Handbook for estimating the socio-economic and environmental effects of disasters.

Taken from Introduction: Disasters have a major impact on the living conditions of the population, the economic performance of the countries or regions affected, and on environmental assets and services, with consequences that go beyond the short term and in some cases even irreversibly impact economic and social structures and the environment. In the case of industrialized countries, disasters caused huge damage to the large stock of accumulated capital, whereas losses of human life are limited thanks, among other factors, to the availability of effective early warning and evacuation systems as well as better urban planning and the application of more strict building codes and standards. In developing countries, on the other hand, the number of deaths is usually high because of greater vulnerability brought about by the lack or inadequacy of forecast and evacuation programs; and although losses of capital might be smaller in absolute terms when compared to those in developed countries, their relative weight and overall impact tend to be very significant,1 even affecting sustainability. Disasters may have natural origins or be man-made. However, their consequences derive from a combination of both processes; that is to say, from human interaction with nature and her cycles or systems. Not only do disasters occur frequently around the world, but it would seem that their incidence and intensity have been increasing in recent years. They cause the loss of many lives, directly and indirectly (primarily or secondarily), affect large segments of the population, and cause significant damage to the environment and large-scale economic and social harm

Harnessing open data to achieve development results in Latin America and the Caribbean

Through research and innovation in open data, this project worked to strengthen the accountability and legitimacy of public institutions, improve public services, and fuel economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. It supported two initiatives: the Latin American Open Data Institute (Instituto Latinoamericano de Datos Abiertos - ILDA) and the Caribbean Open Institute. These acted as innovation hubs to explore opportunities and challenges of using open data. The report provides a summary of activities, outputs and outcomes of the project. A toolkit was developed for the assessment of open data programs in the region

Latin America’s Domestic Market and the Maintenance of Capitalism

Rodolfo Stavenhagen en su clásico ensayo acerca de las 7 tesis equivocadas sobre América Latina aborda la cuestión del estrecho mercado interno señalando que es esencialmente una cuestión de distribución del ingreso. Ha quedado claro y más en el periodo neoliberal que la prioridad de la clase dominante latinoamericana está en el mercado mundial, no en lo local-nacional. Queda demostrado que en los últimos cuarenta años ha asumido con más determinación su papel de intermediaria, interesada en situarse en el ámbito del intercambio, del comercio y de las transacciones financieras, principalmente especulativas, que le permitan rentabilidades inmediatas. No promueve en el mercado interno las inversiones productivas ni el fortalecimiento de la educación ni la innovación ni el desarrollo tecnológico y por lo tanto el empleo seguro y protegido. La región muestra que la desigualdad se ha acentuado, que se acompaña de una creciente precarización del empleo, que el empleo informal es lo que más destaca y que por lo tanto el mercado interno expresa la segmentación y desigualdad productiva y social

Strukturschwache Räume im Standortwettbewerb - Fallanalyse Kärnten unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Städte Klagenfurt und Villach

Mit Kärnten wurde eine Region untersucht, die im Vergleich zu anderen Regionen Österreichs eher ländlich strukturiert und wirtschaftlich strukturschwach ist. Nach Jahrzehnten der Grenzlage im europäischen Binnenmarkt sieht sich Kärnten aufgrund der EU-Osterweiterung sowohl mit neuen Chancen für die Standortentwicklung als auch mit einem erhöhten Wettbewerbsdruck aufgrund osteuropäischer Konkurrenz konfrontiert. Der in den zurückliegenden Jahren durch wirtschaftspolitische Maßnahmen auf Landesebene eingeleitete technologieorientierte Strukturwandel zeigt, dass auch in einem durch nachholende Entwicklung geprägten Wirtschaftsraum auf neue Herausforderungen im Standortwettbewerb erfolgreich reagiert werden kann. Dies gilt vor allem für die beiden Städte Klagenfurt und Villach, die als regionale Ballungszentren einen Entwicklungsmotor für das gesamte Bundesland bilden.Here the investigation turns to Kärnten, a region that is more rural and has a weaker economic structure than other Austrian regions. After decades of being a border region in the European internal market, the eastwards extension of the EU is now bringing the Kärnten location both new development chances and also increased competitive pressure due to East European competition. In recent years the state has been pursuing economic policy measures to introduce technology-oriented structural transformation, a course that shows that even in an economic area characterised by catch-up development it is possible to react successfully to new challenges in locational competition. This is particularly true of the two cities of Klagenfurt and Villach, regional conglomerations that drive development for the entire federal state

Allocating Family Responsibilities for Dependent Older People in Mexico and Peru

This paper applies different analytical frameworks to explore processes of family bargaining about providing care for dependent older people in Mexico and Peru. These frameworks include cultural norms, life course effects and material exchange. The paper is based on 19 in-depth qualitative family case studies, which are linked to a wider set of quantitative survey data. Care arrangements and bargaining processes are revealed to be highly gendered, and largely conform to prevailing cultural norms. Rather than neutral and objective, the self-identified role as main carer is found to be subjective and potentially ambiguous. The few men who self-identify as main carers are more likely to play an indirect, organisational role than engage directly in daily care. As such, bargaining mainly relates to which woman performs the main care role, and large family networks mean that there is usually more than one candidate carer. Bargaining can occur inter-generationally and conjugally, but bargaining between siblings is of particular importance. Bargaining is framed by the uncertain trajectory of older people’s care needs, and arrangements are sometimes reconfigured in response to changing care needs or family circumstances. Taking the narratives at face value, the influence of life course effects on bargaining and care arrangements is more obvious than material exchange. There are, however, indications that economic considerations, particularly inheritance, still play an important behind the scenes role