Microfinance and Women's Empowerment in Bangladesh: A Study of Competing Logics and Their Implications for Accounting and Accountability Systems

<p>This study explores the issues of microfinance and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh, and their implications for accounting and accountability systems. The topic is politically contentious. There are debates about what ‘women’s empowerment’ means, how it fits with the other stated objectives of microfinance, how the success of microfinance should be evaluated, whether women are actually being empowered through microfinance initiatives, and concerns about the accountability of microfinance institutions (Kilby, 2006; Rahman, 1999). My study examines these controversies, drawing and building on Mayoux (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) and the work of others on ‘competing logics’ evident in microfinance theory and practice. In particular, it compares and contrasts ‘economic’ and ‘social’ logics and explores their implications for how accounting and accountability systems are conceptualised and operationalised. In recognition of the dominance of economic logics in traditional accounting, it also responds to calls to develop more multi-dimensional accountings and ways of operationalising proposals for greater social accountability (Bebbington et al., 2007; Brown, 2009; Dillard and Roslender, 2011; Kilby, 2006, 2011; Kindon et al., 2007; Molisa et al., 2012). Through a participatory action research case study, my study focuses on the potential of dialogic accounting and accountability systems to address some of the problems and challenges identified in both gender and development studies and accounting literatures.</p>

Microfinance and Women's Empowerment in Bangladesh: A Study of Competing Logics and Their Implications for Accounting and Accountability Systems

<p>This study explores the issues of microfinance and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh, and their implications for accounting and accountability systems. The topic is politically contentious. There are debates about what ‘women’s empowerment’ means, how it fits with the other stated objectives of microfinance, how the success of microfinance should be evaluated, whether women are actually being empowered through microfinance initiatives, and concerns about the accountability of microfinance institutions (Kilby, 2006; Rahman, 1999). My study examines these controversies, drawing and building on Mayoux (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002) and the work of others on ‘competing logics’ evident in microfinance theory and practice. In particular, it compares and contrasts ‘economic’ and ‘social’ logics and explores their implications for how accounting and accountability systems are conceptualised and operationalised. In recognition of the dominance of economic logics in traditional accounting, it also responds to calls to develop more multi-dimensional accountings and ways of operationalising proposals for greater social accountability (Bebbington et al., 2007; Brown, 2009; Dillard and Roslender, 2011; Kilby, 2006, 2011; Kindon et al., 2007; Molisa et al., 2012). Through a participatory action research case study, my study focuses on the potential of dialogic accounting and accountability systems to address some of the problems and challenges identified in both gender and development studies and accounting literatures.</p>

REGULATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT OF WAKF ASSETS BY STAKEHOLDERS IN TANJUNG JABUNG TIMUR REGENCY, JAMBI PROVINCE

In Law Number 41 of 2004 concerning waqf and Government Regulation Number 42 of 2006 concerning the implementation of Law Number 41 of 2004 concerning waqf which regulates immovable and movable waqf to provide opportunities for those whose lives are simple but want to do good. Of the eleven City Regencies in Jambi Province, one of them is Tanjung Jabung Timur Regency. Tanjung Jabung Timur Regency has 11 sub-districts, 20 sub-districts and 73 villages (out of a total of 141 sub-districts, 163 sub-districts and 1,399 villages throughout Jambi). In 2017, the population was 222,834 people with an area of 5,445.00 km² and a population distribution of 41 people/km². The research methodology used is sociological/empirical research and uses a qualitative approach, referring to all regulations or laws and regulations relating to the legal issues under study, namely research on the norms contained in the Qur'an and Al-Hadith. The results of the study, namely the regulation of waqf property management, show that the current waqf property management regulatory system is a pattern of regulation of waqf property management which is still considered traditional-consumptive. This can be known through several aspects: Leadership, Recruitment of nazira human resources, Operationalization of empowerment, Patterns of utilization of results, and control and accountability systems.

Systemic corruption and institutional multiplicity: Brazilian examples of a complex relationship

Systemic corruption is usually described as a stable self-reinforcing equilibrium that traps individuals by reducing incentives to behave honestly. This article assumes that law enforcement institutions may also be trapped in this equilibrium, leaving no alternative to individuals who want to report corruption. Would the existence of multiple institutions performing accountability functions – what we call institutional multiplicity – reduce the probability that all institutions would be trapped in a systemic corruption environment? We start by hypothesizing that even in contexts of systemic corruption there may be ‘pockets of honesty.’ If this is the case, institutional multiplicity, by increasing the number of accountability institutions available, may create avenues for individuals to report corruption. On the other hand, multiplicity may also increase the risk of ‘façade enforcement’ – that is, the mere appearance of accountability that reinforces a systemic corruption equilibrium. We illustrate these two scenarios with Brazilian examples. We end the article with a discussion of the design of accountability systems in contexts of systemic corruption, arguing that there may be advantages in preserving institutional multiplicity if its deleterious effects are addressed. While based on the Brazilian experience, this article advances theoretical hypotheses that may be useful to other countries.

Improving Preschool Accountability Systems: Bringing Individual Children’s Experiences Back to Child Policy

Preschool accountability systems, including Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS), seek to assess, monitor, and improve children’s outcomes across the early care and education (ECE) landscape. QRIS have a number of strengths, especially by focusing on classroom-level quality inputs for all children collectively across multiple domains that are well aligned with developmental science. This article considers how to build on the QRIS framework by highlighting children’s individual experiences within classrooms as a key indicator of quality in addition to the more traditional classroom-level measures. The article first provides the theoretical rationale and empirical evidence for focusing on children’s individual experiences based on new insights from developmental science. The article then illustrates key factors that relate to variation in children’s experiences, including child temperament, gender, age, and race/ethnicity. The article concludes by considering opportunities for innovation to better measure individual children’s experiences in QRIS.

Status, Growth, and Perceptions of School Quality

States and districts are increasingly incorporating measures of achievement growth into their school accountability systems, but there is little research on how these changes affect the public’s perceptions of school quality. We conduct a nationally representative online survey experiment to identify the effects of providing participants with information about their local public schools’ average achievement status and/or average achievement growth. Prior to receiving any information, participants already possess a modest understanding of how their local schools perform in terms of status, but they are largely unaware of how these schools perform in terms of growth. Participants who live in higher status districts tend to grade their local schools more favorably. The provision of status information does not fundamentally change this relationship. The provision of growth information, however, alters Americans’ views about local educational performance. Once informed, participants’ evaluations of their local schools better reflect the variation in district growth.

"SEEKING PERFORMANCE-BASED ACCOUNTABILITY IN ITALIAN PUBLIC HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS"

"Using content and cluster analysis and considering a time span of five years, this study examines the adoption and compliance level of Performance-Based Accountability (PBA) in the Italian Local Healthcare Authorities (LHAs) under the Legislative Decree no. 150/2009. The results showed a barely sufficient level of PBA compliance. Higher levels of citizen involvement in PBA processes, the commitment of Regions, and integration with other accountability systems are three conditions for improving the effectiveness and usefulness for stakeholders of this NPM reform for LHAs."

Varieties of Intelligence Accountability

This chapter uses a comparative approach to identify findings among accountability systems across the Five Eyes intelligence community. Commonalities and trends of convergence in intelligence accountability are relevant for and beyond the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These observations show challenges and opportunities in democracies to reconcile the different logics that inform security and rule-of-law systems. It begins by comparing across types of accountability: review, oversight, compliance, and benchmark criteria such as reasonableness, propriety, proportionality, necessity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Specifically, the comparative findings suggest potential for innovation to play a greater role in signalling trends to governments and improving consistency and quality. The chapter then compares types of accountability bodies and commissions. The remainder of the chapter compares attributes of accountability: mandates, appointment processes, and qualifications for membership, reports, powers, access to information, security requirements, and procedural discretion. It closes on the emerging need to coordinate accountability across an intelligence system. Coordination within an accountability system allows accountability bodies to avert duplication, fill accountability gaps, and help inform each other about issues of potential importance. Coordination and de-confliction are essential for maximizing overall efficiency and effectiveness of accountability systems where mandates of multiple bodies may overlap or conflict.