A Competitive,Sustainable and Diverse Agriculture: A View of the CAP Beyond 2013 Pour une agriculture compétitive,durable and variée : un point de vue sur la PAC après 2013 Eine wettbewerbsfähige,nachhaltige und vielfältige Landwirtschaft: Ein Ausblick auf die GAP nach 2013

A Competitive, Sustainable and Diverse Agriculture: A View of the CAP Beyond 2013 New challenges make clear that past achievements of the CAP cannot be taken for granted. A strong European agricultural policy remains necessary after 2013, at the service of Europe’s citizens and agricultural sector. However, in order to realise the vision embedded in the European agricultural model, the CAP will have to evolve. Beyond dealing with the negative consequences of the economic crisis, more attention should go to competitiveness and entrepreneurship. The functioning of the supply chain should be improved leading to a fairer distribution of costs and benefits. Producer organisations should be expanded and strengthened. Work is needed to put into practice the concept of green growth and to explore the synergy between the demand for public goods and the need for higher farm income. An improved system of direct support remains justified, to compensate for extra costs and to stabilise income. The CAP post-2013 should offer a strong EU framework, able to meet shared challenges, with clear objectives and sufficient funding. Within that framework, diversity is a fact, and regions should be able to deploy CAP policies and funds in a more flexible way to accommodate local needs and problems and to be able to react to changing circumstances.     

Community businesses are their aims confused?

Glen Buchanan has given a chilling outline of the conditions from which community businesses have arisen, and communicated something of the idealism of their genesis. Mike Jacobs shares the ideals, but is worried by the way in which they are expressed. He writes: “Glen claims that community businesses are 'completely different' from public and private sector companies. I think they could be, but the way Glen describes them they are probably not.”     

Managerial objectives of symphony orchestras

This paper considers the managerial objectives of not-for-profit symphony orchestras in the United States. Using data compiled by the American Symphony Orchestra League, an empirical analysis reveals dual attendance (quantity) and performance quality concerns for Major and Urban Community orchestras; and quality-only concerns for Metropolitan orchestras.     

Waiting for Marxo: A short play in two acts

Samuel Beckett's play waiting for Godot recounts the story of two tramps, Estragon and Vladimir, awaiting the arrival of Godot. Within the boredom of the wait Estragon and Vladimir are forced to evaluate the purpose of their own life, their existence, the existence of God[ot] and the nature of the human condition. However, Godot never arrives and all that remains is the experience of waiting.In a similar way critical accounting is caught in an act of waiting. Waiting for Marx, for Habermas, for Foucault or for some other thinker to come and to rescue us from our predicament. In this lies some of the academic angst over the future of the critical project.Here we present an imaginative dialogue, substituting two accounting academics for Beckett's tramps. As such they do not represent real people but rather the struggle within the academic discourse for identity, self and meaning. While this dialogue might seem hopeless, reflecting the frustration present in the Beckett original, there is the possibility of emancipation as both of the characters agree to abandon the wait for Marxo and to proceed with their project, in effect fulfilling Marx[o]'s injunction that ‘the role of philosophy is not to describe the world but to change it’.     

Self-selection bias in estimated wage premiums for earnings risk

This note develops a simple occupational choice model to examine three types of selection biases that may occur in empirically estimating the premium for uncertain wages. Individuals may select themselves into risky (wage-uncertain) jobs because they have (1) lower risk aversion, or (2) lower income risks, or (3) higher individual ability. We show that (1) gives no bias, (2) biases the OLS estimate of the risk-premium in a wage regression upward, and (3) yields a bias that analytically may be positive or negative, but empirically is more likely to be negative if our occupational choice model is correct.     

Black urban consumers’ status consumption of clothing brands in the emerging South African market

Status concerns are noteworthy within a modern society as it is a key feature of individuals’ social reputation. Engaging in this form of thinking results in particular patterns of consumption within consumer groups. In South Africa, Black urban consumers have newfound spending power and social mobility. This study investigated motivators of Black urban consumers’ status consumption across different demographic variables (age, income and profession) in the South African (SA) emerging market. A survey research design was used to provide insights into the relationship of normative receptiveness (value expressive and utilitarian influences) and high self‐monitoring as status consumption motivators of clothing brand consumption. The sample consisted of 246 Black urban consumers between the ages of 24 and 36, residing in Gauteng, South Africa and currently working in professional positions. The results of the study indicated that when purchasing clothing Black urban consumers are motivated by factors related to status consumption. This study found no significant differences between age and gender variables in terms of status consumption. In terms of profession, all three motivational factors were significant. They proved to be very aware of the image that they communicate and how they are seen by others indicating that they are motivated especially by value expressiveness, utilitarian influences and high self‐monitoring aspects across various professions.