China’s civil society groups put the Party in a bind

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
The State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
Higher Educational Attainment

Significance Yet research before and after the outbreak suggests Chinese citizens are less optimistic that the state can manage national disasters and emergencies alone. Despite the state’s systematic undermining of civil society organisations (CSOs), citizens increasingly trust them and believe their assistance is needed during national crises. Impacts The growth of CSO-led volunteering and charity initiatives will increase citizens' baseline trust in CSOs. Higher educational attainment will increase citizens’ risk perception and capacity to assess the state’s response to national crises. A growing sense that the state has not managed risks effectively makes citizens more open to turning to CSOs at times of crisis.

State fragility and transparency

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nabamita Dutta ◽  
Sanjukta Roy
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Robust Estimation ◽  
Lower State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
State Fragility ◽  
Basic Functions ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
Higher Educational Attainment ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between state fragility and transparency. A state is deemed fragile when it falters in its ability to manage conflict and in its capacity to deliver basic functions and implement public policy. Although minimizing fragility of the state is undoubtedly an integral component of economic development, there is a huge variation across countries in terms of where they stand with regard to fragility. Further, it also explores how educational attainment affects the relationship between state fragility and transparency. Design/methodology/approach Using several robust estimation methodologies and a relatively new database on transparency, the authors find that higher levels of transparency lower state fragility. They reply on fixed effect estimators, lagged one period and five periods and system GMM estimators as part of our identification strategy. Findings Using several robust estimation methodologies and a relatively new database on transparency, the authors find that a higher level of transparency lowers state fragility. Greater and free flow of information empowers the populace, restores trust in government, increases participation in the political arena and, thus, reduces state fragility. This paper additionally shows that higher educational attainment helps reap the benefits of transparency even more and, thus, catalyzes transparency to lower-state fragility more effectively. Research limitations/implications Our research shows that greater transparency leads to lower state fragility. Additionally, if the populace of the country has higher educational attainment, the benefits of transparency in reducing state fragility is enhanced. Although enhancing transparency amid high state fragility may be a challenging task, it can be achieved by providing the populace with better media access via internet and cell phones. Originality/value The authors use a relatively new database of transparency to show that transparency acts as an important determinant of state fragility. A state is deemed fragile when it falters in its ability to manage conflict and in its capacity to deliver basic functions and implement public policy. Given this definition, it is needless to say that what can affect state fragility and how can such fragility be lowered is an important research agenda. This paper aims to fill this gap. Additionally, it shows the importance of education while exploring such a relationship.

Determinants of health and education equality: evidence from post-Soviet states

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Vito Panaro
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Social Equality ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Regime Types

PurposeThis article examines the determinants of social equality in the education and healthcare sectors in the 15 post-Soviet states. Focussing on regime type and civil society organisations (CSOs), it argues that countries where liberal principles of democracy are achieved or have a stronger civil society deliver a more equitable social policy.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical analysis rests upon a time-series cross-sectional (TSCS) analysis from 1992 to 2019. Data are collected from the Quality of Government (QoG) Dataset 2020 and the Variates of Democracy (V-DEM) Dataset 2020.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that while regime type only partially accounts for social equality, as electoral autocracies do not have more equitable social policy than close regime types and democracy weakly explains equality levels, the strength of CSOs is associated with more equality.Originality/valueThe article challenges dominant approaches that consider electoral democracy to be related to more equal social policy and demonstrates that de-facto free and fair elections do not impinge on social equality, while the strength of liberal and civil liberties and CSOs correlate with more equitable social policy.

Abstract 031: Socioeconomic Trajectories Across the Life Course and Risk of All-cause and Cardiovascular Mortality: Prospective Findings From the Moli-sani Study

Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marialaura Bonaccio ◽  
Augusto Di Castelnuovo ◽  
Simona Costanzo ◽  
Mariarosaria Persichillo ◽  
Chiara Cerletti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Lower Risk ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Low Ses ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
Higher Educational Attainment ◽  
The Life Course

Introduction: A life course approach has been suggested as the most appropriated to establish the actual impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on health outcomes. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that SES trajectories from childhood to adulthood are useful to better evaluate the role of SES towards mortality risk in a large general population-based cohort. Methods: Longitudinal analysis on 22,194 subjects recruited in the general population of the Moli-sani study, Italy (2005-2010). Educational attainment (low/high) and SES in adulthood (measured by a score including occupational social class, housing and overcrowding, and dichotomized as low/high) were used to define four possible trajectories both in low and high SES in childhood (age of 8). Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated by multivariable Cox regression and competing risk models. Results: Over a median follow-up of 8.3 years (182,924 person-years), 1155 all-cause, of which 414 cardiovascular (CVD), deaths were ascertained. In the group with low SES in childhood, as opposed to those stably low (low education and low SES in adulthood), an upward in both educational attainment and material factors in adulthood was associated with lower risk of both all-cause (HR=0.64; 95%CI 0.52-0.79; Table) and CVD mortality (HR=0.62; 0.43-0.88), respectively. Subjects with high childhood SES experienced an increased risk of total and CVD death in absence of higher educational attainment despite a higher SES in adulthood (HR=1.47; 1.04-2.07 and HR=1.75;1.00-3.05, respectively) as compared to the group with both high education and high SES in adulthood. Conclusions: In conclusion, for individuals with low SES in childhood, an upward of both educational attainment and material factors over the life course is associated with lower risk of total and CVD death. In advantaged groups in childhood, lack of a higher educational attainment, rather than material factors, over the life course appears to be unfavourably associated with survival.

scholarly journals Health behaviours reported by adults with congenital heart disease across 15 countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 1077-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina E Holbein ◽  
James Peugh ◽  
Gruschen R Veldtman ◽  
Silke Apers ◽  
Koen Luyckx ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Congenital Heart Disease ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Health Behaviour ◽  
Congenital Heart ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Optimal Health ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
Higher Educational Attainment

Background Health behaviours are essential to maintain optimal health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications in adults with congenital heart disease. This study aimed to describe health behaviours in adults with congenital heart disease in 15 countries and to identify patient characteristics associated with optimal health behaviours in the international sample. Design This was a cross-sectional observational study. Methods Adults with congenital heart disease ( n = 4028, median age = 32 years, interquartile range 25–42 years) completed self-report measures as part of the Assessment of Patterns of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Adults with Congenital Heart disease - International Study (APPROACH-IS). Participants reported on seven health behaviours using the Health Behaviors Scale-Congenital Heart Disease. Demographic and medical characteristics were assessed via medical chart review and self-report. Multivariate path analyses with inverse sampling weights were used to investigate study aims. Results Health behaviour rates for the full sample were 10% binge drinking, 12% cigarette smoking, 6% recreational drug use, 72% annual dental visit, 69% twice daily tooth brushing, 27% daily dental flossing and 43% sport participation. Pairwise comparisons indicated that rates differed between countries. Rates of substance use behaviours were higher in younger, male participants. Optimal dental health behaviours were more common among older, female participants with higher educational attainment while sports participation was more frequent among participants who were younger, male, married, employed/students, with higher educational attainment, less complex anatomical defects and better functional status. Conclusions Health behaviour rates vary by country. Predictors of health behaviours may reflect larger geographic trends. Our findings have implications for the development and implementation of programmes for the assessment and promotion of optimal health behaviours in adults with congenital heart disease.

Bait pricing: evaluating the success of regulatory reform in advertising

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-345
Author(s):  
Valerie Kupke ◽  
Peter Rossini ◽  
Paul Kershaw
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Home Ownership ◽  
Regulatory Reform ◽  
The State ◽  
Percentage Change ◽  
Price Difference ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legislative Reform ◽  
Market Values ◽  
Before And After

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of this legislative reform in the state of South Australia (SA) through an examination of the relationship between listed or advertised price and transaction prices before and after the changes in regulation. Between 2000 and 2008, legislative changes took place throughout Australia to make real-estate transactions more transparent and to deal with misleading conduct by real-estate agents. The practice of “charm” or “bait” pricing was targeted. This denotes the under-quoting of estimated selling prices in real-estate sale advertisements which can be considered deceptive or even fraudulent. Design/methodology/approach – The study area is Adelaide, the state capital of SA and includes analysis of first and last advertised prices and eventual selling price for > 120,000 residential sales transactions over a nine-year period between 2003 and 2011. The analysis to test these hypotheses included, first, a descriptive evaluation of the percentage price difference over time and a spatial breakdown of mean percentage price difference before and after legislation. Second, for each hypothesis, the change was tested by measuring the variance of the percentage change, with significance established through the Levene and Brown–Forsythe tests, rather than by the mean percentage change. Findings – The results, both descriptive and statistical, support the effectiveness of the reform in legislation. Research limitations/implications – The study has application in terms of agents as social gatekeepers and confirms the role of regulation to ensure market values are achieved and consumers not disadvantaged. With friction in the market, imperfect information and the possible behavioural responses of land agents, there may be incomplete market correction of underpricing strategies. This paper confirms the effectiveness of one such market intervention. Social implications – Some half a million dwellings are purchased in Australia every year. Annually, in the state of SA, some 53,000 dwellings are financed to be purchased or built. These levels of purchase reflect national home ownership rates of about 69 per cent, with some 33 per cent of Australians owning their houses outright and a growing number, some 36 per cent, owners with a mortgage. Australian households also move house relatively frequently. In 2008, 43 per cent of Australians reported moving in the previous 5 years, 15 per cent had moved 3 or more times. The most common reasons for moving were twofold, either to buy a house or to buy a bigger house. These levels of purchase, home ownership and mobility underpin the importance and viability of some 10,000 real-estate services businesses in Australia; a sector which, up to 2,000, was largely self-regulated. Originality/value – This paper is one of the first in Australia to effectively quantify the success of legislative reform on residential agency behaviour.

COVID-19 alters focus of cyberespionage

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
World Health ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pharmaceutical Firms ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Multilateral Institutions ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Significance Calls by the UN and civil society organisations for a cyberspace ‘ceasefire’ have made little difference. Impacts Trust in multilateral institutions such as the World Health Organization will be undermined if they suffer cyberattacks. Post-pandemic, China is likely to experience a rise in cyber intrusions from upcoming cyber actors such as Vietnam. Although better prepared than research institutions, large pharmaceutical firms are not immune to cyberespionage.

scholarly journals Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment

Appetite ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Lawrence ◽  
Wolff Schlotz ◽  
Sarah Crozier ◽  
Timothy C. Skinner ◽  
Cheryl Haslam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Psychological Variables ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
Higher Educational Attainment

scholarly journals Origin and integration: a study of migrants in the 2016 Irish Census

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances McGinnity ◽  
◽  
Ivan Privalko ◽  
Éamonn Fahey ◽  
Doireann O'Brien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
Higher Educational Attainment ◽  
Migrant Groups

Many migrant groups have higher educational attainment but higher unemployment levels, according to a new ESRI study.

scholarly journals The Legal Framework for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Cameroon by Non-Governmental Organisations

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-45
Author(s):  
Alvine Longla Boma
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The State ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Right

Civil Society organisations play key roles in African countries. This is not an exception in the Cameroonian dispensation. Indeed, the existence and operation of civil societies in this jurisdiction is legitimated by a 1990 law allowing the free formation of associations. Even though the state has the primary obligation to promote and protect human rights, there also exists a plethora of associations with the same interest. This paper is motivated by the state’s wanton failure in ensuring the enjoyment and fulfilment of the right. For one thing, the state has maintained a stronghold on the Civil Society through legislation which gives public authorities a leverage over human rights defenders. Moreover, an analysis of existing legal and institutional frameworks available to allow human rights non-governmental organisations thrive, leaves much to be desired. Findings reveal that though there are adequate laws and institutions which ensure the creation and functioning of Civil Society organisations in Cameroon, there are also contradictory laws which give the public authority an edge over these organisations and allow them to sanction the activities of some human rights defenders under the guise of maintaining public order. We argue that there should be adequate protection offered to human rights defenders as well as the relaxation of laws permitting public authorities to illegally sanction the activities of relevant non-governmental organisations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document