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Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

Paul Simshauser, Leonard Smith, Patrick Whish-Wilson and Tim Nelson

The purpose of this article is to analyse electricity supply in the Solomon Islands face extraordinarily expensive electricity tariffs – currently set at 96 c/kWh – making them…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to analyse electricity supply in the Solomon Islands face extraordinarily expensive electricity tariffs – currently set at 96 c/kWh – making them amongst the highest in the world. Power is supplied by a fleet of diesel generators reliant on imported liquid fuels. In this article, the authors model the 14,100 kW power system on the island of Guadalcanal and demonstrate that by investing in a combination of hydroelectric and solar photovoltaic generating capacity, power system costs and reliability can be improved marginally. However, when the authors model a 3-Party Covenant (3PC) Financing structure involving a credit wrap by the Commonwealth of Australia, electricity production costs fall by 50 per cent, thus resulting in meaningful increases in consumer welfare.

Design/methodology/approach

This study’s approach uses an integrated levelised cost of electricity model and dynamic partial equilibrium power system model. Doing so enables the authors to quickly analyse the rich blend of fixed, variable and sunk costs of generating technology options. The authors also focus on the cost of capital that is likely to be achieved under various policy settings.

Findings

The authors find that a 3PC Financing policy can substantially reduce the production costs associated with capital-intensive power projects in an unrated sovereign nation. Such a policy and associated prescriptions are not specific to the Solomon Islands or power generation. The conceptual framework and associated financial logic that underpins the initiative can be generalised to other “user pays” infrastructure projects and to other developing nations. The broad applicability of 3PC financing means that it is not country specific, project specific or asset class specific.

Research Limitations/implications

It is important to note that the analysis in this paper has a number of limitations in that the authors do not deal with rural electrification or distribution network costs. The focus of this paper is to identify policy interventions that are capable of making profound changes to the cost and the reliability of wholesale electricity production.

Originality/value

The focus of this paper is to identify a policy intervention capable of making profound changes to the cost and the reliability of wholesale electricity production. While there is nothing novel associated with a 3PC Financing per se, the authors are unaware of its direct use as a form of delivering foreign aid. A 3PC Financing has the effect of shifting the source of aid funding from fiscal account surplus/deficit (i.e. cash outlays) to balance sheet (i.e. credit wrap). However, this is not a “magic pudding” – 3PC Financing creates an asset-backed contingent liability and will have the effect of reducing the donor country’s own debt capacity by a commensurate amount, holding the nation’s credit rating constant.

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Journal of Financial Economic Policy, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-6385

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Publication date: 2 June 2005

Madeleine Leonard

One of the most notable breakthroughs in promoting the right of children to be consulted about policies that affect them is the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of…

Abstract

One of the most notable breakthroughs in promoting the right of children to be consulted about policies that affect them is the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Assembly of the United Nations, 1989). At the time of writing, the UNCRC has been ratified by all but two (Somalia and the USA) member states of United Nations. The Convention was ratified by the United Kingdom in 1991 and according to Daniel and Ivatts (1998, p. 16) “it is arguably the most significant development in United Kingdom policy towards children since 1945.” By ratifying the Convention, governments must take steps to ensure that they meet the standards and principles set out in the various Articles in the Convention and must provide regular reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on its implementation. One of the most significant Articles is Article 12 which specifies that:State Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child (General Assembly of the United Nations, 1989).This Article has found its way into United Kingdom social policy through the introduction of the Children's Act in 1989 (this Act was extended to Northern Ireland in 1995). This provides children in care or children whose parents are going through a divorce some involvement in the decision-making process. The Children's Rights Development Unit which monitors the United Kingdom implementation of the Convention has made Article 12 the primary focus of its work (Shier, 2001). This is partly due to the reaction of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (1995) to the United Kingdom's first report. The Committee identified a number of gaps in the implementation of children's rights particularly in the area of participation rights. Indeed, children's voices remain largely absent in many areas of social policy particularly those relating to education and health (Daniel & Ivatts, 1998). As Hill and Tisdall (1997, p. 256) put it “the rhetoric of children's participation is easier and cheaper than its effective implementation.” Involving children in policy throws up all sorts of issues relating to the participation of children in the decision-making process. What does adopting a child-centred approach to children's role in decision-making entail? How do we ensure that children's views are effectively incorporated in the policy-making arena? How do we find out about the views and perceptions of children in relation to whatever issue is being debated? As Hill and Tisdall (1997) point out, involving children in social policy often gets narrowly translated to listening sympathetically to their views rather than considering them as a social group capable of influencing policy and practice. Yet organisations, which promote the rights of children, such as Save the Children, argue that more meaningful social policies will evolve from taking on board the perspectives of those who are influenced by such policies. One useful model that could be employed to ensure that children effectively participate in research linked to social policy is Hart's ladder of participation (1992). A survey of children's organisations throughout the United Kingdom in their attempts to introduce mechanisms to ensure that their policies and decisions take more account of children's opinions revealed that Hart's model played a significant role in their strategies to involve children in policy related research (Barn & Franklin, 1996). Academic researchers have also utilised Hart's ladder as a framework for advocating approaches to enhance the participation of children in the research process (Landsdown, 1995; Shier, 2001; Verhellen, 1997). The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of Hart's model in involving children in social policy related research concerning the Eleven Plus system in Northern Ireland.

Details

Sociological Studies of Children and Youth
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-183-5

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Book part
Publication date: 25 September 2020

Deirdre Horgan, Shirley Martin and Catherine Forde

This chapter draws on data from a qualitative study examining the extent to which children and young people age 7 to 17 are able to participate and influence matters affecting…

Abstract

This chapter draws on data from a qualitative study examining the extent to which children and young people age 7 to 17 are able to participate and influence matters affecting them in their home, school, and community. It was commissioned by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in Ireland to inform the National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making, 2015–2020. Utilising Lundy’s (2007) conceptualisation of Article 12 of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and Leonard’s (2016) concept of generagency, this chapter will examine children and young people’s everyday lives and relationships within the home and family in the context of agency and structure.

In the study, home was experienced by children generally as the setting most facilitative of their voice and participation in their everyday lives reflecting research findings that children are more likely to have their initiative and ideas encouraged in the family than in school or their wider communities (Mayall, 1994). Key areas of decision-making included everyday consumption activities such as food, clothes, and pocket money as well as temporal activities including bed-time, leisure, and friends. This concurs with Bjerke (2011) that consumption of various forms is a major field of children’s participation. Positive experiences of participation reported by children and young people involved facilitation by adults whom they respected and with whom they had some rapport. This locates children as relational beings, embedded in multiple overlapping intergenerational processes and highlights the interdependency between children’s participation and their environment (Leonard, 2016; Percy-Smith & Thomas, 2010).

Details

Bringing Children Back into the Family: Relationality, Connectedness and Home
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-197-6

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Book part
Publication date: 22 August 2006

Abstract

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Documents from and on Economic Thought
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-450-8

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1976

A new resin plant valued at over £½ m, largely designed and supplied by Leonard Smith (Engineers) Ltd., of Gillingham, Kent, has now been installed and commissioned in the Batley…

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Abstract

A new resin plant valued at over £½ m, largely designed and supplied by Leonard Smith (Engineers) Ltd., of Gillingham, Kent, has now been installed and commissioned in the Batley, Yorks, works of Kirklees Chemicals Ltd, and subsidiary of Silver Paints & Lacquers Ltd.

Details

Pigment & Resin Technology, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0369-9420

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Stories and Lessons from the World's Leading Opera, Orchestra Librarians, and Music Archivists, Volume 1: North and South America
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-653-8

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2013

Peter A.C. Smith and Carol Ann Sharicz

The purpose of this paper is to assist an organization to restructure as a bi‐modal organization in order to achieve sustainability in today's highly complex business world.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assist an organization to restructure as a bi‐modal organization in order to achieve sustainability in today's highly complex business world.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is conceptual and is based on relevant literature and the authors' research and practice.

Findings

Although fluid self‐organizing networks are the natural state for humankind, in most organizations “organizing” entails the process of autopoiesis. This process does not produce the open fluid organization that is required for success in today's business world. While autopoiesis is taking place, informal socialization is taking place across the organization's interpersonal networks. Under supportive conditions, this leads to the development of a bi‐modal organization where one or more open systems may emerge and co‐exist concurrently with the autopoietic system; these open systems include fluid networks and complex adaptive system. The bi‐modal organization achieves sustainability by balancing a certain amount of organization versus a certain amount of instability, leading to predictability with disorder, and planned long‐term strategy achieved through many concurrent short‐term actions.

Research limitations/implications

Future research will involve an empirical study that will further examine the bi‐modal organization, its development, and its properties.

Practical implications

The systems that surround a business organization now and for the foreseeable future are highly dynamic, competitive, and socially individualized, and demand a new organizational form and competencies that may only be exhibited by a bi‐modal organization based on an open system. The paper describes how an organization can restructure to become a bi‐modal organization.

Social implications

The paper should help improve quality of work‐life and organizational structure.

Originality/value

The paper describes a new organizational form designed to flourish in today's complex business contexts.

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Book part
Publication date: 12 November 2018

Carol Azungi Dralega and Hilde G. Corneliussen

This chapter reports from a qualitative study on how identity categories, including gender and ethnicity, are experienced and constructed through video gaming among immigrant…

Abstract

This chapter reports from a qualitative study on how identity categories, including gender and ethnicity, are experienced and constructed through video gaming among immigrant youth in Norway. The aim here is to explore the manifestations and contestations of gendered power and hegemonic practices among the young immigrant girls and boys. This chapter builds on research about everyday media use especially video games, and our analysis is based on theories of hegemony, power, gender, and ethnicity. Three key findings are observed from the study: (a) video games acting as a bridge between ethnic minority boys (not so much with the girls) and ethnic Norwegians, (b) hegemonic gendered practices, emphasizing the “otherness,” in particular for girls adhering to the category of gamer, and finally, to a lesser degree, (c) marginalization within video games on the basis of being a non-Western youth in a Western context. As such the study simultaneously not only confirms but also challenges dominant discourses on video games by suggesting that, although some positive strides have been made, the claims of a post-gender neutral online world, or celebrations of an inclusive and democratic online media culture, especially video gaming, are still premature.

Details

Media and Power in International Contexts: Perspectives on Agency and Identity
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-455-2

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2021

Mats Wilhelmsson, Mohammad Ismail and Abukar Warsame

This study aims to measure the occurrence of gentrification and to relate gentrification with housing values.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to measure the occurrence of gentrification and to relate gentrification with housing values.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have used Getis-Ord statistics to identify and quantify gentrification in different residential areas in a case study of Stockholm, Sweden. Gentrification will be measured in two dimensions, namely, income and population. In step two, this measure is included in a traditional hedonic pricing model where the intention is to explain future housing prices.

Findings

The results indicate that the parameter estimate is statistically significant, suggesting that gentrification contributes to higher housing values in gentrified areas and near gentrified neighbourhoods. This latter possible spillover effect of house prices due to gentrification by income and population was similar in both the hedonic price and treatment effect models. According to the hedonic price model, proximity to the gentrified area increases housing value by around 6%–8%. The spillover effect on price distribution seems to be consistent and stable in gentrified areas.

Originality/value

A few studies estimate the effect of gentrification on property values. Those studies focussed on analysing the impacts of gentrification in higher rents and increasing house prices within the gentrifying areas, not gentrification on property prices in neighbouring areas. Hence, one of the paper’s contributions is to bridge the gap in previous studies by measuring gentrification’s impact on neighbouring housing prices.

Details

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8270

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Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2019

Marie Ouellet and Sadaf Hashimi

Purpose – Criminal groups have long been central to explanations of crime and deviance. Yet, challenges in measuring their dynamic and transient nature meant that group-level…

Abstract

Purpose – Criminal groups have long been central to explanations of crime and deviance. Yet, challenges in measuring their dynamic and transient nature meant that group-level explanations were often displaced in favor of individual-level ones. This chapter outlines how network methods provide a powerful tool for modeling the dynamic nature of criminal groups.

Approach – The chapter starts by providing a brief introduction to social network analysis, including key concepts and terminology. The chapter then focuses on the types of relational data available to study criminal groups, and how network methods can be used to delineate group boundaries. The chapter concludes by presenting a framework for understanding group dynamics from a network perspective, describing the contributions of network analysis to theories of group processes.

Findings – Network methods have provided meaningful advances to the study of group dynamics, leading scholars to revisit assumptions about the impact of group’ structure on delinquent behavior. Network studies of group dynamics have primarily focused on the cohesion–delinquency link (within-group structure) and the social contagion of conflict (between-group structure), highlighting important opportunities for the intersection of these two inquiries.

Value – Network methods provide a means to revisit and extend theories of crime and delinquency with a focus on social structure. The unique affinity between group dynamics and network methods highlights immense opportunities for expanding the knowledge of collective trajectories.

Details

Methods of Criminology and Criminal Justice Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-865-9

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