More diversity, less tolerance? The effect of type of cultural diversity on the erosion of tolerance in Swiss municipalities

Immigration and the ways in which host societies receive newcomers pose challenges for modern civil societies. This article contributes to the ongoing discussion about how ethnic diversity influences tolerance towards immigrants. Compared to previous studies, we analyse tolerance as a sequential concept in order to uncover the effects of contextual diversity on attitudes towards immigrants and the granting of certain rights to this group. Moreover, we distinguish different shares of ethnic groups based on their ethnic and cultural origins both on the independent and dependent variable. The analysis relies on a subnational survey of sixty municipalities in Switzerland, revealing that only certain ethnic groups are seen as an economic and cultural threat.

How political economies affect immigrants' socio-economic incorporation. A comparative analysis of immigrants’ poverty risks across advanced industrialised countries

Immigration and the resulting increasing ethnic diversity have become an important characteristic of advanced industrialised countries. At the same time, the majority of the countries in question are confronted with structural transformation such as deindustrialisation and changes in family structures as well as economic downturn, which limit the capacities of nation-states in addressing rising inequality and supporting those individuals at the margins of the society. This paper addresses both issues, immigration and inequality, by focusing on immigrants’ socio-economic incorporation into the receiving societies of advanced industrialised countries. The aim of this paper is to explain cross-national variation in immigrants’ poverty risks. Drawing on the political economy as well as the migration literature, the paper develops a theoretical framework that considers how the impact of the national labour market and welfare system on immigrants’ poverty risks is moderated by the integration policies, which regulate immigrants’ access to the labour market and social programs (or immigrants’ economic and social rights). The empirical analysis draws on income surveys as well as a newly collected data set on economic and social rights of immigrants in 19 advanced industrialised countries, including European countries as well as Australia, and North America, for the year 2007. As the results from multilevel analysis show, integration policies concerning immigrants’ access to the labour market and social programs can partly explain cross-national variations in immigrants’ poverty risks. In line with the hypothesis, stricter labour market regulations such as minimum wage setting reduce immigrants’ poverty risks stronger in countries where they are granted easier access to the labour market. However, concerning the impact of more generous social programs the reductive poverty effect is stronger in countries with less inclusive access of immigrants to social programs. The paper concludes by discussing possible explanations for this puzzling finding.

Genetic diversity of bovine Neospora caninum determined by microsatellite markers

Neospora caninum is one of the most significant parasitic organisms causing bovine abortion worldwide. Despite the economic impact of this infection, relatively little is known about the genetic diversity of this parasite. In this study, using Nc5 and ITS1 nested PCR, N. caninum has been detected in 12 brain samples of aborted fetuses from 298 seropositive dairy cattle collected from four different regions in Tehran, Iran. These specimen (Nc-Iran) were genotyped in multilocus using 9 different microsatellite markers previously described (MS4, MS5, MS6A, MS6B, MS7, MS8, MS10, MS12 and MS21). Microsatellite amplification was completely feasible in 2 samples, semi-completely in 8 samples, and failed in 2 samples. Within the two completely performed allelic profiles of Nc-Iran strains, unique multilocus profiles were obtained for both and novel allelic patterns were found in the MS8 and MS10 microsatellite markers. The Jaccard's similarity index showed significant difference between these two strains and from other standard isolates derived from GenBank such as Nc-Liv, Nc-SweB1, Nc-GER1, KBA1, and KBA2. All samples originating from the same area showed identical allelic numbers and a correlation between the number of repeats and geographic districts was observed.

Improving urban park design: A comparative and analytical study addressing resources available and components necessary to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of urban parks

Urban parks have long been valued for the environmental, social, and economic benefits they provide. Increasingly, parks are also being recognized as features important for sustainable city design. This Capstone Project will identify, compare, analyze, and discuss means for designing sustainable urban parks. Recommendations for designing sustainable urban parks, based on project results, include: 1) ensure park features will support high levels of human activity; 2) use gravel to construct park trails; 3) purchase playground structures made of recycled materials; 4) plant a high number of perennials in flowerbeds and other vegetated areas; 5) plant climate-appropriate plants in vegetated areas; 6) ensure parks have high levels of plant diversity; and 7) develop future studies further exploring sustainable park design.

Mutual Recognition: economic and regulatory logic in goods and services. Bruges European Economic Research (BEER) Papers 24/June 2012

Mutual recognition is one of the most appreciated innovations of the EU. The idea is that one can pursue market integration, indeed "deep' market integration, while respecting 'diversity' amongst the participating countries. Put differently, in pursuing 'free movement' for goods, mutual recognition facilitates free movement by disciplining the nature and scope of 'regulatory barriers', whilst allowing some degree of regulatory discretion for EU Member States. This BEER paper attempts to explain the rationale and logic of mutual recognition in the EU internal goods market, its working in actual practice for about three decades now, culminating in a qualitative cost/benefit analysis and its recent improvement in terms of 'governance' in the so-called New Legislative Framework (first denoted as the 2008 Goods package) thereby ameliorating the benefits/costs ratio. For new (in contrast to existing) national regulation, the intrusive EU procedure to impose mutual recognition is presented as well, with basic data so as to show its critical importance to keep the internal goods market free. All this is complemented by a short summary of the scant economic literature on mutual recognition. Subsequently, the analysis is extended to the internal market for services. This is done in two steps, first by reminding the debate on the origin principle (which goes further than mutual recognition EU-style) and how mutual recognition works under the horizontal services directive. This is followed by a short section on how mutual recognition works in vertical (i.e. sectoral) services markets.

Racial and ethnic diversity of America's elderly population.

Mode of access: Internet.

Cultures within culture: Unity and diversity of two generations of employees in state-owned enterprises

This study adopts integration and differentiation perspectives to examine why unity and diversity of organizational cultures emerged as a function of economic reform, and how subcultural differences were reflected in employees' perceptions of cultural practices. Data were gathered from in-depth interviews and a large-scale survey in two large, state-owned enterprises in north-east China. Results indicated that, although all employees were oriented towards a common set of cultural themes, the two generations of employees did not exemplify the themes in the same way. Specifically, unity was illustrated by employees' desire to maintain Harmony and to reduce Inequality. Diversity was revealed by first-generation employees' higher ratings on Loyalty, Security and even Bureaucracy. The findings are discussed in the light of traditional Chinese cultural values, political ideology and the social context. Implications are drawn for organizational cultural theory and research.

Socioeconomic causes of loss of animal genetic diversity: analysis and assessment

The proximate causes and processes involved in loss of breeds are outlined. The path-dependent effect and Swanson's dominance-effect are discussed in relation to lock-in of breed selection. These effects help to explain genetic erosion. It is shown that the extension of markets and economic globalisation have contributed significantly to the loss of breeds. The decoupling of animal husbandry from surrounding natural environmental conditions is further eroding the stock of genetic resources. Recent trends in animal husbandry raise serious sustainability issues, apart from animal welfare concerns. The extension of markets and economic globalisation have contributed significantly to the rapid loss of domestic breeds, especially livestock. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmentalizing economic development: a South Asian perspective

South Asia's pursuit of economic development has entailed considerable damage to and exposed the fragility of the physical environment of the region. This paper provides an analytical overview of the of the environmental problem that manifest themselves in South Asia in a comparative perspective with East and Southeast Asian countries as well as selected developed market economics. To date, South Asian development process has been environment-intensive and environment-depleting. It is argued that environmental problems are likely to set serious constraints to sustain growth in production to support a growing population. By exploring the relationship between indices of human welfare and bio-diversity conservation. the paper exposes the dichotomy of the development process. Finally, the study underscores the need for a range of policy options that rely both based and non-market based instruments in an integrated setting to enviromnentalize South Asian economic development. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Economic competition and evolution: Are there lessons from ecology?

After generally discussing models in ecology and economics that combine competition, optimization, and evolution, this article concentrates on models of intraspecific competition. It demonstrates the importance of diversity/inequalities within populations of species and other environments for the sustainability of their populations, given the occurrence of environmental change. This is demonstrated both for scramble (open-access) and contest competition. Implications are drawn for human populations and industrial organization. The possibility is raised that within-industry competition may not always exist between firms in all stages of the development of a new industry. Policy implications are considered. For example, it is argued that policies designed to encourage intense business competition and maximum economic efficiency have the drawback of eventually making industries highly vulnerable to exogenous economic changes.

Adaptive economic growth

This paper develops an evolutionary theory of adaptive growth, understood as a product of structural change and economic self-transformation, based upon processes that are closely connected with but not reducible to the growth of knowledge. The dominant connecting theme is enterprise, the innovative variations it generates and the multiple connections between investment, innovation, demand and structural transformation in the market process. The paper explores the dependence of macroeconomic productivity growth on the diversity of technical progress functions and income elasticities of demand at the industry level, and the resolution of this diversity into patterns of economic change through market processes. It is shown how industry growth rates are constrained by higher-order processes of emergence that convert an ensemble of industry growth rates into an aggregate rate of growth. The growth of productivity, output and employment are determined mutually and endogenously, and their values depend on the variation in the primary causal influences in the system.

Economic life in the modern age

Werner Sombart (1863-1941) may well have been the most famous and controversial social scientist in Germany during the early twentieth century. Highly influential, his work and reputation have been indelibly tainted by his embrace of National Socialism in the last decade of his life. Although Sombart left an enormous opus spanning disciplinary boundaries, intellectual reaction to his work inside and outside of Germany is divided and ambivalent. Sombart consistently responded to the social and political developments that have shaped the twentieth century. Economic Life in the Modern Age provides a representative sampling of those portions of Sombart's work that have stood the test of time. The volume opens with a substantial introduction reviewing Sombart's life and career, the evolution of his major intellectual concerns, his relation to Marx and Weber, and his political affiliation with the Nazis. The editors' selection of texts emphasizes areas of Sombart's economic and cultural thought that remain relevant, particularly to those intellectual trends that seek a more broadly based, cross-disciplinary approach to culture and economics. Sombart's writings on capitalism are represented by essays on the nature and origin of the market system and the diversity of motives among the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Also included is an excerpt from Sombart's controversial The Jews and Modern Capitalism, exploring the widely perceived relation between economic life and Judaism as a religion. In essays on the economics of cultural processes, Sombart's comprehensive and expansive idea of cultural science yields prophetic insights into the nature of urbanism, luxury consumption, fashion, and the cultural secularization of love. The volume's final section consists of Sombart's reflections on the social influences of technology, the economic life of the future, and on socialism, including the influential essay "Why is there no Socialism in the United States." Encapsulating the most valuable aspects of his work, Economic Life in the Modern Age provides clear demonstration of Sombart's sense for fine cultural distinctions and broad cultural developments and the predictive power of his analyses. It will be of interest to sociologists, economists, political scientists, and specialists in cultural studies.

A comparison of the economic performance of different micro-states, and between micro-states and larger countries

The economic performance of micro-states and those sub-national regions enjoying a high degree of autonomy is a generally under-researched area. This paper builds on earlier research (Armstrong and Read, 1995) by employing quantitative techniques to test: 1. (a) the extent to which the economic performance of micro-states differs, by comparing their GNP per capita with that of the region in which they are located and with the countries to which they are adjacent; 2. (b) whether some micro-states perform better than others as a result of differences in their economic structure; and 3. (c) whether the rates of growth of micro-states have been faster or slower than those of larger countries. Considerable diversity among micro-states is revealed, although most exhibit strong economic performance.