Teacher shortages, teacher contracts and their effect on education in Africa

Summary.  To enhance primary enrolment rates, many African countries have launched large teacher recruitment programmes in recent years. Given tight budgetary constraints, teachers are no longer employed in civil service positions, but on the basis of (fixed term) contracts typically implying considerably lower salaries and a sharply reduced amount of professional training. We analyse the effect of this change on educational quality in Niger, Togo and Mali, on the basis of very informative data, which are comparable across these countries. We use a variety of estimation techniques, including a non-parametric estimation of quantile treatment effects. Our results demonstrate that contract teachers tend to reduce inequalities in student outcomes. Overall, the effects are positive in Mali, somewhat mixed in Togo and negative in Niger. This ordering is consistent with theoretical expectations related to the manner in which contract teacher programmes were implemented differently in each of the three countries under study.     

Human resource practices of multinational organizations in Belgium

This study uses data from a survey of 117 large organizations located in Belgium to examine the relationship between corporate ownership and personnel practices. Results obtained from multivariate analyses supported the general hypothesis that personnel policies and practices vary as a function of ownership and nationality. For example, foreign-owned firms are found to be more advanced in their adoption of methods to gain employee loyalty and commitment than domestic enterprises. In addition to ownership effects, the moderating effects of some key organizational characteristics were examined. This shows that large differences exist with respect to the human resource practices used in firms as a function of management philosophy, creative strategy and industry sector.     

Partings and impartings: Toward a nonmedical approach to interruptions and terminations

It is the thesis of this paper that therapy offers a sequence of opportunities for the patient to experience a comfortable oscillation between togetherness and parting: thepetit partings within each hour, those moments of silence or withdrawal, partings at the end of hours, vacations, spontaneous interruptions (when allowed), and, ultimately, termination. A nonauthoritarian method particularly respecting and fostering the patient's self-determination is proposed.     

The identity transformation of biological parents in lesbian/gay stepfamilies

This paper investigates the identity transformation of lesbian and gay biological parents in homosexual stepfamilies. I explore previous models typically used to describe gay and lesbian identity formation, arguing that these models provide little understanding of the experiences of those who have been previously married and have children. Lesbians and gays who leave heterosexual unions and form homosexual stepfamily units undergo a series of transformations. The results show that the transition is relatively positive and less internally stigmatizing and stressful than that experienced by younger, childless lesbians and gays.     

A limit theorem on the dual core of a distributive social system

I consider abstract social systems where the distribution of wealth is an object of common concern. I study, in particular, the systems where liberal distributive social contracts consist of the Pareto-efficient distributions that are unanimously preferred to the initial distribution. I define a Dual Distributive Core from a process of decentralized auction on the budget shares of Lindahl associated with net transfers, operated by coalitions aiming at increasing the value of the public good for their members while maintaining their utility levels. I establish that the dual distributive core converges, as the number of distributive agents becomes large relative to the number of agent types, to a typically finite number of distributive liberal social contracts, which correspond to the Lindahl equilibria that are unanimously preferred to the initial distribution. This process of decentralized auction provides a theoretical foundation for contractual policies of redistribution. The comparison with the usual notion of core with public goods (Foley 1970) yields the following results in this context: the Foley-core is a subset, generally proper, of the set of liberal distributive social contracts; it does not contain, in general, distributive Lindahl equilibria.     

The role of teacher relationships in the lives of students

This chapter examines positive teacher-student relationships, as seen through a variety of psychological models and provides recommendations for schools and teachers.     

The critical ingredient: caring youth-staff relationships in after-school settings

After-school settings are interpersonal in nature, and the quality of the relationships that are forged can directly influence youths' attendance decisions and the developmental benefits they derive. Programs should more effectively capitalize on this potential for caring adult-staff relationships.     

Strategic management of public and non-market corporations

The author has developed a strategic framework for the management of ‘non-market corporations’ which he thinks better meets their peculiarities and specific needs by framing them in a relatively tight and rigorous socio-economic system relating to their internal logic. He believes that the proposed approach should provide the basis for a more constructive relationship between such corporations and the community at large and for better levels of performance