Evaluation in Impact Investing

The emergence of impact investing over the past decade has been accompanied by an increased interest of practitioners and scholars in the impact evaluation topic, one of the twofold pillars of the such an innovative financial approach. To contribute to the international debate, this study adopts a qualitative approach by obtaining results from a systematic literature review of extant research. This is useful to 1) identify the current existing impact evaluation approaches adopted in the field and 2) derive an empirical analysis in the impact investing sector with a focus on impact measurement in social impact bonds. The study opens interesting insights into recognizing the potential for the whole impact investing field, deriving both from theory and evidence of impact evaluation practices.

Political Divisions and Socio-Economic Disparities in Poland: A Geographical Approach

This article attempts to identify the relationship between the persistent polarisation of political opinions and diverse levels of social and economic development. The coexistence of these phenomena may indicate a barrier to inclusive economic development, which connects with the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development. A research aim was to test two hypotheses: Hypothesis 1 (H1)—The increase in the spatial disparity of political support in Poland is persistent; and Hypothesis 2 (H2)—The spatial distribution of support for specific political options shows significant correlations with the distribution of social and economic growth. The study involves the following research methods implementation: desk research, intensity indicators and regression analysis. The results confirmed the persistence of spatial divisions in political support, whose distribution reflects to a large extent the diverse levels of social and economic development that exist. Two axes dividing Poland are identified, one between west and east and the other between urban and rural areas. The article connects with the international debate regarding “places that don’t matter” and the reasons behind the growing popularity of populist ideas in society.

Cognitive Returns to Having Better Educated Teachers: Evidence from the China Education Panel Survey

Teachers’ own level of human capital development is commonly believed to be deterministic for the quality and effectiveness of their instruction and management in the classroom. Yet, there still exists an international debate on whether better educated teachers contribute to students’ cognitive development. Leveraging a random class-assignment subsample (N = 3436) from a nationally representative teacher-student linked dataset in China, this study reassesses the ongoing contention regarding the value of teacher education. By linking differences in teachers’ own educational attainment levels across different subjects of instruction to variation in seventh grade students’ Chinese, Math and English test scores using student fixed-effect models, this study quantifies the cognitive returns attributable to better educated teachers, in student learning terms. Findings show that teachers with at least a bachelor’s degree contribute substantially to student learning compared to those who are less qualified, by as much as 0.069 SDs or about two additional months of learning over a typical academic year. Additional sensitivity analyses suggest that this observed effect is robust to model specifications, and is consistent for students from different backgrounds.

Competence in light of the challenges of the VUCA reality as an important element of human rights

The article presents the genesis of human rights of the different generations in the aspect of development, describes the role and place of human beings in the context of technological change and competence mismatch as a challenge for the education system. The aim of the article is to consider the essence of understanding the content of human rights and in particular the right to education in the context of changing realities and changing competence needs under VUCA conditions. The research hypothesis is the claim that currently the understanding of the content of human rights is less and less adapted to the labile reality. The article contains a recommendation to start an international debate on the elaboration of a new international document (successor to the Sustainable Development Goals), the central element of which should be the partnership for education (Education Alliance 2050).

Sites of violence and their communities: Critical memory studies in the post-human era (Kraków, 24–25 September 2019)

This discussion gathers voices of an international group of researchers and practitioners from various disciplines and institutions who focus on diverse aspects of sites of past violence in their work: archaeology, history, ethics, literature and art, curatorial practices, oral history, education and commemoration. The debate, which took place during the conference “Sites of Violence and Their Communities: Critical Memory Studies in the Post-Human Era” in Kraków in September 2019, itself centres on six main topics: the question of archives of uncommemorated killing sites; research methodology; the position of the researchers themselves; the problem of complicity during conflict and the right to be a witness to past crimes; the place of the Righteous Among the Nations within Polish collective memory and the international debate on the Holocaust; and, finally, new ways of commemoration and education about mass violence. Participants: Katarzyna Bojarska, Michał Chojak, Ewa Domańska, Zuzanna Dziuban, Karolina Grzywnowicz, Aleksandra Janus, Karina Jarzyńska, Maria Kobielska, Rob van der Laarse, Bryce Lease, Erica Lehrer, Jacek Leociak, Tomasz Łysak, Tomasz Majkowski, Christina Morina, Matilda Mroz, Adam Musiał, Agnieszka Nieradko, Łukasz Posłuszny, Roma Sendyka, Caroline Sturdy Colls, Katarzyna Suszkiewicz, Aleksandra Szczepan, Krijn Thijs, Jonathan Webber, Anna Zagrodzka, Tomasz Żukowski

Disciplining Role of Auditor Tenure and Mandatory Auditor Rotation

This study addresses the international debate over whether the rotation of audit firms should be mandatory. Mandatory rotation rules have been adopted by the European Union, but these rules have not been established in the United States. Proponents of the policy believe that a long-tenure auditor-client relationship leads to the auditor building an excessive economic bond with the client which may then erode auditor independence. Motivated by this claim, I build a theoretical model that compares auditor incentives to issue independent reports under regimes with and without mandatory rotation. The model demonstrates conditions under which mandatory rotation could actually impair auditor independence, contrary to the popular view.

Teacher education research: values-based planning in an uncertain world

The global significance of teacher education has never been greater than it is today. In this world where migration, inequality, climate change, political upheavals and strife continue to be manifest in many locations around the world, governments and scholars alike are increasingly considering what role education systems can play in achieving stability and managed, sustainable economic development. With growing awareness that the quality of education is very closely related to the quality of teachers and teaching, teacher education has moved into a key strategic location in international debate and discussion. This proposition is as true and pertinent in the global south and east as it is in the northern and western worlds. All of these concerns have been amplified by the impact of the global viral pandemic. There are many moral challenges to be faced by teacher educators, policymakers and researchers.

Understanding the "Micro" in Political Micro-Targeting: An Analysis of Facebook Digital Advertising in the 2019 Federal Canadian Election

Background: There is a vigorous international debate on the effects of political micro-targeting on campaigning practices and on the integrity of democracy. It arguably encourages a more fragmented and transactional politics where localised claims and promises remain unchallenged. Analysis: If political micro-targeting requires a precisely segmented audience, a specific location and, most importantly a focussed policy message, then how much political micro-targeting actually occurs in Canadian elections? We analysed a sample of ads (from Facebook’s public archive) on two critical dates during the 2019 federal elections. Conclusions and Implications: Only a small minority of ads (7%) met these criteria; most critically lacked precision on one, or two, of these variables. Our findings suggest the need for a more nuanced understanding of the practice, and greater transparency. Contexte: Il y a un débat international vigoureux sur les effets du micro-ciblage politique sur les pratiques de campagne et sur l'intégrité de la démocratie. Il sert sans doute à une politique fragmentée et transactionnelle où les revendications et les promesses localisées restent incontestées. Analyse: Si le micro-ciblage politique nécessite un auditoire segmenté avec précision, un lieu spécifique et surtout, un message stratégique ciblé, combien de micro-ciblage politique y a-t-il réellement lors des élections canadiennes? Nous avons analysé un échantillon d'annonces (provenant des archives publiques de Facebook) à deux dates critiques lors des élections fédérales de 2019. Conclusions et implications: Seule une petite minorité des annonces (7%) répondait à ces critères: la plupart des publicités manquait de précision sur une ou deux de ces variables. Nos résultats suggèrent un recours à une compréhension plus nuancée de la pratique, et une plus grande transparence. Mots-clés: La vie privée, communication politique, médias sociaux, analyse de contenu.

Towards Harmonised Frameworks for the Liquidation of Non-Systemically Relevant Credit Institutions in the EU?

As part of its ongoing consultation on the European crisis management and deposit insurance framework currently available for the management of bank failures within the EU generally and the Banking Union in particular, the European Commission has called for the respondents’ views as to the need for further harmonisation of resolution arrangements for banks that currently do not qualify for resolution under the auspices of the Single Resolution Mechanism. In this respect, the consultation takes up a broader discussion on the need for harmonised bank insolvency regimes within the EU, which also ties in with an earlier international debate on the functional characteristics of optimal bank insolvency regimes initiated by international standard setters in the early 2000s. Against this backdrop, the paper analyses the case for further reform, and identifies potential impediments (both technical and political) to be expected in this regard. It argues that, while a full harmonisation of resolution powers and the centralisation of decision-making powers can be expected to address relevant concerns regarding the status quo, a comprehensive harmonisation can also be expected to meet with substantial political opposition, which in turn requires a better understanding of the functional requirements to be met by less ambitious reforms.