Ancient Rights and Future Comfort: Bihar, the Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 and British Rule in India

Conditions in India, and the colonial impact upon them, have been a ground base to the main themes of the previous chapters. They now must make their own contribution, by means of a consideration of the history of agrarian structure in Bihar from the eighteenth century. The starting-point is made appropriate by the permanent settlement, but called into question by recent refinements of ideas about India before British rule. Partly the product of renewed empirical research, and partly an exercise in demystification, these serve to illustrate how unformed the parameters of modern Indian history still are, how narrow the consensus. They re-examine not just the cruder assertions about Indian backwardness or decadence, but also those old orthodoxies in the more subtle forms in which they persist today. What was the trajectory of the Indian political economy in the colonial period? A range of possibilities is now being suggested: that no radical break with the past accompanied the advent of British rule (fitting. with a tendency altogether to play down British impact), that India had been incorporated within or at least influenced by broader economic and political systems long before the nineteenth century, and that situations and reactions differed markedly between regions over the period

Shifting Skill Demand and the Canada-US Unemployment Gap: Evidence from Prime-Age Men

This paper considers the possible role of shifts in labour demand away from unskilled workers, combined with an institutionally- generated greater labour supply elasticity in Canada, in explaining the apparent secular increase in Canadian male unemployment, and in explaining the emergence of the Canada-U.S. unemployment rate gap in the 1980's. Using comparable data on annual weeks worked and unemployed in both countries, we identify four main facts which are consistent with such this explanation: Both Canada and the US experienced wage polarization over this period, with substantial real wage declines for unskilled men; annual weeks worked fell disproportionately among unskilled workers in both countries; responses of weeks worked to wage declines were more elastic in Canada; and aggregate movements out of employment over this period corresponded closely to movements into unemployment in Canada. Interestingly, however, unskilled U.S. men were more likely than Canadians to leave the labour force as their employment fell, adding further to the Canada-U.S. unemployment gap. As well, some fairly substantial decreases in weeks worked are observed quite high up in the Canadian wage distribution, where wages did not fall appreciably. The latter changes cannot easily be explained by a shifts in labour demand alone.

Mr Upjohn’s Debts: Money and Friendship in Early Colonial Calcutta

The paper discusses the effective operation of money and credit among Europeans in Calcutta around 1800, arguing for the importance of informal processes and ties of friendship that facilitated, regulated and enforced agreements, helping both to tide over individuals in times of economic stress and to underwrite the provision and transfer of capital. The argument is advanced by a detailed case study in regard to debts owed by one resident, Aaron Upjohn, to another, Richard Blechynden, amidst a web of acquaintance, officialdom and law that variously ensured that the debts were honoured. It is defined as ‘a support system among acquaintances, necessitated in part by shortage of money and abundance of risk’

Top Management IT Governance Knowledge: A Construct Development

Top management involvement in IT governance may positively influence the establishment and implementation of effective IT governance within organisations. There are few studies, however, investigating those factors that drive top managements’ ability to absorb IT governance knowledge within organisations. This study offers a deeper understanding of factors that help positively influence top managements’ knowledge of IT governance. Using absorptive capacity as its theoretical underpinning and based on Australian empirical data, this study shows that for top management to have good levels of absorptive capacity of IT governance knowledge, four factors are required. Within the context of IT governance, those four factors are prior relevant knowledge, communication network, communication climate, and knowledge scanning. In rank order this study shows that the level of absorptive capacity of IT governance of top management was strongly influenced by communication network. Knowledge scanning was found as the next most important factor for improving the level of absorptive capacity of IT governance knowledge. Communication climate was found to be the third most important factor. Lastly, ‘Prior relevant knowledge’ was also important for enhancing the level of absorptive capacity of IT governance among top management. Organisations that want their top management to be positively involved in IT governance can use these empirically validated factors to help contribute to top management involvement in IT governance

Enacted stigma, mental health, and protective factors among transgender youth in Canada

Purpose: We aimed to assess the Minority Stress Model which proposes that the stress of experiencing stigma leads to adverse mental health outcomes, but social supports (e.g., school and family connectedness) will reduce this negative effect. Methods: We measured stigma-related experiences, social supports, and mental health (self-injury, suicide, depression, and anxiety) among a sample of 923 Canadian transgender 14- to 25-year-old adolescents and young adults using a bilingual online survey. Logistic regression models were conducted to analyze the relationship between these risk and protective factors and dichotomous mental health outcomes among two separate age groups, 14- to 18-year-old and 19- to 25-year-old participants. Results: Experiences of discrimination, harassment, and violence (enacted stigma) were positively related to mental health problems and social support was negatively associated with mental health problems in all models among both age groups. Among 14–18 year olds, we examined school connectedness, family connectedness, and perception of friends caring separately, and family connectedness was always the strongest protective predictor in multivariate models. In all the mental health outcomes we examined, transgender youth reporting low levels of enacted stigma experiences and high levels of protective factors tended to report favorable mental health outcomes. Conversely, the majority of participants reporting high levels of enacted stigma and low levels of protective factors reported adverse mental health outcomes. Conclusion: While these findings are limited by nonprobability sampling procedures and potential additional unmeasured risk and protective factors, the results provide positive evidence for the Minority Stress Model in this population and affirm the need for policies and programs to support schools and families to support transgender youth

A comparative analysis of the taxation of dividends between South Africa and Mauritius.

Master of Laws in Taxation. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College 2015.The aim of this dissertation was to determine whether there was any benefit to shareholders (corporate or individuals) in utilising offshore structures in Mauritius to minimise their ultimate dividends tax liability. Due to multiple factors, including the lack of prolific secondary sources in Mauritius, the dissertation was written, for the most part, from a South African perspective. In undertaking this study, a comprehensive review of dividends tax was undertaken (excluding dividends in specie and dividends from listed companies) under South African law, Mauritian law and the tax treaty that is effective between the two jurisdictions. A brief analysis of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of Mauritius for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, which is set to become effective on 1 January 2016 was also undertaken. In each chapter, a review was performed, analysis was made and practical examples were given in order to give the reader a better understanding of the practical application of the analysis. Comparisons were made using different commonly used entities such as companies (including Global Business License 1 and 2 companies) trusts, foreign trusts and also individuals. The dissertation provided examples of each of these types of entities in order to show the effectiveness of utilising Mauritius’ low tax rates and generous provisions in the tax treaty between South Africa and Mauritius. The study revealed that, without making any comments on the cost of setting up offshore structures, offshore structures could in certain circumstances, if properly structured, substantially reduce a shareholders dividends tax liability. The study did however also reveal that such structures would have to be legitimate foreign business enterprises to avoid the complex anti-avoidance provisions provided in the South African Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962 such as the controlled foreign company provisions which, in certain circumstances, attribute the net income of the offshore company to the shareholder(s). The dissertation described certain important principles which would need to be complied with by the shareholder and the foreign entity concerned, in order to avoid the pitfalls associated with such structures, including the very important place of effective management tests. The dissertation therefore had a positive result and could benefit any high net worth individual or company seeking to minimise its dividends tax burden

The Government of India under Lord Chelmsford, 1916-1921, with special reference to the policies adopted towards constitutional change and political agitation in British India.

This thesis examines the established view of Chelmsford's administration in the light of documentary evidence only recently available. It questions such assumptions as that policy originated in London, that the Government of Inaia were hostile to Chang's, and that Chelmsford was without influence. It is arranged as an analysis of policy, describing Chelmsford's method and its application to politics and reform. The conclusion is that underlying policy there was a coherent idea, formulated in India from the Government's enunciation of the goal of Indian self-government within the Empire. The Government, it is found, had decided they must begin to resolve the contradictions between bureaucracy and Indian advancement, and give positive expression to their acceptance of the goal. Thus, it is shown, the Government worked with collective responsibility in consultation with local governments, legislators and public - as befitted their changing role. They attacked racial discrimination, internal and international, as inappropriate to the Indians' future status. In spite of the dangers of popular activism, they evolved a tactic of non-interference with national politicians, partly because of an admission that Indian aspirations, if not methods, were basically legitimate. They repressed political 'crime' and disorders, but saw them as exceptional and as counterproductive to Indian progress; and, though the repressive habit persisted in the 'Rowlatt' Act, the 1919 atrocities were a local aberration repudiated by Chelmsford. Finally, the Government presided over constitutional reforms in which they tried for the first time to prepare for a future transfer of power. The thesis recognises different influences on policy, limitations to Chelmsford's vision, the obscurity of his personal contribution, and the exceptional unpopularity of his rule. Failures are not disputed, but positive achievements are also presented for scrutiny. It is suggested that they encompassed a fundamental commitment to the future