Formation, Measurement, and Imputation of Social Ties

abstract: Network analysis is a key conceptual orientation and analytical tool in the social sciences that emphasizes the embeddedness of individual behavior within a larger web of social relations. The network approach is used to better understand the cause and consequence of social interactions which cannot be treated as independent. The relational nature of network data and models, however, amplify the methodological concerns associated with inaccurate or missing data. This dissertation addresses such concerns via three projects. As a motivating substantive example, Project 1 examines factors associated with the selection of interaction partners by students at a large urban high school implementing a reform which, like many organizational improvement initiatives, is associated with a theory of change that posits changes to the structuring of social interactions as a central causal pathway to improved outcomes. A distinctive aspect of the data used in Project 1 is that it was a complete egocentric network census – in addition to being asked about their own relationships, students were asked about the relationships between alters that they nominated in the self-report. This enables two unique examinations of methodological challenges in network survey data collection: Project 2 examines the factors related to how well survey respondents assess the strength of social connections between others, finding that "informant" competence corresponds positively with their social proximity to target dyad as well as their centrality in the network. Project 3 explores using such third-party reports to augment network imputation methods, and finds that incorporating third-party reports into model-based methods provides a significant boost in imputation accuracy. Together these findings provide important implications for collecting and extrapolating data in research contexts where a complete social network census is highly desirable but infeasible.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Applied Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences 201

The ECOWAS parliament as a tool for conflict prevention in West Africa

This thesis seeks to examine the effectiveness of the ECOWAS Parliament in conflict prevention in West Africa. From a holistic perspective, it also discusses the emergence of regional parliaments and specifically analyses their contribution to conflict prevention. This thesis is the first to assess how the ECOWAS Parliament attempts to prevent conflict in West Africa and how effective this has been. It presents the argument that, bodies such as the ECOWAS-P which are mandated as the legislative organs in a region otherwise noted for protracted conflicts play a crucial role in preventing conflict. The study employed participant observation (specifically in the ECOWAS-P), case study methods, elite interviews, parliamentary and archival research. The thesis greatest contribution lie in undertaking an institutionalist approach to conflict prevention and drawing from public administration developed and applied a performance management tool to help assess how the ECOWAs-P has succeeded at this task. It finds that with no provision made for the parliament in the regional conflict prevention mechanism, it has had to employ normative initiatives to be relevant in conflict prevention. The research exposes that the lack of a universal suffrage mode of election of EMPs emphasises its democratic deficit. The thesis concludes that, the ECOWAS-P as a new institution provided under the revised treaty of 1993 is increasingly gaining more responsibility as a body for conflict prevention and prospectively the enhancement of its powers by the draft supplementary act passed in December 2014 will help it in making binding laws

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Kinanthropology

The 11th International Conference on Kinantropology was held on the Nov 29 – Dec 1, 2017 in Brno and was organized by the Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University and the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb. This year was divided into several themes: sports medicine, sport and social science, sport training, healthy lifestyle and healthy ageing, sports management, analysis of human movement. Part of the conference was also a symposium Atletika and Ortoreha that gathered specialists in physiotherapy

Harmonising international capital adequacy standards for securities firms: Explaining the contours of authority in the EU and IOSCO negotiations.

This thesis investigates the sources, structure, and exercise of authority and influence in international policy-formation. It does this by examining two contemporaneous negotiations to harmonise securities firm capital adequacy standards, the European Union's successful adoption of regional standards and the International Organization of Securities Commission's failed effort to adopt international standards. The thesis examines the accuracy of state and non-state centric hypotheses in explaining the outcomes of the negotiations. It also proposes a synthetic analysis of empirical findings, which identifies and assesses interactions between observations drawn from state and non-state centric approaches, to develop new perspectives on authority and influence in policy formation. The thesis argues that international policy-making authority ultimately resided with state actors and institutions. Policy-making was informed by the interaction of state and non-state preferences. Rarely, however, were non-state preferences translated, unaltered, into policy. The case studies demonstrated that international policy-making authority and influence extended beyond state actors, but that states retained their autonomy and sovereignty in policy formation. 1 This thesis finds that non-state-centric approaches are analytically superior to state-centric perspectives. But synthetic analysis of state and non-state centric empirical observations goes even further, to develop distinctive conclusions that cannot be derived by relying solely on discrete analytical perspectives. This is because it examines the process of policy-formation and the dynamic interaction of state and non-state observations. These conclusions encourage multi-variable, process-focused analysis. The empirical analysis also qualifies the arguments of certain non-state centric perspectives. First, theorists' conflation of authority and influence detracts from a nuanced assessment of influences on policy formation. Second, the analytical complexity of multiple-variable perspectives is justified by their superior analytical insights. Third, 1. This argument applies only to the US and EU member-states. theorists' argument that globalisation has transformed state authority is shown to be overdrawn. Fourth, predictions of international regulatory convergence also appear strained. Finally, the utility of EU integration perspectives in non-EU analyses is demonstrated

A Corporative Theory of Corporate Law and Governance

This book investigates how a corporation, as a legal entity with certain specific attributes, but lacking human form, can take action in the “real world” of human activity. It contends that a corporation must take such action through, and by means of, an organization, both inside and outside its “corporate” legal limits, consisting of real individual persons and groups of persons. The corporation thus presents itself both as a legal entity assuming the legal form of a corporation and as a social entity taking the form of an organization. One form overlays the other. Those with whom it has legal relations, its legal counterparties, are also, in respect of its organization, participants in that organization. This theory of, or perspective on, the corporation and its governance is explicated here as “corporative”. The corporation comes into being, is situated, participates, and is “embedded”, in a complex sociopolitical-economic environment, which includes its legal counterparties and organizational participants. In addition to shareholders, they include employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, local, regional, and national communities, polities and governments, and non-governmental and other organizations, including those whose objectives include the environment, sustainability, governance, and social responsibility. Despite arguments from advocates of shareholder primacy and maximizing shareholder value, neither the corporation nor any of its participants, including shareholders, have any single objective. Instead, such participants have a variety of objectives which may be consistent to varying degrees with those of each other and with those of the corporation. However, the prosperity and well-being of corporations and their organizational participants, and the groups and other organizations of which organizational participants are members, at a macro-level, are, in many ways, interdependent. Today, prompted by various concerns (including the environment, sustainability, technology, changes in employment and other economic engagement patterns, and increasing income disparities), corporations, industry groups and NGOs, like governments, educational institutions, and other organizations, are facing challenges to the continued viability of contemporary capitalism and of its paradigmatic vehicle, the corporation. Addressing these challenges requires that corporations be considered in the context of the complex socio-political-economic environment in which they are situated and of which they partake. Drawing on analysis of corporate statutes and other relevant law, and historical, social, political, economic, organizational, business, and other theory, information and analysis, this work elucidates the corporative theory of, or perspective on, the corporation. It outlines how this might be applied in analyzing the corporation and its governance from a legal perspective. It illustrates how organizational participants may, and do, influence the behaviour of the relevant corporations; and how corporations may, and do, influence the behaviour of organizational participants. This contributes to understanding how such relationships may be employed, not only to “save” capitalism and the corporation, but to advance common interests in human prosperity, happiness, meaning, and even simple sustenance