United Nations University

In this paper we use data from a developing country, South Africa, to empirically identify the determinants of start-up rates across different sub-national regions and in particular to investigate the role of access to finance on a regional (sub-national) level on start-ups. We find that the most important determinants of start-up rates across South Africa's magisterial districts are profit rates, educational levels, agglomeration as measured by the economic size of a district, and access to formal bank finance. Profits have by far the strongest effect on start-up rates. This, together with the insignificance of unemployment for start-ups, may imply that start-ups in South Africa are mainly opportunity-driven, as opposed to being necessity driven. It is also found that access to formal bank finance matter for regional start-up rates, which is not typical for a developing country and that market-size (agglomerations) is negatively associated with start-up rates in South Africa–an unexpected finding which may imply the existence of ‘congesting' factors such as increased competition, tougher barriers to entry, monopolistic behaviour, and a greater difficulty to be innovative and novel.

Daniell, K. A., I. White, N. Ferrand, I. S. Ribarova, P. Coad, J.-E. Rougier, M. Hare, N. A. Jones, A. Popova, D. Rollin, P. Perez, and S. Burn. 2010. Co-engineering participatory water management processes: theory and insights from Australian and Bulgarian interventions. Ecology and Society 15(4): 11. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03567-150411

Abstract There is virtually no systematic debate on the fundamentals of comparative research in the study of international regionalism. The field of research is very fragmented and there is a lack of interaction between EU studies and regionalism in the rest of the world. There is also a lack of communication between scholars from various theoretical standpoints and research traditions. Related to these two divides is the tension between idiographic and nomothetic methodologies. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the largely neglected debate on how to conduct and address three interrelated problems: a conceptual, a theoretical and a methodological one. Our claim is that the future of comparative regionalism should be one where old divides are bridged. This requires a combination of conceptual rigor, theoretical eclecticism, and sounder empirical research methods.

The advent of the 4th industrial revolution promises significant social and economic opportunities and challenges which demand that governments respond appropriately in supporting the transformation of the society. The purpose of this study is to understand the challenges confronting developing countries in the adoption of digital transformation agendas to leverage the social and economic benefits of the digital-driven industrial revolution 4.0. The research is based on an interpretive case study that uses documents evidence and a review of the literature as its primary method of collecting data. South Africa is used as a single case study of a developing country that has embraced digital transformation as a critical strategy in inclusive growth.

This paper contributes to the literature on government transparency by addressing the question of what drives the differences in local government levels of transparency. Our main objective is to ascertain whether transparency is mainly driven by the leadership, capacity and other political traits of the local governments themselves – “supply-side determinants” – or, rather, if it hinges on social, cultural and/or other local community factors (“demand-side” determinants). We test the hypotheses derived from this theoretical framework using the results of the Municipal Transparency Index which is based on the information disclosed in the local governments' official websites and was applied to all Portuguese municipalities for the first time in 2013. Our findings indicate that municipalities with less financial autonomy , run by male mayors, with a larger number of consecutive terms in office, and smaller margins of victory in local elections display lower levels of transparency. On the demand-side, the unemployment rate and the average age of the municipal population emerge as the best predictors and are both negatively associated with transparency.

This article introduces the topic of this special issue, namely the study of the EU as a global actor and the role of interregionalism. It starts with mapping out the general theme and the key questions that guide the issue, such as: to what extent are regions becoming ‘actors’ of world politics; what is the strength of interregionalism in the EU’s foreign policies towards regions and across sectors; why is interregionalism being pursued and who are the actors driving such policy; and what are the implications for world order and global governance? Region–to–region interactions are no novelty, as such, but they have only recently started to emerge on a more comprehensive scale. Interregionalism is related to changes in world order and needs therefore to be historically situated. The authors suggest that interregionalism needs to be related both to globalisation and to the restructuring of the nation–state, but above all to ‘the regionalist movement’. In the second section, the emergence of interregionalism is presented from an historical perspective and the concept of interregionalism is discussed. The article ends with a brief overview of the structure and content of the special issue as a whole.

This article presents a comparative analysis of the role of interregionalism in the European Union’s foreign policies and external relations, with a particular focus on some of the most important regions around the world: Africa, Asia, South America, North America and Central and Eastern Europe. After a brief comparative assessment of the EU’s interregional relationships, the article provides three partly overlapping and intersecting accounts of the variation in the policy of interregionalism across regions: (i) promoting a liberal internationalist agenda; (ii) building the EU’s identity as a global actor; and (iii) promoting the EU’s power and competitiveness. The analysis concludes by sketching some ingredients of an emerging research agenda on the study of the EU’s foreign policy and interregionalism.

B. S. Ogunsina*a, C. Radhab & D. Indranica United Nations University, Advanced Centre for Food Science and Technologyb Department of Protein Chemistry and Technologyc Department of Flour Milling, Baking and Confectionery Technology, Central Food Technological Research Institute (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), Mysore, IndiaCorrespondence: B. S. Ogunsina, United Nations University, Advanced Centre for Food Science and Technology, Central Food Technological Research Institute (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), Mysore 570 020, India. Tel: 234 8059881048. E-mail: bsogunsina@yahoo.comThe effects of replacing wheat flour with 0–15% debittered moringa seed (DBMS) flour on the dough rheology of wheat flour and physical, sensory and chemical properties of bread were studied. Incorporation of an increasing amount of DBMS from 0 to 15% decreased farinograph water absorption, dough stability, amylograph peak viscosity and overall quality of bread. The bread with 10% DBMS had a typical moringa seed taste and was acceptable. Addition of combination of additives improved the dough strength and quality of bread with 10% DBMS flour. Replacement of wheat flour with 10%, 20% and 30% DBMS grits was found to affect cookies quality. Cookies with 20% DBMS grits had the nutty taste of moringa seeds and were acceptable. Bread with 10% DBMS flour and cookies with 20% DBMS grits had more protein, iron and calcium. Incorporating moringa seeds in baked foods may be exploited as a means of boosting nutrition in Africa and Asia where malnutrition is prevalent.

Humanitarian, security, and development actors are witnessing two distinct but intertwined trends that will have a dramatic impact on their operations. The first relates to the fact that the locus of global poverty and vulnerability to disaster are increasingly concentrated in fragile and conflict affected states. The second trend is associated with the notion that the world has entered a period of unprecedented urbanization. For the first time in history, more people live inside urban centres than outside of them. As the world continues to urbanize, global emergencies will increasingly be concentrated in cities, particularly in lower income and fragile countries where the pace of urbanization is fastest. Yet, despite the growing risks facing urban populations living in fragile and conflict affected countries, there is very little understanding of what can be done to reduce the risks posed to these cities and their populations.

Abstract This article analyses credibility and reputation in the context of peace negotiations. The model is applicable to the credibility of peace agreements in post-conflict situations in the immediate aftermath of civil war, where there is a danger of conflict breaking out again. The analysis is motivated by the empirical regularity with which peace agreements break down in the context of civil war, as for example in Angola, Sierra Leone and many of the conflicts in the Caucasus region. Where war provides economic gains to one side, peace is not incentive compatible, and peace agreements will necessarily degenerate, as they become time inconsistent. The party that has something to gain from surprise warfare, agreeing to peace but reneging on it, will do so and return to war. The levels of conflict chosen by this group are an increasing function of greed and capturable rents, but decreasing in the direct costs of war. In this context, action by external powers could lower the risk of civil war reigniting. Basically, these involve a greater commitment to peace, induced by policies known as commitment technologies. Sanctions, aid and direct intervention, if effective, could eliminate conflict, as well as help in devising commitment technologies to peace. In a multiple-time framework, uncertainty about the type of the group that may renege on peace generates extra costs in terms of greater fighting, and the key role of the discount rate in trading off present versus future consumption enters the analysis. High discount rates and the impatience to consume at present engender greater conflict.

According to dominant narratives about adaptation to climate change, those facing worst-case scenarios, without means at their disposal to adapt in situ, face an ineluctable set of adaptation strategies that ultimately includes the permanent abandonment of geographic spaces rendered uninhabitable and unproductive for human use. Yet environmental stress and adaptive capacity are distributed unevenly, and power structures play a role in fashioning them. It is argued here that when access to land and water are impacted by environmental stress, the structures that mediate their access are reinforced, even as the adaptive alternatives for smallholders are undermined. In this way, dominant resource regimes set up migration as the primary viable alternative for adaptation among a dwindling set of choices. This framework is applied to two early analogues of climate change impacts: flooded Garífuna villages of Honduras's North Coast and communities enduring glacier recession and shifting hydrologic regimes in Peru's Cordillera Blanca. In both cases, stress motivates new forms of migration that reinforce dominant power structures. In Honduras, migrants from wealthier social strata are moving on a more permanent basis, and in Peru, the once historical pattern of labor migration is becoming a practical necessity. These cases underscore the role of political economy in adaptation to climate change and adaptive migration in particular.

Luis M. Ortigosa, Jose M. Garcia-Ruiz, Eustaquio Gil, Land Reclamation by Reforestation in the Central Pyrenees, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 10, No. 3, Special Issue on the Spanish Pyrenees (Aug., 1990), pp. 281-288

Confronted by non-conventional non-state military forces enjoying high – but very localized – social legitimacy, the United Nations Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) struggled between 2004 and 2007 to embed the use of force in a larger strategy of state consolidation. The article explores the confrontations between MINUSTAH and unconventional armed groups in Haiti during this period. It traces MINUSTAH’s operations against criminal gangs, and the resulting process of strategic learning. It explores how tactical innovations allowed MINUSTAH to defeat the gangs, but also highlights that the larger political objective – breaking the connection between the gangs and Haiti’s political-business elite – remained unarticulated and elusive – and perhaps ultimately unfeasible, given the necessity of Haitian state consent for continued UN operations in the country. In a final post-script the article reflects on the return of the gangs after the earthquake of 12 January 2010, and what it signals about the limited impact of tactical force on the presence and power of political-criminal networks.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) have emerged as a key strategy for sustainably addressing multiple urban challenges, with rapidly increasing knowledge production requiring synthesis to better understand whether and how NbS work in different social, ecological, economic, or governance contexts. Insights in this Perspective are drawn from a thematic review of 61 NbS review articles supported by an expert assessment of NbS knowledge in seven global regions to examine key challenges, fill gaps in Global South assessment, and provide insights for scaling up NbS for impact in cities. Eight NbS challenges emerged from our review of NbS reviews including conceptual, thematic, geographic, ecological, inclusivity, health, governance, and systems challenges. An additional expert assessment reviewing literature and cases in seven global regions further revealed the following: 1) Local context-based ecological knowledge is essential for NbS success; 2) Improved technical knowledge is required for planning and designing NbS; 3) NbS need to be included in all levels of planning and governance; 4) Putting justice and equity at the center of urban NbS approaches is critical, and 5) Inclusive and participatory governance processes will be key to long-term success of NbS. We synthesized findings from the NbS review results and regional expert assessments to offer four critical pathways for scaling up NbS: 1) foster new NbS research, technological innovation, and learning, 2) build a global NbS alliance for sharing knowledge, 3) ensure a systems approach to NbS planning and implementation, and 4) increase financing and political will for diverse NbS implementation.

Purpose This study investigated the impact of the virtualization requirements of the learning process on students' satisfaction and their intention to continue using online learning. Design/methodology/approach A research model was developed using the process virtualization theory (PVT); it was validated empirically using data obtained from an online questionnaire-based survey of 489 undergraduate students. Findings The main results support the role of representation for sensory requirements, sensory requirements, reach, representation for relationship requirements and relationship requirements on shaping students' satisfaction, which all also have a significant influence on students' intention to continue using online learning. Relevance factors are responsible for 61.6% of the variance in students' satisfaction and 83.6% of the variance in their intention to continue using online learning. However, neither the synchronism requirements nor the identification and control requirements had a significant effect on students' satisfaction or on their intention to continue using online learning. Originality/value The present research focused on PVT in an online learning context; consequently, a new set of factors that influenced students' satisfaction with and intentions to continue using online learning was empirically tested for the first time. This research contributes to the literature on information systems because it advances the generalizability and applicability of the PVT in a new context and new cultural setting. Moreover, the research apprises researchers and practitioners of new factors, which should be understood and fulfilled to make virtual learning equivalent to the face-to-face learning experience.

OBJECTIVES: Religion and spirituality gain importance as a person ages. Research has shown that religion has a salutary effect on mental health, and it is associated with health differently across ethnic groups. The current study examined ethnic differences in the association between religion and mental health among older adults in a predominantly Muslim population and multicultural setting. METHODS: Data of 7068 participants (4418 Malays, 2080 Chinese and 570 Indians) aged ≥55 years that were collected as part of the community health survey conducted in 2013 in the South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO) were analyzed using bivariate and multiple regressions. Analyses were stratified by ethnicity. RESULTS: The importance of having an enriched religious/spiritual life was associated with higher scores of depression, anxiety and stress among Chinese and higher score of depression among Malays, while belief in a higher power was associated with better mental health among Malays, Chinese and Indians. CONCLUSION: The current study showed that there were ethnic variations in the associations between religion and mental health, and the associations depended on the religious variable included in the analysis. The findings of this study showed that religion could be another potential channel to improve mental health among older adults by accommodating and understanding their religious beliefs.

This paper proposes the Digital Public Service Innovation Framework that extends the "standard" provision of digital public services according to the emerging, enhanced, transactional and connected stages underpinning the United Nations Global e-Government Survey, with seven example "innovations" in digital public service delivery -- transparent, participatory, anticipatory, personalized, co-created, context-aware and context-smart. Unlike the "standard" provisions, innovations in digital public service delivery are open-ended -- new forms may continuously emerge in response to new policy demands and technological progress, and are non-linear -- one innovation may or may not depend on others. The framework builds on the foundations of public sector innovation and Digital Government Evolution model. In line with the latter, the paper equips each innovation with sharp logical characterization, body of research literature and real-life cases from around the world to simultaneously serve the illustration and validation goals. The paper also identifies some policy implications of the framework, covering a broad range of issues from infrastructure, capacity, eco-system and partnerships, to inclusion, value, channels, security, privacy and authentication.

This study examines the accessibility of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for people with disabilities, using WCAG 2.2 success criteria as a reference. Significant accessibility issues were identified in the evaluated applications, highlighting barriers mainly affecting disabled users. Integrating accessibility considerations from the beginning of application development and adopting a proactive approach are emphasized. Although challenges are faced, such as the shortage of inclusive training data and opacity in AI decision-making, the need to continue addressing various aspects of accessibility in the field of generative AI tools is acknowledged. These efforts are based on regulatory compliance and ethical principles to ensure equal societal participation, regardless of individual abilities. The fundamental role of accessibility in realizing this vision is highlighted, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to equality, education, innovation, and inclusion. Improving accessibility meets regulatory requirements and contributes to a broader global agenda for a more equitable and sustainable future. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2024-08-04-021 Full Text: PDF

Why did the far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, with financial support from Donald Trump’s US government, preside over the group recognition of around 47,000 displaced Venezuelans as refugees? It would appear implausible that a far-right, nationalistic government led by a president who had expressed visceral hostility to migrants and refugees would use the provisions of a progressive regional framework to grant refugee status to thousands of displaced people, aided by a US president whose government was literally caging child refugees. To address this question, we show that recognition of Venezuelans as refugees was grounded in an existing and credible legal and bureaucratic process managed by the Brazilian National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) that also brought to bear the influence and presence of key international actors, particularly the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). An additional crucial factor was Bolsonaro’s anti-communism, which provided a strong ideological and instrumental motivation for his government to engage with the US government of Donald Trump in its efforts to undermine the Maduro regime in Venezuela and led to the seemingly paradoxical situation of a far-right Brazilian government granting refugee status to thousands of displaced people that exceeded responses in other South American countries.

Abstract The gravity model of international trade states that the volume of trade between two countries is proportional to their economic mass and a measure of their relative trade frictions. Perhaps because of its intuitive appeal, the gravity model has been the workhorse model of international trade for more than 50 years. While the initial empirical work using the gravity model lacked sound theoretical underpinnings, the theoretical developments have highlighted how a gravity-like specification can be derived from many models with varying assumptions about preferences, technology, and market structure. Along the strengthening of the theoretical roots of the gravity model, the way in which it is estimated has also evolved significantly since the start of the new millennium. Depending on the exact characteristics of regression, different estimation methods should be used to estimate the gravity model.