Inclusive business and poverty: prospects in the Brazilian context

Inclusive business is a term currently used to explain the organizations that aim to solve social problems with efficiency and financial sustainability by means of market mechanisms. It can be said that inclusive businesses are those targeted at generating employment and income for groups with little or no market mobility, in keeping with the standards of so-called "decent jobs" and in a self-sustaining manner, i.e., generating profit for the enterprises, and establishing relationships with typical business organizations as suppliers of products and services or in the distribution of this type of production. This article discusses the different concepts found in the scientific literature on inclusive businesses. It also analyses data from a survey conducted with the audiences of Social Corporate Responsibility seminars held by FIEMG. This analysis reveals that prospects, risks and idealizations similar to those found in inclusive business theories can also be found among individuals that run social corporate responsibility projects, even if this designation is new for them. The connection between companies and poverty, especially in relation to inclusive businesses, seems full of stumbling blocks and traps in the Brazilian context.

A study of governance practices in corporate foundations

Implementation of social investments through corporate foundations is growing and, therefore, it is important to study their governance aspects better. Governance is conceptualized as a set of control and incentive mechanisms to overcome the so-called agency conflicts, which originate from the separation of property and management in for-profit organizations, a concept also applied to nonprofit institutions. It is argued that corporate foundations have the characteristics both of companies and of civil society organizations, which distinguishes them from both types of organizations. This paper analyses a study in which a set of governance mechanisms, adapted from those identified by a literature review of corporate and nonprofit governance, was selected for study. It is an exploratory descriptive case study, which analyzed data about eight organizations collected through publications and interviews with their CEOs. The data analysis indicates that it is appropriate to distinguish the different organization types and to apply the agency theory. Research results indicate that the selected governance mechanisms may be adapted and used in corporate foundations. However, they are only partially applied in the observed cases, which suggests the need for further studies that might consolidate these practices in such organizations.

Networks in Argentine agriculture: a multiple-case study approach

Argentina is among the four largest producers of soybeans, sunflower, corn, and wheat, among other agricultural products. Institutional and policy changes during the 1990s fostered the development of Argentine agriculture and the introduction of innovative process and product technologies (no-till, agrochemicals, GMO, GPS) and new investments in modern, large-scale sunflower and soybean processing plants. In addition to technological changes, a "quiet revolution" occurred in the way agricultural production was carried out and organized: from self-production or ownership agriculture to a contract-based agriculture. The objective of this paper is to explore and describe the emergence of networks in the Argentine crop production sector. The paper presents and describes four cases that currently represent about 50% of total grain and oilseed production in Argentina: "informal hybrid form", "agricultural trust fund", "investor-oriented corporate structure", and "network of networks". In all cases, hybrid forms involve a group of actors linked by common objectives, mainly to gain scale, share resources, and improve the profitability of the business. Informal contracts seem to be the most common way of organizing the agriculture process, but using short-term contracts and sequential interfirm collaboration. Networks of networks involve long-term relationships and social development, and reciprocal interfirm collaboration. Agricultural trust fund and investor-oriented corporate structures have combined interfirm collaboration and medium-term relationships. These organizational forms are highly flexible and show a great capacity to adapt to challenges; they are competitive because they enjoy aligned incentives, flexibility, and adaptability.

Relationships and knowledge in the firm internationalization process

Based on the variables relationship and knowledge, this article aimed at analyzing how a multinational enterprise selects an entry mode to operate in a particular international market and how this initial choice evolves over time. We devised a rather new theoretical framework to address it by combining three theoretical approaches that have dealt with the firm internationalization: the Uppsala model, the relational approach, and the subsidiary development literature. We constructed a qualitative backward-looking longitudinal case study of the internationalization process of a North-American multinational enterprise in the Brazilian market. Results show that four types of relationships and three types of knowledge played the role in the events that characterized the internationalization of this firm. Based on these results, five new hypotheses concerning the interplay between relationships and knowledge in the internationalization process of the firm are suggested for future empirical tests.

Genetic relationships between suicide attempts, suicidal ideation and major psychiatric disorders: A genome-wide association and polygenic scoring study.

Epidemiological studies have recognized a genetic diathesis for suicidal behavior, which is independent of other psychiatric disorders. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on suicide attempt (SA) and ideation have failed to identify specific genetic variants. Here, we conduct further GWAS and for the first time, use polygenic score analysis in cohorts of patients with mood disorders, to test for common genetic variants for mood disorders and suicide phenotypes. Genome-wide studies for SA were conducted in the RADIANT and GSK-Munich recurrent depression samples and London Bipolar Affective Disorder Case-Control Study (BACCs) then meta-analysis was performed. A GWAS on suicidal ideation during antidepressant treatment had previously been conducted in the Genome Based Therapeutic Drugs for Depression (GENDEP) study. We derived polygenic scores from each sample and tested their ability to predict SA in the mood disorder cohorts or ideation status in the GENDEP study. Polygenic scores for major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium were used to investigate pleiotropy between psychiatric disorders and suicide phenotypes. No significant evidence for association was detected at any SNP in GWAS or meta-analysis. Polygenic scores for major depressive disorder significantly predicted suicidal ideation in the GENDEP pharmacogenetics study and also predicted SA in a combined validation dataset. Polygenic scores for SA showed no predictive ability for suicidal ideation. Polygenic score analysis suggests pleiotropy between psychiatric disorders and suicidal ideation whereas the tendency to act on such thoughts may have a partially independent genetic diathesis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Essays in banking and corporate finance

Abstract This paper presents a model of executive compensation in which the executive is risk-averse and has specific knowledge -knowledge about the optimal actions to take that is costly to transfer to the principal. The model generates predictions that are consistent with the available evidence and provides a rationale for a number of unresolved puzzles in executive compensation. Notably, we find that relative performance evaluation is optimal only if the quality of specific knowledge is low. We also show (1) why some common risk components are not filtered out of executives' pay, (2) why performance is more likely to be evaluated relative to aggregate market movements than relative to industry movements, and (3) why executives with higher perceived abilities are given stronger incentives. Finally, we demonstrate that the relation between risk and incentives may be positive or negative, depending on the quality of the executive's specific knowledge.

Host-parasite relationships during a biologic invasion: 75 years postinvasion, cane toads and sympatric Australian frogs retain separate lungworm faunas.

Invasive species may carry with them parasites from their native range, differing from parasite taxa found in the invaded range. Host switching by parasites (either from the invader to native fauna or from native fauna to the invader) may have important consequences for the viability of either type of host (e.g., their survivorship, fecundity, dispersal ability, or geographic distribution). Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala (Nematoda) is a common parasite of cane toads (Rhinella marina) in the toad's native range (South and Central America) and also in its introduced Australian range. This lungworm can depress host viability and is capable of infecting Australian frogs in laboratory trials. Despite syntopy between toads and frogs for up to 75 yr, our analyses, based on DNA sequence data of lungworms from 80 frogs and 56 toads, collected from 2008 to 2011, did not reveal any cases of host switching in nature: toads and native frogs retain entirely different lungworm faunas. All lungworms in cane toads were the South and Central American species Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala, whereas Australian frogs contained at least four taxa (mostly undescribed and currently lumped under the name Rhabdias cf. hylae). General patterns of prevalence and intensity, based on the dissection of 1,315 frogs collected between 1989 and 2011 across the toads' Australian range, show that these Australian endemic Rhabdias spp. are widely distributed geographically and across host taxa but are more common in some frog species (especially, large-bodied species) than they are in others.

Etude des liens entre l'alexithymie, l'expérience dépressive et la dépendance interpersonnelle chez des sujets addictifs [Relationships between alexithymia, depression and interpersonal dependency in addictive subjects].

In the scientific literature, the term of addiction is currently used to describe a whole range of phenomena characterized by an irresistible urge to engage in a series of behaviors carried out in a repetitive and persistent manner despite accruing adverse somatic, psychological and social consequences for the individual. It has been suggested that subjects presenting such behaviors would share specific features of personality which support the appearance or are associated with these addictive behaviors. Dimensions such as alexithymia and depression have been particularly well investigated. The aim of this study was to explore the hypothesis of a specific psychopathological model relating alexithymia and depression in different addictive disorders such as alcoholism, drug addiction or eating disorders. Alexithymic and depressive dimensions were explored and analyzed through the statistical tool of path analysis in a large clinical sample of addicted patients and controls. The results of this statistical method, which tests unidirectional causal relationships between a certain number of observed variables, showed a good adjustment between the observed data and the ideal model, and support the hypothesis that a depressive dimension can facilitate the development of dependence in vulnerable alexithymic subjects. These results can have clinical implications in the treatment of addictive disorders.

Cytogenetic and molecular relationships between Zarudny's rock shrew (Crocidura zarudnyi; Mammalia : Soricomorpha) and Eurasian taxa

We karyotyped and sequenced 1,140 base pairs of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b of a specimen of Zarudny's rock shrew (Crocidura zarudnyi) from Baluchestan, southeastern Iran, to clarify its cytogenetic and molecular relationships with other Eurasian species of Crocidura. According to the karyotype (2N = 40, FN = 50), Zarudny's rock shrew belongs to the group of the lesser white-toothed shrew (C. suaveolens), which is different from other known crocidurine karyotypes, considering the combination of the diploid and fundamental number of chromosomes. Molecular results revealed that C. zarudnyi is included in a monophyletic clade with the C. suaveolens group, where it is a sister taxon to the others (mean Kimura 2-parameter distance = 9.7%).

Phylogenetic relationships in the subfamily Psychodinae (Diptera, Psychodidae)

Thanks to recent advances in molecular systematics, our knowledge of phylogenetic relationships within the order Diptera has dramatically improved. However, relationships at lower taxonomic levels remain poorly investigated in several neglected groups, such as the highly diversified moth-fly subfamily Psychodinae (Lower Diptera), which occurs in numerous terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we aimed to understand the phylogenetic relationships among 52 Palearctic taxa from all currently known Palearctic tribes and subtribes of this subfamily, based on mitochondrial DNA. Our results demonstrate that in light of the classical systematics of Psychodinae, none of the tribes sensu Je?ek or sensu Vaillant is monophyletic, whereas at least five of the 12 sampled genera were not monophyletic. The results presented in this study provide a valuable backbone for future work aiming at identifying morphological synapomorphies to propose a new tribal classification.

Astrocyte-neuron metabolic relationships: for better and for worse.

In recent years, previously unsuspected roles of astrocytes have been revealed, largely owing to the development of new tools enabling their selective study in situ. These exciting findings add to the large body of evidence demonstrating that astrocytes play a central role in brain homeostasis, in particular via the numerous cooperative metabolic processes they establish with neurons, such as the supply of energy metabolites and neurotransmitter recycling functions. Furthermore, impairments in astrocytic function are increasingly being recognized as an important contributor to neuronal dysfunction and, in particular, neurodegenerative processes. In this review, we discuss recent evidence supporting important roles for astrocytes in neuropathological conditions such as neuroinflammation, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. We also explore the potential for neuroprotective therapeutics based on the modulation of astrocytic functions.