Risk A Study Of Its Origins History And Politics

Over a period of several centuries, the academic study of risk has evolved as a distinct body of thought, which continues to influence conceptual developments in fields such as economics, management, politics and sociology. However, few scholarly works have given a chronological account of cultural and intellectual trends relating to the understanding and analysis of risks. Risk: A Study of its Origins, History and Politics aims to fill this gap by providing a detailed study of key turning points in the evolution of society's understanding of risk. Using a wide range of primary and secondary materials, Matthias Beck and Beth Kewell map the political origins and moral reach of some of the most influential ideas associated with risk and uncertainty at specific periods of time. The historical focus of the book makes it an excellent introduction for readers who wish to go beyond specific risk management techniques and their theoretical underpinnings, to gain an understanding of the history and politics of risk.

Over a period of several centuries, the academic study of risk has evolved as a distinct body of thought, which continues to influence conceptual developments in fields such as economics, management, politics and sociology. However, few scholarly works have given a chronological account of cultural and intellectual trends relating to the understanding and analysis of risks. Risk: A Study of its Origins, History and Politics aims to fill this gap by providing a detailed study of key turning points in the evolution of society's understanding of risk. Using a wide range of primary and secondary materials, Matthias Beck and Beth Kewell map the political origins and moral reach of some of the most influential ideas associated with risk and uncertainty at specific periods of time. The historical focus of the book makes it an excellent introduction for readers who wish to go beyond specific risk management techniques and their theoretical underpinnings, to gain an understanding of the history and politics of risk.

The book covers alternative lending using the emergence of Debt Funds in the EU as a case study. The book explores the risks that they can pose to financial stability, and the regulatory and supervisory tools available to mitigate these risks. Through this analysis, the book uncovers the risks and potential risk mitigation tools that can be applied to the alternative lenders–including debt funds and other potential alternative lenders. After identifying the reasons behind the growth of alternative lenders (using as example the assets of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and in particular debt funds) and the simultaneous decrease of the banks’ assets, the book analyses the systemic importance of the alternative lenders and the risk channels through which the systemic risk can spread to the banking sector and the financial system. Then, the book deals with the financial innovation-market failure theory and demonstrates that financial innovations (e.g. debt funds, securitisations) can cause market failures, resulting in regulatory interventions. Of interest to banking and financial regulation academics, researchers, and practitioners this book analyses the regulatory provisions in place for both credit institutions and debt funds, including the Basel Accords, the Capital Requirements Directives and Regulations, and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) and its implementation in various EU jurisdictions, before offering a proposal for a new three-defensive framework applicable to debt funds and to other potential alternative lenders.

This timely new book provides an international perspective on Public Private Partnerships. Through 21 case studies, it investigates the existing and fast developing body of principles and practices from a wide range of countries and is the first book to bring together leading international academics and practitioners under a common framework that enables convenient cross-country comparisons. The authors focus on the impact of the financial crisis has had on how governments have reviewed and overhauled their PPP policies as they have examined or tested new ways of partnering more effectively, efficiently and sustainably with the private sector. Readers will be able to gauge the level of maturity of PPP development in the book’s case studies, understand similarities and differences in their practices, and gain useful insights into the regulatory framework and institutional infrastructure in place to support implementation of PPP. Finally, the book offers insights into the future challenges and opportunities that PPP offers stakeholders.

While there have been many sociological and psychological studies of humor, few can claim to be funny. Humor may be regarded as a legitimate topic for social scientists, but in general, they present their research rather seriously. In academia, humor tends to be trivialized and dismissed. This is more than just a missed opportunity for otherwise fun-loving academics. In literature, it is readily accepted that comedy is integral to the human condition. To ignore humor is to reject a potentially insightful methodological approach, as the humorous worldview presents unique opportunities for investigating the social. This book constitutes a unique resource, presenting chapters on irony, satire and parody as tools for analysis and means of representation, as well as considering humor in the conduct of research, and offering guidance on getting published. Through presenting examples from across the social sciences, the book seeks to persuade and inspire rather than to prescribe an approach – a closure which would (ironically) be inimical to the multiplicity and ambiguity which characterizes humorous research and lends it its distinctive edge.

Quality Management and Managerialism in Healthcare creates a comprehensive and systematic international survey of various perspectives on healthcare quality management together with some of their most pertinent critiques. It reviews the factors which have underpinned the managerialist trajectory of healthcare management over the past decades.

An examination of the moral and political aspects of the philosophical work of Jan Patočka, one of the most influential Central European philosophers of the twentieth century.

Why do people run for office with opposition parties in electoral authoritarian regimes, where the risks of running are high, and the chances of victory are bleak? In Activist Origins of Political Ambition, Keith Weghorst offers a theory that candidacy decisions are set in motion in early life events and that civic activism experiences and careers in civil society organizations funnel aspirants towards opposition candidacy in electoral authoritarian regimes. The book also adapts existing explanations of candidacy decisions derived from leading democracies that can be applied to electoral authoritarian contexts. The mixed-methods research design features an in-depth study of Tanzania using original survey data, sequence methods, archival research, and qualitative data combined with an analysis of legislators across authoritarian and democratic regimes in Africa. A first-of-its kind study, the book's account of the origins of candidacy motivations offers contributions to its study in autocracies, as well as in leading democracies and the United States.