Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The debate about the role of libraries has been on-going for more than 100 years. Huynh (2004:20) states that, initially, the purpose of public libraries was to educate or teach the public. Over time there has been a gradual shift away from this perspective to that of providing information to all groups in a community. Increasingly a clearer focus has emerged through documents such as the ‘Public Library Manifesto’ and the ‘Library and Information Services (LIS) Transformation Charter’. The Public Library Manifesto (IFLA and UNESCO 1994) addresses the need for a clear policy, “defining objectives, priorities and services in relation to the local community needs”. The Library and Information Services Transformation Charter states that there must be processes in place to gauge and analyse the library services needs of specific communities so that the library can become an information and cultural hub, responsive to the needs of the local community (South African Department of Arts and Culture 2009:20). This research examined the responsiveness of collection development initiatives and processes to the needs of communities served by the City of Cape Town Library and Information Services (COCTLIS), to assess if this constitutes a community driven approach to collection development. The following research questions were investigated: • What does a community-driven approach to collection development entail? • How does the collection development plan (CDP) of COCTLIS support a community-driven approach to collection development? • How are community needs established and assessed? • What other collection development tools and methods are librarians using? A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were used to gather the necessary data to achieve the research objectives of this study. In particular content and thematic analysis was performed on the collection development plan (CDP) of the COCTLIS. This analysis revealed the frequency and context in which key terms, in the CDP, identify and support COCTLIS’ approach to collection development. In addition a questionnaire survey of a sample of the 104 libraries in COCTLIS was undertaken. The questionnaire was designed to examine librarians’ understanding of the philosophy underpinning collection development in COCTLIS and the extent to which the activities they employ facilitate the achievement of these collection development goals and objectives. It is hoped that this research might lead to identifying a set of principles or guidelines for community responsiveness in collection development by looking at current best practices on the ground in relation to the “old ways”. This research has found that the approach to collection development as practiced in COCTLIS conforms to the ‘textbook’ description of a community or patron-driven approach discussed in the literature. This approach requires a clear focus on establishing and meeting the needs of the communities served by libraries. The focus on community needs is evident as an underlying theme in statements in the CDP of COCTLIS, such as their vision statement. This conclusion is further supported by the understanding displayed by their staff in the practical application of the principles of this approach.

There is a significant amount of literature documenting empirical linkages between socioeconomic status and mental health of individuals. While economic studies have found beneficial impacts of anti-poverty programs (e.g., micro-credit programs) on mental and emotional health, non-economic studies have documented the powerful roles of social capital in determining mental and emotional health. In this thesis, we study the impact of a large community-driven development (CDD) women's empowerment program, Jeevika, on mental health. JEEViKA is a rural livelihood program in Bihar, India, which promotes women's livelihood through a network of women's self-help group (SHG). Using data on a sample of 2300 SHG women from matched pairs of 66 high-exposure and low-exposure Jeevika villages, we estimate the causal impact of Jeevika on mental health. The results suggest that mental health improves with increasing age and among socially backward communities in high exposure JEEViKA villages. However, overall both the individual and village level analysis demonstrates no significant impact of JEEViKA on the mental health.

Zusammenfassung Die drei Essays dieser Dissertation leisten einen Beitrag zum Verständnis der politischen Ökonomie Indonesiens in Zeiten der Dezentralisierung. Vor dem Hintergrund des „Urban Poverty Project 2“ (UPP2), einem kommunalen Entwicklungsprojekt in Indonesien, untersucht der erste Essay empirisch die Rolle von „Elite Capture“. Auf Grundlage von Daten der Wirkungsuntersuchung von UPP2 sowie zusätzlichen administrativen Daten, wird der Zusammenhang zwischen einer ungleichen kommunalen Konsumverteilung und verstärktem „Elite Capture“ betrachtet. Dabei bestätigt sich der positive Zusammenhang zwischen kommunalen Ungleichheiten, welche sich in der Machtverteilung ausdrücken, und der Ressourcenallokation durch die gewählten Vertreter der lokalen Gemeinde. Insbesondere für die derzeit in Entwicklungsländern großflächig vorangetriebenen kommunengesteuerten Entwicklungsprogramme (CDD) ist dieses Ergebnis relevant. Es wird angeregt, dass politische Entscheidungsträger bestehende lokale Machtstrukturen verstärkt beachten sollten, um sicherzustellen, dass die durchgeführten Projekte tatsächlich die ärmere, benachteiligte Bevölkerung erreichen. Vor dem Hintergrund der Dezentralisierung in Indonesien untersucht der zweite Essay den Zusammenhang zwischen Bestechungsgeldern und der Wirksamkeit der Bereitstellung von öffentlichen Dienstleistungen. Die Studie prüft die Korruptionshypothese des „grease the wheels", nach der Bestechung als eine Methode der Beschleunigung von Verwaltung funktioniert. Anhand von Unternehmensdaten aus Indonesien wird gezeigt, dass Firmen, die höhere Bestechungsgelder zahlen, mehr Zeit mit Beamten verbringen. Letzteres wird als Proxy für Bürokratie verwendet. Diese Resultate widersprechen der obigen Hypothese und erweisen sich als robust auch nachdem für mögliche Kausalumkehrung kontrolliert sowie konkurrierende Bestechung unter asymmetrischer Information berücksichtigt wurde. Diese Resultate bestätigen damit die kontraproduktiven Effekte von Bestechung und unterstützen die Anti-Korruptionskampagnen, die von Regierungen und internationalen Organisationen durchgeführt werden. Der dritte Essay diskutiert die Rolle von Frauen als Entscheidungsträgerinnen im Kontext von UPP2. Erörtert wird, ob die Ressourcenallokation des Projektes stärker auf die Präferenzen von Frauen ausgerichtet sind, wenn mehr Frauen in lokalen Institutionen vertreten sind. Nach Prüfung des Medianwählermodells wird die Rolle von Genderzusammensetzungen in lokalen Vertretungen in Bezug auf die Veränderungen politischer Entscheidungen analysiert. Unter Verwendung von detaillierten Daten bezüglich ex-ante Präferenzen von Wählern sowie politischen Stellvertretern, kann geschlussfolgert werden, dass der weibliche Anteil in lokalen, politischen Institutionen keinen Einfluss auf politische Entscheidungen hat. Dennoch korreliert der Frauenanteil mit den Präferenzen der Medianwähler und denen von Wählerinnen, die mehr Aufmerksamkeit für öffentliche Hygiene fordern. Diese Ergebnisse lassen die Prognosen des Medianwählermodells anzweifeln.

yes / This study focuses on a widely promoted belief that community-driven and community-based interventions for development are not only cost-effective, but also just and democratic. In particular, this study examines community-based initiatives with regard to HIV/AIDS in one Tanzanian roadside town. The interventions I discuss suggest that increased community participation does not automatically lead to more equitable access to services, to the empowerment of the poor, or even to the planned service delivery at all. Dependence on local volunteers with multiple motives and interests can hamper the relationship between provider and beneficiary. A concern for minimal state involvement and maximum decentralisation can easily lead to institutional abandonment, and trust in an undefined `community¿ can prevent rather than encourage coordination at community-level. As I discuss below, such factors can result not only in a service not being delivered, but can also readily lead to increased local conflict over scarce resources, increasing unfulfilled expectations, affirmation of inequalities, and government neglect. In the absence of a strong institutional framework such as the state, community structures and social relationships ¿ unquantifiable and often particular to specific locations ¿ seem central to the functioning of community-based development interventions, including those of AIDS related prevention and care. / DfID

Electoral Rules and Leader Selection: Experimental Evidence from Ugandan Community Groups. Despite a large body of work documenting how electoral systems affect policy outcomes, less is known about their impact on leader selection. We study this by comparing two types of participatory decision making in Ugandan community groups: (i) vote by secret ballot and (ii) open discussion with consensus. Random assignment allows us to estimate the causal impact of the rules on leader types and social service delivery. Vote groups are found to elect leaders more similar to the average member while discussion group leaders are positively selected on socio-economic characteristics. Further, dropout rates are significantly higher in discussion groups, particularly for poorer members. After 3.5 years, vote groups are larger in size and their members save less and get smaller loans. We conclude that the secret ballot vote creates more inclusive groups while open discussion groups favor the already economically successful. Preparing for Genocide: Community Meetings in Rwanda. How do political elites prepare the civilian population for participation in violent conflict? We empirically investigate this question using data from the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Every Saturday before 1994, Rwandan villagers had to meet to work on community infrastructure. The practice was highly politicized and, according to anecdotal evidence, regularly used by the political elites for spreading propaganda in the years before the genocide. This paper presents the first quantitative evidence of this abuse of the community meetings. To establish causality, we exploit cross-sectional variation in meeting intensity induced by exogenous weather fluctuations. We find that an additional rainy Saturday resulted in a five percent lower civilian participation rate in genocide violence. Selection into Borrowing: Survey Evidence from Uganda. In this paper, I study how changes to the standard credit contract affect loan demand and selection into borrowing, using a representative sample of urban micro enterprises, most with no borrowing experience. Hypothetical loan demand questions are used to test whether firm owners respond to changes in loans' contractual terms and whether take-up varies by firms' risk type and other firm owner characteristics. The results indicate that contracts with lower interest rates and less stringent collateral requirements attract less risky borrowers, suggesting that there is scope for improvement of standard financial contract terms. Credit Contract Structure and Firm Growth: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial. We study the effects of credit contract structure on firm outcomes among small and medium sized firms. A randomized control trial was carried out to distinguish between some of the key constraints to efficient credit use connected to the firms' business environment and production function, namely (i) backloaded returns (ii) uncertain returns and (iii) indivisible fixed costs. Each firm was followed for the 1-year loan cycle. We describe the experiment and present preliminary results from the first 754 out of 2,340 firms to have completed the loan cycle. Firms offered a grace period have higher profits and higher household income than firms receiving a rebate later on as well as the control group. They also increased the number of paid employees  and reduced the number of unpaid employees, an effect also found among firms that received a cash subsidy at the beginning of the loan cycle. We discuss potential mechanisms behind these effects.

Dans le contexte d’urbanisation fulgurante de l’Asie du sud-est, les zones périurbaines agricoles vietnamiennes subissent des pressions environnementales croissantes et sont loin d’être équipées en infrastructures. L’assainissement présente un important manque d’investissement. La thèse s’est intéressée aux stratégies et aux mécanismes de financement qui aideront à réduire l’écart entre l’offre et la demande d’assainissement. Deux hypothèses principales ont été posées. D’abord, des fonds supplémentaires doivent provenir des ressources nationales, locales et celles des utilisateurs. La seconde hypothèse pose qu’il faudra investir avantage dans des activités qui augmenteront la durabilité des services d’assainissement, comme l’éducation et la promotion, qui en plus favorisent les contributions locales. La thèse a tenté de répondre à la question suivante : Dans le contexte périurbain d’Hanoi, comment mettre à contribution les ressources locales pour améliorer l’accès et la durabilité de l’assainissement? L’étude de cas est un projet communautaire pilote de gestion des eaux usées en banlieue d’Hanoi. Les facteurs de demande pour de l’assainissement et leurs effets sur la durabilité du projet ont été analysés auprès des ménages, des acteurs du village et des acteurs nationaux liés à l’assainissement. La thèse a d’abord permis d’actualiser les connaissances sur deux aspects importants : le cadre institutionnel qui encadre le financement de l’assainissement et les coûts et bénéfices de l’assainissement alternatif au Vietnam. Ces deux sujets présentaient une lacune sérieuse au niveau de la documentation. Puis, malgré de faibles capacités au niveau local, la demande réelle pour de l’assainissement était beaucoup plus importante que celle relevée dans la littérature. La recherche a permis de conclure que les institutions gouvernementales pourraient compter sur une plus grande contribution du milieu local si la planification ciblait ces facteurs : l’éducation et promotion, une grande part de décision et de gestion au niveau local et des technologies plus simples. / In the context of high urbanization in Southeast Asia, peri-urban areas suffer increasing environmental pressures and lack access to funding and environmental infrastructures. The thesis focuses on strategies and financing mechanisms that will help reduce the gap between supply and demand for sanitation. The thesis tries to answer the following question: In the context of suburban Hanoi, how does one draw upon local resources to improve the access to and sustainability of sanitation? The case study is a pilot community wastewater management project in the suburbs of Hanoi. The thesis analyzes the demand for sanitation and its impacts on the sustainability of the project in the home, village and region. Two main hypotheses are set forth. First, national resources and local users should additionally fund sanitation infrastructures. Second, there is a need to invest further in activities that enhance the sustainability of sanitation, like education and promotion, which will in turn encourage local contribution. The thesis updates knowledge in two important areas related to sanitation: the institutional framework, which governs the financing of sanitation, and the costs and benefits of alternative sanitation in Vietnam. At the onset of this research, both subjects lacked any significant literature. Despite weak local capacities, it was discovered that the real demand for sanitation happened to be much greater than that found in previous documentation. The research concludes that government agencies could count on a greater contribution from communities if efforts are directed towards education and promotion, on top of conferring greater responsibilities to local populations, and opting for simpler technologies.

<p>This research aims to assess the role of Social Funds&rsquo / organizational and institutional characteristics for community participation processes in development projects. The research is based on a case study of the Peruvian Social Fund, FONCODES, and utilizes a qualitative data collection approach. It mainly relies on semi-structured interviews with FONCODES&rsquo / staff and community members, unstructured interviews with experts, and analysis of operational documents. The research concludes that several organizational and institutional characteristics affect community participation in FONCODES projects but the direction of this influence depends on how specific areas of the organization&rsquo / s context are structured as well as on political variables in the institutional environment.</p>

Dans le contexte d’urbanisation fulgurante de l’Asie du sud-est, les zones périurbaines agricoles vietnamiennes subissent des pressions environnementales croissantes et sont loin d’être équipées en infrastructures. L’assainissement présente un important manque d’investissement. La thèse s’est intéressée aux stratégies et aux mécanismes de financement qui aideront à réduire l’écart entre l’offre et la demande d’assainissement. Deux hypothèses principales ont été posées. D’abord, des fonds supplémentaires doivent provenir des ressources nationales, locales et celles des utilisateurs. La seconde hypothèse pose qu’il faudra investir avantage dans des activités qui augmenteront la durabilité des services d’assainissement, comme l’éducation et la promotion, qui en plus favorisent les contributions locales. La thèse a tenté de répondre à la question suivante : Dans le contexte périurbain d’Hanoi, comment mettre à contribution les ressources locales pour améliorer l’accès et la durabilité de l’assainissement? L’étude de cas est un projet communautaire pilote de gestion des eaux usées en banlieue d’Hanoi. Les facteurs de demande pour de l’assainissement et leurs effets sur la durabilité du projet ont été analysés auprès des ménages, des acteurs du village et des acteurs nationaux liés à l’assainissement. La thèse a d’abord permis d’actualiser les connaissances sur deux aspects importants : le cadre institutionnel qui encadre le financement de l’assainissement et les coûts et bénéfices de l’assainissement alternatif au Vietnam. Ces deux sujets présentaient une lacune sérieuse au niveau de la documentation. Puis, malgré de faibles capacités au niveau local, la demande réelle pour de l’assainissement était beaucoup plus importante que celle relevée dans la littérature. La recherche a permis de conclure que les institutions gouvernementales pourraient compter sur une plus grande contribution du milieu local si la planification ciblait ces facteurs : l’éducation et promotion, une grande part de décision et de gestion au niveau local et des technologies plus simples. / In the context of high urbanization in Southeast Asia, peri-urban areas suffer increasing environmental pressures and lack access to funding and environmental infrastructures. The thesis focuses on strategies and financing mechanisms that will help reduce the gap between supply and demand for sanitation. The thesis tries to answer the following question: In the context of suburban Hanoi, how does one draw upon local resources to improve the access to and sustainability of sanitation? The case study is a pilot community wastewater management project in the suburbs of Hanoi. The thesis analyzes the demand for sanitation and its impacts on the sustainability of the project in the home, village and region. Two main hypotheses are set forth. First, national resources and local users should additionally fund sanitation infrastructures. Second, there is a need to invest further in activities that enhance the sustainability of sanitation, like education and promotion, which will in turn encourage local contribution. The thesis updates knowledge in two important areas related to sanitation: the institutional framework, which governs the financing of sanitation, and the costs and benefits of alternative sanitation in Vietnam. At the onset of this research, both subjects lacked any significant literature. Despite weak local capacities, it was discovered that the real demand for sanitation happened to be much greater than that found in previous documentation. The research concludes that government agencies could count on a greater contribution from communities if efforts are directed towards education and promotion, on top of conferring greater responsibilities to local populations, and opting for simpler technologies.

<p>This research aims to assess the role of Social Funds&rsquo / organizational and institutional characteristics for community participation processes in development projects. The research is based on a case study of the Peruvian Social Fund, FONCODES, and utilizes a qualitative data collection approach. It mainly relies on semi-structured interviews with FONCODES&rsquo / staff and community members, unstructured interviews with experts, and analysis of operational documents. The research concludes that several organizational and institutional characteristics affect community participation in FONCODES projects but the direction of this influence depends on how specific areas of the organization&rsquo / s context are structured as well as on political variables in the institutional environment.</p>

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / This research aims to assess the role of Social Funds' organizational and institutional characteristics for community participation processes in development projects. The research is based on a case study of the Peruvian Social Fund, FONCODES, and utilizes a qualitative data collection approach. It mainly relies on semi-structured interviews with FONCODES' staff and community members, unstructured interviews with experts, and analysis of operational documents. The research concludes that several organizational and institutional characteristics affect community participation in FONCODES projects but the direction of this influence depends on how specific areas of the organization's context are structured as well as on political variables in the institutional environment. / South Africa