Great deeds or great risks? Scientists’ social representations of nanotechnology

Nanotechnologies are becoming a larger presence in everyday life and are viewed by governments and economic actors as a key area for development. The theory of social representations suggests that specialist views eventually disseminate to shape representations among the public. Yet nanotechnologies remain relatively little known to the general public. The media emphasize potential benefits, while potential risks get less attention. The literature has not yet addressed whether representations by a well-informed population (scientists) are indeed structured in terms of the risk–benefit polarity that dominates research framing to date. We attempted a systematic assessment of how background knowledge about nanotechnology may influence experts’ perception. Study 1 delivered the first demonstration derived from a qualitative analysis confirming the existence of a polarized representation of nanotechnologies, contrasting opportunity (medical, economic, and technological) and risk. Interestingly, risk was distinguished at two levels: that associated with nanomaterial characteristics (toxicity, reactivity) and at the larger scale of impact (health, environment, legislation). Does this polarity indicate a ‘yes, but’ logic (nanotechnology carries opportunity but also risk), or two clusters of specialists (sensitive, respectively, to opportunity or to risk)? Study 2 surveyed a larger sample of experts who self-described their scientific background and role viz. nanotechnology. Role had no influence. Specialists consensually viewed that nanotechnology represents opportunity, but depending on scientific background they did not agree to the same extent that nanotechnology also constitutes a risk. Participants with a physics and chemistry background tended to represent nanotechnologies predominantly in terms of opportunities and not in terms of inherent risks or impacts. In contrast, toxicologists, life and social scientists appeared to explicitly incorporate both benefits and risks in their representation of this new technology. Environmental scientists were a more diverse group, divided between the two patterns of representation.     

Social Capital Effects on the Career and Development Outcomes of HR Professionals

HR professionals’ roles require them to be responsive to both employee needs and top management strategies. However, the need to respond to the often competing employee and strategic agendas makes relationship‐building efforts challenging. This study examines the social capital characteristics of HR professionals and the impact on receipt of network benefits and career outcomes. Results indicate that HR professionals benefit from relationships with other HR professionals for career sponsorship and role‐related benefits. However, it is contacts who are in higher positions or in other organizations that transfer the most influential benefits, which in turn relate to objective career outcomes. Few benefits are obtained from contacts in non‐HR functions. The results illuminate relationship development opportunities for HR professionals. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The dynamics of Central European equity market comovements

This paper examines short-term and long-term comovements between developed European Union (EU) stock markets and those of three Central European (CE) countries which recently joined the EU. Dynamic cointegration and principal components methods are applied, in addition to static tests. While we find no evidence of cointegration for the period July 1995–February 2005 as a whole, dynamic tests reveal alternating period of cointegration disrupted by episodes dominated by short-term domestic factors. Principal components analysis reveals that a stable factor explains a large proportion of return variances. Ultimately, despite the decade-long process of alignment by CE countries with the EU, evidence of steadily increasing convergence of equity markets is lacking.     

Corporate disclosure, cost of capital and reputation: Evidence from finance directors

The majority view of the executives interviewed is that disclosure reduces the cost of equity up to the point at which a good-practice level of communication has been reached, after which there is little further effect. Greater disclosure to rating agencies and lenders reduces the cost of debt. Attitudes towards more mandatory disclosure are mostly negative. The main perceived cost of disclosure is creating the information. The main benefits are promotion of a reputation for openness and of shareholder confidence, not a lower cost of capital. We suggest that a reputation for openness is valued because it enhances the company's overall reputation, which brings commercial benefits.     

Social marketing and sustainable tourism—is there a match?

As we approach the new millennium it is becoming increasingly apparent that we need to re‐evaluate our approach to tourism provision, promotion and consumption. Tourism marketing campaigns continue to be aimed at a broad range of visitor segments irrespective of the relative degree of sustainability that might be exhibited in each case. As this paper will argue, the tools and techniques of social marketing may therefore have much to offer tourism organisations seeking a more sustainable approach to their market. This conclusion is based on the findings of a survey of 540 visitors to the South West of England that revealed a link between key behavioural motivations and the degree of sustainability exhibited. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Economic and environmental impact of the CAP mid-term review on arable crop farming in South-western France

The issue addressed in this paper is whether implementation of the CAP MTR, (involving decoupled payments reduced by “modulations” and subject to cross-compliance measures) can be effective in improving the environmental impact of arable farming. The focus is on two French cross-compliance measures (compulsory buffer strips along rivers and crop diversity). A farm-level bio-economic model incorporating yield uncertainty is built and adjusted to represent two typical arable farms in the Southwest of France. The model also combines agro-environmental indicators. The results indicate that a simple decoupling of direct payments, without cross-compliance measures, has no impact on allocations between different crops. If cross-compliance measures are imposed, a small reduction in the cultivated area of irrigated crops is observed. The penalty levied (1% of the total subsidy paid) when farmers do not comply with the “buffer strips” requirement is sufficient for both farm-types. Decoupling and modulation result in a fall in the total gross margin of around 3%, principally because of the 5% modulation rate, while the “buffer strips” requirement leads to a further decrease of around 1%. Moreover, this requirement improves the environmental indicators at the farm level.     

How Related Multiscreening Could Positively Affect Advertising Outcomes

The use of multiple screens, also known as multiscreening, is assumed to have detrimental consequences for advertising outcomes. However, many people are engaging in this form of media multitasking on a daily basis. Therefore, it is important to focus on how to improve the effectiveness of advertisements when multiscreening. The aim of this study is to examine a key facilitator of advertising effects when multiscreening, namely task relevance. In two separate experiments—an online study (n = 280) and a laboratory (n = 185) study—we showed that people who engage in related multiscreening have better brand memory and more positive brand attitudes than people who engage in unrelated multiscreening via attention and subsequent program involvement. The results of the current study contribute to our understanding of multiscreening and advertising effects by showing that multiscreening does not always have to be detrimental to advertising effects. Furthermore, this study is unique because it combines two methodological approaches of multiscreening research.     

Boundary Work: Becoming Middle Class in Suburban Dar es Salaam

Suburban space provides a useful window onto contemporary class practices in Africa, where it is difficult to identify social classes on the basis of income or occupation. In this article I argue that the middle classes and the suburbs are mutually constitutive in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. Using interviews with residents and local government officials in the city's northern suburbs, I discuss the material and representational practices of middle-class boundary work in relation to land and landscape. If the middle classes do not presently constitute a coherent political-economic force, they are nevertheless transforming the city's former northern peri-urban zones into desirable suburban residential neighbourhoods.     

“Mum,did you just leave that tap running?!” The role of positive pester power in prompting sustainable consumption

This paper offers novel insights on the socio‐structural factors that sustain (or break) everyday behaviours in the home. Specifically, the adoption of sustainable consumption in the home as influenced by Green‐School children is explored. The findings presented are derived from surveys with Green‐School (Eco‐School) children and in‐depth interviews with their parents. The process of sustainable consumption adoption in the home, in the context of the Green‐Schools programme, is explored with an aim to understand if, and how, Green‐School children affect behaviours in the home. The findings enlighten our understanding of not only how environmental education programmes are reconciling the Dominant Social Paradigm with the New Environmental Paradigm, but also in terms of how sustainable consumption in the home, such as recycling and water and energy conservation, are initiated and reinforced by children through their use of positive pester power.