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Resource-backed loans as development finance: a reflection
No full textDevelopment finance has become a major policy and programmatic factor developing countries have to decide on routinely. These countries often face investors’ perceptions as high financial risk destinations, thus limiting their access to international capital markets. As a result, developing countries have to explore alternative financing models to circumvent the prevalent and at times unjustified risk perceptions. For natural resource-rich developing countries, development financing/support is being secured in exchange for, or collateralized by, future streams of income/volume from the natural resource wealth. This financing model has been labeled “resource-backed loans” (RBLs)
Empirical mixnet design
No full textMixing networks (mixnets) are cryptographic protocols designed to enhance the privacy and anonymity of online communications. Despite their robust privacy features, mixnets remain vulnerable to cyber attacks, such as adversaries compromising mixing nodes (mixes) to track message flows. To mitigate these threats, we propose an empirical mechanism design framework for identifying mixnet configurations that satisfy the designer’s goals. We first introduce two models for mixnets: one with heterogeneous mixes and another with layer-wise homogeneous mixes, capturing the diverse scales and complexities of real-world mixnets. The heterogeneous model allows each mix to have different properties, offering greater expressiveness but posing challenges for scalability of analysis. In contrast, the homogeneous model provides a simplified, yet practical, framework for large-scale analysis. Leveraging these models, we conceptualize adversarial attacks and defensive measures as strategic interactions between an attacker and a defender in a game. We demonstrate how our framework generates data that is useful for a mechanism designer trading off cost versus performance in deploying a mixnet
Gendered labor and sex work in Taiwan's gig economy: sexual health information needs, sharing practices, and inequalities
No full textPurpose: As sex work increasingly shifts online and takes on the characteristics of gig economy labor, individualized sex work has become more prevalent in Taiwan. Yet, little is known about how sex workers across sexual orientations and gender identities access, negotiate, and sustain their sexual health information needs. This gap in knowledge is particularly urgent given Taiwan's commitment to the global Ending AIDS target by 2030. Method: This study draws on focus groups with cis-male (n = 7) and cis-female (n = 9) sex workers, supplemented by qualitative interviews with transgender men, transgender women, and non-binary participants (n = 15). Guided by a sexual health and HIV-prevention framework, we explored perceptions of HIV and sexual health risks, engagement with public health services, medical practices, peer support, and psychosocial pressures. Thematic analysis was applied to identify both commonalities and divergences across groups. Results: Findings highlight sharp gendered disparities. Cis-male sex workers, supported by the prevalence of dating apps, reported relatively structured information networks, sharing resources such as PrEP, doxycycline-PEP, and other biomedical prevention strategies. They also benefited from interventions that primarily target gay and bisexual men. By contrast, cis-female sex workers had fragmented, uneven access to sexual health knowledge and services. Most relied primarily on condoms, with limited awareness of PrEP or biomedical prevention, and sometimes depended on male counterparts to meet their needs. Transgender and non-binary participants described additional obstacles, including stigma in healthcare settings, a lack of tailored interventions, and the compounded challenge of navigating both digital and structural barriers. Conclusions: Gig economy creates new opportunities for organizing sex work but also reproduces entrenched health inequalities. While cis-male sex workers may benefit from denser digital health ecologies, cis-female, transgender, and non-binary workers remain underserved. These findings underscore the urgency of designing inclusive, community-informed, and structurally attuned interventions that address the diverse realities of gig-based sex work in Taiwan
Creating cleaner cities: sustainable strategies for urban waste management
Get PDFRapid urbanisation and increased waste generation pose a challenge for solid waste management systems worldwide. As cities grow, municipalities must invest in sustainable, cost-effective waste management solutions, adapted to local contexts, to divert waste away from landfills, encourage compliance, and engage non-governmental actors in building cleaner, healthier, and more resilient urban environments
What has happened to the poster child: is South Korean democracy backsliding?
Get PDFSouth Korean democracy had been under attack. This was most apparent in President Yoon Suk-Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law. But it was not the only challenge to Korean democracy, previously regarded as one of the most successful third-wave de-mocracies. Though not calling into question episodes of democratic regression, this ar-ticle challenges arguments of Korean democracy backsliding and instead points to the country’s democratic rollercoaster: ascent under progressive leadership followed by sharp decline under right-wing administrations. Democratic resilience is also evidenced in civil society mobilisation and popular uprisings in democratic crises, and the rise of programmatic party competition has been vital in democratic consolidation. Significant achievements notwithstanding, a profound crisis of Korean democratic politics is acknowledged. The article proposes an institutionalist account of democratic stagnation that puts constitutional flaws of the Korean political system and the chaebol-dominated economy centre-stage. This institutionalist perspective informs the argument that fundamental constitutional reform recalibrating the relationship between the executive and legislature is imperative, and this with the priority objective of strengthening the party-political system. This research contends that it is the Korean constitutional architecture that has been compromising the mediating capacity of po-litical parties and, doing so, holding back democratic progress
ATTENUATE co-creation protocol
Get PDFThis Co-creation protocol sets out how co-creation methods and principles will be applied in practice to deliver the ATTENUATE project. It provides an overarching foundation which will be implemented across all work packages (see the Appendix for an overview of ATTENUATE work packages). The protocol, led by LSE and PWA, was developed by ATTENUATE consortium members at the start of the project to ensure understanding and agreement from the outset. We will learn together as the protocol is implemented and may update the document to reflect new insights and approaches as the project progresses. This document is primarily intended for ATTENUATE consortium members, but it will also be shared externally to support the uptake of co-production approaches in related projects, to share learning and insights and ensure that ATTENUATE project stakeholders can access information about our overarching approach
Inequalities on a plate? Children's voices from urban school food environments: urban childhoods for today and tomorrow
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The politics of inflation and disinflation from the 1950s to COVID-19
Get PDFWhat are the political effects of rising inflation? Drawing on a recent book, Bob Hancké and Tim Vlandas show how the aftermath of the inflationary episodes of the 1970s can shed light on what has happened over the past five years
We need to talk about the racial wealth divide in the UK
Get PDFThe UK’s racial wealth divide represents a structural chasm in British society that leaves ethnic minority groups with far less financial security than white Britons. In part rooted in the UK’s colonial legacy, it is reinforced by unequal access to assets and the need to send remittances abroad, writes Esiri Bukata. Why is tackling this divide essential for racial justice and fair economic participation