A survey of Remote Jobs and Communities Program(me) providers: one year in

This working paper reports on a survey of provider organisations conducted almost one year into the implementation of Remote Jobs and Communities Program. Abstract On 1 July 2013, a new labour market and community participation program-the Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP)-started operating across remote Australia. It replaced several other programs, most importantly Job Services Australia (JSA) and the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme. JSA has in recent years been Australia\u27s principal \u27mainstream\u27 labour market program in which all unemployment payment recipients in Australia who are able to work are expected to participate. CDEP is a much longer-standing program, originally designed to provide some form of paid work to Indigenous people living in remote communities. RJCP was presented by the Gillard Labor government as offering services that would be locally flexible, be delivered in partnership with communities and have a strong focus on getting people into work.  Its dual focus-on community participation and on jobs-was reflected in arrangements for its administration, jointly managed by the Department  of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. However, a change of government in September 2013 brought RJCP into the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The new Abbott Coalition government was critical of RJCP and immediately included it in a review of Indigenous employment and training programs, led by Andrew Forrest. This working paper reports on a survey of provider organisations conducted almost one year into the implementation of RJCP. It is part of a larger research project on the implementation of RJCP during its first three years, with funding support from the Australian Research Council and Jobs Australia (Linkage Project 130100226). The project aims to understand how RJCP is developed from a general policy idea to specific grounded practice, at the community, regional and jurisdictional levels. This survey report includes findings about basic arrangements and characteristics of provider organisations; ideas about joblessness in remote areas and welfare conditionality; provider perceptions of the government officials with whom they work; operational details (staffing, money and administrative challenges including information technology (IT) systems); and broader influences on the shaping of program delivery, like Community Action Plans and community perceptions. A second survey in 2015–16 will track developments in these areas over time

Finite homological dimension and a derived equivalence

For a Cohen-Macaulay ring $R$, we exhibit the equivalence of the bounded derived categories of certain resolving subcategories, which, amongst other results, yields an equivalence of the bounded derived category of finite length and finite projective dimension modules with the bounded derived category of projective modules with finite length homologies. This yields isomorphisms of various generalized cohomology groups (like K-theory) and improves on terms of a spectral sequence and Gersten complexes.Comment: 23 pages : Some parts of the article changed, especially section 3, to add clarity. Other minor corrections mad

Rural small firms' website quality in transition and market economies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate website quality in rural firms in four countries, by using Gonzalez and Palacios's Web Assessment Index (WAI). There is an assertion in the literature that quality is lower amongst rural firms than urban firms, and lower amongst small firms than large firms. The disadvantages of lack of access to skills and economic peripherality in rural areas are attributed to this. Concurrently, there is reason to surmise that the websites of firms in transition economies may be higher quality than those in market economies. The paper aims to explore websites in distinct rural regions to investigate if variation occurs. Design/methodology/approach – To evaluate website quality the WAI was applied to a sample of 60 rural firms representing 15 each in Scotland, New Zealand, Southern Russia and Hunan Province in China. Analysis of the categorical data was performed using a variety of established methods. Findings – The WAI is of use in terms of website quality management. Additionally, comparisons between the quality of websites in the sample of small rural firms with those of large firms in previous studies support the contention that large firms generally have better quality websites. Results also illustrate that there are some differences in website quality between rural small businesses in the different locations. In particular, small rural firms in Hunan Province in China had websites of observable better quality than those elsewhere. The authors conclude that skills, knowledge and infrastructure have a bearing on the sophistication of small firms' websites. Research limitations/implications – Implications include that variation in the rural economy by region prevails as the rural economy is not, as often implied, a homogeneous concept. Practical implications – There are implications in terms of exploring the effects of regulation, culture and infrastructure on rural small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The internet may indeed contribute to rural economies, but only insofar as it is facilitated by infrastructure and access to skills, and by culture and perceived usefulness by business owners. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the understanding of rural entrepreneurship as a heterogeneous concept by comparing practice in four distinct rural regions. It also adds weight to the emerging identification of exogenous factors as being at least as much a factor in determining the use of ICT in rural SMEs as endogenous motivations, skills and resources. </jats:sec

The sub prime crisis : implications for emerging markets

This paper discusses some of the key characteristics of the U.S. subprime mortgage boom and bust, contrasts them with characteristics of emerging mortgage markets, and makes recommendations for emerging market policy makers. The crisis has raised questions in the minds of many as to the wisdom of extending mortgage lending to low and moderate income households. It is important to note, however,that prior to the growth of subprime lending in the 1990s, U.S. mortgage markets already reached low and moderate-income households without taking large risks or suffering large losses. In contrast, in most emerging markets, mortgage finance is a luxury good, restricted to upper income households. As policy makers in emerging market seek to move lenders down market, they should adopt policies that include a variety of financing methods and should allow for rental or purchase as a function of the financial capacity of the household. Securitization remains a useful tool when developed in the context of well-aligned incentives and oversight. It is possible to extend mortgage lending down market without repeating the mistakes of the subprime boom and bust.Debt Markets,,Access to Finance,Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress,Emerging Markets

Transport: Introduction

Space transportation requirements for the NASA baseline scenario for future space missions are discussed. Spacecraft/propulsion technologies required for surface-to-orbit, orbit-to-orbit, and surface (lunar) transportation are addressed

High-temperature deformation and microstructural analysis for Si3N4-Sc2O3

It was indicated that Si3N4 doped with Sc2O3 may exhibit high temperature mechanical properties superior to Si3N4 systems with various other oxide sintered additives. High temperature deformation of samples was studied by characterizing the microstructures before and after deformation. It was found that elements of the additive, such as Sc and O, exist in small amounts at very thin grain boundary layers and most of them stay in secondary phases at triple and multiple grain boundary junctions. These secondary phases are devitrified as crystalline Sc2Si2O7. Deformation of the samples was dominated by cavitational processes rather than movements of dislocations. Thus the excellent deformation resistance of the samples at high temperature can be attributed to the very small thickness of the grain boundary layers and the crystalline secondary phase