Thesis (M. P. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M. P. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

This thesis reviews theoretical and local understandings of sustainability and examines the contributions which the NGO, the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE), makes to achieving sustainability in the district of Toledo in Belize, Central America. The study focuses mainly on the Port Honduras Marine Reserve, which TIDE manages in cooperation with the Toledo Fisheries Department. Three sets of theories provide the context: theories of sustainability and sustainable development in general, theories on marine protected areas and fisheries management, and theories on NGOs. Findings show that TIDE has a vague understanding of sustainability and that there is a contradiction between the mission statement which promises a balance between environmental protection and stakeholders' economic needs, and TIDE' s actual strategies for encouraging protection for the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. In addition, TIDE's dysfunctional internal management style, such as lack of communication between the management and staff, spontaneous planning, and frequent staff turn-over prevent the organization from functioning effectively and realizing its goals. TIDE’s approach to sustainability is ineffective because it fails to integrate emic perspectives. TIDE does not take into account that local residents have an their own perspectives on sustainability, which include the fishermen's sense of stewardship for the marine environment. TIDE also does not successfully ensuring a steady income for the fishermen effectively. In light of the theories on sustainability, findings show that most theories are developed in a top-down manner that fail to integrate local understandings of sustainability. The only possible exception are holistic theories that emphasize bottom-up participation. The main recommendation for TIDE and similar NGOs is to develop a holistic approach to sustainability that includes emic perspectives. Consideration of the environment, the consideration of stakeholders' economic needs, the socio-cultural context, and an administrative political framework and a functional internal management style all need to be integrated into a successful approach to sustainability. / Graduation date: 2001 / Best scan available for figures 2-3.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-74). Also available in electronic version.

Non-governmental organizations play an increasingly important role in society today. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics, difficulties, and possibilities for NGOs working with social welfare in China. This paper presents data by using qualitative method and analyzes it with the social ecological perspective. The results of this study show that top-down NGOs like the one studied in this paper are experimental organizations which are established according to China's social environment in order to undertake the welfare services ordered by the government. In this way the government legalizes the working of NGOs. However, the result is that, on the one hand, NGOs help government to promote the quality of public services, and on the other, relying on the government becames an obstruction of NGOs development.

Privatization is defined as the sale of state-owned assets by governmental agencies to private investors (e.g., Megginson, Nash, Netter, and Poulsen, 2004; Villalonga, 2000). Research on privatization has focused on privatization techniques (e.g., share issue privatization or voucher privatization), social welfare, governmental commitments to economic development, and varieties of outcomes of privatizations. Most prior studies from the financial economics perspective take privatization as a natural research context to examine the function of capital markets, the impact of national institutional settings, and the differences between partial privatization and initial public offerings. Very little research, however, has examined the determinants of privatization from an organizational perspective. This dissertation proposes that privatization decisions of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are influenced by different interests in governmental agencies. Using the resource dependence theory, I studied the power relationships of SOEs and their governmental owners. Four panel databases of 206 pharmaceutical firms across eight years in China were combined to answer the research question of this dissertation: What is the role of power imbalance between different governmental owners in the privatization of an SOE? The results suggest that organizational effectiveness and efficiency of an SOE increase the likelihood of its privatization. Results also show that provincial governmental owners are more likely to privatize SOEs if they can successfully attract foreign direct investment projects. Furthermore, the likelihood of privatization increases with the power asymmetry between the provincial government and the central government but decreases with the degree of the defense mechanism used by SOEs.

Abstract Employing the theories of new liberalism as the analytic structure, this research paper takes the trend and changes of foreign aid during the post-cold-war period as a reference for the foreign aid policy of Taiwan. Since the government initiated Southward Policy in 1994, and signed many related investment and trade protection agreements with Indonesia, there are positive effects to the economic and trading exchange and investments between Taiwan and Indonesia. Although Indonesia has been taking the standpoint of ¡§Politically Inclining to China, Economically Inclining to Taipei,¡¨ ever since Taiwan provided aid to Indonesia, the respects to the institutions of Taiwan functioning in Indonesia have been obviously promoted. In order to meet the investments needs of Taiwanese businessmen and attract more Taiwanese businessmen to invest in the nation, Indonesia opens the import of the Chinese books and allows the building of schools exclusively for the children of Taiwanese businessmen. In future the practical diplomacy policy of Taiwan towards Indonesia should implement mutual-beneficial and mutual-trust aiding measures. The industries being beneficial to both parties should be selected. There should be policies to give guidelines to the abundant economic resources in the private sectors of Taiwan. The government should assist Indonesia to establish excellent production environment for small business so as to build up multiple cooperation channels between Taiwan and Indonesia. Besides, Taiwan government should also combine with the power of private sectors and organizations, giving aid and cooperation in a way of ¡§downward development from the top,¡¨ and strengthening the expansion of relationship with the Indonesian people and community. Once the foundation is established, spots must be gradually expanded to planes, and the political diplomatic relationship between Taiwan and Indonesia must be enhanced.

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-124). Also available online in Scholars' Bank.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): E. Cory Yoder, James Suchan. Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-112). Also available online.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 168 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-168).