The struggle for safe staffing levels in the USA: A political economy of evidence-based practice

This paper examines the debate over nursing staff to patient ratios through the lens of Marxist political economy, arguing that the owners and controllers of healthcare in the USA have a vested interest in opposing mandated minimum ratios, while those involved in carrying out nursing care have a vested interest in their implementation, which coincides with the interests of patients. We examine how evidence-based practice articulates with social power, and proceed to interrogate the research methods used to generate evidence for practice, noting that randomised controlled trials are not suitable for evaluating nurse/patient ratios, which means that observational studies are the primary source of evidence. Representatives of nursing managers have used the fact that observational studies, while demonstrating an association between high ratios and poor outcomes, have not established a causal relationship, to support their argument that there is not sufficient evidence for the imposition of mandatory ratios. We argue that the precautionary principle provides firm justification for mandatory ratios, unless and until a causal relationship has been disproved. We conclude that those involved in the generation of evidence have to choose between technical arguments about the inferiority of observational studies, or emphasising their sufficiency in triggering the precautionary principle.<br/>

Health expenditures in the OECD: A political economy analysis using structural breaks

A Masters Thesis, presented as part of the requirements for the award of a Research Masters Degree in Economics from NOVA ��� School of Business and Economics

Federal-provincial relations and the environment : attaining sustainable development through cooperation /

A study of intergovernmental relations in the area of the environment will determine whether the current Canadian federal structure represents a dangerous impediment to the promotion of sustainable development. This paper examines the interjurisdictional quagmire that has developed from the fact that authority over the environment is a functionally concurrent field for the two orders of government. A history of federal-provincial relations in the area of environmental protection is followed by an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages associated with competitive and cooperative federalism. For the purpose of this paper, cooperative federalism is characterized by the presence of a formal institutional system to facilitate interaction between politicians and bureaucrats from both orders of government. Competitive federalism is defined as a system that lacks a formal institutional structure to promote discussion and coordination between federal and provincial officials in a specific field of interest. Last, I examine thirty sustainable development issues following the structure established in Agenda 21 to determine the impact of the present federal system on the development of these objectives. This study concludes that Canadian federalism is not a dangerous impediment to the promotion of sustainable development. Cooperative federalism in a form that does not eliminate the ability of governments to revert to competition promotes the emergence of an institutional system that facilitates information-sharing and discussion between the two orders of government, thus leading to coordinated efforts in the field of the environment. Respect for the current division of powers in this area is also essential to the cohesiveness of Canadian society. Policy-makers and advocates for a sustainable society should focus on working within the present system.

The Political Economy of St. Catharines' Illicit Taxi Trade

The global restructuring of production has led to increasingly precarious working conditions around the world. Post-industrial work is characterized by poor working conditions, low wages, a lack of social protection and political representation and little job security. Unregulated forms of work that are defined as ���irregular��� or ���illegal���, or in some cases ���criminal,��� are connected to sweeping transformations within the broader regulated (formal) economy. The connection between the formal and informal sectors can more accurately be described as co-optation and, as a subordinate integration of the informal to the formal. The city of St. Catharines within Niagara, along with much of Ontario���s industrial heartland, has been hard hit by deindustrialization. The rise of this illegal service is thus viewed against the backdrop of heavy economic restructuring, as opportunities for work in the manufacturing sector have become sparse. In addition, this research also explores the paradoxical co-optation of the growing illicit taxi economy and consequences for racialized and foreign credentialed labour in the taxi industry. The overall objective of this research is to explore the illicit cab industry as not only inseparable from the formal economy, but dialectically, how it is as an integrated and productive element of the public and private transportation industry. Furthermore the research examines what this co-optation means in the context of a labour market that is split by race.

On the Political Economy of Sequential Reforms

This paper proposes an explanation for why efficient reforms are not carried out when losers have the power to block their implementation, even though compensating them is feasible. We construct a signaling model with two-sided incomplete information in which a government faces the task of sequentially implementing two reforms by bargaining with interest groups. The organization of interest groups is endogenous. Compensations are distortionary and government types differ in the concern about distortions. We show that, when compensations are allowed to be informative about the government���s type, there is a bias against the payment of compensations and the implementation of reforms. This is because paying high compensations today provides incentives for some interest groups to organize and oppose subsequent reforms with the only purpose of receiving a transfer. By paying lower compensations, governments attempt to prevent such interest groups from organizing. However, this comes at the cost of reforms being blocked by interest groups with relatively high losses.

Political Economy of Global Rush for Agricultural Land: a Tract on India���s Overseas Acquisitions

This paper is an attempt to map the global land acquisitions with a focus on Indian MNCs in acquiring overseas land for agricultural purposes. It tries to outline the contemporary political economy of capital accumulation at the global level, especially, in the emerging developing economies like India and China, where the emergence of a new capitalist class has engaged itself into acquisition of land and control of other natural resources in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and South East Asia, for example, water and other minerals to secure itself from the eventual losses of ongoing economic crisis and to earn profit from the volatile agricultural commodity markets. This sway of control of resources by the MNCs has got paramount State support under the helm of neoliberal policies. The paper provides scale of overseas land acquisitions at the current juncture and tries to highlight its causes and the major implications associated with it.

An��lisis de la importancia estrat��gica de Colombia en la pol��tica exterior de Brasil entre 2003 y 2009

El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar en qu�� forma la pol��tica regional de Brasil entre 2003 y 2009 ha enfrentado la importancia estrat��gica de Colombia. Esta investigaci��n cualitativa de car��cter descriptivo, se abordo desde una visi��n de la Estabilidad Hegem��nica y Cambio Sist��mico, d��ndole un car��cter multidimensional al poder de los Estados, con el uso de las categor��as Soft Power (Nye) y el Hard Power econ��mico y sus implicaciones en la Econom��a Pol��tica Internacional (Gilpin). Se abord��, como el proyecto que desarroll�� el gobierno Lula, para transformar a Brasil de media a gran potencia o jugador global, enfrenta uno de sus mayores obst��culos en la regi��n y particularmente en Colombia, d��ndole a este, una posici��n estrat��gica con respecto a la aspiraci��n de envergadura global. Frente a esto, durante el 2003 ��� 2009 desde la relaciona binacional, se han buscado mecanismo de acercamiento en los ejes comercial, seguridad y di��logo.

The Bogota ��� sabana region : the political economy behind the struggle to implement a sustainable urban development model

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An��lisis del proceso de transformaci��n de la pol��tica china, a traves del modelo de apertura econ��mica

Este trabajo analiza el proceso vivido por la Rep��blica Popular de China despu��s de 1976, bajo el modelo de Apertura Econ��mica implementado por Deng Xiaoping, las razones que llevaron al Estado a implementar un sistema de Mercado con caracter��sticas propias de China y el papel que jug�� los Estados Unidos y los Organismos Internacionales en este proceso, bajo el modelo de Interdependencia Compleja

Political Economy of the Web

Slides to introduce political economy, and its relevance to the study of the Web. Brief review of methods and issues.

Aplicaci��n web sobre los diversos perfiles de mercado en las provincias de Canad��

El proyecto de creaci��n de una Aplicaci��n web sobre los diferentes perfiles de mercado de las provincias canadienses, consiste en la recopilaci��n de informaci��n de diversas fuentes acad��micas, con el fin de crear una gu��a electr��nica que permita a los exportadores colombianos tener informaci��n precisa y actualizada sobre cada una de las provincias canadienses.

El problema demogr��fico en Jap��n, y la incidencia en las pol��ticas concernientes a la seguridad social del gobierno japon��s. (periodo 2007 a 2012)

El inter��s de este estudio de caso es entender la incidencia de los problemas demogr��ficos de Jap��n sobre las pol��ticas concernientes al Sistema de Seguridad Social Japon��s, as�� como la viabilidad de estas pol��ticas ante la muy dif��cil situaci��n que existe. Observando c��mo los problemas demogr��ficos han afectado el Sistema de Seguridad Social por medio de estudios demogr��ficos del pasado y actuales, adem��s de proyecciones poblacionales a futuro, para as�� poder comparar los mecanismos implementadas por el Gobierno Japon��s y los resultados obtenidos con las necesidades reales del Sistema de Seguridad Social Japon��s, abriendo la posibilidad de entender profundamente las debilidades y las posibles soluciones al problema que enfrenta este sistema.

La aplicaci��n del TLC entre Colombia y USA en el departamento de Cundinamarca: encuentros y desencuentros en la negociaci��n y sus resultados en el sector av��cola. (2003-2014)

Desde que Estados Unidos y Colombia firmaron el Tratado de Libre Comercio se establecieron una serie de acuerdos respecto a diferentes sectores, como lo es el sector av��cola. Con su entrada en vigencia se hizo efectiva la desgravaci��n arancelaria y por ende la liberalizaci��n de este sector, lo cual pone a la avicultura colombiana y en especial a la avicultura del departamento de Cundinamarca en riesgo debido a los bajos niveles arancelarios que se tienen, as�� como el diferencial de precios de venta entre Colombia y Estados Unidos. Por tal raz��n el presente trabajo de grado tiene como objetivo principal analizar los efectos que se han dado por el incumplimiento de los compromisos arancelarios acordados en la negociaci��n del tratado en el sector av��cola de Cundinamarca, as�� como analizar las asimetr��as existentes en el nivel de desarrollo econ��mico y la competitividad sectorial.