funkcje w procesie decyzyjnym) i sprofesjonalizowana (tj. zaczyna stanowić zasadniczą rolę społeczną). 3) Konstytutywną cechą ekspertyzy politycznej jest swoiste napięcie związane z jej pozycją na przecięciu różnych domen życia publicznego. Bazując na wybranym fundamencie koncepcyjnym, proponuje, by uznać, że: ekspertyza polityczna stanowi przestrzeń między polami nauki oraz polityki (cechuje ją bowiem przepuszczalność, znikomy stopień regulacji i instytucjonalizacji oraz strategiczna niejednoznaczność). Jej granice podlegają dynamicznemu definiowaniu, w toku którego mechanizmy demarkacyjne współwystępują z koordynacyjnymi. Wiele przemawia za tym, że ekspertyza polityczna stopniowo (głównie w konsekwencji rosnącego zapotrzebowania na wiedzę ekspercką, w szczególności zaś na „wiedzę zaangażowaną”, jakie zgłaszają politycy, ale również media, biznes i obywatele) przekształci się w odrębne pole, którego cechą konstytutywną pozostanie jednak znaczna heteronomiczność.
The dissertation takes its origin from a conviction that knowledge-politics relations constitute a fundamental research problem – both from a theoretical and practical perspective. Special attention should be given to interesting, yet under-researched, processes occurring at the interface of these domains, in the space of political expertise. The increasing complexity in the matter of political decisions turns expert authority into an indispensable source of legitimacy. But - perhaps surprisingly - the growing demand for reliable information leads to the simultaneous strengthening and weakening ("disenchantment") of experts’ stance. According to P. Weingart (2001), this creates a parallel between the processes of expertization in politics, and the politization of expertise. One can talk about a triple opening: the providers of expertise are changing, as are its recipients, as well as its very substance. The purpose of the dissertation is to determine the modern notion of political expertise and the processes that constitute its present shape. Bridging the gap in the literature, the thesis combines analyses at a theoretical and conceptual level (in the part entitled "Knowledge and Politics. New context and models of relations") with an empirical approach, referring to a symptomatic aspect of expert reality; namely, the think tanks (in the part entitled "Think tanks: a microcosm of expertise"). Theoretical framework of the dissertation is based on P. Bourdieu's field theory, G. Eyal’s and G. Pok’s concept of a space between the fields, and T.F. Gieryn’s concept of boundary work. Research methods include: the qualitative analysis of mission statements of Polish think tanks, a survey conducted among them, as well as semi-structured interviews with the management of selected expert institutions. It its first part, the dissertation discusses the relationship of knowledge and politics in the context of an ever increasing criticism regarding the authority of scientific judgments and the climate "of epistemic pluralism" (e.g. Mode 2 or three waves of expertise). It systematizes the issues of political advice, referring to the concepts, classifications, and analyses, all of which can be found in the literature (including models of J. Habermas and R. Hoppe). Political expertise is discussed through the prism of the different semantic layers of the term, various typologies of expertise, and the ambiguity of the role of scientists acting as experts. Finally, expertise is analyzed through the lenses of nodal problems of equality, power, truth, engagement, and responsibility. The second part structures the main theoretical discussions on think tanks and provides the description of expert institutions based on data from the empirical research; considering factors such as size, legal status or financial and staff condition of Polish think tanks, as well as the meanings ascribed to various think tank activities by the experts themselves. It is argued in the dissertation that: 1) The contemporary meaning of political expertise encompasses both traditional patterns associated with the ideals of scientific neutrality, and new modes of ideological engagement on the side of an expert. 2) Political expertise is becoming more pluralistic (as a result of changes conditioned by the modern context of perception and production of knowledge, which is reflected in the diversity of its varieties), multi-dimensional (i.e., reaches beyond the utility functions in decision-making) and professionalized (i.e., starts constituting a basic social role). 4) A kind of tension related to a political expertise’s position at the intersection of different domains of public life is its constitutive trait. Within the scope of the chosen theoretical framework, it is proposed to conceptualize political expertise as a space between the fields of science and policy (because it is characterized by permeability, minimal level of regulation and institutionalization and strategic ambiguity). In the process of the dynamic definition of its boundaries, mechanisms of demarcation and coordination co-occur. There are many indications that make it possible to claim that political expertise could gradually turn into a separate field, with a constitutive heteronomy as its constitutive characteristics. This is mainly due to the growing demand for expertise (in particular, for “engaged expertise”) coming not only from politicians, but also from the media, businesses, and citizens.

碩士
淡江大學
土木工程研究所
82
In order to study the benifit of the Advanced Drive Vehicles /Automatic Navigation & Control Enroute System-Freeway( ADVANCE-F) and its feasibi- lity in traffic control,it is necessary to develop a comprehensive understandings of capacity and suitable headway of the system. With overcrowded traffic scarious land, in Taiwan nowadays the tra- ditional traffic control approaches are insuffici- ent to our needs. On the purpose of using energe and land effectively, the authorities should begin to engage in traffic automation so as to incease land capacity and to give a new life to loads. With advances in technology, the developed countr- ies have made much efford tostudy Intelligent Vehicle/Highway System(IVHS).The Advanced Vehicles Control System (AVCS) is one of the topic in IVHS, which is the subject of thisstudy. The focus of this study is on the longtudinal control ADVANCE-F. We investigate the fitness of the car-following rules of ADVANCE-F system and th e performance of the system under different radios of navigation vehicles to non-navigation vehicles . First, the car-following rules of ADVANCE-F are discussed. Second, based on the adaptable traffic flow parameters, characteristic of vehicle, a simu lation model is constructed in Fortran language. Finally, the results of the simulation study can provide us the information how well the ADVANCE-F system performance and what are the advantage and disadvantage of ADVANCE-F''s car- following rules.

碩士
銘傳大學
企業管理學系碩士班
99
In this research, a single-period inventory model with price-dependent demand and advance sales discount is developed. In addition, customers with reservations can cancel their orders during the advance sales period. We prove the existence of the optimal advance sales discount rate which maximizes the retailer’s total profit. Two models are developed in this research. First, the order cancellation ratio is assumed to be fixed. Then, the order cancellation ratio is assumed to be time-dependent. The numerical examples are presented to illustrate the solution procedure. Finally, the sensitivity analyses of some key model parameters are provided to demonstrate the proposed models.

碩士
東吳大學
經濟學系
105
In this paper, we discuss the effect of tax policy and money policy on the economic growth effect in a cash-in-advance economy with a relative wealth-enhanced social status motive. In line with Lee, Wang, and Chang (2013), we indicate the role of social status play an important role in affecting the pattern of growth rate. More importantly, we assume that the tax payment be paid by means of real balances which runs in contrast with Lee, Wang, and Chang (2013), and it play an important role in determining the growth effect of tax policies.

The focus of this thesis is on Advance Fee Fraud (419 scams) on how it is executed and more importantly, on how it can be prevented. The research addresses the origins of AFF, the nature and extent of this crime and how the perpetrators are able to defraud their victims. The research described, examined and analysed the crimes, the perpetrators, the victims, adjudication and the prevention strategies of this fraud. Information was gathered through literature and empirical research. A qualitative research method was used to gather information from AFF offenders who were incarcerated in South African prisons in 2005. The results of the empirical research were carefully examined, analyzed and integrated into the various chapters of this thesis. A theoretical framework was also developed in an attempt to explain this complex phenomenon. The findings and recommendations in terms of the crimes, the criminals, the victims, adjudication and prevention were also made and some suggestions for further research thereof were also cited.
Criminology
D. Litt. et Phil. (Criminology)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Economics.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-103). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ67897.