Unambiguous Policy Research Articles

Leadership as Critical Success Factor of Total Quality and Human Resource Management in Sports Organizations

This study presents a model inspired by the Burke-Litwin causal model of the organization, suitable to encompass both individual and organizational performance and aligned with the proposal of a structure explicitly adapted for sports organizations from De Knop. The model was tested on senior management in 131 tennis clubs registered in Serbia. Although some scholars are against the implementation of common management in sports organizations, the results show that well-structured total quality and human resource management processes genuinely increase the effectiveness of sports organizations. Our findings show that critical success factors of this approach were complexity-based leadership, clearly defined mission and vision of the organizations, informal communication paired with unambiguous policies and comprehensible procedures, and broader operational responsibilities given to the employees. The levels of legal compliance and reward management systems were the main weaknesses of these sports organizations.

An analysis of interpretation of insurance contracts: common law versus strict contra proferentem

The majority of states recognize insurance policies as contracts of adhesion, in which the applicant must either accept the terms of the policy as written by the insurance company or reject the terms and accept similar terms from another insurance company (Plitt, 2010). As of June 2014, 44 states have adopted special rules interpreting insurance contracts to balance unequal bargaining power.1 One common alternative to traditional contract law is strict contra proferentem, which interprets ambiguous terms against the drafter without reviewing extrinsic or parol evidence. A second alternative, known as the reasonable expectations doctrine, interprets unambiguous policy language using the reasonable person standard. This article provides a discussion of the methods available to courts as it relates to interpreting ambiguous insurance contracts.

Lessons of government centralization and credibility: A qualitative case-study of administrative change in Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve, China (1982–2018)

How to ensure adequate provision of public services in protected area management is a well-known debate. By using the credibility thesis as a theoretical and methodological tool, this paper furnishes a renewed look at how administrative changes affect the provision of public services. For this purpose, a detailed case-study is presented: the Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve in China. The analysis covers a period of 36 years (1982–2018) of administrative change in the protected area. It will be ascertained that the levels of administration for the reserve kept increasing, along with continuous changes in the corresponding government structure. The latter became increasingly centralized, leading to significant stagnation of the government at the “form” level and subsequent failure at the “function” level. Problems culminated in 2013 as large-scale social protests erupted, after which local villagers took matters into their own hands and single-handedly developed a rural development plan, which eventually received approval from the authorities. This detailed study shows that to overcome the deficiencies of a stalled governance system and improve credibility, the specific form of institutions – a centralized or decentralized administration – is of secondary importance as compared to the establishment and implementation of unambiguous policies, along with increased local participation, and transparent distribution of management responsibilities and authority.

A Comprehensive Approach to the Design of a Renewable Energy Microgrid for Rural Ethiopia: The Technical and Social Perspectives

In view of Ethiopia’s significant renewable energy (RE) potential and the dynamic interactions among the components of the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) Nexus, we attempted to incorporate solar and small-scale hydropower into the optimal design of an environmentally friendly microgrid with the primary goal of ensuring the sustainability of irrigation water pumping, while taking advantage of existing infrastructure in various small administrative units (kebele). Any additional generated energy would be made available to the community for other needs, such as lighting and cooking, to support health and food security and improve the general quality of life. The novelty of the study stems from the utilization of in situ social data, retrieved during fieldwork interviews conducted in the kebele of interest, to ascertain the actual needs and habits of the local people. Based on these combined efforts, we were able to formulate a realistic energy demand plan for climatic conditions typical of Sub-Saharan Africa agricultural communities and analyze four different scenarios of the microgrid’s potential functionality and capital cost, given different tolerance levels of scheduled outages. We demonstrated that the RE-based microgrid would be socially and environmentally beneficial and its capital cost sensitive to the incorporation of individual or communal machines and appliances. Ultimately, the social impact investigation revealed the design would be welcomed by the local community, whose members already implement tailor-made solutions to support their agricultural activities. Finally, we argue that extended educational programs and unambiguous policies should be in place before any implementation to ensure the venture’s sustainability and functionality.

How much uncertainty does the choice of data transforming method brings to heat risk mapping? Evidence from China

Increasing extreme heat events have threatened human health seriously in the context of global climate change. As an important policy tool to resist heat-related risks, growing attentions have been paid on heat risk mapping researches in recent years. Unfortunately, the uncertainties caused by the subjective choice of data transforming method remain unclear. This study compared four data transforming methods and investigated the impacts of data transforming method selection on the outputs of heat risk assessment and mapping. The results indicated that the choice of data transforming methods will greatly affect the stability of heat risk mapping outputs and is likely to mislead decision makers. Only 4.56% of the counties that their heat risk levels derived from four data transforming methods remain consistent. The stability of heat risk mapping output was highly relevant to the population density. Regions with higher population density usually have lower stability for its mapping results. The "Number" method and the "Total PD" method are recommended for their satisfactory validation accuracy and unambiguous policy orientation; while the "Proportion" method is not recommended for its poor validation accuracy and vague policy guiding.

Contextual Integrity and its Discontents: A Critique of Helen Nissenbaum's Normative Arguments

Helen Nissenbaum's doctrine of contextual integrity has won extraordinary attention as a standard for acceptability in the flow of personal information. It promises to distinguish between forms of disclosure that are ethically justified and others, based on the social relationships and purposes of the settings in which they occur. The attraction of any analytical system that could accomplish such results is obvious, but this article holds that Nissenbaum's claims are not fulfilled. Notions that norms underlying any given domain of human conduct are unambiguous or uncontested simply do not withstand close examination. Indeed, most social norms, particularly in rapidly changing domains of human conduct like privacy practices, are volatile and highly contested. Many different interpretations of the “correct” norms are possible for any given context, and thinkers are always inclined to embrace those interpretations that most closely fit their pre‐existing mind‐sets and value positions. This flexibility has helped make the doctrine enormously attractive to policymakers seeking to defuse conflicts between proponents of new uses of personal information and privacy advocates. But it has hardly yielded unambiguous policy prescriptions that all parties could agree on.

What Can Nepal Learn from Her South Asian Neighbors, Ireland and UK for Sustained Economic Growth? A Policy Commentary

While national development indicators of Nepal seem to be in a positive direction both over time and compared to its neighboring economies, Nepalese policymakers need to work on the predictability of regulatory stances and work seriously on institutional development. The competitive environment facing Nepal in light of the performances of her neighboring countries in the global economy presents both threats and opportunities for Nepal. Nepal has much to learn from Ireland and the United Kingdom in developing institutions that drive economic growth. Further, recent episodes of capital flight from London to Dublin and Ireland’s strong substitutability with the post-Brexit UK as an investment destination should be eye-opening to a nation like Nepal competing, with her neighboring economies, to work towards establishing more unambiguous policies and political stability.

The development of public transport in Poland in 2009-2015

This article summarizes the changes in Polish urban transport in 2009-2015 in the sphere of products and impact. It was a period of intensive replacement and development investments, many of which were significantly supported by European Union funds. This enabled the improvement of the quality of transport services in many cities and enabled the implementation of many groundbreaking projects. Numerous investments, supported by increasing expenditures on public transport and the development of the transport offer, have made it possible to stop the decline or slightly increase the transport in urban transport in the largest cities. In other centers, however, a downward trend in transport is noticeable, resulting both from investment negligence and the lack of unambiguous and comprehensive policies aimed at the effective implementation of sustainable urban transport.

Jonathan Wight's Ethics in economics: an introduction to moral frameworks. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2015, 275 pp.

Review of Jonathan Wight's Ethics in economics: an introduction to frameworks. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2015, 275 pp.For many years now those of us looking for a text to use in courses on ethics and economics and have had to rely primarily on Hausman and McPherson's Economic analysis, philosophy, and public policy (2006). In my experience that largely comprehensive work has proven to be a far better guide for the instructor than for students who are new to the study of and political philosophy, or to the practice of normative engagement. Working with upper level undergraduate and graduate students in a school of international studies-where students are typically more widely trained than in economics departments-I've found the book too choppy in its presentation (too detailed in some respects and too rushed in others, which interferes with its narrative flow) and ultimately discouraging for students trying to wrap their minds around the central concepts of philosophy. Though there are sections of the book that are superb-its extended treatment of the infamous Larry Summers World Bank memo that advocates dumping pollution in poor countries is analytically and pedagogically first rate- the book now serves me primarily as a useful reference in my own research and teaching. It is no longer featured on my syllabi.In part for this reason I was eager to read Jonathan Wight's Ethics in economics, to see whether it might provide a viable alternative for introducing students to the field. In fact, it does. But the book is more than the introductory text that it purports to be. The book has deepened my own reckoning with normative and economic theory, human behavior, and policy adjudication. For the sake of the many students who have passed through my courses over the years, I only wish the book had appeared a decade or two earlier.Ethics in economics covers familiar ground (before introducing innovative ideas), but in ways that are both wonderfully accessible and directly relevant to economics. For instance, the three chapters in Part I demonstrate why ethics matters in economics, and why even positive economics is value laden. This is something many economists are reluctant to concede, even following the persuasive work by Amartya Sen (1987) and others. Here Wight explores consequentialist, deontological, and virtue-based frameworks. The presentation is analytically sharp but also intuitive. Within the first dozen pages Wight has already introduced a concrete case that is both engaging and instructive-the infamous decision in the 1970s by GM not to repair a known problem with the gas tank placement on the Chevy Malibu that could and did cause explosions in certain crash situations that led to serious injuries and death. Wight exploits the case to convey the principal features of alternative theories and to tease out the distinctions between them. Having presented the frameworks, many normative theorists-and especially economists-would rush toward a forced normative choice of one framework over others as the uniquely appropriate lens by which to judge behavior, and economic policies and outcomes.1 In economics, after all, we tend toward what philosopher Howard Radest (1997) calls moral geometry-the reduction of baffling ethical problems via a neat, analytically tractable machinery that yields unambiguous policy directives. Hence our profession's deep attachment to Pareto, Kaldor-Hicks, cost-benefit analysis, or social welfare functions. Given his previous work on Adam Smith, one might have expected Wight to reject consequentialist and deontological ethics in toto in favor of virtue ethics as the singly appropriate and defensible framework to guide agents' decision-making and ground normative economics.Wight does not take that route, however.2 Instead, a central objective (and certainly the most novel feature) of the book is to argue that any mono-theoretic approach is just as stunted and harmful in normative theory as it is in positive theory. …

The 2011 Indignés/Occupy Movements in France and Ireland: An Analysis of the Causes of Weak Mobilisations

In 2011 Occupy movements were set up in France and in Ireland but aside from some initial displays of mobilisation, the movements enjoyed very limited success. Some commentators wondered why there was such a difference between the level of protest in these countries compared to what was taking place in others such as Greece and Spain. The authors argue that the reasons for the weak level of mobilisation in France and in Ireland are related to the cumulative effects of external and internal factors. In terms of external factors, the movements received very weak political support in both countries. In addition, the contrasting effect of the economic crisis and especially the fact that a significant proportion of the better-educated French youth were less unemployed or socially excluded than in most other European countries—notably Ireland—help to account for the movement's weakness, in France at least. Internal factors also played a key role. In France as in Ireland, the movements were profoundly varied and sociologically divided. Activists were unable to agree on clear and unambiguous policies and guidelines and they defended with vigour autonomous modes of action that quickly isolated them. In the end, the accumulation of these handicaps did not allow the mobilisations to develop.

The common oceanographer: crowdsourcing the collection of oceanographic data.

We live on a vast, underexplored planet that is largely ocean. Despite modern technology, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation, and advanced engineering of ocean vessels, the ocean is unforgiving, especially in rough weather. Coastal ocean navigation, with risks of running aground and inconsistent weather and sea patterns, can also be challenging and hazardous. In 2012, more than 100 international incidents of ships sinking, foundering, grounding, or being lost at sea were reported (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_2012). Even a modern jetliner can disappear in the ocean with little or no trace [1], and the current costs and uncertainty associated with search and rescue make the prospects of finding an object in the middle of the ocean daunting [2]. Notwithstanding satellite constellations, autonomous vehicles, and more than 300 research vessels worldwide (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_research_vessels_by_country), we lack fundamental data relating to our oceans. These missing data hamper our ability to make basic predictions about ocean weather, narrow the trajectories of floating objects, or estimate the impact of ocean acidification and other physical, biological, and chemical characteristics of the world's oceans. To cope with this problem, scientists make probabilistic inferences by synthesizing models with incomplete data. Probabilistic modeling works well for certain questions of interest to the scientific community, but it is difficult to extract unambiguous policy recommendations from this approach. The models can answer important questions about trends and tendencies among large numbers of events but often cannot offer much insight into specific events. For example, probabilistic models can tell us with some precision the extent to which storm activity will be intensified by global climate change but cannot yet attribute the severity of a particular storm to climate change. Probabilistic modeling can provide important insights into the global traffic patterns of floating debris but is not of much help to search-and-rescue personnel struggling to learn the likely trajectory of a particular piece of debris left by a wreck. Oceanographic data are incomplete because it is financially and logistically impractical to sample everywhere. Scientists typically sample over time, floating with the currents and observing their temporal evolution (the Langrangian approach), or they sample across space to cover a gradient of conditions—such as temperature or nutrients (the Eulerian approach). These observational paradigms have various strengths and weaknesses, but their fundamental weakness is cost. A modern ocean research vessel typically costs more than US$30,000 per day to operate—excluding the full cost of scientists, engineers, and the cost of the research itself. Even an aggressive expansion of oceanographic research budgets would not do much to improve the precision of our probabilistic models, let alone to quickly and more accurately locate missing objects in the huge, moving, three-dimensional seascape. Emerging autonomous technologies such as underwater gliders and in situ biological samplers (e.g., environmental sample processors) help fill gaps but are cost prohibitive to scale up. Similarly, drifters (e.g., the highly successful Argo floats program) have proven very useful for better defining currents, but unless retrieved after their operational lifetime, they become floating trash, adding to a growing problem. Long-term sampling efforts such as the continuous plankton recorder in the North Sea and North Atlantic [3] provide valuable data on decadal trends and leveraged English Channel ferries to accomplish much of the sampling. Modernizing and expanding this approach is a goal of citizen science initiatives. How do we leverage cost-effective technologies and economies of scale given shrinking federal research budgets?

Projects and the community—coexistence in practice

Strong domestic and global demand for energy will continue to drive further gas exploration and development across Australia over coming years. From Queensland’s onshore gas industry experience the key foundation stones that have helped to build community trust have included: clear and unambiguous industry policy for resources and agriculture; science based approach to managing and monitoring groundwater; fair and balanced approach to land access; greater transparency on industry data and activities; investment in long term community infrastructure such as roads and telecommunications; and genuine opportunities for local businesses to grow and succeed. Queensland has this year also introduced a new regional planning framework that seeks to control what is appropriate development in areas of agricultural and environmental significance. The new approach gives landholders and communities a greater say upfront on how onshore gas and resource developments can occur. As other East Coast States grapple to establish their own onshore gas industry, there is still much more to be done in Queensland as the major CSG-LNG export projects move from construction to operation and ongoing gas well development programs are rolled out into new areas and communities. In addition, exploration by the emerging shale gas industry is bringing similar community engagement challenges to other parts of the Queensland. Formally established as an independent statutory body less than 12 months ago, the GasFields Commission Queensland seeks to manage and oversee the relationship between landholders, regional communities and the onshore gas industry in Queensland. It has and will continue to play an important role in helping identify and address community expectations about how the onshore gas industry develops and evolves.

Caring for young adults on a paediatric ward

The need for adolescents and young adults (AYA) to have suitable age-specific inpatient facilities has been recognised for many years, yet has received relatively little attention. This article reports the successful introduction of an inpatient facility for AYA, aged 17-24 years, on a general paediatric ward in a small district general hospital. From December 2010, a young person's unit (YPU) consisting of an 8-bed area was opened within a 24-bed children's ward. Nursing care was provided by the ward staff, all of whom had been trained in the care of young adults. Policies regarding admission criteria, safeguarding, patient choice, visiting and 'house rules' were drafted, implemented and modified as necessary. Discussions with the adult clinicians (for medical care) and site managers were held to ensure smooth running of the system, and to address any concerns or difficulties. Paediatric patients had priority of admission at times of bed crisis. During 2012, there were a total of 2351 inpatient admissions to the paediatric ward, of whom 379 (16%) were YPU patients aged from 17-24 years. Median length of stay was 2 days for patients aged 17-24 years as compared with 1 day for patients aged less than or equal to 16 years. Patients who chose admission to the paediatric ward tended to be younger, in transition from paediatric to adult services for chronic conditions, or with special needs. Patient surveys showed a high level of satisfaction with the facility. Young adults can be cared for safely and effectively on a paediatric ward with minimal additional costs. The essential ingredients for success include discussion with affected parties to address specific concerns, and the establishment of a clear, simple and unambiguous admission policy.

A Turning Point for the Service Sector in Thailand

Although Thailand’s service sector accounts for almost half of the national income and has a major stake in national employment, its contribution to the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) fluctuates. Moreover, the share of the service sector in GDP is decreasing while many developed countries maintain a positive association between the shares of the sector in output and per capita income. This paper investigates this relationship by examining the gross provincial product of 76 provinces to test the hypothesis that the service sector is a growth engine in the Thai economy. Using the fixed-effects model, the estimates confirm two waves of growth. Total factor productivity and revealed comparative advantages are discussed to determine significant service activities. Wholesale and retail trade, tourism and travel-related activities, transportation, and construction all play major roles in contributing to Thailand’s economic growth. The government should continue to promote these services with unambiguous policies suitable for each region and province. Educational services also require more attention from pertinent agencies.

Patients' and professionals' barriers and facilitators to external cephalic version for breech presentation at term, a qualitative analysis in the Netherlands

Objectiveexternal cephalic version (ECV) is a relatively simple and safe manoeuvre and a proven effective approach in the reduction of breech presentation at term. There is professional consensus that ECV should be offered to all women with a fetus in breech presentation, but only up to 70% of women eligible for ECV undergo an ECV attempt. The aim of the study was to identify barriers and facilitators for ECV among professionals and women with a breech presentation at term. Designqualitative study with semi-structured interviews. SettingDutch hospitals. Participantspregnant women with a breech presentation who had decided on ECV, and midwives and gynaecologists treating women with a breech presentation. Measurementson the basis of national guidelines and expert opinions, we developed topic lists to guide the interviews and discuss barriers and facilitators in order to decide on ECV (pregnant women) or advice on ECV (midwives and gynaecologists). Findingsamong pregnant women the main barriers were fear, the preference to have a planned caesarean section (CS), incomplete information and having witnessed birth complications within the family or among friends. The main facilitators were the wish for a home birth, the wish for a vaginal delivery and confidence of the safety of ECV. Among professionals the main barriers were a lack of knowledge to fully inform and counsel patients on ECV, and the inability to counsel women who preferred a primary CS. The main facilitator was an unambiguous policy on (counselling for) ECV within the region. Conclusionwe identified several barriers and facilitators possibly explaining the suboptimal implementation of ECV for breech presentation in the Netherlands.This knowledge should be taken into account in designing implementation strategies for ECV to improve the uptake of ECV by professionals and patients.

Zur Rolle der Ökonometrie in der wissenschaftlichen Politikberatung

AbstractBecause economic theory alone does in many situations not provide unambiguous policy advice, most of the time empirical analyses are needed in addition. Thus, today econometric analyses are often parts of reports for political institutions or courts. However, it is not unusual that reports with contradicting evidence are presented by different groups or parties. Using the relation between government size and economic growth as an example, it is shown how such contradicting results are possible even if all scientists involved behave sincerely and adhere to the rules of scientific research. Our second example, studies investigating whether the death penalty serves as a deterrent to homicide, shows that the results of empirical analyses might to a large extent depend on a priori convictions of the scientists. Thus, the process of scientific policy advice has to be organised in a way so that - similar to the genuinely scientific discourse - open discussion and criticisms of methods and results are possible. In order to disclose possible conflicts of interests, this demand transparency of the whole process and, in particular for empirical analyses, that data and programmes are made available for re-estimations.

Export Cartels: Is it Legal to Target your Neighbour? Analysis in Light of Recent Case Law

Despite the growing sophistication of antitrust regimes around the world, export cartels benefit from special treatment: they are almost universally tolerated, if not encouraged in the countries of origin. Economists do not offer an unambiguous policy recommendation on how to deal with them in part due to the lack of empirical data. This article discusses arguments for and against export cartels and it identifies the existing gaps in the present regulatory framework. The theoretical part is followed by an analysis of the recent case law: a US cartel challenged with different outcomes in India and South Africa, as well as Chinese export cartels pursued in the USA. The Chinese cases are particularly topical as the conduct at stake, apart from being subject to private antitrust actions before US courts, was also challenged within the WTO dispute settlement framework, pointing out to the existing interface between trade and competition. While the recent developments prove that unaddressed issues tend not to vanish, the new South--North dimension has the potential of placing export cartels again on the international agenda. Pragmatic thinking suggests looking for the solution within the WTO framework. Oxford University Press 2012, all rights reserved, Oxford University Press.

Live scanning at ultrasound scientific conferences and the need for prudent policy.

The practice of using live models to demonstrate ultrasonographic imaging equipment at scientific meetings has gained popularity in recent years. However, different medical conferences organisers take different positions, possibly due to differences in interpretation of the safety issue and their definition of medically relevant use of diagnostic ultrasound (US). Some offer little, or no, restriction and other US societies have produced policy that is subject to various interpretations. For example, some justify the practice of scanning live models on the basis of an assumed "educational" benefit, but this is virtually impossible to measure in an objective sense. One issue that seems to have largely universal agreement is that nonmedical use of diagnostic US should be discouraged. The AIUM has published a statement that this is "contrary to responsible medical practice." However, the definition of "nonmedical" application is somewhat less certain. The scanning of live models to display equipment on exhibit areas may be considered "nonmedical." In fact, the BMUS has published guidelines with quite restrictive output limits to be applied for various "nondiagnostic" purposes. Although this safety issue remains debatable, the ASUM maintains a conservative unambiguous policy that prohibits scanning of live models in the exhibition area at scientific meetings. Issues such as biosafety, ethics and medicolegal implications require careful consideration by US organizations and professional conference organisers.

Successes and failures in the transformation of economics

While acknowledging the successes of modern economics, this paper concentrates on some shortcomings. Many are traced to a single source: the great insights of economics are all qualitative. Economics does not have a theoretical structure that is tightly related to a rich body of data and those seeking to contribute to its ideas operate on widely divergent levels of theoretical and empirical sophistication with little communication between those who operate at different levels. One consequence is that anomalies are tolerated on a scale that would be scandalous in any natural science. Another is that theories tend to be developed in unconstrained ways that are empirically relevant only by accident. Elegant error is often preferred to messy truth. Theoretical tractability is often preferred to empirical relevance. Economists often prefer theories that produce unambiguous policy results over theories that do not, irrespective of their relative evidential bases.

A policy scenario analysis of sustainable agricultural development options: a case study for Nepal

This paper aims to present an operational decision support framework for sustainable agricultural development at the local or regional level. Sustainability targets are introduced by using critical threshold values for various policy- relevant variables. A so-called flag model is introduced to identify and evaluate feasible and/ or desirable policy scenarios. The approach is illustrated by means of a case study on the Bagmati region in Nepal. Based on extensive field information, three policy scenarios are identified and described. Consideration of these scenarios leads to the conclusion that a conclusive and unambiguous policy strategy for future sustainable development of the area is hard to achieve because of the mutually conflicting nature of the sustainability constituents in the region considered.