Sewers,wastewater and newspapers: the early environmental debate on water pollution in Turku,Finland, 1887–1934

Abstract

A century ago, city dwellers became increasingly aware of urban environmental problems caused by the waste products of industry and the growing population. Like elsewhere in Europe, water pollution became an acute issue also in the city of Turku, in south west Finland, The sewer system built after 1895 discharged all the municipal and rapidly increasing industrial wastewater untreated into the River Aura in the centre of the city, As a result, the quality of the river water worsened rapidly, and the first complaint on this was published in the local newspaper in 1899. In this study we document the press debate on river water quality and wastewater problems in the local newspapers of Turku for the period from 1887 to 1934, when the plan for a wastewater treatment plant was finally completed (the plant was, however, not built until 1966). The failure of the city administrators to present any solution to the river pollution problem caused the first major public environmental debate in the city at the turn of the 20^th century. Our results show that (1) sewers were recognized by newspapers as the primary cause of worsened river water quality, (2) the necessity of a wastewater treatment plant was understood long before the actual plan was drawn up, (3) the local industries were hardly ever criticized in public for water pollution, and (4) the initiative for improvements was considered to be the responsibility of the city administrators. The debate in the local press was often hectic, many decades before the 1960s, when the environmental debate is commonly said to have started.     

Antecedents of Global Attitude

Abstract

The term “globalization” has recently been used to explain multiple world trends. Such trends include worldwide accessibility to the same products, access to the same resources around the globe, world travel, communication, convergence of lifestyles, development of “world culture,” and worldwide fascination with environmental issues. This paper explores the population's attitude towards globalization (global attitude) and investigates antecedents that affect the level of global attitude. The antecedents examined are population's current satisfaction, opinion of governance, and future expectations. Results from structural equation modeling show that current satisfaction with life and opinion of governance have a positive and significant influence on development of global attitude.     

Social Mobility in Nineteenth Century Rural Sweden – A Micro Level Analysis

Abstract

Pre-industrial rural societies have often been pictured as stationary and immobile both in geographical and social terms. In the last decades this image has begun to change, especially as regards geographical mobility, while our knowledge of social mobility of rural pre-industrial Europe is still rudimentary. This study focuses on social attainment and mobility in a rural community of nineteenth-century southern Sweden, making use of high quality micro-level demographic and socioeconomic data. We show that intergenerational social mobility was quite frequent. Downward mobility was more prevalent than upward, and also increased over time. Social attainment and mobility were determined by a combination of inherited factors and individual agency. Social origin was of major importance, and so was the social origin of the spouse, which points to the crucial role played by partner selection in determining individual social outcome. Availability of networks as measured by place of birth also played a role in social achievement.     

The Swedish Salt Market during the Great Northern War

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the effects of the great naval blockade on the Swedish salt market during the Great Northern War (1700–1721). Whether or not salt can be perceived as a strategic good subject of wartime shortage is important in interpreting the reasons behind the famous Swedish Navigation Act of 1724. New research claims that the Navigation Act was a welfare enhancing institution, as it helped to secure salt imports. This essay shows that although Sweden was at war with most European Great Powers and the subject of sea blockades during the Great Northern War, the salt market still worked remarkably well. Neither supply nor salt movements show any signs of a great crisis. Thus, there was no need to secure salt imports during the period of peace that followed. Consequently, the Swedish Navigation Act had little to do with welfare but more with rent seeking and monopolies on the freight market.     

A combination of differentiation and consolidation theory and risk-benefit analysis to examine decisions on mastitis prevention

Abstract

Mastitis infections cause severe pain in dairy cows and are the most costly illness to farmers. This study combined differentiation and consolidation (Diff-Con) theory with risk-benefit analysis to explore how risky decisions are perceived and justified after a decision has been taken. More specifically, using survey data from 428 Swedish dairy farmers, their decisions about adopting preventive measures to control mastitis (mastitis control options, MCO) in dairy herds were examined. The analyses included group comparisons with non-parametric rank tests and use of both ordinary least squared regression and seemingly unrelated regression analysis to examine how prior adoption of MCO affects farmers’ attitudes to the MCO. The results showed that MCOs already adopted were rated higher in perceived riskiness (if not implemented) and in expected benefit (for illness prevention) than non-adopted MCOs. Having made the decision to implement a strategy increased the likelihood of that decision being perceived as more beneficial (reducing mastitis) and risky (in terms of disease increase if not implemented), irrespective of the combination of strategies used on the farm, during the post-consolidation stage. No difference in perceived illness prevalence could explain the farmers’ rating of the MCOs. These findings suggest that there may be a path dependency in farmers’ decision-making with respect to MCO. This implies that novel MCOs may have difficulty in achieving wider implementation. These results have implications for the development of strategies to communicate best practices for use of MCOs and for new research on MCOs and farmers’ decision-making.     

Modelling growth and revenue for Swedish hotel establishments

This paper provides first estimates of the determinants of output growth of Swedish hotels based on establishment data. Growth of overnight stays is modelled as a function of initial size, age, type of accommodation, location and hotel prices measured as average revenues per guest nights. The empirical model accounts for potential endogeneity of hotel prices through the two-stage least absolute deviation model (2SLAD) and the instrumental variable quantile regression method. 2SLAD estimates show a positive and significant relationship between hotel prices and subsequent growth. The relationship is nonlinear with a decreasing impact as the price level increases. Growth of establishments is significantly higher for smaller and younger hotels. An important result is that city hotels, in comparison to tourist and other hotels – which are mainly located outside urban areas (in the mountains and at the sea) – exhibit significantly higher growth rates with a gap between 2.2 and 3.4 percentage points. Furthermore, the positive impact of hotel prices on growth is larger for high-growth establishments. Accommodation prices significantly decrease with the number of local competitors with a non-linear form and increase with size. City hotels and accommodation in the capital city have the highest revenues per guest night.     

MUNICIPAL CONTRACTING OUT: GOVERNANCE CHOICES,MISALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE IN SWEDISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

In this paper we apply a Transaction Cost Theory framework to analyse the use and effects of contracting out in Swedish local government. During the last decade Swedish local authorities, like in many other countries, have, to a larger extent, started to contract external subcontractors to fulfil their responsibilities towards its citizens. It is not only in the traditional subcontracting sectors such as housing, infrastructure, and technical services that this trend is evident, but also in policy areas like education, social care, and elderly care. In fact, very little is known about the overall effects of, and the mechanisms underlying, governance choices. The overall results corroborate transaction cost reasoning. Supplier competition and specificity have anticipated effects on municipal de‐integration. Too little, but not too much, use of contracting out, in relation to theoretical predictions, worsens performance. The latter aspect is not fully in accordance with TCE‐propositions.     

瑞典非营利性机构发展概况及其经验启示

瑞典非营利性机构历史悠久,在社会经济发展中发挥着重要作用。目前,瑞典约有20万个非营利性机构,主要投入在社会保障、文化和娱乐(包括体育)、基金等12个领域。瑞典非营利性机构一般采用理事会制度,其下设有资产委员会、业务委员会和秘书处,在商业化的管理模式下,机构设置倾向于扁平化。瑞典政府对非营利机构给予一定的扶持和优惠,主要资助类型有运行补贴、项目资助等。瑞典科研类非营利机构,如,科研基金会,在瑞典科研体系中发挥了无可替代的作用。通过分析认为:除政府及全社会的广泛支持外,瑞典非营利性机构得以健康发展,还要归功于其机构自身角色定位准确、业务水平高、融资能力强和管理有效等因素。期望瑞典的成功经验能为我国非营利性机构的发展提供借鉴。     

Beyond subjective to confirmatory personal introspection: Interpreting events and meaning of a long-term visit in Sweden

This study goes beyond subjective personal introspection and applies multiple methods to accomplish a confirmatory personal introspection (CPI) of a long‐term stay in Sweden, during a university exchange program. The utilization of old pictures of the experience is one of the key aspects of the research. This study aims to show the importance of confirmatory personal introspection and assess the meaningfulness of CPI for travel industry related marketing research, exploring further than the ordinary tourist vacations and investigating a broader spectrum of the travel experience, in this case a long‐term travel. Demonstrating the significance of photography relating to travel experiences is an additional objective of the study.     

Sexual Harassment in Kitchens

ABSTRACT

In summarising the main findings of this study it appears that many hospitality properties in France and Sweden do not have policies regarding sexual harassment nor have the majority of respondents received any information about sexual harassment during their training. Perceptions of what constitutes sexual harassment and the likelihood of reporting possible incidents differ between nationalities and a large percentage of both male and female respondents have experienced serious acts of sexual harassment while at work.