Under what configuration of conditions do ethno-territorial conflicts escalate, and under what configurations of conditions is conflict avoided between a minority and the centre in multi- ethnic states? This dissertation employs qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in order to capture the causal patterns of conflict escalation and peace preservation. By simultaneously analysing the causes of conflict and the conditions of peace, this dissertation bridges a significant gap in the existing literature that assumes causal linearity and unifinality. The QCA analysis this dissertation conducts is grounded in empirical evidence from the South Caucasus where, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, three newly independent states emerged and grappled with the accommodation of ethnic-minorities and their evolving identities. The QCA analysis reveals that, contrary to the popular premise that regional autonomy is "an effective antidote" for ethno-territorial wars, autonomy in the South Caucasus was conducive to conflict and the lack of autonomy was conducive to peace. Nevertheless, this dissertation does not suggest that autonomy on its own can explain the complexity of inter-ethnic relations. Rather, it argues that there were multiple configurations of conditions that interacted to produce...

Using a Research through Design approach, this research aims to utilize the criteria of Flow outlined by Csikszentmihályi in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (2014) and later adapted to videogames by Sweetser & Wyeth in GameFlow: a model for evaluating player enjoyment in games (2005) to improve the Tower Defense game Daidala by increasing players’ time spent in a state of Flow. This serves to provide future game designers with an example of how this model and these concepts can be applied when designing and developing a game. The research was conducted by exposing players to the game as it came out of development, collecting data from semi-structured interviews and utilizing said data to construct another iteration of the game with the goal of improving players’ experience by increasing the time spent in a Flow mental state. Lastly, this iteration was tested and the results were compared to the previous iteration to determine if the changes succeeded in extending the time players spent in a state of Flow. Our findings show that the GameFlow model by Sweetser & Wyeth (2005) is a powerful tool for game designers looking to improve the experience of the player base of their game through the informed use of Flow. The model provides a solid framework for collecting and evaluating data to guide the process of iteration towards increasing time spent by players in a state of Flow.

I studien har 12 elevgrupper från 10 kommunala skolor i Malmö studerats statistiskt frånläsåren 2005/06 till 2013/14. Utifrån elevernas socioekonomiska bakgrund undersöktes effekten av skolornas resursutbud för PISA-resultaten i årskurs 9. Genom teorier om skolan som arena för social reproduktion av medelklassens värden, visade analysen att skolan inte uppväger för arbetarklasselever utan eftergymnasialt utbildade föräldrar. Slutsatserna visade att observationsgruppernas höga lärarbehörighet kombinerat med ökad lärartäthet för utsatta elevgrupper, inte ensamt utjämnar bakgrundsrelaterad skolsegregation. Som insatskomplement bör skolornas elevsammansättning ses som en administrativt förändringsbar resurs, jämte utökat arbete för bredare konsensus mellan hem och skola kring utbildningens betydelse och form. / This study carries out a Qualitative Comparative Analysis [QCA] of 12 groups of studentsfrom 10 public schools in Malmoe. Based on students’ socioeconomic background, the study examines the effect of school resources across 9 years of elementary school; on PISA results in grade 9. Using the theoretical framework that school is an institution to promote social reproduction of middle-class values; the analysis demonstrates that school does not compensate working class students. The study's conclusions where that the observation groups generally high teaching qualifications; combined with increased teacher ratio for vulnerable student groups, not alone were sufficient resources to equalize background related school segregation. These need to be complemented with a broader consensus between home and school about the importance of education and its execution. Also the school pupil homogeneous composition should thereto be seen as an administrative opportunity to level the playing field in the present segregated school situation.

No description available.

With its central role in the development of public-private partnership (PPP) contracts, procurement structure has a significant influence on the economic and policy success of privately-financed toll roads throughout their lifecycle. Following a review of PPP fundamentals and the public-policy differentiation between public interest and public objectives, several approaches for establishing the key contract strategies of toll pricing, concession length, and risk mitigation are explored. These underpinnings motivate the central research question: Given specific policy objectives for road pricing, how should public owners select PPP contract strategies which support these outcomes? Through qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), a recently-developed method for evaluating qualitative data quantitatively, patterns of PPP contract strategies which correspond to three common policy objectives--achieving a specific toll rate, managing congestion, and minimizing state subsidy/maximizing revenue--are identified through evaluation of 18 domestic and international projects. Three practical decision-making tools resulting from this work are illustrated through application to current PPP procurements: (1) a traffic-risk worksheet, which provides a rapid estimate of a toll-financed project's viability; (2) analytical QCA results, which offer guidance for structuring PPP contracts based on the desired pricing objectives; and (3) case-library comparisons, which enable drawing parallels between proposed procurements and established PPP projects. Additional insights explore the nature of risk in this study, which concludes with thoughts on the appropriate role of PPPs in infrastructure delivery. / Ph. D.

Since the 1950s, Capacity Development (CD) has been an important component of international development agendas. It established the widespread consensus that the capacity of individuals and organizations is critical to maintaining and enhancing the effectiveness of development projects and programs. A problem, however, is that the concept has been applied without due consideration to how it should be adapted to the local context, making it more of a symbolic gesture. The application of CD to urban infrastructure projects in India is one such example. Recognizing the shortage of urban infrastructure as one of the major impediments in India's economic growth and rapid urbanization, the Government of India (GOI) launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in December 2005 to provide substantial central financial assistance to cities for urban development over a period of seven years. The GOI expected the JNNURM to reform institutions and strengthen human resource capability related to many areas of project delivery. During its implementation, however, the JNNURM has been confronted by problems related to a lack of capacity. This research reviews the capacity challenges related to the JNNURM program and considers the broader implications for urban infrastructure development in other developing countries. This research begins with the question "How can CD be operationalized?" From this starting point, the research seeks to reveal the operational values of CD. Following a detailed literature review on CD, capacity factors that are applicable to the urban sector in India are identified and a CD framework is developed. Two research methods--case studies and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA)--are adopted to answer the primary research questions. By leveraging the strength of these two methods, this research advances our understanding of the relationship between capacity and development goals such as improving project performance. In the case studies, this research investigates the gaps between CD theory and practice through the lens of practitioner perceptions of CD. In addition, unlike traditional thinking on the linear relationship between capacity and project outcomes, the case studies reveal two-way causal relationships between capacity and project outcomes that form a spiral structure between the project delivery process and capacity factors. Better capacity can enhance project performance and lead to better outcomes, and project performance and outcomes also influence and reinforce capacity in the reverse direction. Moreover, through the fsQCA, this research identified causal relationships between capacity factors and outcomes and demonstrated that the capacity factors generate different outcomes through their interactions with other capacity factors. This finding contributes to our understanding of how capacity is interconnected with development goals. In summary, this research contributes to both CD theory and CD practice based on a comprehensive approach that not only considers CD at multiple levels (environmental, organizational/network, and individual/project), but also covers different CD subjects such as context, actors, dimensions, processes, and impacts. Through this comprehensive approach, a range of important findings are developed that can help researchers and practitioners operationalize the complex concept of CD. / Ph. D.

O pior dos dois mundos traduz a hipótese de que atualmente adolescentes seriam tratados com a informalidade histórica associada à justiça juvenil, isto é, com poucas garantias processuais, ao mesmo tempo em que receberiam sanções mais duras, como é a atual tendência na justiça criminal adulta. Este trabalho investiga o que o Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) decide em 53 casos paradigmáticos acerca dessas duas questões: proteção processual e controle penal de adolescentes. Verifica-se também como o tribunal decide em relação à gravidade dos casos, à possibilidade de privação de liberdade e à solução que o Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente (ECA) confere a cada caso. Igualmente, pesquisa-se como o tribunal justifica suas decisões. A partir de elementos da sociologia de Pierre Bourdieu, constrói-se a decisão judicial punitiva como ato de Estado, que detém o monopólio da violência física e simbólica legítima. Essa construção sublinha a importância de se observar que a decisão judicial não acarreta apenas a imposição física de um castigo, mas também contribui para a instituição das formas legítimas de se pensar sobre o fenômeno. Igualmente, utiliza-se a noção de vocabulários de motivos de Wright Mills, que permite pensar as justificativas dos magistrados não como explicações de por que agiram de determinada forma, nem como mera justificação para encobrir suas reais intenções, mas como construções linguísticas cujo uso se estabiliza em certas ações socialmente situadas, tornando-se, portanto, os vocabulários socialmente aceitos nessas situações. Assim, padrão decisório e padrão de justificação são estudados em conjunto, dada sua contribuição para a legitimação de práticas e de discursos sobre a punição no campo jurídico e no restante do espaço social. Para apreender o padrão decisório do tribunal, utiliza-se a qualitative comparative analysis, que permite a verificação da associação entre os atributos das decisões e seu resultado. Infere-se que o tribunal institui como legítimos dois modelos distintos de justiça juvenil. Nos casos graves, amplia o controle penal e a possibilidade de aplicação de internação e restringe a proteção processual (mesmo em contrariedade ao ECA). Nos leves, restringe o controle penal e a possibilidade de internação e amplia a proteção processual (mesmo em contrariedade ao ECA). Há ainda os casos que são indiferentes à gravidade, pois se aplicam tanto a situações graves como leves. Nestes o STJ impõe o controle penal previsto no ECA (não costuma contrariá-lo para ampliar ou restringir o controle) e restringe a proteção processual (mesmo em contrariedade ao ECA). A ampliação do controle penal é sustentada pela afirmação do caráter punitivo da sanção e pela importância de se tomarem decisões de acordo com a gravidade da situação e com o caso concreto. Já a informalidade do procedimento é sustentada a partir de uma aproximação à justiça penal adulta, e não pela afirmação da finalidade reabilitadora da intervenção, como ocorreu historicamente na justiça de jovens. A restrição do controle penal é sustentada pela afirmação de que o ato sob julgamento não é grave. Já a ampliação de proteção processual é justificada pela ideia de que o procedimento da justiça juvenil deve respeitar a Constituição. Outros vocabulários não foram associados de modo unívoco a um resultado, mas revelam que o STJ realiza uma justaposição de modelos ideais de justiça, cuja relação é aditiva: é legítimo punir e educar; afastar a lei adulta e aproximá-la, focalizar a gravidade do ato e as características pessoais do adolescente, proteger o jovem e a sociedade. Se por um lado esses vocabulários não são construídos como contraditórios, tampouco há um esforço em mostrar sua ligação. / According to the worst of both worlds hypothesis, youth offenders are being treated with the informality (and consequent lack of procedural protection) that has historically guided juvenile justice, while simultaneously being punished in a harsher fashion (especially with incarceration), as is the tendency in adult justice. This dissertation investigates how the Superior Court of Justice (SCJ) rules in 53 landmark cases regarding penal control and procedural protection in juvenile justice, and how the court motivates its rulings. Three other elements of the courts attitudes toward cases are considered: seriousness of offenses, use of incarceration and the literal solution the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent provides to each case. Employing elements of Pierre Bourdieus theory, punitive judicial decisions are construed as acts of state, which carry the monopoly of physical and symbolic violence. According to this perspective, criminal courts rulings not only impose suffering, but also communicate the legitimate ways of conceiving crime and its appropriate reactions to it. Also, this dissertation relies on Wright Mills concept of vocabularies of motive to construe judicial motivation theoretically. This concept avoids framing motives as real explanations for why courts decide and as mere rationalizations that covers courts real intentions. Instead, courts motivations are interpreted as linguistic constructions whose use become stable in certain social situations, hence becoming the legitimate motives accepted in such situations. An adaptation of qualitative comparative analysis is used to account for the SCJ decision-making pattern. In sum, the SCJ institutes two legitimate juvenile justice models. In serious cases, the SCJ expands penal control and the use of incarceration, and restricts procedural protection (even against statutory provisions). In non-serious cases, the SCJ restricts penal control and the use of incarceration, and expands procedural protection (even against statutory provisions). Some cases apply to all youths, regardless of the crime committed. In these cases, the SCJ shows an intermediary stance regarding penal control (it simply follows statutory positions), and restricts procedural protection (even against statutory provisions). As to its reasoning, the SCJ expands penal control on the following grounds: i. state response has a punitive character; ii. seriousness of the offense is an important criterion to make decisions in youth justice, iii. as is the need to make individualized decisions. Procedural protection restriction, on the other hand, is justified by an embracement of criminal justice principles, which contrasts with the historical tendency of the juvenile justice system that had rejected these same principles. Penal control restriction is justified by the idea that some acts are not serious. Procedural protection expansion is justified by the idea that juvenile justice procedures should follow Constitutional principles. Other vocabularies employed by the SCJ have not been clearly associated with specific outcomes. However, they reveal that the court promotes a juxtaposition of different ideal models of justice. According to the SCJ, it is legitimate both to punish and to rehabilitate, to accept adult criminal law rules and to reject them, to focus on cases seriousness and on offenders characteristics, to protect offenders and society. Though these pairs are not presented as contradictory, their connection is not made explicit.

O pior dos dois mundos traduz a hipótese de que atualmente adolescentes seriam tratados com a informalidade histórica associada à justiça juvenil, isto é, com poucas garantias processuais, ao mesmo tempo em que receberiam sanções mais duras, como é a atual tendência na justiça criminal adulta. Este trabalho investiga o que o Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) decide em 53 casos paradigmáticos acerca dessas duas questões: proteção processual e controle penal de adolescentes. Verifica-se também como o tribunal decide em relação à gravidade dos casos, à possibilidade de privação de liberdade e à solução que o Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente (ECA) confere a cada caso. Igualmente, pesquisa-se como o tribunal justifica suas decisões. A partir de elementos da sociologia de Pierre Bourdieu, constrói-se a decisão judicial punitiva como ato de Estado, que detém o monopólio da violência física e simbólica legítima. Essa construção sublinha a importância de se observar que a decisão judicial não acarreta apenas a imposição física de um castigo, mas também contribui para a instituição das formas legítimas de se pensar sobre o fenômeno. Igualmente, utiliza-se a noção de vocabulários de motivos de Wright Mills, que permite pensar as justificativas dos magistrados não como explicações de por que agiram de determinada forma, nem como mera justificação para encobrir suas reais intenções, mas como construções linguísticas cujo uso se estabiliza em certas ações socialmente situadas, tornando-se, portanto, os vocabulários socialmente aceitos nessas situações. Assim, padrão decisório e padrão de justificação são estudados em conjunto, dada sua contribuição para a legitimação de práticas e de discursos sobre a punição no campo jurídico e no restante do espaço social. Para apreender o padrão decisório do tribunal, utiliza-se a qualitative comparative analysis, que permite a verificação da associação entre os atributos das decisões e seu resultado. Infere-se que o tribunal institui como legítimos dois modelos distintos de justiça juvenil. Nos casos graves, amplia o controle penal e a possibilidade de aplicação de internação e restringe a proteção processual (mesmo em contrariedade ao ECA). Nos leves, restringe o controle penal e a possibilidade de internação e amplia a proteção processual (mesmo em contrariedade ao ECA). Há ainda os casos que são indiferentes à gravidade, pois se aplicam tanto a situações graves como leves. Nestes o STJ impõe o controle penal previsto no ECA (não costuma contrariá-lo para ampliar ou restringir o controle) e restringe a proteção processual (mesmo em contrariedade ao ECA). A ampliação do controle penal é sustentada pela afirmação do caráter punitivo da sanção e pela importância de se tomarem decisões de acordo com a gravidade da situação e com o caso concreto. Já a informalidade do procedimento é sustentada a partir de uma aproximação à justiça penal adulta, e não pela afirmação da finalidade reabilitadora da intervenção, como ocorreu historicamente na justiça de jovens. A restrição do controle penal é sustentada pela afirmação de que o ato sob julgamento não é grave. Já a ampliação de proteção processual é justificada pela ideia de que o procedimento da justiça juvenil deve respeitar a Constituição. Outros vocabulários não foram associados de modo unívoco a um resultado, mas revelam que o STJ realiza uma justaposição de modelos ideais de justiça, cuja relação é aditiva: é legítimo punir e educar; afastar a lei adulta e aproximá-la, focalizar a gravidade do ato e as características pessoais do adolescente, proteger o jovem e a sociedade. Se por um lado esses vocabulários não são construídos como contraditórios, tampouco há um esforço em mostrar sua ligação. / According to the worst of both worlds hypothesis, youth offenders are being treated with the informality (and consequent lack of procedural protection) that has historically guided juvenile justice, while simultaneously being punished in a harsher fashion (especially with incarceration), as is the tendency in adult justice. This dissertation investigates how the Superior Court of Justice (SCJ) rules in 53 landmark cases regarding penal control and procedural protection in juvenile justice, and how the court motivates its rulings. Three other elements of the courts attitudes toward cases are considered: seriousness of offenses, use of incarceration and the literal solution the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent provides to each case. Employing elements of Pierre Bourdieus theory, punitive judicial decisions are construed as acts of state, which carry the monopoly of physical and symbolic violence. According to this perspective, criminal courts rulings not only impose suffering, but also communicate the legitimate ways of conceiving crime and its appropriate reactions to it. Also, this dissertation relies on Wright Mills concept of vocabularies of motive to construe judicial motivation theoretically. This concept avoids framing motives as real explanations for why courts decide and as mere rationalizations that covers courts real intentions. Instead, courts motivations are interpreted as linguistic constructions whose use become stable in certain social situations, hence becoming the legitimate motives accepted in such situations. An adaptation of qualitative comparative analysis is used to account for the SCJ decision-making pattern. In sum, the SCJ institutes two legitimate juvenile justice models. In serious cases, the SCJ expands penal control and the use of incarceration, and restricts procedural protection (even against statutory provisions). In non-serious cases, the SCJ restricts penal control and the use of incarceration, and expands procedural protection (even against statutory provisions). Some cases apply to all youths, regardless of the crime committed. In these cases, the SCJ shows an intermediary stance regarding penal control (it simply follows statutory positions), and restricts procedural protection (even against statutory provisions). As to its reasoning, the SCJ expands penal control on the following grounds: i. state response has a punitive character; ii. seriousness of the offense is an important criterion to make decisions in youth justice, iii. as is the need to make individualized decisions. Procedural protection restriction, on the other hand, is justified by an embracement of criminal justice principles, which contrasts with the historical tendency of the juvenile justice system that had rejected these same principles. Penal control restriction is justified by the idea that some acts are not serious. Procedural protection expansion is justified by the idea that juvenile justice procedures should follow Constitutional principles. Other vocabularies employed by the SCJ have not been clearly associated with specific outcomes. However, they reveal that the court promotes a juxtaposition of different ideal models of justice. According to the SCJ, it is legitimate both to punish and to rehabilitate, to accept adult criminal law rules and to reject them, to focus on cases seriousness and on offenders characteristics, to protect offenders and society. Though these pairs are not presented as contradictory, their connection is not made explicit.

Recent developments around the sharing economy bring to the fore questions of governability and broader societal Benefit-and subsequently the need to explore effective means of public governance, from nurturing, on the one hand, to restriction, on the other. As sharing is a predominately urban phenomenon in modern societies, cities around the globe have become both locus of action and central actor in the debates over the nature and organization of the sharing economy. However, cities vary substantially in the interpretation of potential opportunities and challenges, as well as in their governance responses. Building on a qualitative comparative analysis of 16 leading global cities, our findings reveal four framings of the sharing economy: "societal endangerment","societal enhancement", "market disruption", and "ecological Transition". Such framings go hand in hand with patterned governance responses: although there is considerable heterogeneity in the combination of public governance strategies, we find specific configurations of framings and public governance strategies. Our work reflects the political and ethical debates on various economic, social, and moral issues related to the sharing economy, and contrib-utes to a better understanding of the field-level institutional Arrangements-a prerequisite for examining moral behavior of sharing economy organizations.

Attractiveness matters in business markets, because firms do not dedicate resources equally to all partners. Instead they invest more resources in partners with higher relational attractiveness. Firms need to become attractive in order to gain access to more resources or to be able to work with more skilled or reputable partners. This dissertation studies the construct of relational attractiveness of the customer (RAC), defined as the attractiveness of a business relationship with a particular customer in the eyes of the supplier. The research also investigates corporate online references (COR), because gaining powerful referrals is one of the driving forces behind creating attractiveness in business markets. The study is a three-stage research project drawing on an empirical investigation comprising two focus groups, 79 interviews, a survey of 107 suppliers and online referral data from 1002 companies. These studies investigate the conditions and configurations leading to high or low relational attractiveness, and the motivational conditions and structure of a specific corporate online referral network. Bearing in mind that attractiveness exists in the eyes of the beholder, Study I resolves the previously unclarified problem of how attractiveness can be achieved in different ways. Social Exchange Theory helps to identify conditions of RAC: Trust, Dependency, Financial, Non-Financial Rewards and Costs. In Study II conditions of Trust and Dependency are further developed into Relational Fit and the Comparison Level of Alternatives that address the mutuality and network perspectives of relationship development. The time perspective is introduced to the configurational analysis of RAC through the Maturity condition. As it is revealed in Study I and II, Nonfinancial Rewards are important in creating attractiveness and one of their essential forms is referrals that are addressed in more detail in Study III. This PhD research takes a configurational approach to attractiveness and explores different causal recipes in order to reach the same outcome. In order to investigate the relational complexity of attractiveness, fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) is applied throughout the three studies combined with some other methods, such as content analysis and Social Network Analysis (SNA). QCA is a data analytic strategy that combines within-case analysis and formalised cross-case studies in order to identify multiple configurations leading to the same outcome. Hence, QCA deals more efficiently with the equifinality of complex business problems compared with traditional data analysis methods. Equifinality means that there are various ways in the causal system of achieving the desired outcome. QCA is sufficient in handling methodological challenges such as multi-causality (an outcome of interest rarely has a single cause), interrelatedness (causes are usually not independent of one another) and asymmetry (a specific cause may have different effects on the outcome depending on the context). By challenging existing knowledge, the results show that there is no one best way to achieve relational attractiveness. It is achievable even if Trust and Financial Rewards are not present. Very high RAC was typically achieved in less mature relationships. During the initiation of referral relationships in the case of COR, the expected increase in the initiators` attractiveness in the eyes of potential future partners also plays a vital role. The generalizability of the findings has some limitations, especially regarding the qualitative study where the results are appropriate to falsify some theories (for example, the primary importance of Financial Rewards) but their impact is more related to theoretical development than to statistical generalizability.