Ethical Issues Related to Food Sector Evolution in Developing Countries: About Sustainability and Equity

After a century of major technicaladvance, essentially achieved by and for theindustrialized countries, the evolution of thefood sector in southern countries should nolonger be thought of in terms of a ``headlongpursuit.'' In the present context of demographicgrowth, urbanization, poverty and disparities,environmental degradation, and globalization oftrade, new priorities have emerged, and newethical questions have been raised, mainlyrelated to sustainability and equity. Thispaper analyses these ethical concerns in thefollowing terms: can the model of food sectordevelopment initiated by the industrializedcountries be applied to the entire world on asustainable and equitable basis, given theeffects of this development with regard to theenergy consumed, the changes in dietarybehavior and related nutritional problems, thenew demands in terms of food safety, thequestions of biodiversity, ownership ofknowledge, cultural identities, gender issues,and Man's relationship to food and Nature?     

Generations as social categories: An exploratory cognitive study of generational identity and generational stereotypes in a multigenerational workforce

Even though the academic press recognizes generational diversity and its consequences, the related findings are fractured, and research is incomplete regarding methodology and theoretical background. In adopting a social identity perspective concerning groups and self‐conception, we argue that the social identity perspective is in line with generational identity theory. Employing a cognitive mapping method (repertory grid technique, mixed methods), the present study taps into three generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y) of Belgian managers' minds and demonstrates how they perceive their own and the two other generations. Our research reveals that perceptions of their own and other generations may direct social categorization and generational stereotypes of the in‐group and out‐group(s), that some of these stereotypes can be enacted, and that generational stereotypes do not necessarily coincide with age‐based stereotypes. Several metapatterns in the stereotypes are revealed as well. Hence, we contribute to the emerging field of research that calls for an identity‐based approach rather than a cohort‐based approach to generations and that validates the argument that generations as a workplace phenomenon must be considered a legitimate phenomenon. Insights into generations as social categories give a richer view of the interrelationships between generations in multigenerational situations at work.     

基于IPAT模型的天津市经济增长与资源环境负荷分析

以协调经济、资源和能源三者之间的关系,实现城市的可持续发展为目标,基于IPAT模型,参考《天津统计年鉴》,定量分析天津市1999—2008年经济增长与能源消耗之间的关系,并将生态足迹模型引入其中,对资源能源的利用效率进行评估,得出以下结论：10a中,天津市经济增长给环境带来的负效应超过了科学技术进步带来的正面效应;人均GDP从1999年的1.54万元增加到2008年的5.55万元,同比增加了2.6倍,同时,单位GDP生态足迹从0.62hm2/万元到0.30hm2/万元,同比下降了52%;针对天津市资源能源的利用效率问题提出有关对策和措施。     

基于改进IPAT模型的中国未来碳排放预测

在"碳排放量与能源消费成正比"假设的基础上,对中国1987—2010年的历年碳排放量和人均碳排放量进行了分区域研究与计算.经数据分析,发现以2002年为界线,前后两个时期中国碳排放变化缺乏内在的连贯性,2002年以前的碳排放曲线无法表征未来年份碳排放趋势.在此发现的基础上,以2002—2010年碳排放数据为基础,引入表征科技进步的变量,对IPAT模型进行改进,进而对2010—2050年中国碳排放进行了预测和分析.结果表明:中国排放峰值发生在2030年,全国碳排放总量将达到3684.1636Gg,人均碳排放为2.6476t;在2030年之前中国碳排放量将以平均每年2.89%的速度持续增加.2030—2050年碳排放量将以每年2.09%的速度减少,至2050年,全国碳排放量为2366.4522Gg,人均碳排放为1.8521t.本研究为中国未来碳排放政策的制定提供了方法与数据支持.     

重庆市工业经济发展与环境影响关系的实证分析

采用灰色关联度分析与改进IPAT方程模型,对重庆市1995年-2008年工业经济发展与环境影响之间的关系进行了实证研究。研究发现,除工业废气总量外,其他主要工业污粢物的排放都得到了很好的控制,但SO2的生态效率相对偏低,说明未来重庆市工业污染管理的工作重点应是工业废气总量指标,同时,对SO2的控制也需进一步加强。     

Variations in public and private employees’ perceptions of organizational preparedness for natural disasters

Studies have demonstrated that public and private organizations differ in many respects (e.g. funding mechanisms and risk-taking capabilities). Based on this scholarship, we expect to see differences in their disaster preparedness levels. Hence, we propose the following research question: Are there variations in public and private employees’ perceptions of organizational preparedness for natural disasters? We answer this question by employing the theories of publicness and social identity. We define publicness through the core approach arguing that public and private organizations are uniquely different based on their legal status or ownership and social identity as an individual’s feeling of oneness or belongingness to a particular group or organization. Using data gathered in 2014 from a nationally representative sample of 1634 public and private employees in the United States, we posit that employees of private organizations will report higher preparedness levels in comparison to employees of public organizations. Our proposition is based on scholarship that found a negative relationship between publicness and organizational identification and a positive relationship between organizational identification and organizational performance. Contrary to our proposition, but in line with the disaster literature, the results showed that in general, employees of public organizations reported a higher preparedness level than employees of private organizations.     

基于IPAT模型的苏州市环境压力-响应分析

苏州市经济快速发展,资源环境压力日益加重,实现污染物总量削减目标形势严峻.在分析苏州市污染物排放与经济发展现状的基础上,利用IPAT模型就多种经济、环境发展情景下,定量分析苏州市2010年的环境压力.结果表明:在GDP年增长率分别为15.4%和12.0%的情景下,单位GDP的环境负荷年下降率分别为18.0%和15.0%时,污染物排放量可实现“十一五”规划的削减目标,但资源效率分别需要提高1.2和1.0倍,实现削减目标的压力很大;应采取提高环境效率、控制社会经济发展速度、加速重点行业产业结构调整等措施以缓解苏州市的环境压力.      

The interplay of career involvement and goal conflicts: An eight-wave study with STEM professionals

Based on a “whole-life”-perspective and integrating theories of self-identity and resource management, the present longitudinal study examines the dynamic relationship between career involvement and conflicts between work and nonwork goals in a sample of 3095 German-speaking doctoral students and doctorate holders (37.0% women) from various STEM fields. We expected increases in goal conflicts to decrease career involvement, and simultaneously tested reciprocal relationships, that is, from involvement on conflicts. The random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to analyze within-person associations across eight measurement occasions (6-month time intervals) while controlling for between-person effects. At the between-person level, career involvement and goal conflicts were negatively correlated. At the within-person level, results showed negative cross-lagged effects from goal conflicts to career involvement as well as negative cross-lagged effects from career involvement to goal conflicts. This indicates that the interplay of goal conflicts and career involvement can result in either an upward or a downward spiral. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

First-Person Effects of Emotional and Informational Messages in Strategic Environmental Communications Campaigns

This study examined the first- and third-person effects of emotional and informational messages, particularly relating to the critical issue areas of energy, the environment, and global warming. Due to intense political polarization on such issues, it also explored the role of political party identification. The results of an experiment indicated that informational messages about the environment produced third-person effects, while environmental advertisements meant to evoke emotion caused first-person effects. Moreover, emotional environmental advertisements appealed more to Republicans and those who did not support a political party. As such, indirect, emotional messages appear to represent an opportunity for strategic environmental communicators to design campaigns that resonate with potentially unreceptive audiences.     

Boomerangs versus Javelins: How Polarization Constrains Communication on Climate Change

Political communicators work under the assumption that information provision, such as framing, may influence audiences and elicit some desired attitudinal or behavioral shift. However, some political issues, such as climate change, have become polarized along party lines, with partisans seemingly impervious to disconfirming information. On these highly polarized issues, can framing sway partisans to moderate their positions, or are partisans so motivated in their issue stances that framing fails? Using a variety of vignettes, and Republican climate change skepticism as a case, this article reports an experiment of how partisans respond to counter-attitudinal framing on a sharply polarized issue. Results indicate that Republicans are resistant to frames that encourage support of governmental action or personal engagement against climate change. There is strong evidence of motivated skepticism, given widespread backfire (or ‘boomerang’) effects and decreased attitudinal ambivalence following exposure to framing, suggesting that issue polarization may severely constrain attempts at communication.