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Economic Sectors (economic + sector)
Selected AbstractsGovernment, corporate or social power?JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2002The internet as a tool in the struggle for dominance in public policy Abstract This paper sets out to demonstrate to corporations the need to monitor closely and to respond genuinely to public opinion. It predicts a rise in the power of citizens and a government response to that power that will include regulation to protect social and environmental interests. The paper gives an overview of the ways in which the economic sector, embodied in corporations, has risen to and maintained a position of dominance both within nation states and globally. It provides a model that illustrates the power relationship between corporations, governments and the public, noting in particular that the fundamental key to corporate dominance is the positioning of the public as consumers. Using the framework of legitimation, the paper then demonstrates and theorises the rise of opposition to the dominant order and the corporate and government responses to such opposition. It is proposed that these responses may be insufficient to maintain corporate dominance and that a new model is likely to gain ascendance. In this new model the public make a shift from consumers to citizens in order to reassert their role in governance. Internet sites of activist groups are examined in order to determine the ways in which the sites are used as a tool to facilitate a shift towards the second model. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications [source] Occupational cancer in Italy: Evaluating the extent of compensated cases in the period 1994,2006AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 11 2009Alberto Scarselli MS Abstract Objective The aim of this study is to analyze occupational cancer claims compensated in the industrial sector in Italy between 1994 and 2006. Methods A descriptive analysis of compensated occupational cancers based on the Italian Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL) data was performed. Summary statistics were compiled by sex and age of worker, cancer type, workplace agent and economic sector. The temporal trend in the period 1994,2006 was investigated for the most frequently compensated cancers (mesothelioma and lung cancer from asbestos; nasal cavities cancer from wood and leather dust). Results Between 1994 and 2006, 6,243 cancer claims were compensated by INAIL due to occupational exposure in the industrial sector. Most (5,288, or 85%) of these compensated claims occurred in the period 2000,2006, when the annual mean of the most compensated cancers increased approximately four times compared to the period 1994,1999. Conclusions There is an increasing trend in compensation for work-related cancers in Italy in recent years, even if occupational cancers are still widely underreported. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:859,867, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Work-related carpal tunnel syndrome (WR-CTS) in Massachusetts, 1992,1997: Source of WR-CTS, outcomes, and employer intervention practices,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2004Helen Wellman MS Abstract Background The Massachusetts Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (MASS SENSOR) receives reports of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome (WR-CTS) cases from (1) workers' compensation (WC) disability claims for 5 or more lost work days; and (2) physician reports (PR). Methods From 1992 through 1997, 1,330 WC cases and 571 PR cases completed follow-back surveys to provide information on industry, occupation, attributed source of WR-CTS, outcomes, and employer intervention practices. Results Sixty-four percent of the respondents had bilateral CTS and 61% had surgery, both of which were proportionally more frequent among WC cases. Office and business machinery was the leading source of WR-CTS (42% of classifiable sources) in every economic sector except construction, followed by hand tools (20%). Managers and professional specialty workers were the most likely to report employers' interventions and were up to four times more likely to report equipment or work environment changes than higher risk groups. Conclusions State-based surveillance data on the source of WR-CTS provided valuable information on how and where to implement interventions. New occurrences of WR-CTS are likely, especially in the highest risk industries where very few cases reported primary prevention measures (e.g., changes to equipment or work environment) implemented by their employers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 45:139,152, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Hurricanes and socio-economic development on Niue IslandASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 2 2000Judith C. Barker This case study investigates the complex ways that recurrent ecological damage affected the course of socio-economic development on Niue Island, a Pacific micro-state. In tracing the historical record of droughts and hurricanes from 1900 to 1990, it is clear that severely inclement weather repeatedly destroyed agricultural development endeavours on the island leading to stagnation in this economic sector. In the aftermath of such disasters there were additional widespread social, political, and economic responses resulting in insidious but inexorable change. These responses , metaphoric ,winds of change', constituted, bolstered and sustained the transition to a MIRAB economy. [source] Environmental strategies and green product development: an overview on sustainability-driven companiesBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 2 2009Vito Albino Abstract To respond effectively and efficiently to the environmental sustainability challenge, an important role can be played by companies, through appropriate strategies and operations, such as green processes and product development. In this paper, we investigate whether the development of green products is supported by the environmental strategic approaches adopted by sustainability-driven companies, and whether there are economic sector or geographical area specificities. To this purpose, first we develop a taxonomy of environmental strategies and we define measurable proxies for both the environmental strategic approaches identified and the green product development. Then, we study a sample represented by the companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSWI). The methodology used is based on the content analysis of companies' websites and relevant documents, such as environmental and sustainability reports. The main result is that the levels of adoption of different environmental strategic approaches are higher for green product developers than for green product non-developers. Moreover, the most implemented strategic approaches for green product developers vary depending on the economic sector, while a more homogeneous behaviour is found from the geographical perspective. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Chemischer Apparatebau im Aufbruch?CHEMIE-INGENIEUR-TECHNIK (CIT), Issue 5 2003E. Weiß Prof. Dr.-Ing. Abstract Die ACHEMA stellt eine eindrucksvolle Leistungsschau des Apparatebaus dar, die im engen Zusammenhang mit den epochalen Entwicklungen der Verfahrens- und Prozesstechnik steht. Dies ist ein günstiger Zeitpunkt, um über die Entwicklungschancen nachzudenken. Der Großanlagenbau hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten eine beträchtliche Korrektur erfahren, was sich besonders auf den deutschen Apparatebau ausgewirkt hat. Wirtschaftliche Zwänge lieferten einen zusätzlichen Anstoß für einen beachtlichen Schrumpfungsprozess. Der Apparatebau muss sich in der Zukunft auf zwei Standbeine konzentrieren: Hochqualifizierte Standardapparate und neuartige Produkte, die im engen Zusammenwirken mit der Verfahrenstechnik entwickelt werden müssen, um für neue Technologien und Prozessstrategien die erforderliche Hardware auf den Markt zu bringen. Der Beitrag nennt Gebiete, in denen sich der allgemeine technische Fortschritt manifestiert, aber auch aus der apparatetechnischen Sicht werden Anstöße vermittelt, wie ein gehobenes Qualitätsniveau der Produkte erreicht werden kann. Hierbei handelt es sich durchaus um Eigenschaften, die sich letztlich im wirtschaftlichen Ergebnis niederschlagen. Chemical Apparatus Engineering at a Turning Point? The ACHEMA conference is the leading international exhibition on chemical-apparatus engineering, closely connected with the epochal developments of chemical and process engineering. At the moment it is most timely to think about new opportunities of development. Large-scale plant engineering and general plant construction has experienced considerable improvement over the past decades, and the effects of these changes are particularly perceptible in the economic sector of German apparatus engineering. Economic pressures have given an additional impetus to a considerable shrinking process. Chemical apparatus engineering will have to focus on two main pillars in the near future: highly qualified standard and innovative products. Especially the latter must be developed in close interaction with chemical engineering in order to put the hardware required for new technologies and process strategies on the market. This article names the important fields of current general technical progress, showing that the main thrust is directed toward an elevated level of product quality that can be achieved through apparatus engineering. Such superior product properties are one important means to achieve higher profitability. [source] Natural Resources and Regional Development: An Assessment of Dependency and Comparative Advantage ParadigmsECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2003Thomas Gunton Abstract: The role of natural resources in regional development is the subject of a debate between dependency theorists, who argue that natural resources impede development, and comparative-advantage theorists, who argue that resources can expedite development. This debate is assessed by a case study analysis of the impact of resource development on a regional economy. The case study uses a model to estimate the comparative advantage of the resource sector. The results show that natural resources have the potential to provide a significant comparative advantage relative to other economic sectors by virtue of generating resource rent, which is a surplus above normal returns to other factors of production. The case study also shows that there are considerable risks in resource-led growth, including the propensity to dissipate rent and increase community instability by building surplus capacity. These risks are amenable to mitigation because they are largely the result of poor management of resource development. The case study demonstrates that the most productive analytical approach for understanding the role of natural resources in the development process is a synthetic approach, which combines the insights of the dependency and comparative-advantage paradigms into a unified framework. It also demonstrates that the concept of resource rent, which has frequently been ignored in development theory, must be reintegrated into the unified framework to improve the understanding of the role of natural resources in the regional development process. [source] Tourism flows between India and SingaporeINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 5 2003Faizal Yahya The tourism industry has become increasingly important as a source of revenue and employment for countries in Southeast Asia. Within the Southeast Asian region, intraregional travel has also seen an upsurge since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. More attention is also being paid to attract other Asian tourists from China, India, Japan and South Korea to the region. Competition to be tourism hubs in the region has seen countries such as Singapore developing an array of incentives to entice inbound foreign tourists to its shores. The aim of this paper is to examine the growing importance of India as a source of inbound tourists for countries in Southeast Asia and in particular Singapore. India is an apt case study because of its long historical and cultural links with the region. Another main motivation for examining inbound tourists from India is India's engagement with the Southeast Asian region through its ,Look East' policy. Following from its economic reforms and liberalisation of 1991, India has sought to strengthen economic links with ASEAN member states through a range of economic sectors including tourism. The 1991 Indian economic liberalisation has also created an upsurge of Indian business travellers who are exploring investment and business opportunities in the Southeast Asian region. With India's economic liberalisation of 1991, an expanding middle class has come to view foreign travel as a necessity. In turn, ASEAN member states, such as Singapore in particular, which is heavily dependent on its services sector, including tourism, for revenue, have chosen to regionalise its tourism operations by collaborating and investing in projects in India to woo more Indian tourists. Competition in the tourism sector among ASEAN countries has increased the urgency for Singapore to reinvent itself to attract foreign tourists and implement a number of initiatives to maintain its share of the tourism market. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The AIDS Epidemic and Migrants in South Asia and South-East AsiaINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 5 2004Daniel Simonet Migrant vulnerability to AIDS is an important public health care issue. After having listed some characteristics of the epidemic in Asia and their link with migration, the article describes some of the disease's consequences on economic sectors that employ migrants and lists preventive measures (regulatory, sectoral, microeconomic) that have been taken to counter the spread. [source] Energy Efficiency and Structural Change in the Netherlands, 1980,1995JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2000Dematerialization, Economic Structure on National Energy Consumption, Influence of Energy Efficiency Summary International agreement has been reached to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. One important way of decoupling CO2 emissions from economic growth is by introducing technical measures to improve energy efficiency. In this article, we assess the influence of developments in energy efficiency and economic structure on the total primary energy consumption in the Netherlands over the period 1980, 1995. We find a distinct decoupling of the economic growth and energy consumption of 1.5% per year in the 15-year analysis period. We measure (technical) changes in energy efficiency by changes in the energy consumption per physical unit of production or activity. The aggregate rate of (technical) energy-efficiency improvement was 1.4% per year over the period 1980,1995. The use of physical production indicators makes it possible to measure energy-efficiency developments without detailed surveys at a very low level of aggregation. When we look at economic structural changes over this period, we find that (i) no substantial shift took place at the level of the economic sectors that we distinguish; (ii) the most energy intensive subsectors grew much faster than the total economy; and (iii) at the subsector level, on average, a sizable decoupling of physical production and value added occurred. We conclude that structural changes, that is, changes in the composition of the economy, did not lead to a net decrease in the energy intensity of the Netherlands over the period 1980,1995. [source] China's WTO accession, state enterprise reform, and spatial economic restructuringJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2002Simon Xiaobin Zhao China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) promises to have profound effects on the development of the nation's economy and on nationwide enterprise reorganization. This paper attempts to address the relationship between China's WTO accession and state enterprise reforms, and their impacts on the performance of China's spatial economy, including the possible rise and fall of several large national financial centres, such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It is argued that China's new international ties will enhance current enterprise reforms and promote changes in the existing pattern of enterprise organization, with enterprise mergers, acquisitions, takeover activity and the formation of large multinational corporations (MNCs) becoming dominant trends within China's industrial development. Alongside these changes, some economic sectors, such as information technology (IT) and advanced professional services are predicted to become concentrated in several national information ,heartlands,' each having its own well-developed information infrastructure and other comparative advantages over traditional industrial centers. Meanwhile traditional industrial enterprises, while continuing to rely upon their pre-assigned resource priorities, will certainly face fierce international competition in the turbulent global market. The spatial shift of production and trade undoubtedly requires that Chinese enterprises, especially those that are state-owned, reorganize their production-trade systems according to the global ,rules of the game'. All of these changes, due to take effect imminently with China's WTO accession, will fundamentally restructure China's spatial economic landscape, including the creation of a new information heartland and hinterland that will in turn determine the life or death of the country's national financial centres. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] BUSINESS COMMUNITY STRUCTURES AND URBAN REGIMES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSISJOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 4 2007MARK DE SOCIO ABSTRACT:,Regime theorists often present business interests as coherent and unified communities with unitary interests. A central principle of regime theory, however, is that business elites tend to occupy privileged positions within regime coalitions because of the scope of resources and expertise they command and cities require for economic development and/or fiscal solvency. Cities are generally home to a wide range of business activities operating at various scales, and business elites representing various corporations in different economic sectors arguably command different kinds of resources and expertise that are functional to the economic activities with which they are affiliated. Various mixes of business elites representing different economic activities might therefore produce differentially biased input regarding urban policy-making and affect the types of regime coalitions that cities develop.Utilizing compilations of interlocking directorates among major organizations across three sectors, profiles of the corporate and social community structures of 24 U.S. cities are generated and a correlation matrix comprised of business and social organizational categories is produced. Factor analysis of the correlation matrix identifies three separate mixes of corporate and social organizational categories that generally conform to descriptions of developmental, caretaker, and progressive regime typologies. These three factors serve as prototypes of the three broad regime types and their corporate community structures. Correlations of the 24 cities with each of the three regime prototypes generally match their regime types as identified through previous case studies. Variations in regime types among cities might therefore be attributed to varying degrees of diversity in the kinds of corporations headquartered or located within them. Closer attention to the economic base of cities,the producers, after all, of local business elites,may reveal internal biases and/or material predisposition towards some urban policies over others by local business elites in relation to the economic activities with which they are linked. [source] The price of natural gasOPEC ENERGY REVIEW, Issue 4 2001A.M. Samsam Bakhtiari Natural gas used to be a relatively Cheap primary energy source, always at a discount to crude oil (on a comparative British thermal unit basis). It gradually evolved into a major resource during the 20th century , reaching a 24 per cent share of global primary energy in 1999. In the year 2000, natural gas prices in the USA rose to unheard-of highs of $10/million Btu, ushering in a new era, with natural gas at a 120 per cent premium to crude oil. This clearly was a watershed for gas, somehow similar to the 1973-74 watershed for oil prices. And similarly, any return to the status quo-ante looks rather improbable, although a number of experts (alongside the International Energy Agency) still believe the 2000 price ,spike' to have been "only transitory" The consequences of higher gas prices (at a level equal to crude oil prices on a Btu basis) will be multifaceted and momentous, altering habits and uses in downstream industries and economic sectors, as well as providing added income for major gas-exporters, such as Russia, Canada and Algeria. Another potential consequence of the 2000 watershed might be to propel US standard prices (such as the ,Henry Hub' spot) to international status and gas price-setter, as the ,WTI spot' became an "international benchmark" for crude oils in the post-1993 era. For the time being, the equality of gas and oil prices has become the new norm; but, in the longer term, a discount of crude oil relative to natural gas might be envisaged, as the latter is a cleaner fuel and emits less carbon dioxide when used. [source] Dangerous Holes in Global Environmental Governance: The Roles of Neoliberal Discourse, Science, and California Agriculture in the Montreal ProtocolANTIPODE, Issue 1 2008Brian J. Gareau Abstract:, This paper explores how a relatively successful global environmental treaty, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, is currently undermined by US protectionism. At the "global scale" of environmental governance, powerful nation-states like the US prolong their domination of certain economic sectors with the assistance of neoliberal discourse. Using empirical data gathered while attending Montreal Protocol meetings from 2003 to 2006, I show how US policy undermines the Montreal Protocol's mandate to phase out methyl bromide (MeBr). At the global scale of environmental governance the US uses a discourse of technical and economic infeasibility because, in the current neoliberal milieu, it cannot make a simply protectionist argument. The discourse, in other words, is protectionism by another name. While much of the literature in critical geography on neoliberalism has focused on de-regulation versus re-regulation, this paper illustrates how science, protectionism, and neoliberalism can become articulated uneasily and in sometimes unexpected ways. [source] Effects of Great Barrier Reef degradation on recreational reef-trip demand: a contingent behaviour approach,AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2009Marit E. Kragt There is a growing concern that increased nutrient and sediment runoff from river catchments are a potential source of coral reef degradation. Degradation of reefs may affect the number of tourists visiting the reef and, consequently, the economic sectors that rely on healthy reefs for their income generation. This study uses a contingent behaviour approach to estimate the effect of reef degradation on demand for recreational dive and snorkel trips, for a case study of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Results from a negative binomial random effects panel model show that the consumer surplus current reef visitors derive from a diving or snorkelling trip is approximately A$185 per trip. Furthermore, results indicate that reef trips by divers and snorkellers could go down by as much as 80 per cent given a hypothetical decrease in coral and fish biodiversity. This corresponds to a decrease in tourism expenditure by divers and snorkellers on full-day reef trips in the Cairns management area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park of about A$103 million per year. [source] Firm strategy and the Canadian Voluntary Climate Challenge and Registry (VCR),BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 6 2009Keith Brouhle Abstract The Canadian VCR is a climate change mitigation program that relies on firms' desire to signal environmental responsibility to external stakeholders through voluntary information disclosure. We analyze indicators of strategic behavior through three measures of engagement with the VCR program (annual participation behavior, quality of action plans and repeat participation), and test for differences in these measures among firms subjected to different regulatory climates that arise over time, across provinces and across economic sectors. Our findings suggest an increased perception of a regulatory threat in later years, as evidenced by an increase in participation rates, higher quality of action plans and higher rates of repeat participation. We also find higher levels of engagement with the VCR program in provinces with large petroleum (Alberta) and manufacturing (Ontario) industries and that have established provincial level greenhouse gas reporting mechanisms, and in certain sectors such as petroleum, electric utilities and to some extent services. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||