Past Periods (past + period)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Planned obsolescence and marketing strategy

MANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 8 2000
Atsuo Utaka
By using a two-period model of a durable goods monopolist, we investigate marketing activities that have an obsolescence effect on products already sold in the past period. We assume that the monopolist can stimulate consumer demand for second-period products by marketing activities, and analyse not only the case where the level of marketing is determined in the second period, but also the case where it is determined in advance, namely, in the first period. It is shown that the equilibrium level of marketing becomes higher than the efficiency level not only in the former case, but also in the latter case if the obsolescence effect is not so large. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


The Relationship Between Accounting Profit and Economic Income

AUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW, Issue 43 2007
JOHN RYAN
The reliance on economic concepts, most notably economic income, for the measurement of profit in financial accounting is misplaced. This paper explores the concept of economic income, contrasting it with the concept of profit in the conventional accounting model. The concept of individual economic income cannot be used for measurement of profit for a past period as the concept is based on the capitalisation of expectations and excludes "separate but correlated" concepts of profit and capital needed for capital maintenance. [source]


Glacial survival or late glacial colonization?

JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 12 2006
Phylogeography of the root vole (Microtus oeconomus) in north-west Norway
Abstract Aim, It has been proposed that the root vole subspecies, Microtus oeconomus finmarchicus, survived the last glacial period on islands on the north-west coast of Norway. The Norwegian island of Andøya may have constituted the only site with permanent ice-free conditions. Geological surveys and fossil finds from Andøya demonstrate that survival throughout the last glacial maximum was probably possible for some plants and animals. In this study we aim to infer the recent evolutionary history of Norwegian root vole populations and to evaluate the glacial survival hypothesis. Methods, DNA sequence variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was studied in 46 root voles from 19 localities. Location, Northern Fennoscandia and north-west Russia with a focus on islands on the north-west coast of Norway. Results The phylogeographical analyses revealed two North European phylogroups labelled ,Andøya' and ,Fennoscandia'. The Andøya phylogroup contained root voles from the Norwegian islands of Andøya, Ringvassøya and Reinøya and two localities in north-west Russia. The Fennoscandian phylogroup encompassed root voles from the three Norwegian islands of Kvaløya, Håkøya and Arnøya and the remaining specimens from Norway, northern Sweden and Finland. Nucleotide diversity within the Andøya and Fennoscandian phylogroups was similar, ranging from 0.5% to 0.7%. Main conclusions Both our genetic data and previously published morphological data are consistent with in situ glacial survival of root voles on Andøya during the last glacial maximum. However, the level of genetic diversity observed in the extant island populations, the past periods of severe climatic conditions on Andøya and the ecology of the root vole are somewhat difficult to reconcile with this model. A biogeographical scenario involving late glacial recolonization along the northern coasts of Russia and Norway therefore represents a viable alternative. Our results demonstrate that complex recolonization and extinction histories can generate intricate phylogeographical patterns and relatively high levels of genetic variation in northern populations. [source]


Pollen-based biome reconstructions for Colombia at 3000, 6000, 9000, 12 000, 15 000 and 18 000 14C yr ago: Late Quaternary tropical vegetation dynamics

JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 2 2002
Robert Marchant
Abstract Colombian biomes are reconstructed at 45 sites from the modern period extending to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The basis for our reconstruction is pollen data assigned to plant functional types and biomes at six 3000-yr intervals. A reconstruction of modern biomes is used to check the treatment of the modern pollen data set against a map of potential vegetation. This allows the biomes reconstructed at past periods to be assessed relative to the modern situation. This process also provides a check on the a priori assignment of pollen taxa to plant functional types and biomes. For the majority of the sites, the pollen data accurately reflect the potential vegetation, even though much of the original vegetation has been transformed by agricultural practices. At 18 000 14C yr BP, a generally cool and dry environment is reflected in biome, assignments of cold mixed forests, cool evergreen forests and cool grassland,shrub; the latter extending to lower altitudes than presently recorded. This signal is strongly recorded at 15 000 and 12 000 14C yr BP, the vegetation at these times also reflecting a relatively cool and dry environment. At 9000 14C yr BP there is a shift to biomes thought to result from slightly cooler environmental conditions. This trend is reversed by 6000 14C yr BP; most sites, within a range of different environmental settings, recording a shift to more xeric biome types. There is an expansion of steppe and cool mixed-forest biomes, replacing tropical dry forest and cool grassland,shrub biomes, respectively. These changes in biome assignments from the modern situation can be interpreted as a biotic response to mid-Holocene climatic aridity. At 3000 14C yr BP the shift is mainly to biomes characteristic of slightly more mesic environmental conditions. There are a number of sites that do not change biome assignment relative to the modern reconstruction, although the affinities that these sites have to a specific biome do change. These ,anomalies' are interpreted on a site-by-site basis. Spatially constant, but differential response of the vegetation to climatic shifts are related to changes in moisture sources and the importance of edaphic controls on the vegetation. The Late Quaternary reconstruction of large-scale vegetation dynamics in Colombia allows an understanding of the environmental controls on these to be developed. In particular, shifts in the character of the main climatic systems that influence Colombian vegetation are described. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


THINGS BECAME SCARCE: FOOD AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY IN SANTIAGO de CUBA THEN AND NOW

ANNALS OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRACTICE, Issue 1 2009
Hanna Garth
Cuba has had a nationalized food rationing system since 1962, and has been lauded for exemplary food security innovations in the face of national financial hardship. Decreases in food and agricultural related importations after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 limited the amount of food provided in the monthly rations, forcing individuals to acquire increasing amounts of their food through other means. This article reveals the complexities Cubans face when attempting to access foods in Santiago de Cuba. This project examines how Cubans experience their food system, their struggles to maintain food traditions despite the low availability of ingredients, and how people use and relate to Cuba's food provisioning system. In this article two memories of past periods of abundance are juxtaposed to show the different ways in which individuals interpret food security. The analysis of semistructured interviews, community mapping, and participant-observation reveal the ways in which residents of Santiago de Cuba orient to their present situation through memories of past periods when foods were more available and more easily accessible. [source]