Who is a theorist?

This article carefully analyzes a recent paper by Weisberg in which it is claimed that when Mendeleev discovered the periodic table he was not working as a modeler but instead as a theorist. I argue that Weisberg is mistaken in several respects and that the periodic table should be regarded as a classification, not as a theory. In the second part of the article an attempt is made to elevate the status of classifications by suggesting that they provide a form of ‘side-ways explanation

The harmonization of business law in Africa: is article 42 of the OHADA Treaty a problem?

The primary function of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) is to modernize and harmonize the business laws of member states. The wider objective of OHADA is to attract foreign investment into the OHADA zone and to achieve economic integration in Africa as whole, as other African countries join OHADA. However, article 42 of the treaty establishing OHADA stipulates that French is the working language of the organization. This paper argues that this provision does not facilitate the goal of economic integration in Africa and that in one member state, Cameroon, article 42 presents serious constitutional and human rights difficulties. The paper suggests that article 42 should be amended in order to make it easier for key OHADA objectives to be attained and in order to remove the serious problems created in Cameroon

ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - A SOURCE FOR THE FINANCIAL DSECISIONS OF INSOLVENT COMPANIES

The paper presents the importance of financial statements in determining the insolvency of a company. The first part of the article presents a case study and the main signals of bankruptcy: negative working capital, negative equity capitals, losses, etc. In the end of the paper we detail issues that are not observable and that are related to the actual management of the company.working capital, working capital need, treasury, equity capitals, annual financial statements

Civil Society Actors as Catalysts for Transnational Social Learning

This article explores the roles of transnational civil society organizations and networks in transnational social learning. It begins with an investigation into social learning within problem domains and into the ways in which such domain learning builds perspectives and capacities for effective action among domain organizations and institutions. It suggests that domain learning involves problem definition, direction setting, implementation of collective action, and performance monitoring. Transnational civil society actors appear to take five roles in domain learning: (1) identifying issues, (2) facilitating voice of marginalized stakeholders, (3) amplifying the importance of issues, (4) building bridges among diverse stakeholders, and (5) monitoring and assessing solutions. The paper then explores the circumstances in which transnational civil society actors can be expected to make special contributions in important problem domains in the future.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 28. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

“Precocious girls” : age of consent, class and family in late nineteenth-century England

A fixed legal age of consent is used to determine when a person has the capacity to consent to sex yet in the late Victorian period the idea became a vehicle through which to address varied social concerns, from child prostitution and child sexual abuse to chastity and marriageability of working-class girls. This article argues that the Criminal Law Amendment Act (CLAA) 1885, the Act that raised the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen, and its application were driven by constructions of gender in conjunction with those of social class and working class family. The article firstly argues that CLAA 1885 and related campaigns reinforced class boundaries, and largely framed the working class family as absent, thereby, requiring the law to step in as a surrogate parent to protect the girl child. Secondly, the paper focuses on narratives emerging from the archives and argues that while narratives of capacity and protection in particular were key concepts behind reforms, the courts showed limited understanding of these terms. Instead, the courts focused on notions resistance, consent, and untrustworthiness of the victim, even when these concepts were not relevant to the proceedings due to victims' young age

The role of women in disputing among the Ila of Zambia: political adaptation in legal change

African Studies Center Working Paper No. 46This article examines the role of female litigants within the changing social context of disputing and dispute processing among the Ila of Zambia. While the historical and contemporary case material upon which this article is based ultimately reveals a complexity of substantive and procedural points of law across the spectrum of disputing modes and disputing forums available to aggrieved Ila females, here I am more concerned with the elaboration of social realities in legal process -- the social forces which shape legal expectations. Such elaboration, I argue, requires not only an examination of law and dispute settlement, but also the political context of disputing and dispute processing. This article, therefore, addresses itself to rather skeletal theory generated from research conducted under the broad heading of "the politics of law." [TRUNCATED

Proof in dynamic geometry environments

This article suggests that there is a range of evidence that working with dynamic geometry software affords students possibilities of access to theoretical mathematics, something that can be particularly elusive with other pedagogical tools. Yet the paper concludes that further research into the use dynamic geometry software to support the development of students’ mathematical thinking could usefully focus on the nature of the tasks students tackle, the form of teacher input, and the role of the classroom environment and culture

Strategic Positioning and the Financing of Nonprofit Organizations: Is Efficiency Rewarded in the Contributions Marketplace?

This article addresses the question of whether operational efficiency is recognized and rewarded by the private funders that support nonprofit organizations in fields ranging from education to social service to arts and beyond. Looking at the administrative efficiency and fundraising results of a large sample of nonprofit organizations over an 11 year period, we find that nonprofits that position themselves as cost efficient reporting low administrative to total expense ratios fared no better over time than less efficient appearing organizations in the market for individuals, foundations, and corporate contributions. From this analysis, we suggest that economizing may not always be the best strategy in the nonprofit sector. This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 2. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers