Corruption and the Military in Politics: Theory and Evidence from around the World

Recent theoretical developments and case study evidence suggests a relationship between the military in politics and corruption. This study contributes to this literature by analyzing theoretically and empirically the role of the military in politics and corruption for the first time. By drawing on a cross sectional and panel data set covering a large number of countries, over the period 1984-2007, and using a variety of econometric methods substantial empirical support is found for a positive relationship between the military in politics and corruption. In sum, our results reveal that a one standard deviation increase in the military in politics leads to a 0.22 unit increase in corruption index. This relationship is shown to be robust to a variety of specification changes, different econometric techniques, different sample sizes, alternative corruption indices and the exclusion of outliers. This study suggests that the explanatory power of the military in politics is at least as important as the conventionally accepted causes of corruption, such as economic development.

Haemophilia registry of the Medical Committee of the Swiss Hemophilia Society. Update and annual survey 2010-2011.

The Haemophilia Registry of the Swiss Haemophilia Society was created in the year 2000. The latest records from October 31st 2011 are presented here. Included are all patients with haemophilia A or B and other inherited coagulation disorders (including VWD patients with R-Co activity below 10%) known and followed by the 11 paediatric and 12 adult haemophilia treatment or reference centers. Currently there are 950 patients registered, the majority of which (585) having haemophilia A. Disease severity is graded according to ISTH criteria and its distribution between mild, moderate and severe haemophilia is similar to data from other European and American registries. The majority (about two thirds) of Swiss patients with haemophilia A or B are treated on-demand, with only about 20% of patients being on prophylaxis. The figure is different in paediatrics and young adults (1st and 2nd decades), where 80 to 90% of patients with haemophilia A are under regular prophylaxis. Interestingly enough, use of factor concentrates, although readily available, is rather low in Switzerland, especially when taking the country's GDP into account: The total amount of factor VIII and IX was 4.94 U pro capita, comparable to other European countries with distinctly lower incomes (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary). This finding is mainly due to the afore mentioned low rate of prophylactic treatment of haemophilia in our country. Our registry remains an important instrument of quality control of haemophilia therapy in Switzerland.

Hemophilia Registry of the Medical Committee of the Swiss Hemophilia Society: Update and Annual Survey 2008.

The Swiss Haemophilia Registry of the Medical Committee of the Swiss Haemophilia Society was established in 2000. Primarily it bears epidemiological and basic clinical data (incidence, type and severity of the disease, age groups, centres, mortality). Two thirds of the questions of the WFH Global Survey can be answered, especially those concerning use of concentrates (global, per capita) and treatment modalities (on-demand versus prophylactic regimens). Moreover, the registry is an important tool for quality control of the haemophilia treatment centres. There are no informations about infectious diseases like hepatitis or HIV, due to non-anonymisation of the data. We plan to incorporate the results of the mutation analysis in the future.

Haemophilia registry of the medical committee of the Swiss Haemophilia Society. Update and annual survey 2009.

The Swiss Haemophilia Registry of the Medical Committee of the Swiss Haemophilia Society started in 1996 but was set as an internet-based, double password-protected facility in the year 2000. With the inclusion of patients' data from two new centres in 2009, we assume a coverage rate of about 90% of all patients with inherited bleeding disorders in our country. Data concerning the phenotype and genotype of the disorder, its severity, its therapy, the prevalence of inhibitors are readily available to the registered users, allowing quality control of haemophilia therapy at a national level, but also rapid care of the patient visiting the emergency room of another treatment centre. Basing on the available data, about two thirds of the WFH global survey can be answered; the mortality statistics shows that bleeding remains a cause of death in haemophiliacs, also in the 21th century. The Registry allows for comparisons with international datasets, especially with respect to treatment (prophylaxis vs. on-demand therapy), factor consumption and costs.

Immigrant Families and the School in Spain: Dynamics and Factors that Influence their Relations

In Spain, academic debate and school administrations have evolved to the extent that relations between the school, the family and the surrounding environment are now considered as crucial to student achievement at school and to the good functioning of the educational system as a whole. Despite this development, change is slow in practice and often complicated due to the emerging resistance of families and schools, given that they have always maintained relations marked by an imbalance of power. Our theoretical and especially our empirical work has focused on the relations between immigrant families and the school system in Spain. In view of the above, the creation of what we call positive relational dynamics and communication in schools is conditioned by the attitudes and behaviour of the school administration, professionals and families. However, the physical space in which these relations take place must also be taken into consideration. Regarding school organisation, we have emphasised the role of the school’s administration. By differentiating the range of management models, we note the ones that facilitate more relations and communication with and among families (especially the one we have called the horizontal participative model) and those that discourage them. However, the multiple and complex range of attitudes among teachers and families must always be taken into account.

The farthest need the best. Human capital composition and development-specific economic growth

We provide robust and compelling evidence of the marked impact of tertiary education on the economic growth of less developed countries and of its the relatively smaller impact on the growth of developed ones. Our results argue in favor of the accumulation of high skill levels especially in technologically under-developed countries and, contrary to common wisdom, independently of the fact that these economies might initially produce lower-technology goods or perform technology imitation. Our results are robust to the different measures used in proxying human capital and to the adjustments made for cross-country differences in the quality of education. Country-specific institutional quality, as well as other indicators including legal origin, religious fractionalization and openness to trade have been used to control for the robustness of the results. These factors are also shown to speed up technology convergence thereby confirming previous empirical studies. Our estimates tackle problems of endogeneity by adopting a variety of techniques, including instrumental variables -for both panel and cross-section analyses- and the two-step efficient dynamics system GMM.

Voices of the Undereducated in Adult Education and Training in Ontario: A Phenomenographic Approach

This doctoral study was an exploration of the qualitatively different ways in which undereducated adults (at or below a high school level of formal education) reported their experiences of participation in adult education and training (AET) programmes offered by publicly funded school boards or their arms-length affiliate in the province of Ontario. In light of a low participation rate in the Canadian AET system by undereducated adults, the rationale was to examine whether or not AET programmes are meeting the needs of undereducated adults beyond a narrow focus on an instrumental approach associated with human capital development. This study was located in a theoretical framework consisting of (a) learning theory, (b) motivations for participation, (c) general barriers to participation, (d) structural barriers to participation, and (e) transformative learning. The purposive sample consisted of 11 participants between the ages of 18-58 who were drawn from service providers in 4 geographic regions of Ontario. Data collection consisted of (a) demographics, (b) voice recordings from face-to-face participant interviews, (c) participant weekly critical incident reports, and (d) researcher reflexive journal notes. Data were analyzed in accordance with a phenomenographic approach within a constructivist/interpretivist research paradigm. Findings revealed 4 qualitatively different ways in which undereducated adult learners reported their experiences of participation in AET and were reported as the voice of (a) security, (b) engagement, (c) relationship, and (d) competency. Implications to theory and practice and to further inquiry were outlined.

Input for the preparation of a regional agenda for the programme of action of the International Conference on Population and Development: towards 2014 and beyond

Spanish version available at the Library

The gender perspective in economic and labour policies: state of the art in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

The present state and future prospects of the environment in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Operational guide for implementation and follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development

This document is the contribution of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean to the second session of the Regional Conference, to be held in Mexico City, on 6-9 October 2015. It is a technical tool intended to provide the countries of the region with specific guidelines for implementing the priority measures set forth in the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, and offers relevant inputs for monitoring that implementation at the national and regional levels.

Impact of the medicine Hydroxyurea on reproduction and development, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)