Institutional Constraints Research Articles

Characterization and Identification of Major Constraints and Potentials of Kiltu Sorsa Watershed, in Guji Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a country seriously affected by different natural resource degradation that included soil, vegetation, biodiversity and water degradation and climate deterioration. The study was conducted at Adola Rede District of Guji Zone, in Southern Ethiopia. The objectives of the study were to document baseline information on socioeconomic aspects and to document major biophysical and socio-economic constraints and potentials of the study watershed. The survey data were collected using key informant interview, focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and guided field observations. A total of 60 respondents were selected for semi-structured interviews by means of simple random sampling methods. The majority (65%) of the respondent households were practiced physical and biological soil and water conservation activities. However, about 35% of the sampled households were not practiced soil and water conservation activities due to lack of awareness, lack of materials and labor. In the study watershed five major constraints such as land and soil related constraints, production related constraints, institutional and infrastructure related constraints, livestock related constraints and socio-economic related constraints were identified. However, suitable agro-ecology, availability of labor force, youth and women associations and informal institutions were the major identified potentials in the study watershed. Therefore, by using the potentials/opportunities of the study watershed and through providing quality extension services and training on soil and water conservation practices it is possible to enhance farmers participation and technical limitations. Moreover, for sustainable watershed management of the study area different soil and water conservation structures are very significant in various land use system of the study watershed through active participation of the local communities.

A multi-level model of family enterprise corruption

Corruption is an important social and economic problem globally, and family firms are an important source of such corruption that we know too little about. By leveraging insights from the literature on family priorities, governance, and institutional environments, we develop a multi-level model highlighting why some family firms are prone to exhibit corruption in specific contexts. We focus on businesses where close connections between firm and family cause the priorities of the one to affect the other. There, family loyalties, conflicts, ethics, and social aspirations can enhance the willingness to engage in corrupt behavior. Private ownership and secrecy facilitate that behavior, as do tempting contexts with few institutional constraints. We provide examples and propositions for further research.

Negotiating Safety: Facilitation of Return to Work for Individuals Employed in High-Risk Occupations.

Return-to-work (RTW) after absence due to a mental illness is a largely understudied area, especially in industries already struggling with retention like those posing unique and high risks for public or personal safety (i.e., pilots, police officers, and health professionals), otherwise known as safety-sensitive sectors. The goal of this paper is to examine how RTW coordinators work with individuals who took a leave of absence for mental illness in safety-sensitive occupations and navigate the RTW process. Qualitative methodology was utilized to explore the experiences of 47 RTW coordinators who had worked with individuals employed in safety-sensitive industries. The participants were recruited across Canada using convenience sampling to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed, anonymized, uploaded to NVIVO 11, and coded using inductive thematic analysis. Our analysis shows that despite the presumed rigidity of occupational health and safety standards for safety-sensitive positions, the notion of "safety" becomes ambiguous in navigating RTW processes, and concerns about safety are often interpreted as the potential risk workers may pose to themselves, other individuals, or the workplace image. Institutional constraints of safety-sensitive jobs shape the ability of RTW coordinators to advocate on behalf of the workers, ultimately placing the workers at a disadvantage by prioritizing safety concerns for organizations over employees' needs. It is important to consider how to protect workers in safety-sensitive occupations during the RTW process after absence due to a mental illness to ensure effective integration to the workplace.

The expenditure composition and trade-offs in local government budgets

The fiscal behavior of local governments has gained additional attention from academia and policymakers due to decentralization reforms transferring power from central to lower levels of government. As local governments assume more responsibilities for public goods and services, understanding their expenditure composition and trade-offs becomes crucial. While existing literature has examined the factors influencing the size of local government budgets, less attention has been given to the decision-making mechanisms and trade-offs within budget allocations. This study investigates the expenditure composition of 300 Flemish municipalities, using an unsupervised clustering algorithm and a binary logistic regression framework. Our results are indicative of how local governments tend to prioritize specific policy areas in the design of their budgets, when they operate under strict institutional and fiscal constraints such as a balanced budget rule.

Tracing language teacher professional development through Perezhivanie: an argument for praxis

ABSTRACT In this paper, we build an argument for studying and promoting teacher development in dialectical teacher-researcher partnership, praxis, which is informed by perezhivanie, a dialectical unity of emotion and intellect . We will study the developmental trajectory of an in-service L2 teacher striving to give her learners agency in the teaching-learning process while navigating institutional structures. We guide the reader through this teacher’s development in a year-and-a-half praxis with two researchers, illustrating the joint process of sense-making to resolve tensions stemming from institutional constraints, learner expectations, and own practices. The data come from (a) teacher-researcher discussions, (b) a teacher interview, and (c) data sessions. Perezhivanie informed the design, researchers’ mediation, and data analysis. We illustrate how the teacher moved towards and realised her commitment to enabling learner agency in language teaching. We discuss the implications of making perezhivanie a central concept in teacher education with in-service L2 teachers, realised through praxis.

Fostering Inclusive Management and Community Participation: Lessons from the Field

ABSTRACT World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a leading organization dedicated to preserving the world's most cherished cultural sites. In Latin America and the Caribbean, WMF has collaborated with local communities, funders, and governments on over 186 conservation projects since the 1980s, with a strong emphasis on local partnerships and capacity building. Recognizing the importance of community involvement, inclusive management, and diverse heritage narratives, as well as the need to foster this approach in our Latin American portfolio, recent WMF projects there aim to establish models for participatory heritage conservation. Two ongoing projects where WMF is testing this approach focusing on community participation and inclusive management include Teotihuacán in Mexico, where we aim to create the conditions for sustainable and equitable tourism development by fostering collaboration between local and institutional stakeholders. A second case study explores Rapa Nui National Park, where WMF is addressing the preservation of the endangered Mata Ngarahu petroglyphs in Orongo and empowering the Ma'u Henua Polynesian Indigenous Community in conservation efforts. These projects underscore the importance of long-term commitment, flexibility, and cultural sensitivity in promoting participatory approaches, with the need for adapting engagement strategies based on local dynamics. Lessons learned emphasize that successful implementation requires time, consistency, and alignment with local actors, particularly considering potential conflicts with institutional timing and constraints.

Institutional constraints to social dialogue in work integration of persons with disabilities: Slovakia and Norway compared

PurposeStudies on the work integration of persons with disabilities (PwD) and the role of social dialogue therein are scarce. The study examines how the different systems of workers’ representation and industrial relations in Slovakia and Norway facilitate PwD work integration. Taking a social ecosystem perspective, we acknowledge the role of various stakeholders and their interactions in supporting PwD work integration. The paper’s conceptual contribution lies in including social dialogue actors in this ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachEvidence was collected via desk research, 35 semi-structured in-depth interviews with 51 respondents and stakeholder workshops in 2019–2020.FindingsThe findings from Norway confirm the expected coordination of unions and employers in PwD work integration. Evidence from Slovakia shows that in decentralised industrial relations systems, institutional constraints beyond the workplace determine employers’ and worker representatives’ approaches in PwD integration. Most policy-level outcomes are contested, as integration occurs predominantly via sheltered workplaces without interest representation.Social implicationsThis paper identifies the primary sources of variation in the work integration of PwD. It also highlights opportunities for social partners across both situations to exercise agency and engagement to improve PwD work integration.Originality/valueBy integrating two streams of literature – social policy and welfare state and industrial relations – this paper examines PwD work integration from a social ecosystem perspective. Empirically, it offers novel qualitative comparative evidence on trade unions’ and employers’ roles in Slovakia and Norway.

Computational Experiments for Complex Social Systems—Part III: The Docking of Domain Models

Powered by advanced information technology, more and more complex systems are exhibiting characteristics of the cyber–physical–social systems (CPSS). In consideration of the cost, legal, and institutional constraints on the study of CPSS in real world, computational experiments have emerged as a new method for quantitative analysis of CPSS. However, with the increase of application scenarios, how to map complex and diverse domain models to artificial society models has become a key challenge to hinder the wide use of computational experiments. In this article, the docking framework between the domain model and the artificial society model was proposed in this article, and the model docking specification is given from three aspects: the agent model, the environmental model, and the rules model. In addition, the effectiveness of the framework was verified by two classic cases: artificial stock market and epidemic prevention and control. The result showed that the proposed model docking framework can provide technical support for the multidisciplinary applications of computational experiments and significantly reduce the difficulty of using the method.

Moral distress measurement in animal care workers: a systematic review

ObjectivesThe mental health of veterinary and other animal health professionals is significantly impacted by the psychological stressors they encounter, such as euthanasia, witnessing animal suffering and moral distress. Moral distress,...

Restricciones institucionales en la demanda de trabajo calificado en Chavimochic

The study analyzes the effect of institutional restrictions on the demand for qualified labor in Chavimochic. Institutional constraints include: regulatory quality, political stability, control of corruption, Free Trade Agreements, transaction costs, income differences and the minimum living wage. The data on the demand for qualified labor are obtained from agro-export companies established in Chavimochic, in a longitudinal and transversal period between the years 2002 to 2017. Through the regression analysis of panel-type data, it is found that regulatory quality, political stability, control of corruption, Free Trade Agreements and transaction costs have a positive and significant effect on the demand for qualified labor. On the other hand, the difference in income and the minimum living wage has a negative and significant effect. In conclusion, institutional restrictions do have an effect on the demand for qualified labor in Chavimochic.

Transitional Frictions: Intimate Ties, Grassroots Bureaucracy, and Family Reunion in Post-Mao China, 1975–1985

During the Cultural Revolution, millions of youths, workers, intellectuals, and cadres were separated from their families and mobilized to work in distant places according to the needs of the state. For these families, the transition to the post-Mao era was experienced not as an epochal change but as a family reunion often delayed by specific institutional constraints. The constant friction between families’ strategies to reunite and the bureaucratic logic specific to local contexts led to a sense of victimhood and a turn to domestic life and hope in children as the new sacred in life. By examining the processes of family reunion told in three sets of family letters, this article explores “transitional frictions,” defined as the conflicts and tensions arising from different speeds of institutional change during a rapid transition, as a ubiquitous phenomenon in the post-Mao transition.

Revitalizing Indigenous Knowledge Systems via Digital Media Technologies for Sustainability of Indigenous Languages

Abstract Amidst globalization and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, indigenous language preservation and promotion gain paramount significance. These languages encapsulate rich cultural, historical, and ecological value, embodying unique knowledge systems and identities. Nevertheless, challenges stemming from historical, social, resource, and institutional constraints impede preservation, with digital media technology thus emerging as a pivotal tool in this endeavour. This paper meticulously explores the role of digital media technology in indigenous language preservation during the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Through a comprehensive review of reputable literature, including scholarly articles, case studies, and expert insights, the paper underscores the imperative of language preservation, delving into the obstacles hindering preservation efforts and spotlighting the pivotal role of digital media technology in rejuvenating indigenous languages. The paper also examines various digital tools and applications that facilitate preservation, emphasizing their accessibility and engagement, while also underscoring the importance of collaborative efforts involving indigenous communities, linguists, and technology experts. Ethical considerations, encompassing intellectual property rights and informed consent, are of paramount importance in indigenous language preservation, and thus this paper also consolidates insights derived from the findings and provides recommendations for effective preservation strategies, underlining the necessity of ethical guidelines and emphasizing the indispensable role of government support. The study concludes by addressing prospects and challenges in indigenous language preservation, providing a comprehensive view of safeguarding linguistic heritage in the digital age.

Institutional Constraints Affecting Small Businesses in South Africa

This study explores the perception of institutional constraints in South Africa. It delineates the constraints into critical socio-cultural, political, and economic dimensions that impact entrepreneurs and their micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The paper utilises an exploratory interview approach with thirty-two entrepreneurs from Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg and the emergent themes generated with ATLAS.ti. The study identified fourteen constraints that might affect the enterprise development process. The paper is original, with three main contributions. It first identifies constraints along institutional dimensions of socio-cultural, political, and economic contexts. Second, deriving the constraints through qualitative methodological inquiries with inductive and deductive analytical tools according to institutional variables is a unique methodological contribution. Third, the paper proposed context-specific focused policy interventions. The findings promote an understanding that South African MSMEs require continuous, needs-based, responsive, and adaptive institutional support.

(Un)disciplined Patients, (Un)controlled Medical Authority?

Abstract Starting at the end of the 1940s, the so-called “democratic transformation of healthcare” was not limited to the expansion of beneficiaries and making care provided in the system free of charge. It also sought to define the new roles of those who run (physicians) and use (patients) the system. To enforce the implementation of new norms, medical ethics committees were set up, and in many respects, these new structures were integrated into the system of social courts and were tasked mainly with the protection patients’ rights during investigations into complaints against doctors. This article aims to address the following question: What role did the functioning of these medical ethics committees play in healthcare operations organized along socialist principles, considering their involvement in both politics and healthcare? Additionally, what forms of governmentality can be inferred from the ways these committees functioned within the framework of socialist healthcare? To answer these questions, I examine patients’ complaints received by the medical ethics committees, as the core objective of socialist healthcare was to provide quality healthcare and educate individuals about utilizing the socialist healthcare system. My hypothesis is that while the committees exhibited organizational and operational characteristics aligned with the basic institutions of socialist democracy, their ultimate goal was to educate individuals in accordance with the principles of the socialist system. However, the committees’ decisions were influenced by the degrees of autonomy granted to them and existing practices for supervising medical activity prior to the establishment of the state-socialist system. Consequently, they functioned not as guardians of the socialist state’s biopolitics but rather as autonomous bodies of medical advocacy. Although patients used various strategies of argumentation to justify the incompatibility of their grievances with socialist healthcare, doctors did not primarily assess the seriousness of the problems based on patient complaints. Institutional constraints and specific professional practices, which also played a role in medical activities, had a more significant impact on the decision-making process.

Opportunities and hindrances for promoting interdisciplinary learning in schools

ABSTRACT Background Influential philosophers have suggested that interdisciplinarity is crucial for ecosystem management and scientific practice, and for education to democracy. However, a historical review of the rise of disciplines points at their compartmentalization in schools. An analysis of core construct categories of three disciplines, shows that this compartmentalization may decrease when dialogic argumentation is enacted. This background led us to launch an interdisciplinary program in schools. In previous publications, we identified multiple constraints in its implementation and listed design principles for affording interdisciplinary dialogic argumentation. Method We adopt a narrative approach to analyze classroom talk, and ask whether and how interdisciplinary processes emerge in this talk. Findings Students maintain dialogic argumentation around Interdisciplinary Social Dilemmas, but guidance is necessary for integrating knowledge from different disciplines. When the teacher is attentive to student’s unarticulated references to disciplinary ideas, she may subtly guide the emergence of interdisciplinary dialogic argumentation. Often, the teacher misses those opportunities and declaims the integration of knowledge in a non-dialogic talk. Contribution Dialogic Education is crucial for the success of interdisciplinary programs in schools, but the actual emergence of interdisciplinary processes depends on the handling of organizational and institutional constraints, on huge design efforts, and on subtle guidance.

A comparative analysis of public-private partnership models in the field of higher education

Subject. This article discusses the issues of cooperation between higher educational institutions and enterprises of the real sector of the economy in Russia and foreign countries. Objectives. The article aims to identify institutional opportunities and constraints for the formation and implementation of projects based on the public-private partnership principles in the field of higher education in Russia. Methods. For the study, we used the methods of institutional, comparative, and content analyses. Results. The article highlights the main tasks related to the development of the system of public-private partnership in the field of higher education. Relevance. The results of the study can be taken into account when developing mechanisms for the implementation of State policy in the field of higher education.

Development of a composite drought indicator for operational drought monitoring in the MENA region

This paper presents the composite drought indicator (CDI) that Jordanian, Lebanese, Moroccan, and Tunisian government agencies now produce monthly to support operational drought management decision making, and it describes their iterative co-development processes. The CDI is primarily intended to monitor agricultural and ecological drought on a seasonal time scale. It uses remote sensing and modelled data inputs, and it reflects anomalies in precipitation, vegetation, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration. Following quantitative and qualitative validation assessments, engagements with policymakers, and consideration of agencies’ technical and institutional capabilities and constraints, we made changes to CDI input data, modelling procedures, and integration to tailor the system for each national context. We summarize validation results, drought modelling challenges and how we overcame them through CDI improvements, and we describe the monthly CDI production process and outputs. Finally, we synthesize procedural and technical aspects of CDI development and reflect on the constraints we faced as well as trade-offs made to optimize the CDI for operational monitoring to support policy decision-making—including aspects of salience, credibility, and legitimacy—within each national context.

Practices and Perceptions of Teacher Educators on Learner Autonomy

This study explores practices and perception of English language teacher educator on learner autonomy. It aimed to identify the ways through which teacher educators practice autonomy in students learning and encourage them be autonomous. Using qualitative narrative inquiry research design, the data were collected through interviews with the five English language teacher educators teaching at undergraduate level, of Far Western University, Nepal. The findings of the study highlight a shared understanding of learner autonomy, emphasizing independent learning, self-direction, and responsibility. Teacher educators stress the pivotal role of instructors in promoting autonomy, advocating for a shift from traditional to student-centered methods. Despite a common understanding, challenges persist, including psychological factors, institutional constraints, and socio-cultural beliefs. The study also suggests the need to address these challenges through targeted strategies for successful promotion of learner autonomy in English language classrooms. Moreover, the study shows that even though it is challenging, teacher educators are making efforts to encourage students be autonomous in providing choices, goal-setting, encouraging self-evaluation, finding out the resources, preparing assignments, having class presentations into classroom practice using different strategies.

Organization of production and income inequality

AbstractThis paper contributes to the literature that postulates a relationship between income inequality and the relative importance of “market” and “organization” in the direction of resources. The paper emphasizes that both are endogenous; therefore, the empirical associations observed in the empirical data between inequality measures and production organization variables cannot be interpreted as indicative of causal relationships. The paper solves for the composition and size of occupational groups, the distribution of firm size, and the distribution of income as market equilibrium outcomes of an occupational choice economy, and performs a comparative static analysis. We find that the interaction between cross‐economy differences in the distribution of general skills in the labor force and the loss of control in the supervision of workers by managers can explain the empirical regularities observed in the relationship between the organization of production (distribution of firm size) and income inequality (distribution of labor income). This explanation of the empirical regularities differs from others proposed in the literature, such as those based on institutional constraints or the market power of firms.

Didactic transposition and the knowledge to be taught: towards an archeorganisation for concave/convex functions

This study is framed within the anthropological theory of the didactic. The first part is a comparative study of the mathematical organisation of concave/convex functions on the one hand at university, and on the other hand in secondary education. Data for this analysis are from a university textbook on calculus and a secondary school textbook. The analytic results show how the mathematics (to be) taught at secondary level consists of a largely demathematised logos block. The corresponding institutional fragmentation of knowledge reveals a missing praxeological organisation from which the organisations of knowledge we consider in this paper could be derived by transposition. Responding to this insight, in the second part of the paper, we have outlined what we call an archeorganisation for concave/convex functions, a framework that teacher education institutions could refer to when trying to satisfy the specific constraints they are subjected to (notably because of its publics), without for that matter isolating themselves epistemically from other academic institutions. Formulating an archeorganisation represents a meta-curricular study, with the objective of transforming the institutional conditions and constraints that guide mathematics educators and curriculum designers in their deliberations about the concept of concave/convex functions.