Jennifer Bremer - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Jennifer Bremer
Business Ethics: A European Review, Jul 1, 2008
Launched by the United Nations in 2000, the Global Compact (GC) promotes private sector complianc... more Launched by the United Nations in 2000, the Global Compact (GC) promotes private sector compliance with 10 basic principles covering human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anticorruption. Its sponsors aim to establish a global corporate social responsibility (CSR) network based on a pledge to observe the 10 principles adopted by companies across the range of company size and regional origin, backed by a modest reporting system and collaborative programmes. The author analyzes the GC's progress toward building a global network from its launch through 2006 and finds that, while the GC's nominal membership base of nearly 3000 companies makes it the largest system among collective action institutions (CAIs) for corporate responsibility, the GC has not reached 'critical mass'. Deficiencies in its nascent global network include limited market penetration among the largest corporations, a membership heavily weighted toward Western European companies, and major weaknesses in compliance with its reporting system. The author concludes that the GC must improve both penetration and compliance if it is to succeed in building a global standard for CSR.
Public administration and development, 1984
The project approach to development assistance has been criticized for failing to build lasting c... more The project approach to development assistance has been criticized for failing to build lasting capacity. The problem lies not in the project approach itself, but in a failure to understand the constraints to capacity development and a consequent misdirection of effort. Policy analysis capacity is developed as an example. Policy analysis requires skills and abilities that public sector institutions in developing countries cannot sustain, owing to a combination of structural and organizational factors, among which personnel constraints are key. These factors inhibit the effectiveness of the standard approach, which seeks to establish analytic capacity within a specialized government unit ('internal' capacity). An alternative approach is to build 'process' capacity-the ability to get analysis done by other institutions, rather than the ability to do analysis internally. The author concludes that project strategies should be redirected toward a greater emphasis on building process capacity as a useful adjunct to internal capacity.
Voluntas, Mar 1, 2004
University Microfilms International eBooks, 1982
Poverty & Public Policy, Sep 1, 2018
Egypt's 2011 Tahrir Revolution was fueled by the volatile combination of pervasive public governa... more Egypt's 2011 Tahrir Revolution was fueled by the volatile combination of pervasive public governance failures and a large youth population blocked from successfully navigating the transition to adulthood. Far from addressing these problems, this Revolution led to instability, economic stagnation, and the rapid return to power of Egypt's military-elite alliance, further marginalizing the youth population. This article argues that Egyptian youth's predicament must be understood as the result of public governance failures. Their dependence on a failed and unaccountable public education system leaves them without the skills needed for productive employment, while Egypt's dualistic "limited access order" leads to the suppression of medium-size firms, forcing low-income youth to accept poorly paid, insecure employment in the informal sector, and constraining opportunities for educated youth, particularly young women, who remain outside the workforce. Viable, sustained solutions to youth's problems require that the Egyptian government tackle the underlying public governance failures by introducing accountability to citizens for public service quality, streamlining regulatory systems to accelerate enterprise growth and expand competition, and instituting greater transparency to achieve inclusive and broad-based growth. Though not directed at youth per se, such systemic reforms must underpin any successful effort to relieve Egypt's youth crisis.
Springer eBooks, Aug 21, 2014
The Egyptian Revolution of January 2011 has arguably changed the landscape for public governance ... more The Egyptian Revolution of January 2011 has arguably changed the landscape for public governance and accountability in Egypt. It has not yet had a discernible impact on governance itself, however. As this chapter is being written, 2 years after these momentous events, no conclusion can be drawn as to whether the Revolution will fulfill its promise of better governance. To reach this outcome, the post-Revolution government must not only confront the challenges that stymied Mubarak-era efforts at governance reform but also overcome the additional barriers arising from the Revolution.
Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a charitable donation incumbent upon all Muslims with... more Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a charitable donation incumbent upon all Muslims with assets above a specified level. Eight purposes are defined in the Qur'an for the use of zakat donations, of which the most important is the support of the poor and unfortunate. Although reliable estimates of zakat generation are not available, anecdotal evidence indicates that very large sums are generated annually, in the range of several billion or tens of billions of dollars. A debate has arisen in recent years over how to manage and use zakat, encompassing three main areas. First, scholars and practitioners disagree as to whether zakat must be used for direct donation to individuals or can be used to support institutions that serve individuals or to combat poverty through development projects such as microfinance. Second, conservative scholars argue that only Islamic governments can collect zakat, which constitutes one of the few permitted sources of taxes to an Islamic government while reformists promote private nonprofit organizations as equally appropriate. Zakat funds relying on the latter model are spreading in the West, even as professional managers of zakat funds in Islamic countries are moving to explore greater use of financial management and marketing tools drawn from business models. A third issue surrounds the use of a share of zakat collections for program administration by private parties. Other issues include how to respond to demands by reformers for increased transparency and accountability from state or private institutions that manage zakat collection and distribution; how to expand the definition of the purposes for which zakat can be used; and the extent to which zakat can or should serve to redistribute wealth across a society to achieve social justice. This article explores these issues based on field research and a review of the literature to examine current practices, with an emphasis on emerging innovative models of zakat for development (Z4D) management and how they differ from traditional practice. Indonesian and Malaysian experiences, including corporate and publicprivate models, and analysis of emerging US and UK zakat funds provides insights into such new practices. A case study of Egypt is provided based on preliminary field work, interviews with the official zakat organization, Nasser Social Bank, a review of regulations and fatwas issued, and a case study of one highly successful application of Z4D in a Delta village, Tafahna al-Ashraf. The case study sheds light on how the use and management of zakat are evolving in Egypt and points the way to the development of modernized models that build on traditional zakat institutions to meet Egypt's development needs. Reform of zakat along the lines pioneered in Southeast Asia, particularly a shift from traditional charity to incorporate greater support to sustainable poverty alleviation, would potentially mobilize greater zakat donation, raise transparency and accountability, expand the scope for collaboration with community-based civil society groups and corporations, and increase the impact of this central Islamic institution.
International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2007
Organometallics, 2017
We describe rhenium(I) triscarbonyl compounds (3 and 4) decorated with simple-to-use 2-iminomethy... more We describe rhenium(I) triscarbonyl compounds (3 and 4) decorated with simple-to-use 2-iminomethyl-pyridine (1, impy) and 2-aminomethyl-pyridine (2, ampy) ligands, respectively, which can serve as cooperative ligand scaffolds enabling CO 2 binding via a formal [1,3] addition under Re−O and C−C bond formation. fac-[Re(impy)-(CO) 3 Br] (3) is readily prepared by stirring (1-(pyridin-2yl)-N-(p-tolyl)methanimine (impy, 1) and [Re(CO) 5 Br] in refluxing THF. Alternatively, complex 3 can be readily obtained when a mixture of [Re(CO) 5 Br], p-toluidine, and picolinaldehyde is refluxed in ethanol. Complex 3 is reduced with excess potassium metal in THF (two-electron reduction) to give the anionic amido complex K[Re(amidopy*)(CO) 3 ] (5b, the asterisk indicates the dearomatized ligand). Analysis of the 1 H and 13 C{ 1 H} NMR spectra of 5b suggest the dearomatization of the pyridine unit. Complex 5b is highly reactive and gives rise to the facile [1,3] addition of CO 2. The addition of the CO 2 and thus the formation of K[Re(amidopy-COO)(CO) 3 ] (6) is characterized by the concomitant formation of a Re−O and a C−C bond. The addition is triggered by the rearomatization of the pyridine unit in 6. Remarkably, isotopic labeling experiments involving 13 CO 2 suggest a reversible binding of CO 2 to the complex. The related amine complex fac-[Re(ampy)(CO) 3 Br] (4) is similarly prepared by stirring (4-methyl-N-(pyridin-2ylmethyl)aniline (2) and [Re(CO) 5 Br] in THF at 60°C. Upon addition of excess base (LiHMDS), complex 3 is readily deprotonated twice to give likewise the anionic amido complex Li[Re(amidopy*)(CO) 3 ] (5a). The latter reaction gives rise to a facile access to the reactive dearomatized anionic fragment [Re(amidopy*)(CO) 3 ] − with no need for the application of strong reducing agents. The ion pair M + /[Re(amidopy*)(CO) 3 ] − is highly reactive and combines MLC (metal−ligand cooperation) via a dearomatization/rearomatization scheme and bifunctional reactivity enabled by the nucleophilic nature of the Re complex and the Lewis acidic counter alkali cation.
Realizing the magnitude of informality as a façon-de-vie in Cairo as in other megacities, this re... more Realizing the magnitude of informality as a façon-de-vie in Cairo as in other megacities, this research focuses on the urban poor in their attempts to provide a decent standard of living using their own efforts, within the context of the lack of government engagement and limited resources. The purpose was to answer the research question how community organizations and state actors interact in providing key infrastructure in informal areas, taking Izbit ElHaggana as an area of study. The objective was to determine the processes of how community self-help schemes and government efforts to install and upgrade infrastructure in informal areas operate and are maintained. This thus allowed us to recognize quality and sustainability issues, as well as potential for integrated/inclusive upgrading policies; and whether the government can afford to reject informal infrastructure. Qualitative interviews were conducted with community members, government officials and experts on informality to provide holistic perceptions on the upgrading paradigm. The study findings provided an insight to two case studies of self-help water installations in the two districts of ElHaggana, as well as an insight into electricity and sewerage connections, regarding gehood zateya processes-incremental networking, innovation strategies, communal networks and self-sufficiency, sub-optimal quality, and sustainability. The findings also shed light on the themes of informal social structures and interaction with formal systems. The research indicates that local self-help initiatives often override non-functioning formal systems, while local governments stubbornly avoid collaboration as back participation in initiatives. In addition, community interviews presented citizens caught in a trap between the need to regularize and mistrust of formalization given the unstable official recognition.
AGRIS record. Record number, US9101285. Titles, Food aid and economic policy reform. Personal Aut... more AGRIS record. Record number, US9101285. Titles, Food aid and economic policy reform. Personal Authors, Block, S.,Bremer, J.,Hanrahan, C. Publisher, ABT Associates. Publisher Place, Cambridge, Mass. (USA). Publication Date, [1988]. AGRIS Subj. Cat. ...
SIDALC - Servicio de Informacion y Documentacion Agropecuaria de las Americas. This paper presen... more SIDALC - Servicio de Informacion y Documentacion Agropecuaria de las Americas.
This paper presents a framework for thinking about the problem of fragile lands, using the steep lands and humid tropical lowlands of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as its point of departure. Although the paper is directed to LAC region needs, the nature of the fragile lands problem is universal. The concepts developed have equal applicability outside Latin America. The paper focuses on concepts useful as a guide for selection of a solution strategy, giving minimal emphasis to description of the nature of the problem.
(This is a USAID paper, Prepared under contract for the U.S. Agency for International
Development (IQC Contract Number PDC-1406-I-14-1135-OO),. Bureaus of Science and Technology and Latin America and the Caribbean. As such it is open source.
Business Ethics: A European Review, Jul 1, 2008
Launched by the United Nations in 2000, the Global Compact (GC) promotes private sector complianc... more Launched by the United Nations in 2000, the Global Compact (GC) promotes private sector compliance with 10 basic principles covering human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anticorruption. Its sponsors aim to establish a global corporate social responsibility (CSR) network based on a pledge to observe the 10 principles adopted by companies across the range of company size and regional origin, backed by a modest reporting system and collaborative programmes. The author analyzes the GC's progress toward building a global network from its launch through 2006 and finds that, while the GC's nominal membership base of nearly 3000 companies makes it the largest system among collective action institutions (CAIs) for corporate responsibility, the GC has not reached 'critical mass'. Deficiencies in its nascent global network include limited market penetration among the largest corporations, a membership heavily weighted toward Western European companies, and major weaknesses in compliance with its reporting system. The author concludes that the GC must improve both penetration and compliance if it is to succeed in building a global standard for CSR.
Public administration and development, 1984
The project approach to development assistance has been criticized for failing to build lasting c... more The project approach to development assistance has been criticized for failing to build lasting capacity. The problem lies not in the project approach itself, but in a failure to understand the constraints to capacity development and a consequent misdirection of effort. Policy analysis capacity is developed as an example. Policy analysis requires skills and abilities that public sector institutions in developing countries cannot sustain, owing to a combination of structural and organizational factors, among which personnel constraints are key. These factors inhibit the effectiveness of the standard approach, which seeks to establish analytic capacity within a specialized government unit ('internal' capacity). An alternative approach is to build 'process' capacity-the ability to get analysis done by other institutions, rather than the ability to do analysis internally. The author concludes that project strategies should be redirected toward a greater emphasis on building process capacity as a useful adjunct to internal capacity.
Voluntas, Mar 1, 2004
University Microfilms International eBooks, 1982
Poverty & Public Policy, Sep 1, 2018
Egypt's 2011 Tahrir Revolution was fueled by the volatile combination of pervasive public governa... more Egypt's 2011 Tahrir Revolution was fueled by the volatile combination of pervasive public governance failures and a large youth population blocked from successfully navigating the transition to adulthood. Far from addressing these problems, this Revolution led to instability, economic stagnation, and the rapid return to power of Egypt's military-elite alliance, further marginalizing the youth population. This article argues that Egyptian youth's predicament must be understood as the result of public governance failures. Their dependence on a failed and unaccountable public education system leaves them without the skills needed for productive employment, while Egypt's dualistic "limited access order" leads to the suppression of medium-size firms, forcing low-income youth to accept poorly paid, insecure employment in the informal sector, and constraining opportunities for educated youth, particularly young women, who remain outside the workforce. Viable, sustained solutions to youth's problems require that the Egyptian government tackle the underlying public governance failures by introducing accountability to citizens for public service quality, streamlining regulatory systems to accelerate enterprise growth and expand competition, and instituting greater transparency to achieve inclusive and broad-based growth. Though not directed at youth per se, such systemic reforms must underpin any successful effort to relieve Egypt's youth crisis.
Springer eBooks, Aug 21, 2014
The Egyptian Revolution of January 2011 has arguably changed the landscape for public governance ... more The Egyptian Revolution of January 2011 has arguably changed the landscape for public governance and accountability in Egypt. It has not yet had a discernible impact on governance itself, however. As this chapter is being written, 2 years after these momentous events, no conclusion can be drawn as to whether the Revolution will fulfill its promise of better governance. To reach this outcome, the post-Revolution government must not only confront the challenges that stymied Mubarak-era efforts at governance reform but also overcome the additional barriers arising from the Revolution.
Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a charitable donation incumbent upon all Muslims with... more Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a charitable donation incumbent upon all Muslims with assets above a specified level. Eight purposes are defined in the Qur'an for the use of zakat donations, of which the most important is the support of the poor and unfortunate. Although reliable estimates of zakat generation are not available, anecdotal evidence indicates that very large sums are generated annually, in the range of several billion or tens of billions of dollars. A debate has arisen in recent years over how to manage and use zakat, encompassing three main areas. First, scholars and practitioners disagree as to whether zakat must be used for direct donation to individuals or can be used to support institutions that serve individuals or to combat poverty through development projects such as microfinance. Second, conservative scholars argue that only Islamic governments can collect zakat, which constitutes one of the few permitted sources of taxes to an Islamic government while reformists promote private nonprofit organizations as equally appropriate. Zakat funds relying on the latter model are spreading in the West, even as professional managers of zakat funds in Islamic countries are moving to explore greater use of financial management and marketing tools drawn from business models. A third issue surrounds the use of a share of zakat collections for program administration by private parties. Other issues include how to respond to demands by reformers for increased transparency and accountability from state or private institutions that manage zakat collection and distribution; how to expand the definition of the purposes for which zakat can be used; and the extent to which zakat can or should serve to redistribute wealth across a society to achieve social justice. This article explores these issues based on field research and a review of the literature to examine current practices, with an emphasis on emerging innovative models of zakat for development (Z4D) management and how they differ from traditional practice. Indonesian and Malaysian experiences, including corporate and publicprivate models, and analysis of emerging US and UK zakat funds provides insights into such new practices. A case study of Egypt is provided based on preliminary field work, interviews with the official zakat organization, Nasser Social Bank, a review of regulations and fatwas issued, and a case study of one highly successful application of Z4D in a Delta village, Tafahna al-Ashraf. The case study sheds light on how the use and management of zakat are evolving in Egypt and points the way to the development of modernized models that build on traditional zakat institutions to meet Egypt's development needs. Reform of zakat along the lines pioneered in Southeast Asia, particularly a shift from traditional charity to incorporate greater support to sustainable poverty alleviation, would potentially mobilize greater zakat donation, raise transparency and accountability, expand the scope for collaboration with community-based civil society groups and corporations, and increase the impact of this central Islamic institution.
International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2007
Organometallics, 2017
We describe rhenium(I) triscarbonyl compounds (3 and 4) decorated with simple-to-use 2-iminomethy... more We describe rhenium(I) triscarbonyl compounds (3 and 4) decorated with simple-to-use 2-iminomethyl-pyridine (1, impy) and 2-aminomethyl-pyridine (2, ampy) ligands, respectively, which can serve as cooperative ligand scaffolds enabling CO 2 binding via a formal [1,3] addition under Re−O and C−C bond formation. fac-[Re(impy)-(CO) 3 Br] (3) is readily prepared by stirring (1-(pyridin-2yl)-N-(p-tolyl)methanimine (impy, 1) and [Re(CO) 5 Br] in refluxing THF. Alternatively, complex 3 can be readily obtained when a mixture of [Re(CO) 5 Br], p-toluidine, and picolinaldehyde is refluxed in ethanol. Complex 3 is reduced with excess potassium metal in THF (two-electron reduction) to give the anionic amido complex K[Re(amidopy*)(CO) 3 ] (5b, the asterisk indicates the dearomatized ligand). Analysis of the 1 H and 13 C{ 1 H} NMR spectra of 5b suggest the dearomatization of the pyridine unit. Complex 5b is highly reactive and gives rise to the facile [1,3] addition of CO 2. The addition of the CO 2 and thus the formation of K[Re(amidopy-COO)(CO) 3 ] (6) is characterized by the concomitant formation of a Re−O and a C−C bond. The addition is triggered by the rearomatization of the pyridine unit in 6. Remarkably, isotopic labeling experiments involving 13 CO 2 suggest a reversible binding of CO 2 to the complex. The related amine complex fac-[Re(ampy)(CO) 3 Br] (4) is similarly prepared by stirring (4-methyl-N-(pyridin-2ylmethyl)aniline (2) and [Re(CO) 5 Br] in THF at 60°C. Upon addition of excess base (LiHMDS), complex 3 is readily deprotonated twice to give likewise the anionic amido complex Li[Re(amidopy*)(CO) 3 ] (5a). The latter reaction gives rise to a facile access to the reactive dearomatized anionic fragment [Re(amidopy*)(CO) 3 ] − with no need for the application of strong reducing agents. The ion pair M + /[Re(amidopy*)(CO) 3 ] − is highly reactive and combines MLC (metal−ligand cooperation) via a dearomatization/rearomatization scheme and bifunctional reactivity enabled by the nucleophilic nature of the Re complex and the Lewis acidic counter alkali cation.
Realizing the magnitude of informality as a façon-de-vie in Cairo as in other megacities, this re... more Realizing the magnitude of informality as a façon-de-vie in Cairo as in other megacities, this research focuses on the urban poor in their attempts to provide a decent standard of living using their own efforts, within the context of the lack of government engagement and limited resources. The purpose was to answer the research question how community organizations and state actors interact in providing key infrastructure in informal areas, taking Izbit ElHaggana as an area of study. The objective was to determine the processes of how community self-help schemes and government efforts to install and upgrade infrastructure in informal areas operate and are maintained. This thus allowed us to recognize quality and sustainability issues, as well as potential for integrated/inclusive upgrading policies; and whether the government can afford to reject informal infrastructure. Qualitative interviews were conducted with community members, government officials and experts on informality to provide holistic perceptions on the upgrading paradigm. The study findings provided an insight to two case studies of self-help water installations in the two districts of ElHaggana, as well as an insight into electricity and sewerage connections, regarding gehood zateya processes-incremental networking, innovation strategies, communal networks and self-sufficiency, sub-optimal quality, and sustainability. The findings also shed light on the themes of informal social structures and interaction with formal systems. The research indicates that local self-help initiatives often override non-functioning formal systems, while local governments stubbornly avoid collaboration as back participation in initiatives. In addition, community interviews presented citizens caught in a trap between the need to regularize and mistrust of formalization given the unstable official recognition.
AGRIS record. Record number, US9101285. Titles, Food aid and economic policy reform. Personal Aut... more AGRIS record. Record number, US9101285. Titles, Food aid and economic policy reform. Personal Authors, Block, S.,Bremer, J.,Hanrahan, C. Publisher, ABT Associates. Publisher Place, Cambridge, Mass. (USA). Publication Date, [1988]. AGRIS Subj. Cat. ...
SIDALC - Servicio de Informacion y Documentacion Agropecuaria de las Americas. This paper presen... more SIDALC - Servicio de Informacion y Documentacion Agropecuaria de las Americas.
This paper presents a framework for thinking about the problem of fragile lands, using the steep lands and humid tropical lowlands of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as its point of departure. Although the paper is directed to LAC region needs, the nature of the fragile lands problem is universal. The concepts developed have equal applicability outside Latin America. The paper focuses on concepts useful as a guide for selection of a solution strategy, giving minimal emphasis to description of the nature of the problem.
(This is a USAID paper, Prepared under contract for the U.S. Agency for International
Development (IQC Contract Number PDC-1406-I-14-1135-OO),. Bureaus of Science and Technology and Latin America and the Caribbean. As such it is open source.