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Electoral Politics over Automation in a Dual Economy
Get PDFWhen automation in a developing economy displaces low-skilled workers in the advanced sector, backward sector wages may fall due to in-migration of the ‘newly’ unemployed. Fear of job and income loss may then induce office-seeking political parties to announce regulatory policies on automation for electoral success. We show that absent sectoral spillover, democratic adoption of automation is relatively higher and protects only high-skilled jobs in the advanced sector. However, the possibility of spillover limits this adoption. More specifically, if the backward sector is large, automation faces full resistance. In contrast, if the advanced sector is large, automation is moderate, making only the low-skilled jobs vulnerable. But these vulnerable workers, unlike their counterparts in the backward sector, may prefer automation because their advanced-sector wages fall below the severance pay plus backward-sector opportunities. When neither sector is large, the size of automation becomes uncertain, pushing similar economies into different growth paths
How does recalling violent conflict affect prosocial behaviour? Evidence from a lab-in-the-field experiment in Uganda
No full textThis study investigates how recalling a time of violent conflict affects prosocial behaviour. We study this using a lab-in-the-field experiment (N=700) in northern Uganda. The experiment advances previous literature by experimentally varying whether participants recall an experience from a time of conflict (the treatment group) or a non-conflict experience (the control group). We find mixed effects across prosocial behaviours , measured through incentivized behavioural games: the treatment increases altruism in a dictator game and demand for fairness in an ultimatum game (by 0.17 and 0.36 standard deviations), but does not affect cooperation in a fragile public goods game. A prominent theoretical explanation states that conflict increases prosociality 1 by strengthening in-group prosocial norms. However, this cannot explain mixed effects across prosocial behaviours, nor how conflict can promote prosociality in contexts where conflict has plausibly undermined such norms, including northern Uganda. We offer a new, inductively derived, theoretical explanation: individual prosocial behaviour can serve as a signal, that increases in strength as in-group norms are less prosocial. Evidence from qualitative interviews and participants' classification of their recalled experience-though not conclusive-is consistent with individual prosocial behaviour as a signaling device
Harambee Co-operative Savings and Credit Society: Wealth, Inequality, and Accumulation in 1970s Kenya
No full textHow should we understand 1970s Kenya, with its combination of inequality and relative political stability? This article offers a new perspective on that by following the early history of the Harambee Co-operative Savings and Credit Society—the most prominent of many such societies that grew in those years. The rise and crisis of this co-operative provides evidence of mismanagement and the pursuit of personal advantage—but also suggests that civil servants saw the importance of enabling wider accumulation. As a result, the lowest-paid employees of government could see through Harambee—and other co-operatives—a possible, if precarious, route to a future as property-owners. That possibility helps explain both the institutional strength of Kenya’s provincial administration (whose employees were the members of Harambee Co-operative) and how a substantial number of Kenyans could develop a sense of themselves as citizens with a stake in the political system
Integrating climate change education in an English Law School
No full textThe project discussed in this chapter has introduced compulsory climate change education in the core modules of the English law degree. The author takes a ‘value-neutral’ approach to climate consciousness and sought to introduce climate education in a technical way. This chapter sets out some critical reflections on the project. It explains the meaning and purpose of the approach taken by the author/project lead, reflecting on its strengths and shortcomings, as well as the development of a concept of ‘climate competencies’. This chapter discusses various enabling factors, including the conduct of this through a dedicated citizenship role, and the connection and relationship to the author’s research. It questions the sustainability of the project and discusses its reception by students
Comparative Diagnostic Efficacy of Microscopy, LAMP and PCR for Detection of Bovine Babesiosis in New Valley Governorate, Egypt
Get PDFPurposeBovine babesiosis poses a serious threat to cattle in tropical and subtropical regions. This study compared 3 methods to detect babesiosis in naturally infected cattle; microscopy, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and conventional PCR (cPCR), in Egypt’s New Valley Governorate.MethodsA total of 339 tick-infested cattle were examined for Babesia infection. Microscopic examination was done. Genomic DNA extraction for the LAMP and PCR assays was carried out. LAMP was performed and compared with cPCR.ResultsMolecular methods revealed higher infection rates than microscopic examination: LAMP detected Babesia DNA in 40.7% (138/339) of samples, cPCR in 41.9% (142/339), while microscopy identified 31.9% (108/339). Clinically infected cattle exhibited fever, hemoglobinuria, pallor, and weight loss. Seasonal variation showed peak prevalence in summer (37.8%) and the lowest in winter (20%). Based on comparative analysis, LAMP showed 97.18% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and almost perfect agreement with cPCR (κ = 0.98, P = 0.13).ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate high Babesia prevalence in tick-infested cattle and underscore LAMP’s value as a rapid, sensitive, and field-friendly tool for surveillance
Enhancing American Sign Language Learning with LLM-Assisted Feedback: A Comparative Study with Traditional Methods
Get PDFWe evaluate LLM-assisted learning for American Sign Language acquisition by comparing GPT-4o-powered real-time feedback informed by gesture recognition, against traditional image/text static instruction. In a study with 20 participants, both methods improved performance, but the LLM group showed greater gains in challenging signs and increased engagement with complex content. Effect sizes suggest meaningful advantages for LLM support, despite the limited statistical significance of the findings
Long-range one-dimensional internal diffusion-limited aggregation
No full textWe study internal diffusion limited aggregation on Z, where a cluster is grown incrementally by adding, for each random walk dispatched from the origin, the first site it reaches outside the cluster. We assume that the increment distribution X of the driving random walks has E X = 0, but need neither be simple nor symmetric, and can have E(X 2) = ∞, for example. For the case where E(X 2) < ∞, we prove that after m of the random walks have been dispatched, all but o(m) sites in the cluster form an approximately symmetric contiguous block around the origin. This strengthens a result of Blachère, for centred random walks whose increments have finite 3rd moments, to the optimal moments condition. On the other hand, if X is in the domain of attraction of a symmetric α-stable law, 1 < α < 2, we prove that the cluster contains a contiguous block of δm + o(m) sites, where 0 < δ < 1, but, unlike the finite-variance case, one may not take δ = 1
Volatile transfer within the magmatic plumbing system triggers mush destabilisation and eruption
No full textRural Tourism from a Comparative Perspective: Trends in Europe and Oceania
Get PDFDefinition: Rural tourism is defined as a tourism activity in which the visitor’s experience is linked to agricultural activities, rural lifestyles, and traditional cultures. In many geographical contexts, especially in Europe, because the rural economy is so deeply tied to family farming, this form of tourism is referred to as “agritourism”, even though agrotourism is a specific subset of rural tourism defined by the integration of tourism with a working farm or agricultural operation. The entry delineates the transformative dynamics of rural tourism in the context of global shifts towards personalized, experiential travel. It examines how contemporary tourists increasingly seek authentic and immersive experiences as a response to the superficiality of mass tourism. This trend leads travellers to engage deeply with local cultures, thereby fostering connections with community life and prioritizing sustainability. Amidst challenges such as environmental degradation and overtourism, rural tourism emerges as a viable alternative, offering unique, less-congested destinations that cater to travellers’ desire for exclusivity and genuine discovery. The paper traces the historical evolution of rural tourism from its European origins in mid-20th-century agricultural practices to its current status as a vital component of rural development strategies. Through a comparative analysis of two distinct regional scenarios, Europe and Oceania, this article elucidates how local contexts shape tourism practices. The analysis highlights the pivotal role of gastronomy in enriching tourist experiences and emphasizes the need for digital literacy and eco-effectiveness in rural tourism operations. Although the entry does not provide a comprehensive global perspective on rural tourism or a quantitative environmental account of the sector’s impact, it ultimately conveys that rural tourism is a critical engine of regional vitality and sustainability, illustrating the juxtaposition of historical roots and contemporary trends that define this evolving sector
Peace and the debacles of Afghanistan and Iraq: Lessons for future peacemaking and peacebuilding scholarship
Get PDFCritical knowledge production and the accumulated knowledge and practices around peace and intervention was largely ignored in relation to the Western interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Subsequent stabilisation exercises indicated a continuing tendency to adopt a Western epistemic lens and ignore local and regional contexts and perspectives. This was either ignored or co-opted by ‘global’ security concerns (seen through an American prism), and has laid the way for the substantial reduction in peacekeeping and peacemaking activities in the current, more authoritarian era. Reflecting on the role of Peace and Conflict Studies in the aftermath of the Afghanistan and Iraq interventions, this article considers the limitations of the discipline, the tendency towards policy-driven research, and the disastrous rush for ‘impact’. It argues that ‘future peacemaking’ praxis needs to heed critical warnings from the failure over the last thirty years to engage with global and social legitimacy, and with the growing body of scholarship connecting peace with legitimacy, sustainability, and justice
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