Climate Change and Sustainable Development

This paper argues that in the future the primary focus of policy research and global agreements should be the de-carbonization of economic development. Consequently, instead of treating climate stabilization and economic development as separate and equal, the strategy should be to re-integrate the two global policy goals, in part by separating responsibility (and funding) from action. This will require an approach that goes beyond Kyoto. The paper invokes the example of the Manhattan Project to argue for a massive, globally funded public investment program for the deployment of renewable energy technologies in developing countries.carbon emissions, climate change, sustainable development, international cooperation, mitigation, adaptation

The effects of group composition and fractionalization in a public goods game

Behavioural economics highlights the role of social preferences in economic decisions. Further, populations are heterogeneous; suggesting that group composition may impact the ability to sustain voluntary public goods contributions. This parallels research in public economics where fractionalization negatively impacts provision. We conduct agent-based simulations of contributions in a public goods game, varying group composition and the weight individuals place on their beliefs versus their underlying social preference type. We then examine the effect of each of these factors on contributions. We find fractionalization in social preference types negatively impacts provision, even controlling for the share of types in a group

The use of video vignettes to measure health worker knowledge. Evidence from Burkina Faso

The quality of care is a crucial determinant of good health outcomes, but is difficult to measure. Survey vignettes are a standard approach to measuring medical knowledge among health care providers. Given that written vignettes or knowledge tests may be too removed from clinical practice, particularly where “learning by doing” may be an important form of training, we developed a new type of provider vignette. It uses videos presenting a patient visiting the clinic with maternal/early childhood symptoms. We tested these video vignettes with current and future (students) health professionals in Burkina Faso. Participants indicated that the cases used were interesting, understandable and common. Their performance was consistent with expectations. Participants with greater training (medical doctors vs. nurses and midwives) and experience (health professionals vs. students) performed better. The video vignettes can easily be embedded in computers, tablets and smart phones; they are a convenient tool to measure provider knowledge; and they are cost-effective instruction and testing tools

Making the great transformation, November 13, 14, and 15, 2003

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Conference Series, a publication series that began publishing in 2006 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. This Conference took place during November 13, 14, and 15, 2003. Co-organized by Cutler Cleveland and Adil Najam.The conference discussants and participants analyze why transitions happen, and why they matter. Transitions are those wide-ranging changes in human organization and well being that can be convincingly attributed to a concerted set of choices that make the world that was significantly and recognizably different from the world that becomes. Transition scholars argue that that history does not just stumble along a pre-determined path, but that human ingenuity and entrepreneurship have the ability to fundamentally alter its direction. However, our ability to ‘will’ such transitions remains in doubt. These doubts cannot be removed until we have a better understanding of how transitions work

Prediction of Waterflooding Performance in Non-Communicating Layered Reservoir

The lack of sufficient natural drive in most reservoirs has led to the practice of supplementing the natural reservoir energy by introducing some form of artificial drive, the most basic method being the injection of gas or water. One of the objectives of waterflooding is to displace oil from reservoir. The purpose of the project is to study the performance of the waterflooding on noncommunicating layered reservoir. Analytical works based on Buckley-Leverett Method has been used and an enhance method for predicting waterflooding performance has been implemented. With different cases on mobility ratio, waterflooding performance such as oil and water production is varied as the viscosity of the displacing fluid helps in recovering the oil

CFD-Based Analysis of Divergent Section Deflection for Thrust Vector Control in 2D Nozzles

This study presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of thrust vector control (TVC) through mechanical deflection of the divergent section in a 2D convergent-divergent nozzle. Using CATIA, three nozzle configurations with deflection angles of 15°, 20°, and 25° were designed and simulated in ANSYS Fluent under identical boundary conditions. Air was modeled as an ideal gas with temperature-dependent viscosity, and the simulations employed a density-based, steady-state solver with the SST k-ω turbulence model. High-resolution unstructured meshing with wall inflation layers ensured accurate capture of near-wall effects, flow separation, and shock formations. The results reveal how variations in divergent geometry influence internal flow characteristics, including Mach number, pressure distribution, temperature gradients, and mass flow rate. Particular attention was given to the generation and interaction of oblique shock waves at higher deflection angles. The findings provide insight into nozzle performance, thrust deviation, and shock-induced flow asymmetries, contributing to more effective TVC system design in aerospace applications

Cracking down on bribery

Do crackdowns on bribery impact corrupt behavior in the long run? In this paper we observe the long-run impact of a short-term punishment institution (i.e., a crackdown) on bribery behavior in a lab setting. We conduct lab experiments in two countries with cultures that differ in corruption norms, and which experience very different levels of bribery: the US and Pakistan. Bribery is implemented in the laboratory as a repeated three-player sequential game, consisting of a firm, a government official and a citizen. The design contains three phases: pre-crackdown, crackdown, and post-crackdown. Results show that post-crackdown behavior is not significantly different from pre-crackdown behavior in either country. We conclude that short-term crackdowns may impact behavior in the short run, depending on the strength of the existing corruption norms in the country. More importantly, in our setting crackdowns are completely ineffective in the long run, as corrupt behavior rebounds to pre-crackdown levels

Physiological and behavioral patterns of corruption

We study the behavior and emotional arousal of the participants in an experimental auction, leading to an asymmetric social dilemma involving an auctioneer and two bidders. An antisocial transfer (bribe) which is beneficial for the auctioneer (official) is paid, if promised, by the winner of the auction. Some pro-social behavior on both the auctioneers' and the bidders' sides is observed even in the absence of any punishment mechanism (Baseline, Treatment 0). However, pro-social behavior is adopted by the vast majority of subjects when the loser of the auction can inspect the transaction between the winner and the auctioneer (Inspection, Treatment 1). The inspection and punishment mechanism is such that, if a bribe is (not) revealed, both corrupt agents (the denouncing bidder) lose(s) this period's payoffs. This renders the inspection option unprofitable for the loser and is rarely used, especially towards the end of the session, when pro-social behavior becomes pervasive. Subjects' emotional arousal was obtained through skin conductance responses. Generally speaking, our findings suggest that stronger emotions are associated with decisions deviating from pure monetary reward maximization, rather than with (un)ethical behavior per se. In fact, using response times as a measure of the subject's reflection during the decision-making process, we can associate emotional arousal with the conflict between primary or instinctive and secondary or contemplative motivations and, more specifically, with deviations from the subject's pure monetary interest

Prediction of Waterflooding Performance in Non-Communicating Layered Reservoir

The lack of sufficient natural drive in most reservoirs has led to the practice of supplementing the natural reservoir energy by introducing some form of artificial drive, the most basic method being the injection of gas or water. One of the objectives of waterflooding is to displace oil from reservoir. The purpose of the project is to study the performance of the waterflooding on noncommunicating layered reservoir. Analytical works based on Buckley-Leverett Method has been used and an enhance method for predicting waterflooding performance has been implemented. With different cases on mobility ratio, waterflooding performance such as oil and water production is varied as the viscosity of the displacing fluid helps in recovering the oil

Overcoming Ex-Post Development Stagnation: Interventions with Continuity and Scaling in Mind

Project interventions are important vehicles for development globally. However, while there is often allocation of resources for new and innovative (pilot) projects—with varying levels of success—there is seemingly less focus on consolidating and/or scaling the positive impacts of successful larger interventions. Assuming an overarching development goal to have long lasting impact at scale, this approach seems somewhat contradictory. Scaling is often not integrated into project planning, design and implementation and rarely pursued genuinely in the ex-post. However, where demand for further development remains outstanding beyond project completion, opportunities may exist to build upon project platforms and extend benefits in a cost effective manner. This paper examines existing scaling typologies, before introducing “scaling-within” as a concept to promote greater continuity of development to a wider range of stakeholders. Scaling-within offers the opportunity to “in-fill” intervention principles and practices to both project and non-project communities within a broader strategic framework to address disparities and to promote sustainable development. The authors draw on research from case studies of large-scale integrated watershed rehabilitation projects and assess scaling-within against a contemporary scaling framework drawn from the literature. While the concept is tested with watersheds as the administrative unit, the authors anticipate applications for other project management units