Income inequality and participation: A comparison of 24 European countries

Previous research suggests that when there is a high level of inequality, there is a low rate of participation. Two arguments are generally offered: First, inequality depresses participation because people from different status groups have fewer opportunities to share common goals. Second, people may participate more in civic and social life when they have more resources. However, until now, these explanations have not been separated empirically. Using EU-SILC data for 24 European countries, we analyze how income inequality is related to civic and social participation. Our results indicate that the main effects of inequality manifest via resources at the individual and societal level. However, independent of these resources, higher inequality is associated with lower civic participation. Furthermore, inequality magnifies the relationship between income and participation. This finding is in line with the view that inter-individual processes explain why inequality diminishes participation.     

Confronting or Complementing? A Case Study on NGO–State Relations from Kerala, India

NGOs have, of late, found some of their traditional domains, such as provision of micro-credit and participatory development, coinciding with or being taken away by the state. How do they position themselves and retain relevance vis-a-vis the state in the changed scenario? Tracing the trajectory of interventions of a local NGO in Kerala, India, this article shows that NGOs exhibit ‘multiple identities’—selective collaboration, gap-filling and posing alternatives—in the process of engagement with the state. The ‘strategizing’ of such identities may hold the key to their relevance vis-a-vis the state.     

Valuation of road safety effects in cost–benefit analysis

Cost–benefit analysis is a common method for evaluating the social economic impact of transport projects, and in many of these projects the saving of human lives is an issue. This implies, within the framework of cost–benefit analysis, that a monetary value should be attached to saving human lives. This paper discusses the ‘Value of a Statistical Life’ (VoSL), a concept that is often used for monetising safety effects, in the context of road safety. Firstly, the concept of ‘willingness to pay’ for road safety and its relation to the VoSL are explained. The VoSL approach will be compared to other approaches to monetise safety effects, in particular the human capital approach and ‘quality adjusted life years’. Secondly, methods to estimate the VoSL and their applicability to road safety will be discussed. Thirdly, the paper reviews the VoSL estimates that have been found in scientific research and compares them with the values that are used in policy evaluations. Finally, a VoSL study in the Netherlands will be presented as a case study, and its applicability in policy evaluation will be illustrated.     

Revisiting the model of creative destruction: St. Jacobs,Ontario, a decade later

Ten years ago, the model of creative destruction was developed to predict the fate of communities that base their development on the commodification of rural heritage (Mitchell, C.J.A., 1998. Entrepreneurialism, commodification and creative destruction: a model of post-modern community development. Journal of Rural Studies 14, 273–286). Its application to the village of St. Jacobs, Canada, demonstrated that entrepreneurial investment had fostered the creation of a setting for aestheticized consumption. In this paper we demonstrate that creative destruction has continued to unfold in the village over the course of the past decade. The evolutionary path taken is assessed in light of current literature on rural space. It is concluded that to fully understand the transformative process, one must integrate the demands of myriad sub-cultures, whose social relations, ideologies and actions will contribute to the development of a contested landscape of consumption. This finding necessitates that modifications be made to the model and its various stages. The most significant is recognition that the “heritage-scape” is an interim state of landscape change; one that displaces the productivist landscape of the industrial period, and precedes the creation of the “neo-productivist” leisure-scape of post-industrialism. Whether or not such a “final” state is achieved is dictated by the power struggle that inevitably arises amongst sub-cultures engaged in the transformation of rural space.     

Strategies of Italian Firms in Romania: Evidence from Selected Case Studies

The aim of this paper is to analyze the internationalization of Italian firms in Romania, operating in the sectors of footwear, furniture and industrial refrigeration. After describing and quantifying the internationalization process between Veneto and Romania, we discuss for each of the sectors, the changes that occurred in the organisation of the production processes within the firms, and particularly how such processes have been fragmented. This article draws on numerous case studies, posits different models of value chain governance, and discusses their implications for regional development and sustainability.     

Effectiveness of FISK,an Invasiveness Screening Tool for Non‐Native Freshwater Fishes,to Perform Risk Identification Assessments in the Iberian Peninsula

Risk assessments are crucial for identifying and mitigating impacts from biological invasions. The Fish Invasiveness Scoring Kit (FISK) is a risk identification (screening) tool for freshwater fishes consisting of two subject areas: biogeography/history and biology/ecology. According to the outcomes, species can be classified under particular risk categories. The aim of this study was to apply FISK to the Iberian Peninsula, a Mediterranean climate region highly important for freshwater fish conservation due to a high level of endemism. In total, 89 fish species were assessed by three independent assessors. Results from receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that FISK can discriminate reliably between noninvasive and invasive fishes for Iberia, with a threshold of 20.25, similar to those obtained in several regions around the world. Based on mean scores, no species was categorized as “low risk,” 50 species as “medium risk,” 17 as “moderately high risk,” 11 as “high risk,” and 11 as “very high risk.” The highest scoring species was goldfish Carassius auratus. Mean certainty in response was above the category “mostly certain,” ranging from tinfoil barb Barbonymus schwanenfeldii with the lowest certainty to eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki with the highest level. Pair‐wise comparison showed significant differences between one assessor and the other two on mean certainty, with these two assessors showing a high coincidence rate for the species categorization. Overall, the results suggest that FISK is a useful and viable tool for assessing risks posed by non‐native fish in the Iberian Peninsula and contributes to a “watch list” in this region.     

Conscription of children in armed conflict—a form of child abuse. A study of 19 former child soldiers

Armed combat in childhood is a form of child abuse. It may lead to serious consequences, including post‐traumatic stress disorder. The inherent emotional abuse and acts or omissions by caregivers may cause behavioural, cognitive, emotional or mental disorder in the child. Nineteen former child soldiers were interviewed in a rehabilitation centre using a standard questionnaire. Reasons for recruitment included: volunteered (18), hatred of enemy (revenge) (5), virtue of being a freedom fighter (martyrdom) (9), as a means of supporting their family (economic) (3). One child was abducted, 7 joined for fear of the ‘enemy’ abducting them, and in 5 a family member was killed by ‘enemy’ or own group. The children were involved in manual labour (15), guard duty (15), front‐line fighting (7), bomb manufacture (5), setting sea/land mines (5) and radio and communication (2). Fifteen were trained in firearms and 14 in self‐destruction. Twelve children attempted to or did run away and 11 refused to obey orders or argued. This led to various punishments, including kitchen duty, beatings, imprisonment, blackmail or death threats. A majority of the children felt sad and emotionally upset when they remembered their mother and family. Children's involvement in war, whatever the ‘justifications’ may be, should always be considered as forced, as they cannot truly comprehend their action in war. The responsibility must be taken by the adult caregivers. The following definition of the abuse of children in armed conflict is proposed: ‘The involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in armed conflict they do not truly comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent, and which adversely affects the child's right to unhindered growth and identity as a child’. Firm international agreement on guidelines for the lower age limit of recruitment of children into armed forces is required. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strong laws of large numbers for dependent heterogeneous processes: a synthesis of recent and new results

This paper surveys recent developments in the strong law of large numbers for dependent heterogeneous processes. We prove a generalised version of a recent strong law for Lz-mixingales, and also a new strong law for Lpmixingales. These results greatly relax the dependence and heterogeneity conditions relative to those currently cited, and introduce explicit trade-offs between dependence and heterogeneity. The results are applied to proving strong laws for near-epoch dependent functions of mixing processes. We contrast several methods for obtaining these results, including mapping directly to the mixingale properties, and applying a truncation argument.     

Betterment and trust in a rural Ciskei village∗

During the 1960's government‐financed agricultural betterment schemes were introduced into several rural villages in the Keiskammahoek magisterial district of the Ciskei, ‘a self‐governing homeland in South Africa'’ (Quail, 1980).

The first part of this paper traces the planning and implementation of betterment in Cata village. Seen in terms of its own goal of creating a ‘stable rural peasantry’ the betterment scheme has not succeeded. However, the success of a betterment scheme should not be seen only in terms of material and socialbenefits, but also in terms of its ability to persuade the villagers of the desirability and value of betterment as such, to change attitudes. Here the scheme has scored only very limited success. The second part of the paper looks at the villagers‘¹ perceptions of the desirability and value of betterment as it was brought to them and considers the differences between their attitudes and those of officialdom.