Global Norms Research Articles

Anticipating & assessing adverse consequences of public health interventions - CONSEQUENT framework

Abstract Introduction Despite the best intentions, public health (PH) interventions can have adverse and other unintended consequences (AUCs). AUCs may arise in novel PH interventions, as well as from known and tested PH interventions implemented in a new context. Despite their importance, this topic has been largely overlooked. Therefore, we used a structured value-guided as well as evidence-based approach, to develop a framework to support researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers in anticipating and assessing AUCs of PH interventions. Methods We employed the ‘best-fit’ synthesis approach starting with an a priori framework and iteratively revising this based on systematically identified evidence. The a priori framework was derived from both the WHO-INTEGRATE framework and the Behaviour Change Wheel, to root the framework in global health norms and values, established mechanisms of PH interventions, and a complexity perspective. The a priori framework was advanced based on theoretical and conceptual publications and systematic reviews on the topic of AUCs in PH. Thematic analysis was used to revise the framework and identify new themes. To validate the framework, it was coded against four selected systematic reviews of AUCs of PH interventions. Results The CONSEQUENT framework includes two components: the first focuses on AUCs and serves to categorise them; the second component highlights the mechanisms through which AUCs may arise. The first component comprises eight domains of consequences - health-related, health system, human and fundamental rights, acceptability- and adherence-related, equality- and equity-related, social and institutional, economic and resource-related, and environmental. Conclusions Both over- and underestimation of AUCs of PH intervention poses risks. The CONSEQUENT framework may facilitate classification and conceptualization of AUCs of PH interventions during their development or evaluation to support evidence-informed decision-making. Key messages

Central bank independence in Latin America: Politicization and de‐delegation

AbstractIn the last three decades, legal delegation of monetary policy to independent central banks (CBI) has achieved the status of a global norm of good governance. The recent backlash against this independence is an important but understudied trend. Our article analyzes the potential for delegation reversals with a focus on Latin America where CBI was effective in maintaining price stability, but placed important policy constraints on governments. We theorize that, in the shadow of the global norm for CBI, the increasing distance in preferences between the government and the central bank, and the procedural hurdles to change the status quo, explain the intensity of challenges to the delegation contract or the delegated agent. An analysis of the frequency of irregular central bank leadership replacements, and instances of politicization and de‐delegation show the plausibility of our argument. We also show that, in Latin America, reforms de‐delegating monetary policy have been small, balancing the needs that justified delegation in the first place, but rolling back the most stringent constraints placed on financing the government.

Indigenous Peoples through the Lens of UNESCO

The engagement of UNESCO with indigenous peoples and their heritage provides insights into global norms that affect collective cultural rights, religion, and education of indigenous peoples. It also enables insights into structural and organizational challenges and opportunities indigenous peoples experience in the current world. Against this background, this paper analyzes exemplary UNESCO standard-setting documents that explicitly approach indigenous peoples. In doing so, the paper asks first, how these documents situate indigenous peoples in the context of cultural/religious diversity and education. Second, we reconstruct how UNESCO addresses the holistic education of indigenous peoples, and how does it relate to the notion of the holistic approach itself. Methodologically, the paper applies qualitative content analysis with close reading and situates UNESCO’s developments in the theoretical framework of the study of religion. From this perspective, the results address ambiguities around the term “religion”, when concentrated to ritual, and the possibility of convergences between universalist and holistic knowledge.

Temporalities in Translation. Anthropocene Futures, the SDGs and Justice in Baltimore

Within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) process, different futures are contested, negotiated and become embedded in the Anthropocene. Those futures travel from one city to another, from businesses to local schools, or from protest events to the international negotiation fora of the United Nation (UN). By investigating the translation practices of Anthropocene futures from the global context of the UN into the local context of the city of Baltimore (United States), this paper traces how local actors engage with global norms and how they gain or lose agency in this process. Putting forward imaginaries of past, present and futures are practices of norm translation and appropriation that clearly change the once envisioned global future narratives. The paper brings together the Anthropocene scholarship with the International Relations-literature on translation. I suggest a new conceptual approach of translation that includes notions of ruptures, discontinuities and present pasts as main factors in translation processes. I apply this new framework to the case of SDG localization in Baltimore. In doing so, I analyse three major reports and 10 qualitative interviews that I conducted with local actors from the university, the city administration as well as different civil society actors in 2018. Here, I will discuss the different temporal notions, more specifically the way futures and pasts intersect in non-linear processes of translation.

Reflecting on the COVID-19 crisis and lessons learn for a better future

The growing COVID-19 pandemic has become a global emergency. At the time of writing, it has resulted in more than 510 million confirmed illnesses and 6 million deaths, as well as unparalleled preventative measures that have imprisoned a significant percentage of the worldwide population and established social separation as a new global behavioral norm. The COVID-19 dilemma has had a significant influence on all elements of daily life and work, as well as the global economy. Reflecting on the current crisis's issues and the lessons we may learn from them include: (i) increased phenomena and the early warnings, (ii) social and spatial disparity, and (iii) prevention is less expensive than treatment.

Contestation in Global Norm Making

Contestation in Global Norm Making

The Forthright Political Stance of Sport for Development in Korean Official Development Assistance

The rapid growth of Sport for Development (SFD) policies, practices, and organizations over the past two decades has been widely studied. However, by far the preponderance of attention has been focused on SFD initiatives and analyses concentrated in traditional Western donor states, where they have been characterized by a focus on social development objectives and civil society-led modalities. By contrast, SFD efforts emanating from non-Western countries have been relatively neglected. This paper contributes to correcting this imbalance by focusing on the important and distinctive Korean approach to SFD within its growing Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes. In contrast to mainstream Western SFD, Korean SFD has been forthrightly oriented towards support for top-down, state-based objectives. Moreover, it has reflected a distinct hybrid character, blending a superficial prioritization of global social development norms exemplified by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals with strong and persistent characteristics of the Korean developmental state in its approach to sport.

Addressing the need for an appropriate skilled delivery care workforce in Burundi to support Maternal and Newborn Health Service Delivery Redesign (MNH-Redesign): a sequential study protocol.

Background Despite Burundi having formed a network of 112 health facilities that provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care (EmONC), the country continues to struggle with high rates of maternal and newborn deaths. There is a dearth of empirical evidence on the capacity and performance of EmONC health facilities and on the real needs to inform proper planning and policy. Our study aims to generate evidence on the capacity and performance of EmONC health facilities in Burundi and examine how the country might develop an appropriate skilled delivery care workforce to improve maternal and newborn survival. Methods We will use a sequential design where each study phase serially inputs into the subsequent phase. Three main study phases will be carried out: i) an initial policy document review to explore global norms and local policy intentions for EmONC staffing and ii) a cross-sectional survey of all EmONC health facilities to determine what percent of facilities are functional including geographic and population coverage gaps, identify staffing gaps assessed against norms, and identify other needs for health facility strengthening. Finally, we will conduct surveys in selected schools and ministries to examine training and staffing costs to inform staffing options that might best promote service delivery with adequate budget impacts to increase efficiency. Throughout the study, we will engage stakeholders to provide input into what are reasonable staffing norms as well as feasible staffing alternatives within Burundi's budget capacity. Analytical models will be used to develop staffing proposals over a realistic policy timeline. Conclusion Evidence-based health planning improves cost-effectiveness and reduces wastage within scarce and resource-constrained contexts. This study will be the first large-scale research in Burundi that builds on stakeholder support to generate evidence on the capacity of designated EmONC health facilities including human resources diagnosis and develop staffing skill-mix tradeoffs for policy discussion.

Addressing the need for an appropriate skilled delivery care workforce in Burundi to support Maternal and Newborn Health Service Delivery Redesign (MNH-Redesign): a sequential study protocol

Background Despite Burundi having formed a network of 112 health facilities that provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care (EmONC), the country continues to struggle with high rates of maternal and newborn deaths. There is a dearth of empirical evidence on the capacity and performance of EmONC health facilities and on the real needs to inform proper planning and policy. Our study aims to generate evidence on the capacity and performance of EmONC health facilities in Burundi and examine how the country might develop an appropriate skilled delivery care workforce to improve maternal and newborn survival. Methods We will use a sequential design where each study phase serially inputs into the subsequent phase. Three main study phases will be carried out: i) an initial policy document review to explore global norms and local policy intentions for EmONC staffing and ii) a cross-sectional survey of all EmONC health facilities to determine what percent of facilities are functional including geographic and population coverage gaps, identify staffing gaps assessed against norms, and identify other needs for health facility strengthening. Finally, we will conduct surveys in schools and different ministries to examine training and staffing costs to inform staffing options that might best promote service delivery with adequate budget impacts to increase efficiency. Throughout the study, we will engage stakeholders to provide input into what is reasonable staffing norms as well as feasible staffing alternatives within Burundi’s budget capacity. Analytical models will be used to develop staffing proposals over a realistic policy timeline. Conclusion Evidence-based health planning improves cost-effectiveness and reduces wastage within scarce and resource-constrained contexts. This study will be the first large-scale research in Burundi that builds on stakeholder support to generate evidence on the capacity of designated EmONC health facilities including human resources diagnosis and develop staffing skill-mix tradeoffs for policy discussion.

Improving the genuine progress indicator to measure comparable net welfare: U.S. and California, 1995–2017

This paper argues that important improvements in the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) can be made by directly calculating the loss of natural resources, the benefits of leisure, and adjusting for inequality using a global norm, rather than using local, historical benchmarks. Local benchmarking is an obstacle to the standardisation and comparability of the GPI. We provide alternative methods for the five components that have used benchmarking in the standard GPI. We present empirical estimates for the GPI of the United States and California over the period 1995 through 2017, calculated with and without the alternative methods. Using our alternative methods, we show that some differences between the GPI of CA and the U.S. are artefacts of the benchmark methods. Implementing the alternative methods narrows the gap between the CA and the U.S. GPI as it reduces the U.S. environmental costs, and removes the artificial differential between CA and the U.S. in the cost of inequality. However, we find that the GPI provides insight into net welfare not reflected in GDP, both with and without the benchmarking methods. Overall, we suggest that the GPI can be significantly improved with these high priority revisions without changing the fundamental approach or theoretical framework.

Complex norm localization: from price competitiveness to local production in East African Community pharmaceutical policy

This article offers a critical contribution to debates around access to medicines and the global politics of pharmaceutical production in Africa. Specifically, we seek to account for a normative shift within these debates whereby the promotion of local pharmaceutical production in Africa has once again come to be viewed as a central modality for achieving access to health across the continent. While the onset of this normative shift has been highlighted by the global Covid-19 pandemic, in this article we argue that its antecedents can be traced to a more incremental process of global and regional normative change that has been in motion since the late 1990s. To illustrate this, we narrow our empirical focus onto the East African Community (EAC) and the regional initiatives its members have pursued to promote local pharmaceutical production capacities since 2012. We draw and build upon the literature on norm localization to emphasize how the emergence and distinctiveness of this policy reflected the complex way in which policy actors within the EAC sought to localize and combine separate (and somewhat competing) changing global norms around access to health and industrial policy. The article also points to the tensions and unintended consequences which emerged from this complex process of norm localization and the challenges of implementing this strategy within the institutional landscape of the EAC.

Transnational Advocacy, Norm Regress, and Foreign Compliance Constituencies: The Case of the “Comfort Women” Redress Movement

Abstract The literature at the intersection of global norms and transnational advocacy typically equates target states’ foreign constituencies with those exerting normative pressure on the states in question on behalf of their domestic constituencies. Another type of foreign constituency remains undertheorized: foreign nationals as rights claimants who make normative claims against target states, such as victims of colonization seeking redress or refugees demanding their rights protection. I argue that states, including robust democracies otherwise well socialized into global norms, respond differently to compliance pressures from these two types of foreign compliance constituencies. In what I call dual norm dynamics, states may regress in their norm practices when it comes to foreign claimants while at the same time deepening their normative commitments to the international community as a whole. In an unintended consequence of norm diffusion, norm regress in target states for foreign claimants may occur as a result of successful transnational norm advocacy on their behalf. To demonstrate the empirical utility of dual norm dynamics, I look at the transnational redress movement for Korean “comfort women.”

India’s Nuclear Security Vulnerabilities and Commitments : Considering Cyber Threats and Nuclear Material Trafficking

Nuclear security refers to the prevention and detection of illegal or purposeful unauthorised acts with nuclear material, other radioactive material, associated facilities, or associated activities, as well as the reaction to such criminal or intentional acts. The nuclear domain is constantly confronted with the problems posed by existing and developing dangers related to nuclear security. After the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, public perceptions of nuclear security concerns grew significantly. The advancement of technology has increased the number of security breaches. This is evidenced by the increasing number of cyberattacks on nuclear power plants. After this point in time, the global nuclear community has channelled its efforts toward the establishment and strengthening of global institutions and norms, as well as international regimes, in order to establish and/or maintain robust and protective mechanisms in the domain of nuclear security. Ultimately, the individual sovereign nation has the burden of responsibility for nuclear security, with India being one such responsible nuclear actor. There are a variety of reasons why nuclear security is crucial for India. Due to its extensive nuclear programme and the dispersion of its atomic energy installations around the country, India has a huge vulnerability. Additionally, given India’s unfriendly immediate neighbours, the country is particularly vulnerable to nuclear terrorism, cyberattacks, and other new threats. The study examines India’s nuclear security initiatives, the dangers they confront, and the possible means to counter the threats.

The Influence of Social Norms on the Endorsement of Anti-Black Attitudes

The last few years have been a testament to the fact that anti-Black racism is alive and well in America. It manifests not only in macro-level indicators of social inequity (e.g., housing, education) but also manifests within individual organizations. Importantly, individuals in organizations can express anti-Black and other racist sentiments that influence the attitudes that others express. In the current research, we examine the power of proximal organizational norms in two studies. In Study 1, 269 participants heard a member of their institution condone or condemn anti-Black racism and were then asked to give their own attitudes about that same group. Results revealed that participants were strongly influenced by the racist or anti-racist sentiments they heard; compared to those in the control condition, those who heard an organizational peer condone racism were also more likely to condone, and those who heard an organizational peer condemn racism were also more likely to condemn. In Study 2, we continued to examine the expression of anti-Black racism by investigating the influence of proximal norms (within an organization) in comparison to distal norms (within a more socially and physically distant reference group, i.e., country). Consistent with Study 1, results showed that the proximal norms (but not the global norms) strongly influenced the extent to which 217 participants expressed anti-racist sentiments. We discuss the results by considering the critical role that both individual workplace allies and collective organizations can play in shaping the expression of anti-Black racism.

Pseudopotential Lattice Boltzmann Method for boiling heat transfer: A mesh refinement procedure

Boiling is a complex phenomenon where different non-linear physical interactions take place and for which the quantitative modeling of the mechanism involved is not fully developed yet. In the last years, many works have been published focusing on the numerical analysis of this problem. However, a lack of numerical works assessing quantitatively the sensitivity of these numerical simulations to grid parameters can be identified, especially for the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The main goal of this work is to propose a mesh refinement methodology for simulating phase-change heat transfer problems employing the pseudopotential LBM. This methodology was based on relating the physical parameters to their lattice counterparts for an arbitrary mesh under the viscous regime (where Δt∝Δx2). A suitable modification of the EOS parameters, the adjusting of thermodynamic consistency and surface tension for a certain Δx were the main steps of the proposed methodology. A first ensemble of simple simulations including the droplet vaporization and the Stefan problems was performed to validate the proposed method and to assess the influence of some physical mechanisms. Global norms in space and time were used to evaluate the variations of both the density and temperature fields for pool boiling simulations when the lattice discretization is refined. It was observed that the proposed methodology provides convergent results for all the problems considered, and the convergence orders depend on the complexity of the simulated phenomena.

In Search of Scholarly Impact

In Search of Scholarly Impact

Environmental Stringency and Green Innovation Spillovers to Emerging Market Industries

Industries in emerging markets often have exposure to countries with much more stringent environmental regulations. While partners in these countries may push their green innovation practices to emerging market industries through positive spillovers, institutional arbitrage and pollution haven arguments suggest that these industries will profit from their comparative advantage in non-green practices. Using a comprehensive sample of 18 manufacturing industries across 30 countries, we investigate these ideas by examining the institutional and competitive factors that influence the green innovation rate of emerging market industries. We find evidence that more exposure to countries with stringent environmental regulations reduces the rate of green innovation in emerging market industries. We find that this result is driven by industries from countries with low levels of environmental stringency and lower openness to global norms. This relationship is also driven by emerging market industries with higher technological sophistication, suggesting that these industries will focus on innovation in non-green technologies to serve the institutional arbitrage needs of their buyers and maintain their comparative advantage.

Crop Productivity Analysis and Predictions Using Machine Learning Approach

Abstract: Without a question, the main source of income in rural India is provided by agriculture and its affiliated industries. The country's Real Gdp is also significantly influenced by the agriculture industry (GDP). The country is fortunate to have such a huge agriculture sector. However, the yield of crops per hectare in relation to global norms is unsatisfactory. It is one of the likely reasons why marginal farmers commit suicide at a higher rate. For farmers, this research suggests a practical and approachable yield prediction system. A smartphone application used in the proposed method connects farmers to the internet. GPS assists in locating the user. The user enters the location and soil type

Addressing the need for an appropriate skilled delivery care workforce in Burundi to support Maternal and Newborn Health Service Delivery Redesign (MNH-Redesign): a sequential study protocol

Background Despite Burundi having formed a network of 112 health facilities that provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care (EmONC), the country continues to struggle with high rates of maternal and newborn deaths. There is a dearth of empirical evidence on the capacity and performance of EmONC health facilities and on the real needs to inform proper planning and policy. Our study aims to generate evidence on the capacity and performance of EmONC health facilities in Burundi and examine how the country might develop an appropriate skilled delivery care workforce to improve maternal and newborn survival. Methods We will use a sequential design where each study phase serially inputs into the subsequent phase. Three main study phases will be carried out: i) an initial policy document review to explore global norms and local policy intentions for EmONC staffing and ii) a cross-sectional survey of all EmONC health facilities to determine what percent of facilities are functional including geographic and population coverage gaps, identify staffing gaps assessed against norms, and identify other needs for health facility strengthening. Finally, we will conduct surveys in schools and different ministries to examine training and staffing costs to inform staffing options that might best promote service delivery with adequate budget impacts to increase efficiency. Throughout the study, we will engage stakeholders to provide input into what is reasonable staffing norms as well as feasible staffing alternatives within Burundi's budget capacity. Analytical models will be used to develop staffing proposals over a realistic policy timeline. Conclusion Evidence-based health planning improves cost-effectiveness and reduces wastage within scarce and resource-constrained contexts. This study will be the first large-scale research in Burundi that builds on stakeholder support to generate evidence on the capacity of designated EmONC health facilities including human resources diagnosis and develop staffing skill-mix tradeoffs for policy discussion.

Philanthropic Foundations as Agents of Justice in Global Sustainability Governance

AbstractPrivate philanthropic foundations—nongovernmental, nonprofit organizations with assets provided by donors for socially useful purposes—have become key political actors in global sustainability governance. Their collective efforts amount to over USD 112 billion for the implementation of the United Nations (UNs)’s ambitious plan to deliver on seventeen interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This corresponds to about a quarter of governmental contribution through official development assistance for the same purposes. Many of these foundations implicitly or explicitly aim to foster global justice, through, for example, empowering women, reducing inequalities, and promoting democracy. They thus act as justice agents shaping the substance and practice of justice in global sustainability governance. But what does this direction of private money into supporting global justice norms really mean? This question deserves scrutiny, especially against a context of diverse and contested meanings of justice and because philanthropy—beyond an act of giving—is often an exercise of power. Using critical discourse analysis of texts produced by selected foundations that are key funders of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, this paper examines how private foundations frame global justice and with what implications for sustainability governance.