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Focuses on factors which may affect paper companies with large energy consumption in Europe. Reason why a new emission trading scheme may affect paper companies; Possibility that paper companies will face antitrust fines; Charts depicting coated and uncoated paper deliveries.

This study explores the relationships between carbon emissions and their main determinants such as energy consumption, real income and international trade, in 15 European countries, employing data for the period 1960-2015, and in Germany, for that of 1970-2015. The purpose of this paper is to examine the environmental Kuznets curve in subregimes in the presence of structural shifts. Two complementary unit root tests are employed to examine the stationarity of employed variables. The Ng and Perron Econometrica 69: 1519-1554 (2001) and the Zivot and Andrews J Bus Econ Stat, 10(3), 251-270 (1992) unit root tests, both allow for a structural break. To estimate the parameters of the regression model and to detect structural breaks in the model, the Kejriwal and Perron J Econ, 146(1), 59-73, (2008), J Bus Econ Stat, 28(4), 503-522, (2010a), J Time Ser Anal, 31, 305-328, (2010b)) structural break test is employed. When structural breaks are allowed in estimations, the empirical results provide strong evidence of fluctuating relationships between CO 2 emissions and income expressed by the U-shape in every subregime, which contradicts early findings in the literature of inverse U-shape environmental Kuznets curve.

Using a multilevel modelling approach to analyse a novel dataset of academic publications at all business schools in 11 European countries, this paper finds that the influence of organisational- and country-level contextual factors on researchers varies considerably based on the type of institution and the development level of the country they are located in. At the organisational-level, we find that greater spatial connectivity-operationalised through proximity to nearby business schools, rail stations, and airports-is positively related to scientific research volume and public dissemination (news mentions). While this result is significant only for high-income countries (above EU-average 2018 GDP per capita), this is likely because the low-income countries (below EU-average 2018 GDP per capita) examined here lack a 'critical mass' of well-connected universities to generate observable agglomeration effects. At the country-level, the results indicate that in high-income countries, less prestigious schools benefit from higher rates of recent international immigration from any foreign country, providing a direct policy pathway for increasing research output for universities that aren't already well-known enough to attract the most talented researchers. In low-income countries, recent immigration rates are even stronger predictors of research performance across all levels of institutional prestige; more open immigration policies would likely benefit research performance in these countries to an even greater extent. Finally, the paper's results show that, in low-income countries, a composite measure of a country's quality of life (including self-rated life satisfaction, health, working hours, and housing overcrowding) is positively related to research outcomes through its interaction with school prestige. This suggests that the lower a country's quality of life, the more researchers are incentivised to produce higher levels of research output. While this may in part reflect the greater disparities inherent in these countries' economic systems, it is noteworthy-and perhaps concerning-that we have observed a negative correlation between country-level quality of life and research performance in low-income countries, which is particularly felt by researchers at less prestigious institutions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Credit et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The purpose of this paper, building upon the papers included in this special section ofAccounting in EuropeonCorporate reporting in CEE countriesand on our knowledge of the region, is to broaden out and open up dialogue and debate about how local institutions are evolving and impact the corporate reporting practices in this under-researched region. We begin by discussing the institutional context for conducting research on corporate reporting by entities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), within the broader context of emerging, transitional economies. We also reflect on how research conducted on CEE countries can make a relevant contribution to the international literature, and exemplify by summarizing the research questions and findings of the papers included in the special section. A future research agenda emerges, given the gaps in the international literature and the future research implications suggested in the papers constituting the special section. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The proclamation of the sustainable development goals is driving companies to implement protective measures that favour the environment, thereby occupying a strategic place in the creation of green product innovation (GPI). This new management paradigm could be impacting capabilities, techniques, technologies, efficient energy use and green-oriented production policies and systems. Therefore, one of the challenges is to configure green production capabilities (GPC) coordinated with the technology dimension (TECH) because the design of ecological products and their manufacture requires the backup of capabilities and the possible support of green technology. To this effect, this article aims to establish the impact of the association of GPC and TECH on organisational performance. To do so, we test whether the adoption and high implementation of GPC and TECH affect environmental and financial performance. Empirical evidence is supported by the European Manufacturing Survey (EMS), using a sample of 1018 manufacturing companies from seven European countries. Our results show that the adoption of GPC and TECH and their high levels of implementation have a significant impact on environmental and financial performance. Regarding the association between the implementation of GPC and TECH, its contribution to environmental performance but not financial performance is evidenced. Furthermore, at high levels of implementation of this association, there is no significant effect on either environmental or financial performance. These findings drive theoretical and practical implications and provide opportunities for academics, managers and government bodies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Shareholder value ideology and the rise of executive pay are widely acknowledged but only partly explored aspects of financialization. This paper adds to the empirical evidence on the extent to which stock-based pay incentivizes and rewards corporate executives, demonstrating that CEO pay, and hence pay inequality, is substantially under-stated in Europe. It shows that the actual realized gains (that is, take-home compensation) from stock-based pay of CEOs in the largest European companies are underestimated by the use of 'fair value' measures, in the case of some countries dramatically. We base our work on a sample of 301 large, publicly-traded companies listed in the S&P Europe 350 index from 11 EU countries. We document that on average half of the total compensation of the European CEOs in our sample is stock-based, measured by actual realized gains, with differences among countries. Based on our work, we argue that realized gains measures of CEO pay should be the standard for assessing the incentives and rewards of senior corporate executives in Europe. We consider this to be a preliminary step to question shareholder value-based corporate strategies in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is based on the study of what a local digital food hub is. Topics such as the sustainability of agri-food systems, de-agrarianization and the causes related to them are covered, but also such principles as "shared value", useful for improving the competitiveness of a company as well as the economical and social conditions within the communities in which it operates. In addition to these discussions, an excursus is created on the actual developments of the models ranging from "field to table", with the new possibilities obtained from modern types of distribution networks, particularly focusing on Food Hubs and the first reasons for the validity of the system. Having explained these issues, the focus shifts exclusively to the Food Hub topic, defining what it is and what the models used for its different structures are, also based on the social and local contexts in which this reality is located or created. The results of the study highlight the presence of Food Hubs already developed and functioning in the USA, although they are almost non-existent in Europe and Italy where they could be a source of economic recovery in this sector, with the possibility of both digital and non-digital development. The presence of the only concrete example of a food hub in Italy is highlighted. Also, the current problems faced by Italian politics are considered regarding the possible legislative evolutions for the innovation and digitization of businesses, supported by the new financial programs envisaged by the "New Generation EU" European Plan, through which substantial funds have been allocated to Italy, also for the development of digital innovations and the enhancement of Italian products, as well as the "made in Italy" brand., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Copyright of Gazi Journal of Economics & Business is the property of Gazi Journal of Economics & Business and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines how values and professional socialization in business schools impact the formulation of students' contextualized view of social responsibility. We propose the empirical concept of a mental gap between the existing and the wished-for level of a business school's corporate social responsibility and estimate it empirically by using a sample of business school students from Central and South East Europe. Results show that students wish their business schools to reduce their current orientation toward economic outcomes and focus on environmental and social responsibilities. We interpret those empirical results in terms of the students' wish to balance achieving economic prosperity and enjoyment of life with the prosocial outcomes of their education. New student generations' perception of corporate social responsibility is not shaped by the professional socialization patterns but rather by the own perceptions, which can be influenced by experiential approaches to academic teaching and learning. Based on these empirical results, implications for academic practice and future research are explored., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The paper presents a new model for trade flows in Europe that is integrated with a logistics model for transport chain choice through Logsum variables. Logsums measures accessibility across an entire multi-modal logistical chain, and are calculated from a logistics model that has been estimated on disaggregated micro data and then used as an input variable in the trade model. Using Logsums in a trade model is new in applied large-scale freight models, where previous models have simply relied on the distance (e.g. crow-fly) between zones. This linkage of accessibility to the trade model makes it possible to evaluate how changes in policies on transport costs and changes in multi-modal networks will influence trade patterns. As an example the paper presents outcomes for a European-wide truck tolling scenario, which showcases to which extent trade is influenced by such a policy. The paper discusses how such a complex model can be estimated and considers the choice of mathematical formulation and the link between the trade model and logistics model. In the outcomes for the tolling scenario we decompose the total effects into effects from the trade model and effects from the logistics model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a perspective on the potential for central bank issued digital cash as a complementary retail payment tool for Europe. The research approach begins with a comparison of different types of money and their respective characteristics, including both traditional forms of money and private digital currencies such as Bitcoin. Against this backdrop and as an extension of the European Central Bank's categorisation of forms of central bank issued cash, the paper elaborates the case for a central bank issued digital cash equivalent, labelled 'd-cash'. Key questions ranging from the involvement of banks and non-bank payment service providers, to anonymity versus transparency and the role for consumer protection in d-cash are discussed. Following this theoretical analysis, the paper provides an overview of the current evolution of retail payments in Europe. The combination of infrastructure enhancements, regulatory change and technological innovations is poised to deliver more innovative services and bring more competition into the payments space. Depending on how these changes unfold over the coming years, European retail payments may be able to stand the competition with private digital currencies when it comes to payments. However, in the context of the substantial cash usage in Europe, which represents significant costs to society, the idea of introducing d-cash should be explored further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The General European Official Medicines Control Laboratory (OMCL) Network (GEON), co-ordinated by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM), regularly organises market surveillance studies on specific categories of suspected illegal or illegally traded products. These studies are generally based on a combination of retrospective and prospective data collection over a defined period of time. This paper reports the results of the most recent study in this context with the focus on health products containing non-Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical-International Nonproprietary Name (ATC-INN) molecules. In total 1104 cases were reported by 16 countries for the period between January 2017 and the end of September 2019. The vast majority of these samples (83%) were collected from the illegal market, while only 3% originated from a legal source. For the rest of the samples, categorisation was not possible. Moreover, 69% of all the reported samples were presented as medicines, including sexual performance enhancers, sports performance enhancers, physical performance enhancers and cognitive enhancers or nootropic molecules that act on the central nervous system (CNS). Although the popularity of anabolics, PDE-5 inhibitors and CNS drugs in illegal products has already been reported, the study showed some new trends and challenges. Indeed, 11% of the samples contained molecules of biological origin, that is, research peptides, representing the second most reported category in this study. Furthermore, the study also clearly shows the increasing popularity of Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators and nootropics, two categories that need attention and should be further monitored., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Introduces a series of articles which deals on economics and business in Europe.

Based on a new trade accounting method-the trade in value-added accounting method-this paper constructs the international manufacturing trade in value-added networks and preferential trade agreement (PTA) networks and uses the complex network analysis method to explore the relations between PTA and international manufacturing trade in value-added from the perspective of the global value chain. The results are as follows: (1) Over the years, the international manufacturing trade in value-added networks and PTA networks has shown a significant clustering effect, and the size of networks has grown rapidly. (2) The TEX, DVA and FVA networks of the international manufacturing value added trade over the years can be divided into two societies in the Asia-Pacific region and the European region. This division just reflects the different modes of division of labor in the manufacturing value chain of the two major economic regions in the world. (3) QAP analysis shows that the influencing factors of the traditional gravity model can still explain the manufacturing trade network and its value-added trade network, while the influence of economic globalization, the enlargement of the EU and the internationalization strategy of enterprises, the PTA network and manufacturing value-added the relationship between trade networks changed from positive to negative in 2004., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Monitoring and surveillance of antimicrobial usage in animals is a public health concern and different methods are currently discussed widely in public, science and politics. The objective of the paper is to present the available methods of monitoring and to discuss possible differences in the assessment of the antibiotics treatment. Sales data are expressed as the average amount of substance per animal or kg live weight (e.g. population-corrected unit, PCU). The number of Defined Daily Doses (nDDDvet) is calculated by extrapolating sales data with average animal weights and defined drug doses to a number of treatments theoretically applied to animals. In contrast, the number of Used Daily Doses (nUDDvet) displays the actual number of treatments which have been applied. As sales data are relatively easily obtained, they are frequently used. However, their results are influenced by the composition of the population and by the dose of the substances. As both may vary strongly between countries, direct comparison of sales data between countries may be misleading. The concept of analysing sales data is shown by exemplarily using the methods in the ESVAC report 2015. The presentation of usage data in terms of nDDDvet or of nUDDvet increases the comparability of the data from different countries or time periods. Furthermore, fluoroquinolones and third-/fourth-generation cephalosporins which, among other substances, bare a potential risk for human health, are used at low doses. Hence, their use contributes to a sales reduction while contrasting the guidelines of prudent use. nDDDvet or nUDDvet have the ability to better reflect the treatment frequency and thus to better link antibiotics use to public health concerns. Quantification of antibiotics should assist to focus on prudent use of antimicrobials to reduce the burden of resistant bacteria and, thus, enhance public health, animal health and animal welfare., (© 2019 The Authors. Veterinary Medicine and Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Wolfberry has important unique medical values as well as edible and commerce values. In this paper,we analyze the characteristics and problems of international trade of wolfberry based on the customs data between 2008 and 2017. During periods of these ten years,the wolfberry was mainly exported with a small proportions of imports. The total export volume increased steadily,reached 82 182. 08 tons and 696. 622 million dollars respectively. Wolfberry came from 31 provinces/autonomous regions and exported to 105 countries and regions through 21 ports. Most of the total exports of wolfberry flew to markets of Asia and Europe,the Ningxia autonomous region was the major export province. Large amount of wolfberry exported through Tianjin port. Compared with the export volume,the import is almost negligible,mainly coming from North Korea,almost all through Changchun port,Jilin province to enter the domestic market. There is a situation of"import of domestic goods". To enhance the international competitiveness of wolf berry industry,we must rely on the fundamental research of wolfberry,speed up the standardization process,strengthen the scientific and technological innovation in wolfberry products,improve the added value and profit of wolfberry.

A major goal for port authorities, operators, and investors is to achieve efficient operations and effective environmental protection. This is because the environmental performance of a container port is important for its competitiveness and sustainable development. However, the container ports along the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) have caused numerous problems with the rapid development, among which the most significant problem is environmental pollution. In this paper, we aim to measure and compare the environmental performance and operational efficiency of ten major container ports along the MSR, including the ports of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kelang, Laem Chabang, Colombo, Dubai, Barcelona, Antwerp, and Hamburg. We develop an improved, inseparable data envelopment analysis (DEA) model with slack-based measures (SBMs) to evaluate and compare the environmental performance and operational efficiency, and we incorporate the desirable output of container throughput as well as the undesirable output of CO 2 emission. Our results show that. Overall. these container ports perform better in terms of operational efficiency than environmental performance. We also provide insights for management and policy makers for container ports with different levels of operational efficiency and environmental performance., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Does economic globalization influence the positioning of parties and, as a consequence, the ideological characteristics of party systems? Answering this question is important because we need to understand the constraints that parties face in formulating policies from which voters have to choose. In our paper, we take a systemic perspective and conceptualize a party system's ideological center of gravity as the outcome of interest. We define the center of gravity as the weighted mean position of all parliamentary parties in a country that represents the position to which parties gravitate. We start by formulating static hypotheses on the effect of imports and exports on the center of gravity and derive their underlying mechanisms. We further derive dynamic hypotheses stipulating varying effects over time based on the premise that partisan attitudes toward globalization have undergone multiple changes over the last decades. A time-series cross-section analysis of 129 elections in 15 Western European countries from 1974 to 2015 finds evidence for opposite effects of exports and imports in the pooled data. Additionally, a moving-window analysis indicates that the relationship between globalization and the center of gravity varies over time. This is a significant finding because it suggests that economic globalization has an influence on party systems and that it is important to test for time-varying effects., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The aim of this article is to present the development of cross-country comparable food reference budgets in 26 European countries, and to discuss their usefulness as an addition to food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) for tackling food insecurity in low-income groups. Reference budgets are illustrative priced baskets containing the minimum goods and services necessary for well-described types of families to have an adequate social participation. This study was conducted starting from national FBDG, which were translated into monthly food baskets. Next, these baskets were validated in terms of their acceptability and feasibility through focus group discussions, and finally they were priced. Along the paper, we show how that food reference budgets hold interesting contributions to the promotion of healthy eating and prevention of food insecurity in low-income contexts in at least four ways: (1) they show how a healthy diet can be achieved with limited economic resources, (2) they bring closer to the citizen a detailed example of how to put FBDG recommendations into practice, (3) they ensure that food security is achieved in an integral way, by comprising the biological but also psychological and social functions of food, and (4) providing routes for further (comparative) research into food insecurity.

The theme of paper is to explore the trade-environment relationship and the role of institutions for 117 countries from global standpoint and five regions: Sub Saharan, European, Middle East and North Africa, Asia and Pacific, and Latin America and Caribbean, using the panel data span 2002-2014. By considering the endogeneity problem, to validate the nature of trade-environment nexuses, we applied the GMM first difference model in two steps. Likewise, Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality analysis is employed to affirm the causal relationship among the concern variables. The empirical findings of this study validate that the overall trade is significantly good to environment for sample countries (117) of the entire World, Europe, Asia, and Pacific regions. In further assessment, we incorporate interactive terms of institutions with trade, scale effect, and scale-technique effect. The estimated results confirm that institution is the persistent instrument for resolving the environmental problems. Furthermore, we find the evidence of inverted u shape EKC in overall selected sample of the World, Sub-Saharan, Europe, Asia, and Pacific regions. In contrast, there is no confirmation of inverted u shape EKC hypothesis in Middle East and North Africa regions. Similarly, no strong evidence of inverted u-shaped EKC hypothesis is observed in Latin-America and Caribbean region.

By comparing the HRM practices in Indian and European MNE subsidiaries located in four of the Southern African Development Community countries, this paper tests the relevance of the country-of-origin effect and analyses the strength of institutional and firm-level influences. Examining data from 865 MNE subsidiaries obtained from the World Bank enterprise survey data, the paper finds that Indian MNEs have higher labour costs in relation to total sales than their European counterparts, that Indian MNEs make more use of temporary labour than their European counterparts, that Indian MNEs invest in less training than their European counterparts. No support is found for the hypothesis that Indian MNEs have a lower ratio of skilled workers in comparison to European-owned subsidiaries. The study shows that country-of-origin effects are weakened if they are not consistent with host country ideology and that as economies evolve so too do their expectations of HR policy and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Cryptomarkets operating on the darknet are a recent phenomenon that has gained importance only over the last couple of years (Barratt, 2012). However, they now constitute an evolving part of illicit drug markets. Although selling and buying a variety of psychoactive substances on the Internet has a long history, new technological developments enable systematic drug trading on the net.These technological innovations on the Internet allow users to proceed with (illicit) drug transactions with almost completely anonymous identities and locations. In this paper, we provide a systematic measurement analysis of structures and trends on the most popular anonymous drug marketplace, and discuss the role of cryptomarkets in drug distribution., Methods: Data collection and analysis include a long-term measurement of the cryptomarket 'AlphaBay', the most popular platform during the survey period. By developing and applying a web-scraping tool, market data was extracted from the marketplace on a daily basis during a period of twelve months between September 2015 and August 2016. The data was analysed by using business-intelligence software, which allows the linking of various data sets. We found 2188 unique vendors offering 11,925 drug items. The findings of our long-term monitoring and data analysis are compared over time and across marketplaces, offering a detailed understanding of the development of revenues generated, characterisation of countries of origin and destination, and distribution of vendors and customers over time., Results: We provide a nuanced and highly detailed longitudinal analysis of drug trading on the darknet marketplace 'AlphaBay', which was the largest cryptomarket in operation. 1) Total sales volumes for the 'drugs' section was estimated at approximately USD 94 million for the period from September 2015 to August 2016. 2) In addition, about 64% of all sales are made with cocaine-, cannabis-, heroin-, and ecstasy-related products. 3) Average selling prices increase over time for categories including cannabis and hashish, ecstasy, opioids, psychedelics and stimulants. 4) The five most frequent countries of origin as indicated by vendors are the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany. Moreover, it was demonstrated that drug distribution on cryptomarkets is conducted at a regional rather than global level. 6) Furthermore, 4.88% of vendors made over USD 200,000 and were responsible for 52.9% of total revenues generated over the period analysed. In contrast, 57.51% of vendors managed to sell drug items worth less than USD 10,000 within a period of twelve months. The findings suggest that 'AlphaBay' was a cryptomarket mainly from and for Western industrialised countries. In contrast, countries of the global South are neither among the main countries of origin nor destination countries., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The One Belt One Road (OBOR) project is perhaps China's most significant international relations initiative in recent times. It is based on openness, harmony, inclusivity, mutual benefit and market operations and aims to connect the economically vibrant East Asia and the developed Europe by land and by sea, and in the process, it brings growth and development to tens of countries along the modern Silk routes. In this paper, we compare the impact of the main initiatives of OBOR, namely enhancements in physical infrastructure and improvements in border administration, on the trade of countries that have signed on to this project, especially countries along the six economic corridors. We find overwhelming evidence that shows improvements in border administration has the greatest impact on exports of corridor countries. Although physical infrastructure is important for trade, the Chinese government should place equal attention to improvements in trade facilitation to ensure trade routes operate seamlessly across the various corridors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global pellet market is growing but with different characteristics in different countries and regions. In this paper we trace developments between 2008 and 2016. For 2008, production was reported at 9.8 Tg, expanding globally to 14.3 Tg in 2010 and surpassing 26 Tg in 2015. Global hot spots are North America (production) and Europe (consumption). Sustainability certification was applied for about 9 Tg in 2016. Nevertheless, projections for future development are difficult as low pellet prices and uncertain sustainability obligations may hinder further expansion. In general, there is a strong dependency of the pellet market on the policy framework. © 2018 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an investigation of factors that stimulate the decision-making process of exporting firms from a European Lesser Developed Country (LDC) to continue and sustain export activities. The paper explores the existence of dimensions underlying export motivation and identifies potentially significant differences in perceptions of export stimuli based on firm size, degree of export involvement, and exporting experience. The findings point to a more proactive (than reactive) motivation structure underlying the export activities of these manufacturers. While no relationship is found between perceptions of export motivation and firm size, a number of significant differences in ongoing export stimuli are identified between different groups of firms in terms of export involvement and, to a lesser extent, exporting experience. Managerial and public policy implications are discussed, and suggestions for future research directions are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is a threat for pine species (Pinus spp.) throughout the world. The nematode is native to North America, and invaded Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan, and more recently Portugal and Spain. PWN enters new areas through trade in wood products. Once established, eradication is not practically feasible. Therefore, preventing entry of PWN into new areas is crucial. Entry risk analysis can assist in targeting management to reduce the probability of entry. Assessing the entry of PWN is challenging due to the complexity of the wood trade and the wood processing chain. In this paper, we develop a pathway model that describes the wood trade and wood processing chain to determine the structure of the entry process. We consider entry of PWN through imported coniferous wood from China, a possible origin of Portuguese populations, to Europe. We show that exposure increased over years due to an increase in imports of sawn wood. From 2000 to 2012, Europe received an estimated 84 PWN propagules from China, 88% of which arose from imported sawn wood and 12% from round wood. The region in Portugal where the PWN was first reported is among those with the highest PWN transfer per unit of imported wood due to a high host cover and vector activity. An estimated 62% of PWN is expected to enter in countries where PWN is not expected to cause the wilt of pine trees because of low summer temperatures (e.g., Belgium, Sweden, Norway). In these countries, PWN is not easily detected, and such countries can thus serve as potential reservoirs of PWN. The model identifies ports and regions with high exposure, which helps targeting monitoring and surveillance, even in areas where wilt disease is not expected to occur. In addition, we show that exposure is most efficiently reduced by additional treatments in the country of origin, and/or import wood from PWN-free zones. Pathway modelling assists plant health managers in analyzing risks along the pathway and planning measures for enhancing biosecurity., (© 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.)

Copyright of Praehistorische Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although property markets represent a large proportion of total wealth in developed countries, the real-estate derivatives markets are still lagging behind in volume of trading and liquidity. Over the last few years there has been increased activity in developing derivative instruments that can be utilised by asset managers. In this paper, we discuss the problems encountered when using property derivatives for managing European real-estate risk. We also consider a special class of structured interest rate swaps that have embedded real-estate risk and propose a more efficient way to tailor these swaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romania's EU accession made significant changes in the tax area imposed by the harmonization of national laws system of member countries. Thus it disappeared the concepts of export and import in the relationship between Member States, which are replaced by new notions, such as: intra-community acquisition (instead of import) and intra-community supply (instead of export). Given the changes occurring in the tax laws and their complexity, in this paper/work I proposed to approach the specific tax treatment inside-community with reference to triangular transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002, the European Union (EU) Parliament passed a regulation that requires consolidated and simple accounts for all companies listed in the EU to use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for fiscal years starting after 1 January 2005. This change in accounting systems will have a large impact on the information environment for EU companies. This paper provides a review of the literature on adoption of different Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). We thus provide background and guidance for researchers studying the change in accounting quality following widespread IFRS adoption in the EU. We argue that cross-country differences in accounting quality are likely to remain following IFRS adoption because accounting quality is a function of the firm's overall institutional setting, including the legal and political system of the country in which the firm resides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explain the competitiveness obstacles that European businesses face, which, if not addressed, limit the potential of the EU economy, particularly in terms of the Lisbon goals. Adopting a broadly defined compliance-centred approach, the paper seeks to identify how some significant competitiveness obstacles of European business might best be addressed. Design/methodology/approach - In-depth interviews in 44 multinational and medium-sized companies were used to investigate compliance requirements, the tools and methods used to manage compliance, compliance-related obstacles to competitiveness. A survey of four European Information Centres was conducted to evaluate their effectiveness in achieving their stated mission. Findings - Organisations lacked systems to proactively manage compliance to allow them to deepen or sustain their competitive positioning. Companies were concerned with the reliability and comprehensiveness of reports on compliance risks and how these could be related to prioritised strategic goals. A gap was identified between regulation production and dissemination, and conversion of regulatory information into knowledge used to gain and maintain business advantage. This gap is inadequately filled by business supports, including the European Information Centres. Originality/value - The business-focused approach to managing compliance suggested here could increase the competitiveness of EU businesses and the EIC Network is potentially well positioned to play its part in the value-adding process of both the providers and consumers of EU information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The research presented here builds a picture of the direction of international expansion and the merging of retail structures. The research aims to consider European cross border expansion by considering the flow of investment as represented by the operation of retail outlets. Design/methodology/approach - The data used in this research relates to the international activity of retailers in 23 Western European countries. Data were drawn from industry sources which included national and international trade associations, retail company news releases, government departments, trade magazines, and direct contact with individual companies. This data were then used to plot the cross-border operations of European retailers. Findings - The patterns established from the data set suggest that retail internationalisation within Europe is occurring on a significant scale and that there is an emerging pan-European retail structure. The findings presented here also show that there is strong evidence of intra-regional linkages within Europe. That is there is a particularly strong flow of retail activity between markets that are geographically and culturally proximate. Originality/value - By looking at retail outlet numbers rather than the number of retail operations or fascias owned by international retailers in different markets, the paper adds a new dimension to understanding the development of pan-European retail structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — To provide an empirically based analysis and evaluation of the existing and possible future evolution of Internet business models within the digital content market, focusing particularly on the possibilities for cooperation and cooperation within this market-space. Design/methodology/approach — The paper is based on a three-year study of the European online news and online music sectors, comprising a set of preliminary, scene-setting case studies of a number of major players within the European online news and music sectors; a detailed, two-stage survey made up of online questionnaires and face-to-face interviews; and a small number of in-depth case studies. Findings — Provides a discussion of the changes taking place in the online news and music sectors, the evolution of the business models within them, the driving forces we have identified, and finally some predictions about what the future may hold for both these sectors. Research limitations/implications — The research is indicative, rather than general — being centred on European participants in two sectors of the digital content market-space in the period between May 2003 and August 2004. Practical implications — A rich evaluation of these two fast-moving digital content sectors, providing empirically based insights into the ways in which they are evolving and changing and into parallels with other, similar sectors of the digital content market. Originality/value — This paper is the first major empirical evaluation of the digital content market-space and offers practical assistance, as well as new theoretical insights on e-business model evolution in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stylized fact that regional concentration is lower in Europe than in the USA has led to the prediction that the creation of the Single Market might increase spatial concentration in Europe. This has raised some fears that the social and political burden of rapid change might counterbalance the economic gains, that the core might win to the detriment of the periphery, and that concentration of industry might make countries more vulnerable to asymmetric shocks in the Monetary Union. This paper uses a new disaggregated dataset to substantiate whether spatial concentration increased during the 1990s. Most other studies have not extended beyond the early 1990s or have used less comprehensive and detailed datasets. The main result is that geographic concentration did not increase, but rather decreased during the 1990s. Industrial patterns of geographic concentration and its dynamics partly conformed to the hypotheses provided by economic geography, trade theory, and industrial organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates pricing to market behaviour using data for European auto exports. The empirical analysis uses forward instead of spot exchange rates. Cross-country and cross-product analyses reveal that pricing behaviour depends mainly on the class of product, while the country of origin and destination appears as less important. Furthermore, the data do not usually reject the hypothesis of a symmetric response of export prices to depreciations and appreciations of the exporter's currency. Finally, although the point estimates confirm the combined influence of the business cycle and the direction of the exchange rate movements on pricing to market in most cases, formal tests seldom provide statistical significance for this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the methodology applied by the Alpha Bank Group in order to implement a business continuity management (BCM) programme to its parent company (Alpha Bank SA), as well as to its subsidiaries in Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Serbia, UK and Ukraine. It also reviews the problems faced, how they were overcome and the lessons learned. When implementing a BCM programme in a large organisation, it is very important to follow the methodology described by BCM standard ISO 22301, otherwise the business continuity plan is unlikely to work efficiently or comply with the business recovery requirements, as well as with the requirements of other interested parties, such as customers, regulatory authorities, vendors, service providers, critical associates, etc.

The paper explores the nexus between greenhouse gas, financial development, energy consumption, trade and urbanization in 34 upper middle income countries from Asia, Europe, Africa and America (South and North) by using panel data from 2001 to 2014. Vector error correction model explored different results for different regions such as the causality of greenhouse gas for Europe and America; financial development for Asia; trade openness for Asia, Europe and America; and urbanization for Africa and America. The causality of greenhouse gas emission was bi-directional with urbanization in America and trade in Europe. The bi-directional causality of trade was observed with financial development in Asia and urbanization in Africa. The generalized method of moment and fully modified ordinary least square explored a direct association of per capita greenhouse gas emission with financial development in Europe; energy consumption in all panels, and renewable energy in Africa and America. But, the relationship of per capita emission was reciprocal with financial development in Asia, Africa and America; renewable energy in Europe; trade in Europe, Africa and America; and urbanization in Asia, Europe and America. The relationship of variables changes from region to region and country to country. A country-based reciprocal effect on per capita greenhouse gas was observed for financial development, renewable energy, trade openness and urbanization for different countries. This paper provides an insight to policy makers to re-structure the financial system, energy usage pattern, trade and urbanization in accordance with the cleaning of environment at country and regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Using a data set comprising 16 European office markets provided by the DTZ Research Institute from Q1 2003 to Q4 2013, the purpose of this paper is to measure the strength of the unconditional transmission of volatility in the returns to direct property between 16 European office markets with the objective of determining the degree of unconditional spillover between markets.Design/methodology/approach To examine volatility spillovers across the 16 office markets, the authors adopted the generalized VAR methodology, variance decomposition and the generalized spillover index of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) by measuring cross-office market volatility transmission in asset pricing through estimates of several “volatility spillover indices.”Findings Volatility spillovers are important and time-varying across the leading office markets, with cross-market volatility interaction being bi-directional and of relative endogenous nature for many markets. The London office market is the “volatility leader” and has exerted significant net volatility influence on the other markets. Additionally, the volatility spillovers between business cycle fluctuations and asset market cycle volatilities are linked across some European economies.Research limitations/implications Evidence of co-integration among the domestic volatility spillover cycles implies the presence of unobserved common shocks and might not be good news for international investors who pursue diversification strategies in European office real estate markets.Originality/value No previous study has addressed formally the measurement and assessment of the nature and intensity of volatility spillovers across direct office markets on such a broad range of European office markets. The relevance of the topic has been even increasing over the previous years as more and more investors seek for flexibility and participation in the investment process and asset management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trade in live animals can contribute to the introduction of exotic diseases, the maintenance and spread endemic diseases. Annually millions of animals are moved across Europe for the purposes of breeding, fattening and slaughter. Data on the number of animals moved were obtained from the Directorate General Sanco (DG Sanco) for 2011. These were converted to livestock units to enable direct comparison across species and their movements were mapped, used to calculate the indegrees and outdegrees of 27 European countries and the density and transitivity of movements within Europe. This provided the opportunity to discuss surveillance of European livestock movement taking into account stopping points en-route., Results: High density and transitivity of movement for registered equines, breeding and fattening cattle, breeding poultry and pigs for breeding, fattening and slaughter indicates that hazards have the potential to spread quickly within these populations. This is of concern to highly connected countries particularly those where imported animals constitute a large proportion of their national livestock populations, and have a high indegree. The transport of poultry (older than 72 hours) and unweaned animals would require more rest breaks than the movement of weaned animals, which may provide more opportunities for disease transmission. Transitivity is greatest for animals transported for breeding purposes with cattle, pigs and poultry having values of over 50%., Conclusions: This paper demonstrated that some species (pigs and poultry) are traded much more frequently and at a larger scale than species such as goats. Some countries are more vulnerable than others due to importing animals from many countries, having imported animals requiring rest-breaks and importing large proportions of their national herd or flock. Such knowledge about the vulnerability of different livestock systems related to trade movements can be used to inform the design of animal health surveillance systems to facilitate the trade in animals between European member states.

Background: Internet-mediated research methods are increasingly used to access hidden populations. The International Cannabis Cultivation Questionnaire (ICCQ) is an online survey designed to facilitate international comparisons into the relatively under-researched but increasingly significant phenomenon of domestic cannabis cultivation. The Global Cannabis Cultivation Research Consortium has used the ICCQ to survey over 6000 cannabis cultivators across 11 countries. In this paper, we describe and reflect upon our methodological approach, focusing on the digital and traditional recruitment methods used to access this hidden population and the challenges of working across multiple countries, cultures and languages., Methods: Descriptive statistics showing eligibility and completion rates and recruitment source by country of residence., Results: Over three quarters of eligible respondents who were presented with the survey were included in the final sample of n=6528. English-speaking countries expended more effort to recruit participants than non-English-speaking countries. The most effective recruitment modes were cannabis websites/groups (33%), Facebook (14%) and news articles (11%). While respondents recruited through news articles were older, growing practice variables were strikingly similar between these main recruitment modes., Conclusion: Through this process, we learnt that there are trade-offs between hosting multiple surveys in each country vs. using one integrated database. We also found that although perceived anonymity is routinely assumed to be a benefit of using digital research methodologies, there are significant limits to research participant anonymity in the current era of mass digital surveillance, especially when the target group is particularly concerned about evading law enforcement. Finally, we list a number of specific recommendations for future researchers utilising Internet-mediated approaches to researching hidden populations., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: This article aims to provide an overview of: demographic characteristics; experiences with growing cannabis; methods and scale of growing operations; reasons for growing; personal use of cannabis and other drugs; participation in cannabis and other drug markets; contacts with the criminal justice system for respondents to an online survey about cannabis cultivation drawn from eleven countries (N=6530). Important similarities and differences between the national samples recruited will be discussed., Methods: This paper utilizes data from the online web survey of predominantly 'small-scale' cannabis cultivators in eleven countries conducted by the Global Cannabis Cultivation Research Consortium (GCCRC). Here we focus primarily on descriptive statistics to highlight key similarities and differences across the different national samples., Results: Overall there was a great deal of similarity across countries in terms of: demographic characteristics; experiences with growing cannabis; methods and scale of growing operations; reasons for growing; use of cannabis and other drugs; participation in cannabis and other drug markets, and; contacts with the criminal justice system. In particular, we can recognise that a clear majority of those small-scale cannabis cultivators who responded to our survey are primarily motivated for reasons other than making money from cannabis supply and have minimal involvement in drug dealing or other criminal activities., Conclusions: These growers generally come from 'normal' rather than 'deviant' backgrounds. Some differences do exist between the samples drawn from different countries suggesting that local factors (political, geographical, cultural, etc.) may have some influence on how small-scale cultivators operate, although differences in recruitment strategies in different countries may also account for some differences observed., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Explores the extent to which the ideas of farm policy reform contained in the European Commission's paper `Agenda 2000' meet current and prospective World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments. Proposals contained in the paper; Current WTO commitments; Import protection; Blue-box exemptions and area and headage payments; Export subsidies.

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One would hypothesize that the Common Fisheries Policy, as the umbrella framework for fisheries management in the EU would have the greatest impact on fishers' communities across Europe. There are, however, biological, economic, social, and political factors, which vary among fishing communities that can affect how these communities react to changes. This paper explores the links between institutional arrangements and ecological dynamics in two European inshore fisheries socio-ecological systems, using a resilience framework. The Mediterranean small-scale fishers do not seem to have been particularly affected by the Common Fisheries Policy regulations but appear affected by competition with the politically strong recreational fishers and the invasion of the rabbit fish population. The inshore fishers along the East coast of Scotland believe that their interests are not as sufficiently protected as the interests of their offshore counterpart. Decisions and initiatives at global, EU, and sometimes national level, tend to take into account those fisheries sectors which have a national economic importance. A socio-ecological analysis can shift the focus from biological and economic aspects to more sustainable long-term delivery of environmental benefits linked to human wellbeing.

Business fluctuations are associated with business cycles but are not implying the regularity. We consider that the lobbying activities can influence the periods of economic recession and expansion from business fluctuations. The role of lobbying is to affect the decisions made by officials in the government or international corporations and agencies or organizations. In this paper we describe the structure of lobbying practice in European Union, Canada and United States of America and the characteristics of business fluctuations. Specifically, this paper looks at the lobbying activities evolution in European Union, Canada and United States of America and also at a potential relationship between lobbying and business fluctuations, from periods of boom to periods of recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health claims on food products are often used as a means to highlight scientifically proven health benefits associated with consuming those foods. But do consumers understand and trust health claims? This paper provides an overview of recent research on consumers and health claims including attitudes, understanding and purchasing behaviour. A majority of studies investigated selective product-claim combinations, with ambiguous findings apart from consumers' self-reported generic interest in health claims. There are clear indications that consumer responses differ substantially according to the nature of carrier product, the type of health claim, functional ingredient used or a combination of these components. Health claims tend to be perceived more positively when linked to a product with an overall positive health image, whereas some studies demonstrate higher perceived credibility of products with general health claims (e.g. omega-3 and brain development) compared to disease risk reduction claims (e.g. bioactive peptides to reduce risk of heart disease), others report the opposite. Inconsistent evidence also exists on the correlation between having a positive attitude towards products with health claims and purchase intentions. Familiarity with the functional ingredient and/or its claimed health effect seems to result in a more favourable evaluation. Better nutritional knowledge, however, does not automatically lead to a positive attitude towards products carrying health messages. Legislation in the European Union requires that the claim is understood by the average consumer. As most studies on consumers' understanding of health claims are based on subjective understanding, this remains an area for more investigation.