Environmental land use conflicts: A threat to soil conservation

Soil vulnerability and environmental land use conflicts were quantified and cross tabulated in the Sordo River basin (Trás-os-Montes Province, NE Portugal) to provide insights about the risk of soil degradation within that basin. Soil vulnerability was assessed by algorithms of multi criteria analysis and weighted linear combination, whereas environmental land use conflicts were described by an original approach. Three vulnerability scenarios were considered, enhancing the importance of topographic slope, soil class and use and occupation of soils, respectively, as vulnerability factors. Regardless the scenario, approximately two-thirds to the basin was defined as areas with high vulnerability. Fortunately, only 10.9% of the basin is in environmental conflict, where actual land uses deviate from natural uses determined by soil characteristics. The cross tabulation of high vulnerability areas with conflict areas, which defines the areas at risk of soil degradation, reveal that risk areas account for approximately 3.2–8.4% of the basin, depending on the scenario, being concentrated in steep slope hillsides suited for forest or mixed forest and pasture occupations but actually used for irrigated crop lands, vineyards and olive yards. Some conservation practices are implemented in the vineyard and olive yard areas, namely through the construction of terraces. These structures minimize soil erosion but are potentially unstable beyond given intervals of terrain slope. On the other hand, the maintenance of terraces is costly and for that reason eventually unaffordable for many farmers, and they also entail a mischaracterization of the historical and architectural heritage of the Douro Wine Region (UNESCO World Heritage). In this context, it was suggested the approval of legislation as regards the design, construction and maintenance of terraces, while in a broader perspective it was recommended the appreciation of a European Directive for soil protection and its subsequent transposition to the national legislation.     

Decision making for urban solid waste treatment in the context of territorial conflict: Can the Analytic Network Process help?

There are a number of factors that affect decisions concerning the so-called undesirable facilities such as waste treatment technologies or landfills. These include social opposition and the need for a huge number of social, economic and environmental data to be taken into account. In Italy (as in many other developed nations) any decision to draft a plan or to define the choice of location for an undesirable service requires an immense amount of discussion, negotiation and organization. This usually occurs in open public debates organized by the local Administration. Another obstacle to the government of the territory is transaction costs which are growing out of proportion. In a situation of high institutional and social fragmentation, the power of veto is in fact multiplied.This paper reflects on the potential of the MCDA to help Decision Makers with particular reference to the involvement of the stakeholders, which face and disclose all the elements stopping or affecting the choice. The case study presented concerns the current debate about the best choice for the treatment of municipal solid waste in the Aosta Valley region, a small independent region in the North-West Italy. The Analytic Network Process is applied in order to rank three alternative technologies for waste treatment (namely mechanical biological treatment, incineration – direct combustion – and gasification) and to identify the priority ranking between the elements under examination (namely environmental, social, economic and technological aspects).     

Who is a self-initiated expatriate? Towards conceptual clarity of a common notion

The purpose of this article is to enhance the conceptual coherence of the notion of a self-initiated expatriate (SIE). We propose a definition based on a set of conceptual criteria which differentiates SIEs from other types of international movers. This article defines who an SIE is according to four criteria which must all be fulfilled at the same time: (a) self-initiated international relocation, (b) regular employment (intentions), (c) intentions of a temporary stay, and (d) skilled/professional qualifications. The article discusses each of these criteria in turn and their implications on what it means to be an SIE. A research agenda related to the four criteria proposes various avenues which scholars could take to expand this area of research. The literature on SIEs is rapidly emerging, but the lack of conceptual clarity in defining this type of expatriate is as acute as incomprehensible, given the importance of this group of international movers.     

Senior citizens and their dining-out traits: Implications for restaurants

Continuing and rapid growth of the mature population in Taiwan has forced the restaurant industry to prepare for substantial social and demographic changes. This study used a telephone survey to elicit attributes important to the restaurant patronage behaviors of consumers aged 65 and older who lived independently. The variables examined include a battery of demographic and health-related variables, a series of motivation attributes, restaurant selection criteria, and measures of consumer's restaurant patronage behaviors. Two distinctive segments were identified; frequent and convenience restaurant patrons, and occasional and family restaurant patrons. The results of this study of mature consumer's restaurant patronage behavior have several implications for this increasingly important and prominent segment of the restaurant consumer marketplace.     

The Concept of Reputational Bliss

A normative criterion identifying the conditions for a desirable corporate reputation, “reputational optimality,” or “reputational bliss,” is described, and a case developed for its utility and reasonableness as a criterion to apply to real world phenomena. The paper discusses some behavioral patterns under alternative moral positions taken by observers and the firm, critiques some alternative moral principles, and considers some dynamics of moving toward, defending and maintaining, and breaching or breaking reputational bliss. Barry M. Mitnick is Professor of Business Administration and of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests center on failures in organizational control and the means by which desirable social outcomes can still be obtained. He was an originator of the theory of agency, and has also written on government regulation, incentive systems, implementation, corporate social performance, corporate political activity, corporate governance, and the concept of the public interest.     

基于不同规范的桥梁技术状况评定方法对比分析

随着社会的发展,交通流量的增大,我国既有的钢筋混凝土桥梁出现了老化、破损等问题,严重的已经影响到桥梁结构的安全性。所以桥梁的技术状况评定成为一项迫切的工作,国家根据公路桥梁和城市桥梁的不同分别制定了相应的评定标准,对于同一桥梁不同标准下的评定,其结果也不尽一致,分析结果的一致性和差异性对于我们更好的对既有桥梁进行评定提供了参考依据。     

加拿大CoCo委员会内部控制框架述评

加拿大CoCo委员会的内部控制框架是目前世界上最具影响力的内部控制理论框架之一。目的、承诺、能力、监控和学习四个基本内部控制要素以及在此基础上衍生出的20条核心原则是COCo委员会内部控制框架的主要特色。此外,coC0委员会还在内部控制的定义、内部控制与管理活动的关系以及内部控制的作用等方面有着独到的见解。     

我国上市公司经理报酬水平的制度特征研究

本文在回顾我国上市公司经理报酬制度的基础上,对我国上市公司总经理现金报酬水平及趋势作了分析,并比较了不同股权性质的上市公司经理报酬水平的差异和变化趋势。此外,本文对我国上市公司经理现金报酬的类型及特征作了分析,发现业绩型报酬在上市公司中的使用逐步增加,且该类型的报酬水平比非业绩型的报酬水平要高。最后,我们分析了上市公司确定经理现金报酬水平的参照标准,发现它们主要参照同行业或同地区企业的薪酬水平和业绩。     

和谐社会的经济标准

本文认为,和谐社会的经济标准必须从效率和公平两个方面来考虑,具体可分解为人均GDP、经济增长率、恩格尔系数、失业率、人均周工作时间、行业集中度、劳动力流动成本、负外部性、吉尼系数、歧视指数、贫困人口比例和通货膨胀率等12个指标。文章提出,我国建立和谐社会的重点,应该放在提高人均GDP、收入的合理分配、反贫困、环境治理和保护、减少生产要素在行业以及地区间的流动障碍等方面。     

Customer satisfaction study via a latent segment model

The aim of this study is to apply a new conceptual model, and a new technique as an approach to the modelling of customers’ satisfaction, and to develop an overall satisfaction index (OSI). This study evaluates customers’ satisfaction of a certain public organization service, and argues that in order to estimate the global customers’ satisfaction measure we must appeal to methodologies recognizing that satisfaction must be understood as a latent variable, quantified through multiple indicators. Thus, it is natural that we consider the latent segment models (LSM) approach to proceed to the evaluation of customer's service satisfaction. As a result of these models estimation, we selected a three latent segment model, that is to say, the latent variable customer satisfaction has three classes: segment 1, with 50.4 percent of the customers, that represents “The Very Satisfied”, for those to whom everything is very well in the organization service; a segment 2, with 33.4 percent of the customers, representative of the “The Well Satisfied”, not totally satisfied with the quality of the organization, and a segment 3, with 16.2 percent of the customers, “Satisfaction Demanders”, thinking that organizational quality can be improved. Finally, we developed an overall satisfaction index which is important to show how the company as a whole is performing.