Intra State Infrastructural Disparity in Maharashtra

Maharashtra is the economically leading state in the country. The state comprises 36 districts that are divided into six revenue divisions. There is a wide disparity in the state at the regional level and among the districts in terms of development. Infrastructure being the important accelerator of economic activities in any region is not balanced in the state. This paper highlights this intra state disparity considering nine broad infrastructural categories. The method of ranking analysis is used for this purpose. It is observed that Pune, Konkan, Nashik and Nagpur are the regions of comparatively good infrastructure development in state whereas Aurangabad and Amravati are the regions of comparatively low level of infrastructure development. At district level most of the districts are falling in the Pune, Konkan, Nashik and Nagpur region but there is a change in ranking position in various districts during 2010 to 2015. The widening gap in infrastructure development in resent past highlights the serious concern of governmental intervention in bridging the development gap in infrastructure and resultant inequalities.

Effects of Governmental Intervention on Foodborne Disease Events: Evidence from China

Foodborne disease events (FDEs) endanger residents’ health around the world, including China. Most countries have formulated food safety regulation policies, but the effects of governmental intervention (GI) on FDEs are still unclear. So, this paper purposes to explore the effects of GI on FDEs by using Chinese provincial panel data from 2011 to 2019. The results show that: (i) GI has a significant negative impact on FDEs. Ceteris paribus, FDEs decreased by 1.3% when government expenditure on FDEs increased by 1%. (ii) By strengthening food safety standards and guiding enterprises to offer safer food, government can further improve FDEs. (iii) However, GI has a strong negative externality. Although GI alleviates FDEs in local areas, it aggravates FDEs in other areas. (iv) Compared with the eastern and coastal areas, the effects of GI on FDEs in the central, western, and inland areas are more significant. GI is conducive to ensuring Chinese health and equity. Policymakers should pay attention to two tasks in food safety regulation. Firstly, they should continue to strengthen GI in food safety issues, enhance food safety certification, and strive to ensure food safety. Secondly, they should reinforce the co-governance of regional food safety issues and reduce the negative externality of GI.

Evidence for third-party mediation but not punishment in Mentawai justice

Researchers argue that third-party involvement is critical for sustaining human cooperation, yet how third parties contribute remains unclear, especially in small-scale, politically decentralized societies. In a study of wrongdoing and punishment among the Mentawai horticulturalists of Indonesia, we test two hypotheses of third-party involvement: punishment and mediation. From a sample of 444 transgressions, most of which were followed by the payment of a fine (usually in pigs, durian trees, etc.), we find no evidence of third-party punishment. Victims or aggrieved family members demanded fines, and if an aggressor was punished for failing to pay, punishment was always imposed by the victim or an aggrieved party and never by third parties. We also find little evidence of indirect sanctions by third parties. Nearly 20% of transgressions were followed by no punishment, and as predicted by dyadic models of punishment, punishment was less likely when transgressions were among related individuals. At the same time, third parties—especially shamans and elders—were often called as mediators, and mediators were called more as cooperation was threatened. Moreover, government officials appear to fill similar roles as community mediators, demonstrating how governmental intervention might contribute to the decline of local leadership institutions. These findings suggest that, among the Mentawai, institutionalized punishment functions more to restore dyadic cooperation than to enforce norms.

The Case of India

A segmented healthcare system evolved in India by 1990s, whereby the rich population depended on private hospitals while the people at the bottom of the economic pyramid went to the poor-quality public hospitals. In a democracy of equals, unequal access to services became political when COVID-19 began to put pressure on the health system. Corruption that was normalized in a segmented healthcare system could no longer be ignored. To advance the framework of social quality, we examine the corruption that unfolded during the pandemic in India from the perspective of moral foundation theory. We study the issues raised by political parties during the pandemic and court directives responding to citizen grievances. The evidence shows there was inequality of access and that courts had to intervene to try to rectify the situation. In the absence of effective governmental intervention during the pandemic, moral norms become a useful explanatory factor for social quality.

Influence Mechanism on Supplier Emission Reduction Based on a Two-Level Supply Chain

The purpose of this paper is to investigate environmental performance of a supply chain which consists of an upstream supplier and a downstream firm. A mathematical model considering both downstream firm’s monitoring and governmental intervention is developed. Afterwards, a numerical example is presented to show the equilibriums of these models and the optimal choices of firms and government. The results show that when customers’ environmental awareness increases, both total environmental impact and social welfare decrease. The downstream firm’s monitoring will certainly reduce the total environmental impact. In most cases, it does not matter whether the downstream firm chooses to monitor the supplier or not, the total environmental impact and social welfare would not be affected when the government chooses subsidy. If a subsidy is present, firms and environment will be better than those without subsidy. Hence, the government is more likely to choose to provide subsidy and the downstream firm will not monitor the supplier’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction effort. In a few cases when environmental impact is too large, taxation may be the optimal choice for the government and the downstream firm will choose to monitor the supplier’s GHG emissions reduction investment.

Recent Changes in the German Investment Screening Mechanism in Light of the EU Screening Regulation

In 2020 and 2021, the German investment screening laws, namely Außenwirtschaftsgesetz (AWG) and Außenwirtschaftsverordnung (AWV) were again subject to considerable reform induced by new legislation at the European level and a reshaped industry policy agenda at the national level. This article critically reviews the most significant changes brought about by one law (Erstes Gesetz zur Änderung des Außenwirtschaftsgesetzes und anderer Gesetze) and three ordinances (Fünfzehnte, Sechzehnte und Siebzente Verordnung zur Änderung der Außenwirtschaftsverordnung) and provides an overview of the reformed screening procedure. Although claims in this direction have been made, neither the reform nor the underlying Screening Regulation (EU) 2019/452 have altered the objective of review – the protection of public order or security – or bar for governmental intervention – actual and sufficiently serious danger. Both these were not ‘overwritten’ by secondary law and continue to be determined by the pertinent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Notwithstanding this, the reform has considerably widened the ‘sensitive sectors’ in which pertinent investments must be notified to and cleared by the authorities. ‘Gun jumping’ is prohibited and parties moving forward nonetheless risk criminal prosecution. Reform has also standardised the deadlines for governmental intervention and brought about procedural clarity. What the many and frequent changes reveal on a more fundamental level is a progressing politicisation and securitisation of investment screening law.

Defining Focus Areas for Digitization to Reduce Construction Industry Generated CO2 Emissions

The amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the construction industry is significant, therefore it should be addressed to protect our environment in the 21st century. The present research is the starting point for a more complex analysis in bioengineering science. It examines the possibilities of implementing digital technologies and the gains that their application can achieve. The research provides an overview of CO2 emissions from construction processes and identifies areas that may focus on future detailed analysis. The study consists of two main parts: a literature review and an interview with digitization experts focused on the issues identified. The present research guides future development focus areas comparing interviews by market and scientific studies. It is essential to determine how significant results can be achieved by using modern digital tools and methodologies. In this way, the extent to which they affect global emissions can be examined, and their impact can be quantified. In the research, the full spectrum of the construction industry was explored, hence we comprehensively analyzed the impact and problems of the processes belonging to each phase of the lifecycle. Although the environmental impact of raw material extraction and processing is significant, its techniques can be improved primarily through innovative solutions that require organizational or governmental intervention. By examining the building phase and post-building phases of the lifecycle, significant reductions in emissions can be achieved through more detailed design, optimized construction, and well-thought-out operation and demolition processes. As a result, immediate interventions are needed in existing methods and procedures. Sustainable construction can be supported by applying new, more accurate, innovative, and higher quality design, construction, operation, and demolition methods. These changes will facilitate the implementation of digitization processes in the construction industry at a higher level and prepare proposals for the solution of environmental problems in the construction industry.

如何看待政府在疫病中的干預？自由至上主義的道德困境

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English. 在「自由至上主義」(Libertarianism)的政治哲學詞典中，「政府干預」(state interference)或「政府父權主義」(state paternalism)基本上是一個貶義詞，因為政府意味著官僚、腐敗、無效率，意味著對公民個體自由的干預和限制。然而，自2020年以來在全球範圍內爆發和流行的新冠疫情，讓一貫反政府干預、堅持「小政府」原則的自由至上派的學者倍受挑戰。 面對疫情的肆虐，許多人認為政府的干預（如封城、鎖國、宵禁、隔離、邊控等措施的實行）是必要的。本文探討自由至上主義的自由觀在疫病中所面臨的道德兩難以及政府應在公共衛生管理中扮演的角色。作者指出，雖然自由至上主義的一些有關自由的理念在現實生活中顯得過於教條和不切實際，但從另一個角度看，當我們一再倒向政府的力量以抗擊疫情之時， 我們更需要自由至上主義對我們的提醒，以防政府利用疫情不斷擴大自身的權力範圍，最終傷害每個人的自由權利。 For Libertarians, state interference or state paternalism has a pejorative meaning given that government often implies bureaucracy, corruption, and inefficiency. However, such a view has faced significant resistance since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. For the sake of public health, many people now believe that we must accept much greater governmental intervention in our lives and that it is morally permissible and necessary to have public policies such as lockdowns, mandatory social distancing, border restrictions, and mandatory vaccination. Is it true that “there are no libertarians in a pandemic”? This paper explores the role of the government and the meaning of individual liberty in the face of the current public health crisis. The author contends that the Libertarian views of civil liberty and self-ownership should be taken more seriously as the government obtains more power and a host of extraordinary interventions are being implemented during the pandemic.

“An Experiment in Optimism Was Coming to an End”: Gift Exchange and Giftedness in Two Novels of the Occupy Era

This article examines the role of “gifts” and “giftedness” in two recent novels about Occupy Wall Street, Barbara Browning's The Gift and Caleb Crain's Overthrow. Together these novels explore how projects designed to offset the effects of neoliberal individualism very often end up replicating, rather than disrupting, aspects of capitalist exchange: the authors temper their own utopian impulses by interrogating the factors which prevent systemic change, such as individual complacency and governmental intervention. The article considers the cycle of gift giving launched by Browning's narrator, a project which falters because her understanding of economization is inadequate, and because she refuses to take account of her own class position. Crain's group of young Brooklynites believe that mind reading draws people together and prevents social isolation. While the vagueness of their aims can be taken as an implied narrative criticism of their impractical plans, the reason they abandon the project is because it encroaches on the government's surveillance programme, which identifies them as security threats.