Mending Malawi's Water Institutions and IWRM Solutions

The aim of this chapter is to explain the challenges of decentralisation and management of water as economic good principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in Malawi in the rural areas of Ntcheu, Balaka, and Mangochi. Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, community meetings, and observation of water points were conducted. It was established that households and other state institutions prefer to receive services from Mpira-Balaka Water Users Association, which subsidizes households, rather than Southern Regional Water Board, which operates along commercial lines. The chapter questions the focus in the implementation of IWRM, which remain the establishment and fixing of decentralised institutions whilst recognising water as an economic good.

Social Enterprise Places: A Place-Based Initiative Facilitating Syntactic, Semantic and Pragmatic Constructions of Legitimacy

Social Enterprises are becoming a significant force of social as well as economic good despite facing many difficulties that are brought about by their unique characteristics. Chief among these is the question of their perceived legitimacy that impinges upon their ability to gain funding, acquire contracts and appear as capable organisations to potential partnering institutions. This study explores the means by which Social Enterprises are legitimized through participation in the Social Enterprise Place (SEP) programme in the UK. By examining the Boundary Objects (BO) that span the intersections of the incumbent social groups it identifies three pillars upon which SEPs have facilitated SE legitimacy. These pillars comprise (i) the place-based language (syntactic BO), that enables the identification of (ii) common social goals (semantic BOs), and thereby enables the (iii) mobilization of resources toward their resolution (pragmatic BOs). This research provides insight into the facilitation of legitimacy for Social Enterprises that are engaged in a place-based initiative. By responding to Peterson’s (2016) call for macromarketers to take more note of meso level marketing dynamics in different industries the paper highlights the potential for place to facilitate the legitimacy of SEs. In addition, it reveals a further macromarketing dimension to Boundary Object plasticity whereby they may evolve through syntactic, semantic and pragmatic forms over time.

The Care-Responsiveness Barometer: A framework to plan, measure and improve the care-responsiveness of policies, investments and institutions

Care work, paid, unpaid or underpaid, is a critical social and economic good. There is a need to place it at the core of all policy decisions and investments in development work, as well as across institutions. The Care-Responsiveness Barometer has been developed as a guiding tool for all institutions to plan, measure and improve the care-responsiveness of their work.

On Say’s Law, Keynes’s Money, and Post Keynesians

Say’s Law maintains that there can never be a superabundance of all goods (if any good were available in greater supply than needed, such as water or air, it would no longer be an economic good at all) and that if there is an excess of some items that are still goods, it will be matched with an insufficiency of others. The reputation of Keynes (1936) was made in part on the basis of a supposed refutation of Say’s Law. This paper attempts to probe the irrationality of Keynes’ position by examining his concept of money and its relationship to his theory. Key words: Say’s Law; Keynes; money; economic goods; animal spirits; unemployment. JEL Category: E12.

Una aproximación praxeológica a la energía

This paper analyses both, the physical concept of Energy and its applications, from the point of view of the Human Action, or Praxeology. In this task, the author applies the analytical toolbox developed by the Austrian School of Economics. In order to make the analysis comprehensible, this paper first develops the concept of Energy from an Ontological and Scientific perspective, and then offers a brief history of its utilisation by the human being to achieve his goals. Once established the point of departure, energy is characterised as the ultimate economic good of superior order, demonstrating the importance of the dynamic efficiency in its study. The close ties with the wealth of nations is also demonstrated, as it is the relevance of its role in all stages of the production process. Key words: Energy and Economics, Energy and Praxeology, History of Energy concept, History of Energy applications, Energy as an economic good, Energy and Wealth. JEL Classification: A12, B53, N50, N70, Q4, Q40. Resumen: El presente artículo analiza el concepto físico y práctico de energía desde la perspectiva de la acción humana o praxeológica, aplicando en esta tarea el instrumental analítico desarrollado por la escuela austriaca de economía. Para hacer comprensible el análisis, el trabajo desarrolla con anterioridad el concepto de la energía desde el punto de vista ontológico y científico, así como ofrece un breve bosquejo histórico de su utilización por el ser humano para lograr sus metas. Una vez sentadas las bases para un entendimiento común, el artículo justifica la consideración de la energía como el bien económico de orden superior por excelencia, demuestra la importancia de la eficiencia dinámica en su estudio, muestra su estrecha relación con la riqueza de las naciones y la importancia de su papel en las etapas del proceso productivo. Palabras clave: Energía y economía, energía y praxeología, historia del concepto de energía, historia de la aplicación práctica de la energía, energía como bien económico, energía y riqueza. Clasificación JEL: A12, B53, N50, N70, Q4, Q40.

Agua, economía y territorio: nuevos enfoques de la Directiva Marco del Agua para la gestión del recurso

Water is a natural resource that performs different functions in development processes (satisfaction of population’s basic needs, key element for ecosystems and landscapes, input in different economic activities, etc.). Taking into account this relevance and its features as an economic good, public authorities have carried out an important role as regulators. The last milestone in this path has been the approval of the Water Framework Directive. One of the most innovative points of this European rule is the use of economic analysis for the optimisation of different water uses. However, the development of the works done for the design of the new water management plans has shown several shortcomings regarding the economic analysis of water uses, the analysis of costs recovery for water services and the selection of meassures to reach these objectives. In this sense it is necessary to strength the nexus between the policy- making and academic spheres in order to support a more rigorous and effective use of the large scientific knowledge developed in this field.

Domestic Hospitality: As a Practice and an Alternative Economic Arrangement

This article examines the connections between the economic, social and cultural aspects of a rather peculiar practice – events of domestic hospitality which involve a meal. In formats ranging from the formal dinner party to impromptu potluck events, an economic good is transferred from one household to another, ostensibly as a unilateral gift although often prompting reciprocity. Illustrated with results from a mixed methods re-study of the practice of eating out in England, we explore how, and under which circumstances, reciprocity is, or is not, observed. We discuss how to conceptualise this activity in terms of production and consumption, modes of provision, gifts and reciprocity, practice and culture. Interpreting the meaning and function of domestic entertaining, and explaining why it is so highly regarded, is shown to depend on how repetition is aligned with other specific characteristics of the practice. We draw out some implications for the relationship between production and consumption, for social relations under different modes of provision, and for alternative ways of delivering services.