Evolutionary analogies and sustainability: Putting a human face on survival

In recent years, analogies taken from the natural world, and from evolutionary theory in particular, have been increasingly applied to problems outside the field of biology. The growing interest in issues of sustainability has not escaped this trend and the application of evolutionary analogies to issues of sustainability is discussed and its benefits outlined. Furthermore, a conceptual tool for addressing issues of sustainability within an evolutionary framework is presented and its main features investigated. There are, however, a number of reasons for caution when adopting any analogy for the purposes of theory development. These points of circumspection are investigated and a number of suggestions are made for enriching the framework to facilitate the application of evolutionary analogies to human-centred and other non-biological systems. This is achieved by recognizing the unique characteristics of human beings and interpreting the component factors of evolutionary theory so as to account for the fundamental differences between humans and other species.     

Negotiating European Works Councils: contours of constrained choice

This paper presents a systematic analysis of the factors influencing the nature of the ‘constrained choices’ being made by management and employee representatives in concluding agreements establishing EWCs. Four influences—a ‘statutory model effect’; a ‘learning effect’; a ‘country effect’; and a ‘sector effect’—are found to be at work.     

Historical resources, uncertainty and preservation values: An application of option and optimal stopping models

State agencies and private historical organizations frequently acquire historical sites with unknown characteristics. In this paper, we provide two approaches to evaluating the preservation decision. In the first approach, we show that a historical site which is not permanently preserved provides citizens with a certain flexibility whose value can be measured as an option on the maximum between the current real estate value and the preservation value. In the second approach, we assume that the organization has an infinite planning horizon and chooses the optimal sale date. Using a contingent valuation estimate of the public's willingness to pay for preservation of a specific historical site and the real estate price, we provide simulation values of the preservation option value and the optimal stopping rule.