Garry D. Carnegie and Stephen P. Walker
The purpose of this paper is to extend the work of Carnegie and Walker and report the results of Part 2 of their study on household accounting in Australia during the period from…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the work of Carnegie and Walker and report the results of Part 2 of their study on household accounting in Australia during the period from the 1820s to the 1960s.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a microhistorical approach involving a detailed examination of actual accounting practices in the Australian home based on 18 sets of surviving household records identified as exemplars and supplemented by other sources which permit their contextualisation and interpretation.
Findings
The findings point to considerable variety in the accounting practices pursued by individuals and families. Household accounting in Australia was undertaken by both women and men of the middle and landed classes whose surviving household accounts were generally found to comprise one element of diverse and comprehensive personal record keeping systems. The findings indicate points of convergence and divergence in relation to the contemporary prescriptive literature and practice.
Originality/value
The paper reflects on the implications of the findings for the notion of the household as a unit of consumption as opposed to production, gender differences in accounting practice and financial responsibility, the relationship between changes in the life course and the commencement and cessation of household accounting, and the relationship between domestic accounting practice and social class.
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POSSIBLE WAY OUT: FORMALIZING HOUSING INFORMALITY IN EGYPTIAN CITIES
Robert Brown, Ayona Datta, Germán T. Cruz, Robert J. Koester and George R. Smith
OWNERSHIP, LEADERSHIP AND TRANSFORMATION CAN WE DO BETTER FOR CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT?CHALLENGE OF SLUMS: GLOBAL REPORT ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS 2003SMALL CHANGE ABOUT THE ART OF PRACTICE…
Abstract
OWNERSHIP, LEADERSHIP AND TRANSFORMATION CAN WE DO BETTER FOR CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT?
CHALLENGE OF SLUMS: GLOBAL REPORT ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS 2003
SMALL CHANGE ABOUT THE ART OF PRACTICE AND THE LIMITS OF PLANNING IN CITIES
THE PHILOSOPHYOF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
THE URBAN HOUSING MANUAL: MAKING REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS WORK FOR THE POOR
Martin Loosemore, Robyn Keast, Josephine Barraket, George Denny-Smith and Suhair Alkilani
This research addresses the lack of project management research into social procurement by exploring the risks and opportunities of social procurement from a cross-sector…
Abstract
Purpose
This research addresses the lack of project management research into social procurement by exploring the risks and opportunities of social procurement from a cross-sector collaboration perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis of five focus groups conducted with thirty-five stakeholders involved in the implementation of a unique social procurement initiative on a major Australian construction project is reported.
Findings
Results show little collective understanding among project stakeholders for what social procurement policies can achieve, a focus on downside risk rather than upside opportunity and perceptions of distributive injustice about the way new social procurement risks are being managed. Also highlighted is the tension between the collaborative intent of social procurement requirements and the dynamic, fragmented and temporary project-based construction industry into which they are being introduced. Ironically, this can lead to opportunistic behaviours to the detriment of the vulnerable people these policies are meant to help.
Practical implications
The paper concludes by presenting a new conceptual framework of project risk and opportunity management from a social procurement perspective. Deficiencies in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) are also highlighted around an expanded project management role in meeting these new project management requirements.
Originality/value
Social procurement is becoming increasingly popular in many countries as a collaborative mechanism to ensure construction and infrastructure projects contribute positively to the communities in which they are built. This research addresses the lack of project management research into social procurement by exploring the risks and opportunities of social procurement from a cross-sector collaboration perspective.
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George Denny-Smith and Martin Loosemore
The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to entry for Indigenous businesses into the Australian construction industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to entry for Indigenous businesses into the Australian construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A national survey was conducted with 33 Indigenous businesses operating in the Australian construction industry.
Findings
The findings show that Indigenous enterprises face similar challenges to many small non-Indigenous enterprises wishing to enter the industry. These include adjusting to unique construction industry cultures and practices, breaking into existing business networks and building social capital and being under-cut by industry incumbents and competitors when tendering for projects. These barriers are similar to those faced by other non-Indigenous social enterprises, although Indigenous enterprises do appear to experience relatively greater difficulty in starting-up their businesses and in securing sufficient capital, finance and assistance to enable them to scale-up and tender for normal work packages at a competitive price.
Research limitations/implications
The results are limited to Australian Indigenous businesses. The survey does not allow a comparison of non-Indigenous and Indigenous businesses, although comparison of results with existing non-Indigenous research into small to medium-sized firms in construction does allow some tentative insights. These need to be explored further.
Practical implications
These results indicate that there are significant barriers to be addressed within the Australian construction industry if government indigenous procurement policies are to achieve their stated aims of increasing the number of Indigenous firms in the industry. The results also have important implications for Indigenous businesses and for non-Indigenous firms operating in the Australian construction industry.
Social implications
This is an important gap in knowledge to address if countries like Australia are to redress the significant inequalities in income and health suffered by Indigenous populations.
Originality/value
In countries like Australia, with significant Indigenous populations, governments are seeking to address persistent disadvantage by using new social procurement initiatives to create quasi construction markets for Indigenous enterprises to participate in the construction industry. While there is an emerging body of research into the barriers facing mainstream small to medium-sized enterprises and, to a lesser extent, social enterprises in construction, the barriers to entry facing Indigenous construction enterprises have been largely ignored.
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Martin Loosemore, George Denny-Smith, Jo Barraket, Robyn Keast, Daniel Chamberlain, Kristy Muir, Abigail Powell, Dave Higgon and Jo Osborne
Social procurement policies are an emerging policy instrument being used by governments around the world to leverage infrastructure and construction spending to address…
Abstract
Purpose
Social procurement policies are an emerging policy instrument being used by governments around the world to leverage infrastructure and construction spending to address intractable social problems in the communities they represent. The relational nature of social procurement policies requires construction firms to develop new collaborative partnerships with organisations from the government, not-for-profit and community sectors. The aim of this paper is to address the paucity of research into the risks and opportunities of entering into these new cross-sector partnerships from the perspectives of the stakeholders involved and how this affects collaborative potential and social value outcomes for intended beneficiaries.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study research is based on a unique collaborative intermediary called Connectivity Centre created by an international contractor to coordinate its social procurement strategies. The findings draw on a thematic analysis of qualitative data from focus groups with 35 stakeholders from the construction, government, not-for-profit, social enterprise, education and employment sectors.
Findings
Findings indicate that potentially enormous opportunities which social procurement offers are being undermined by stakeholder nervousness about policy design, stability and implementation, poor risk management, information asymmetries, perverse incentives, candidate supply constraints, scepticism, traditional recruitment practices and industry capacity constraints. While these risks can be mitigated through collaborative initiatives like Connectivity Centres, this depends on new “relational” skills, knowledge and competencies which do not currently exist in construction. In conclusion, when social procurement policy requirements are excessive and imposed top-down, with little understanding of the construction industry's compliance capacity, intended social outcomes of these policies are unlikely to be achieved.
Originality/value
This research draws on theories of cross-sector collaboration developed in the realm of public sector management to address the lack of research into how the new cross-sector partnerships encouraged by emerging social procurement policies work in the construction industry. Contributing to the emerging literature on cross-sector collaboration, the findings expose the many challenges of working in cross-sector partnerships in highly transitionary project-based environments like construction.
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Summary of Content Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler (1925–1926), is in two parts, “Eine Abrechung” (A Reckoning) and “Die National‐Sozialistische Bewegung” (The National Socialist…
Abstract
Summary of Content Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler (1925–1926), is in two parts, “Eine Abrechung” (A Reckoning) and “Die National‐Sozialistische Bewegung” (The National Socialist Movement). Written at different times, they originally appeared separately.
A fairly consistent finding in research on trust in physicians is that racial and ethnic minorities cite lower levels than whites. This research typically samples only health care…
Abstract
Purpose
A fairly consistent finding in research on trust in physicians is that racial and ethnic minorities cite lower levels than whites. This research typically samples only health care users, which limits our understanding of what underlies distrust. It remains unclear whether the distrust is generalized, which is distrust that is unrelated to using health care regularly or recently.
Methodology/approach
Using data from the Health Information National Trends Survey, multivariable logistic regressions assessed whether racial and ethnic differences in distrust (1) are equivalent among health care users and non-users; (2) regardless of respondents’ health and socio-economic status; and (3) manifest in other health information sources.
Findings
Racial and ethnic minorities are less likely than whites to trust physicians as health information sources. These racial and ethnic differences are equivalent among health care users and non-users, regardless of respondents’ health and socio-economic status. The racial and ethnic patterns do not manifest when predicting trust in other health information sources (Internet, family or friends, government health agencies, charitable organizations).
Research limitations/implications
Data are derived from a cross-sectional survey, which makes it difficult to account comprehensively for self-selection into being a health care user. Despite the limitations, this research suggests that racial and ethnic minorities possess a generalized distrust in physicians, necessitating interventions that move beyond improving health care experiences.
Originality/value
Many researchers have surmised that a generalized distrust in physicians exists among racial and ethnic minorities. This chapter is the first to explicitly examine the existence of such distrust.
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Jacy Downey and Kimberly Greder
The demographics of rural America are rapidly changing and concerns about mental health are growing. This study examined relationships between individual, family, and community…
Abstract
Purpose
The demographics of rural America are rapidly changing and concerns about mental health are growing. This study examined relationships between individual, family, and community factors and depressive symptomology among rural low-income Latina and non-Latina White mothers.
Design
The sample for this study was drawn from the study, Rural Families Speak about Health. Data from interviews with 371 rural low-income mothers (36% Latina; 64% non-Latina White) were analyzed and descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed.
Findings
One-third of mothers experienced clinically significant depressive symptomology; non-Latinas experienced twice the rate as Latinas. Limitation in daily activities due to poor physical health predicted clinically significant depressive symptomology among both groups. Among non-Latinas, high levels of financial distress and lack of healthcare insurance predicted clinically significant depressive symptomology, and use of WIC and high levels of healthful eating and physical activity routines were protective factors. Age, single marital status, unemployment, transportation barriers, food insecurity, and inadequate health insurance predicted clinically significant depressive symptomology among Latinas.
Practical implications
Program administrators should consider factors associated with depression among specific populations as they design programs and services.
Research limitations
Factors not accounted (e.g., nativity of mothers) should be explored to more fully understand predictors of depressive symptomology among rural Latina and non-Latina mothers.
Value
This original research considers how the relationships between individual, family, and community factors and depressive symptomology differ between rural low-income Latina and non-Latina White mothers. The authors discuss potential factors and outcomes related to depressive symptomology and provide suggestions for research, programs and services.