In his well-known 1972 article, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," and in subsequent books, Peter Singer argues that we can and should prevent the needless suffering and death of the global poor by giving to foreign aid. This call for charity and assistance is mostly uncontroversial. However, foreign aid's effectiveness is highly contested among the aid literature. As the first part of this paper shows, all aid encounters inefficiencies, with the major problems being diversion of funds and perverse incentives. I look at each of these in turn, concluding that most aid is ineffective and sometimes even harmful—with the possible exception of short-term humanitarian aid. Consideration of aid evaluation and emerging forms of aid like microfinance and unconditional cash transfers provides no solution to aid's problems. In the second part of the paper I consider potentially superior methods for preventing the suffering and death of the global poor. Free trade, open immigration, and increased consumption all seem like promising ways to alleviate poverty and grow developing economies, but only increased consumption of disposable luxury goods fulfills Singer's obligation for the individual to prevent bad things from happening. To show that this idea stands, the rest of the paper will focus on increased consumption's relation to manufacturing, so-called sweatshop labor, economic growth, and alleviation of poverty. Finally, I will address potential limitations and objections to my approach, concluding that consumption of disposable luxury goods is the best way to fulfill Singer's obligation to aid the global poor.

This study analyses which factors has driven the allocation of Swedish aid between 1975 and 2003. The results are then compared to the official policy. The general goal of Swedish aid is to “help to raise the living standard for the poor”, but there are more factors than income status that affect allocation. Allocation of Swedish aid is affected by a set of criteria for the choice of recipient. The details and the goals of aid have changed over time even if the core has remained the same. According to the official policy, Swedish aid should be used to take responsibility across borders, to contribute to a greater common market and a peaceful development. It has been considered important that the recipients’ needs can be matched by Sweden’s capacity and that aid is developed from the recipients’ situation. The recipients’ absorption capacity is thus an important criterion. Summarized, Swedish aid should be used to promote democracy, fight corruption and contribute to more equal societies. In this study we do not find any significant relation between the official policy and actual allocation. A Generalized Least Square regression with Random Effects points out only two significant variables, the recipients’ size of trade (openness) and their former (British) colonial status. Instead of rewarding open economies, Swedish aid has been allocated to more closed economies which tend to be more corrupt. Although the majority of the recipient countries are former colonies, we find that former British colonies are favoured. This allocation is believed to be a result of the historical development of aid and practical circumstances such as language etc... / Denna studie analyserar vilka faktorer som har drivit Svenskt bistånd mellan 1975 och 2003. Resultaten jämförs sedan med officiell policy. Det allmänna målet med Svensk bistånd enligt officiell policy är att ”hjälpa till att höja levnadsstandarden för de fattiga”, men det finns fler faktorer än inkomstnivå som påverkar allokeringen. Allokering av svenskt bistånd påverkas av bestämda "länderkriteria". Detaljerna och biståndets mål har förändrats över tiden även om kärnan har varit densamma. Enligt officiell policy så ska svenskt bistånd användas för att ta ansvar som sträcker sig över gränserna, för att bidra till en större gemensam marknad samt en fredlig utveckling. Det har ansetts vara viktigt att mottagarnas behov kan mötas av Sveriges kapacitet och att biståndet är sammansatt utifrån mottagarnas situation. Mottagarnas absorptionskapacitet är således det ett viktigt kriterium. Sammanfattningsvis ska svenskt bistånd främja demokrati, kämpa mot korruption och bidra till att samhällen blir mer jämställda. I denna studie finner vi inget signifikant samband mellan den officiella policyn och faktisk allokering. En ”Generalized Least Square Random Effects” regression påvisar blott två signifikanta variabler; mottagarnas handelsvidd (öppenhet) och deras före detta koloniala (Brittiska) status. Istället för att belöna öppna ekonomier har svensk bistånd allokerats till mer stängda ekonomier som tenderar att vara mer korrupta. Trots att majoriteten av mottagarländerna är före detta kolonier är de Brittiska kolonierna favoriserade. Denna allokering tros vara ett resultat av biståndets historiska utveckling och praktiska omständigheter, så som språk etc…

<p>This study analyses which factors has driven the allocation of Swedish aid between 1975 and 2003. The results are then compared to the official policy. The general goal of Swedish aid is to “help to raise the living standard for the poor”, but there are more factors than income status that affect allocation.</p><p>Allocation of Swedish aid is affected by a set of criteria for the choice of recipient. The details and the goals of aid have changed over time even if the core has remained the same. According to the official policy, Swedish aid should be used to take responsibility across borders, to contribute to a greater common market and a peaceful development. It has been considered important that the recipients’ needs can be matched by Sweden’s capacity and that aid is developed from the recipients’ situation. The recipients’ absorption capacity is thus an important criterion. Summarized, Swedish aid should be used to promote democracy, fight corruption and contribute to more equal societies.</p><p>In this study we do not find any significant relation between the official policy and actual allocation. A Generalized Least Square regression with Random Effects points out only two significant variables, the recipients’ size of trade (openness) and their former (British) colonial status.</p><p>Instead of rewarding open economies, Swedish aid has been allocated to more closed economies which tend to be more corrupt. Although the majority of the recipient countries are former colonies, we find that former British colonies are favoured. This allocation is believed to be a result of the historical development of aid and practical circumstances such as language etc...</p> / <p>Denna studie analyserar vilka faktorer som har drivit Svenskt bistånd mellan 1975 och 2003. Resultaten jämförs sedan med officiell policy. Det allmänna målet med Svensk bistånd enligt officiell policy är att ”hjälpa till att höja levnadsstandarden för de fattiga”, men det finns fler faktorer än inkomstnivå som påverkar allokeringen.</p><p>Allokering av svenskt bistånd påverkas av bestämda "länderkriteria". Detaljerna och biståndets mål har förändrats över tiden även om kärnan har varit densamma. Enligt officiell policy så ska svenskt bistånd användas för att ta ansvar som sträcker sig över gränserna, för att bidra till en större gemensam marknad samt en fredlig utveckling. Det har ansetts vara viktigt att mottagarnas behov kan mötas av Sveriges kapacitet och att biståndet är sammansatt utifrån mottagarnas situation. Mottagarnas absorptionskapacitet är således det ett viktigt kriterium. Sammanfattningsvis ska svenskt bistånd främja demokrati, kämpa mot korruption och bidra till att samhällen blir mer jämställda.</p><p>I denna studie finner vi inget signifikant samband mellan den officiella policyn och faktisk allokering. En ”Generalized Least Square Random Effects” regression påvisar blott två signifikanta variabler; mottagarnas handelsvidd (öppenhet) och deras före detta koloniala (Brittiska) status.</p><p>Istället för att belöna öppna ekonomier har svensk bistånd allokerats till mer stängda ekonomier som tenderar att vara mer korrupta. Trots att majoriteten av mottagarländerna är före detta kolonier är de Brittiska kolonierna favoriserade. Denna allokering tros vara ett resultat av biståndets historiska utveckling och praktiska omständigheter, så som språk etc…</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984.

In this thesis, I critically analyse power relations between donors and the government of Malawi (GoM) under the new aid architecture and argue that this new configuration represents a shift away from domination, with donors attempting to impose policies, and towards more subtle interactions, through which donors seek to transform the GoM into a self-disciplined, entrepreneurial, neoliberal subject by shaping its aspirations and promoting specific norms of conduct, ‘truths’ and policy-related techniques. The research focuses on funding for AIDS and draws on forty interviews with representatives from the GoM, donors and civil society, conducted in Malawi 2008, as well as discursive analysis of secondary sources. I use Foucault’s concept of governmentality, a form of productive power focused on the care of the population and working through individuals’ subjectivities, and extend it to the relation between donors and the GoM. I show that the agency of the GoM is both elicited by the principle of country ownership, and re-worked through the increased involvement of donors in the policy sphere. I explore how these interactions are legitimised by a discourse that presents donors and the GoM as equals, while casting the GoM as technically deficient and requiring donors’ intervention. I analyse how donors instrumentalise dialogue with the GoM to instil an ethos of self-responsibility.I also investigate how AIDS funding has been made reliant on public financial management reforms, which re-code social domains according to an economic logic, by subordinating government activities to macroeconomic imperatives and creating new undemocratic accountabilities based on market rationalities. I argue that by restructuring the GoM according to this neoliberal rationality, the new aid architecture has programmatic effects, allowing donors to rule at a distance. I also examine avenues for resistance, particularly the potential residing in the intrinsic contradictions of this rationality.

Introduction: Despite the advantages of using a hearing aid (HA), only 1 out of 5 individuals who could benefit from a (HA) actually use one (World Health Organization, 2012). If an individual does not use a HA then it may impact on their quality of life, as well as others around them (Chia et al., 2007). Therefore it is important to understand why individuals do not use HAs after obtaining them. To date, there has been no study that investigates the reasons for HA disuse in the New Zealand population. Methods: Two groups of adults with hearing impairment were recruited: HA users (N = 35) and HA disusers (N = 35). Six self-report questionnaires, three audiometric tests and two other body function measures were compared between the groups. Results: Several variables differentiated HA users from disusers, these significant variables were: cognition, understanding speech in noise, acceptance of noise, age at testing, education, hearing assistance technology (HAT) use, HA satisfaction, self-efficacy, accepted need, application for HA subsidy, HA outcomes, stages-of-change, perceived environmental influence, follow-up support and hearing related activity limitations/participation restrictions (AL/PR). Discussion: The clinical value of identifying factors related to HA disuse is so clinicians can identify “red flags” for disuse before the client stops using their HAs. By identifying these red flags, rehabilitation can be tailored around the clients’ needs; before the negative consequences of an untreated hearing impairment is felt.

Thesis (MEd (Human Resource Studies)) -- University of South Australia, 1994

Thesis (M. P. A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2006. / "Spring 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-84).

Thesis (doctoral)--Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität zu München, 1939. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-[50]).