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The purpose of this paper is to deepen and advance the understanding of the construction of accountability within the relationship between government funders and development non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The paper presents a case study examining the process through which an influential Dutch development NGO, Oxfam Novib, constructed its own accountability while simultaneously seeking to influence shifts in government funder accountability requirements. It enrols a combination of comprehensive archival data on the Dutch government’s financing scheme for NGOs from 1965 to 2012 and in-depth interviews with Oxfam Novib managers and Dutch government officials. The co-evolution in accountability within Oxfam Novib and the government funding scheme is conceptualised using the notions of imposed, felt and adaptive accountability

The case unveils the dynamics through which accountability within a major government funding scheme for NGOs was co-constructed by Oxfam Novib and the Dutch government’s development aid department. In particular, it reveals how this process was influenced by an internal evolution in Oxfam Novib’s organisational approach to accountability and an institutional context characterised by consensus-based economic and social policy making. The case also unveils the process through which Oxfam Novib’s influence declined as more demanding, narrowly focused government accountability requirements emerged in a setting that was increasingly critical of NGOs.

The paper presents a rare example of a context where development NGOs have proactively sought and secured influence over the accountability demands of a key donor. It is unique in combining consideration of the internal evolution of accountability within an individual NGO (conceptualised as an evolution from felt to adaptive accountability) with a progression in the form of accountability required by governmental funders. The paper unveils the conditions under which NGO-preferred conceptions of accountability may gain (and lose) influence among key funders.

This chapter traces the history of digital libraries (DLs) in the United States through the funding sources that have supported DL research and development over the past decade and a half. A set of related questions are addressed: How have the mission and goals of funding agencies affected the types of projects that have been funded? What have been the deliverables from funded projects and how have the goals of the funding agencies shaped those deliverables? Funding agencies have exerted strong influence over research and development in DLs, and different funding agencies have funded different types of projects, with varying sets of concerns for driving the various fields that feed into DLs. This chapter will address the impact that DL funding has had on the development of research in the field of Library and Information Science, as well as on the practice of librarianship.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effects of different R&D funding inputs – including funding for basic research, applied research, and development – on different innovation outcomes (e.g. inventions, patents, licenses, and start-ups).

The study borrowed the resource dependence theory perspective by focusing on the proportion of funding secured from various external sources that fund university R&D, and assessed its effect on the nature and outcomes of the university research activity.

Results indicated that greater funding of basic research was associated with more inventions and patents; greater funding of applied research was associated with more licenses; and greater funding for development activities was associated with more university start-ups.

The contributions of this study are two folded: first, it added to the debate that more R&D investment is indeed associated with more innovation outcomes; and second, it is important to differentiate the R&D funding inputs as they are related to different innovation outcomes.

Increased economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has given rise to increased demand for port development. Given the often scarce availability of national public funding, port institutional reform programmes have been implemented to pave the way for the inclusion of external port investors. Notwithstanding this fact, some sub-Saharan African Governments remain institutionally locked into the notion that state-owned enterprises remain an appropriate vehicle for port terminal operations. This, despite the fact that terminal operational concessions globally and within the continent of Africa are increasingly being managed by global terminal operators. Given this context, this study aims to evaluate different port valuation and funding strategies. Two research questions form the core of this research: what is the financial value of a concession? What is the most cost advantageous funding strategy? The methodology is applied to the development of a two-berth container terminal in SSA.

After reviewing a range of financial valuation and funding techniques, the study presents valuation and funding model applicability-fit tests. Thereafter, a suitable valuation technique is selected and applied to the case study providing a concession valuation. Different funding strategies are applied to the valuation model to determine the cost implications of each funding instrument given the local context and institutional constraints applicable to SSA. Finally, the study discusses the significance of the results to potential SSA port investors by highlighting the impact of each funding approach on key financial metrics.

The study presents a range of financial investment appraisal results for the case study concession in consideration of four specific funding strategies. The highest concession valuation could be attributed to a higher debt ratio as a principal funding strategy. In addition, this funding approach (100% debt) realised the shortest payback period and the highest internal rate of return values. The authors, however, maintain that the optimal funding strategy for a concession depends ultimately on the financial goals of the investor.

This research makes a contribution to the existing literature on port finance and development by presenting a structured approach to the evaluation of the valuation and funding techniques, which can be used in terminal development subject to the specific local context and institutional constraints (in this case applicable to SSA). The study provides practical insight into the potential cost of the considered terminal concession for private or public sector participants and a view of the most cost advantageous funding strategy available for interested investors.

Considerable research has been conducted into the outcomes of vocational lifelong learning (VLL) funding in terms of courses offered and their effectiveness, but much less into the work, professional development needs and careers of staff organising and delivering VLL programmes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the career management and development needs of such university staff.

A survey was conducted of VLL professionals in higher education to establish the position and their future prospects.

A survey revealed that experienced VLL staff are being required, in some cases unwillingly, to move away from activities concerned with external training to take on work in areas such as technology transfer and general student recruitment. This development is likely to be to the detriment of VLL provision by universities.

VLL staff identify further knowledge of new developments in the field, stronger IT skills, and competence in conducting research as their major development needs.

The paper puts forward some concrete suggestions for improvements.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of similarities and distinctions between development and educational assistance in the USA as compared with other countries, this paper provides a general review of relevant materials on US foreign aid.

The paper reviews published books and articles as well as US government budget and Congressional reporting materials and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development statistics.

Beginning with the Marshall Plan following Second World War, the USA has always been a leader in foreign aid. In many ways, US development agencies resemble counterparts in other countries – foreign aid is part of larger network of bilateral relationships, funding requests must compete with requests from other sectors, etc. In other ways, the US stands apart. Because of US Congressional reporting requirements and for philosophical reasons, the US has been reluctant to join other countries in provision of budgetary support. The US coordinates its work with host country governments, but generally organizes its activities in project mode, relying largely on US contractors. The US Agency for International Development and the Department of State are the largest US government development agencies. Still, unlike other donors, development funding and technical assistance is provided by up to 25 agencies with relatively little coordination. US foreign aid has always included a security as well as humanitarian and development dimensions. In recent years, as development assistance is increasingly coordinated with diplomacy and defense, the military dimension has been heightened. Perhaps the most original finding is the notion that public and government support of US foreign aid has required both security and development/humanitarian rationales to remain viable.

The paper brings together information from a range of existing sources, but provides a unique perspective on US foreign aid in education.

Since World War II, the United States has played a leading role in development assistance in both volume of funds and role. Though the largest bilateral development agency, USAID is somewhat of an outlier in modes of operation, scope and nature of activities, and place within government. This chapter examines the development and character of U.S. foreign assistance. Like others, the United States provides foreign aid for multiple reasons – to relieve suffering and promote long-term economic and social development, to gain favor with allies, to open markets, to help ensure national security. Security and diplomacy do play a large role in U.S. foreign aid, even in basic education. In the context of U.S. internal politics, both humanitarian/development and diplomatic/security rationales have been necessary to sustain public and government support for foreign aid. Still neither rationale has prevailed; the budget is split nearly in half. The need for a humanitarian rationale may be characteristic of U.S. foreign assistance along with the emphasis on democracy. Yet these programs have sometimes been distorted by the diplomatic rationale and the security needs of the state. Many of these tensions and the constant need to justify foreign aid likely derive from the perennial periodic isolationist thread of U.S. politics, the particular adversarial institutions of U.S. policymaking, and the transparency which leaves these processes open. Even so, U.S. development assistance has played a prominent role in the trajectory of international development post-World War II, and has worked to address many of the great challenges of the times.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the outcomes of the financial optimization process launched by the recent reforms in the Russian higher education sector and its impact on access to higher education, its quality and competitiveness within the sector. The study of the economic performance of higher educational institutions includes complex analysis of financial and educational components of their structural dynamics and their impact on their development strategy.

The methods used in the study of the segmentation of the higher education sector involve a combination of theoretical developments in economics and the modeling of the economic behavior of universities on the market for educational services, procedures for the evaluation of transaction costs in the markets with asymmetric information and recent conceptions of the interrelation of factors affecting quality and accessibility of higher education.

In this paper, the economic potential of Russian universities is considered, making use of a segmentation of the higher education sector, based on sampling of state and municipal higher education institutions from different industry groups, depending on their development strategy under changing social and economic conditions. The research data for 2006‐2009 help to define five clusters of the higher educational establishments with different approaches towards public funding and different strategies.

Based on the research data, the paper evaluates the current situation in the Russian higher education sector and some skewed structures of the reforms and outlines some policy implications.

The aim of this research was to study collection development practices in some selected private university libraries in Malawi with special focus on University of Livingstonia and Adventist University Libraries.

This research employed a case study approach that made use of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data were collected using interview guides and coding schedules. Interviews were conducted with university librarians of the two institutions. Self-administered questionnaires were administered to the Finance Officers and University Librarians of the institutions covered by the study to collect financial statistics and data relating to collection development. Qualitative data were analysed thematically while quantitative data were analysed using Ms Excel.

Findings of the study indicated that private university libraries in this study are funded mainly by parent institutions. Funding is not adequate as is the case with public university libraries in the country. This had adversely affected collection development practices that include purchase of materials and staff training. The two institutions, however, differed in terms of the other collection development activities they undertook, and magnitude of the challenges they faced, something that was attributed to slight difference in terms of funding they got from parent institutions.

The study sheds light on the collection development practices of University of Livingstonia Library and Adventist University Library, and challenges facing them. Some of these findings mirror those of other libraries not only in this sector, but also public university libraries in the country. Suggestions on how the collection development challenges facing the two libraries could be tackled have been made. It is hoped that the suggestions made could benefit other libraries who find themselves in a similar situation, if implemented. The study findings could also inform future researchers venturing in the same field.

Very little is known about the collection development practices of private university libraries not only in Malawi but the world at large owing to lack of significant research undertaken on the topic. This study is, therefore, significant because its findings fill up the existing knowledge gap. If acted on, recommendations made could also help solve some of the challenges that are being faced.

The Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund was established by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, UK, with the declared aims of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning and raising the status of teaching among higher education institutions. This paper considers the three strands of the initiative – subject, institutional, and individual – and uses findings from a variety of evaluation studies to assess the impact of this state sponsored policy. The difficulties in creating cultural change within higher education are discussed. The paper argues, with cautious optimism, that there is evidence of increased attention being paid to teaching in higher education in England, in part, as a consequence of this funded initiative, but that the evidence for wholesale cultural change remains difficult to interpret.