Entrepreneurial structure of the mercantile company in pre-industrial Catalonia

The mercantile company was the basic form of enterprise in pre-industrial Catalonia. The aim of this paper is to study the formation and development of the mercantile companies in Barcelona whose end was the wholesale and retail sale of textiles in the botigues de teles (textile retail shops) throughout the eighteenth century. These firms were officially registered before a notary and their deeds reveal how these establishments were administered and managed.The study covers a sample of 121 mercantile companies, and the articles and documentation that were put into effect by 32 notaries who were active in Barcelona in the 18th century have been consulted in their entirety. From an initial selection of documentation, a total of 228 deeds registering companies have been found, 107 of which (47%) relate to the creation of companies whose various activities were centred in taverns, textile manufacturing, braiding.... While the 121 companies, which make up our sample and which account for 53% of the deeds registered with the notaries mentioned above, focused exclusively on the management of textile retail shops located in the commercial heart of the city. Thus one point of interest that the documentation reveals is that the majority of the mercantile companies registered by Barcelona notaries throughout the 18th century were establishments which traded in textiles. The first part of the article focuses on the structural characteristics of these enterprises, the number and socio-professional status of the partners and the extent of each partner s involvement in the administration and management. The second part of the article examines the capital investment made by each partner, their rights and obligations agreed on, the sharing out of profits and possible losses and the duration of the companies. The final aim of the paper is to highlight the evolution of these companies through one specific case.

Socio-economic inequalities in health in Catalonia

In this paper we measure the degree of income related inequality in mental health as measured by the GHQ instrument and general health as measured by the EQOL-5D instrument for the Catalan population. We find that income is the main contributor to inequality, although the share of inequality in mental health that can be explained by income is much greater than the corresponding share of inequality in general health. We also find that the variation in demographic structure reduces income related inequality in mental health but increases income related inequality in general health. The regional variations in both instruments for health are striking, with the Barcelona districts faring relatively bad with respect to the rest of geographical areas and Lleida being the health region where, all else held equal, the population reports the greatest level of health. A big share of inequality in the two health measures, but specially mental health, is due to the favourable position in both health and income of those who enjoy an indefinite contract with respect to the rest of individuals. We also find that risky working conditions affect both health measures and are able to explain an important share of socio-economic inequality.

Social spending and demographics: The role of public policies in the intergenerational redistribution of income. Empirical evidence from Spain and Catalonia

The demographic shift underway in Southern Europe requires a revision of some of thefundamental principles of the traditional welfare state. We analyze the evolution of several aspects of welfare and social expenditure over the last two decades. We find that in the context of the present demographic changes and real estate boom current social and pension policy leads to a new distribution of benefits and burdens which is highly intergenerationally unequal. We argue for a revised definition of public policy based on Musgrave's proposition as a possible rule for an intergenerationally fair distribution.

Cultural Heritage and Records Retention Task Force Report, August 2008

The Rebuild Iowa Cultural Heritage and Records Retention Task Force respectfully submits its report to the Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission (RIAC) for its consideration of the impacts of the tornadoes, storms, and flooding on Iowans and their cultural, historical, and arts institutions and organizations and records collections and archives. As the RIAC fulfills its obligations to guide the recovery and reconstruction of Iowa, the cknowledgement that culture and records as Iowa’s identity is important, and that if these items of cultural heritage vanish from Iowa’s landscape, the items that Iowans associate with their history, traditions, and sense of place also disappears. Iowa is certainly not the only state that has experienced this type of disaster; however, many states have not recognized culture and records as critical concerns as part of the recovery and rebuilding process. When rebuilding Iowa stronger, smarter, and safer, quality of life is an important consideration for attracting new residents, making it a necessity to keep culture alive and thriving in Iowa. Additionally, the cultural arts constitute a vital economic industry, providing employment to thousands of Iowa’s citizens and generating millions of dollars in local and government revenue across the state. In the case of records, these items are irreplaceable and provide important information for the daily workings of government and life in our state, and maintain vital records of Iowa’s heritage and traditions. This report provides background information on the damages incurred in Iowa from the disasters and additional context for policy and rebuilding discussions. It also offers recommendations to the RIAC for steps that might be taken to address the significant and important challenges faced by Iowa’s cultural, historical, and arts institutions and organizations; individual artists and other cultural workers; and records retention entities and officials.

Department of Cultural Affairs Performance Plan, FY 2009

Agency Performance Plan, Department of Cultural Affairs

University admission marks in Catalonia: Some highlights from the empirical research

The results of the examinations taken by graduated high school studentswho want to enrol at a Catalan university are here studied. To do so,the authors address several issues related to the equity of the system:reliability of grading, difficulty and discrimination power of the exams.The general emphasis is put upon the concurrent research and empiricalevidence about the properties of the examination items and scores. Aftera discussion about the limitations of the exams' format and appropriatenessof the instruments used in the study, the article concludes with somesuggestions to improve such examinations.

Animação Turística como um contributo para o desenvolvimento cultural direccionado para o Turismo de Cruzeiros na Ilha de São Vicente

No trabalho de investigação ora apresentado, tenciona-se tratar a problemática da animação turística na ilha de São Vicente de uma forma científica, uma vez que se tem evidenciado como um sector de grande importância e de fundamental relevância para o desenvolvimento de um destino turístico. Pretende-se mostrar através do estudo a importância e a contribuição que tem para o aumento do turismo de cruzeiros na ilha de São Vicente. A investigação incidiu-se na região de Barlavento do Arquipélago de Cabo Verde, na ilha de São Vicente, Cidade do Mindelo, que possui uma das melhores infra-estruturas portuárias do país, situada na Baia do Porto Grande, com excelentes condições para a recepção de navios cruzeiros, que consequentemente permitirão maximizar os impactos sócio económicos na ilha. O trabalho encontra-se dividido em seis capítulos, que permitem fazer o enquadramento da temática em estudo, abordando aspectos teóricos, através de bibliografia específica no âmbito da animação e turismo de cruzeiros. A metodologia de pesquisa foi considerada como exploratória e descritiva, quanto a abordagem pode-se considerar de caracter qualitativo. Utilizou-se o programa SPSS no tratamento dos resultados dos inquéritos, para através destes chegar-se a conclusões de extrema importância para a investigação. Com a análise dos dados, constatou-se que tanto a animação turística bem como o sector te cruzeiros, são sectores pertinentes para o desenvolvimento da ilha enquanto destino turístico, embora ambos necessitam de intervenção e melhoria por parte dos órgãos competentes, apontando graves falhas no planeamento.

A Percepção dos Alunos do Ensino Secundário em Relação ao Património Histórico Cultural da Cidade do Mindelo

O estudo prende-se com a necessidade de formação de uma consciência de preservação do patrimônio histórico e cultural local para o desenvolvimento crítico a cerca da nossa história. Este trabalho académico de conclusão de curso visa apresentar dados de uma pesquisa que teve como objetivo principal, relacionar Educação e Património históricocultural, com o intuito de investigar a importância da educação patrimonial no contexto escolar, envolvendo as atividades que buscam contribuir na formação de cidadãos livres, autónomos e instruídos de seus direitos e deveres, baseada no método de um questionário estruturado. Tendo em conta uma análise bibliográfica adequada ao tema investigado nomeadamente políticas públicas de preservação e conservação do património histórico-cultural, procurando as acções e condutas das entidades em favor do mesmo. O Turismo aparece neste contexto como um fenómeno de integração da história, como um motor essencial de desenvolvimento e envolvimento da sociedade de uma determinada região. Ainda como objetivos, propomos apresentar propostas inovadoras desde da prática pedagógica até actividades sociais para a camada juvenil, no sentido de estimular um sentimento de pertença dos indivíduos com os recursos /bens que os cercam.

Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, Strategic Plan 2008-2011, 2008

This report outlines the strategic plan for Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, goals and mission.

Perceptual mapping of practical ethics along the value chain: A multiple correspondence analysis with industry and cultural indices as supplementary variables

This paper presents findings from a study investigating a firm s ethical practices along the value chain. In so doing we attempt to better understand potential relationships between a firm s ethical stance with its customers and those of its suppliers within a supply chain and identify particular sectoral and cultural influences that might impinge on this. Drawing upon a database comprising of 667 industrial firms from 27 different countries, we found that ethical practices begin with the firm s relationship with its customers, the characteristics of which then influence the ethical stance with the firm s suppliers within the supply chain. Importantly, market structure along with some key cultural characteristics were also found to exert significant influence on the implementation of ethical policies in these firms.

Managing by values in the next milenium: Cultural redesign for strategic organizational change

The system of beliefs and values, that shaped the model for management and organizations during the 20th century, is just not good enough today. In order to keep a business functioning well and competing successfully in markets that are increasingly more global, complex, professionally demanding, constantly changing and oriented towards quality and customer satisfaction a new model is needed. In this paper, we will propose that both Management by Instructions (MBI) and Management by Objectives (MBO) today give notoriously inadequate results. By contrast, description of a new approach labeled: Management by Values (MBV), seem to be emerging as a strategic leadership tool. The paper outlines this approach and discusses the implementation of MBV as a tool to redesign culture in organizations and prepare them for the next millenium.

EUGÉNIO TAVARES: contribuição para a investigação histórico-cultural da sociedade cabo-verdiana

de todos os seus membros nas várias dimensões do quotidiano da vida social: profissional, político, administrativa, cultural, religiosa, entre outras. Eugénio Tavares é um dos membros da sociedade cabo-verdiana que deixou para as gerações seguintes, não só o cultivo da morna e da poesia mas também subsídios outros importantes para a edificação de uma sociedade cada vez mais digna, moral e materialmente. Visa este pequeno artigo prestar uma modesta homenagem a Eugénio Tavares, cuja obra, particularmente da década de 90 de 1800 a 1930, hoje nos impõe a obrigação cívica de participar na construção e dignificação de Cabo Verde com base em estudos aturados e com recurso metodológico, de preferência, às suas reflexões e produções culturais respeitantes à sua própria sociedade. Esta herança cultural, deixou-a no seu pensamento enquanto acto de espírito ou operação de inteligência, e podemos examiná-la na sua vasta e diversificada obra.2 Assim, para nós, Eugénio Tavares é uma das autoridades intelectuais que qualquer investigador da sociedade cabo-verdiana deverá invocar, pela espessura, homogeneidade e coerência do seu pensamento.

As mornas de Francisco Xavier da Cruz (B. Léza) como referência para a reconstituição da história psicossocial e cultural de Cabo Verde

Os músicos integram o grupo dos actores sociais cujas obras não deixam de constituir contributos valiosos para a reconstituição históricocultural das sociedades a que pertencem. Francisco Xavier, B. Léza, é um desses actores sociais que, em termos da construção musical de Cabo Verde, carece de uma investigação aprofundada de modo a podermos identificar, a partir da referida produção, elementos para a reconstituição da nossa historicidade sócio-cultural. Com efeito, várias são as composições musicais de B. Léza que fazem um retrato psicossocial de S. Vicente e de Cabo Verde, o que nos faz pensar a obra musical desse autor como parte das fontes orais e escritas da reconstituição histórica de Cabo Verde, quer na sua abordagem local quer na sua abordagem geral, nomeadamente nas dimensões psicossociais e culturais Ora, é nosso entender que reconstituir a história cabo-verdiana com base na pluralidade das suas fontes é uma forma de fincar os pés na terra – projecto caro aos Claridosos. Assim, com a nossa participação neste encontro tentaremos abordar a contribuição musical de B. Léza como fonte e referência da reconstituição da história sóciocultural cabo-verdiana, desde que cruzada com outras fontes, nomeadamente com a escrita. Por outro lado, pensamos que este tipo de investigação sobre a obra de B. Léza é uma das melhores formas de homenagear esta figura de proa da cultura cabo-verdiana.

IRELAND AND LATIN AMERICA: A CULTURAL HISTORY

According to Declan Kiberd, “postcolonial writing does not begin only when the occupier withdraws: rather it is initiated at that very moment when a native writer formulates a text committed to cultural resistance.” The Irish in Latin America – a continent emerging from indigenous cultures, colonisation, and migrations – may be regarded as colonised in Ireland and as colonisers in their new home. They are a counterexample to the standard pattern of identities in the major English-speaking destinations of the Irish Diaspora. Using literary sources, the press, correspondence, music, sports, and other cultural representations, in this thesis I search the attitudes and shared values signifying identities among the immigrants and their families. Their fragmentary and wide-ranging cultures provide a rich context to study the protean process of adaptation to, or rejection of, the new countries. Evolving from oppressed to oppressors, the Irish in Latin America swiftly became ingleses. Subsequently, in order to join the local middle classes they became vaqueros, llaneros, huasos, and gauchos so they could show signs of their effective integration to the native culture, as seen by the Latin American elites. Eventually, some Irish groups separated from the English mainstream culture and shaped their own community negotiating among Irishness, Englishness, and local identities in Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Cuba, and other places in the region. These identities were not only unmoored in the emigrants’ minds but also manoeuvred by the political needs of community and religious leaders. After reviewing the major steps and patterns of Irish migration to Latin America, the thesis analyses texts from selected works, offers a version of how the settlers became Latin Americans or not, and elucidates the processes by which a new Irish-Latin American hybrid was created.

Internet como ferramenta de Relações Públicas: Estudo de caso de Banco Comercial do Atlântico, Instituto Nacional de Previdência Social, Cabo Verde Telecom, Centro Cultural Brasil – Cabo Verde e Casa do Cidadão

A internet contribuiu para que as organizações pudessem acompanhar o ritmo moderno do mundo actual, com a sua velocidade e agilidade na troca e transmissão de informação. Facilitou muito o trabalho do profissional de Relações Publica, disponibilizando ferramentas importantes no processo de comunicação, dando oportunidades de uma relação directa com os clientes, consumidores, e, principalmente, levando o público-alvo a conhecer melhor a empresa com quem pretende ter algum tipo de relação. Entretanto, não basta proporcionar uma relação com o público se não houver uma estratégia que permita a utilização da linguagem correcta, do canal mais adequado e do momento ideal, culminando numa comunicação dirigida eficiente. Ademais a isso, as possibilidades que a rede abre passam da passividade para a gestão ativa do processo comunicacional. A comunicação eletrónica transformou grande parte da comunicação dirigida escrita impressa, em meio eletrónica, com isso abriu novos horizontes nesta area.