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Literature and society in the Chilean post-transition. The politics of Diamela Eltit’s narrative form
No full textFrom reed to steel: the origins of nasta‘līq type-making in nineteenth-century Istanbul and Cairo
No full textAfrican political parties: a citizens' perspective
No full textSince the era of decolonization, political parties have played a crucial role in shaping the national political landscape of independent Africa. They have mobilized
citizens; provided platforms for the expressions of diverse ideologies, aspirations, and interests; channelled resources; and helped citizens try to hold governments accountable. Despite playing such a crucial role, the study of political parties in Africa has lagged significantly behind its counterparts elsewhere, with key moments of citizen interaction — such as campaign rallies and canvassing — often dismissed as simply avenues for clientelism and vote buying.
In this chapter, we draw on a wide range of data to show that the behavior of African parties is far more complex than often claimed, particularly when it comes to their interactions with citizens. Indeed, far from primarily engaging in clientelism and vote buying, we show that parties across the continent engage in campaign strategies and citizen interactions that would be recognizable to scholars elsewhere in the world, and that campaigns in particular are important moments in which citizens learn about office holders, candidates, policy platforms and government performance. Ultimately, we argue that parties in Africa function as important parts of civil society, without which democracy across the continent would be severely weakened
Knowledge spillover of innovation: entrepreneurial difference
Get PDFThis paper extends the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship and innovation to explain how firms of different ages (startups vs. incumbents) and sizes (small vs. medium/large) benefit differently from external knowledge collaboration. Drawing on the distinction between active (formal) and passive (informal) spillovers, we examine how the intensity of knowledge collaboration influences two key innovation outcomes: product innovation and new market entry. Using a panel dataset of 27,685 UK firms (2005–2015), we show that the gains from knowledge spillovers for all types of firms are subject to diminishing marginal returns as collaboration intensity increases, while the findings between startups and incumbents are more nuanced than between small and medium/large firms. The benefits from knowledge spillover of innovation vary by knowledge spillover type, intensity, and mode of engagement, as well as innovation outcome. These findings refine the knowledge spillover theory by emphasizing the importance of firm age over size (entrepreneurial difference) in moderating innovation outcomes
Systemic and climate risks in the banking sector: evidences from syndicated lending and net-zero commitments
Get PDFThis thesis investigates systemic risk and climate risk as distinct yet interconnected
sources of financial vulnerability in the banking sector. Chapter 1 outlines the thesis
contributions and overall structure. Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature. Chapter 3
examines syndicated leveraged and covenant-lite loans as potential channels of systemic risk.
We show that while these loans are not inherently systemic, banks with large exposures become
more vulnerable during recessions, and pipeline risk can rise when market conditions hinder
loan sales. Furthermore, although the banking network has historically become less
interconnected due to the participation of smaller institutions, the centrality of large banks
amplifies the risk of contagion. These findings suggest that regulators should closely monitor
the exposure of highly central banks to such loans.
Chapter 4 examines how climate factors influence systemic stability in the U.S.
syndicated loan market. Using climate risk measures, green lending orientation, and regional
indicators, we identify four key drivers of systemic risk: banks’ environmental stance, extreme
events in the South, precipitation anomalies in the East, and changes in U.S. climate policy.
While exposure to climate-sensitive regions increases vulnerability, green lending appears to
enhance stability. These findings underscore the importance of climate policies that reduce
uncertainty and support sustainable lending.
Chapter 5 uses data on Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) members to show that banks
making progress toward decarbonization targets exhibit lower climate risk, as measured by
CRISK. However, between late 2024 and early 2025, several large North American and
Japanese banks withdrew from the NZBA. Evidence points to U.S. electoral outcomes, rather
than financial or institutional factors, as the main driver of these exits. This highlights the
vulnerability of climate coalitions to political shifts, raises doubts about the feasibility of the
2050 net-zero goal, and emphasizes the need to strengthen the Alliance’s resilience across
different political contexts
Socio-economic, structural, and policy drivers of agroforestry in Great Britain
No full textAgroforestry (AF) is a critical solution for climate, biodiversity, and food security, yet its adoption is hindered by a lack of practice-specific evidence. This paper examines the factors influencing farmer adoption of eight AF practices in Great Britain. Survey data from 315 farmers, including a Best-Worst Scaling experiment, is analysed using a spatial multivariate ordered probit model. The analysis shows that farmer adoption intention is strongest for low-intensity practices (e.g., small woods, windbreaks) and weakest for integrated systems like silvoarable, silvopasture and agrosilvopasture with economic, structural, social, and policy factors exerting practice-specific influences. This evidence, alongside key farmer preferences for financial incentives and simplified regulations but against mandatory public access, points to stronger five-year adoption potential low-intensity AF options compared to more transformative, integrated practices. Consequently, effective strategies to increase AF adoption must be practice-specific, designed to address the distinct technical and perceptual barriers for each AF system. Effective policy should align incentives and communication with farmers characteristics. We show that a one-size-fits-all approach is inadequate; scaling up AF requires a dual strategy of practice-specific interventions, such as targeted financial support, and building market infrastructure for silvoarable, coupled with demographically-tailored outreach that aligns scheme communication with farmer identity, age, and location. We conclude that scaling up AF requires differentiated, evidence-based interventions tailored to both the specific AF practice and the farmer
Production of focus in Cantonese-English bilingual autistic children: an acoustic analysis
No full textThis study examined the acoustic realization of focus in Cantonese-English bilingual autistic children’s first language (L1) Cantonese, compared to bilingual typically developing (TD) children and adults, and explored the effects of bilingualism on the production. Results from an
elicitation task showed that bilingual autistic children primarily relied on duration to mark focus in L1 Cantonese, similar to adults, but exhibited weaker use of pitch and intensity compared to bilingual TD children. Second language (L2) English exposure and proficiency did not influence focus marking in bilingual autistic children, likely due to their later and reduced English exposure compared to TD children. Conversely, bilingual TD children’s prosodic use was modulated by English exposure and proficiency. These findings reveal that bilingualism does not hinder
autistic children’s prosodic focus production in their L1 Cantonese and highlight distinct bilingualism effects on prosodic focus production in autistic and TD children
