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Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Ulla Pape, Rafael Chaves-Ávila, Joachim Benedikt Pahl, Francesca Petrella, Bartosz Pieliński and Teresa Savall-Morera

The context conditions for third sector organizations (TSOs) in Europe have significantly changed as a result of the global economic crisis, including decreasing levels of public…

1427

Abstract

Purpose

The context conditions for third sector organizations (TSOs) in Europe have significantly changed as a result of the global economic crisis, including decreasing levels of public funding and changing modes of relations with the state. The effect of economic recession, however, varies across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to understand why this is the case. It analyses the impact of economic recession and related policy changes on third sector development in Europe. The economic effects on TSOs are thereby placed into a broader context of changing third sector policies and welfare state restructuring.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper focusses on two research questions: how has the changing policy environment affected the development of the third sector? And what kind of strategies have TSOs adopted to respond to these changes? The paper first investigates general trends in Europe, based on a conceptual model that focusses on economic recession and austerity policies with regard to the third sector. In a second step of analysis, the paper provides five country case studies that exemplify policy changes and responses from the third sector in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

Findings

The paper argues that three different development paths can be identified across Europe. In some countries (France and Spain), TSOs face a strong effect of economic recession. In other countries (Germany and Poland) the development of the third sector remains largely stable, albeit at different levels, whereas in the Netherlands, TSOs rather experience changes in the policy environment than a direct impact of economic decline. The paper also shows that response strategies of the third sector in Europe depend on the context conditions. The paper is based on the European project “Third Sector Impact.” It combines an analysis of statistical information with qualitative data from interviews with third sector representatives.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to our understanding of the interrelation between economic recession, long-term policy changes and third sector development in Europe.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 36 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2014

Rafael Chaves Avila, Enrique Bernal Jurado, Adoracion Mozas Moral and Raquel Puentes Poyatos

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and assess a government support programme for business innovation in a very peripherical European region: the Spanish region of Andalucía…

610

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and assess a government support programme for business innovation in a very peripherical European region: the Spanish region of Andalucía.

Design/methodology/approach

Endogenous development approach is used to categorize the main public and private actions included in the government ICT support programme. Cross-time analysis has been carried out by using three territorial indicators of diffusion and effective use of ICT: the physical aspect, refereed to the infrastructures used as a base for the information society development (infrastructures, technology and equipment); the actors and their degree of organization (firms present on the internet and support organizations and institutions); and knowledge, refereed to the technological sprawl and the entrepreneurship capacity (fostering innovation and training among the general population and businesses).

Findings

The study confirms that the public policies implemented are coherent with the endogenous development approach, where investment in physical and human capital have been accompanied by enabling measures of interaction between firms and other economical agents (universities, business associations, business centres and technology institutes, etc.), with a view to favouring the dissemination of innovations and knowledge among firms. Secondly, the research assess the impact of this ICT programme, both in terms of economic growth and per capita income, as well as on the main variables that reflect the degree of business participation in the Information Society. Results show that, during the period 1996-2010, this region has made important progress in terms of convergence with more advanced European regions.

Research limitations/implications

The study has methodological implications in terms of designs of further ICT programmes in less developed European regions to broke the digital divide.

Practical implications

Recent outlooks of the OECD call for more assessment research on ICT national and regional policies around the world, especially those that prove that it is possible to broke the international digital divide. The present study suggests that public policies following the directives laid down by the endogenous development approach can reach this economic and social target. The Andalucía Information Society Programme constitutes a real commitment and private-public partnership towards a structural change in the technological culture amongst businesses. Investment in physical capital and human capital has been accompanied by measures that enable the interaction of firms with other economic agents (university, business associations, technology centres, etc.), with a view to favouring the dissemination of innovation and knowledge among firms.

Originality/value

The study uses for the first time the endogenous development approach applied to a less advanced region for evaluation of ICT policy and it improves a methodology based on this approach to assess its effectiveness.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 52 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2012

Vanessa Campos‐Climent, Andreea Apetrei and Rafael ChavesÁvila

Agricultural cooperatives have been able to become a strong and consolidated organizational form, although the new challenges of globalization and trade liberalization require…

2017

Abstract

Purpose

Agricultural cooperatives have been able to become a strong and consolidated organizational form, although the new challenges of globalization and trade liberalization require changes in the strategic approach. The requirements of the distribution companies, consumers and government about the concentration of demand, traceability, food safety and respect for the environment had led to a thorough reorganization of agricultural food systems. So it is necessary to undertake a strategic review of horticultural cooperatives in order to conduct a strategic assessment and hence identify the strategic actions to be followed in the coming years. This paper seeks to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study has been carried out during the first half of 2011 consisting in the application of the Delphi method and sending a questionnaire to experts whose purpose was to gain a view of the strategic situation of horticultural cooperatives in Spain. The Delphi method is a projection technique of the qualitative and subjective type which is appropriate for studies where there is little information on the subject to be analysed, and also for exploratory studies, as it is the case study of examining the role of agricultural cooperatives in coming out of the crisis of Mediterranean agriculture.

Findings

The performed Delphi analysis revealed that Mediterranean agriculture suffers from a severe crisis for which the solutions are hard to find, although the existence of the agricultural cooperatives and certain specific forms of performance and financing can partly improve the described situation. The application of the SWOT analysis based on the opinions of the experts provided sufficient detailed insights of the actual situation of the cooperatives. Thus, from the Delphi SWOT applied to Mediterranean agriculture and agricultural cooperatives, the authors can make some important assessments which are included in their paper.

Originality/value

It is a forward‐looking analysis that tries to give measures to the sector, but measures that come from the sector, in order to face the Mediterranean agriculture crisis.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 50 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Jason L. Powell and Sheying Chen

630

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 36 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Book part
Publication date: 23 March 2017

Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…

Abstract

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

Details

Advances in Environmental Accounting & Management: Social and Environmental Accounting in Brazil
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-376-4

Keywords

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