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Alcohol control strategies vary between countries and reflect differences in drinking cultures. This study explored how perceived effectiveness of alcohol control strategies varies according to individual characteristics and country of residence. A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 1910 university students in Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland. It assessed the perceived effectiveness of 11 alcohol control strategies. Correlates included sensation-seeking, alcohol outcome expectancies, drink refusal self-efficacy, and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores. Bivariate analysis using mixed-measures MANOVA and Pearson correlations were followed by linear regression to identify multivariate correlates. These analyses revealed that educational strategies (e.g. teaching people skills to resist peer pressure) were considered more effective than restrictive strategies (e.g. raising the legal drinking age). Perceived effectiveness was greater among women and lighter drinkers. Country of residence also explained unique variance. The findings highlight the need to consider the potential impact of drinking culture in alcohol-related harm-reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore the extent to which regional culture informs the organizational culture of incumbent firms in specific regions and vice versa. To achieve this, we draw on a repertoire of conceptual and theoretical instruments, few of which have featured in the analysis of regional evolution hitherto. For example, the ideas of innovation systems of paradigm and regime are deployed as regional paradigms and regimes to access the dynamics of regional evolution. The concept of “spacing” is used to reveal the ways actors shape given places by meanings or symbols. Subsequently, the methodology of “cultural framing” is used to position key regional narratives and their meaning for regional evolution. This approach is then tested in a stylized manner against the main focal regions of the CURE project before being used in more detail to compare and contrast two of the more distinctive regional and corporate settings, Westphalia and Wales. In conclusion, we show the path inter-dependences and new path creations of both cast a new light on regional evolution in general and that of these regions in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on several information resources related to global economic crisis. A paper by Richard King and Caroline Sweetm discusses the relationship between recession and gender inequalities. Another paper by Rania Antonopoulos also focuses on the impact of financial crisis on the society. Another paper discusses the role of women in economic development in Europe.

Organisation profile: Central American Women's Network (CAWN) by Katherine Ronderos and Liz Cooke In this issue's organisation profile, we look at the Central American Women's Network. This UK-based organisation works in both Central America and in Europe to strengthen and promote the rights of Central American women, with partnership at the core of their strategy. Tracking the impact of the global economic crisis - ten things women's groups can investigate by Diane Elson Diane Elson has been at the forefront of thinking on feminist economics for the past quarter of a century. In this piece for Gender & Development she turns her attention to the ongoing economic crisis. Highlighting the lack of information available on the human impact of the crisis, and its gendered effects, Diane provides a possible methodology for tracking the impact of the crisis on the ground. International Women's Day by Liz Cooke This year, on 8 March, many of our readers will be taking part in activities to mark International Women's Day (IWD) 2010. Over the years, IWD has been observed in different ways in different countries - but how did the day itself come into being? Here, we provide a brief history of the origins of the day which celebrates the world's women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concepts travel (or fail to travel) within the disciplines as well as between them: The conceptual approach of any one subject can vary dramatically according to the institutional, national or historical culture of knowledge in which it is conducted, raising important questions about the role of academic context and community in influencing the aims and findings of research. The discipline of studies in English language and literature in Europe is a remarkable case in point: The increasing currency of English as an international lingua franca has - alongside the many political questions this raises - transformed continental European English Studies into a prime site in which concepts in literary and cultural studies have travelled between diverse national philological contexts. Yet there remains a considerable divide between the study of English Literature in the anglophone world and what might be called 'English as a Foreign Literature'. Focusing in most depth on the relationship between 'domestic' English Literature and German Anglistik, this article considers the challenges and opportunities presented by increased mobility and exchange between differing conceptions of a discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the recent interest in the development of individual creativity has drawn upon Richard Florida's (2002a) book The Rise of the Creative Class. Whereas in the industrial age, classical and neoclassical economic theory told us that 'people followed jobs', in the modern knowledge economy Florida describes how 'jobs follow talented people'. The research reported in this article represents an analysis of quality of place and the dispersion of the creative knowledge workers in seven European countries and builds upon the work that has been undertaken in North American cities in order to understand whether similar processes concerning the relationship between creativity, human capital, and high-technology industries are at work in Europe as claimed is the case within North America. Economic outcomes from creative class location are also reviewed. Finally, we consider the implications for further research, given the evidence presented here suggesting some variation of results by national socio-economic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracing the Thai cassava (Manihot esculenta) trade network, between 1960 and 2000, offers a compelling example of global complexity at work. The emergence of Thailand's dominance of world export markets caught the world by surprise. The opening up of a European market for cassava was supposed to be met by Brazilian and Indonesian producers. Instead, Thailand took over the market by 1975. Several factors facilitated this emergence including: entrepreneurial diasporic networks of Thai-Chinese traders, local political economy conditions in both Europe and Thailand, and ecological conditions in Thailand. These same factors also shaped the subsequent timing of the closing of the European market, the emergence of a new industry association, the creation of new cassava products, and the expansion to other markets. Furthermore, the dynamic nature of cassava market yielded equivocal outcomes for both Europe and Thai farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, regional capabilities and knowledge domain theses are proposed and global biotechnology dynamics are analysed. Detailed research on Europe's leading bioeconomy, the UK, is presented. Global network analysis is performed based on research into collaborations between ‘star’ scientists and their institutes in bioregions at a global scale. This is with regard to joint publication of bioscientific articles in US and EU Science Citation Index representative and leading cited journals. New evidence lies in identifying the hierarchical structure and main network axes in the global bioscientific research system. The results show that the strongest bioregions are in North America, particularly around Boston, San Diego and San Francisco. For collaboration, using this measure, the UK is revealed as a strong European research base, as is Sweden. New bioregions are found rising in Asia, but many ‘global cities’ fail to appear in the bioregional ranking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]