The main purpose of this study was to explore, analyze and reflect on the meaning, nature, causes and associated dynamics of change in higher education within a Pakistani cultural context. Resistance was a major component of understanding this change. I focused on multiple factors that induced individual/group tendencies to resist or avoid making changes and to devalue change generally. This study employed a multiple case study approach. Semi-structured interviews with designated stakeholders of the planned change initiative were the primary data-collection method. Document analysis, members check and observations were used to triangulate the interview data. The data were analyzed on an ongoing basis. The findings revealed the complex dimensions of participants’ compliance and/or resistance with respect to change at the beginning of the twenty-first century when the Pakistani higher education system was shifting dramatically from a local to global perspective. Despite serious issues and weaknesses, change was gradual over time and the most strongly contested reforms were those that did not align with existing practices. In sum, the findings support the notion that change is complicated, and that the reasons for this complexity stem from factors that are structural, emotional, political and personal. The results of this study will be of interest to administrators and educators as they prepare for future challenges within the Pakistani context. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, and directions for future research are identified.

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The main purpose of this study was to explore, analyze and reflect on the meaning, nature, causes and associated dynamics of change in higher education within a Pakistani cultural context. Resistance was a major component of understanding this change. I focused on multiple factors that induced individual/group tendencies to resist or avoid making changes and to devalue change generally. This study employed a multiple case study approach. Semi-structured interviews with designated stakeholders of the planned change initiative were the primary data-collection method. Document analysis, members check and observations were used to triangulate the interview data. The data were analyzed on an ongoing basis. The findings revealed the complex dimensions of participants’ compliance and/or resistance with respect to change at the beginning of the twenty-first century when the Pakistani higher education system was shifting dramatically from a local to global perspective. Despite serious issues and weaknesses, change was gradual over time and the most strongly contested reforms were those that did not align with existing practices. In sum, the findings support the notion that change is complicated, and that the reasons for this complexity stem from factors that are structural, emotional, political and personal. The results of this study will be of interest to administrators and educators as they prepare for future challenges within the Pakistani context. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, and directions for future research are identified.

The main purpose of this study was to explore, analyze and reflect on the meaning, nature, causes and associated dynamics of change in higher education within a Pakistani cultural context. Resistance was a major component of understanding this change. I focused on multiple factors that induced individual/group tendencies to resist or avoid making changes and to devalue change generally. This study employed a multiple case study approach. Semi-structured interviews with designated stakeholders of the planned change initiative were the primary data-collection method. Document analysis, members check and observations were used to triangulate the interview data. The data were analyzed on an ongoing basis. The findings revealed the complex dimensions of participants’ compliance and/or resistance with respect to change at the beginning of the twenty-first century when the Pakistani higher education system was shifting dramatically from a local to global perspective. Despite serious issues and weaknesses, change was gradual over time and the most strongly contested reforms were those that did not align with existing practices. In sum, the findings support the notion that change is complicated, and that the reasons for this complexity stem from factors that are structural, emotional, political and personal. The results of this study will be of interest to administrators and educators as they prepare for future challenges within the Pakistani context. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, and directions for future research are identified.

The Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) first launched Doi Moi [Renovation] in 1986—10 years after the VCP officially assumed power in 1976 of the Socialist Republics of Vietnam. As the VCP describes, Doi Moi is a comprehensive economic reform package with new initiatives toward building “a mixed economy” that introduces “market mechanism with state management and a socialist orientation” to Vietnam’s economy. With Doi Moi, pragmatism has evidently taken center stage in place of dogmatic concerns for ideological correctness. The thesis seeks to first examine the conditions and factors that gave impetus for the economic reforms in Vietnam. These conditions and factors are especially evident when they are examined in a comparative context with the Soviet Union and China’s experiences with similar reforms as they are done here in the thesis. Moreover, the change of orientation from a centrally planned economy to market-oriented economy is reflected in Doi Moi’s decentralization and economic liberalization reforms as well as the VCP’s opening up to international reintegration and reconciliation with namely the United States. From this examination, it is apparent that at the crux of the VCP’s decision to pursue reforms and the Vietnamese people's support for reforms are fundamental considerations of self and political interests—the VCP's to stay in power and the people's to subsist and prosper. Whether reforms are socialist or capitalist—in form or in practice—are thus of lesser importance to the VCP and Vietnamese people than whether reforms work or do not work. / text

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The quality of Nigerian Legal Education is fast deteriorating and in addition, the current structure of monitoring the training of lawyers is grossly ineffective. This thesis discusses steps that can be taken in reforming the current structure of Nigerian legal education to revert this trend. This thesis proposes a sytem of internal institutional assessment by law faculties in Nigeria. Financial, social-cultural constraints and politicl economy interference are obstacles to reforming Nigerian legal education, but institutional assessment can mitigagte these obstacles. Using Mariana Prado's concept of institutional bypass as a solution to overcoming these obstacles and also as a means of advancing reforms in the training of lawyers in Nigeria, this thesis proposes the adoption of institutional assessment as a strategy to create an avenue for stimulating reforms and promoting quality in Nigerian legal education.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Governance, 2014. / The democratisation process of higher education in South Africa commenced in 1994, with the refrains of ‘widening access, broadening participation’ and ‘the doors of education and culture shall be opened’. The deep structural and systemic deficits in the apartheid education system restricted access to higher education based on race, while simultaneously deepening inequalities in the schooling system. Education reform as the transition to democracy commenced, required seismic policy and systemic shifts widely described as an agenda to transform the higher education system. Thus equity of access and success reverberate in the policy documents and reforms undertaken by the government. This research study examined the policy texts and state instruments used to steer the system towards the goal of widening access. Using the conceptual model of Bowe, Ball and Gold (1992) it explored the role of universities in re-interpreting policies, while at the same time focusing on the difficulty of ‘widening access’ given the treacherous legacy of the past. The focus was on a 16 year time-span from 1994–2010, tracing the journey of policy reforms and analysing the quantitative data at the national level of the higher education system. The researcher sought to understand the enormity of the education system problems, while taking into account that changing the course for the country is a major task which would require deep transformation that would not be feasible in a short period. Findings of the research conducted are analysed and discussed during the course of this thesis. The thesis also recommends the adoption of an evaluative framework that would enable government to measure progress in relation to stated goals and inculcate greater accountability by universities.

This essay describes the establishment of the colony movement and its allotment compounds in Sweden during the early part of the 20th century. During this time period a social housing reform program called “egna hem” was initiated which gave financial support in the form of state loans to build good homes in rural areas. One of the reasons for the reform was a widespread housing need in Sweden. My hypothesis is that the social housing reform helped pave the way for an expansion of the colony movement in Sweden. At the beginning of the 20th century, allotment compounds were established in many Swedish cities, including Kalmar within the timeframe 1910-1920. This investigation of the establishment of the colony movement and its allotment compounds in Sweden specifically focuses on development of the movement in Kalmar together with a comparison using earlier research. By examining the members' professional categories and how the board was selected, it is possible to find out if the movement was as open and democratic as it appeared. Furthermore, this essay gives specific focus on genus patterns and the situation for the women within the colony movement and its allotment compounds. The results indicates that social living reforms in Sweden may have helped pave the way for an expansion of the Swedish colony movement since there was a need for better living conditions. The membership lists also demonstrates that the colony movement principally was aimed at the working class and lower middle class. Furthermore, the investigation shows that garden work was a typically work for men while the women worked with reproductive chores such as refining and preserving of the harvest within the allotment garden. This investigation also confirms that no women were included in the compound boards of the allotment gardens, cementing the notion of an unequal society. During the 1950’s specific ladies clubs were formed within the allotment compounds with the purpose to socialize and arrange meetings and excursions. Finally this essay displays that the early colonists in Kalmar were made up by a variety of people with different living conditions.

In the last fifty years, many countries have moved toward broad-based and flat-rate tax systems such as the value-added tax (VAT) and the flat-rate income tax. The main rationale for introducing a broad-based and flat-rate tax system is the belief that such a system increases the incentive to work, save, and invest, leading to a higher aggregate income and a higher standard of living. Yet, empirical evidence on the actual effectiveness of broad-based and flat-rate taxes is very limited. This dissertation combines novel methodologies with newly available data to provide causal estimates of the economic effects of broad-based and flat-rate tax systems. The first essay analyzes the impact of the flat tax reforms on GDP per capita and its main drivers. I identify 8 Eastern and Central European countries that adopted flat tax systems between 1994 and 2005 and apply synthetic control methods to estimate their counterfactual trajectory of GDP per worker in the absence of a flat tax. I find positive impacts in all 8 countries, with 7 out of 8 cases significant at the conventional level. The second essay estimates the efficiency gains of adopting a VAT in a worldwide sample of countries using synthetic control methods. I find that the VAT has, on average, positive and economically meaningful impact on economic efficiency. However, I find that this result is driven by richer countries only. There is no significant impact of the VAT on poorer countries. I find similar results when estimating the impact of the VAT on total factor productivity and capital stock per worker â"u20ac"u201c two important channels through which a VAT affects economic efficiency. The third essay estimates the causal impact of a VAT on productivity, capital accumulation, and input cost using Regression Discontinuity Design and firm-level data from France. I find no significant impact of a VAT on firms' productivity or input cost. However, I find some evidence that the VAT increases firms' capital accumulation. In addition, I also find that the impact of a VAT is heterogeneous across different sectors of the economy. / Bibek Adhikari