AN APPROACH TO LINKING AN ECOLOGICAL VEGETATION MODEL TO AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC MODEL

Agricultural policy measures are directed increasingly towards encouraging production systems that are deemed to be favourable for ecologically valued plant communities and species. This paper presents an approach to linking an ecological model of vegetation with a regional economic model of agricultural production to provide a means of estimating the costs of achieving a given area of a desired vegetation type. This is demonstrated by an empirical study of heather and hay meadow conservation in the River Tyne catchment in northern England. The results show that policy measures need to take account both of spatial linkages within agriculture and temporal links between ecological processes and agricultural productivity.     

Subsampling the distribution of diverging statistics with applications to finance

In this paper we propose a subsampling estimator for the distribution of statistics diverging at either known or unknown rates when the underlying time series is strictly stationary and strong mixing. Based on our results we provide a detailed discussion of how to estimate extreme order statistics with dependent data and present two applications to assessing financial market risk. Our method performs well in estimating Value at Risk and provides a superior alternative to Hill's estimator in operationalizing Safety First portfolio selection.     

An evaluation of the effects of Colour Me Beautiful on women's shopping habits

The research presents a case study about the way that women make decisions about colour and dress prior to, and after a visit to an image consultancy, Colour Me Beautiful. It specifically asks to what extent women feel they have benefited from such a consultation in relation to the fashion system and the experience of shopping. The first section argues that the interviewees, prior to a consultation, had adopted a narrow and restricted mode of decision‐making in relation to clothes and colour due to a variety of social and personal reasons. The second section explores the processes by which the majority of interviewees began to gain confidence and a renewed interest in selecting clothes after a colour consultation. Such a ‘technology of the self’ enabled the respondents to ‘play’ with the fashion system, in a way that they had not felt able to do before. In particular the mechanisms of expertise and meaning were central to this process of change.     

The Association of Natural,Social and Economic Factors with Bird Species Richness in Rural England

At a global level, increasing emphasis on sustainable development highlights the importance of maintaining and enhancing biodiversity. Within the European Union, agricultural reforms will have a considerable influence on the links between biodiversity, agriculture and rural communities over the next 10–20 years. An understanding of the associations between biodiversity and the rural economy is important for the development of policies to promote environmentally sustainable economic and social well‐being. However, investigations of this type are frequently hindered by the different ways in which data in the natural and social sciences are collected. In this paper, we develop an innovative approach to combine data using a common spatial unit. We illustrate the application of this approach by examining associations between bird species richness, environmental and socio‐economic variables. Our results show how the statistical relationship between biodiversity and environmental factors is strengthened and contextualised by prevailing socio‐economic conditions. This example highlights the additional insights that can be gained from such an integrative approach, especially in terms of the questions it raises about the inter‐relationships between the social, physical and ecological dynamics of rural environments.     

Cooperative unionism and employee welfare

Using British national survey data, this article assesses the impact of unions on management practices to reduce labour costs, implement high‐performance work systems, and make employee welfare provisions. Relative to non‐union workplaces, those with unions are found to have practices which are consistent with ‘mutual gains’ outcomes.     

Why won't managers co-operate? Innovation and productivity in engineering

Drawing from her experience of participant-observation in an electrical engineering factory Caroline White contributes to the debate on Britain's continuing industrial problems. She concludes that the fundamental opposition of capital and labour in the capitalistproduction process explains the failure to tap the workers' reservoir of both commitment and creativity.     

Share-ownership schemes for employees – proposals and prospects

Recent statutory and other developments in the United Kingdom seem to have stimulated the introduction of share-ownership schemes for employees. This article considers the merits of such schemes, and their potential role within companies. The article also points up some weaknesses in the 1978 Finance Act, and suggests the need for caution on the part of those in industry who might contemplate the introduction of share-ownership arrangements.