Scientific concepts and public policies: Semiotic-cultural obstacles concerning intergroup and intercultural relationships

I attempt to articulate Jahoda's (2012) critical reflections regarding definitions of culture in recent cross-cultural studies and Moghaddam's (2012) claims of an omnicultural imperative to guide the elaboration of public policies for managing relationships among human groups from different cultural origins. For this, I will approach some aspects of the socio-historical and ontogenetic roots of the notion of culture. The notion of culture and the consequent public policies involving intercultural managing are being transformed as our global society develops. It has been proposed that some ways of dealing with the culture of the other are crucial to achieve awareness in respect of one's own cultural positioning when making science and attempting social interventions. Finally, the experience of Brazilian psychologists working on challenges faced by Amerindians dealing with the national society they live in will be presented as a pioneering work aiming to interfere in the development of public policies ethically concerned with the assurance of cultural integrity of currently marginalized social groups.

Social Welfare and Behavioral Public Policies

In this work I discuss several key aspects of welfare economics and policy analysis and I propose two original contributions to the growing field of behavioral public policymaking. After providing a historical perspective of welfare economics and an overview of policy analysis processes in the introductory chapter, in chapter 2 I discuss a debated issue of policymaking, the choice of the social welfare function. I contribute to this debate by proposing an original methodological contribution based on the analysis of the quantitative relationship among different social welfare functional forms commonly used by policy analysts. In chapter 3 I then discuss a behavioral policy to contrast indirect tax evasion based on the use of lotteries. I show that the predictions of my model based on non-expected utility are consistent with observed, and so far unexplained, empirical evidence of the policy success. Finally, in chapter 4 I investigate by mean of a laboratory experiment the effects of social influence on the individual likelihood to engage in altruistic punishment. I show that bystanders’ decision to engage in punishment is influenced by the punishment behavior of their peers and I suggest ways to enact behavioral policies that exploit this finding.

Comment on: ‘Screening’ for Breast Cancer: Misguided Research Misinforming Public Policies, by O. S. Miettinen

Our commentary of the article “‘Screening’ for Breast Cancer: Misguided Research Misinforming Public Policies” has two main parts. First we address some of the methodological points raised by Professor Miettinen. Then we review more specific aspects of the Swiss Medical Board statement on mammography screening for early detection of breast cancer.

Public policies and multilingualism in HCI

Language is an essential aspect of human communication and interaction, not only between humans but also between humans and interactive systems. Indeed, the use of the language is a keystone for the design of interactive systems.Inappropriate use of language might limit the access of users to information and induce users to make mistakes or to lose control of interactive systems. Despite the existence of public policies, the diversity of languages poses serious problems when considering full-fledged/seamless support for all existing languages. And yet standardization processes have successfully defined mechanisms for ensuring cross-platform compatibility between languages, at least at the level of format and the set of characters that can be used.

Report on its study of municipal public employees labor relations law /

Mode of access: Internet.

Measuring the effectiveness of two public policies on the sectors of labor markets and urban infraestructure. Experimental and quasi-experimental evidence from developing countries

La tesis presenta evidencia rigurosa de la efectividad de las políticas públicas utilizando metodologías experimentales y cuasi-experimentales. La tesis comienza con una introducción completa y una revisión rigurosa de las metodologías que se utilizarán en el análisis posterior de los datos. El primer capítulo, "Habilidades personales y habilidades técnicas en programas de formación de jóvenes. Evidencia Experimental de Largo Plazo de República Dominicana ", evalúa el impacto de un programa de empleo de los jóvenes en una serie de variables de interés. El programa ofrece capacitación en las habilidades vocacionales y en las habilidades no cognitivas a jóvenes en riesgo de exclusión social. Cabe destacar que la metodología utilizada para evaluar el programa es un ensayo controlado aleatorio, que proporciona evidencia robusta del efecto causal del programa. Mientras que estudios previos analizaron el impacto de los programas para jóvenes relacionados, ningún estudio anterior había evaluado los efectos de 4 años después de la implementación del programa. Esto representa una contribución importante debido a que las ganancias a corto plazo de varios programas de desarrollo han demostrado no ser sostenida en el tiempo. Esto es también lo que este estudio encuentra para los resultados del mercado de trabajo: mientras que el programa genera una mejora a corto plazo de los resultados de empleo para las mujeres, este efecto se disipa en el largo plazo. Sin embargo, el programa parece conducir a cambios persistentes en las expectativas del mercado de trabajo de las mujeres: las mujeres que asistieron al entrenamiento de informar una visión más optimista de las perspectivas del mercado de trabajo hasta 4 años después del programa...

Public policies and work integration social enterprises: the challenges of institutionalism in a neoliberal era.

One particular field of Social Enterprise – WISEs or Work Integration Social Enterprises – has become increasingly recognised as being emblematic of the dynamics of social enterprises and now constitutes a major sphere of their activity globally. From their early roots, focusing on providing productive activity for the blind and those with other physical and/or intellectual disabilities, WISEs are pioneers in promoting the integration of excluded persons through a productive activity. In recent decades, WISEs have incrementally evolved as a tool for implementing national and regional labour market policies. The papers in this special edition explore how populations of WISEs in different country contexts have emerged, and in some instances, shifted in their identities over time in relation to changing national or regional public policies. This special issue is part of the ICSEM project, a worldwide research project aiming to identify, analyze and compare social enterprise models across countries, regions and fields. The special issue features five country specific analyses from the first stage of the ICSEM project where researchers focusing on WISEs examined the policy environment surrounding WISEs and the heterogeneity of the organizational WISE models that have emerged in different contexts: Ireland, the United States, Japan, Austria and Switzerland.

Impact assessment of the production and utilization of entomopathogens and its effects on public policies.

2008

Políticas públicas de gerenciamento integrado de resíduos sólidos urbanos no município de Presidente Prudente-SP

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Políticas públicas municipais de apoio a atividades econômicas em assentamentos rurais: uma análise em quatro municípios paulistas

This paper reports a master research that aimed to analyze the patterns of institutional relationships between local officials and communities of agrarian reform settlements in four counties of the State of São Paulo – Apiaí, Iaras, Promissão and Mirante do Paranapanema – particularly with regard to the types of support offered by the first to the economic activities in the settlements. In terms of methodology, we conducted a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research, outlined in the format of multiple case study. Having like data sources the local officials responsible for institutional relations with the agrarian reform settlements, technicians agents of agencys linkeds to the land question, as INCRA and ITESP, and settled in leadership positions in rural settlements, we sought to evaluate the intensity, the types and quality of the (possible or actual) support offered by municipalities to economic activities inside the settlements. We sought to evaluate the results from theoretical lens formed around the notions of local development and the significance assumed by settlements in different locations. The results showed a fairly heterogeneous and, often, disparate in particular circumstances. It was evident, from the information collected, that a positive action of the municipal government in supporting the economic activities of the settlements is essential for the release of social energy based in settlements, enabling the realization of the "amalgam of possibilities" constructed from the implementation of rural settlements.

Políticas públicas municipais de saúde: fortalecendo a democracia em pequenos municípios brasileiros

This article presents the endeavors of health municipal teams in building services that meet citizens’ demands, in a small municipality from a less developed area of the state of São Paulo. Beyond health services practice characterization and organization, our study assesses the challenges and advances in the implementation of public, health policies in Brazil. In this way it is possible to perceive how the family health strategy needs to overcome impasses in the service work processes, as well as more dynamic local and regional relations to provide comprehensive care to citizens. Health care exemplifies how, in democracy building, municipal action is indispensable to strengthen the effectiveness of public actions.

Descentralización, autogestión, gestión local. Estudio de caso de un municipio en La Pampa, Argentina

Los municipios, en los últimos veinticinco años, han cambiado sus roles. En la actualidad, los gobernantes locales asumen formas de gestionar que atienden a las crecientes demandas sociales de sus vecinos, redefiniendo las políticas públicas municipales. Parte de la tarea de gestión es el ordenamiento territorial como estrategia para orientar la distribución espacial del desarrollo, de acuerdo con los recursos disponibles, con el mejor uso que a los mismos se da en términos sociales, económicos y ambientales. Concretarlo implica cambios cualitativos importantes, adecuaciones en la gestión político-administrativa. En Victorica, La Pampa, la autogestión se perfila como una de las características más sobresalientes. La dinámica gestión de su territorio es ejemplo para otros municipios que intentan imitar el estilo. Los actores sociales son la clave del cambio.