Political Settlements: Issues paper

Why do similar sets of formal institutions often have such divergent outcomes? An analysis of political settlements goes some way to answering this question by bringing into focus the contending interests that exist within any state, which constrain and facilitate institutional and developmental change. It provides a framework to analyse how the state is linked to society and what lies behind the formal representation of politics in a state. The political settlement and the elite bargains from which it emerges are central to patterns of state fragility and resilience. The role of political organisation within the political settlement is crucial to both the stability of the settlement and the direction in which it evolves over time. The elite bargains that may lead to the establishment of what might be considered a resilient political settlement may also act as a barrier to progressive developmental change. Analysis of political settlements suggests that state-building is far from a set of technical formulas, but is a highly political process. Creating capacity within a state to consolidate and expand taxation is fundamentally determined by the shape of the political settlement underlying the state. This is true as well for the development of service delivery or any other function of the state. This analytical framework provides a window for donors to grasp the politics of a place in order to design more effective interventions

Does a prestellar core always become protostellar? Tracing the evolution of cores from the prestellar to protostellar phase

Recently, a subset of starless cores whose thermal Jeans mass is apparently overwhelmed by the mass of the core has been identified, e.g., the core {\small L183}. In literature, massive cores such as this one are often referred to as "super-Jeans cores". As starless cores are perhaps on the cusp of forming stars, a study of their dynamics will improve our understanding of the transition from the prestellar to the protostellar phase. In the present work we use non-magnetic polytropes belonging originally to the family of the Isothermal sphere. For the purpose, perturbations were applied to individual polytropes, first by replacing the isothermal gas with a gas that was cold near the centre of the polytrope and relatively warm in the outer regions, and second, through a slight compression of the polytrope by raising the external confining pressure. Using this latter configuration we identify thermodynamic conditions under which a core is likely to remain starless. In fact, we also argue that the attribute "super-Jeans" is subjective and that these cores do not formally violate the Jeans stability criterion. On the basis of our test results we suggest that gas temperature in a star-forming cloud is crucial towards the formation and evolution of a core. Simulations in this work were performed using the particle-based Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics algorithm. However, to establish numerical convergence of the results we suggest similar tests with a grid-scheme, such as the Adaptive mesh refinement.Comment: 14 pages, 24 figures and 1 table; To appear in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Single-Base DNA Discrimination via Transverse Ionic Transport

We suggest to discriminate single DNA bases via transverse ionic transport, namely by detecting the ionic current that flows in a channel while a single-stranded DNA is driven through an intersecting nanochannel. Our all-atom molecular dynamics simulations indeed show that the ionic currents of the four bases are statistically distinct, thus offering another possible approach to sequence DNA.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Objectivity and independence: the dual roles of external auditors and forensic accountants

This paper is aimed at illustrating that certain capacities exist whereby the dual role of the external auditor (in undertaking internal audit roles as well as skilled persons roles) could be exercised to the optimal and maximum benefit of an entity or organisation. It also aims to accentuate on why a return to and focus on traditional auditing techniques, as well as auditing techniques which focus on internal controls is a much needed move. In so doing, it contributes to the extant literature by highlighting why such a move should be facilitated, as well as proposing means whereby such a move would be facilitated - namely, through a focus on benefits which could be derived where the external auditor is able to incorporate certain internal audit responsibilities. The paper also draws attention to safeguards which require due consideration if the ever important attributes of objectivity and independence are not to be compromised. Risks associated with the overlapping roles of testifying and consulting experts in Forensic Accounting will also be considered in this paper. Whilst the benefits and potentials of the dual roles assumed by external auditors are emphasized, as well as the need to ensure that safeguards operating to guard against a compromise of objectivity and independence are in place, authors' opinions in support of dual roles also take into consideration the utmost priority of ethical values. The paper hence also highlights the fact that such dual roles are appropriate in certain cases – as illustrated by justifications for limitations imposed by the Sarbanes Oxley Act and other relevant and applicable legislation – even though instances also persist where section 201 of Sarbanes-Oxley, with regard to internal audit outsourcing, may have been over-reactionary and may continue to hinder both companies and their auditors

Objectivity and Independence: The Dual Roles of External Auditors and Forensic Accountants

This paper is aimed at illustrating that certain capacities exist whereby the dual role of the external auditor (in undertaking internal audit roles as well as skilled persons roles) could be exercised to the optimal and maximum benefit of an entity or organisation. It also aims to accentuate on why a return to and focus on traditional auditing techniques, as well as auditing techniques which focus on internal controls is a much needed move. In so doing, it contributes to the extant literature by highlighting why such a move should be facilitated, as well as proposing means whereby such a move would be facilitated - namely, through a focus on benefits which could be derived where the external auditor is able to incorporate certain internal audit responsibilities. The paper also draws attention to safeguards which require due consideration if the ever important attributes of objectivity and independence are not to be compromised. Risks associated with the overlapping roles of testifying and consulting experts in Forensic Accounting will also be considered in this paper. Whilst the benefits and potentials of the dual roles assumed by external auditors are emphasized, as well as the need to ensure that safeguards operating to guard against a compromise of objectivity and independence are in place, authors' opinions in support of dual roles also take into consideration the utmost priority of ethical values. The paper hence also highlights the fact that such dual roles are appropriate in certain cases – as illustrated by justifications for limitations imposed by the Sarbanes Oxley Act and other relevant and applicable legislation – even though instances also persist where section 201 of Sarbanes-Oxley, with regard to internal audit outsourcing, may have been over-reactionary and may continue to hinder both companies and their auditors

The impact of LIHTC program on local schools

The low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program has developed over two million rental homes for low-income households since 1986. The perception of deterioration in school quality has been a main reason for community opposition to LIHTC projects in middle-and upper-income areas. In this paper, we examine the impact of LIHTC projects on the nearby school performance. The LIHTC projects tend to have positive and statistically significant impacts on school performance the year they are placed in service and this finding is robust to various specifications. Offsetting these, the one year lag effects are negative and of similar or smaller magnitude.Housing subsidies ; Housing policy ; Education ; Poverty

Education and Italian Regional Development

Given recent emphasis on externality to education, macroeconomic studies have a role to play in the analysis of return to schooling. In this paper we study the connection between growth and human capital in a convergence regression for the panel of Italian regions. We include measures of average, primary, secondary and tertiary education. We find that increased education seems to contribute to growth only in the South. Decomposing total schooling into its three constituent parts, we find that only primary education in the South seems to be important. The results thus suggest that the Italian growth benefited from the elimination of illiteracy in the South, mainly in the 1960s, but not from the substantial increases in education at the other levels.Returns to education, regional Italian growth

Spotlight: Educational opportunity: Does low-income housing tax credit hurt nearby schools?

The largest federal program designed to increase the rental housing supply for poor working families helps them find living space in decent neighborhoods with good schools. It also encounters frequent neighborhood opposition.Housing subsidies ; Education ; School choice

An Extinction Threshold for Protostellar Cores in Ophiuchus

We have observed continuum emission at lambda = 850 microns over ~4 square degrees of the Ophiuchus star-forming cloud using SCUBA on the JCMT, producing a submillimetre continuum map twenty times larger than previous Ophiuchus surveys. Our sensitivity is 40 mJ/beam, a factor of ~2 less sensitive than earlier maps. Using an automated identification algorithm, we detect 100 candidate objects. Only two new objects are detected outside the boundary of previous maps, despite the much wider area surveyed. We compare the submillimetre continuum map with a map of visual extinction across the Ophiuchus cloud derived using a combination of 2MASS and R-band data. The total mass in submillimetre objects is ~ 50 Msun compared with ~ 2000 Msun in observed cloud mass estimated from the extinction. The submillimetre objects represent only 2.5% of the cloud mass. A clear association is seen between the locations of detected submillimetre objects and high visual extinction, with no objects detected at A_V<7 magnitudes. Using the extinction map, we estimate pressures within the cloud from P/k ~2x10^5 cm^-3 K in the less-extincted regions to P/k ~2x10^6 cm^-3 K at the cloud centre. Given our sensitivities, cold (T_d ~15K) clumps supported by thermal pressure, had they existed, should have been detected throughout the majority of the map. Such objects may not be present at low A_V because they may form only where A_V > 15, by some mechanism (e.g., loss of non-thermal support).Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure. Accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letter