Postal Surveys of Doctors’ Careers: Who Writes Comments and What do they Write About?

This study aimed to characterise the doctors who wrote comments at the end of a postal questionnaire about their careers, to quantify the frequency of negative comments, and to study relationships between the questionnaire content and the topics of comment. Graduates of all UK medical schools in 1999 were surveyed at the end of their pre-registration year. Structured questions about career intentions, current jobs and attitudes were accompanied by an invitation to write comments about any aspect of training, career choices or work. Comments were transcribed and coded according to theme and whether they were positive, negative or neutral. Numbers of comments on each theme, and of positive and negative comments, were counted. Bivariate analyses based on respondents answers to structured questions were used to characterise those who wrote comments on each theme. The survey response rate was 65%, and 40% of respondents wrote comments. Sixteen themes were identified. Ninety-four percent of those who commented said something negative or critical. Respondents who wrote comments differed in some characteristics from the whole cohort. The structured content of the questionnaire, particularly certain attitude statements, prompted the writing of comments on related themes, although not all attitudinal items acted in this way.     

Research Notes

Research Notes

Research Notes     

An Economic Analysis of Targeting Soil Conservation Measures with Respect to Off-site Water Quality

This paper analyses the advantages and disadvantages of targeting soil conservation measures on the basis of off-site water quality goals. The Stratford Avon watershed in Perth County and the Big Creek watershed in Middlesex County, both located in southwestern Ontario, are used as case studies. Targeting criteria, used as proxies for measuring the contribution to off-farm damage from particular parcels of crop land, are based on the physical characteristics of the parcels. Alternative conservation tillage practices include fall chisel ploughing, ridge planting, no tillage and buffer strips. At each level of the targeting criteria, the reduction in off-farm damage is estimated using the Guelph Model for Evaluating the Effects of Agricultural Management Systems on Erosion and Sedimentation (GAMES). Economic targeting criteria are based on the value of improved water quality under a conservation practice minus the on-farm costs of adoption of that practice. Targeting conservation policies on the basis of reduction of off-farm damages can result in greater efficiency in public policy. The authors conclude that further efforts in targeting conservation policies have the potential to improve the cost effectiveness of soil conservation programs if technical and administrative problems can be overcome. L'article analyse le pour et le contre du ciblage des mesures de conservation des sols sous l'angle de la qualité de l'eau à l'aval. Le bassin versant Stratford Avon dans le comité de Perth et celui de Big Creek dans le comté de Middlesex, tous deux situés dans le sud-ouest de l'Ontario, sont utilisés comme études de cas. Les critères de ciblage utilisés comme valeurs d'approximation dans la détermination de la part des dégâts causés à l'aval qui est attribuable à des parcelles agricoles données, sont basés sur les caractères physiques des parcelles. Les diverses pratiques de travail de conservation comparées sont la labour au chisel, la culture sur billons, la culture sans labour et l'établissement de bandes riveraines. A chaque niveau des critères de ciblage, la réduction des dégâts infligés à l'aval des exploitations est estimée selon le Modèle d'évaluation des effets des systèmes d'exploitation agricole sur l'érosion et la sédimentation de l'Université de Guelph (GAMES). Les critères de ciblage économiques reposent sur la valeur attribuée à l'amélioration de la qualité de l'eau par une pratique de conservation donnée, moins les coûts réels d'adoption de l'exploitant à cette pratique. Le ciblage des politiques de conservation en fonction de la réduction des dégâts causés à l'aval de l'exploitation peut rendre plus efficientes les politiques du secteur public. Il ressort de ces études que les politiques de ciblage des mesures de conservation offrent la possibilité d'améliorer la rentabilité des programmes de conservation du sol, pour autant parvienne à surmonter les problèmes techniques et administratifs.     

Attaining harmony: understanding the relationship between ecotourism and protected areas in China

This paper explores the power of both traditional culture and modernity, their interaction, and ecotourism as defined and developed in China, and suggests a new framework for ecotourism policies. It argues that issues in ecotourism should reflect scientific and empirical evidence, but also integrate traditional Chinese cultural beliefs, and political and social factors, to achieve sustainability. The protected area system, central to ecotourism in China, was introduced by government to bring modernity and globalization. The management model follows western values, tending to separate humans from nature for conservation purposes, using institutionalized western zoning systems. This approach is inconsistent with millennia-old Chinese cultural values about relationships between nature and humans, centred around tian ren he yi – humans and nature as a unified entity. Instead of managing conflicts, attaining harmony (in a subjective experiential way) is the fundamental Chinese approach. The paper explores conflicts between the two value systems, and how Confucian “middle ways” are being crafted to balance the fast-growing special needs of Chinese eco-tourists with the top-down regulation of protected areas. It notes new developments in protected area tourism management in the West, and opportunities to blend Chinese traditional values about harmony with evolving western practice.     

A Bangladesh soap opera: privatisation, accounting, and regimes of control in a less developed country

This paper reports an intensive case study of a soap manufacturing company in Bangladesh that was nationalised upon Bangladesh's independence in 1971 and privatised in 1993. Theoretically it is informed by Burawoy's contributions to labour process theory, especially how the consent of labour is manufactured through internal states, internal labour markets and games, and how regimes of control in less developed ex-colonial countries are transformed by state and production politics. How the role of accounting systems may shape and be shaped by these processes is traced. Nationalisation brought state attempts to manufacture consent by the methods described in Burawoy's depiction of hegemonic regimes. However, idealistic attempts to secure accountability, rational planning and control, and consent through bureaucratic means were subverted and transformed into a regime of political hegemony. Here control was secured by political interventions, often at the behest of trade unions, for party political rather than commercial ends. Detailed systems of accounting for control and accountability were maintained but became marginal, ritualistic, and de-coupled from operations. Privatisation brought changes consistent with Burawoy's prediction of coercive controls within a new despotic regime. New owners destroyed the internal state and internal labour markets and, following widespread redundancies, most workers were hired through internal subcontracting. The changes heightened worker divisions and rendered workers powerless to resist. Gaming was observed but this relieved the pressures of work intensification and proved functional to management. Significant changes to accounting controls were made. External reporting ceased in violation of legal requirements — financial accounting became the preserve of the owning family and was beset with irregularities. Budgets became more market oriented and were transmitted downwards in a physical form to reinforce coercive pressures upon managers and thence the shop floor. The paper concludes by relating the findings to a revised model of transformation of control regimes in Bangladesh     

The Timing of Asset Sales: Evidence of Earnings Management?

This paper presents empirical evidence from a sample of publicly traded Singaporean firms on the question: to what extent do firms manage earnings through the timing of asset sales? Previous studies have focused on accounting motives behind asset sales, ignoring the need to also consider economic motives. Some empirical evidence is provided to support the hypothesis that managers of firms with decreasing net earnings–per–share smooth earnings upwards using asset sales.