Critical Factors Responsible for Time Overruns in Nigeria Building Construction Industry

Time overruns are major problems facing the Nigerian construction industry. It’s of high concern to those who are involved in the construction industry. This study was carried out to identify the major causes of time overruns in the Nigerian building construction industry, by means of a literature review and a questionnaire survey. A total of twenty (20) time overrun causative factors were obtained from the literature. The questionnaire survey was distributed to randomly selected respondents from a combination of clients, consultants, contractors, site engineers, project managers and sub-contractors. In all, one hundred and forty-one (141) questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected respondents (clients, consultants, contractors, site-engineers, project-managers and sub-contractors), one hundred and thirty-two (132) questionnaires were returned out of which three (3) questionnaires were found incomplete and invalid. Only one hundred and twenty-nine (129) questionnaires were found consistent and valid for use in this research. Relative Importance Index (RII) and Severity Index were used to carry out a ranking analysis. Based on the data received, the five (5) most severe factors influencing project handling overtime in Nigeria construction industries are Inaccurate evaluation of projects time/duration (91.9%), Risk and uncertainty associated with projects (91.6%), Complexity of works (87.6%), Weak regulation and control (86.8%) and Lack of financial power with severity (86.3%).

Regulating Midwives: Foreclosing Alternatives in the Policymaking Process in West Java, Indonesia

Promotion of “skilled birth attendants” (SBAs) in global maternal health policy has prompted a range of policy responses to “traditional birth attendants” (TBAs). In Indonesia the response has been to develop a national policy of partnership between SBAs (bidan) and TBAs (dukun bayi). This policy aims to ensure the presence of an SBA at every birth yet offers a role for TBAs. In this chapter I examine the development of a district regulation on partnership, promoted within the context of decentralization policies enacted in Indonesia from 1999. The district regulation aimed to strengthen the national policy in a location in West Java where TBAs remain popular. Drawing on 10 months of fieldwork from 2012 to 2013 at a district health office and on observations of its outreach programs, I elucidate how the regulation on partnership was promoted through the policy entrepreneurship of certain key figures in the district health office. They argued that the partnership regulation was the fastest means to improve maternal health. But casting a spotlight on the relationship between SBAs and TBAs diverted attention away from other health system challenges including under-resourced medical facilities and a weak referral system. Three contexts played into this process of bringing the partnership issue to the fore: global policies promoting SBAs and sidelining TBAs; pressure to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on maternal mortality; and the limited financial power and decision space afforded to districts under decentralization in Indonesia. In this context, the regulation offered a viable path for demonstrating commitment to improving maternal health outcomes, yet one that failed to address broader constraints in the health system that contribute to persistent high maternal mortality rates.

Antisemitism and Covid-19 on Twitter. The search for hatred online between automatisms and qualitative evaluation

The article presents a case study on Antisemitic hate speech in Twitter in the period September 2019 - May 2020, with a particular focus on the months of the Covid-19 emergency. The corpus, consisting of 160.646 tweets selected by keywords, was investigated in terms of the amount of hate for each month, rhetoric and forms of Antisemitism. The analysis is carried out through social network analysis (SNA) techniques, with the goal of understanding whether it is possible to automate the process of identifying Antisemitic hatred. 26.11% of tweets contain hatred, that prejudice is the most common rhetoric (44%) and association with financial power the prevailing form (74%). The sample was also compared with another research methodology that only detects the presence of hate words. It emerges that, in addition to an in-depth knowledge of the phenomenon, it is necessary to integrate the automatic classification phase with the manual contribution. Antisemitismo e Covid-19 in Twitter. La ricerca dell’odio online tra automatismi e valutazione qualitativa. L’articolo presenta un caso studio sul discorso d’odio antisemita in Twitter nel periodo settembre 2019 - maggio 2020, con un particolare affondo sui mesi dell’emergenza Covid-19. Il corpus, composto da 160.646 tweet selezionati per parole chiave, è stato indagato in termini di quantità di odio per mese, retoriche utilizzate e forme di antisemitismo. L’analisi è svolta attraverso le tecniche di social network analysis (SNA), con l’obiettivo di capire se sia possibile automatizzare il processo di individuazione dell’odio antisemita. Il 26.11% dei tweet contiene odio, che il pregiudizio è la retorica più presente (44%) e l’associazione al potere finanziario la forma prevalente (74%). Il campione è stato altresì confrontato con un’altra metodologia di ricerca che rileva la sola presenza di hate words. Emerge che, oltre una conoscenza approfondita del fenomeno, occorre integrare la fase di classificazione automatica con l’apporto manuale.

Reimagining geographies of public finance

The study of public finance—the role of government in the economy—has faded in geography as attention to private finance has grown. Disrupting the tendency to fetishize private financial power, this article proposes an expanded conception of public finance that emphasizes its role in shaping geographies of inequality. We conceptualize the relationship between public and private finance as a dynamic interface characterized today by asymmetrical power relations, path-dependent policy solutions, the depoliticization of markets, and uneven distributional effects. A reimagined theory and praxis of public finance can contribute to building abolitionist futures, and geographers are well positioned to advance this project.

Dinamika Pembangunan Ekonomi Di Madura Pada Era Kebiasaan Baru Covid-19; Tantangan dan Peluangnya

This study examines the challenges and opportunities for development in Madura amid the adoption of a new habit era due to the global pandemic, Covid-19. There are three main problems examined in this study; Econimi development in Madura, the era of new habits, and Covid-19. By using qualitative research and analysis based on the sociological theory of development, this study finds a number of findings; first, the dynamics of development in Madura in the midst of the adoption of a new habit era in general experienced quite serious upheavals or shocks, especially in the economic development sector. Second, the opportunities for strengthening Madura development in the midst of the new custom era are relatively open. This is influenced by the geographical condition of Madura as an archipelago which has abundant natural-social wealth, especially those originating from the maritime sector. Empowerment and utilization of natural resources, especially those based on local wisdom, can become a strategy in the midst of turbulent national-global economic chains; Third, to maximize these efforts, it is necessary to have collaboration and synergy with related parties, especially the government. In addition to ensuring the implementation of health protocols, it is equally important to ensure the financial power of the community. Providing stimulus packages, both fiscal and non-fiscal, so that later it can push the wheels of the regional economy. This is at the same time the biggest challenge, how to ensure that the distribution of the stimulus package is carried out in a measured, fast, and on target, as well as touching on fundamental sectors. (Studi ini mengkaji tantangan dan peluang pembangunan ekonomi di Madura di tengah diterapkannya era kebiasaan baru akibat pandemi global, Covid-19. Terdapat tiga permasalahan pokok yang dikaji dalam penelitian ini; pembangunan Madura, era kebiasaan baru, dan Covid-19. Dengan mempergunakan jenis penelitian kualitatif dan analisa berdasarkan teori sosiologi pembangunan, kajian ini mendapati sejumlah temuan; pertama, dinamika pembangunan di Madura di tengah penerapan era kebiasaan baru secara umum mengalami gejolak atau guncangan cukup serius, khususnya di sektor pembangunan ekonomi. Kedua, peluang penguatan pembangunan di Madura di tengah diberlakukannya era kebiasaan baru relatif terbuka. Demikian dipengaruhi oleh kondisi geografis Madura sebagai daerah kepulauan yang mempunyai kekayaan alam-sosial cukup melimpah, terutama yang bersumber dari sektor kemaritiman. Pemberdaayaan dan pemanfaatan kekayaan alam khususnya yang berbasis kearifan lokal dapat menjadi strategi di tengah gejolak rantai ekonomi nasional-global yang tidak menentu; Ketiga, untuk memaksimalkan upaya tersebut, perlu adanya kolaborasi dan sinergitas antara pemerintah dan elemen masyarakat. Selain memastikan jalannya protokol kesehatan, pun tak kalah pentingnya adalah memastikan daya finansial masyarakat. Memberi paket stimulus baik fiskal maupun nonfiskal, sehingga nantinya dapat mendorong roda perekonomian daerah. Ini sekaligus menjadi tantangan terbesar, bagaimana memastikan distribusi paket stimulus tersebut dilakukan secara terukur, cepat, dan tepat sasaran, serta menyentuh sektor-sektor fundamental.)

Financial Power and Democratic Legitimacy: How To Think Realistically About Public Debt

To what extent are questions of sovereign debt a matter for political rather than scientific or moral adjudication? We answer that question by defending three claims. We argue that (i) moral and technocratic takes on sovereign debt tend to be ideological in a pejorative sense of the term, and that therefore (ii) sovereign debt should be politicised all the way down. We then show that this sort of politicisation need not boil down to the crude Realpolitik of debtor-creditor power relations—a conclusion that would leave no room for normative theory, among other problems. Rather, we argue that (iii) in a democratic context, a realist approach to politics centred on what Bernard Williams calls ‘The Basic Legitimation Demand’ affords a deliberative approach to the normative evaluation of public debt policy options.

Does Digital Financial Inclusion Affect Agricultural Eco-Efficiency? A Case Study on China

Agricultural eco-efficiency can effectively reflect the coordinated green and balanced development of rural resources, and digital financial inclusion provides a strong financial power in the process of long-term balanced development of rural areas. There may be a complex relationship between the two. Therefore, based on the panel data of 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in mainland China from 2011 to 2018, this paper explores the impact of digital financial inclusion on agricultural eco-efficiency through the differential GMM method. Further, the paper analyzes how digital financial inclusion influences agricultural eco-efficiency by influencing the agricultural scientific and technological investment. The following conclusions are drawn. First, there is a positive U-shaped nonlinear relationship between digital financial inclusion and agricultural eco-efficiency. Second, the impact of digital financial inclusion on agricultural eco-efficiency is of regional heterogeneity. Digital financial inclusion has a significant positive U-shaped impact on agricultural eco-efficiency in central China but has no significant impact on Eastern and Western China. Third, agricultural R&D investment will intensify the promotion effect of digital financial inclusion on agricultural eco-efficiency.

“Standing Tall and Seeing Far”

Chapter 12 examines the “ways and means” of China’s global grand strategy of expansion, discussing in concrete terms how it is building forms of control globally while weakening those of the United States. It examines this effort across three domains of statecraft, describing how Beijing has put forward global institutions and illiberal norms at the political level, sought to seize the “fourth industrial revolution” and weaken US financial power at the economic level, and increasingly acquired global capabilities and facilities at the military level—all as part of a broader effort to achieve its nationalistic vision of rejuvenation and displace US order.

FINANCIAL AUTONOMY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The transfer of financial authority to other public entities, including local government, means a limitation of the state's authority. The essence of the financial independence of local government units lies in the possibility for the state to share certain attributes of financial power with other public entities, legally and organisationally distinct from the state, including local government units.