Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Academic Medicine As A Bridge To Peace: Building Arab And Israeli Cooperation, Abi Sriharan, Ziad Abdeen, Dennis Bojrab, Shurkri David, Ziad Elnasser, Tim Patterson, Robert Shprintzen, Harvey Skinner, Yehudah Roth, Arnold Noyek

Robert J. Shprintzen

Can you imagine Canadian, Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian medical students singing, volunteering, and working together to develop programs to address issues related to global pediatric emergency medicine? Such a program was first held in Toronto in 2003 and continues annually. Can you imagine Canadians, Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians jointly teaching and developing solutions, via video teleconference, to address behavioral neurological problems affecting elderly populations? Such an initiative began in 2006 and continues to expand today. Can you imagine senior Jordanian and Israeli ear surgeons operating together, successfully carrying out pioneering cochlear implant surgery on deaf infants, on Jordanian national television? …

Analysis Of Low-Cost Carriers In The Post-Soviet States, Tamilla Curtis, Dawna Rhoades

Dr. Tamilla Curtis

The research paper provides an overview of low-cost carrier (LCC) development in the post- Soviet states with the analysis of the largest aviation market in Russia. The LCC model seeks to achieve a competitive advantage through the reduction of operating costs below the traditional airline model. Since the post-Soviet states are emerging economies, airlines face a high level of uncertainty and experience a number of unique problems. While the global community enjoys the benefits offered by LCCs, the question remains why this model has not been successful in the 15 newly formed countries, with the exception of the Hungarian low-cost …

Enlightening The Bats: Sound And Place Making In Burmese Buddhist Practice, Andrew Dicks

Andrew Dicks

In Burma (Myanmar), the Abhidhamma, a rigorous and abstract soteriological treatise situated within the vast Pali Buddhist canon, is the focus of both monastic and lay practitioners’ close study and popular veneration. In particular, the Paṭṭhāna, the last and most complex volume of the Abhidhamma, is envisioned as a keystone in the long-term preservation of the Buddha’s teachings, which are also understood to inevitably disappear. As a result of these conditions and understandings, a popular ritualized and amplified recitation of this difficult text has developed in order to maintain the text’s presence in popular consciousness. This is a conscientious move …

Banking Sector Reform In Ethiopia, Admassu Bezabeh, Asayehgn Desta

Asayehgn Desta

The fragile and inefficient state-dominated banking sector that existed in Ethiopia during the military government (1974-1991) was a major hindrance to economic growth. Since it took power in 1991, the current government has implemented a number of reforms. For instance, in 1994, the government legalized domestic private investment in the banking industry. In addition, it restructured the two development banks as commercial banks, and introduced a new Banking and Monetary Proclamation that gave more autonomy and further clarified the National Bank of Ethiopia’s activities as the regulator and supervisor of the banking sector. Although these measures have led to marginal …

Immigration Regulation, Luisa Blanco, Odinakachi Anyanwu

Luisa Blanco

Immigration regulation is defined here as any policy that has the objective of encouraging or discouraging immigration. There are two major categories of immigration regulation: those policies that directly affect the inflow of immigrants and those that influence the everyday lives of immigrants and processes related to the acquisition of legal permanent residency or citizenship. Immigration regulation is quite diverse across time and space; immigration policy is fluid and dynamic and is affected by socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors. Thus, immigration regulation evolves in response to current conditions in a specific country. The role of race in immigration regulation also …

Sovereignty And Democracy In Ethiopia: A Reflection On Gebru Asrat's Book, Asayehgn Desta

Asayehgn Desta

Over the past forty years, we have been hearing and reading a lot about the Tigrai People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which dismantled the inhuman and atrocious Military dictatorship that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991. It was not only highly skilled in military operations but was visionary. The impression that was widely circulated was that when the TPLF came to power it would protect Ethiopia’s sovereignty, adhere to the rules of law and ensure that equity and social justice would prevail , and above all democracy would be the norm of Ethiopian society. Contrary to these assertions, Gebru Asrat (hereafter …

Thinking Through Srivijaya: Polycentric Networks In Traditional Southeast Asia, Rosita Dellios, R. James Ferguson

R. James Ferguson

The story of Srivijaya begins with a geopolitical preface. Just as all roads once led to Rome, so too maritime trade in Asia converged on the narrow sea route that became known as the Strait of Malacca. Unlike ancient Rome, however, the Malacca Strait has retained its geographical salience at different times in history. One such era was well conveyed by the sixteenth century Portuguese adventurer, Tomé Pires, who wrote shortly after his country’s acquisition of the port city of Malacca: “Whoever is lord of Malacca has his hands on the throat of Venice” (Courtesao 1944). Five centuries later, similar …

Long Live Democracy: The Determinants Of Political Instability In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier

Luisa Blanco

In this paper, we investigate the determinants of political instability in Latin America. In a panel of 18 Latin American countries from 1971 to 2000, we find that democratic countries experience less average instability in the region, indicating that the move to increased democracy in the last couple decades may alleviate the persistent problem of instability in the area. We also find that income inequality and ethnic fractionalization are important determinants of instability. Countries with low levels of inequality also suffer less instability on average, while ethnic diversity has a non-linear effect on instability. Many macroeconomic variables commonly thought to …

Explaining The Rise Of The Left In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier

Luisa Blanco

Latin American politics has taken a left-hand turn in the last decade, with an increasing number of chief executives hailing from left-of-center parties. We investigate the political and socio-economic factors explaining political ideology of the chief executive in a sample of 100 elections taking place between 1975 and 2007 in eighteen Latin American countries. We find that the commodity booms in agricultural, mining and oil are positively and significantly related to the probability that a country will have a chief executive from a left-of-center political party. However, for oil exports, we observe that this effect only holds for Venezuela. We …

The Finance–Growth Link Revisited And The Role Of Institutions As A Source Of Finance In Latin America, Luisa Blanco

Luisa Blanco

In a panel framework that includes 18 countries, this paper studies the short and long run effect of financial development on economic growth and the determinants of financial development in Latin America. Financial development shows a positive effect on economic growth in the long run, but a negative effect in the short run for the full sample. When the sample is divided by income levels, this result holds only for the high income group. For the low income group, financial development has no significant effect on economic growth in the short run or in the long run. In the analysis …

The Impact Of Fdi On Co₂ Emissions In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Fidel Gonzalez, Isabel Ruiz

Luisa Blanco

This paper uses panel Granger causality tests to study the relationship between sector specific FDI and CO2 emissions. Using a sample of 18 Latin American countries for the 1980-2007 period, we find causality running from FDI in polluting intensive industries (“the dirty sector”) to CO2 emissions per capita. This result is robust to controlling for other factors associated with CO2 emissions and using the ratio of CO2 emissions to GDP. For other sectors, we find no robust evidence that FDI causes CO2 emissions.

The (Non) Effect Of Natural Resource Dependence On Capital Accumulation In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier

Luisa Blanco

In a simultaneous model of human and physical capital accumulation for 17 Latin American countries from 1975 to 2004, we show that overall resource dependence is not significantly related to physical and human capital. Disaggregating the natural resource variable into subcategories, we find that petroleum export dependence is associated with higher physical capital and lower human capital, while agricultural export dependence is often associated with lower levels of physical capital. All of these effects are quantitatively small, however, casting doubt on the idea that natural resource dependence has stifled the accumulation of capital in the region.

The Finance–Growth Link In Latin America, Luisa Blanco

Luisa Blanco

This paper analyzes the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Latin America with a Granger causality test and impulse response functions in a panel vector autoregression model. Using annual observations from a sample of 18 countries from 1962 to 2005, it is shown that while economic growth causes financial development, financial development does not cause economic growth. This finding is robust to different model specifications and different financial indicators. Interestingly, when the sample is divided according to different income levels and institutional quality, there is two way causality between financial development and economic growth only for the middle …

The Impact Of Spatial Interdependence On Fdi In Latin America, Luisa Blanco

Luisa Blanco

This analysis considers whether spatial interdependence is an important determinant of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America. Two types of spatial interdependence are explored: 1) surrounding market potential and 2) spatial autocorrelation of FDI. Using a sample of 17 Latin American countries, with observations from 1986 to 2006, we find that spatial interdependence matters for world net FDI in the region. Surrounding market potential has a positive effect on FDI of significant magnitude, but there is no evidence that FDI is spatially autocorrelated. Other contributors to FDI in this analysis include governance, specifically control of corruption, and exports of …

Program Report For The Society Of East Asian Anthropology, Elise Edwards

Elise M. Edwards

No abstract provided.

Theorizing The Cultural Importance Of Play: Anthropological Approaches To Sports And Recreation Of Japan, Elise Edwards

Elise M. Edwards

Dr. Edwards' contribution to: Robertson, Jennifer Ellen. 2005. A Companion to the Anthropology of Japan. Blackwell companions to anthropology, 5. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub..

Visionaries, Architects And Pioneers: Conceptualising Smu, Pin Pin Yeo, Patricia Meyer

YEO Pin Pin

The Singapore Management University (SMU) Library was tasked with documenting the early history of SMU by the chairman of its board of trustees. An oral history project to interview the pioneers involved in the formation of the university began in 2011. The project team included the Library, the Information Technology department, and a researcher/interviewer who was familiar with SMU. It was a steep learning curve for the team. As they conducted and processed the interviews, they learned about and made decisions on interviewing, recording, transcribing, storage, website design, discoverability, usability, and sustainability. The resulting oral history website presents the interviews …

Bending The Arc: How To Achieve Justice At The International Criminal Court, Jacqueline Mcallister

Jacqueline McAllister

Corruption And Trust: Theoretical Considerations And Evidence From Mexico, Joseph Klesner

Joseph Klesner

The growing empirical literature on political corruption shows trust (interpersonal and political) to be both cause and consequence of corruption: a conclusion that largely builds on studies using cross-national measures of corruption based on perceptions of corruption rather than actual experience, raising questions of endogeneity. The lack of trust fed by corruption is considered critical in that it undermines government efforts to mobilize society to help fight corruption and leads the public to routinely dismiss government promises to fight corruption. After disaggregating the major concepts, this article empirically explores the relationship linking corruption and trust in Mexico based on data …

Does The Collapse Of Single-Party Rule In Central And Eastern Europe Reveal The Path Down Which Mexico Is Headed?, Joseph Klesner

Joseph Klesner

No abstract provided.

Social Capital And Political Participation In Latin America: Evidence From Argentina,Chile, Mexico, And Peru, Joseph Klesner

Joseph Klesner

Scholars have argued that social capital—understood to mean those social networks, norms, and trust that allow citizens to act together more successfully to pursue shared goals—encourages political participation and a more robust democratic experience. Consequently, international development agencies have made promotion of social capital a major emphasis in recent years. Using data from the 1999–2001 wave of the World Values Survey, I show that in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru this relationship holds true. Greater involvement in nonpolitical organizations does lead to more participation in explicitly political activities. Higher levels of interpersonal trust also promote political participation. However, despite encouraging …

Who Participates? Determinants Of Political Action In Mexico, Joseph Klesner

Joseph Klesner

This article seeks to determine the main predictors of political participation in a newly democratic regime: Mexico. Compared to other nations, Mexico fills a moderate position in terms of the volume of political participation. Following the literature on participation, this study develops a set of participant modes—voting, communal activity, petitioning, direct action, and political organization membership—and then seeks to determine the socioeconomic, demographic, attitudinal, and social capital factors that best explain participation. Distinct resource inequalities limit the participation of the less educated, the poor, women, and workers, although peasant participation is robust. The strongest determinant of political participation of all …

Economic Integration And National Identity In Mexico, Joseph Klesner

Joseph Klesner

In the past two decades Mexico has experienced rapid globalization, especially through economic integration with the United States. Mass attitudes have remained proudly Mexican and have become more focused on the nation, at the expense of more local identities. Many Mexicans, especially those more likely to benefit from economic integration, would consider some surrender of sovereignty, while others fear the loss of cultural identity due to the forces of globalization.

Proxemics On Business Negotiation: What Americans Should Be Aware Of Vietnamese Negotiation Site Settings, Tuong-Minh Ly-Le

Tuong-Minh Ly-Le

Vietnam has joined the globalization trend to make itself an inviting market for foreign investment. However, working with foreigners and expanding business abroad can be a risky venture. The diversity among business cultures frequently leads to confusion, misunderstandings, and failures in cross-cultural endeavors. There is hence a need to study business negotiation in a cross-cultural setting. Among the investing countries, America has always been on top of the list, with a strong strategic partnership for years and billions of U.S. dollars in registered invested capital. Many studies have been conducted to understand this important partner, yet none of them so …

Ghana Armed Forces In Lebanon And Liberia Peace Operations, Emmanuel Kotia

Emmanuel Wekem Kotia

Class 6 Proficiency In Afghanistan 2013: Outcomes Of A Learning Assessment Of Mathematical, Reading And Writing Literacy, Tom Lumley, Juliette Mendelovits, Rachel Stanyon, Ross Turner, Maurice Walker

Dr Tom Lumley

In 2012, the Ministry of Education, Afghanistan, engaged the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) as a partner to support the development of a national learning assessment program in Afghanistan. To achieve this goal, the Learning Assessment unit of the Ministry of Education and ACER have collaborated to design and implement the Monitoring Trends in Educational Growth (MTEG) program in Afghanistan. MTEG is designed as a long-term monitoring program with one focus on trends in achievement outcomes in single class levels over time, and another focus on the growth of achievement in cohorts throughout the school cycle, from Class 3 …

Class 6 Proficiency In Afghanistan 2013: Outcomes Of A Learning Assessment Of Mathematical, Reading And Writing Literacy, Tom Lumley, Juliette Mendelovits, Rachel Stanyon, Ross Turner, Maurice Walker

Ross Turner

In 2012, the Ministry of Education, Afghanistan, engaged the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) as a partner to support the development of a national learning assessment program in Afghanistan. To achieve this goal, the Learning Assessment unit of the Ministry of Education and ACER have collaborated to design and implement the Monitoring Trends in Educational Growth (MTEG) program in Afghanistan. MTEG is designed as a long-term monitoring program with one focus on trends in achievement outcomes in single class levels over time, and another focus on the growth of achievement in cohorts throughout the school cycle, from Class 3 …

Business Views Of Democratization In Brazil And Argentina., Engin Erdem

ENGIN I ERDEM Dr.

The democratization literature discusses various dynamics of regime change including economic development, social classes, political institutions, culture and international factors. This paper attempts to illuminate the role of business in political change. For this purpose, it examines two cases from Latin America: Brazil and Argentina. In doing so, the research also benefits from within-case comparisons such as the one between the 1961-64 Goulart government and the New Republic (1985-1990). By examining business behavior in different temporal and spatial contexts, the paper expects to enhance our understanding of social dynamics of democratization. This paper is primarily dealt with the following question: …

Transnational Activism And World Politics, Engin Erdem

ENGIN I ERDEM Dr.

Transnational activism has become increasingly salient dynamics of world politics in recent decades. Thousands of transnational actors -advocacy networks, social movements, non-governmental organizations and other activists- work for various causes regarding human rights, environment, women’s rights, development, peace and etc. Overall, transnational activism challenges the fundamental characteristic of the modern nation-state system: sovereignty. As a result, the increasing quantity of transnational activism has led to controversies in the field of international relations (IR) theories. While realist theories look them skeptically, neoliberal institutionalism gives them some role in world politics. Constructivism takes them seriously as carries of norms and challengers of …

Beyond Exile: The Ramayana As A Living Narrative Among Indo-Fijians In Fiji And New Zealand, Kevin Miller

Kevin C. Miller

Drawing on the themes of collective memory, cultural ideologies, and narrative constructions, this chapter proposes to examine the narrative of the Ramayana epic, its exegesis through performance, and its continued relevance to identity formation among Indo-Fijian Hindus both within Fiji and its Pacific Rim diaspora. Based on the recasting of the “twice-migrated” Indo-Fijian as the “twice-banished” by certain observers, we might expect the meaning of the Ramayana in the lives of Indo-Fijian Hindus in New Zealand to shift towards the theme of Rama’s exile, just as it did for the indentured laborers who made the original journey to Fiji. Nevertheless, …