scholarly journals Insurgency and Small Wars: Estimation of Unobserved Coalition Structures

Econometrica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Trebbi ◽  
Eric Weese
Keyword(s):  
Humanitarian Intervention ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Internal Organization ◽  
Small Wars ◽  
Coalition Structures ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Global Terrorism ◽  
Shed Light

Insurgency and guerrilla warfare impose enormous socio‐economic costs and often persist for decades. The opacity of such forms of conflict is an obstacle to effective international humanitarian intervention and development programs. To shed light on the internal organization of otherwise unknown insurgent groups, this paper proposes two methodologies for the detection of unobserved coalitions of militants in conflict areas. These approaches are based on daily geocoded incident‐level data on insurgent attacks. We provide applications to the Afghan conflict during the 2004–2009 period and to Pakistan during the 2008–2011 period, identifying systematically different coalition structures. Applications to global terrorism data and identification of new groups or shifting coalitions are discussed.

scholarly journals Beyond cultural and geographical proximity: delving into the factors that influence the dynamics of academic relationships between students in higher education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
José-Vicente Tomás-Miquel ◽  
Jordi Capó-Vicedo
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Academic Networks ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Specific Stage ◽  
The University ◽  
Proximity Dimensions ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractScholars have widely recognised the importance of academic relationships between students at the university. While much of the past research has focused on studying their influence on different aspects such as the students’ academic performance or their emotional stability, less is known about their dynamics and the factors that influence the formation and dissolution of linkages between university students in academic networks. In this paper, we try to shed light on this issue by exploring through stochastic actor-oriented models and student-level data the influence that a set of proximity factors may have on formation of these relationships over the entire period in which students are enrolled at the university. Our findings confirm that the establishment of academic relationships is derived, in part, from a wide range of proximity dimensions of a social, personal, geographical, cultural and academic nature. Furthermore, and unlike previous studies, this research also empirically confirms that the specific stage in which the student is at the university determines the influence of these proximity factors on the dynamics of academic relationships. In this regard, beyond cultural and geographic proximities that only influence the first years at the university, students shape their relationships as they progress in their studies from similarities in more strategic aspects such as academic and personal closeness. These results may have significant implications for both academic research and university policies.

From Small Wars to Guerrilla Warfare: Imperial School of British Military Thought During the Interbellum

2021 ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Stanislav Malkin
Keyword(s):  
British Empire ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
Internal Security ◽  
Guerilla Warfare ◽  
Small Wars ◽  
British Military ◽  
The Face ◽  
Colonial Order ◽  
The Military

The Interbellum era was marked by the competition of various interpretations of guerrilla warfare and small wars, which were a practical expression of rebel activity in the colonies and on the outskirts of the British Empire. Discussions in that regard reflected both theoretical and doctrinal contradictions and the bureaucratic rivalry between the departments responsible for its internal security and the confrontation between the military and civilian authorities over the boundaries of their responsibility to preserve colonial order. The evolution of the meaning of the concept of “guerilla warfare” within the British military thought in the first half of the 20th century is demonstrated by highlighting the stages of the process, historical reconstruction of the levels of discussion of this topic in a professional environment, and identifying the degree of mutual influence of its basic provisions in the face of budgetary constraints and new challenges to colonial rule after the First World War. This approach allowed to specify ideas about the place and role of the army in the functioning of the internal security system of the British Empire at the final stage of its existence. The analysis of the semantics and content of the “guerilla warfare” concept between two world wars makes it possible to apply a new approach to the issue of disagreements between the military and civilian authorities over the choice of the military and political course in the conflicts of this kind. Thus, the identified differences may be viewed as a result not of the bureaucratic differences only, but as the absence of the unified understanding of the “modern rebellion” problem among the military as itself.

Organizational Form and Trade Liberalization: Plant-Level Evidence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John (Jianqiu) Bai
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Core Competency ◽  
Extensive Margin ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Trade Shocks ◽  
Internal Organization ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Plant Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Aggregate Industry

This paper studies how firms’ internal organization shapes the impact of international trade. Using establishment-level data from the U.S. Census and a difference-in-difference specification, I find that, relative to standalone firms, conglomerates are more likely to restructure after trade liberalization episodes, focusing on their core competency and improving firm productivity and product market performance. Adjustments through the extensive margin account for the majority of the productivity growth differential between conglomerates and standalones experiencing trade shocks. Aggregate industry productivity remains relatively unchanged in industries dominated by conglomerates’ core business but decreases significantly in others. My findings suggest that firms’ internal organization has important consequences on the effects of trade policies. This paper was accepted by Gustavo Manso, finance.

Measuring the Public Costs and Benefits of Brownfield versus Greenfield Development in the Greater Toronto Area

10.1068/b1283 ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A De Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Brownfield Redevelopment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Greater Toronto Area ◽  
Development Scenarios ◽  
Public Costs ◽  
Shed Light

This paper summarizes the findings of a study comparing the environmental, social, and economic costs and benefits accruing to the public from redeveloping brownfields versus developing greenfields for both industrial and residential uses. With data taken from relevant projects in Toronto, Canada, four prototypical development scenarios were constructed for the purpose of a cost — benefit comparison. A quantitative model was then used to calculate the various public costs and benefits associated with the different scenarios. The findings shed light on the true costs and benefits involved in development and redevelopment projects, helping policymakers better assess the feasibility of brownfield redevelopment vis-à-vis greenfield development.

scholarly journals Lockdown 101: Managing economic lockdowns in an epidemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 4-21
Author(s):  
Emanuel Ornelas
Keyword(s):  
Health Benefits ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Over Time

Countries worldwide have implemented lockdown measures to contain the covid-19 pandemic. After more than three months of restrictions to economic activities in many countries, the question has turned to the best ways to lift lockdowns while keeping the epidemic in check. Here I use basic economic principles to shed light on the key tradeoffs. A central message is that there is no “health vs. economics” dichotomy. Rather, some degree of lockdown is typically optimal in crisis like this, balancing its economic costs against its health benefits. Moreover, the optimal lockdown is dynamic, changes over time and eventually becomes more lenient, although the path is not necessarily monotonic.

scholarly journals Factors leading to the adoption of a learning technology: The case of graphics calculators

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Handal ◽  
Michael Cavanagh ◽  
Leigh Wood ◽  
Peter Petocz
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Faculty Support ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Graphics Calculators ◽  
Shed Light

<span>This paper reports on a case study which examined factors leading to the adoption of graphics calculators (GCs) by secondary mathematics teachers in the state of New South Wales, Australia. In total, 587 teachers of the General Mathematics Course (Years 11 and 12) participated in the study. The median teachers' stage of adoption of GCs was found to be at the "Understanding and application of the process" level, the third lowest on a six point scale. The results also indicate that competence is the most important factor in explaining stages of adoption, training the second most important, followed by personal interest in GCs as well as faculty support. Teachers' gender, teaching experience, educational qualifications and the number of GCs in schools were not found to be statistically significant. Qualitative analysis of teachers' open ended comments also shed light on the nature of the explanatory variables. The findings are relevant to curriculum development policy and the design of professional development programs, and has implications for the introduction of other technologies.</span>

scholarly journals One-On-One Technology Mentoring for In-Service Teachers: The Experiences of Future ICT Coordinators

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 847-869
Author(s):  
Ercan Top ◽  
Melih Derya Gurer ◽  
Derya Baser ◽  
Sedat Akayoglu ◽  
Recai Akkus
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Technology Integration ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Ict Integration ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Technology Mentoring ◽  
Professional Development Programs ◽  
Shed Light

With the increasing demands of technology integration by the institutions, educators felt the need to develop themselves professionally. In this study, as a way of professional development, we focused on one-on-one technology mentoring for in-service teachers because the experiences of mentors would shed light on professional development programs in the context of both mentors’ progress and mentoring in-service teachers. Mentors for teachers were assigned to facilitate teachers’ ICT usage and ICT integration skills. The mentorship implementation lasted two semesters with 42 mentors’ participation. The determination of the content of the mentoring process was completely based on the needs and interests of the teachers. After the implementation, the perceptions and experiences of the mentors were asked and coded through content analysis. According to the analysis, the responses of the mentors were grouped into five main categories; (a) affordances of the technology mentoring process, (b) the contribution of the project to the teachers, (c) the contribution of the project to the mentors, (d) the challenges experienced by the mentors, and (e) the weaknesses of and the suggestions for the mentoring process. The findings of this study indicated that future ICT coordinators believed that one-on-one technology mentoring in real school settings is an effective way not only for training in-service teachers but also for creating awareness of being an ICT coordinator and developing ICT mentoring skills.

The Politics of Choice Reconsidered: Partisanship, Ideology, and Minority Politics in Washington’s Charter School Initiative

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-92
Author(s):  
Loren Collingwood ◽  
Ashley Jochim ◽  
Kassra A. R. Oskooii
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Charter School ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
Ballot Initiatives ◽  
Minority Politics ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Shed Light

Charter schools enjoy support among Republican and Democratic lawmakers in states and Congress, but little research has examined their support among the electorate. We take advantage of Washington’s 2012 charter school ballot initiative—the first voter-approved charter initiative in the United States—to shed light on the politics of school choice at the mass level. Because in-depth, individual-level voter data are often unavailable in state-level elections, we leverage extensive precinct- and district-level data to examine patterns of support and opposition toward the charter school initiative, focusing on how partisanship, ideology, and demographic factors serve to unify or divide voters. Our analysis reveals that the coalition of supporters cut across usual partisan and demographic cleavages, producing somewhat strange bedfellows. This finding has important implications for the strategies advocacy groups may consider as they seek to expand or limit school choice programs via ballot initiatives as opposed to the statehouse, and provides suggestive evidence regarding the evolving shapers of voter support for school choice and ballot initiatives more generally.

For and Against: Analysing the Determinants of Humanitarian Intervention. Libya (2011) and Syria (2011–2013) Compared

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-49
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Domagała
Keyword(s):  
Humanitarian Intervention ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Mass Killings ◽  
Taking Action ◽  
Prospect Of Success ◽  
Practical Question ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractWhile the normative and legal aspects of humanitarian intervention have been explored in great detail, scholars have usually overlooked the more practical question of when military humanitarian action can be undertaken. To shed light on this question, the first section of the article investigates the conditions and circumstances that should be taken into consideration by the potential interveners. The conditions and circumstances are mostly external in nature which means that the interveners capabilities are important but not a fundamental issue. One of the crucial conditions, often neglected, seems to be clear political situation in the state that is the object of intervention. Preventing or stopping mass killings as a desired outcome is dependent on generating political will that is interlocked with the prospect of success. In the next section, itemised conditions and circumstances are examined in the context of a revolution in Libya in 2011 and of the early years (2011–2013) of the civil war in Syria. It appears that, in the case of Libya, the internal and international situation was definitely to the interveners’ favour. By contrast, the risk of failure in Syria was perceived as very high. A humanitarian intervention in Syria for Western powers could have led to sticking in the quagmire and would have in fact served the interests of local players. The conclusion is if certain conditions and circumstances are absent, the interveners refrain from taking action. Subsequently, humanitarian intervention is more likely to take place when the potential interveners see a higher chance of achieving their operational and political goals by using military force.

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