A formative evaluation of the recovery public works programme in Blantyre City,Malawi

Public works programmes (PWPs) are popular social protection instruments in the context of chronic poverty but very little has been published in the way of implementation and outcomes of these programmes. This paper presents a formative process and outcome evaluation of the recovery PWP in Blantyre City, Malawi. The evaluation used longitudinal household survey data of PWP beneficiaries, programme records and interview responses from programme staff and community leaders. Largely, the process evaluation findings showed an agreement between actual and planned activities. The outcome evaluation found indications that the PWP community assets offered some potential benefits to the communities, and that PWP wages allowed the beneficiaries to purchase some food. This however, did not translate into more meals per day, nor did the earnings prevent the decline in household assets as expected. Given a plausible PWP theory and high implementation fidelity, the PWP wage rate or number of days was either just enough to smooth participant income, or insufficient altogether, to enable achievement of more distal outcomes.     

An affective social tie mechanism: Theory,evidence, and implications

This paper presents substantial evidence of a simple social tie mechanism that endogenizes people’s care about other individuals under the influence of interaction experiences. The mechanism is rooted in scientific studies from various disciplines. For our evidence, we propose and estimate a dynamic model of tie formation using different experimental datasets regarding public goods, test its within-sample and out-of-sample predictive performance, and compare it with other models. In addition to the support obtained for the mechanism, we find that the effects of interaction experiences show substantial persistence over time, and that only a minority looks ahead to strategically influence the behavior of interaction partners. Furthermore, our model appears to track the often volatile behavioral dynamics of the different datasets remarkably well. Additional evidence is presented of a neural substrate of the tie mechanism, based on a recent (fMRI) application of the estimated model, and of the explanatory power of our model regarding other extant experimental findings. Implications for private and public governance and topics for future research are discussed.     

Enforcing cooperation in public goods games: Is one punisher enough?

We experimentally investigate a finitely repeated public goods game setting where, in each round, access to sanctioning power is exclusively awarded to one single player per group. We show that our central ‘Top Contributors as Punishers’ institution – a mechanism by which a player needs to be the highest contributor in her group in order to earn the right to sanction others – is extremely effective in raising cooperation and welfare due to turnover in the top contributor role and to top contributors’ willingness to substantially sanction others. Our findings yield implications for the design of mechanisms intended to foster cooperation in social dilemma environments.     

Young Mothers’ Experiences of Receiving the Baby Bonus: A Qualitative Study

The year 2014 marked the abolition of the Baby Bonus and its replacement with a substantially reduced parenting payment. While often criticised as “middle-class welfare,” or publicly denounced due to its purported misuse by disadvantaged mothers, this paper argues that the Baby Bonus provided valuable financial assistance to families experiencing high financial stress. To investigate young women's experience of receiving the Baby Bonus, 19 semistructured interviews were conducted with young mothers in Melbourne who had recently had babies. Many were experiencing financial stress and this payment provided much needed financial support for the basic costs arising from having a baby. Several mothers perceived work as a luxury that was out of reach due to high childcare costs relative to their earning capacity and therefore saw Paid Parental Leave as a further privilege unavailable to them. Our results suggest that while the concerns of policymakers to achieve the best use of scarce resources are critical, it should also be acknowledged that the policy change may have serious implications for many young mothers and may exacerbate disadvantage, and young mothers’ sense of alienation, ultimately leading to greater inequalities.     

Laying the foundation for a global body of knowledge in public relations and communications management

An internationally recognised body of knowledge is both possible and necessary for the future success and professionalisation of public relations. Through extensive content analysis of 31 credential schemes, education frameworks, and scholarly articles produced across six continents, the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communications Management has developed a foundational list of knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviours (KSABs), which entry and mid/senior-level practitioners across the world should possess. This study and list of KSABs is laying the foundation for development of an internationally accepted framework which professional associations and academic institutions across the world will be able to use to benchmark professional credentials and curriculum outcomes.     

Examining signs of recovery: How senior crisis communicators define organizational crisis recovery

Interviews with senior crisis communicators explore how crisis recovery is defined and what role publics and organizational communication and characteristics play. Findings reveal recovery is measured operationally and short-term. Effective communication proactively addresses failures, is transparent and honest while positive, focuses on future directions, and rebuilds and repairs symbolic damage. Organizational best practices include tested values and crisis leadership. Publics can facilitate healing, highlight victims’ voices, and provide recovery evidence.     

Dialogic communication in the health care context: A case study of Kaiser Permanente's social media practices

This case study examines how one of the largest not-for-profit health care organizations in the US, Kaiser Permanente, uses social media to communicate with its stakeholders. Through content analysis and interviews, this study identifies the communication models reflected in a sample of social media posts and examines the organization's approach to using social media. The study finds evidence of both one-way and two-way communication models, as well as principles of dialogic communication. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

The history of public relations in Greece from 1950 to 1980: Professionalization of the “art”

The early development of public relations in Greece is explored through a focus on the period between 1950 and 1980. Specifically, the, article considers the origins and early developments, important actors, international influences, professional bodies and the field of practice. It is found that Greek business public relations were greatly influenced by American practices and through influential practitioners’ contact with the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).     

从《畲岚山》看畲民社会认识观的变化

从《畲岚山》长歌看畲民显现的扬善惩恶观念和爱情观、鬼神观的变迁 ,表现出畲民对社会、对自己认识的深刻变化 ,切合历史社会发展规律。     

英国地方政府绩效管理制度运作的经验与启示

基于公共资源的有限性、政府支出与有效率公共政策间的低相关性及民主赤字的风险性三大前提,要求地方政府必须按照绩效标准或结果导向标准进行政府治理已成为人们的共识,而为了实现这种有效的政府运营机制,则还需依赖建立并推行一套行之有效的地方政府绩效评估制度。为此,首先探讨当前各国地方政府治理活动中出现的问题,了解问题产生的原因,阐释对地方政府建构绩效评价制度的必要性。然后,分析英国政府绩效管理制度中最佳价值体制的内涵及运作方式,总结其有益的经验。在此基础上,针对我国在进行地方政府绩效评价时应注意的问题提出相关的对策建议。