Study on Solid Waste Management : An Economic Analysis with Respect to Ernakulam District

This thesis analyzed waste generation and waster disposal problems in municipalities and Cochin Corporation in Ernakulam district.Then the potential of resource recovery and recycling from biodegradable and non bio-degradable waste is established.The study further focused on the need for segregation of waste at the source as biodegradable and non biodegradable solid waste.The potential of resource recovery is explained in detail through the case study.The thesis also highlights the economically viable and environmental friendly methods o f treatment of waste.But the problem is that concerted and earnest attempts are lacking in making use of such methods.In spite of the health problems faced,people living near the dump sites are forced to stay there either because of their weak economic background or family ties.The study did not calculate the economic cost of health problems arising out of unscientific and irresponsible methods of waste disposal.

Desenlaces clínicos del cuidado perioperatorio de reemplazos articulares según grupos relacionados de diagnóstico en un hospital de cuarto nivel

Introducción Los Grupos Relacionados de Diagnóstico (GRD) se han usado para determinar la calidad de la atención en varios sistemas de salud. Esto ha llevado a que se obtengan resultados en el mejoramiento continuo de la atención y del cuidado. El objetivo de este estudio es determinar desenlaces clínicos de los pacientes a quienes se les había realizado reemplazo de articulares según la complejidad clínica definida mediante GRD. Métodos Se realizó un estudio longitudinal descriptivo en el cual se incluyeron todos los pacientes que tuvieron cirugía de reemplazo total de hombro, cadera y rodilla entre 2012 y 2014. Se realizó la estratificación de los pacientes de acuerdo a tres niveles de complejidad dados por el sistema de GRD y se determinaron las proporciones de pacientes para las variables de estancia hospitalaria, enfermedad trombo-embólica, cardiovascular e infección del sitio operatorio. Resultados Se realizaron en total 886 reemplazos articulares de los cuales 40 (4.5%) presentaron complicaciones. Los eventos más frecuentes fueron las complicaciones coronarias, con una presencia de 2.4%. El GRD1, sin complicaciones ni comorbilidades, fue el que presentó mayor número de eventos. La estancia hospitalaria fue de 3.8 a 9.3 días para todos los reemplazos. Conclusiones Contrario a lo planteado en la hipótesis de estudio, se encontró que el primer GRD presentó el mayor número de complicaciones, lo que puede estar relacionado con el tamaño del grupo. Es necesario realizar nuevas investigaciones que soporten el uso de los GRD como herramienta para evaluar desenlaces clínicos.

The effect of BREEAM on clients and construction professionals

The effects and influence of the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Methods (BREEAM) on construction professionals are examined. Most discussions of building assessment methods focus on either the formal tool or the finished product. In contrast, BREEAM is analysed here as a social technology using Michel Foucault’s theory of governmentality. Interview data are used to explore the effect of BREEAM on visibilities, knowledge, techniques and professional identities. The analysis highlights a number of features of the BREEAM assessment process which generally go unremarked: professional and public understandings of the method, the deployment of different types of knowledge and their implication for the authority and legitimacy of the tool, and the effect of BREEAM on standard practice. The analysis finds that BREEAM’s primary effect is through its impact on standard practices. Other effects include the use of assessment methods to defend design decisions, its role in both operationalizing and obscuring the concept of green buildings, and the effect of tensions between project and method requirements for the authority of the tool. A reflection on assessment methods as neo-liberal tools and their adequacy for the promotion of sustainable construction suggests several limitations of lock-in that hinder variation and wider systemic change.

A longitudinal study of carbon disclosure strategy: evidence from utility, energy and mining industries in the UK

The paper investigates how energy-intensive industries respond to the recent government-led carbon emission schemes through the content analysis of 306 annual and standalone reports of 25 UK listed companies from 2004 to 2012. This period of reporting captures the trend and development of corporate disclosures on carbon emissions after the launch of EU Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) and Climate Change Act (CCA) 2008. It is found that in corresponding to strategic legitimacy theory, there is an increase in both the quality and quantity of carbon disclosures as a response to these initiatives. However, the change is gradual, which reflects in the achievement of peak disclosure period two years after the launch. It indicates that the new legislations have a lasting impact on the discourses rather than an immediate legitimacy threat from the perspective of institutional legitimacy theory. The results also show that carbon disclosures are an institutionalised practice as companies in the same industries and/or with same carbon trading account status appear to imitate and adopt the industry’s ‘best practice’ disclosure strategy to maintain legitimacy. The trend analysis suggests that the overall disclosure practice is still in its infant stage, especially in the reporting of quantitative and monetary items. The paper contributes to the social and environmental accounting literature by adopting both strategic and institutional view of legitimacy, which explains why carbon disclosures evolve in a specific way to meet the expectation of various stakeholders.

Progress report on longitudinal and cross-sectional study of carbon disclosure strategies: evidence from UK listed companies

Global warming has attracted attention from all over the world and led to the concern about carbon emission. Kyoto Protocol, as the first major international regulatory emission trading scheme, was introduced in 1997 and outlined the strategies for reducing carbon emission (Ratnatunga et al., 2011). As the increased interest in carbon reduction the Protocol came into force in 2005, currently there are already 191 nations ratifying the Protocol(UNFCCC, 2012). Under the cap-and-trade schemes, each company has its carbon emission target. When company’s carbon emission exceeds the target the company will either face fines or buy emission allowance from other companies. Thus unlike most of the other social and environmental issues carbon emission could trigger cost for companies in introducing low-emission equipment and systems and also emission allowance cost when they emit more than their targets. Despite the importance of carbon emission to companies, carbon emission reporting is still operating under unregulated environment and companies are only required to disclose when it is material either in value or in substances (Miller, 2005, Deegan and Rankin, 1997). Even though there is still an increase in the volume of carbon emission disclosures in company’s financial reports and stand-alone social and environmental reports to show their concern of the environment and also their social responsibility (Peters and Romi, 2009), the motivations behind corporate carbon emission disclosures and whether carbon disclosures have impact on corporate environmental reputation and financial performance have not yet to explore. The problems with carbon emission lie on both the financial side and non-financial side of corporate governance. On one hand corporate needs to spend money in reducing carbon emission or paying penalties when they emit more than allowed. On the other hand as the public are more interested in environmental issues than before carbon emission could also impact on the image of corporate regarding to its environmental performance. The importance of carbon emission issue are beginning to be recognized by companies from different industries as one of the critical issues in supply chain management (Lee, 2011) and 80% of companies analysed are facing carbon risks resulting from emissions in the companies’ supply chain as shown in a study conducted by the Investor Responsibility Research Centre Institute for Corporate Responsibility (IRRCI) and over 80% of the companies analysed found that the majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission are from electricity and other direct suppliers (Trucost, 2009). The review of extant literature shows the increased importance of carbon emission issues and the gap in the study of carbon reporting and disclosures and also the study which links corporate environmental reputation and corporate financial performance with carbon reporting (Lohmann, 2009a, Ratnatunga and Balachandran, 2009, Bebbington and Larrinaga-Gonzalez, 2008). This study would focus on investigating the current status of UK carbon emission disclosures, the determinant factors of corporate carbon disclosure, and the relationship between carbon emission disclosures and corporate environmental reputation and financial performance of UK listed companies from 2004-2012 and explore the explanatory power of classical disclosure theories.

When bookkeepers become beekeepers: why bee accountability

Accounting for biodiversity has received increasing attention from the academic accounting community in recent years. Despite a stream of research investigating the quality and quantity of biodiversity reporting in general, no academic research has focused on reporting related to one specific species. This paper explores the quality and quantity of corporate disclosures relating to bees. Society is becoming increasingly concerned about the accelerating fall in bee populations around the world. Colony Collapse Disorder has been spreading through global bee populations since 2006, decimating commercial hives. Concerns are fuelled by fears that pollinators may become extinct which would have dire consequences for the majority of world food production, leaving human pollination, at immense cost, the only alternative. On the basis of these fears, companies as well as other organisations, have started to establish programmes aimed at rejuvenating global bee populations. In this paper we explore the bee-related disclosures provided by a large selection of UK listed companies. We assess the extent to which companies believe they have a role to play in enhancing and protecting bee populations. Further we consider whether corporate accountability in this area derives solely from a business case or whether there is a deeper societal connection with bees as a species which is encouraging companies to protect their survival. The paper investigates the historical and philosophical connection between bees and human beings, for example the ways industrial production has been likened to honey production. We draw parallels between bees and human industrial organisation as well as between the role and responsibilities of the bookkeeper and the beekeeper.

Uma contribuição ao estudo da influência da inflação na distribuição de sobras em uma cooperativa de produção: um estudo de caso

A presente pesquisa teve corno objetivo a análise das demonstrações contábeis de uma cooperativa de produção, após a aplicação dos métodos contábeis que reconhecem os efeitos da inflação sobre as mesmas, procurando definir qual a influência da flutuação de preços na distribuição das Sobras, após a aplicação dos referidos métodos . Na revisão da literatura foram abordados os métodos que reconhecem os efeitos inflacionários sobre as demonstrações contábeis, um breve histórico sobre a legislação que abrange a correçao monetária no Brasil e uma introdução à filosofia, princípios e características das Sociedades Cooperativas (cap.II). O presente estudo foi desenvolvido através do método de Estudo de Caso, em razão da carência de verificações empíricas na área do cooperativismo, e da necessidade de discriminação do método, coleta e tratamento dos dados (cap.III). A seguir, apresenta os resultados alcançados após a aplicação dos métodos do Custo Histórico Corrigido, do Custo Corrente Corrigido Parcial, com a aplicação da variação. mensal do IGP em ambos os métodos, além do método adotado pela legislação brasileira, sendo que este último efetuado com a aplicação do índice oficial no período em observação, isto é, a Obrigação Reajustável do Tesouro Nacional (ORTN) e a variação mensal do índice Geral de Preços (IGP) (cap.IV). Os resultados alcançados permitiram a análise dos mesmos (cap.V), chegando-se as conclusões e, finalmente sugeriu-se uma nova pesquisa na area do cooperativismo (cap. VI).

The economic development of Latin America in the twentieth century

Includes bibliography

La economía política de las cuentas del patrimonio natural

Incluye Bibliografía

Sistema de cuentas ambientales y económicas del agua. Borrador final

El Sistema de Cuentas Ambientales y Económicas del Agua (SCAE-Agua) proporciona el marco conceptual para la organización coherente y consistente de la información hídrica y económica. El presente manual está basado en el Sistema de Cuentas Ambientales y Económicas 2003 (Naciones Unidas, 2003) que describe la interacción entre el sistema económico y el medio ambiente, cubriendo todo el espectro de los recursos naturales y el medio ambiente. Tanto el SCAE-2003 como el SCAE-Agua, tienen como marco básico el Sistema de Cuentas Nacionales 1993 que es el sistema estándar para la compilación de estadísticas económicas y de los indicadores económicos derivados, entre los que destaca el Producto Interno Bruto.

Estadísticas del medio ambiente en América Latina y el Caribe: avances y perspectivas

Incluye Bibliografía

Ecoeficiencia: marco de análisis, indicadores y experiencias

Incluye Bibliografía

Expenditures, investment and financing for sustainable development in Trinidad and Tobago

Includes bibliography

Informe de actividades del grupo de iniciativa del grupo de trabajo sobre estadísticas ambientales

Incluye Bibliografía