Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-94).

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-94) Also available in print.

All democratic organisations operate under a particular set of rules. Such procedures are implemented by the very individuals that create and maintain them, usually under a majority voting rule. This research project engages with the question of why and how members of parliament "abdicate" procedural power, focusing on the evolution of the rules of debate in the UK House of Commons. Working from newly collected data on the reform of Standing Orders of the House spanning 205 years (1811 - 2015), as well as records of over six million speeches, it provides a new perspective on procedural choice. Framing debate as a platform for speech-as-filibuster behaviour, I develop a formal model where the decision to support an anti-dilatory reform is primarily a function of polarisation. I show that legislators adopt restrictive rules when they are more likely to share policy preferences with colleagues within their party. The presence of shared views, then, motivates MPs to prioritise responsible use of the common resource of plenary time over individual policy influence. Both empirically and theoretically, my research offers new insights into the process of parliamentary reform in the absence of party discipline, and studies how the dynamics of procedural choice change as political parties enter the stage. Methodologically, it makes a contribution to the text-as-data field, exploring the use of novel machine-learning techniques in the measurement of political preferences.

This research aims at understanding how business networks influence the commercialization of emerging technologies. It focuses on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field of nanotechnology in the UK and aims to identify what types of networks they use for commercialization. It also examines how different types of networks can explain success or otherwise in commercialization with respect to the position of the SME in the value chain and the type of resulting innovation. Various streams of literature including debates on SMEs and innovation, open innovation, the innovation systems literature, and the industrial networks approach are used to develop a conceptual framework that guides this research. Using a case study approach, 23 Nanotech SMEs in the UK are investigated. Secondary data on firms are gathered from various sources including company websites and the FAME database. Primary data are collected through 40 semi-structured interviews with SMEs’ senior managers and key informants. Data analysis is based upon thematic analysis. The findings present a typology of networks based on a combination of network structure and actor roles, including six network types: incumbent-oriented network with reactive SME, incumbent-oriented network with proactive SME, SME-oriented network, broker-oriented networks, hybrid networks and interrupted networks. The findings indicate that a reactive approach towards networking is less conducive to commercialization, regardless of the innovation type or value chain position. SMEs can proactively create incumbent-oriented, SME-oriented or broker-oriented networks to facilitate commercialization. Incumbent-oriented networks with proactive SMEs are conducive to commercialization of both nanomaterials and nano-intermediate products and can facilitate commercialization of moderately and highly radical nanotechnology. SME-oriented networks are also conducive to commercialization of moderately and highly radical nanotechnology, but have been used for commercialization of nano-enabled products. Broker-oriented networks can facilitate commercialization of technologies or products developed in the upstream part of the value chain and are more influential in the commercialization of moderately or highly radical nanotechnology. Some Nanotech SMEs are simultaneously involved in more than one network type, i.e. have hybrid networks, pursuing multiple strategies for commercialization. All SMEs with hybrid networks have broker-oriented networks in common and in some cases the broker-oriented network has caused formation of other network types. Finally, the findings show how interrupted networks pose the biggest challenge for commercialization. The thesis contributes to the debates on SMEs and innovation and the gap on how open innovation is implemented within the context of SMEs and emerging technologies. This research also informs SME managers' strategies and choices related to participation in business networks. It provides further insights for policy makers regarding the networking behaviour of SMEs and contribution of various network actors to commercialization and in this way assists with devising policies for encouraging and facilitating collaboration for commercialization.

Exploration, production and marketing of oil and gas by listed Nigerian oil and gas companies are fraught with lots of negative social and environmental impacts. Corporate social disclosure is a medium employed by corporations to communicate their impacts and commitments to the society and environment. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to describe and explain social and environmental disclosure practices by listed Nigerian oil and gas companies as gauged with disclosure by listed UK oil and gas companies for the period 2004-2013. The objectives are to determine the nature of disclosures by sampled companies, measure and analyse quantity and quality of the disclosures, analyse trends of the disclosures, find out differences in the disclosures and to explore the effects of corporate characteristics on the disclosures. Content analysis of annual reports and accounts and sustainability reports, scoring quality of disclosures based on Global Reporting Initiative disclosure guidelines, two samples t-tests and Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) regression analysis were employed to achieve the aim and objectives of the study. Legitimacy debate and vulnerability and exploitability analytical framework were espoused to develop a theoretical framework to underpin the study. Results indicate Nigerian companies making disclosure on fewer social and environmental aspects than UK companies. Quantity and quality of disclosure by Nigerian companies are low compared to UK companies. While quantity of disclosure by both showed increasing trends, quality of disclosure depicted decreasing trends. Sampled companies are found complying with mandatory social disclosure. Corporate size, leverage, efficiency and liquidity are found significant in explaining disclosures by sampled companies. Low quantity and quality of disclosure by listed Nigerian oil and gas companies is indicating low social accountability. This result may be useful to policy makers in the industry to dialogue with managers of the companies on the importance of their social accountability to overall national sustainable development efforts. Likewise, policy makers may put in place regulatory and enforcement mechanisms on social disclosures as mandating disclosure is found effective. Disclosure practices by listed Nigerian oil and gas companies portrayed the significance of colonial relationship between Nigeria and the UK. The use of modified words counts content analysis, and the theoretical framework that underpins the study might be of significance in this study in particular and social disclosure studies in general.

An image processing technique was applied to detect roddon soil features from UK-DMC2 base data. Roddon soil features represent former watercourses in English Fenland, now raised banks with altered soil composition. They can be clearly seen on remotely sensed imagery as bright features in contrast to the darker surrounding peat land. Based on difference in brightness of roddons and surrounding peat soil the Soil Brightness Index (SBI) was applied to detect the roddons. To identify the edges of these features where there is a large spectral contrast a non-directional filter was applied together with an image enhancing technique to better differentiate the roddons form other non-soil features. Understanding the location of roddons will allow adaptive farming practices that account for differences in soil properties, and help optimizing yields.

The aim of this research project is to critically investigate the intersection between british asylum policy and social care practice. The study evaluates normative frameworks present in the policy documents related to social care provision to asylum seekers and refugees, explores how front line social care workers' practice aligns with those policies, and looks into the consequences of their assessments and interventions on the lives of asylum seekers and refugees in England.

The thesis takes as its central object and problematic the contentious status of domain names in global and domestic legal systems. It considers the manner in which advances in technology have blurred the legal rights between domain names and the existing laws of trademark, contract, copyright and property. As it stands, domain names are presented as a secondary right attached to other legal rights such as trademark or contract law, rather than as a new form, or species, of intellectual property. And yet, domain names represent a valuable, distinct and scarce commodity, which, in so far as they are capable of exclusive and excludable use, control and “ownership”, exhibit regularities common to forms of property. This thesis seeks to justify the application of legal frameworks with respect to domain name registration and use to prepare the way for a discussion of the highly qualified recognition of domain names as legal property in United States courts and, to some extent, by arbitral tribunals acting under the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ICANN mandated Uniform Dispute Resolution Mechanism. By means of a detailed exploration of the legal and practical challenges accompanying the meteoric rise of Internet technology and commerce, the thesis intends to clarify the fundamental reasons for some of the current controversies. The thesis proceeds, in a first step, to identify several “gaps” in the current framework of domain name regulation, drawing the readers’ attention to the, arguably, flawed treatment of the legal issue surrounding domain name use, control and ownership by courts and tribunals against the background of the accelerating monetisation and commoditisation of domain names. In capsule, this thesis aims to conduct a review into existing scholarship and case law on trademarks and domain names, in addition to contract and property law. It focuses on the associated legal frameworks for each, supported by cases that demonstrate their legal standing as a newly emergent property-based right. Moreover, the thesis sets these reflections against a broader discussion of doctrinal developments in the area of trademark law, the emerging role of ICANN as a custodian of the technical domain name allocation functions; the origins and theory behind the concept of property as distinct from the law of contract and, finally, the relevance of property rights to the legal standing of domain names. The thesis concludes by arguing that domain names should be treated as expressions of contract and property law, and that the relationship between domain names and trademark law be critically assessed and not confused. Further, it is argued that courts should take account of this duality towards the development of a revised framework for the regulation and adjudication of domain name assignment and use. A movement in this direction would stabilise expectations around the rights owed to, and by, domain name “owners”, alleviating the uncertainty that remains as to their status under law, while reducing the scope for dispute. By taking these issues one by one, this thesis aspires to make a small but important critical contribution to the intellectual and political debate on the future development and enforcement of domain name law.

This thesis explores the relationships between punk and anarchism in the contemporary contexts of the UK, Poland, and Indonesia from an insider punk and anarchist perspective. New primary ethnographic information forms the bulk of the research, drawing on Grounded Theory Method and an engagement with Orientalism. The theoretical framework is informed by the concept of antinomy which embraces complication and contradiction and rather than attempt to smooth-out complexities, impose a simplified narrative, or construct a fanciful dialectic, the thesis examines the numerous tensions that emerge in order to critique the relationships between punk and anarchism. A key tension which runs throughout the PhD is the dismissal of punk by some anarchists. This is often couched in terms of lifestylist versus workerist anarchism, with punk being denigrated in association with the former. The case studies bring out this tension, but also significantly complicate it, and the final chapter analyses this issue in more detail to argue that punk engages with a wide spectrum of anarchisms, and that the lifestylist / workerist dichotomy is anyway false. The case studies themselves focus on themes such as anti-fascism, food sovereignty/animal rights activism, politicisation, feminism, squatting, religion, and repression. New empirical information, garnered through numerous interviews and extensive participant observation in the UK, Poland, and Indonesia, informs the thick description of the case study contexts. The theory and analysis emerge from this data, and the voice of the punks themselves is given primacy here.

This project aimed to explore the lives of people with epilepsy living in the UK and Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, using qualitative and quantitative methods with a particular focus on stigma and quality of life. This study further explored others’ perceptions concerning those with epilepsy, particularly in regards to knowledge and stigma about epilepsy. Participants were all over the age of 18. The UK sample was recruited from personal contacts and Epilepsy Action conferences. The Kurdistan participants were recruited from Neurology clinics and personal contacts. Data collection consisted of snowball and convenience sampling. The first study was a qualitative investigation looking at people with epilepsy, 10 participants from the UK and 10 participants from Kurdistan were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The interview schedule was exploratory and non-intrusive. The transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. From the analysis five main themes were uncovered; they were (1) The Experience of Seizures; (2) Impact of Living with Epilepsy; (3) Adjustment; (4) Coping and; (5) Stigma, each with two sub-themes. The second study was a quantitative study of people with epilepsy which looked at knowledge of epilepsy, seizure severity, perceived illness seriousness, perceived stigma, depression and quality of life. The total number of participants that took part in the second study was 84 participants in the UK group and 88 in the Kurdistan group. Using Hierarchical Multiple Regression, the results showed that depression and stigma, mediated by depression, are main predictors of quality of life amongst people with epilepsy. The third study investigated people without epilepsy which looked at knowledge of epilepsy and stigma regarding people with the condition. There were 116 participants in the UK group and 200 from the Kurdistan group. Using ANCOVA, Multivariate General Linear Model and Linear Regression, the results showed that the UK participants had significantly better knowledge of epilepsy compared to the Kurdistan group; however, although stigma was higher among the Kurdish group, a significant result was not observed.