Perpetual Problems Research Articles

DIRECT REVENUE ALLOCATION TO NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: A MEANS TO NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The issue of revenue allocation remains very volatile, crucial and constitutes a major source of political and governmental tension in Nigeria. It has become a subject of hot debate because of the political nature of the exercise. This paper examines the revenue allocation system in Nigeria vis-à-vis the functional and institutional relevance of local government in national development. The paper strongly advocates for a direct revenue allocation to Nigerian local governments; it also identifies roles/functions capable of playing by local governments in national development; and showcases the operational and tactical roles of local government in enhancing national development. Typology of this research work is basically descriptive. Its research method is qualitative. Data for the study came primarily from secondary sources such as textbooks, journals articles, lecture notes, newspapers and academic research projects. This paper reveals the following facts: grassroots’ development is a forerunner of national development; basic social services are mostly needed at grassroots level; local governments afford citizens the opportunities for political participation, political socialization and political education; and local governments are capable of solving the perpetual problems of rural-urban migration, rural transformation and development. This paper assertively concludes that direct allocation of funds to local governments will facilitate promotion of grassroots’ democracy, promotion of economic development, good governance, political accountability, agricultural growth and development, transparency, local freedom, accessibility to local needs, responsiveness to local wishes and initiatives, rural transformation and overall national development.

The pursuit of luxury as an act of transgression: Bataille, sovereignty, desire

Through concepts such as the act of transgression, the idea of the pursuit of luxury can be radically transformed by reconsidering the work of the French philosopher Georges Bataille on sovereignty and desire within contemporary culture. This article on the relations between transgression, luxury, sovereignty, and desire constitutes a reworking of Bataille's thought. Offering an exploration and development of the key notions which run through current work on luxury, from sumptuous living to human lives in search of lavishness, the article places these important concepts in their intellectual and historical contexts and goes on to trace their considerable possibilities for contemporary French thought. In this manner, the article not only makes the idea of the pursuit of luxury accessible, but also invites readers to make their own critical judgements of such a pursuit. The article concludes with an account of the pursuit of luxury and acts of transgression as a moral vision, and with the perpetual problems of luxury and necessity. The notion of the pursuit of luxury is now impossible to disregard for anybody who is serious-minded about contemporary acts of transgression, and this article affords the ideal companion to the wide-ranging diversity of Bataille's critical texts on sovereignty and desire.

Cloaked Meaning and Moral Craftwork: Progress and Perpetual Problems in the News Coverage of Indigenous Peoples and Canada’s Justice System

Background: This research offers a critical analysis of the “moral craftwork” of the news media’s coverage of Canada’s Indigenous peoples and the justice system.Analysis: This study’s thematic analysis of three case studies, spanning almost two decades, suggests a potential shift in how Canadian journalists report on racism and structural inequalities. Recent news coverage points toward a more transparent dialogue about racism.Conclusions and implications: This study finds problematic journalistic practices linger, occluding a broader understanding of racism and colonialism. This research aims to expand the reflexivity of journalists by spotlighting this type of storytelling.

Introduction to the Septuagint

Introduction to the Septuagint

Katastrophensensible Infrastruktur im Gesundheitssozialstaat

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the capacity of the welfare state (“social state”) to provide health protection. In light of the challenges of the pandemic, the social state principle needs to be reassessed, especially as it entails a constitutional obligation to organize health protection effectively. In addition, the concept of “resilience” may help explain why preparedness is one of the social state principle’s core characteristics. From the outset of the pandemic, the lack of preparedness has been a serious concern, along with the lack of cooperation between public health authorities and health care institutions. Particularly due to staffing problems and insufficient IT infrastructure, public health authorities have had to cope with perpetual performance problems. Consequently, the modification of legal provisions relating to the organization of health-related public administration is necessary to improve preparedness, performance, and cooperation.

Illegal income as an object of taxation in law of the Russian Federation and the United States

One of the perpetual problems within the Russian and U.S. tax law is the establishment of criteria for taxability of income, under what conditions the income of a taxpayer should be taxable. The fact   the legislation nor the rulings of supreme courts contain a clear answer to this question, leads to the emergence of legal uncertainty on the tax consequences of receiving illegal income. The goal of this research lies in examination of problem of taxation of illegal income, including the questions of bringing to tax and criminal liability for tax evasion on illegal income, as well as in substantiation of a new solution to this problem. For achieving this goal, the author analyzes the Russian and U. S. case law on taxation of criminal and other illegal income. Although such practice is not always consistent, the merit of the court includes the development of classical theory of the object of income taxation. Namely, the Supreme Court of the United States formulated the well-known concept of taxable income and the rule on “right of claim”. The author believes that the grounds for distinguishing between taxable and non-taxable income is the criterion of economic benefit. The strict application of such criterion for the assessment of tax consequences from receiving illegal income led the author to a conclusion that contradicts the interpretations of the Russian and U. S. courts: only the economic benefit from the free use of the property, rather than the overall value of such property,  should be recognized as the object of taxation should be recognized. The concept proposed by the author can be used in the practice of tax and judicial authorities for ensuring subjective rights and legitimate interests of taxpayers.

The force of perpetual problems

The force of perpetual problems

Secession and the Political Economy of South Sudan from 2011 to 2017

In the quest to become autonomous, southern Sudan opted for secession from northern Sudan in 2011. Among other reasons, the major cause for this secession was to redress the imbalances perpetrated by the Arab minority, who discriminated against the people of the southern part of Sudan. The chief aim of this study was to assess the impact of secession from Sudan on the political economy of South Sudan in the period 2011–2017. The field research was conducted in South Sudan, Juba district, focusing on the surrounding areas of Munuki, Amarat, Sherikhat, Nyakuron, and Thongpiny. The study embraced blended decolonial research methods for data gathering. Techniques such as questionnaires and interviews were utilised. The authors discovered that the secession has had a negative impact on the political economy of South Sudan, as the newly founded state has been affected by the syndrome of dependence on its former parent state (Sudan), which creates perpetual problems. The research findings lead to the conclusion that for secession to have a positive impact on the political economy of African nations, robust institutions should be established soon after secession, there should be equality among ethnic groups, and sound policies should be established to stimulate their economies.

A renewal theory approach to two-state switching problems with infinite values

AbstractWe study a renewal theory approach to perpetual two-state switching problems with infinite value functions. Since the corresponding value functions are infinite, the problems fall outside the standard class of problems which can be analyzed using dynamic programming. Instead, we propose an alternative formulation of optimal switching theory in which optimality of a strategy is defined in terms of its long-term mean return, which can be determined using renewal theory. The approach is illustrated by examples in connection with trend-following strategies in finance.

Sim Harris, The Railway Dilemma: The Perpetual Problems of Ownership, Costs and Control

Sim Harris, <i>The Railway Dilemma: The Perpetual Problems of Ownership, Costs and Control</i>

Recovering Christian Realism: Just War Theory as a Political Ethic by H. David Baer (review)

Reviewed by: Recovering Christian Realism: Just War Theory as a Political Ethic by H. David Baer Maurice Lee Recovering Christian Realism: Just War Theory as a Political Ethic. By H. David Baer. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014. viii + 119 pp. This slim volume seeks to articulate the political-theological reasoning underlying the classical just war ethic, drawing heavily (though not exclusively) on modern sources and using an irenically Lutheran perspective. The first chapter offers a framework for the project, briefly critiquing both the Niebuhrian “realist” position and Yoder/Hauerwas-style pacifism, and an overview of Baer’s argument. [End Page 76] The central chapters consider the series of classical just-war criteria derived from Aquinas, each raising issues addressed by the next. Chapter 2, “The criterion of legitimate authority,” uses a two-kingdom approach to identify the heart of the political act—that is, what a legitimate human government does—as judgment informed by love in the service of God’s kingdom, both establishing the locus of the authority to use power (force) and inviting ethical evaluation of the use of that power. Chapter 3, “The criterion of just cause,” finds, since political justice is relative to the particular interests of communities (nations) and their governments, and no actual government may rise above its particularity to render universal judgment, that force may be employed only for defense, with rare exceptions. Chapter 4, “The criterion of just intention,” explores the larger purpose of international relations—relations among political communities—identifying it as a peace harmonizing the various interests of a plurality of communities and consistent with the moral (not narrowly legal) “Law of Nations.” Chapter 5, “Justice in bello,” taking as a fundamental principle of ethical conduct in warfare the “principle of discrimination”— that is, the difference between combatants and civilians—reflects on the perpetual problems of proportionality and collateral damage. A final chapter accepts and defends the label “Christian realism” for the position that the author has outlined. Baer’s argument is accessible even without a specialist’s familiarity with just-war discussions. Some points might be puzzling for the beginner in the absence of other resources. For example, the distinction between ius ad bellum and ius in bello is not introduced before it is used. Moreover, the contours of the deeper theological vision animating “Christian realism” are not made clear. The author’s Lutheran allegiance and Luther himself are appealed to (not, to be sure, in an exclusive or partisan fashion), but why this should be particularly appropriate is not explained. Key terms like “kingdom of God” and “eschatology”—and, for that matter, “love”—are deployed but not developed. Baer maintains critical distance from the Christian pacifist tradition, interacting with it and its concerns very little. He does not apply the argument to messy, concrete instances of international conflict (as in Michael Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars, 2006), except for a brief, fascinating reflection on the first Iraq war in Chapter 6. [End Page 77] All of these issues are easily explained by the book’s limited size and scope. In its purpose, laying out a theologically-grounded way to understand the unity and cogency of classical just-war thinking, given certain clear assumptions, this book is informative, insightful, and provocative. Maurice Lee Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Santa Barbara, California Copyright © 2016 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

Legal Certainty and Correctness

AbstractWhat is the relation between legal certainty and correctness? This question poses one of the perpetual problems of the theory and practice of law—and for this reason: The answer turns on the main question in legal philosophy, the question of the concept and the nature of law. Thus, in an initial step, I will briefly look at the concept and the nature of law. In a second step, I will attempt to explain what the concept and the nature of law, thus understood, imply for the relation between legal certainty and correctness. Here three issues will be considered: first, the Radbruch formula as an answer to the problem of extreme injustice; second, the special case thesis, which claims that legal argumentation is a special case of general practical argumentation; and, third, the problem of the judicial development of the law.

English

Increased soybean productivity has great potential for alleviating the perpetual problems of food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and unemployment among the rural households in Kenya. This study analyses the determinants of technical efficiency in smallholder soybean production in a rural farm setting in Bomet District, Kenya. Technical efficiency in this case is the ability of the smallholder farmer to maximize soybean output from a given level of inputs including seed, fertilizer, crop protection chemicals and labour. The primary data used was collected from a field survey using a multistage random sampling design, with the sampling being done at division, location, sub-location and household levels. A structured questionnaire administered in a face to face interview on a proportionate sample of hundred soybean farmers was used. Stochastic Cobb- Douglas frontier model was used to estimate technical efficiency levels while an inefficiency model was used to examine inefficiency variables. Education level, occupation, age and gender affected technical inefficiency. Education level and occupation had negative effects while age and gender had positive effects on inefficiency. Hence, policies targeting promotion of farmer education and farming professionalism would lead to significant increase in the level of technical efficiency in smallholder soybean production. &nbsp; Key words: Determinants, Stochastic Cobb-Douglas frontier model, technical efficiency, small-holder, soybean, Kenya.

Perpetual American Options with Disconnected Exercise Regions in L vy Models

For wide classes of payoff functions and Levy processes, we solve perpetual restricted optimal stopping problems, when one exercise region is exogenously given (barrier like feature), and the other is chosen to optimize the option value, and straddle-like perpetual options, when the optimal exercise region is a union of two disjoint semi-infinite intervals.

Evaluating deceased organ donation: a programme theory approach.

Organ donation and transplantation services represent a microcosm of modern healthcare organisations. They are complex adaptive systems. They face perpetual problems of matching supply and demand. They operate under fierce time and resource constraints. And yet they have received relatively little attention from a systems perspective. The purpose of this paper is to consider some of the fundamental issues in evaluating, improving and policy reform in such complex systems. The paper advocates an approach based on programme theory evaluation. The paper explains how the death to donation to transplantation process depends on the accumulation of series of embedded, institutional sub-processes. Evaluators need to be concerned with this whole system rather than with its discrete parts or sectors. Policy makers may expect disappointment if they seek to improve donation rates by applying nudges or administrative reforms at a single point in the implementation chain. These services represent concentrated, perfect storms of complexity and the paper offers guidance to practitioners with bio-medical backgrounds on how such services might be evaluated and improved. For the methodological audience the paper caters for the burgeoning interest in programme theory evaluation while illustrating the design phase of this research strategy.

English

The issue of revenue allocation remains very volatile and constitutes a major source of political and governmental tension in Nigeria. This paper examines the revenue allocation system in Nigeria vis-a-vis the functional and institutional relevance of local government in national development. The paper strongly advocates for a direct revenue allocation to Nigerian local governments; it also identifies roles/functions capable of playing by local governments in national development; and showcases the operational and tactical roles of local government in enhancing national development. Typology of this research work is basically descriptive. Its research method is qualitative. Data for the study came primarily from secondary sources such as articles, textbooks, lecture notes, journals, newspapers and academic research projects. The contents of numerous data gathered are fittingly analyzed. This paper reveals the following facts: grassroots’ development is a forerunner of national development; basic social services are mostly needed at grassroots level; local governments afford citizens the opportunities for political participation, political socialization and political education; and local governments are capable of solving the perpetual problems of rural-urban migration, rural transformation and development. This paper assertively concludes that direct allocation of funds to local governments will facilitate promotion of grassroots’ democracy, promotion of economic development, good governance, political accountability, agricultural growth and development, transparency, local freedom, accessibility to local needs, responsiveness to local wishes and initiatives, rural transformation and overall national development. Key words: National Development, Nigerian Local Government, social services.

The Pornography of Poverty: Reframing the Discourse of International Aid’s Representations of Starving Children

Canadian perceptions of developing countries are often dominated by images of starvation, despair, and crisis. The result is that people see not solutions to development challenges, but perpetual problems. One cause of these perceptions may be fundraising messages that present distorted portrayals of the developing world. Images of buzzing flies, begging eyes, and bloated bellies flood television screens and print media in an attempt to pull at heartstrings and garner donations. This article examines the problems of representation in development advertising and explores its evolution over a six-year time period using an ideological analysis of select communications materials produced by three child sponsorship organizations. It then proposes framing theory as one possibility for developing more balanced representations and asks whether current advertising practices are more in line with its propositions.

A Review of the Tetrapod Track Record in China, with Special Reference to Type Ichnospecies: Implications for Ichnotaxonomy and Paleobiology

Abstract“Splitting” and “lumping” are perpetual problems in vertebrate, especially dinosaur, ichnotaxonomy. Chinese dinosaur ichnotaxonomy, which began in 1940, provides a series of interesting case studies, highlighting the dual problems of historical and dubious ichnotaxonomy. Chinese Mesozoic tetrapod track types have been placed into 63 ichnospecies (one Triassic, 28 Jurassic, and 34 Cretaceous), exclusive of other, non‐type ichnospecies or ichnotaxa identified from China. Fifty‐two (∼83%) of these 63 tetrapod ichnospecies were placed in monospecific ichnogenera. At the ichnogenus level, we prune—either by recognizing nomina dubia or by synonymy—17 from the list of 53 dinosaurian ichnogenera (a 32% reduction), leaving 36 ichnotaxa that we consider valid. Most of the cuts affect Jurassic theropod ichnotaxa, which are reduced from 23 to only nine because most ichnogenera are subjective junior synonyms of Grallator and Eubrontes. Fewer Chinese Cretaceous ichnotaxa (only six of 21 ichnogenera) are obvious nomina dubia or subjective synonyms, suggesting greater east Asian endemism during this time. Because ichnospecies differences are subtle, we provisionally retain ichnospecies as valid pending detailed comparative analyses of congeneric ichnospecies. This synthesis is long overdue and is necessary to address problems of historical and provincial ichnotaxonomy, which severely hamper comparisons of tetrapod ichnofaunas in space and time.

Double Barrier Options in Regime-Switching Hyper-Exponential Jump-Diffusion Models

We present a fast and accurate algorithm for calculating prices of finite lived double barrier options with arbitrary terminal payoff functions under regime-switching hyper-exponential jump-diffusion models, which generalize Kou's model. Extensive numerical tests demonstrate excellent agreement of our results with those obtained using other methods. The first step of our approach is Carr's randomization, which we prove for barrier options under strong Markov processes of a wide class. The resulting sequence of perpetual option pricing problems is solved using an efficient iteration algorithm and the Wiener-Hopf factorization.

Biodigestão anaeróbia de dejetos de caprinos e ovinos em reator contínuo de PVC flexível

A escassez de fontes energéticas e as altas taxas de mortalidade do rebanho são dois grandes problemas para os agricultores familiares no semiárido brasileiro. De setembro de 2006 a abril de 2007 um reator contínuo com gasômetro em PVC flexível, com 33 m³ de volume, instalado na Estação Experimental da EBDA, Jaguarari, Estado da Bahia, foi monitorado quanto aos parâmetros bioquímicos, microbiológicos e parasitários do afluente e efluente, sendo avaliadas a produção e a composição do biogás, além da utilização do biofertilizante em capim-elefante. Com o manejo adequado, o poder poluente dos dejetos foi reduzido significativamente. Microbiologicamente, a eficiência de remoção de coliformes totais e fecais se manteve acima de 98% enquanto os ovos dos principais endoparasitos foram eliminados com o tratamento. A produção de biogás foi de 0,061 m³ kg-1 de esterco. Basicamente, o biogás apresentou, em sua composição, 58 e 34% de metano e gás carbônico, respectivamente. O biofertilizante (pH 7,5) foi uma boa fonte de nutrientes, sobretudo de nitrogênio (64 g 100L-1, 80% na forma amoniacal) e potássio (214 g 100L-1), aumentando a produção de forragem sem alterações significativas na composição bromatológica, digestibilidade "in vitro" da matéria seca e teor de minerais.