scholarly journals Electoral Arrangements and Turnout Variance at the Sub-National Level: Comparative Insights from Three Constituencies in Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Fortune Agbele
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
National Level ◽  
Individual Perceptions ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Cost Of Voting ◽  
Different Levels

Using micro-level data from three constituencies in Ghana, which are cases of high, average and low turnout respectively, I assess whether voters’ perceptions of the cost of voting (resource and time) can explain such variation in voter turnout. Results suggest that in Ghana, such individual perceptions of the cost associated with voting do not help in explaining variance in voter turnout at the constituency level: Across the different levels of turnout, there is little to no variance in voters’ perceptions. I find that the high positive perceptions of the electoral processes across high, average, and low turnout constituencies are not only due to the activities of the electoral management body but among others, the adjustments by citizens to the process based on their experiences from past elections.

scholarly journals Voter Turnouts in Presidential Elections in Ghana: A Political Economy Analysis Using District-Level Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Kwabena Asomanin Anaman ◽  
Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Income Elasticities ◽  
Price And Income Elasticities ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Political Economy Analysis ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Negative Factors ◽  
Cost Of Voting

During the Fourth Republican electioneering era in Ghana, starting in November 1992, presidential elections are conducted every four years. The 2000 and 2012 elections closely coincided with the national population censuses of 2000 and 2010, respectively. We constructed meso-level models, based on the concept of “average district voter”, to analyse factors influencing voter turnout rates. The results of the analysis indicated that voting was a normal good based on the estimated inelastic price and income elasticities of demand for this good. As expected, the cost of voting incurred by an individual negatively influenced turnout. The other significant negative factors influencing turnout rates included increasing male/female sex ratio (gender), increasing age-based dependency ratio (poverty burden), and disability.

The Legal Context of Turnout

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan E. Leighley ◽  
Jonathan Nagler
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
State Level ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
Legal Context ◽  
Electoral Impact ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Cost Of Voting

This chapter considers the electoral impact the new, wider array of voter registration and election administration laws using a new data set collected on state electoral rules between 1972 and 2008. States vary tremendously as to how easy it is to register and to vote, and previous research suggests that these laws affect who votes because they change the cost of voting. However, most of these studies rely on cross-sectional data, and usually consider the influence of one reform at a time. The chapter provides aggregate (state-level) analyses of the effects of changes in these rules on voter turnout. These analyses help us address the question of whether overall voter turnout has increased as a result of these legal changes. It finds modest effects of election day registration, of absentee voting, and of moving the closing date for registration closer to the election on overall turnout. The effect of early voting is less clear.

scholarly journals Pioneer teachers: How far can individual teachers achieve agency within curriculum development?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Kneen ◽  
Thomas Breeze ◽  
Emma Thayer ◽  
Vivienne John ◽  
Sian Davies-Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
National Level ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Institutional Level ◽  
Meso Level ◽  
Curriculum Framework ◽  
New Curriculum ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Different Levels

AbstractEducation reform requires the commitment and investment of teachers if it is to succeed. Recognising the importance of teacher engagement, some countries have made teacher agency a feature of their curricula. Wales has embraced the notion of teacher agency within the building of its new curriculum by creating a body of Pioneer teachers to shape its new curriculum framework. This paper considers the nature of teacher agency experienced by a group of these Pioneers working on the expressive arts area of the curriculum. It does so through an exploration of the ecological nature of teacher agency, as theorised by Emirbayer and Mische (1998), and it considers agency through a framework of different levels: the micro-level focuses on the individuals and their personal contributions; the macro-level considers Pioneers’ work at national level, liaising with teachers from across the country and taking responsibilityfor creating the curriculum; the meso-level refers to where the two former levels come together, i.e. the Pioneers’ work within their own institution, trialling the new curriculum. The evidence indicates that teacher agency was easier to achieve at micro-level and macro-level, than at meso-level. This paper suggests, therefore, that achieving teacher agency at institutional level is more complex and challenging than is the case at the other levels. Greater understanding and attention are, therefore, needed about how to achieve teacher agency in teachers’ different spheres of work, particularly when working at institutional level.

Voter Turnout and City Performance: Evidence from Italian Municipalities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Lo Prete ◽  
Federico Revelli
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Mayoral Elections ◽  
Administrative Efficiency ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Bad Weather ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Cost Of Voting

Abstract Using data on mayoral elections in large Italian cities during the 2000s, we investigate whether and how voter turnout affects city performance across a number of dimensions. To address the issue of voter turnout endogeneity and identify the transmission mechanism, we exploit exogenous variation in participation rates in mayoral elections due to anticipated shocks (concurrence of local and national elections) and unanticipated shocks (bad weather on the day of the election) to the cost of voting. The results consistently point to a negative impact of voter turnout rates on indicators of urban environmental performance, life quality, and administrative efficiency. Interestingly, though, we find that only anticipated shocks to turnout affect the quality of elected mayors measured on a number of competence dimensions, compatibly with the hypothesis of a selection mechanism whereby parties choose candidates to maximize their chances of winning the elections based on their expectations on voter turnout rates (JEL D72, H72, C26).

Some issues of theory in the study of tenure relations in African agriculture

Africa ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. O. Okoth-Ogendo
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
Complex Phenomenon ◽  
Data Bases ◽  
Precise Nature ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
African Agriculture ◽  
Agrarian Crisis

ProlegomenonWhat has become known as ‘the African agrarian crisis’ is an extremely complex phenomenon. This much is clear from the fact that, despite the very considerable amount of literature which has been accumulated on the subject (Berry, 1984), there is still very little agreement as to its precise nature and dimensions and even less certainty on how to resolve it in the context of national level policies, plans and programmes. What this must mean, inter alia, is that explanations cannot be sought simply in pithy epigrams drawn from grand theories and hastily assembled micro-level data bases.

scholarly journals Pass-Through of Emissions Costs in Electricity Markets

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (9) ◽  
pp. 2872-2899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Fabra ◽  
Mar Reguant
Keyword(s):  
Electricity Markets ◽  
Price Adjustment ◽  
Reduced Form ◽  
Electricity Prices ◽  
Inelastic Demand ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Optimal Bidding ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
The Cost

We measure the pass-through of emissions costs to electricity prices. We perform both reduced-form and structural estimations based on optimal bidding in this market. Using rich micro-level data, we estimate the channels affecting pass-through in a flexible manner, with minimal functional form assumptions. Contrary to many studies in the general pass-through literature, we find that emissions costs are almost fully passed through to electricity prices. Since electricity is traded through high-frequency auctions for highly inelastic demand, firms have weak incentives to adjust markups after the cost shock. Furthermore, the costs of price adjustment are small. (JEL D44, L11, L94, L98, Q52, Q54)

Drugs, Violence, and Development in Colombia: A Department-Level Analysis

2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (03) ◽  
pp. 157-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer S. Holmes ◽  
Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres ◽  
Kevin M. Curtin
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
National Level ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Level Analysis

Abstract Observers say that drug production fuels violence in Colombia, but does coca production explain different levels of violence? This article examines the relationship between coca production and guerrilla violence by reviewing national-level data over time and studying Colombia by department, exploring the interactions among guerrilla violence, exports, development, and displacement. It uses historical analysis, cartographic visualization, and analysis of the trends in four high coca-producing and four violent Colombian departments, along with a department-level fixed effects model. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the department-level analysis suggests that coca production is not the driving force of contemporary Colombian guerrilla violence. Instead, economic factors and coca eradication emerge as prominent explanatory factors.

Exploring the supply and demand factors of varietal turnover in Indian wheat

2015 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. V. KRISHNA ◽  
D. J. SPIELMAN ◽  
P. C. VEETTIL
Keyword(s):  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
National Level ◽  
Wheat Breeding ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
Turnover Rates ◽  
Gradual Decline ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Breeder Seed ◽  
Micro Level

SUMMARYCultivar depreciation – the gradual decline in relative advantage of a cultivated variety over time – accentuates the vulnerability of resource-poor farmers to production risks. The current paper addresses constraints in combating cultivar depreciation of wheat in India. National level data on quoted demand for breeder seeds and breeder seed production indicated a slowdown in the rate of cultivar turnover of wheat, with average varietal age increasing from 9 years in 1997 to 12 years in 2009. Analysis of cultivar adoption patterns among farmer households of Haryana State also indicates that farmers prefer cultivars that were released a decade ago over the recent ones. Cultivar turnover rates are found to be particularly low among marginal farmers. While the structure of India's wheat breeding and seed delivery systems might be the primary cause of slow cultivar turnover, a number of social and economic factors at the micro-level are also responsible. Many of the constraints to technology adoption and wheat productivity growth, identified during the Green Revolution era, persist even today.

scholarly journals Studying the heterogeneity of European higher education institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 1117-1144
Author(s):  
Renato Bruni ◽  
Giuseppe Catalano ◽  
Cinzia Daraio ◽  
Martina Gregori ◽  
Henk F. Moed
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
National Level ◽  
Cumulative Effect ◽  
European Countries ◽  
High Quality Research ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Database Clustering

AbstractThe heterogeneity of the Higher Education (HE) Institutions is one of the main critical issues in the assessment of their performance. This paper adopts a multi-level and multi-dimensional perspective, combining national (macro) and institution (micro) level data, and measuring both research and teaching activity, using performance indicators derived from the European Tertiary Education Register, CWTS Leiden Ranking, and PATSTAT patent database. Clustering and efficiency analysis are combined to characterize the heterogeneity of national HE systems in European countries, and reveal the potential of using micro level data to characterize national level performance. Large differences are observed between the European countries, partially due to the fact that they are in different phases of their scientific (and economic) development and of the re-structuring of their HE systems. Evidence is found that universities specializing either in teaching or in research tend to have a higher efficiency than those institutions balancing research and teaching. Tradeoffs are observed between undergraduate and post-graduate activities, and a “Matthew cumulative effect” seems in place on the European institutions analysed: high quality research is able to attract external funds that stimulate innovative and patenting activities that in turn are self-reinforcing to the scientific activities. The results reveal once more the limits and dangers of one-dimensional approaches to the performance of HEIs.

Econometric Approaches

2021 ◽  
pp. 177-190
Author(s):  
Elvira Silva ◽  
Spiro E. Stefanou ◽  
Alfons Oude Lansink
Keyword(s):  
Reduced Form ◽  
Productivity Change ◽  
Productivity Measurement ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Cost Inefficiency ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Primal And Dual ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Efficiency And Productivity

Econometric approaches provide another avenue to implementing the frameworks and concepts of dynamic efficiency and productivity measurement. This chapter addresses both structural and reduced-form econometric approaches to estimating the dynamic directional distance function directly as well as to estimating the cost function that accommodates technical inefficiency. An application to a farm-level panel data set is presented that estimates the decomposition of dynamic cost inefficiency into technical and allocative inefficiency measures presented in Chapter 4 and then determines the components of primal and dual Luenberger total factor productivity change based on the elaboration of these concepts in Chapter 5. In addition to the discussion of empirical issues, this chapter provides an empirical illustration using micro-level data.

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