bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
All Eggs in One Basket: A Critical Reflection on Malawi's Development Strategies
Authors: Dropplemann Klaus , Makuwira Jonathan , Kumwenda Ian 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This paper analyzes structural transformation in Malawi, a poor landlocked country with very high dependence on agriculture. For many decades, Malawi's development strategies were dominated by the development of the estate sector. In more recent years the focus has rightly shifted to facilitate productivity growth for the dominant smallholder population. Yet despite positive developments on that front, the economy remains precariously dependent on the predominantly rainfed production of just two major crops (maize and tobacco). Urban areas, including small rural towns, remain small and underdeveloped, and transport costs are extremely high. This suggests an urgent need for policymakers to plan for greater economic diversification, including the development of higher value agricultural commodities and agro-processing.
Institutions and Leakage of Public Funds in the Cameroonian Healthcare Delivery Chain
Authors: Njong Aloysius Mom , Ngantcha Joelle Tonda 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThis study attempts to examine the extent of leakage in the Cameroonian health sector and identify its sources. The analyses in the study are based on the Public Expenditure Tracking Survey data collected in Cameroon in 2004. The findings reveal that 18.8% of the actual budget allocations of decentralized health services in the Ministry of Public Health do not reach them. Health centers, which are the frontline healthcare providers, receive only 26.4% of their actual budgets contained in the recurrent expenditures of the decentralized health services. We investigate the institutional factors that correlate with the leakage rates and identified the factors that affect the likelihood of health centers receiving public funds. The study finds weak compact and voice institutional links in the Cameroonian health accountability system. The need to effectively control and monitor public funds, improve the information flow mechanism and improve the wage/allowance scale is highlighted. Finally, spending rules should be strictly respected and extra-budgetary spending restricted.
Institutions and Hospital Efficiency in Cameroon: A Data Envelopment Analysis
Authors: Zamo-Akono Christian , Ndjokou Mondjeli M. , Song-Ntamack Simon 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
One of the objectives of the Cameroon Health Sector Strategy is to improve the efficient use of resources in the health sector. To accomplish this goal, the government implemented a series of reforms to improve accountability among the different stakeholders of the health sector. This paper employs data from 54 peripheral public health centre (PHC) from the Cameroon 2004 PETS to examine the extent to which the observed performances of the health sector are related to the institutional reforms. We find that the average technical efficiency score is around 0.7098 and that urban PHC perform better than rural ones. We also find that compact failures have a deterrent effect on the technical efficiency of these PHC and that client-power is an effective way of overcoming these government failures. As competition between public and private healthcare facilities has a negative effect on PHC performances, this study calls for institutional mechanisms that will reduce sorting, promote equal access to quality healthcare services between rich and poor people, and advocates for the participation of the local population in the management of PHC.
Effect of Institutional Factors on the Quality of Ghana's Healthcare Delivery
Authors: Amporfu Eugenia , Nonvignon Justice , Ampadu Scholastica 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Quality of care refers to all aspects of treatment that are beneficial to the patient. Process quality is used to mean beneficial aspects that arise during the process of providing healthcare, including the action of health professionals, waiting period, and the clarity of communication. This study uses the principal-agent framework to examine the effect of institutional factors on the quality indicators above in the public health facilities of Ghana. The study utilizes new survey data from malaria outpatients, health workers and administrators from sixty two health facilities in three regions across the country. Ordered logistic regressions and duration estimation were used. The results show that job satisfaction and involvement of health workers in decision making are important for the improvement of process quality. Job satisfaction had a positive effect on all process quality indicators while the involvement of health workers in decision making also had a positive effect on attitude of health workers. Cordial relationship between administration and health workers might have a negative effect on attitude of health workers and waiting period.
Decentralization, Local Government Capacity and Efficiency of Health Service Delivery in Uganda
Authors: Nannyonjo Justine , Okot Nicholas 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe study investigates the impact of decentralization and local government capacity on efficiency of health service delivery in Uganda applying qualitative analysis, and two stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) on quantitative data covering a sample of 44 districts over the period 2008/09 and 2009/10. The results show that health institutions in about 31 districts out of 44 were technically efficient, while those in about 13 districts were technically inefficient under variable returns to scale (VRS), implying that health resources were not efficiently used in these institutions. Health institutions in 56.8 percent and 45.5 percent of the districts were operating at optimal scale in 2008/09 and 2009/10, respectively. Those in the remaining districts were scale inefficient, with a majority of them operating under decreasing returns to scale (DRS). Effective and accountable decentralized governance in the health sector in Uganda is typically constrained by weak capacity, particularly under-staffing at the districts levels. Policy recommendations include strengthening professional staffing in some districts to improve their capacity to deliver efficient health services; transfers of officials from districts with excess capacity to those with inadequate resources; and districts whose operations are characterized by increasing returns to scale should be considered for future expansion to consolidate their efficiency.
Institutions and the Performance of Services Funded by the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) in Kenya
Authors: Awiti Japheth Osotsi , Mutua John , Nyaga Robert , Muthaka David 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
We investigate the effect of institutions on the delivery of services funded by the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) in meeting constituents' needs in Kenya. Using household survey data collected by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) in 2006 from a sample of constituencies, we construct indices of voice and client power using principal component analysis. We then estimate ordered probit models regarding the rating of the performance of CDF funded projects in meeting the constituents’ needs. The estimation strategy we adopt controls for potential endogeneity of the institutional measures, potential sample selection-bias and potential unobserved heterogeneity. The results indicate that higher quality institutions are associated with better service delivery outcomes.
Jobless Economic Growth in Africa: Is There a Role for Agriculture?
Authors: Hanson Kobena T. , Leautier Frannie 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This paper employs data from 48 African countries over the period 1990–2010 to investigate the performance of African economies with respect to job creation and its relation to economic growth. We submit that the main drivers, among others, appear to be the creative use of the agricultural sector and the level of innovation and sophistication in agriculture. The insights provide some lessons for countries seeking to speed up job creation under low growth scenarios as well as those seeking to transform their economies while creating jobs.
Technology Use and Firms with Female Principal Owners in Kenya
Authors: Menon Nidhiya 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Firm-level data from Kenya indicates that establishments rely on technologies such as computers, generators and cell-phones to conduct operations when regulations and security pose significant hurdles in the business environment. While all firms rely on technology in the face of obstacles, those with female owners experience net effects that are statistically distinct from those experienced by male counterparts. A gender-of-owner disaggregated Oaxaca-Blinder type decomposition of differences in technology use indicates that up to 18 percent of the total gap is unexplained by differences in measurable characteristics, suggesting that female-owned firms use technology to a greater extent than is warranted by the level of observed covariates.
Post-HIPC Growth Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Application to Ethiopia
Authors: Bayraktar Nihal , Fofack Hippolyte 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Over the past few years, Completion Point countries under the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative across Sub-Saharan Africa have enjoyed significantly higher investments and growth rates, primarily fueled by the expanding fiscal space of the post-HIPC era. Despite these post-HIPC growth rebounds, the region is not likely to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Long-term growth projections from a simple macroeconomic model, which is applied to Ethiopia, suggest that prospects for reversing the widening income gaps with other regions of the developing world are limited and these gloomy prospects are likely to be even undermined by the risk of another sovereign debt crisis. A rapid expansion of capital accumulation financed by sustained foreign aid is required to increase income considerably.
Institutions and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis
Authors: Kilishi A. A. , Mobolaji H. I. , Yaru M. A. , Yakubu A. T. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
There is growing emphasis on the role of institutions and governance on explaining Africa's economic growth. However, it is not clear which of the institutions matter most. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to answer two separate questions: (i) Do institutions really matter in Sub-Saharan Africa?, (ii) If institutions matter, which of them matters most? Arellano and Bond first difference and Blundell-Bond System Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) estimators were used to estimate the specified models. Our results show that, institutions really matter for Sub-Saharan Africa's economic performance, among which regulatory quality appeared to be the most important. Thus the economic performance of the region could be enhanced by improving regulatory quality.
Does Foreign Aid In Education Promote Economic Growth? Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Asiedu Elizabeth 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This paper examines whether foreign aid in education has a significant effect on growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our analysis covers 38 countries over the period 1990–2004 and we control for initial per capita income, inflation, investment, government consumption, openness to trade and institutional quality. We find that (i) aid in primary education has a positive and significant effect on growth; (ii) aid in post-primary education has an adverse effect or at best no significant impact on growth; and (iii) growth increases as aid in primary education as a share of total education aid rises.
Female Education, HIV/AIDS and the Education Vaccine in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Condom Piece of the Puzzle
Authors: Brent Robert J. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
There are many recent studies that indicate that female education and HIV are still positively related in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). So education is not a vaccine as claimed and there exists a puzzle that needs to be resolved. In this study, by focusing on the use and non-use of condoms by females, we provide one piece of the puzzle. That is, we identify one transmission mechanism by which female education leads to higher rates of HIV infection. We find that educated females are less likely to use condoms with their spouses and regular partners than less education females.
Credit Bureaus and Registries and Access to Finance: New Evidence from 42 African Countries
Authors: Triki Thouraya , Gajigo Ousman 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Using new data from 42 African countries, we investigate the effects of public and private credit registries on firms' access to finance as well as the effect of public credit registries’ design on the severity of the financing constraint. Our results show that access to finance is on average higher in countries with private credit bureaus (PCBs), relative to countries with public credit registries (PCRs) or countries with neither institution. However, there is a significant heterogeneity in access to finance among countries with PCRs as well as the design of these institutions. We find that countries with PCRs that collect positive and negative information on borrowers' credit histories are associated with firms reporting smaller obstacles in access to finance. Likewise, we show that provision of online credit information is only beneficial when the internet penetration rate in the country is high and that reducing minimum cut-off for loan coverage by PCRs helps soften the financing constraint only when positive and negative information is provided.
What Brings China to Africa? An Analysis of Market Size, Natural Resource Availability and Macroeconomic Risk
Authors: Dzigbede Komla D. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This study applies the fixed effects vector decomposition procedure on a panel of 38 African countries to analyze factors that determine China's trade engagement with African countries. Results show that China's trade engagement with Africa is driven mainly by African countries' market size, natural resource availability, and bilateral trade cooperation with China. Macroeconomic and infrastructural risk factors in African countries do not seem to be major considerations in China's trade engagement with Africa. These findings highlight key factors that should be at the core of regional and international level discussions on China-Africa trade strategy and policy.
The Post–World War II Allied Occupation of Austria: What Can We Learn about It for Iraq in Successful Nation Building?
Authors: Bischof Günter 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This article argues that in the run-up to the US occupation of Iraq after Saddam Hussein was toppled, there was much argument what could be learned from previous American occupations and nation building experiences (especially post–World War II Germany and Japan were seen as models). The successful Austrian occupation after World War II was ignored—“successful” in the sense that the country was politically democratized and economically stabilized. Running through the historiography of scholarship on the Austrian occupation then, the article draws four concrete lessons from the Austrian occupation case study for the US occupation of Iraq. In other words, the U.S. military tends to forget its rich previous occupation experiences for the contemporary world.
Representing Austrian, American, and Mexican Interests: Consul Charles Frederick de Loosey in Emperor Maximilian's Diplomacy, 1864–1867
Authors: Bertonha João Fábio 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
During the existence of the Second Mexican Empire (1864–67), Emperor Maximilian of Austria had to face the hostility of the United States and the indifference of the Austrian Empire, having to rely for its survival on the military, financial, and diplomatic support of France. This article does not question these general premises but seeks to problematize them, taking into account the activities of the Mexican Empire within the United States territory and the discreet support of Austrian diplomacy to them. To this end, the focus of the article will be the activities of Maximilian's main representative in the United States, Luís de Arroyo, and especially those of the Austrian consul general in New York, Charles Frederick de Loosey.
“It is not to think that real strangers, as you are, give us so much love”: An Austrian Pen Pal's Journey to a Safe Haven in the United States
Authors: Krick-Aigner Kirsten 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This article traces Marianne Winter's unique immigration journey as an eighteen-year-old Jewish Austrian refugee. Pivotal to the family's escape was the epistolary friendship that developed in early 1935 between Marianne and her American pen pal Jane Bomberger. When Jane's father Max learned of the Winter family's persecution, he generously provided the required affidavit to ensure their safe passage to the United States. Six of the remaining letters from Marianne to Jane, additional family documents, and interviews with Marianne contextualize her upbringing in Vienna and her family's immigration story within a larger sociocultural and historical framework. The article examines how Marianne's youth, participation in competitive swimming at the Viennese sports club Hakoah, education at Eugenie Schwarzwald's Frauenoberschule, and apprenticeship as a dressmaker shaped her identity and enabled her to face the many challenges of forced immigration from her homeland. The article additionally explores how other members of the Winter family, especially her brother Stefan, experienced the Holocaust, immigration, and their new lives in the United States.
What's the Point? An Exploration of Students' Motivation to Learn in a First-Year Seminar
Authors: Jessup-Anger Jody E. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
This qualitative case study explores how undergraduate students and their instructor made meaning of students' motivation to learn in a one-credit, pass/fail first-year seminar. The findings point to the importance of addressing structural motivational barriers and ensuring that instructors possess the instructional, motivational, and developmental strategies necessary to foster motivation.
A Study of Epiphytic Lichen Communities in Urban and Rural Environments in Southwestern Pennsylvania
Authors: Opdyke Matthew R. , Dolney Bryan E. , Frost Laura L. , Roy Joshua D. 
Published: February 2022

ABSTRACTCommunity analyses of epiphytic lichens were used to study the controlling factors of lichen abundance and diversity in urban and rural environments of Pittsburgh in southwestern Pennsylvania. Two urban sites included Schenley and Frick Parks in metropolitan Pittsburgh and two rural sites at Mingo Creek County Park in Washington County and Roaring Runs Natural Area in Westmoreland County. Community composition of lichens was measured at six intensive monitoring plots per site and site-wide species diversity surveys. The lichen diversity value, a statistical estimator of the environmental conditions at a site, was greater at the rural sites (20.8 ± 3.0) compared to the urban sites (11.3 ± 3.5) (± standard error), suggesting a less disturbed lichen community at Mingo and Roaring Runs. In the intensive monitoring plots, species richness was greater at Mingo and Roaring Runs compared to Schenley and Frick, averaging 5.2 ± 0.3, 4.7 ± 0.4, 3.7 ± 0.8 and 2.0 ± 0.4, respectively. The dominant lichens across all sites were Lepraria lobificans, an unidentified sterile crustose lichen and Cladonia ochrochlora. The dominance of nitrophilous and sulfur dioxide–tolerant lichens at all sites suggests that the lichen community within the larger geographical region is influenced by nitrogen and sulfur dioxide air pollutants. The differences between sampling sites are most likely driven by lichens responding to changes in urbanization, which include humidity and habitat fragmentation.
A Survey of the Prion Protein Gene Heterogeneity in New Jersey White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Authors: Keeler Shamus P. , Bernarsky Nicole L. , Huffman Jane E. , Roscoe Douglas E. 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Polymorphisms within the prion protein gene (Prnp) have been associated with modified susceptibility to chronic wasting disease (CWD) in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Studies of naturally infected white-tailed deer have determined that polymorphisms in the cervid Prnp at codons 95, 96, and 116 may provide reduced susceptibility or slowed progression of CWD. A survey was performed to determine the Prnp heterogeneity within New Jersey white-tailed deer. No CWD positive deer have been reported in New Jersey and all animals included in this study were determined to be CWD negative before the start of the project. The Prnp genes of 150 hunter-harvested deer were sequenced. All polymorphisms were identified and allelic frequencies were calculated. Seventy percent of the deer sampled in New Jersey were homozygous at codon 95 (glutamine) and codon 96 (glycine) and 94.7% had at least one copy of this allele. Only 2 % of the deer sampled had a single copy of the allele with histidine at Codon 95 and a glycine at Codon 96, which is under represented in naturally infected deer and may provide resistance to infection. These deer were found only in the southwestern portion of New Jersey. The genetic heterogeneity and distribution of the PrP gene of New Jersey white-tailed deer adds to our current understanding of the Prnp diversity within this species.
LIFE ON THE FRINGE: CHARACTERIZATION OF FRINGE VEGETATION IN ERIE BLUFFS STATE PARK (ERIE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA)
Authors: GANGER MICHAEL T. , JAMES J. MCGIVERN , BOCIAN LINDSEY , BROWN NATHALIE-ANN C. , PERENIC JOSEPH 
Published: February 2022

ABSTRACT
Human activities have resulted in the fragmentation of native habitat. One ubiquitous result of landscape modifications is a narrow strip of vegetation, hereafter referred to as fringe, that occurs between forest and inhospitable habitat like agricultural fields. This study investigated the fringe habitat in the Erie Bluffs State Park in Erie County, Pennsylvania. The park has several agricultural fields that are currently in use and one abandoned field resulting in 67,680 m2 of fringe. In order to understand the species composition and vegetation structure of the fringe, 1451 m-wide quadrats were established and the number and identity of species occurring within them was determined in both June and August. One hundred sixty-four species from 55 families were observed in the fringe, 39% of which were listed as annuals or biennials, 40% were non-native to Pennsylvania, and six are listed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as exotic invasives or are on their watch list. Sixty-one percent of these species occurred in both the June and August censuses while the remainder were seen in only one of the two censuses. The average number of species per quadrat was greater in August than in June. Agglomerative Hierarchical Cluster Analysis was used to group quadrats in the fringe based on species similarity into three groups in June and five groups in August. Indicator Species Analysis determined 9 species associated with the groups in June and 14 species associated with the groups in August. The fringe is a spatially and temporally complex habitat with high species richness that has the potential to play a role in the stability of the forest habitat and the transition of agricultural fields to native habitat.