Theory of Change Review: A Report Commissioned by Comic Relief

Comic Relief does three things. It raises much needed cash, it then allocates that cash to projects in the United States and in the poorest countries in the world, and it raises awareness of the issues it feels strongly about. This report is one of a series of Comic Relief commissioned learning reports. Some learning reports aim to bring the impact of and learning from some of the work Comic Relief has funded in helping change lives to a wider audience. Other reports aim to draw together learning on key issues from a range of stakeholders to inform Comic Relief's thinking and promote debate in the sector. This report aims to draw together Comic Relief staff and partners' experiences in using theory of change; to identify others in development that are using theory of change and analyse their different approaches and experience; and to capture learning from everyone to promote debate, and to help inform what agencies using or advocating for the use of theory of change do next. This report was commissioned by Comic Relief and written by Cathy James, an independent consultant. The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Comic Relief

For whistleblowing to become more common we need to understand what more can be done by government, employers and civil society

In recent months we have seen a number of public outcries over controversies in which those within an organisation knew about malpractice but could not or would not speak up. However Cathy James argues that calls for greater accountability are unlikely to lead anywhere unless they are combined with an increased awareness of the structural and cultural obstacles to whistleblowing

TESTING SEPARABILITY OF JAPANESE DEMAND FOR MEAT AND FISH WITHIN DIFFERENTIAL DEMAND SYSTEMS

The separability of meat products from fish products is investigated to gain a better understanding of Japanese consumer choices in protein demand. Rather than view fish as a single homogeneous commodity, fish and seafood are categorized into several groups of products. Separability is investigated using a demand system approach in which a generalized system of demand equations is specified and used, first to identify if any of the alternative demand structures nested within the general system are appropriate for these data, and then, conditional on those results, to test separability of meats from fish products following Moschini, Moro, and Green. Results indicate that meats and fish were separable prior to 1990; however, when examined over the entire 1981-95 study period, they are not.Demand and Price Analysis,

Innovations and Progress in Seafood Demand and Market Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to review several economic studies which present a spectrum of interesting and creative approaches to analyzing the market for fish and seafood. These studies form a basis from which to offer recommendations for further improving analysis of fish demand and markets. We do so in an effort to advocate the potential of this area of research in the decisions which promote efficient use of the world's fisheries resources. Each of the reviewed approaches has its merits and limitations, depending on the issue at hand, quality of the data and skills of the researcher. The approaches are categorized as either demand studies following more traditional commodity market analysis methods or as market research studies.seafood, demand, marketing, international trade, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Submission to the Call for Evidence on The Whistleblowing Framework

This paper draws on data (868 cases) from the Public Concern at Work advice line database. In particular, it examines how successful whistleblowing was when a concern was raised with a regulator, in comparison with other recipients of whistleblower concerns. Our findings make it plausible to conclude that whistleblowing to a regulator results in more successful whistleblowing compared to internal and other external recipients. Overall, it is safer and has a better chance of effecting action to stop wrongdoing. Hence, our conclusion is also that the option taken in the Public Interest Disclosure Act to identify regulators and prescribed persons as designated recipients external to an organisation, and acting on the public's behalf should be maintained. However, our findings also suggest this system can be improved, so that regulators perform better in their role. Problems and recommendations identified in our research are listed in the table below. These findings and recommendations are relevant to questions 16, 17, 18, and 19 in the BIS Call for Evidence on The Whistleblowing Framework (July 2013)

Whistleblowing: the inside story - a study of the experiences of 1,000 whistleblowers

This report presents the findings of a collaborative research project by the University of Greenwich and Public Concern at Work, on how the whistleblowing process develops from internal to external whistleblowing. Data consists of 1,000 cases from the Public Concern at Work advice line

Testing Separability of Japanese Demand for Meat and Fish Within Differential DemandSystems

The separability of meat products from fish products is investigated to gain a better understanding of Japanese consumer choices in protein demand. Rather than view fish as a single homogeneous commodity, fish and seafood are categorized into several groups of products. Separability is investigated using a demand system approach in which a generalized system of demand equations is specified and used, first to identify if any of the alternative demand structures nested within the general system are appropriate for these data, and then, conditional on those results, to test separability of meats from fish products following Moschini, Moro, and Green. Results indicate that meats and fish were separable prior to 1990; however, when examined over the entire 1981-95 study period, they are not

Kinetics vs. equilibrium binding: Determining the mechanism of transcriptional activation of Polymerase II

Abstract only availableThe mechanism of transcriptional activation of Polymerase II (Pol II) can be studied in a unique way by using a model transcriptional activator, TFIIIA-VP16, whose DNA-binding domain is derived from the zinc finger protein TFIIIA. In previous research, the equilibrium binding constants of wild-type TFIIIA-VP16 and two mutants, L148F and L148H, were determined, along with the half lives of the DNA-protein binding complexes containing these proteins. It was found that the equilibrium constants of the mutants were changed only slightly relative to that of wild-type TFIIIA-VP16 (Kd = 0.4nM). However, the half-lives of the mutants, L148F and L148H, showed a 20 fold and 6 fold increase over the wild type, respectively. Activation of Pol II by L148F and L148H showed a 20 fold and 3 fold increase over the wild type. The question to be answered is why Pol II activation increased so greatly when the equilibrium binding affinity, the factor that should determine site occupancy, differed so little. There are three research components to answering this question: 1) Determine the in vivo concentration of wild type and mutant TFIIA-VP16 and compare this to the equilibrium binding constant. If the in vivo concentration is much higher than the equilibrium binding constant, then the activation binding site should be fully occupied regardless of whether the TFIIIA-VP16 is mutated or not. This would imply that the activation is controlled by a kinetic parameter, not an equilibrium binding parameter. 2) Determine the in vivo kinetics of dissociation of wild type and mutant TFIIIA/ DNA complexes and compare to the in vitro dissociation rates. 3) Determine the in vivo occupancy of TFIIA-VP16 binding sites by the activator protein. The first two components are the subject of this study. Western blotting techniques using pure TFIIIA as a standard were done to determine the number of TFIIIA-VP16 molecules per cell as well as the concentration. Results show that the average in vivo concentration of TFIIIA-VP16 and mutants is 4.8 M, roughly 10,000 times higher than the equilibrium binding constant (0.4nM). This suggests that the activation binding site absolutely should be full regardless of whether the TFIIIA-VP16 is mutated or not, which means activation isn't based solely on an equilibrium binding parameter. To determine the in vivo kinetics of dissociation, TFIIIA-VP16 is being placed under the control of a copper inducible promoter so that production of the protein can be turned on or off. Reporter gene activity will be assayed following induction or repression of either wild type or mutant TFIIIA-VP16. These assays are currently in progress.NSF-REU Biology & Biochemistr