Contemporary psychoanalytic applications: Development and its vicissitudes

The contemporary relevance of psychoanalysis is being increasingly questioned; Off the Couch challenges this view, demonstrating that psychoanalytic thinking and its applications are both innovative and relevant, in particular to the management and treatment of more disturbed and difficult to engage patient groups. Chapters address: Clinical applications in diverse settings across the age range the relevance of psychoanalytic thinking to the practice of CBT, psychosomatics and general psychiatry the contribution of psychoanalytic thinking to mental health policy and the politics of conflict and mediation. This book suggests that psychoanalysis has a vital position within the public health sector and discusses how it can be better utilised in the treatment of a range of mental health problems. It also highlights the role of empirical research in providing a robust evidence base. Off the Couch will be essential reading for those practicing in the field of mental health and will also be useful for anyone involved in the development of mental health and public policies. It will ensure that practitioners and supervisors have a clear insight into how psychoanalysis can be applied in general healthcare

The Performance of Health Workers in Ethiopia Results from Qualitative Research

Insufficient attention has been paid to understanding what determines the performance of health workers and how they make labor market choices. This paper reports on findings from focus group discussions with both health workers and users of health services in Ethiopia, a country with some of the poorest health outcomes in the world. We describe performance problems identified by both health users and health workers participating in the focus group discussions, including absenteeism and shirking, pilfering drugs and materials, informal health care provision and illicit charging, and corruption. In the second part of the paper we present four structural reasons why these problems arise: (i) the ongoing transition from health sector dominated by the public sector, towards a more mixed model; (ii) the failure of government policies to keep pace with the transition towards a mixed model of service delivery; (iii) weak accountability mechanisms and the erosion of professional norms in the health sector; and (iv) the impact of HIV/AIDS. The discussions underline the need to base policies on a micro-analysis of how health workers make constrained choices, both in their career and in their day to day professional activities.health worker performance, human resources for health, corruption

Transforming gender relations in rural Ethiopia through community conversations

Poster prepared for a share fair, Addis Ababa, May 201

The performance of health workers in Ethiopia - results from qualitative research

Insufficient attention has been paid to understanding what determines the performance of health workers and how they make labor market choices. This paper reports on findings from focus group discussions with both health workers and users of health services in Ethiopia, a country with some of the poorest health outcomes in the world. It describes performance problems identified by both health, users and health workers participating in the focus group discussions, including absenteeism and shirking, pilfering drugs and materials, informal health care provision and illicit charging, and corruption. The second part of the paper presents four structural reasons why these problems arise: (1) the ongoing transition from a health sector dominated by the public sector, toward a more mixed model; (2) the failure of government policies to keep pace with the transition toward a mixed model of service delivery; (3) weak accountability mechanisms and the erosion of professional norms in the health sector; and (4) the impact of HIV/AIDS. The discussions underline the need to base policies on a micro-analysis of how health workers make constrained choices, both in their career and in their day to day professional activities.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Systems Development&Reform,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Housing&Human Habitats,Health Economics&Finance

Strategic grain reserves in Ethiopia: Institutional design and operational performance

Holding strategic grain reserves to address food price hikes has received renewed attentions in recent years. This paper examines such a program in Ethiopia that has been successful in addressing several emergencies since the 1990s. The analysis suggests that the key ingredients behind the success are a unique institutional design, coordination during emergencies with food-based safety net programs, and keeping the grain stocks to a minimum. Institutional design is unique because, unlike similar agencies in other countries, Ethiopia's Emergency Food Security Reserve Administration (EFSRA) is independent of price stabilization and hence is not engaged in buying and selling of grain. The paper also demonstrates that scaling up school feeding programs will generate additional food demand and an effective outlet for stock rotation; and that increasing the stock level for price stabilization will adversely affect both grain markets and the performance of the EFSRA.strategic grain reserves, agricultural price policies, safety net programs,

Empirical perspectives on national index funds

Closed-end national index funds (NIFs of country funds) invest primarily in the stocks of the originating countries, such as Brazil, India, and the Republic of Korea. They are typically traded in the organized exchanges of industrial countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Although NIFs have not raised large amounts of external funds, recently they have expanded rapidly. In a companion paper ("The Pricing of Country Funds and Their Role in Capital Mobilization for Emerging Economies,"WPS 1058), the authors develop a theoretical model to compare the pricing of country funds in the reference markets (say the United States) with the pricing of the underlying component assets (or net asset valuation) in the originating securities market under various assumptions about market structure. In this paper, they empirically investigate the hypotheses that emerge from the model. They first analyze country fund pricing and associated premia, or discounts, and then explore the issue of diversification services provided by NIFs from emerging markets. The emphasis on emerging markets is important as many markets are otherwise closed to foreign investors. They compare results across emerging and industrial markets and, where appropriate, over different subperiods. Their evidence suggests that U.S. investors could benefit significantly in diversification that involves NIFs, particularly funds originating from countries to whose local markets they have limited access. The authors investigate the pricing of NIFs, testing their principal theoretical predictions about the relative significance of the home market, host market, and global closed-end fund factors. They analyze initial (public-offering literature) and after-market returns, and explain the behavior of fund premia/discounts. The evidence shows that variables that proxy the degree of access and substitution effects show up as significant determinants of country fund premia/discounts. The empirical study supports their theory about the welfare implication for emerging economies that originate country funds. The model suggests that country funds can improve pricing efficiency in local capital markets and promote local capital mobilization by firms at more favorable terms (lower costs of capital).Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets

Agricultural extension services and gender equality: An institutional analysis of four districts in Ethiopia

Decentralized delivery of public services has been promoted as a means to enhance citizen voice and make service provision more responsive to users. Ethiopia has undertaken two rounds of decentralization, making first the regional states and then the district governments responsible for providing key public services. This paper explores whether decentralization has improved the quality of service delivery and citizen satisfaction with the services provided, focusing on agricultural extension. Specifically, we examine whether services are responsive to the needs and expressed demands of poor farmers, including women farmers. We focus on the institutional arrangements through which agricultural extension services are provided and how these contribute to efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in service delivery.agricultural extension, Decentralization, Gender, institutional analysis,