Syftet med denna studie är att få större kunskap om NT-projektet, vilket är en kommunalsatsning på naturvetenskap och teknik, och om denna satsning gjort någon skillnad när det kommer till pedagogernas arbete med kemi i kommunens förskolor. Vidare kommer det också undersökas om de som arbetar med NT-projektet har någon särskild utbildning. Detta då det finns intresse att utvärdera NT-projektet och deras ”NT-lådor” samt införskaffa kunskap inom detta område inför framtida arbete inom kommunen ifråga. Kvalitativ- och kvantitativforskningsmetod har använts för att nå fram till frågeställningen. Jag har genomfört en kvalitativ intervju som var ostrukturerad. Ostrukturerade intervjuer liknar vanliga samtal och passar bäst i detta sammanhang då jag inte har stor kunskap när det kommer till NT-projektet. Jag har även genomfört en enkätundersökning som riktade sig till pedagogerna i tretton förskolor. Resultatet av intervjun ledde till en större inblick i NT-projektet och dess arbete.  Enkätundersökningens resultat visar på betydelsen av material, kunskap och tid, faktorer som uppfattas som bristfälliga i den pedagogiska verksamheten i dagsläget. / The purpose of this study is to gain a greater knowledge of the NT project, which is a local government investment in science and technology, and if this effort made ​​a difference when it comes to the teachers' work in chemistry in the municipal preschools. Furthermore, it will also examine whether those who work with NT project has any special training. There is an interest to evaluate NT-project and their "NT-boxes" and acquire knowledge in this area for future work within the community in question. Qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used to reach the issue. I conducted a qualitative interview that was unstructured. Unstructured interviews are similar to regular conversation and fits best in this context, this because I do not have great knowledge regarding the NT-project. I have also carried out a survey which was directed to the educators in thirteen preschools. The result of the interview led to a greater insight into the NT-project and its achievements. Questionnaire survey results show the importance of materials, knowledge and time, factors that are perceived as deficient in the preschool in the current situation.

Agriculture is crucial to the economic and social wellbeing of the Republic of Cameroon. A national need for increased productivity, farm incomes, food security and rural development requires more effective agricultural extension and advisory systems. The need is persistent. This study analyzed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that existed within the current national extension program and examined how form, function, and policy influenced two regions in Cameroon. Analysis focused on 15-year time changes using a comparative case study design. Four regional focus groups and 28 individual interviews bounded 59 cases from four stakeholder groups of farmer leaders, non-governmental organizations, extension representatives, and governmental counterparts. Eighteen primary themes emerged with overlap of opportunities and threats among stakeholders. Incentives to program performance included staff competence and innovative technology transfer. Barriers included infrastructure, postharvest technology, market incentives, financial sustainability, and feedback. A lack of vision for sustainability, inadequate government funding, poor collaboration and linkages, uncoordinated parallel programs, and ineffective management systems reduced program potential. Four themes framed recommendations for improved programs: government investment, trainings, market incentives, and management. Options to improve program sustainability included subsidies that benefit all farmers, more council and private sector engagement with extension, rural infrastructure development, price standardization, and fees for service. Medium and large-scale farmers were willing to pay for extension services when and if available whereas small-scale farmers relied heavily on subsidized services. Accessibility to markets, farm size, and cash crop production are associated with farmers’ acceptance of fees for service. These findings highlighted areas where changes in the nation’s agricultural extension service could improve its relevance in meeting performance targets. Stakeholders’ recommendations for more effective agricultural extension and advisory systems included: 1) providing an autonomous extension service that focuses on specific needs and market opportunities and coordinates all support/parallel programs while collaborating among research and private advisory services; 2) implementing holistic government policies that integrate technology transfer, innovation, health, value-chains, and markets to benefit all farmers; 3) redesigning subsidies that equitability incentivize production and sound environmental practices that benefit all farmers; 4) increasing in-service trainings related to innovations; and 5) updating innovations and harmonizing program activities.

The purpose of this dissertation is to be an introductory examination of whether the use of the Prudent Person Rule in place of legal list investment restrictions could have a significant difference upon the return on investment that a state or local government may receive through its cash management practices. The dissertation will examine this issue by studying the effect of the Prudent Person Rule and legal list limitations on state-run local government investment pools in the United States. The specific question to be asked in this study will be: "Is there a difference in the return on investment yield performance of state-run local government investment pools among those operating under the Prudent Person Rule fiduciary standard, those operating under a legal list fiduciary standard, and those operating under a combination legal list/Prudent Person Rule fiduciary standard, for the five-year period beginning with Fiscal Year 1992 and ending with Fiscal Year 1996? It appears from this brief examination that there may be a difference in return among state-run pools operating under different fiduciary standards. However, because of various factors that might affect the results, the author believes that this is just a preliminary study, and that further research must be done on this important topic in public cash management. / Ph. D.

Thesis (MDevF (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study looks at South Africa and Brazil in a comparative sense to determine how infrastructure development and investment since 1970 to 2002 impacted not only on aggregate GDP but also on social indicators such as gross national income (GNI), infant mortality and literacy within these countries. Although Brazil is four times the size of South Africa, the two countries have political and economic situations that are similar. The more recent history of the two countries suggests that infrastructure development and investment have received priority. The research methodology was to review related literature, secondly to statistically measure the impact of infrastructure investment on the factors mentioned using a linear regression model and, thirdly to analyze and discuss the outcomes. The role of government in infrastructure development is argued to be one of limited capital investment and more of a regulatory one with the consequent result of crowding-in private sector investment. Brazil has in recent times followed a route of public-private partnerships with the South African government on the other hand being the principal investor for infrastructure. The magnitude of elasticity of the impact of infrastructure in both South Africa and Brazil was found to be unusually large implying an implausibly high marginal rate of productivity for capital investment. This could be because of the incompleteness of the data obtained. Furthermore, infrastructure investment in Brazil is found to have a larger social impact than in South Africa, except for aggregate GDP. In conclusion, the results of the statistical analysis corroborate the assertion of the various literatures surveyed. The main findings of the analysis in this study do not conclusively suggest that the path followed by Brazil through public-private partnerships has had a far better effect than in the case of South Africa utilizing substantial government investment to promote infrastructure development. Although the study was not geared towards the effect of policies on the impact of infrastructure, especially on the social fabric of developing countries, further research in this area could be undertaken. The impact of individual measures of economic infrastructure such as railways, roads, ports, air travel, telephones and electricity could also be researched to determine their economic impact in South Africa and Brazil. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie tref ‘n vergelyking tussen Suid-Afrika en Brasilië om vas te stel hoe die ontwikkeling van infrastruktuur en belegging sedert 1970 tot 2002 nie net op die totale bruto binnelandse produk, maar ook op die sosiale aanwysers soos die bruto nasionale inkomste, die sterftesyfers van babas en die geletterdheidsvlakke van die lande impak. Alhoewel Brasilië vier maal groter as Suid-Afrika is, het die twee lande soortgelyke politieke en ekonomiese situasies. Die meer onlangse geskiedenis van die twee lande toon ook dat infrastruktuur en belegging geprioritiseer is. Die navorsingsmetodologie wat gebruik is, is om eerstens die betrokke literatuur te hersien, tweedens om statisties die impak van infrastruktuurbelegging op die gemelde faktore te meet deur ‘n lineêre regressiemodel te gebruik en derdens om die uitkomste te analiseer en te bespreek. Die rol van die regering in infrastruktuurontwikkeling word beskou as een van beperkte kapitaalbelegging en ‘n meer regulerende een met die gevolglike resultaat van verdringing van privaatsektorbelegging. Brasilië het onlangs die weg van openbaarprivate vennootskappe begin volg terwyl die Suid-Afrikaanse regering andersyds die hoofbelegger in infrastruktuur is. Dit is bevind dat die omvang van die elastisiteit van die impak van die infrastruktuur op beide Suid-Afrika en Brasilië ongewoon groot was, wat impliseer dat daar ‘n ongewoon-hoë marginale produktiwiteitskoers vir kapitaalbelegging was. Dit kan as gevolg van die onvolledigheid van die data wees. Verder het infrastruktuurbelegging in Brasilië ‘n groter sosiale impak as in Suid-Afrika getoon, buiten vir die totale bruto binnelandse produk. Ten slotte bevestig die resultate van die statistiese analise die aannames van die verskeidenheid literatuur wat geraadpleeg is. Die hoofbevindings van die analise in hierdie studie bewys nie dat die weg wat deur Brasilië deur middel van openbaar-private vennootskappe gevolg is ‘n baie beter effek het as wat in Suid-Afrika tot stand gebring is deur die benutting van die omvattende regeringsbelegging om infrastruktuurontwikkeling te bevorder nie. Alhoewel die studie nie gefokus was op die uitwerking van die beleide op die impak van infrastruktuur nie, veral op die sosiale sy van ontwikkelende lande nie, behoort verdere studie op hierdie gebied onderneem te word. Die impak van individuele maatstawwe van ekonomiese infrastruktuur soos spoorweë, paaie, hawens, lugvaart, telefone en elektrisiteit kan ook nagevors word om die ekonomiese impak op Suid-Afrika en Brasilië te bepaal.

This dissertation examines the factors influencing a state’s decision to adopt a local government investment pool (LGIP), the institutional arrangements used in managing them, and the effect of the institutional types on LGIP performance. The dissertation extends the policy adoption theory with insights from investment theory to demonstrate that management credibility influences the likelihood of a state’s LGIP adoption. The study finds that the quality of financial management, the quality of professional leadership, proximate state neighbors who have previously adopted an LGIP, and economic factors determine a state’s proclivity to policy adoption. The dissertation also describes the institutional arrangements used in managing LGIPs and develops typologies based on their institutional arrangements. The dissertation compares LGIPs depending on the risk aversion of their institutional arrangements. The research extends the risk-return tradeoff in investment theory to LGIP institutional arrangements. The empirical findings show that LGIP institutional arrangement that has greater risk report higher performance. The dissertation also finds that competition in the LGIP market due to multiple vendors, and periods of economic recession account for higher performance because of higher risk-taking behaviors associated with them. This dissertation promotes public funds investment laws that emphasize prudent management of government finances and guides managers of the public purse on the types of institutional choices that optimize returns with minimal risk.