Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ssrn As An Initial Revolution In Academic Knowledge Aggregation And Dissemination, David Bray, Sascha Vitzthum, Benn Konsynski

Sascha Vitzthum

Within this paper we consider our results of using the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) over a period of 18 months to distribute our working papers to the research community. Our experiences have been quite positive, with SSRN serving as a platform both to inform our colleagues about our research as well as inform us about related research (through email and telephoned conversations of colleagues who discovered our paper on SSRN). We then discuss potential future directions for SSRN to consider, and how SSRN might well represent an initial revolution in 21st century academic knowledge aggregation and dissemination. Our paper …

The Role Of Private Military Companies In Us-Africa Policy, Emmanuel Aning, Thomas Jaye, Samuel Atuobi

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article discusses the increasing use of private military companies (PMCs) in United States' security policy in Africa, and examines this phenomenon in relation to the US' various military training programmes on the continent. We argue that the increasing use of PMCs in US security policy has evolved due to two critical and mutually dependent developments; African state weakness and resource stringency on the one hand, and the US's overwhelming security commitments around the world, combined with military downsizing, on the other. The article further argues that the involvement of PMCs is to a large extent informed by US concerns …

Towards Self-Organizing, Smart Business Networks: Let’S Create ‘Life’ From Inert Information, David Bray, Benn Konsynski

David A. Bray

We review three different theories that can inform how researchers can determine the performance of smart business networks, to include: (1) the Theory of Evolution, (2) the Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm, and (3) research insights into computers and cognition. We suggest that each of these theories demonstrate that to be generally perceived as smart, an organism needs to be self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. Consequentially, to determine the performance of a smart business network, we suggest that researchers need to determine the degree to which it is self-organizing, communicative, and tool-making. We then relate these findings to the Internet and …

Perspective - Calculating Political Risk, Catherine Althaus

Catherine E. Althaus

No abstract provided.

Equality Of Opportunity In Retirement Funds, Michael Gold

Michael Evan Gold

No abstract provided.

'Democratic Taxation' And Quantifiable Action: Scientizing Dilemmas, Mindy Peden

Mindy Peden

Against the easy presupposition that such a thing as 'democratic taxation' not only exists but is also practicable, this paper points to the dilemma posed by what I call 'quantifiable action.' The essay develops an approach to theorizing the place of taxation in political theory that counters trends in fiscal sociology, political science, and liberal theory by highlighting how taxation presumably violates the requirement that self-government includes an absence of instrumental rationality on the part of democratic citizens. For this reason, taxation presents a persistent problem for any concept of self-government, and may usefully be regarded as a technology of …

The Entrepreneurial Assumption: Thinking About Taxes In Contemporary Political Theory, Mindy Peden

Mindy Peden

This article argues that contemporary political theory often contains an obscured supposition that I call the entrepreneurial assumption. This assumption can be seen most clearly when political theorists who do not have economic expertise per se theorize the relationship between their political thought and taxation. In order to explicate the entrepreneurial assumption, the article engages in close readings of John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Ronald Dworkin. By elaborating on each of these authors' views, the importance of preserving “talent” through a system of taxation, the centrality of the entrepreneurial assumption can be seen more clearly.

From 'Voluntary' To A 'Binding' Process: Towards The Securitisation Of Small Arms, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article analyses the issue of small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation in both Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Specifically, it assesses the extent to which both Ghana and ECOWAS have 'securitised' this particular issue through an initial 'voluntary' instrument first in 1998 and extended in 2001 until the signing in June 2006 of a legally and politically binding ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and Other Related Materials. To do so, the article begins by setting out the scope and a brief history of the SALW problem in West …

Entrepreneurs, Organizational Strength And The Pursuit Of Public Goods By Voluntary Organizations, Elizabeth Stiles

Elizabeth A. Stiles

Robert Salisbury has assumed that interest group entrepreneurs are profit-driven and make attempts to procure collective goods to increase their membership and revenue. This article's research question takes the reverse of Salisbury's claim: can interest group entrepreneurs increase the likelihood of procuring collective goods by increasing their organizational strength? Results of a study of statewide Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) organizations show that larger memberships are positively and significantly associated with success in procuring collective goals while increased budgets are significantly but negatively associated. The implications are twofold. First, the assumption that entrepreneurs pursue collective goods for reasons of …

Us Peace-Operations Policy In Africa: From Acri To Africom, A. Sarjoh Bah, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

This article examines the changing nature of US peacekeeping policy in Africa in the postcold war period. After an account of the failures in Somalia and Rwanda in the early 1990s, it traces the evolution of various training programmes, from the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) in the early 1990s to the African Command (AFRICOM). We argue that, while these initiatives had some characteristics that were welcomed by African states, the programmes never achieved their full potential. The United States was quick to replace one programme with another when it ran into difficulty with the recipients, leading to a shift …

University Research Centers And The Composition Of Research Collaborations, Craig Boardman, Elizabeth Corley

Craig Boardman

Research collaboration is perhaps the singular feature that university research centers, broadly defined, share. Yet, there has been little systematic study of the center-level attributes that facilitate (or hinder) research collaboration at the individual level. This paper estimates whether center-level measures of research capacity and structure affect center affiliated university scientists’ and engineers’ collaborative behaviors. We consider the effects of center multidisciplinarity, size, and center ties to private firms and to federally funded centers programs on the time allocated to collaboration with researchers from industry, other universities, government laboratories, and abroad. Our analyses compare center to non-center scientists and also …

"The Institutionalization Of Leadership In The Australian Public Sector", Catherine Althaus, John Wanna

Catherine E. Althaus

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Informal Interactions On Collaborative Research Between University And Industry Scientists, Branco Ponomariov, Craig Boardman

Craig Boardman

We ask whether informal interactions between university and industry scientists result in collaborative research. Using data from a national survey of tenured and tenure-track scientists and engineers in U.S. research extensive universities, we demonstrate that university scientists’ informal interactions with private sector companies increase both the likelihood and intensity of collaborative research with industry.

Beyond The Stars: Scientists Working In University Biotechnology Centers, Craig Boardman

Craig Boardman

Most study of university–industry interactions in biotechnology emphasizes the productivity (e.g., patents, spin-off firms) of a relative few number of “star” university scientists. This study uses a national survey of university scientists to assess the industry involvement of university scientists who affiliate with university research centers focused on biotechnology. The results demonstrate such affiliation to correlate positively with informal interactions with industry, such as knowledge exchange, but not with reports of the production of economic and bibliometric outputs. Implications for policy and centers programs are discussed.

Site Fights: Divisive Facilities And Civil Society In Japan And The West, Daniel Aldrich

Daniel P Aldrich

One of the most vexing problems for governments is building controversial facilities that serve the needs of all citizens but have adverse consequences for host communities. Policy makers must decide not only where to locate often unwanted projects, but also what methods to use when interacting with opposition groups. In Site Fights, I gather quantitative evidence from close to 500 municipalities across Japan to show that planners deliberately seek out acquiescent and unorganized communities for such facilities in order to minimize conflict. When protests arise over nuclear power plants, dams, and airports, agencies regularly rely on the coercive powers of …

Developing A Young Professionals Network For The Arts, Thomas Bryer, Kristin Stewart

Thomas A Bryer

The Young Professionals Network for the Arts simulation is an exercise that allows students to think through the process of creating a network from the ground up. The structure of the class session that includes the simulation consists of a lecture on the readings and an 8-Step network building process, followed by the simulation.

Taken For Granted? Managing For Social Equity In Grant Programs., Brian Collins, Brian Gerber

Brian K. Collins

Managing for social equity performance has long been a goal without much guidance for public managers. We examine social equity performance in the context of indirect governance through the administration of grant programs and, more specifically, the matching of policy responses (grant funding) to social needs. Grant program managers must allocate funding to match needs while also ensuring accountability, but common administrative models that rely on competition can undermine social equity performance. We develop a unique framework to analyze the relative social equity performance of four models of grant administration in general. These models are defined by whether competitions or …

Human Rights In The Arab World: Independent Voices, Anthony Chase, Amr Hamzawy

Anthony Chase

Human Rights In The Arab World: Independent Voices is an anthology of essays by learned authors about the unfortunate and longstanding marginalization of human rights in the Arab world, the obstacles that bar the way to implementing these rights, and pathways to improve human rights and welfare in the future. Individual essays also discuss the intersection of globalization and human rights, the especial plight of women's rights in the Arab world, case studies in Yemeni, Egypt, and Morocco, the difficulties faced by activists and NGOs pushing for human rights, and much more. A sober, serious-minded compilation of a vital current …

Environment And Development In Uganda: Understanding The Global Influence On Domestic Policy, Christopher Gore

Christopher D Gore

No abstract provided.

Reimagining Nursing’S Place In The History Of Clinical Practice, Julie Fairman, P D'Antonio

Julie A Fairman

No abstract provided.

China’S Ventures In Africa, Emmanuel Aning, Delphine Lecroute

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

In this paper, we are guided by several questions of which the critical one is whether Sino-African relations are merely opportunistic and based on an ad hoc momentum, or whether they reflect a real strategy based on presence and territorial domination in the new context of competition and cooperation on the reconfigured African continent. We argue that any endeavour to appreciate the complexities of this relationship needs a more nuanced and differentiated appreciation and understanding of Sino-African relations. Such an approach will elucidate the complex relationship between Africa and China and, more importantly, emphasise the delicate nuances that are overlooked …

What’S The Problem In Public Sector Workforce Recruitment? A Comparative Analysis Of The Public, Nonprofit, And Private Sectors., Brian Collins

Brian K. Collins

Public sector workforce recruitment is problematic, but the nature of that problem is not clearly defined. Workforce recruitment is essentially a matching problem that requires managers to recruit desired employees in available labor pools. This research asks whether sectoral differences and competition for labor affect whether public managers frame the major problem of workforce recruitment as the size, qualifications, or work ethic of the labor pool. Using survey data from about 2,300 managers from two US states, problem attributions are modeled using multinomial logit. The findings suggest that the public and nonprofit sectors find it more problematic to recruit qualified …

Violence In The Workplace, Elizabeth Fredericksen

Elizabeth D. Fredericksen

No abstract provided.

Healthy Urban Food Production And Local Government, Christopher Gore

Christopher D Gore

No abstract provided.

Electricity And Privatization In Uganda: The Origins Of Crisis And Problems With Response, Christopher Gore

Christopher D Gore

No abstract provided.

Balancing The Scales Or Tilting The Field? Assessing The Capacity Of Global Civil Society To Democratize The World Bank, Christopher Pallas

Christopher L. Pallas