Do Foreign Greenfields Outperform Foreign Acquisitions or Vice Versa? An Institutional Perspective.

Prior studies of the comparative performance of greenfields and acquisitions have advanced competing arguments, with some arguing that greenfields should outperform acquisitions because acquisitions are costlier to integrate, and others that acquisitions should outperform greenfields because greenfields suffer from a liability of newness. Moreover, while the costs of integration and the liability of newness are at their greatest during a subsidiary's first years, prior studies have tested their competing arguments on samples containing older subsidiaries. We extend these prior studies by (1) developing an institutional theory-based framework that simultaneously considers the costs of integration and the liability of newness, (2) recognizing that both types of costs vary with the level of subsidiary integration, and (3) focusing on the stage of their life during which subsidiaries predominantly incur these costs. To measure subsidiary performance, we ask managers of Dutch multinationals how their ex ante performance expectations compare to the subsidiary's ex post performance during its first two years. Analysing a sample of 191 foreign subsidiaries and controlling for entry mode self-selection and other factors, we find that acquisitions outperform greenfields at low and intermediate levels of subsidiary integration, but that greenfields outperform acquisitions at higher integration levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender mainstreaming and the Common Agricultural Policy

While there are many case studies looking at gender mainstreaming in national contexts, this article offers a pan-European perspective to examine how a stated commitment to gender equality at this meta-level works in practice. The European Union’s (EU) stated commitment to gender mainstreaming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is critically reviewed. The article reviews theoretical literature on gender mainstreaming, considers the position of women in agriculture across Europe, and examines efforts by the EU to gender mainstream the CAP. It argues that at best, gender mainstreaming focuses on the symptoms of gender inequality in agriculture rather than the causes. Because of this, gender mainstreaming cannot be transformative in this context. Little thought has been given to the practical difficulties of actually gender mainstreaming a policy such as the CAP. The EU’s priority for the CAP focuses on the mainstream business goal of a viable agricultural industry and does not pay any heed to gender inequalities in agriculture. In short, the stated commitment to gender mainstreaming is empty rhetoric

Risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in agricultural soils and maize tissues from selected districts in Tanzania

A field survey was conducted to investigate the contamination of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) arsenic (As), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni) in Tanzanian agricultural soils and to evaluate their uptake and translocation in maize as proxy to the safety of maize used for human and animal consumption. Soils and maize tissues were sampled from 40 farms in Tanzania and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in the United Kingdom. The results showed high levels of PTEs in both soils and maize tissues above the recommended limits. Nickel levels of up to 34.4 and 56.9mgkg(-1) respectively were found in some maize shoots and grains from several districts. Also, high Pb levels >0.2mgkg(-1) were found in some grains. The grains and shoots with high levels of Ni and Pb are unfit for human and animal consumption. Concentrations of individual elements in maize tissues and soils did not correlate and showed differences in uptake and translocation. However, Ni showed a more efficient transfer from soils to shoots than As, Pb and Cr. Transfer of Cr and Ni from shoots to grains was higher than other elements, implying that whatever amount is assimilated in maize shoots is efficiently mobilized and transferred to grains. Thus, the study recommended to the public to stop consuming and feeding their animals maize with high levels of PTEs for their safety.

Downstream changes in the transport and storage of sediment-associated contaminants (P, Cr and PCBs) in agricultural and industrialized drainage basins

Samples of suspended, floodplain and channel bed sediment have been used to examine downstream changes in ediment-associated contaminant transport and storage in contrasting rivers in Yorkshire, UK. The concentrations of hosphorus, chromium and selected PCBs associated with sediment in the River Aire and its main tributary, the River Calder, which drain an urbanized and industrialized catchment, are considerably higher than those in the relatively unpolluted River Swale, which drains an agricultural catchment. Concentrations of sediment-associated contaminants in the Aire/Calder system increase downstream, reflecting the location of urban and industrial areas in the middle and lower reaches, and the location of point source inputs, such as sewage treatment works. The ontaminant concentrations associated with floodplain and channel bed sediment in the Rivers Aire and Calder are high, particularly in the lower reaches. This, combined with measurements of sediment storage on the floodplain and channel bed, indicate that significant storage of sediment-associated contaminants occurs in the Rivers Aire and Calder.

Isolation and characterization of a novel simazine-degrading bacterium from agricultural soil of central Chile, Pseudomonas sp MHP41

s-Triazine herbicides are used extensively in South America in agriculture and forestry. In this study, a bacterium designated as strain MHP41, capable of degrading simazine and atrazine, was isolated from agricultural soil in the Quillota valley, central Chile. Strain MHP41 is able to grow in minimal medium, using simazine as the sole nitrogen source. In this medium, the bacterium exhibited a growth rate of mu = 0.10 h(-1), yielding a high biomass of 4.2 x 10(8) CFU mL(-1). Resting cells of strain MHP41 degrade more than 80% of simazine within 60 min. The atzA, atzB, atzC, atzD, atzE and atzF genes encoding the enzymes of the simazine upper and lower pathways were detected in strain MHP41. The motile Gram-negative bacterium was identified as a Pseudomonas sp., based on the Biolog microplate system and comparative sequence analyses of the 16S rRNA gene. Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis allowed the differentiation of strain MHP41 from Pseudomonas sp. ADP. The comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses suggested that strain MHP41 is closely related to Pseudomonas nitroreducens and Pseudomonas multiresinovorans. This is the first s-triazine-degrading bacterium isolated in South America. Strain MHP41 is a potential biocatalyst for the remediation of s-triazine-contaminated environments.

Class, Factionalism, and the Radical Retreat: Black Laborers and the Republican Party in South Carolina, 1865-1900

a chapter-length piece in a collection which I've co-edited and written the introduction for, which examines class and other tensions in the ranks of the Republican party during and after Reconstruction in South Carolina, with a focus on the confrontation between insurgent former slaves and Party moderates over the social content of the RP programme.