Willing but unable? Extending theory to investigate community capacity to participate in Ghana’s community-based health planning and service implementation

While primary health care programmes based on community participation are widely implemented in low- and middle- income settings, empirical evidence on whether and to what extent local people have the capacity to participate, support and drive such programmes scale up is scant in these countries. This paper assessed the level of community capacity to participate in one such programme – the Community-Based Health Planning and Service (CHPS) in Ghana. The capacity assessments were drawn from Chaskin’s (2001) theorised indicators of community capacity with modifications to include: sense of community; community members commitment; community leadership commitment; problem solving mechanisms; and access to resources. These capacity measures guided the design of an interview guide used to collect data from community informants, frontline health providers (FLP) and district health managers. Key qualitative themes were built into a questionnaire administered to households selected through systematic sampling approach. Findings showed that growing individualism, low trust in neighbours and apathetic behaviours undermined the capacity of mutual support for CHPS. The capacity to support CHPS was high for local leadership and community social mobilisation groups who often dedicated time to working with FLP to promote maternal and reproductive health service use, and in advocating broader support for CHPS. Within the wider community, commitment to voluntarism was low as members perceived CHPS to be owned by, and run on government funds and resources. Poor voluntarism was compounded by poverty that crippled the capacity to provide needed resource support for CHPS. Findings have great implications for building strong capable communities for participation in community oriented health programmes.     

职前职后矛盾体下的学前STEAM教育师资培养:困境与突围

STEAM教育是以创新型人才培养为导向的融科学、技术、工程、艺术、数学为一体的跨学科素质教育。在学龄前这个STEAM素养启蒙的关键阶段,培养适应行业发展所需的合格STEAM教育师资成为影响学前STEAM教育事业成败的关键环节。本文从学前STEAM师资培养的困境出发,围绕职前和职后这对矛盾体相互作用过程中如何实现职前培养与职后培育有效衔接这个问题,以提高师资专业能力为目标,从师资标准构建、课程体系完善、培养模式改革、质量诊改系统建设四方面探索学前STEAM师资培养的突围策略。     

Technological affluence and subjective well-being

This study measures the welfare effects of technological goods using a recent European pooled cross-sectional dataset. We find that fixed and mobile phones, music players and personal computers, including those with an Internet connection, are associated with significantly higher levels of well-being measured by individual self-reported life satisfaction. Further controlling for mobile and broadband country penetration levels, we provide evidence suggesting that the latter matters for life satisfaction, especially for the users who already possess the relevant devices. Keeping life satisfaction constant, we subsequently derive substantial GDP per capita estimates equivalent to a 10 percentage point increase in broadband and mobile phone penetration.     

On the determinants of public infrastructure spending in Chinese cities: A spatial econometric perspective

In the context of fiscal decentralization, we use cross-sectional data of 242 Chinese cities in 2005 to explore the major factors contributing to the decline of public investment. The main finding is that a city government appears to reduce its own infrastructure spending as a response to the rise of infrastructure spending of its neighboring cities, revealing evidence of positive spillover effects of public infrastructure expenditure. This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing a new perspective for understanding the decline in public investment. In addition, this paper sheds some light on the ongoing debate on the nature of government competition in China and has important implications for policy makers in making fiscal arrangements among government tiers in a decentralized economy.     

Bias Correction in the Dynamic Panel Data Model with a Nonscalar Disturbance Covariance Matrix

Abstract

Approximation formulae are developed for the bias of ordinary and generalized Least Squares Dummy Variable (LSDV) estimators in dynamic panel data models. Results from Kiviet [Kiviet, J. F. (1995), on bias, inconsistency, and efficiency of various estimators in dynamic panel data models, J. Econometrics68:53–78; Kiviet, J. F. (1999), Expectations of expansions for estimators in a dynamic panel data model: some results for weakly exogenous regressors, In: Hsiao, C., Lahiri, K., Lee, L‐F., Pesaran, M. H., eds., Analysis of Panels and Limited Dependent Variables, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 199–225] are extended to higher‐order dynamic panel data models with general covariance structure. The focus is on estimation of both short‐ and long‐run coefficients. The results show that proper modelling of the disturbance covariance structure is indispensable. The bias approximations are used to construct bias corrected estimators which are then applied to quarterly data from 14 European Union countries. Money demand functions for M1, M2 and M3 are estimated for the EU area as a whole for the period 1991: I–1995: IV. Significant spillovers between countries are found reflecting the dependence of domestic money demand on foreign developments. The empirical results show that in general plausible long‐run effects are obtained by the bias corrected estimators. Moreover, finite sample bias, although of moderate magnitude, is present underlining the importance of more refined estimation techniques. Also the efficiency gains by exploiting the heteroscedasticity and cross‐correlation patterns between countries are sometimes considerable.     

A model for a comparative cost-effectiveness evaluation of two mental health partial care programs.

This study provides a model for comparing the cost-effectiveness of two mental health programs. The example cited examines the cost-effectiveness of a hospital-based and a community-based partial care program. Using each group as its own control, the authors compare patients' use of inpatient hospitalisation and emergency room services during one year prior to and one year subsequent to first admission in day care. In both day care programs, patients substantially reduced their number of inpatient admissions and days. Neither program, however, showed a significant decrease in patients' use of the emergency room. Reflecting the substantially lower costs of the community-based program, the benefit-cost and cost-effectiveness ratios were significantly better in the community-based program than in the hospital-based program. Based on this evidence the authors conclude that the lower-cost, equally effective community-based program should be carefully considered as an alternative for more partial care patients.     

Are simple tests of son preference useful? An evaluation using data from Vietnam

Son preference is widespread although not universal. Where it occurs it may lead to higher fertility rates. Ideally son preference should be measured in the context of a hazards or parity progression model of fertility, or a logistic model of contraceptive use. Such models require large amounts of survey data, particularly to measure the covariates. Can son preference be discerned reliably using tests which rely on more limited information? The answer is yes, based on applying eight simple tests to data from the Vietnam Living Standards Survey of 1992–93 and comparing the outcomes with the benchmark results from fuller models. Some, but not all, of the simpler tests accurately measure son preference, including estimating a simple hazards or progression parity model, the unisex sibship test, and the sibling differentials test. Received: 28 September 1995 / Accepted: 2 January 1997     

关于线性系统约当规范形的讨论

研究了对相对同一特征根却具有多个约当子块的约当规范形线性系统的传递函数形式和实现结构图，给出了根据其本身特点而设计的一种求约当规范形的方法及其计算机实现程序。     

Wanting to be Anna: Examining Lesbian Sporting Celebrity on The L Word

This article adds to the limited literature on coming out and on lesbians in sport by highlighting the presence of lesbian sporting celebrity on Showtime's series The L Word. Through a reading of The L Word's character/professional athlete, Dana Fairbanks, we explore the economic impetus and the racial and classed undertones of corporatized coming out narratives. We devote considerable effort to unpacking Fairbanks’ articulation that she wishes to be “the gay Anna Kournikova” and speculate on the consequences of this utterance for both real lesbian sporting celebrities and the lesbian fans that necessarily follow Fairbanks’ corporate-sponsored coming out.