https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/119297 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:14:01 GMT 2026-04-27T15:14:01Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/121457 Title: Advancing the understanding of the shelter theory in small states Abstract: Hardly anyone has been able to escape the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. All over the world, states and individuals had to adjust their ways of operating and living to cope with the new situation. Yet, individuals living in many small states had to deal with disproportionate economic and social impacts caused by the pandemic. That is mainly due to inherent and often unique vulnerabilities that accompany life in small states. The academic discipline of small states studies has done extensive research on ways of how small states, in light of their overall limited capabilities, have been using various forms of and approaches to cooperation to improve their chances of survival, and more, to prosper and flourish. To that end, a recent contribution to the research body has been shelter theory, which posits that small states need shelter, provided by one or a union of states, to be able to thrive. This shelter expresses itself in three overarching dimensions: political, economic and societal. While small states and their residents have developed resilience strategies to increase their coping capacities, such as allying themselves with more powerful and resourceful states, the fact that many of them are developing states further contributed to an inadequate level of preparedness in terms of global health security. Although larger states did not necessarily fare much better in the initial stages of the pandemic, most of them eventually adjusted and also launched projects to provide and support COVID-19 countermeasures through development assistance for health in small states. This thesis sets out to analyse whether and to what extent those actions were guided by previously cultivated relations between assistance-providing large states and assistance-seeking small states. The argument put forward is that small states benefit in times of crisis from previously cultivated alignment in accordance with the degree to which they have “taken shelter” – provided by a large(r) state. The operationalisation of this argument is conducted though a mixed-methods research design. At first, composite indicators are devised to proxy for the three dimensions of shelter and to understand which states are providing shelter to small states. Data on arms sales is employed for political shelter, foreign direct investment for economic shelter and students in tertiary education institutions abroad for societal shelter. After having established a baseline for shelterer-shelteree constellations, data on development assistance for health is introduced to identify potential interactions. The analysis unveils tendencies that the suggested causal mechanism might indeed be of relevance, given that for certain small states in the sample, correlations are indicated. Yet, limitations to data availability and the corresponding exclusion of both potential shelter providers and, for certain shelter dimensions, shelter seekers, necessitate that the results have to be seen as a first approximation to capture the effect emanating from the three dimensions of shelter, rather than a conclusive assertion. Description: M.A. ISSS(Melit.) Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/121457 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/121453 Title: Granting fortunes : how networks of an intrapreneurial/entrepreneurial class act on development strategies in Malta Abstract: As a qualitative exploratory research, the main focus of the study is to understand how entrepreneurship is practiced in Malta as a case study of a small island state. How do social networks of the entrepreneurial or entrepreneurial class act on development and economic growth? The research is therefore informed by theories and previous empirical studies on small island states, especially on entrepreneurship and economic development. Further to this, as has been attested in social research on small island states, social capital is viewed as key to bolster the entrepreneurial spirit on such territories. With a focus on the importance of social capital and social networks, the study leveraged theories from Social Capital, Social Network Analysis and Relational Sociology to understand the practices of entrepreneurs in Malta. These theories provide the backbone to understand the social characteristics of entrepreneurial networks and how they foster relations to access opportunities, resources and knowledge. Therefore, from a new economic sociology perspective, the research centres around the importance of how social relations inform economic action. It explores entrepreneurship through broad research questions. 1) How is entrepreneurship practiced? 2) How does social capital affect entrepreneurship? 3) What are the advantages and disadvantages of social networks for entrepreneurship in small island states? Choosing Malta as a case study of a small island state, the study adopts a qualitative methodology and focuses on the network approach to social capital. Elite interviews with 5 representatives of ‘corporate actors’ (entities that represent and assist entrepreneurs) were conducted and analyses using reflexive thematic analysis to produce themes that informed the narrative of the findings. As an exploratory research the findings include how corporate actors focus on fostering social networks and how important such social relations are for both economic and entrepreneurial growth. Social capital through social networks is seen as positive and beneficial to gain access to new opportunities or resources. In the case of Malta, as a small island state, social networks are described as connections to the right persons and although most of the interviews hailed the positives of social capital there are downsides. Entrepreneurs in Malta were characterised by the lack of innovation, knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit. The interviewees highlighted the fact that many entrepreneurs prefer to replicate their peers’ ideas rather than pursue their own. Further to this, entrepreneurs tend to create cliques to dominate or limit a market and create disadvantages to new entrants to stifle competition. Furthermore, due to Malta’s ‘third wave democracy’, the interviewees noted that entrepreneurs tend to have strong ties to the political class. Not all enterprises leverage such relations, larger SMEs tend to be more prevalent in the interviewees experience. This therefore could create ‘favouritism’ and lead to collusion and corruption and possibly rent seeking. Description: M.A. ISSS(Melit.) Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/121453 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/119650 Title: Small island states and resilience building during the Covid-19 pandemic : the case of tourism Abstract: The objective of this research is to investigate the concept of resilience to adverse external shocks emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on nine small island states (SIS) that are highly dependent on tourism. The study also aims to assess two broad categories of actions conducive to such resilience, with the first relating to government policy, labelled as top-down measures, and the second associated with community responses, labelled as bottom-up actions. This assessment has the intention to extend the conceptual/theoretical understanding of the mechanisms that build resilience in the context of islands and small island studies, and to provide a new methodological framework to appraise resilience, with a focus on tourism. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/119650 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z