Private international law and the African Economic Community : a plea for greater attention.

oppong rf Private international law deals with problems that arise when transactions or claims involve a foreign element. Such problems are most frequent in a setting that allows for the growth of international relationships, be they commercial or personal. Economic integration provides such a setting and allows for the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital across national boundaries. The facilitation of factor mobility resulting from economic integration and the concomitant growth in international relationships results in problems which call for resolution using the tools of private international law. An economic community cannot function solely on the basis of economic rules; attention must also be paid to the rules for settling cross-border disputes. Consequently, considerable attention is given to the subject within the European Union (EU) and other economic communities

Health economics education in undergraduate medical training : introducing the health economics education (HEe) website

In the UK, the General Medical Council clearly stipulates that upon completion of training, medical students should be able to discuss the principles underlying the development of health and health service policy, including issues relating to health economics. In response, researchers from the UK and other countries have called for a need to incorporate health economics training into the undergraduate medical curricula. The Health Economics education website was developed to encourage and support teaching and learning in health economics for medical students. It was designed to function both as a forum for teachers of health economics to communicate and to share resources and also to provide instantaneous access to supporting literature and teaching materials on health economics. The website provides a range of free online material that can be used by both health economists and non-health economists to teach the basic principles of the discipline. The Health Economics education website is the only online education resource that exists for teaching health economics to medical undergraduate students and it provides teachers of health economics with a range of comprehensive basic and advanced teaching materials that are freely available. This article presents the website as a tool to encourage the incorporation of health economics training into the undergraduate medical curricula

Urban governance and planning for Economic growth

Governance in short is a shift from bureaucratic process to shared power for the people. Governance in the urban areas goes hand in hand with planning. Issues of governance cannot be dealt with completely without proper planning. However, planning in the two largest cities of Kumasi and Accra has seen some major changes over time both spatially and administratively. Spatial, urban planning system has moved from new towns and town expansion to high standards of living. Administratively there has been the frantic effort of merging all law governing land use into one legal document which was not previously the case. But planning for growth and governance are faced with the following weakness; selective restraint, institutional and geographical fragmentation, short termism and power and resources.Governance; Planning; Growth

Globalization and its influence on Economic Growth performance

Globalization is described as a process by which regional economics, societies and cultures have become integrated through a global network of communication, transportation and trade. Different researchers have argued both in favour of and against globalization. Bhagwati claims that globalization has created a direct link to economic fortunes for the poor rural folks in developing countries who are often farmers. He argues that increase in information and information technology has loosened the control of exploitative middlemen whose activities reduce the returns rural farmer receive for their produce. Prystay (2005) provided evidence to this argument. Another argument comes from factor endowment. Argument against globalization is the fact that it has produced unprecedentedly high levels of inequality or hardships to the poor. Evidence from both China and India have reviled that globalization has propelled both countries economically; increase in economic growth from 6.15 to 9.37 percent in the case of China and information technology in the case of India, but the issue of inequality is still important and need to be addressed by individual government.Globalization; Inequality; Growth

A Critique of the Philosophical Underpinnings

The progress of the social science disciplines depends on conducting relevant research. However, research methodology adopted and choices made during the course of the research project are underpinned by varying ontological, epistemological and axiological positions that may be known or unknown to the researcher. This paper sought to critically explore the philosophical underpinnings of the social science research. It was suggested that a “multiversal” ontological position, positivist-hermeneutic epistemological position and value-laden axiological position should be adopted for social science research by non-western scholars as alternative to the dominant naïve realist, positivist, and value-free orientation. Against the backdrop of producing context-relevant knowledge, non-western scholars are encouraged to re-examine their philosophical positions in the conduct of social science research

Common Health, Safety and Environmental Concerns in Upstream Oil and Gas Sector: Implications for HSE Management in Ghana

This paper explores the literature to identify common occupational injuries, diseases, and psychological wellbeing on oil rigs as well as the negative environmental impacts of the upstream oil and gas sector. It ends by making recommendations for effective health, safety, and environmental (HSE) management. Review of the literature showed that contusion (bruise), cuts, and laceration are the commonest occupational injuries that workers on the oil rig suffer and that the injuries mostly affect the hand and finger, leg, and eyes of the offshore workers. These injuries were found to be caused mostly by direct stroke, jamming and overstrain. Similarly, accidental poisoning, musculoskeletal disorders, respiratory disorders and diseases of the digestive system were also documented as the commonest occupational diseases among offshore workers. The literature also shows that working offshore is associated with poorer psychological wellbeing or health; this is to say that offshore workers tend to experience higher levels of stress, burnout, anxiety, depression, low job satisfaction (particularly with the environmental conditions associated with their work), and sleep disorders. Finally, the literature review indicated that land-use problems, air pollution, acid rain, climate change, habitat disruption, environmental degradation, oil spills and leakages are some of environmental impacts of upstream oil production. This review was concluded by recommending some measures for the management of the HSE hazards associated with the oil and gas sector