Awer Honey-Hunting Culture With Greater Honeyguides in Coastal Kenya

The remarkable mutualism between humans and greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator) is known still to thrive in only a few places in Africa. Here, we report on the honey-hunting culture of the marginalised Awer people in Kenya, historically a hunter-gatherer culture who today practise a mixed economy including significant amounts of foraging for wild foods. As part of a larger effort to document cross-cultural honey-hunting traditions in Africa, we interviewed six Awer honey-hunters to document their cultural practices. The interviewees reported that they depend on wild honey as a source of income, and that they readily seek the cooperation of honeyguides. Honey-hunting skills and the calls/whistles used to communicate with honeyguides are learnt from their fathers and other elders in village. The best time to honey-hunt is in the months following the big rains (August–December), when interviewees go out honey-hunting once a week on average. Honeyguides are not actively rewarded with wax, as it is believed that once a bird is fed it will not cooperate again for some time, and therefore after the honey harvest is complete, all remaining wax comb is buried. Honey-hunting practices are declining in this region, which interviewees attributed to drought and a lack of interest by the youth. These findings expand our understanding of how human-honeyguide mutualism persists across a range of human cultural variation.

From Mises and Hayek to the Planned and Mixed Economy. Planning Criteria, Basic Income, Guaranteed Job

Arguments of Mises and Hayek, who opposed the planned economy (PE), are used in the paper as a starting point for establishing the objective area of effective application of the PE. The abstract model of PE, based on the definitions of Mises and Hayek, leads to the conclusion that for the effective use of PE, it must be a part of mixed economy and it must produce a limited amount of essential goods of irreducible demand. These goods must be distributed among all members of society free of charge, evenly, without competition. Examples of a mixed economy are given that meet this requirement. Calculations of the personal benefit in the transition to a mixed model of the economy have been carried out. The positive and negative qualities of the planned and market methods of organization are considered. Mixed economy model combines these qualities in optimal construction. An analytical framework has been introduced for the construction of product characterization curves. Such curves provide criteria for determining the efficiency of manufacturing of this product in a planned economy. The general economic prerequisites for the usability of the PE are clarified. The applicability and advantages of the PE for the organization of the universal basic income (UBI) system are demonstrated. The possibility of using PE to solve the problem of guaranteed employment is mentioned.

The National Conservatoire System

Discussion of the educational situation in Paris prepares the main arguments of chapters 1 and 2 in relation to nationalized and independent conservatoires in the provinces. Here, the soft power of the state-financed Paris Conservatoire (founded 1795) is contrasted with the more haphazard attempts of the privately funded Schola Cantorum (founded 1896) to act as a centralizing force. After the Revolution the cathedral choir school (maîtrise) system was initially replaced by the Paris Conservatoire alone, but the need for a deconcentrated national system of succursales was keenly felt. However, the Paris Conservatoire’s pedagogical approach could not immediately be imposed on provincial institutions, and some municipalities guarded their independence. A mixed economy of resistance and compliance resulted in a general trend towards homogenization (unity in uniformity) but more decentralist variety and ambition than the government ministry overseeing them found ideal. The Schola Cantorum showed similar centralizing tendencies but could not achieve significant institutional traction.

Remodeling Street-Level Workers With Quasi-Markets: Comparing Ireland’s Mixed Economy of Welfare-to-Work

Quasi-markets in employment services often follow social policy turns toward activation. Critics see this as no accident, arguing that marketization is intended to raise the odds that workfare policies will be implemented. Drawing on surveys of Irish frontline activation workers, this study harnesses a natural policy experiment whereby Ireland introduced a Payment-by-Results quasi-market alongside a parallel program contracted without outcomes-based contracting. Although the demandingness of activation remains modest in Ireland, the study finds that regulatory approaches are more common under market governance conditions, which in turn has been associated with significant workforce changes and stronger systems of performance monitoring.

An Economic System And Its Elements

An economic system is a set of interrelated elements that make up a common economic structure. It is common to distinguish 4 types of economic structures: traditional economy, command economy, market economy and mixed economy. The following article discusses all the four types of an economic system.