Convenient Excuse Research Articles

Holy grail or convenient excuse? Stakeholder perspectives on the role of health system strengthening evaluation in global health resource allocation

BackgroundThe role of evaluation evidence in guiding health systems strengthening (HSS) investments at the global-level remains contested. A lack of rigorous impact evaluations is viewed by some as an obstacle to scaling resources. However, others suggest that power dynamics and knowledge hierarchies continue to shape perceptions of rigor and acceptability in HSS evaluations. This debate has had major implications on HSS resource allocation in global-level funding decisions. Yet, few studies have examined the relationship between HSS evaluation evidence and prioritization of HSS. In this paper, we explore the perspectives of key global health stakeholders, specifically around the nature of evidence sought regarding HSS and its potential impact on prioritization, the challenges in securing such evidence, and the drivers of intra- and inter-organizational divergences. We conducted a stakeholder analysis, drawing on 25 interviews with senior representatives of major global health organizations, and utilized inductive approaches to data analysis to develop themes.ResultsOur analysis suggests an intractable challenge at the heart of the relationship between HSS evaluations and prioritization. A lack of evidence was used as a reason for limited investments by some respondents, citing their belief that HSS was an unproven and potentially risky investment which is driven by the philosophy of HSS advocates rather than evidence. The same respondents also noted that the ‘holy grail’ of evaluation evidence that they sought would be rigorous studies that assess the impact of investments on health outcomes and financial accountability, and believed that methodological innovations to deliver this have not occurred. Conversely, others held HSS as a cross-cutting principle across global health investment decisions, and felt that the type of evidence sought by some funders is unachievable and not necessary – an ‘elusive quest’ – given methodological challenges in establishing causality and attribution. In their view, evidence would not change perspectives in favor of HSS investments, and evidence gaps were used as a ‘convenient excuse’. Respondents raised additional concerns regarding the design, dissemination and translation of HSS evaluation evidence.ConclusionsOngoing debates about the need for stronger evidence on HSS are often conducted at cross-purposes. Acknowledging and navigating these differing perspectives on HSS evaluation may help break the gridlock and find a more productive way forward.

Stakeholder Value: A Convenient Excuse for Underperforming Managers?

Abstract Firms falling short of earnings expectations are more likely to cite stakeholder-focused objectives in their public communications following earnings announcements. This behavior is consistent with managers preferring to be evaluated by subjective stakeholder-based performance criteria when falling short on objective shareholder-based measures. This increased use of stakeholder language is most evident among firms narrowly missing earnings estimates and appears unrelated to a firm’s actual environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related activity. Stakeholder language appears to influence the evaluation of CEOs; turnover–performance sensitivity is lower for managers citing stakeholder value. Collectively, our findings are consistent with concerns that stakeholder objectives reduce managerial accountability for poor performance.

Islamic Viewpoints on Opportunistic Sex Selection of IVF Embryos upon doing Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Preventing Genetic Diseases.

In recent years, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) of IVF embryos have gained much traction in clinical assisted reproduction for preventing various genetic defects, including Down syndrome. However, such genetic tests inevitably reveal the sex of IVF embryos by identifying the sex (X and Y) chromosomes. In many countries with less stringent IVF regulations, information on the sex of embryos that are tested to be genetically normal is readily shared with patients. This would thus present Muslim patients with unintended opportunities for sex selection based on personal or social biases without any pressing need or valid medical reason. Additionally, there are other patients who claim using PGT for preventing genetic defects as a pretext or "convenient excuse," with a secret intention to do sex selection when it is banned in their home country. Currently, non-medicalsex selection is a highly-controversial and hotly debated issue in Islam, because there is generally a strong preference for having sons over daughters due to widespread cultural norms of elderly parents depending on their sons for financial support, as well as the need for male heirs to continue the family lineage within the backdrop of local patriarchal cultures. There is a risk of gender imbalance and social disequilibrium occurring in Islamic societies due to prevalent sex selection. Hence, the question is whether opportunistic sex selection with PGT would contravene Islamic ethics and principles, which will thus be discussed here.

The Ossetian-Ingush conflict against the background of the geopolitical situation in the world and in the Caucasus region in the early 1990s

The article examines the Ossetian-Ingush confl ict in the context of the geopolitical upheavals of the early 1990s, the collapse of the Soviet Union. The deepest political crisis that engulfed the Russian Federation as the successor to the USSR led to numerous armed clashes between diff erent ethnic groups. In this context, the Caucasus region stands out because, in addition to the political transformations that took place in the country, some peoples of this region were subjected to repression during the Stalinist regime, which largely determines the scale and severity of armed clashes. The Ossetian-Ingush conflict is a vivid example of this, refl ecting the contradictory interethnic situation in the regions of the post-Soviet space. In addition, the geopolitical situation in the Caucasus in the early 1990s. It was formed under the infl uence of large world states, which this region was attracted by its geographical location, the presence of natural resources and large industrial enterprises. Russia considered the existing ethnic contradictions from the point of view of geopolitical risks, given that neighboring states pursuing their own interests could use armed confl icts, mainly on interethnic and religious grounds, as a convenient excuse for external intervention. In the analysis of the escalation of the Ossetian-Ingush confl cts, a signifi cant amount of normative legal acts is used, the results of which led to the conclusion that neither the regional nor the federal authorities took proper measures to prevent interethnic clashes on their territory. Th e article reveals in detail the reasons and motives that played a key role in building Russia’s policy towards the warring parties in the framework of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict.

The Anarchy of Nazi Memorabilia: From Things of Tyranny to Troubled Treasure by Michael Hughes

Reviewed by: The Anarchy of Nazi Memorabilia: From Things of Tyranny to Troubled Treasure by Michael Hughes Melissa Etzler The Anarchy of Nazi Memorabilia: From Things of Tyranny to Troubled Treasure. By Michael Hughes. London: Routledge, 2022. Pp. 260. Hardcover $170.00. ISBN 978-0367422004. The Anarchy of Nazi Memorabilia offers an in-depth study of the symbols displayed on the badges provided to German citizens, soldiers, and veterans during WWI and through WWII. Each chapter outlines the historical and political backdrop of the period as a means to establish the functionality of a given badge. Hughes gives examples of the quintessential emblems, how, where, and by whom they were produced, in which materials and quantities, and concludes with a note on the collectors of the pieces and the current market. The text fills a gap in historical Third Reich studies since, as Hughes states, “there is a shortage of scholarly literature on the symbols and [End Page 324] ritual objects produced and deployed by the Nazi Party (NSDAP), emblems created to construct a Nazi identity and ethos” (1). In each chapter, there is a discussion of the material culture of the object, its aura, aesthetic appeal, and commercial value. In the opening chapter, “From Weimar to the Third Reich,” Hughes examines to what extent Hitler’s mass deployment of symbols contributed to his chancellorship, maintaining his hold on Germany, and isolating German Jews. Hughes often highlights the irony of the symbols and begins by identifying how the Great War Iron Cross “objectified the veteran’s bravery” and yet, with abundant wounded veterans, their “disability showed the price [they] paid for it” (15). Otto Dix and George Grosz’s paintings featuring disabled veterans wearing the Iron Cross are included to visually represent this conflict. Likewise, each subsequent chapter problematizes how these badges were used to manipulate individuals and identify outsiders. The second chapter, “The Materiality of the People’s Community,” focuses on the symbols and badges created to facilitate the Gemeinschaft or “fellowship, cooperation, and solidarity of the German community” (36), which the Nazis wanted to create. As with the Iron Cross, Hughes explores the dual meaning of various emblems. He looks at the emblem of the German Labor Front (DAF), which features a swastika encased in a cogwheel, and explains that while the emblem is meant to show how each individual member makes a valuable contribution to society, it ultimately became a “metaphor under which the rights of workers were obliterated” (38) since each individual was expected to perform at the same, unrealistically high level. The emblem later became a convenient excuse for participation in war crimes, for instance, the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, claimed to have been a “cog in the wheel” (39). Another moment of irony is mentioned with the badges being produced to raise funds for the NSDAP organization Strength through Joy (KdF) which funded workers’ vacations but used forced labor to create the badges. Lastly, the chapter describes an initiative that the NSDAP assumed, the Winter Relief of the German People (WHW), which dispersed badges for financial donations. Each campaign by the WHW featured a differently styled badge; thus, if a citizen did not possess the latest badge, it was obvious that they had prioritized individual needs over the common good and risked becoming an enemy of the people. The chapter “Pre-War Awards” discusses how medals such as the Cross of Honor, which was issued in 1934 and which Jewish war veterans could receive, provided Jewish veterans with a false sense of security since they assumed the medal would protect against antisemitism. The chapter also introduces key figures who accepted badges from Hitler, such as Henry Ford’s German Eagle Order badge. Regardless of the quality of these badges, they had the symbolic power to imply those accepting were sympathetic to the regime. Likewise, the next two chapters, “Medals for Babies,” which explains the role of the Mother’s Cross, given to mothers after they had birthed four or more children, and “Wartime Awards,” given initially to an elite group, but [End Page 325] eventually to children as an incentive, are about the badges’ ability to show allegiance. The chapter “Trash or...

The risks of misclassifying addictive food substances as non-addictive.

The risks of misclassifying addictive food substances as non-addictive.

I'm in a hurry, I don't want to know! Strategic ignorance under time pressure.

Information avoidance is common when privately beneficial choices have uncertain and potentially adverse effects on others. A dominant theory holds that such "strategic ignorance" allows decision makers to circumvent inner moral conflict while acting self-servingly. In extension of this theory, we hypothesize that time pressure elevates the prevalence of strategic ignorance. We conduct a laboratory experiment with resolvable payoff uncertainty to test this hypothesis. We find that time pressure indeed significantly increases the incidence of information avoidance. As a result, self-serving choices are more common than in a baseline without time pressure. We empirically explore several potential interpretations of this main finding. First, in a control condition, in which payoffs are fully transparent, time pressure has no direct effect on self-serving behavior. This speaks against a general tendency to act more self-servingly or fairly under time pressure. Second, a follow-up study shows that information avoidance under time pressure is attributable to conflict avoidance, rather than providing decision makers with a convenient excuse for not becoming informed. We discuss these observations in the context of a recent body of literature on the cognitive underpinnings of prosocial behavior and argue that they have significant implications for information-based approaches to public policy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Bridging the Invisible Cultural Gap

Bridging the Invisible Cultural Gap

A Simple Argument for Respecting Conscience

Conscience is widely misunderstood. For many, conscientious objection, both religious and nonreligious, is regarded as nothing more than a convenient excuse to get around the rules. This essay provides an argument for respecting conscience. It shows how the conscience is an integral part of responsible decision-making and must be recognized and protected and ends with an application of the right of conscience to recent debates over mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. The goal of this essay is to show why there is a strong case for taking conscience seriously in ethics and public policy.

Brothers in Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It

Brothers in Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It

The Excuse of (Il)legality in Discriminating and Persecuting Religious Minorities: Anti-Mosque Legal Violence in Myanmar

AbstractThis article highlights the convenient excuse of (il)legality used by (1) religious majoritarian mobs to justify attacks against places of worship and religious buildings of minorities; and (2) police and local authorities to absolve themselves of the failure to uphold public order and the rule of law, protect religious minorities, and to punish religious minorities. This article traces the emergence of legal violence in the form of anti-mosque vigilante extremism in Myanmar from 2012 onwards and analyzes cases of attacks against: (1) “illegal” mosques; (2) madrasas being used as or reconstructed into mosques; (3) buildings allegedly being constructed as mosques; (4) private homes and public spaces being used as mosques; and cases of (5) closed mosques not being allowed to reopen. The author primarily used Myanmar-language resources as well as interviews to conduct the research.

Stakeholder Value: A Convenient Excuse for Underperforming Managers?

Firms falling short of earnings expectations are more likely to cite stakeholder-focused objectives in their public communications around earnings announcements. This behavior suggests that managers push to be evaluated by subjective stakeholder-based performance criteria when falling short on objective shareholder-based measures. This relation between underperformance and stakeholder language becomes stronger after the 2019 Business Roundtable statement and appears unrelated to a firm’s actual ESG-related activity. Stakeholder language appears to influence the evaluation of CEOs; turnover-performance sensitivity is lower for managers citing stakeholder value. Collectively, our findings suggest that the push for stakeholder-focused objectives provides managers with a convenient excuse that reduces accountability for poor firm performance.

Parallel, confrontational oder common learning economy?

Parallel, Confrontational or Common Learning Economy? Critical Inquiries into the Concept of Complementarity. The article scrutinizes „mixed economy“ as a conceptual model for ecclesial structures in German churches in the future: The history of the church shows that efforts to create co-existent parochial and non-parochial structures have repeatedly failed. Logically, conflicts over available resources are inevitable when alternative structures (i. e., the non-parochial) meet the established organizational form (i. e., the parochial) which holds a kind of official responsibility for the church in a certain area. In conclusion, the article considers whether non-parochial / alternative forms of church and church activity provide a convenient excuse for the parochial / official church: for those “others” there are special services and opportunities. This prevents or at least slows down the participation of the parochial church in the overall learning of the church as a whole as it undergoes more fundamental reforms.

Introduction

Introduction

Disparagement humour and gendered racism on social media in Brazil

ABSTRACT Data reveals that in 2017 in Brazil, there were 63,698 reported cases of hate speech on the internet, with one-third of these being related to racist discourses. Another study reveals that 81 per cent of the victims of racism on Facebook in Brazil are upwardly mobile black women. These discourses are often conveyed through disparagement humour, which offers the abusers the convenient excuse that their comments are simply harmless jests. This study develops a critical discourse analysis of a selection of Facebook posts, aiming to understand their embedded messages. The findings suggest, first, that racist disparagement humour is employed to challenge black women’s upward social mobility and disqualify their achievements. Secondly, they reinforce deep-seated ideologies regarding differentiated symbolic social spaces for blacks and whites in Brazil. Finally, major social media platforms represent the contemporary arena for the manifestation, dissemination, and reinforcement of racist ideologies.

Pornography addiction and the perimeters of acceptable pornography viewing

In this study, we investigate how pornography addiction is constructed by members of the New Zealand public by analysing six 2016 newspaper articles focusing on pornography addiction, and the 1430 Facebook comments posted in response to them. Utilizing a critical discursive approach, we identified five interpretative repertoires employed to construct both the viewing of pornography and pornography itself in multiple ways. Our analysis suggests that although pornography remained poorly defined, it was at turns framed as both unnatural and natural to view. The naturalness of viewing pornography however was complicated by an explicit acceptance of pornography addiction, which was variously proposed as being similar to substance abuse, a threat to intimate relationships, and as a convenient excuse. Moreover, the pornography addict was reliably described as male, and implicitly placed within a monogamous heterosexual relationship, with pornography depicted as most threatening when impinging upon such relationships. As such, we argue that the construction of pornography addiction not only reifies morally conservative historical concerns, but also side-lines the ethical and political ramifications of normalized pornography viewership. The possible replacement of discussions about the content of pornography with debates about user effects indicates a rapid historical shift from concerns for community standards to concerns for personal responsibility.

Print to Podium: Exploring Media Coverage of 2016 Olympic Athletes’ Perceptions About the Zika Virus

The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, thrust potential Olympians into the midst of the unprecedented outbreak of the Zika virus. Because parasocial interaction theory purports that athletes can have tremendous influence on fans’ attitudes and behavior, particularly in the context of public health, it is important to understand how media framed athletes’ response to their risk of contracting Zika at the Games and the possibility of a global epidemic. To understand how athletes’ safety concerns were portrayed by news outlets, the authors conducted a framing analysis of articles reporting on the intersection of the Olympics and Zika published inThe New York Times,Los Angeles Times,Wall Street Journal, andWashington Postbetween January and November of 2016. This analysis revealed that media employed three main frames in their coverage of athletes: Athletes perceived the risk of Zika as small compared with potential Olympic glory, the decision to participate in the Games is an athletes’ personal choice between family and career, and athletes used Zika concerns as a convenient excuse to pull out of a troubled Games. The combination of these frames painted a contradictory portrait of athletes’ risk perception, both emphasizing and downplaying the threat of contracting the virus at the Games and an ensuing worldwide outbreak. These conflicting athlete narratives could have created uncertainty regarding the actual safety risk of the Zika virus and the Olympic Games for the fans who admire the athletes.

Self-determination and Self-governance for Communities Relocated across International Borders: The Quest for Banaban Independence

In 1945, the small Banaban community of Ocean Island (Banaba) in present-day Kiribati was relocated to Rabi Island in Fiji. The Balabans were ostensibly moved due to irreversible damage done to Ocean Island during Japanese occupation in the Second World War. However, this was largely a convenient excuse to facilitate the wholesale phosphate mining of the island by the British Phosphate Commission, a consortium of the British, Australian and New Zealand governments. The Banaban relocation provides a rare example of a whole community seeking to re-establish itself in another State. This article charts the Banabans’ bids for independence during the 1960–70s, revealing novel responses to complex questions of self-determination and governance, including legal status, nationality, political representation, and rights to land and resources. While their experience cannot be universalised, it is relevant to contemporary deliberations about the possible future relocation of Pacific communities impacted by climate change.

Did Firms Manage Earnings more Aggressively during the Financial Crisis?

AbstractWe investigate the extent of earnings management during the financial crisis of 2008 (The Great Recession). Based on a large sample of 14,000 observations across 15 years, our results show that firms managed earnings less aggressively during the crisis. We also show a severe decline in firm value and profitability during the crisis. Our results are consistent with the notion that, during the crisis, firm performance was so far below the target that no amount of earnings management would have been sufficient to reverse the poor earnings picture. As a result, managers were less motivated to manage earnings. Furthermore, the crisis serves as a convenient excuse for poor performance, lessening the motivation and necessity for managers to manage earnings. Additional analysis including fixed‐effects regressions, propensity score matching, and GMM dynamic panel data estimation shows that our results are robust and are not driven by unobserved heterogeneity. Further analysis documents similar findings for the Dot‐com crisis in 2001 and the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997–1998.

Did Firms Manage Earnings More Aggressively during the Financial Crisis?

We investigate the extent of earnings management during the financial crisis of 2008 (The Great Recession). Based on a large sample of over 14,000 observations across 15 years, our results show that firms managed earnings less aggressively during the crisis. We also show a severe decline in firm value and profitability during the crisis. Our results are consistent with the notion that, during the crisis, firm performance was so far below the target that no amount of earnings management would have been sufficient to reverse the poor earnings picture. As a result, managers were less motivated to manage earnings. Furthermore, the crisis serves as a convenient excuse for poor performance, lessening the motivation and necessity for managers to manage earnings. Additional analysis including fixed-effects regressions, propensity score matching, and GMM dynamic panel data estimation, shows that our results are robust and are not driven by unobserved heterogeneity. Further analysis documents similar findings for the Dot-com crisis in 2001 and the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-1998.