Vouchers for Basic Education in Developing Economies: An Accountability Perspective

Advocates argue that voucher programs can correct the incentiveproblems of education systems in developing economies. An accountabilityperspective, based on a principal-agent framework, was developedto clarify the arguments for and against education vouchers.An assessment of findings on voucher programs in industrialcountries and a review of voucher or quasi-voucher experiencesin Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, and theCzech Republic support the usefulness of the analytic framework.The assessment concludes that the policy relevance of voucherprograms for developing economies remains uncertain. Major voucherinitiatives have been attempted only in countries with a well-developedinstitutional infrastructure. Some studies find favorable benefitsfor at least some population groups, but others find limitedeffects and evidence of increasing social stratification inschools. Whether vouchers lead to better outcomes or greaterstratification appears related to specific contexts, institutionalvariables, and program designs.      

China's Growing Influence in Latin America

This article examines China's growing influence in Venezuela and other parts of Latin America as it seeks to secure a steady supply of cheap oil and new export markets. In recent years, China has offered loans to cash-strapped nations in the region on better terms than those offered by the United States and other multilateral lending institutions. China's growing influence worries the United States and other global observers who fear the spread of anti-democratic and anti-capitalist views. China maintains that its only interest in the region is economic. The current political turmoil in Venezuela offers China the opportunity to assuage these fears by supporting the presidency of Juan Guiado.     

A decision analytic approach for technology portfolio prioritization: aviation safety applications

A decision analytic approach for evaluating new aviation safety products and technologies is developed and demonstrated to consolidate five existing program assessment metrics to develop a unified metric that simultaneously considers the relative importance and contribution of each. This allows for a meaningful and objective evaluation and comparison of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) advanced aeronautical products and technologies. The resulting decision model is referred to as the Composite Program Assessment Score (CPAS). The CPAS includes the five existing metrics; technical development risk, implementation risk, fatal accident rate reduction, safety benefits and cost, and safety risk reduction, which are each defined and quantified by different sources. The CPAS involves the scaling and combination of these individual metrics. In this paper, two alternative combinatorial modeling approaches to calculate the CPAS are presented. The weighted sum model and an additive value theory model are compared and contrasted. The resulting CPAS metrics allow an overall comparison of all 48 of the NASA AvSP products and technologies. Currently CPAS is based on preliminary weight measures from subject matter experts to reflect the relative importance of each metric. Actual case studies of both linear and non‐linear value functions are demonstrated.     

Shocks to food market systems: A network approach

In order to better understand how cross-border price shocks are transmitted to domestic food markets, we augment an error correction model with a network approach and apply it to Tanzania. We show the following. First, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city and port, is not a significant influence. Second, demand shocks emanate primarily from border markets that may serve as conduits for informal trade. Third, market linkages differ considerably across seasons and commodities. Fourth, prices in areas with high production potential are especially sensitive to systemic shocks. More broadly, we show that a network approach in conjunction with time series analysis can enhance our understanding of the origins and channels through which shocks are transmitted to food markets.     

Team Design Thinking,Product Innovativeness,and the Moderating Role of Problem Unfamiliarity

Team design thinking in new product development (NPD) refers to a set of design-oriented principles that can be embedded in the everyday routines of NPD teams. We theorize that team design thinking enables NPD teams to develop more innovative products––products that are useful and novel––by reducing the routine and cognition-based inertia that constrains the team’s innovativeness. Through a study of 247 NPD projects, we investigate the relationships between team design thinking, product utility, and product novelty. Further, we also explore whether the team’s unfamiliarity with product contexts influences these relationships. Findings show that team design thinking is positively associated with useful products in both familiar and unfamiliar contexts, but that team design thinking is associated with product novelty only in familiar contexts. Findings also suggest that team design thinking can be framed as a dynamic capability that addresses routine and cognition-based inertia by expanding the organization’s knowledge resource base, particularly in familiar contexts. A key implication of this research is that team design thinking will influence product utility in a variety of situations, but its influence on product novelty will be evident primarily in familiar contexts.     

Distress financing of out‐of‐pocket health expenditure in India

In the absence of a universal health insurance mechanism, the increasing burden of out‐of‐pocket (OOP) health expenditure has become a growing concern in India. To cope with the cost of illness, people use either their savings and income, or they have to rely upon distress means of finance such as depletion of household assets, borrowings from banks and moneylenders, and contributions from family and friends. This paper analyses the changes that have taken place in the incidence and covariates of distress financing in India by using data from National Sample Survey Organisation for the years 2004 and 2014. Results indicate that during this period the incidence of distress sources as a means to finance OOP health expenditure has hovered around 50%. Further, the results reveal a significant socioeconomic gradient in the incidence of distress financing. Socioeconomic and health‐related covariates significantly impact the likelihood of distress financing as a means to cope with OOP health expenditure. The results indicate the need for government action to formulate a comprehensive plan through an increase in public spending on health care that will improve the quantity and quality of the public health‐care system and enhance the scope of health insurance in India.     

Immunization in Developing Countries: Its Political and Organizational Determinants

The factors that most affect immunization coverage involve the global policy environment and contact with international agencies. Except in very poor countries, democracies have lower coverage rates than autocracies. The quality of a country’s institutions and its level of development are also strongly related to immunization rate coverage and vaccine adoption. There is no evidence that disease outbreaks or polio eradication campaigns affect immunization rates. In the current structure of immunization programs, coverage rates respond more to supply-side than demand effects.     

Exploiting Mobile Technology for Achieving Supply Chain Integration in Indian Retail

For decades supply chain coordination has been subject to research interest, and technology has been seen as an agent that accelerates this process. In developing countries, with far-flung markets and unorganized distribution networks, using technology for improving supply chain performances and accessing information is not an easy task. The research was directed to understand if mobile technology is being used by downstream supply chain partners for information sharing and thus improving supply chain performances. Findings suggest that supply chain integration with suppliers and customers is done through extensive use of mobile networks.