The political economy of global tree plantation expansion: a review

This contribution analyses the recent global expansion of different types of tree plantations. A literature review collates accounts from recent academic publications and by NGOs, and is accompanied by field research and interview observations about the causal processes, central features and likely futures of contemporary tree plantation expansion. I will analyse the political and spatial causalities explaining varieties and commonalities in expansion style and pace, with elaboration on the applied and empirical significance of these findings for peasant studies. The literature on environmental and developmental impacts of tree plantation expansion is also surveyed.     

The role of debt,death and dispossession in world-ecological transformations: swidden commons and tar capitalism in nineteenth-century Finland

ABSTRACT

This article theorises about the ways in which commodity frontiers replace forest commons. New insights are offered into the role of debt, enclosures, the death of human and extra-human natures, and the role of the state in historical processes through an analysis of historical material and recent scholarship on eastern Finland's role in global capitalist expansion in the nineteenth century. The article contributes to the general study of commons and the expansion of capitalist world-ecology. We discuss how swidden commons were more sustainable than generally assumed. The article provides an original theoretical framework for studying world-ecological transformations. We argue that a study of debt, death and dispossession – which we call the three work-horses of tar capitalism – can shed new light on the expansion of commodity frontiers.     

Technology commercialization: a literature review of success factors and antecedents across different contexts

This paper provides a systematic review of the current literature on technology commercialization. It serves to establish a foundation for the following empirical and theoretical contributions. Technological inventions are fundamental for a country’s economic growth. However, in order to actually generate value for society and profits for the involved companies, these inventions need to be successfully transferred to the market. Therefore, newly developed technologies need to be integrated into products which sell. In particular, our study focuses on the different interaction channels through which technology commercialization occurs. We analyze main groups of institutions, which can either act as developers of technologies and/or organizations bringing these technologies to the market: Universities and research institutes, technology startups, and established companies. We propose a theoretical framework of possible interactions between these organizations and analyze the success factors within the respective channels. Based on the systematic review of 140 articles, key characteristics of the technology development organizations are analyzed with regard to the different possible channels available to commercialize their technology.     

“One size fits all”? Convergence in international corporate social responsibility communication—A comparative study of CSR mission statements in the United States and India

So far, no study has investigated determinants that shape corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication in mission statements, as previous studies have focused on CSR reports and homepages. Our study, which is based on institutional theory, fills this gap. By conducting a directed content analysis of the statements of 200 listed companies in the United States and India, we examine the content conveyed with respect to 5 CSR dimensions, the 5 most prominent stakeholder groups, and additional components of CSR mission statements. Moreover, we examine whether Unted States and Indian companies' CSR communication varies according to their (a) home country, (b) industry affiliation, (c) degree of internationalization, (d) company size, (e) profitability, (f) founding year, (g) length of the CSR mission statement, and (h) compliance with the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative. Whereas the findings reveal that the companies' home country, degree of internationalization, and size have no considerable bearing on their CSR communication, we evidence that their communication can be explained by their industry affiliation, the profitability ratio return on assets, founding year, length of the statement, and compliance with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. Moreover, we explain the cross-country conformity of CSR communication by a convergence towards global and universal CSR communication approaches.     

Critical social media information flows: political trust and protest behaviour among Kazakhstani college students

ABSTRACT

In political regimes where traditional mass media are under state control, social networking sites may be the only place where citizens are exposed to and exchange dissident information. Despite all the attempts, complete control of social media seems to be implausible. We argue that the critical information that people see, read and share online undermines their trust in political institutions. This diminishing trust may threaten the legitimacy of the ruling regime and stimulate protest behaviour. We rely on original survey data of Kazakhstani college students to confirm these expectations. The data are unique in that they directly measure exposure to critical/dissident information, as opposed to simply assuming it. The analysis leverages Coarsened Exact Matching to simulate experimental conditions. This allows us to better identify the consequential mechanism and the attitudinal precursor by which social media influence protest in an authoritarian context.     

Low-income preschoolers' behavior with anatomically detailed dolls

The present study examined nonabused children's responses to anatomically detailed (AD) dolls among diverse populations. Thirty six low-income, predominantly African-American preschoolers from a Head Start center participated in an AD interview. Interviews were videotaped and coded for the presence of eight behaviors and eight parallel verbalizations. Results indicated that the children spent the majority of the interview without engaging in any behaviors which are often associated with sexual abuse. Sexual interaction between the dolls was seldom demonstrated, particularly when compared to exploration of the dolls' genitalia. Some differences were noted in the way low-income, predominantly African-American preschoolers responded to the dolls, when contrasted with the results of studies using predominantly middle-income, White preschoolers. The need for the consideration of environmental factors in interpreting children's responses to AD dolls is discussed.     

The Legal Discourse of the Common Law: A Game of Chess

English law, like any otherspecialized topic, needs a particular languagefor its understanding. The legal discourse ofthe common law gathers a set of theoretical andcustomary mechanisms subject to internal orexternal intrusions into its directions foruse. Two ideas are highlighted: the rigidity ofthe overall regulating structure of the law,and the use of `fuzzy sets' to provideflexibility to legal discourse. This unsteadyor fuzzy discourse production proves thislanguage to be the result of a long and complexhistorical process of socialisation. Theseinteractions of reference and of wordinglegitimate a mode of precise and technicalinstitutional stratification, combining bothconstruction and argumentation.     

Special report on health care delivery systems. Trends in the integrated delivery of health care and the corporate practice of medicine

The prospects for federal legislation preempting state corporate practice restrictions are unclear. The health care reform bill originally introduced by President Clinton contained a provision that would have preempted "any state law related to the corporate practice of medicine" insofar as it applied to the arrangements between non-fee-for-service health plans and their participating providers. H.R. 3600/S. 1757, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. 1407(b) (1993). Whether and in what form a preemption provision may survive the legislative process and see a Presidential signature remains to be seen. The particular fate of the federal legislation notwithstanding, however, health care executives can nevertheless remain confident that the legal treatment of the "corporate practice" of medicine will continue to be of vital concern as the various forms of health care organizations evolve in the ongoing struggle to deliver quality medicine at affordable prices.