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Key Actors (key + actor)
Selected AbstractsThe Legitimacy of Social Entrepreneurship: Reflexive Isomorphism in a Pre-Paradigmatic FieldENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2010Alex Nicholls Following Kuhn, this article conceptualizes social entrepreneurship as a field of action in a pre-paradigmatic state that currently lacks an established epistemology. Using approaches from neo-institutional theory, this research focuses on the microstructures of legitimation that characterize the development of social entrepreneurship in terms of its key actors, discourses, and emerging narrative logics. This analysis suggests that the dominant discourses of social entrepreneurship represent legitimating material for resource-rich actors in a process of reflexive isomorphism. Returning to Kuhn, the article concludes by delineating a critical role for scholarly research on social entrepreneurship in terms of resolving conflicting discourses within its future paradigmatic development. [source] Conflict and Rationality: Accounting in Northern Ireland's Devolved AssemblyFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2005Mahmoud Ezzamel The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of the rationality of accounting thought and practice as a mediating mechanism in the highly-charged, conflict-ridden situation in Northern Ireland (NI). The paper draws on a variety of data sources, including a series of interviews with key actors. There are some indications of accounting information being used to inform discussion and debate at the new Assembly. However, a number of politicians, from a spectrum of political traditions, do not relate to this new language, and the instability of the process (evidenced by frequent suspensions) discourages learning and engagement. Overall, this suggests that, without greater continuity, there is a limitation on the ability of accounting practices to mediate tensions. [source] Punctuated Equilibrium and Agenda-Setting: Bringing Parties Back in: Policy Change after the Dutroux Crisis in BelgiumGOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2008STEFAAN WALGRAVE The article analyzes how focusing events affect the public and political agenda and translate into policy change. Empirically, the study focuses on the policy changes initiated by paedophile Marc Dutroux's arrest in 1996 in Belgium. Theoretically, the article tests whether Baumgartner and Jones's (1993) U.S. punctuated equilibrium approach applies to a most different system case, Belgium being a consociational democracy and a partitocracy. Their approach turns out to be useful to explain this "critical case": Policy change happens when "policy images" and "policy venues" shift. Yet, the Dutroux case shows also that political parties, as key actors in the Belgian policy process, should be integrated more explicitly in the punctuated equilibrium theory. Finally, the article argues that the quantitative analysis of longitudinal data sets on several agendas should be supplemented with qualitative case study evidence (e.g., interviews with key decision makers) to unravel the complex case of issue attention and policy change. [source] Ideology, Power Orientation and Policy Drag: Explaining the Elite Politics of Britain's Bill of Rights DebateGOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 1 2009David Erdos This article argues that three factors have framed elite political debate and outcomes on a Bill of Rights in Britain , the degree of commitment to an ideology of social liberalism, the executive/non-executive power orientation of key actors and the phenomenon of policy drag. These factors explain not only the overall historical contours of political debate but also (1) Labour's ,aversive' conversion to the Bill of Rights agenda and passage of the Human Rights Act (1998); and (2) the Conservatives' more positive recent attitude to the Bill of Rights agenda. [source] IRC-083864, a novel bis quinone inhibitor of CDC25 phosphatases active against human cancer cellsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 6 2009Marie-Christine Brezak Abstract CDC25 phosphatases are key actors in cyclin-dependent kinases activation whose role is essential at various stages of the cell cycle. CDC25 expression is upregulated in a number of human cancers. CDC25 phosphatases are therefore thought to represent promising novel targets in cancer therapy. Here, we report the identification and the characterization of IRC-083864, an original bis-quinone moiety that is a potent and selective inhibitor of CDC25 phosphatases in the low nanomolar range. IRC-083864 inhibits cell proliferation of a number of cell lines, regardless of their resistance to other drugs. It irreversibly inhibits cell proliferation and cell cycle progression and prevents entry into mitosis. In addition, it inhibits the growth of HCT-116 tumor spheroids with induction of p21 and apoptosis. Finally, IRC-083864 reduced tumor growth in mice with established human prostatic and pancreatic tumor xenografts. This study describes a novel compound, which merits further study as a potential anticancer agent. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Local Governance as Government,Business Cooperation in Western Democracies: Analysing Local and Intergovernmental Effects by Multi-Level ComparisonINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2008CLEMENTE J. NAVARRO YÁÑEZ Abstract The internationalization of economics and politics has forced local governments to develop new context-appropriate strategies; these strategies, characterized by a greater degree of interaction with non-governmental key actors and with the business world in particular, have been termed local or urban governance. This article is intended to illustrate the impact of three factors , local leadership, local political arenas and intergovernmental relationships , on the formation of cooperative networks between local governments and business organizations as one of the basic types of urban governance model. To achieve this, a comparative multi-level analysis presenting the CEO's perpective on such issues was conducted. The results show how local and intergovernmental opportunity costs and leadership are the factors that largely determine the degree of collaboration between local government and business. Résumé L'internationalisation de l'économie et de la politique a forcé les gouvernements locaux àélaborer de nouvelles stratégies en fonction des contextes ; caractérisées par une interaction plus forte avec des acteurs-clés non gouvernementaux et avec le monde de l'entreprise en particulier, ces stratégies ont reçu l'appellation de gouvernance locale ou urbaine. L'impact de trois facteurs , autorité locale, arènes politiques locales et relations intergouvernementales , sur la formation des réseaux de coopération entre gouvernements locaux et entreprises est présenté comme l'un des types essentiels de modèle de gouvernance urbaine. Pour ce faire, une analyse comparative multi-niveaux a été menée sur la vision des directions générales d'entreprises concernant ces questions. Les résultats montrent la manière dont les autorités et les coûts d'opportunité locaux et intergouvernementaux déterminent en grande partie le degré de collaboration entre les gouvernements locaux et le monde des affaires. [source] Land-use and resource conflicts in the Okavango Delta, BotswanaAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2009Michael B. K. Darkoh Abstract This study assesses land-use conflicts in the Okavango wetland ecosystem. A survey of the livelihood activities of a sample of four villages has been carried out and a stakeholder approach used to identify and analyse the key actors involved in resource competition and conflicts in the area. Traditional and emerging stakeholders were identified and found to be in conflict not only with each other but within themselves. Institutional policies on land use in the area are not properly harmonized, and there has been a top-down approach to development planning and implementation of development programmes. As a result, land-use conflicts have escalated in the area. The Okavango Delta Management Plan adopted in 2007 should integrate and harmonize all the land-use policies, and land management in the area. [source] OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF THEIR HEARTS?JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2008REGULATORY AND REGIONAL IMPACTS ON BANK INVESTMENT IN HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES ABSTRACT:,Banks are considered key actors in affordable housing and community development in the United States. Their involvement in such activities may be due partly to their dependence on economic rents generated from development. In the United States, however, banks are encouraged to support such activities by the federal 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). I examine how different factors explain the CRA-qualified investments by banks. Qualified investments are essentially nondebt financial resources provided as an equity investment or grant with a community development purpose. I find that the identity of the regulator (the United States has four banking regulators) has a major impact on the level of qualified investments. Other things equal, a difference in regulators can cause a bank's qualified investments to more than double. Besides suggesting that some regulators may be enforcing a major portion of CRA regulations more vigorously than others, this also suggests that the CRA plays a major role in bank investment in community development. This has policy implications not just in the United States but also in other countries that might consider replicating the CRA. [source] The Limits of External Empowerment: EMU, Technocracy and Reform of the Greek Pension SystemPOLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2001Kevin Featherstone This paper seeks to explain an aborted attempt at reform of the Greek pension system, following a series of previous failures. It applies the framework of rational choice institutionalism in order to examine the strategy and setting of the relevant actors. The pension system had become a huge fiscal burden on the state, threatening Greece's position in the European Union. Moreover, its gross inequalities of provision and bureaucratic inefficiency were symptoms of the embedded clientelism and ,disjointed corporatism' that stood in the way of the government's self-proclaimed ,modernization' programme. In the event, though EMU entry requirements empowered the reform momentum, a combination of the strategic weakness of key actors and the entrenched opposition of sectoral interests dissipated the initiative. The failure suggests the relevance of the wider social setting to reform: in particular, the weakness of the technocratic community and the relative absence of a supportive ,advocacy coalition', beyond the dominance of the ,party state'. Faced with criticism, the political leadership sought to protect their electoral position and postponed pressing decisions. The case study raises important questions about the scope for such reform in Greece and the future stability of the ,Euro-zone'. [source] Constitutional Jurisdiction and the Consolidation of DemocracyPOLITICS & POLICY, Issue 1 2009DIETER NOHLEN This lecture elaborates on the kind of relationship that exists between constitutional jurisdiction and democratic consolidation by applying the comparative method to cover Latin American political,and especially judicial,systems. The argument is that constitutional jurisdiction is influenced by the very same factors that either favor or constrain democratic consolidation and that it exerts no negative influence over democratic consolidation. However, Nohlen identifies patterns of behavior that both judges and politicians are encouraged to adopt that strengthen the judiciary, and with it democratic stability, by fostering among the citizenry a culture of constitutionality. Nohlen also hopes to show that departures from those patterns of behavior even while conditions for democratic consolidation have not been terribly adverse, can be identified in the behavior of key actors in the period preceding and throughout, the populist turn that is now affecting Ecuadorean, Venezuelan, and Bolivian politics. [source] Do markets enhance convergence on international standards?REGULATION & GOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2007The case of financial regulation Abstract Why do countries that did not participate in the establishment of international standards converge on them in the absence of external coercion? The market-based perspective asserts that market forces enhance cross-national convergence on international standards. This paper challenges the market-based perspective, focusing on compliance with the 1988 Basel Capital Accord in South Korea and Taiwan. First, it argues that adoption of the Basel Capital Accord by these countries was mainly driven by their regulatory authorities' concern about the potential risk of foreign market closure to noncompliant banks. Second, it demonstrates that enforcement by the two countries' regulatory authorities was crucial in ensuring compliance. These findings suggest that national regulatory authorities are still key actors in voluntary convergence on international standards. [source] A new politics of engagement: shareholder activism for corporate social responsibilityBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 4 2003Anastasia O'Rourke Shareholder groups are increasingly going beyond the decision to invest, not to invest, or to divest by proposing and voting on company specific corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues at annual shareholder meetings. This activity is joined by an increasingly sophisticated ,strategy of engagement' by both shareholders and companies. In the process, a model of investor capitalism based on ,responsible ownership' is being forged that addresses social and environmental issues previously outside the domain of most shareholders. This paper traces a historical perspective on the growth and spread of shareholder activism, describes the key actors currently involved in this activity, illustrates the CSR issues being raised, explains the process of preparing resolutions and entering into dialogue, assesses some of the results gained so far and lays a conceptual foundation to help analyse the effectiveness of shareholder activism and assess the viability of models of ,shareholder democracy'. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||