Do Development Minister Characteristics Affect Aid Giving?

Over 300 government members have had the main responsibility for international development cooperation in 23 member countries of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee since the organization started reporting detailed Official Development Assistance (ODA) data in 1967. Understanding their role in foreign aid giving is crucial since their decisions might directly impact aid effectiveness and thus economic development on the ground. Our study examines whether development ministers’ personal characteristics influence aid budgets and aid quality. To this end, we create a novel database on development ministers’ gender, political ideology, prior professional experience in development cooperation, education in economics, and time in office over the 1967-2012 period. Results from fixed-effects panel regressions show that some of the personal characteristics of development ministers matter. Most notably, we find that more experienced ministers with respect to their time in office obtain larger aid budgets. Moreover, there is evidence that female ministers as well as officeholders with prior professional experience in development cooperation and a longer time in office provide higher-quality ODA

Material power and normative conflict in global and local agrifood governance: the lessons of 'golden rice' in India

"Sustainability aspects of the agrifood system play a pivotal role in today’s global governance at all levels of decision-making. Questions of food security and food safety, biodiversity or the fate of local practices and values reflect some of the sources of potential conflict between states, as well as between business, state, and civil society actors. This special section aims to investigate the interaction of global and local forces in shaping the sustainability of the agrifood system. The section chooses India as the setting in which to investigate the interaction between global and local forces due to the crucial role the food demand and supply of this rising power plays in today’s agrifood system. This article provides the special sections’ analytical framework, which uses the interplay of material and ideational dimensions of power as a focal lens. In addition, the article applies this framework to an empirical study of the political conflict around GMO foods in India, specifically the case of ‘Golden Rice’." [author's abstract

Lime-based Sacrificial Layers – Evaluation of a Traditional Conservation Method Applied in an Urban Environment

The use of modified lime slurry as a sacrificial layer to protect the original porous substrate has a long tradition in the practice of building and monument conservation in Austria. This paper presents the results of analyses performed on the Natural History Museum Vienna to get more insight into the long-term performance of this conservation method. Stone surfaces on the facade and roof area, covered with an acrylic tempered lime sacrificial layer and subsequently made water-repellent, were tested in situ and in the laboratory. Whilst coatings in the exposed zones were completely vanished in certain areas, the samples from the facade were in a good condition even after nearly twenty years of exposure. Hydrophobic activity could be verified up to a depth of five mm in the porous stone substrates. Despite the general good state of preservation of most surfaces, the existence of highly hydrophobic substrates will definitely restrict the implementation of any future sustainable conservation effort

Material power or normative conflict: determinants of the interaction between global and local agrifood governance

"We witness a constant interaction of global and local forces in the global agrifood system. This paper develops an analytical framework for the identification of the relative impact of these global versus local forces on the sustainability of the agrifood system. In pursuit of its objectives, the framework highlights material and ideational sources of power as important determinants of how the contest between global and local actors and norms in global agrifood governance plays out. With this framework, the paper provides an integrating function for the panel. In addition, the paper will employ the framework in an empirical investigation of determinants of policies and practices regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in India. GMO policies and practices represent a contested ground where (different) ‘local’ and ‘international’ values clash, while at the same time, the discursive power of the biotech industry is highly visible. In consequence, the case of the commercial introduction of GMOs, and specifically the example of ‘Golden Rice’ in India, presents excellent evidence for the need to look beyond material sources of power and consider the ideational ones and their interaction with the material dimension, if one wants to understand the complexities of agrifood governance." [author's abstract

The sustainability of the agrifood system: determinants of the interaction between global and local agrifood governance

"The sustainability of today’s global agrifood system is shaped by a complex web of global and local forces. These forces include local values and practices, transnational corporations (TNCs), agricultural policies and politics of the EU as well as the activities of the United Nations Development Program, for instance. This paper aims to develop a framework for analyzing the interaction of various global and local forces in shaping the agrifood system and its sustainability characteristics. This framework allows the systematic and comprehensive identification of the relative impact of global versus local, material versus normative, and actor-specific versus structural forces. In a second step, the paper illustrates the framework’s reach in an investigation of determinants of policies and practices regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in India. GMO practices and policies represent a contested ground where local and “international” values and interests frequently clash. In consequence, the commercial introduction of GMOs in India presents an excellent case study for the interaction of forces in the agrifood system." [author's abstract

Four Years of Sediment and Phosphorus Monitoring in the Kraichbach River Using Large-Volume Samplers

Various sampling strategies come into operation to monitor water quality in rivers. Most frequently, grab samples are taken, but they are not suitable for recording the highly dynamic transport of solids and solid-bound pollutants. Composite samples reduce the influence of input and transport dynamics and are better suited to determine the annual river loads. Large-volume samplers (LVSs) produce both a composite sample over a long period of time and an amount of solids which allows for further analyses. In the small sub-catchment area of the Kraichbach river in Baden-Wuerttemberg (Germany) two LVSs have been installed to sample the river flow. The concentration of solids and phosphorus in the supernatant water and the settled sediment in the sampler have been determined and mean concentrations have been derived. Annual river loads were calculated in combination with discharge data from the nearby gauging station. Two sampling strategies of the LVS were tested and compared. For the first strategy, the LVS was used to collect quasi-continuous composite samples throughout the year, whereas, with the second strategy, samples were taken specifically for different flow conditions (low, mean and high flow). This study compares the advantages and constraints of both strategies. Results indicate that the first strategy is better suited to determine annual river loads. Quasi-continuous large-volume composite sampling is recommended for further monitoring campaigns

Public Procurement as Social Policy? An introduction to social criteria in public procurement in Germany

Sarter EK, Sack D, Fuchs S. Public Procurement as Social Policy? An introduction to social criteria in public procurement in Germany. Comparative Governance. Vol 1. Bielefeld: Universität Bielefeld. Arbeitsgebiet Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft; 2014