Comments on: Friday Round Up http://aidwatchers.com/2009/11/friday-round-up/ just asking that aid benefit the poor Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:42:39 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Two interesting posts from Aid Watch « No Cynics Allowed http://aidwatchers.com/2009/11/friday-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7210 Two interesting posts from Aid Watch « No Cynics Allowed Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:30:14 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/?p=1464#comment-7210 [...] Two interesting posts from Aid Watch By Bill The first is a bit off topic for that blog, but I enjoyed the short discussion of market forces within groups of monkeys. [...] [...] Two interesting posts from Aid Watch By Bill The first is a bit off topic for that blog, but I enjoyed the short discussion of market forces within groups of monkeys. [...]

]]> By: Didier http://aidwatchers.com/2009/11/friday-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7207 Didier Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:08:03 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/?p=1464#comment-7207 At what point does one monkey do away with the other in order to obtain monopoly rights or do the original monkey's now form a trade association to bribe the scientists to keep them from training any more monkeys?...or is that just the way humans would behave? At what point does one monkey do away with the other in order to obtain monopoly rights or do the original monkey’s now form a trade association to bribe the scientists to keep them from training any more monkeys?…or is that just the way humans would behave?

]]> By: uberVU - social comments http://aidwatchers.com/2009/11/friday-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7202 uberVU - social comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:23:16 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/?p=1464#comment-7202 <strong>Social comments and analytics for this post...</strong> This post was mentioned on Twitter by mikegechter_rss: Friday Round Up: Monkeys Do Markets In a recent experiment, a team of scientists trained a vervet monkey to ope.. http://bit.ly/3npLAc... Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by mikegechter_rss: Friday Round Up: Monkeys Do Markets In a recent experiment, a team of scientists trained a vervet monkey to ope.. http://bit.ly/3npLAc...

]]> By: Laura Freschi http://aidwatchers.com/2009/11/friday-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7198 Laura Freschi Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:48:52 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/?p=1464#comment-7198 Hi Matt, Yes, of course it's not to slight people who continue to do good work in Iraq, but I also think that getting the best qualified people to go to conflict areas gets harder as a conflict drags on, or as security conditions worsen. People I have worked with on staffing in Iraq lamented that many of the most qualified people had already "put in their time" and were burnt out after the first two years or so, and there simply isn't an unlimited supply of good managers who also have the requisite regional experience, technical expertise and language skills. The deteriorating security situation meant that it was harder and harder to do hands-on development work where aid workers could travel around the country and interact with beneficiary communities, and this added another major disincentive for the best people to take jobs there. Hi Matt, Yes, of course it’s not to slight people who continue to do good work in Iraq, but I also think that getting the best qualified people to go to conflict areas gets harder as a conflict drags on, or as security conditions worsen. People I have worked with on staffing in Iraq lamented that many of the most qualified people had already “put in their time” and were burnt out after the first two years or so, and there simply isn’t an unlimited supply of good managers who also have the requisite regional experience, technical expertise and language skills. The deteriorating security situation meant that it was harder and harder to do hands-on development work where aid workers could travel around the country and interact with beneficiary communities, and this added another major disincentive for the best people to take jobs there.

]]> By: Matt http://aidwatchers.com/2009/11/friday-round-up/comment-page-1/#comment-7195 Matt Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:31:44 +0000 http://aidwatchers.com/?p=1464#comment-7195 Apologies to those working in conflict areas if this seems offensive, but there must also be a selection effect going on in your "bad bosses suck" story, right? It's extremely difficult to get senior people to work in these places - that means offering higher salaries but accepting lower ability bosses. Also, results in conflict areas are much, much harder to verify. This makes it easier for some to shirk on doing good work. Apologies to those working in conflict areas if this seems offensive, but there must also be a selection effect going on in your “bad bosses suck” story, right? It’s extremely difficult to get senior people to work in these places – that means offering higher salaries but accepting lower ability bosses. Also, results in conflict areas are much, much harder to verify. This makes it easier for some to shirk on doing good work.

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