<p>In this research, I present critical facts about Land Tenure Systems and Poverty Reduction processes in Mafela Resettlement community. I focus mainly on the Post-Fast Track Land Reform&nbsp / (2004 &ndash / 2011) period and the interactive processes in this new resettlement area. The research - premised on the rights approach - sought to explore land tenure rights systems and poverty&nbsp / reduction mechanisms seen by the Mafela community to be improving their livelihoods / it also sought to find out if there is evidence linking tenure rights to poverty reduction and how land tenure&nbsp / rights governance systems affect their livelihoods. Suffice to say in both the animal kingdom and human world, territorial space and integrity, its demarcation as well as how resources are used&nbsp / within the space, given the area - calls for a - defined&nbsp / system of rights by the residents themselves. Whilst it is true that there is no one story about Zimbabwe&rsquo / s land reform (Scoones et al 2011),&nbsp / the contribution of this research towards insights emanating from the newly resettled farmers adds another invaluable contribution in the realm of rural development issues. The oft rigidified&nbsp / perceptions about the land reform in Zimbabwe as having dismally failed draw contrasting findings from this research. The findings, themselves drawn mainly through interviews, seem to&nbsp / suggest that there are indeed improved livelihoods for resettled farmers more than what is generally believed from a distance. The perception that secure tenure rights (among other myths) determines livelihoods improvement also revealed otherwise with Mafela community. The resettlers&rsquo / dynamic socio-economic milieu presents opportunities and challenges which only the resettled farmers can solve if given adequate support and empowerment in terms of decision making processes. The power basis wielded by the war veterans and the culture of top-down&nbsp / decision making processes as lamented by the resettled farmers suggest that the evolution of resettlements is still far from over. This research therefore hopes to challenge its readers and other&nbsp / stakeholders to engage with issues and recommendations raised here in order for a rethink about land tenure rights and poverty reduction initiatives associated with the new resettlement areas&nbsp / in Zimbabwe in general.</p> <p>&nbsp / </p>

Webs are fundamental to the ecology of Nephila clavipes, the golden orb-weaver spider, because they serve as sites for prey capture, reproduction, competition, predation, and parasitism. In addition to the presence of the female N. clavipes, males and kleptoparasites reside on the web in varying numbers. Webs are also found in clusters with conspecific females. Web site selection and length of web tenure is a behavioral decision vital to the spider’s fitness and the ecology of her species. I conducted a field census to quantify these factors and analyze their influence on web tenure, compare web ecology between a forest and non-forest habitat, as well as explain the significance of N. clavipes’ web as central to many interactions. Web tenure, as well, was influenced differently by the factors between both environments. In the forest habitat, increase in prey capture rate decreased web tenure and inclusion in cluster increased web tenure. In the non-forest habitat, only increase in spider size was related to increased web tenure. There were significant differences between the two habitats in the sizes of the female spider and quantity of males and kleptoparasites. Results also showed that spider size influenced quantity of males and web diameter influenced quantity of kleptoparasites. Explanation of these results can be attributed to the complex relationships among the variables and the consequences of living in habitats impacted by human occupation.

ABSTRACT HAVING IT ALL? MOTHERS’ EXPERIENCES AS ASSISTANT PROFESSORS IN COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY ACADEMIA by Caroline H. Leavitt For approximately the past 20 years, women have earned significantly more Ph.D.’s in the area of counseling psychology than men. However, women continue to lag with regard to rates of tenure and promotion in counseling psychology academia. Despite the significant amount of theoretical literature, there is limited empirical research on this gender disparity. The current study is designed to begin filling this gap in the literature. For this study, ten female assistant professors in counseling psychology were interviewed to elicit information about their experiences as academicians. All of the participants were mothers of minor children. A standardized interview protocol was used and interviews were audio-taped. The interviews were then transcribed and subject to a multi-step coding process. The coding process revealed six domains, each with multiple primary and secondary themes. The domains include: Culture, Mentorship, Work-Family Conflict, Gender Discrimination/Harassment, Intrapersonal dynamics, and Recommendations. All ten participants were represented in all of the domains except for gender discrimination which had an n=9. Generally, the participants’ experiences supported the literature’s explanations for the continuing gender gap in counseling psychology academia. If universities are committed to including women in all ranks of the academy, multi-faceted changes must be made to acknowledge, accommodate, and respect women’s priorities and values.

The Primary purpose of this paper is to examine the role and importance of Senior Senators in the US Senate. Many states rely on Senators to bring in federal spending in the form of pork. When states lose their Senior Senator and the power they accumulated through increased tenure, they risk losing certain benefits in terms of pork. We use federal expenditures per dollar of tax and analyze how it is affected by Seniority in the Senate. Population, Income, and unemployment rates in each state were controlled for in our regression analysis. It is concluded that increased tenure significantly increases federal spending to Senators’ states. Though this is statistically significant, we find the effects of losing a Senior Senator to be insignificant in the overall welfare of a state.

This paper studies a sample of CEOs from companies listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1992 to 2010, and confirms the theory that board members rely more heavily on firm performance measures for turnover and compensation decisions when less is known about the CEO’s ability. In this paper, I make two contributions to the literature. First, I confirm the empirical findings of literature with a new data set showing that the effect of firm performance on CEO turnover declines over a CEO's tenure. Second, I introduce a new tool, the relationship between CEO compensation and firm performance, for testing the effects of CEO tenure on board member decisions. The evidence indicates that the relationship between firm performance and CEO compensation declines over a CEO's tenure. Collectively, the results of this paper support the theory that board members gradually learn the CEO's ability over his tenure, therefore their decisions for turnover and compensation depend more on firm performance for a new CEO.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka och förklara hur olika egenskaper hos ledarskapsfigurer (Verkställande direktör, ekonomichef) kan påverka goodwillnedskrivningar samt det redovisade värdet av goodwill. Metod: Studien tar en deduktiv ansats och grundas på en dokumentstudie, hypoteser har formats och analyserats samt därefter accepterats eller förkastats. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Studiens grundläggande teoretiska perspektiv är agentteorin samt den positiva redovisningsteorin. Andra teorier som belyses i studien är bland annat teorin om verkligt värde och beteende teorin inom bolag. Empiri: Studien är kvantitativ och består av data som insamlats från årsredovisningar av bolag noterade på Stockholmsbörsen. Slutsats: Datamaterialet kunde inte påvisa någon signifikans mellan nyckelpersonernas beteende och deras påverkan på goodwillnedskrivningar samt det redovisade värdet av goodwill. / Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how different individual factors at an executive level (CEO, CFO) has an effect on goodwill impairments and the accounted value of goodwill. Methodology: The paper has an deductive approach and is based upon a document study at firms listed at Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Theoretical perspective: The essential theoretical perspective is positive accounting theory and the agency theory. Other theoretical perspectives in this paper are fair-value theory and the behavioral theory of the firm. Empiric foundation: The empirical foundation in this paper is quantitative and is based on data collected from annual reports from the firms that are listed at the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Conclusions: The collected data couldn’t find any significance between the behavior of the key persons and goodwill impairment and the accounted value of goodwill.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att studera om det fanns skillnader i hur fyra dimensioner av feedback uppfattades beroende på om den kom från arbetskamrat eller chef. De fyra dimensionerna var; Kvalité, Framförande, Positiv och Negativ feedback. Ytterligare ett syfte var att undersöka om kön, ålder och anställningstid hade en påverkan i uppfattningen av de fyra feedbackdimensionerna. Studien utfördes på en anstalt och en kriminalvårds-utbildningsenhet i mellan Sverige. Mätinstrumentet som användes var Feedback environment scale (FES) ursprungligen framtagen av Steelman, Levy och Snell (2004) och översatt till svenska av Jansson och Nilsson (2010). Resultatet visade att tre av fyra dimensioner, Kvalité, Framförande och Positiv feedback, hade signifikanta skillnader, feedback från arbetskamrat värderas högre än feedback från chef. Endast anställningstid hade en påverkan i uppfattning av feedback och då i dimensionerna Framförandet- och Positiv feedback. Inga övriga signifikanta effekter av anställningstid, ålder eller kön visades.

Housing deprivation is an important dimension of poverty. It is thus a key challenge of policy makers to secure decent housing. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between housing tenure types and housing deprivation in 24 European countries. Empirical analyses are based on EU-SILC 2007, enabling comparisons of deprivation across a large set of countries. A multilevel framework is employed. Two competing hypothesis are evaluated. First, whether a rental sector targeted towards low-income households, known as social housing, is successful in achieving adequate housing standards. Second, if a unified rental system covering broader income groups lowers the risk of housing deprivation. Housing deprivation is measured in terms of experiencing overcrowding and while also exhibiting any of the following deficits: a leaking roof; no bath/shower; no indoor toilet; or a dwelling considered too dark. Findings indicate a negative association between the size of the rental sector and the prevalence of housing deprivation. The organization of the rental sector appears most crucial and only the strategy of a rental sector encompassing broader parts of the population significantly reduces the prevalence of housing deprivation and its latent components. The association is robust in terms of confounding factors at the individual level and central country level contextual variables.

Since its introduction into mainstream society two decades ago, ecotourism has become an international phenomenon. Claimed by its proponents to endorse ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable travel to natural areas, ecotourism is in many ways the conceptual fusion of conservation and development. Yet, despite the optimism often associated with the phenomenon, the question of the degree to which it actually contributes to development, however defined, has become a controversial issue. Theorists and practitioners hold a variety of opinions of ecotourism, ranging from cautious optimism (Honey 2008; Ross & Wall 1999) to outright rejection (Carrier & Macleod 2005; Wheeller 2003). Unfortunately, research shows that the poorest of the poor generally bear the burden of ecotourism initiatives without receiving an equitable share of the associated benefits (Stem et al. 2003; Western & Wright 1994). In response, a sustainable livelihoods approach is proposed as a practical means of understanding the complex livelihood strategies employed by indigenous populations. While tourism research has often focused on the economic impacts of ecotourism initiatives, current livelihoods discourse suggests that the poor draw on a wide range of assets and incorporate a variety of livelihood strategies, in their pursuit of economic gain (Ashley 2002; Ashley et al. 2001; Bebbington 1999; Bennett et al. 1999; Zoomers 1999). This discourse is especially timely for pastoral populations living adjacent to protected areas in Kenya. Recent changes in government policy have promoted the subdivision of land for private ownership (Homewood et al. 2009; Leserogol 2005; Lamprey & Reid 2004), an unexpected transformation that has led to the adoption of ecotourism as a sustainable livelihood strategy. Informed by development theory, tourism theory, and property rights theory, the purpose of this research was to examine the effect of different land tenure regimes on the distribution of benefits accrued from various ecotourism initiatives, and how those benefits impact the livelihoods of the pastoral Maasai living on the periphery of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Culturally-appropriate, participatory research methods were combined with the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to document an indigenous perspective on livelihood sustainability. By adapting the conceptual framework to include cultural and historical capital, it served as a lens for viewing and identifying the culturally embedded meaning associated with the recent privatisation of Maasai property. These changes include: significant increases in income generated from ecotourism initiatives, an increased desire to cultivate land, an enhanced capacity for participating in the decision-making process, and greater diversification in local livelihood strategies. However, the empirical evidence also demonstrated that changing property regimes have led to the increased sedentarisation of these semi-nomadic people, resulting in modifications to their pastoral culture, reductions in their herd sizes, and the occasional obstruction of wildlife migratory patterns through the construction of permanent fences.

This thesis analyzes the tenure choice behavior of Turkish household heads over the period between 1985 and 2000, using a method of logit. The probability of owning the housing unit an individual lives in, is modeled by using demographic, labor market, migrational characteristics of the household head and the provincial differences as the explanatory variables. The results show that age and education of the household heads are positively correlated with probability of homeownership and they are the most influential factors determining the tenure choice of Turkish households and the discrepancy in the homeownership rates of the regions. The empirical analysis also displays that internal migrants have lower probabilities than natives and the length of stay matters the most for the tenure choice of internal migrants.