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Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This thesis uses a political ecology framework to critically analyse how development and environmental orthodoxies influence the use, management and development of living aquatic resources in an information poor developing country context. The research focuses specifically on Lao PDR, the only landlocked country of the Mekong River Basin, to question how knowledge over living aquatic resources is framed by a range of stakeholders. Specific attention is given to how aquaculture has gained ascendancy over capture fisheries in the rhetoric of resources users as well as government and nongovernment organisations. The empirical research focuses on the role of broad scale economic, social and environmental influences over resource use, the practical and perceived importance of both aquaculture and capture fisheries in rural Lao livelihoods and finally, how living aquatic resources are represented within the dominant development agendas of conservation, poverty alleviation and rural development. Field work was conducted in Savannakhet province in Southern Lao PDR over 18 months from 2001 to 2002. The thesis has a strong empirical research base divided into activities carried out over multiple scales ranging from household to the Mekong River Basin. The thesis begins by establishing the historical context of resource use as well as the major orthodoxies on which development is based. Attention then turns to the extensive empirical research conducted over three districts of Savannakhet province. The results of the empirical research report two macro scale studies at the district level. The first is a survey of fish ponds across three districts focusing on the spatial distribution of investment and resource use. The second is a survey of fish trade focusing on the differential trade between culture and capture fish species. The results of both studies highlight the disjuncture between complex patterns of aquaculture and capture fishery use and the major assumptions made about the use of these two resources by policy makers and management. Analysis then moves to the local level focusing on the role and importance of aquaculture and capture fisheries to the livelihoods of rural Lao communities. The results show the instrumental and hermeneutic importance of fish and other aquatic resources in the livelihoods of households and the community. In particular it is shown that capture fisheries are more important to rural livelihoods in terms of income and nutrition, while aquaculture is perceived as a more important activity in the development of community and household economies. ii The final section then compares the empirical findings of the thesis with the policy and planning agendas of government and non-government organisations. The analysis focuses on the role of ideas and agency creating a highly politicised policy environment concluding that aquaculture based policy is more compatible with both government and non government agendas of poverty alleviation and rural development than capture fisheries. Furthermore, capture fisheries are marginalised within conservation as a resource that cannot contribute to the improvement of livelihoods or alleviate poverty. The thesis concludes that living aquatic resources provide an imperative source of food and income to rural communities through diverse and complex human-environment interactions. In contrast government and non-government organisations operating at regional, national and local scales of policy and planning simplify these relationships drawing on wider orthodoxies of aquaculture and capture fisheries development. These simplifications do not reflect the problems and needs of the predominantly rural population. Furthermore, in the absence of a strong empirical base of information, living aquatic resources management and development has become highly politicised. Instead of responding to the realities of resource users, policy and planning reflect the interests and beliefs of development organisations, government and non-government. The thesis provides an important, grounded account of the importance of living aquatic resources to rural livelihoods in Lao PDR and how these resources are understood and translated into national development and management agendas. In doing so the thesis contributes to an understanding of how complex human-environmental systems are perceived and represented in development policy and wider knowledge systems. The thesis also makes an important theoretical contribution to the growing body of literature on critical political ecology by arguing for the revitalisation of ecology as an integrated approach within political ecology and more widely within the study of humanenvironment interaction.

Zugl.: Göttingen, Univ., Diss., 2009

[pt] Nessa pesquisa, desenvolvemos uma nova metodologia para analizar materiais nos regimes oscilatórios linear e quasilinear. Foi mostrado que poucos experimentos reológicos são necessários. Além disso, a análise de dados apresentada é objetiva já apenas processamentos simples são necessários para avaliar as funções materiais. Esse fato contrasta com grande parte das análises de escoamento oscilatório de alta amplitude, tendo em vista que essas metodologias requerem manipulação matemática complexa dos dados. Por fim, a metodologia desenvolvida também apresenta grande evolução com relação às metodologias utilizadas anteriormente para analisar materiais no regime QL-LAOS. / [en] In this research, we developed a novel methodology to analyze materials in the linear and quasilinear oscillatory regimes (constant structure motions). It was shown that very few rheometric experiments are necessary. Furthermore, data analysis presented on this thesis is straightforward as raw data obtained from the rheometer requires simple data processing before being input into the equations that evaluate the material functions. This fact is in contrast with most large amplitude oscillatory shear analysis methods since they aim to analyze structure-changing motions and this requires complex mathematical manipulation of data. At last, both experimental methodology and data analysis presented in this research are much simpler than the previous methodologies used to analyze materials in the QL-LAOS regime.

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The growth in Laos’ economy has been increasingly important in terms of consumption and tourism within Thailand. Currently, however, few studies have attempted to develop a marketing strategy for regional retailers in this emerging nation. This research is concerned with developing an appropriate marketing strategy that balances supply and demand within this regional market. Given that marketing relies heavily on understanding consumer behaviour, the objectives of this study are, first, to develop a cross-border shopper taxonomy in a regional market using benefit segmentation. In order to develop this marketing strategy, the research identified consumer expectations in order to explore how to achieve a competitive advantage that matches consumer needs with the available supplies. This cross-border shopping taxonomy provides a starting point for a holistic evaluation that will assist retailers in making marketing decisions. The study then attempts to understand the current market situations and marketing in practice from the perspective of suppliers. After assessing the correspondence between demand and supply, recommendations on strategic marketing are offered to Thai retailers at the end of the investigation. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods, with 337 questionnaires and seven in-depth interviews. The survey was conducted in Thailand between December 2013 and January 2014. The data were collected from three provinces in the northeast region of Thailand that share a border with Laos: Nongkhai, Mukdahan and Nakorn Phanom. These provinces have high potential in respect to both tourism and retail developments. In addition, the seven interviewees with retailers and policy planners examined the implementation of market segmentation and marketing strategies. The data from the interviews was interpreted and compared with the quantitative data in order to investigate the correspondence between supply and demand. In order to classify cross-border shoppers, the major statistical analyses used were EFA and cluster analysis based on benefits sought. Segments were profiled with travel behaviour, shopping behaviour and demographic variables. ANOVA and MANOVA were employed to test differences between groups. After that, the research explored expectations through the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) in order to identify priorities for developing a competitive advantage. The results show that cross-border shoppers in the regional markets of Thailand consist of four segments: the Enthusiastic shoppers, the Leisure-tourist shoppers, the Product-focused shoppers and the Practical shoppers. These segments relate to the benefits sought, and correlate with different demographic variables, shopping activities and consumption patterns. Moreover, they have different expectations towards place attributes which are important for designing a marketing strategy that is suitable to each segment. Unfortunately, the interviewees from the supply side provided less marketing response to the cross-border tourist marketing. The implications of the findings are, first, that benefit segmentation is associated with demographic variables, shopping activities and expenditures. In addition, the evidence suggests some misunderstandings on the part of suppliers in respect to cross-border demand. The evaluation of demand and supply contributed recommendations for the design and management of effective marketing strategies for cross-border shoppers in this emerging nation.

Happiness is consistently cited as one of the things that people consider most important in their lives and yet is a slippery concept about which it is difficult to establish a shared understanding. There is increasing agreement that Gross National Product (GDP) is not a sufficient indicator of progress and that alternative measures may need to include the subjective aspects of wellbeing, or happiness. However, if policy makers and development workers are to seriously consider happiness, clarity is required about what it means to different people and such clarity must be grounded in the everyday experiences of the people whose lives social and development polices aim to improve. Despite increasing interest in the concept of happiness within Laos, academic research focusing upon positive subjective experience is limited. Young Lao people who volunteer with Non-Profit Associations (NPAs) in Vientiane occupy a unique position at the crossroads of a country that continues to be affected by a complex political legacy, a rapidly modernising capital city and a newly visible civil society. The findings from the current research provide rich data from 18 months of ethnographic and participative fieldwork with this specific group of young people in Vientiane. The research addresses the following questions:  What do the ways that young Lao volunteers in Vientiane express happiness tell us about the ways that they conceptualise happiness?  What do young volunteers in Vientiane say makes them happy?  What beliefs do young volunteers in Vientiane have about happiness?  How do these beliefs about happiness fit with young volunteers’ expressed experiences of happiness? This thesis identifies three key conceptual models that research participants used to express happiness including ‘Being Happy’ (happiness is a present moment choice), ‘Becoming Happy’ (happiness is something to be achieved) and ‘Happy Being With Others’ (happiness is located in relationships between people). Further, three culturally constructed ‘happiness scripts’ that research participants share are outlined and discussed. The three scripts are: “The way to be happy is to be a good Lao person”, “I will be happy if I have the things that I need to be comfortable and to have an easy life” and “I am happy when I follow my heart”. These scripts each combine a conceptual mode of happiness with a focus on specific aspects of their lives that research participants say make them happy and a set of shared beliefs about happiness. These three scripts offer normative accounts of different pathways that research participants believe will lead to happiness. The research demonstrates, however, how research participants hold multiple scripts simultaneously and looks at the interactions and tensions between the scripts and between the scripts and participants’ lived experiences. The research concludes that the socially constructed nature of the happiness scripts and the multiple conceptual models of happiness used by the research participants emphasise the need for self-awareness and transparency in conversations about happiness. Any consideration of happiness at policy level must include open and critical discussion about the happiness script that is being promoted. At the individual level participants valued positive opportunities to become aware of and challenge their own assumptions about the things that are most important in their lives were beneficial to their happiness. The thesis, therefore, recommends a shift in policy focus from solely measuring happiness to promoting positive conversations about happiness at policy, community and individual levels. Happiness is both an important experience and a slippery concept. It is both critical that we consider it and vital that we remain critical of it.

Problématique : À l'instar de beaucoup de pays en développement, la qualité des services offerts dans les hôpitaux de la RDP Lao, surtout périphériques, est souvent critiquée. Il est dès lors intéressant d'examiner les cas "à succès", ceux dont on considère qu'ils devraient être des modèles pour le pays. Tel est le cas de 2 hôpitaux de la province de Vientiane, dont le développement a été soutenu par la Coopération luxembourgeoise. Méthodologie: Cette étude est une étude de cas multiples portant sur deux hôpitaux (Maria Teresa et Vang Vieng). Elle visait à étudier les facteurs organisationnels associés à la perception par les travailleurs en santé et les femmes enceintes ou en post-partum, de la performance des soins obstétricaux offerts dans ces hôpitaux. Des entrevues individuelles, basées sur des thématiques découlant du cadre conceptuel de l'étude ont été réalisées. Résultats : L'analyse des résultats montrent une grande satisfaction tant de la part des travailleurs des hôpitaux que des utilisatrices de services, avec les services offerts, même si certains services attendus ne sont pas systématiquement offerts. Les principaux facteurs associés à la fonctionnalité perçue des deux hôpitaux sont liés à deux aspects : un investissement dans les ressources humaines et un investissement dans l'accessibilité de population-cible aux services obstétricaux. L'investissement en ressources humaines a porté sur des stratégies visant l'expertise de tous, cliniciens et non cliniciens, la valorisation du travail du personnel et la création d'une ambiance d'équipe plaisante. L'investissement dans l'accessibilité a porté sur les barrières géographiques et économiques, ainsi que sur la diffusion d'information dans la communauté sur l'importance des soins périnatals. Conclusion : Un investissement dans les ressources humaines et l'accessibilité aux services permet aux hôpitaux régionaux de la RDP Lao de devenir fonctionnels et performants. Mots clés : soins obstétricaux, coopération luxembourgeoise, qualité des services de santé, ressources humaines, RDP Lao. / Problematic: Like many developing countries, the quality of services provided in Lao hospitals, especially in remote regions, is often criticized. It is therefore interesting to examine "successful" cases hospitals that are considered by many as models for the rest country. Such is the case of two hospitals in the province of Vientiane, whose evolution was supported by Luxembourg Cooperation. Methodology: This study is a multiple case study took place in two hospitals (Maria Teresa and Vang Vieng). It aimed to study organizational factors associated with the perception by health workers and pregnant or postpartum, of the performance of obstetric care. Individual interviews, based on themes derived from the conceptual framework of the study were performed. Results: Analyses of the results show a great satisfaction with the services offered by both, hospital workers and users, even if some expected services are not routinely offered. The main factors associated with the perceived functionality of the two hospitals are related to two aspects: an investment in human resources and an investment in the accessibility of the target population to obstetric services. The investment in human resources focused on strategies aiming the improvement of the expertise detained by all, clinicians and non-clinicians, the recognition of the work done by the staff and the creation of a pleasant atmosphere for team work. Investment in accessibility focused on geographical and economic barriers, as well as on providing information on the importance of perinatal care to the community. Conclusion: An investment in human resources and in the accessibility to services allows regional hospitals of the Lao PDR to become functional and efficient. Key words: Obstetric care, Luxembourg cooperation, quality of care, human resources, RDP Lao.

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