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This study draws on agency, theory to evaluate the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) duality and earnings quality, proxied by discretionary accruals. Additionally, this study aims to examine whether board independence moderates the relationship between CEO duality and earnings quality.

This study uses a fixed-effects regression model to examine the effect of CEO duality on earnings quality and to test whether board independence moderates that relationship for a sample of non-financial listed Portuguese firms-year from 2002 to 2016.

Consistent with agency theory, this study suggests that CEO duality decreases earnings quality. Further, the results also suggest that the earnings quality reduction associated with CEO duality is attenuated when the board of directors has a higher proportion of independent directors.

The findings based on this study provide useful information to investors and regulators in evaluating the impact of CEO duality on earnings quality and the effect of board independence on the role of CEO duality, especially under concentrated ownership.

To the knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the role of board independence on the association between CEO duality and earnings quality. In addition, this paper is the first empirical study to investigate the direct and indirect effect of CEO duality on earnings quality in Portugal.

Since the dawn of the civilizations that olive has been playing a critical role on both the society and the economy. Indeed, one can argue that olive and olive oil were as critical as they shaped a form of culture, a seminal pillar that supported the Mediterranean civilizations and that has since then spread worldwide, influencing others. As waves and tides, the use of olive and olive oil has certainly met low points, to the extent that its use even became to be considered old fashioned more recently, when the traditional Mediterranean food and culture started to be jeopardized by very different modern ways of living. Nevertheless, despite defying challenging conditions, stubbornly as always, the Mediterranean diet not only continues to prevail, but keeps granting the admiration of diverse strands of the society and science, being notoriously evident the set of recent research that points to its health benefits, having olive oil as the cornerstone, a vegetable fat, considered to be highly healthy, as it enhances the control of important health indicators, such as the bad cholesterol, serving for nutritional and therapeutic uses, and preventing the occurrence of a number of diseases, including cardiovascular problems and some forms of cancer.

Taking into consideration this framework, the research presented in this book is focused on the examination of the main trends on olive and olive oil in the Iberian Peninsula, from production to retail and consumption, by analyzing several data sets covering recent decades. In terms of findings for more recent years, it was possible to conclude that despite the increasing recognition of the benefits of olive and olive oil by the society, and despite the increase in olive production, the consumption of olive oil has been decreasing internally, being replaced by increases in exports. This is most probably due to the economic conditions that have deteriorated due to the 2008’s financial crisis, which, together with an increase in olive oil prices, has prevented a considerable portion of the population to have financial conditions to access to the consumption of such an important component of the Mediterranean diet.

This study aims to extend previous research by examining empirically how board structure affects the magnitude of earnings management for companies listed in Portugal. In particular, the paper focuses on the main characteristics of the board structure that are highlighted by the Portuguese Securities Market Supervisory Authority recommendations, i.e. board size, board composition and board's monitoring committees.

The OLS regression model is used to examine the effect of the board structure on earnings management for a sample of 34 non‐financial listed Portuguese companies for the years 2002 to 2007.

The results support the predicted non‐linear relationship between board size and earnings management. It is also found that discretionary accruals are negatively related to board composition. However, no evidence is found that the existence of an audit committee affects the levels of earnings management.

The findings based on this study provide useful information for regulators in other countries. The results also provide useful information for investors in evaluating the impact of board structure on earnings quality, especially under concentrated ownership.

The major contribution of the current study is that, in contrast to similar studies, it does not assume that the two views on how board size associates with firms' earnings management behaviour are mutually exclusive. In addition, this paper is the first empirical study to investigate the effect of the board structure on earnings management in Portugal.

This study aims to examine the combined effect of audit committee existence and external audit on earnings management.

The paper uses ordinary least squares regression model to examine the effect of audit committee existence, external audit and the interaction between these two monitoring mechanisms on earnings management for a sample of 33 non-financial listed Portuguese firms-year from 2003 to 2009.

In contrast to results of most previous studies, which assume that audit committees and external auditor act independently from one another, the paper finds a positive relationship between both audit committee existence and external audit and discretionary accruals. However, this study suggests that the existence of an audit committee and external auditor jointly reduces earnings management.

The findings based on this study provide useful information for regulators in countries with an institutional environment similar to that of Portugal. In addition, the results also provide useful information to investors in evaluating the impact of audit committee existence and external audit on earnings quality, especially under concentrated ownership.

The major contribution of the current study is that in contrast to previous studies, which have implicitly assumed that audit committees and external auditors act independently from one another, this study also examines the combined effects of audit committee existence and external auditors on earnings management. In addition, this paper is the first empirical study to investigate the effect of audit committee existence and external audit on earnings management in Portugal.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the assessment and inclusion of stakeholders' perception, and citizen participation instances to implementing management options to deal with climate threats within the existing institutional framework in Uruguay.

The approach being followed has different directional approaches and integrates them within a single assessment. First, a prescriptive climate change top-down path. Second, stakeholders' perception is assessed within a bottom-up risk-management model. Third, institutional agreements, arrangements, and consensus are reached. Considering the need for agreed and effective options, the approach is customized and turned flexible enough to accept inputs from scientists, managers, and stakeholders.

The co-production of knowledge and the achievement of agreed and feasible options is achieved by means of a consultation process which results in adaptive co-management agreements and collective decisions. This process is seen as both an empowerment of local actors and a multi-stakeholder learning-by-doing experiment. This allows for both an increase in coping capacity to climate threats and facilitates long standing conflict resolution.

Much literature discusses the importance of the role of social power in inclusive processes towards adaptation, and how difficult is ceding a genuine voice to stakeholders. The co-production of knowledge is a way to achieve the rapprochement of scientists with institutional and community actors. Thus, the participatory process gives stakeholders responsibility for identifying their specific needs and priorities and helps to establish community ownership.

The article surveys dairy farmers' lay knowledge of climate change and the adaptation strategies they have implemented to respond to climatic and economic drivers. Dairy farming is highly dependent on local weather and climate. The case study is in Western Victoria, Australia, part of a major dairy farming region that contributes 26 per cent of national milk production and 86 per cent of the country's dairy exports. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study utilised a survey and semi-structured interviews in Corangamite Shire, to document dairy farmers' perceptions of climate variability and the adaptation strategies they have implemented, compared to meteorological data collected on climate variability in the recent past.

Farmers in this region perceive a change in rainfall and temperature broadly in line with meteorological records. Those that have experienced a greater degree of climate variability in drier regions were found to perceive it more accurately. Almost all respondents had already made changes to their dairy businesses, but in doing so only a small percentage were responding directly to seasonal variability or to longer term changes (9 and 15 per cent, respectively); the majority said they were responding to changing economic conditions in the industry.

A primary survey of dairy farming adds to knowledge of how climate variability is perceived, and how it is adapted to in a region heavily reliant on rainfall for its prime economic activity.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of lived experiences, as complementary knowledge to that provided by the sciences, for policy and intervention on climate change.

This conceptual paper draws on several strands within the context of climate change: knowledge and power; human engagement; the meaning of “lived experience” (and its association with “local/indigenous knowledge”); its capture through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary inquiry; post-normal science; rationalist and public action approaches to policy and intervention. The paper combines these strands from their different literatures, previous work by the authors and interdisciplinary deliberation in a European climate change education project.

The case is made for taking account of lived experiences in climate change policy and intervention, and the dangers of not doing so. The paper, however, also identifies the challenge of establishing the validity of lived experience alongside forms of scientifically derived knowledge, and the practical challenge of capturing it in a form that is accessible to practitioners. It concludes by arguing that a public action approach to policy provides a better lens than the conventional rationalist approach to analyse the contested nature of climate science and the potential of lived experience to inform debates through active engagement.

There has been no empirical study on climate change that addresses the research concerns. This would be necessary to forward the paper's agenda.

The paper makes a case for formalising evidence that is based on lived experience in policy making and intervention, and the approach that is needed.

The work develops the concept of lived experience in the context of climate change. Its public action theory of knowledge provides a novel means of analysing and meeting the challenge of diverse knowledge on climate change.

Religious organizations are among the non-government groups in the USA that are addressing climate change phenomena from their various faith perspectives and, despite the differences in their traditions and practices, are collaborating with one another to achieve their mutual goal – the establishment of policies that will mitigate the real and anticipated perils scientists are forecasting. If sufficiently motivated by their faith, informed by climate science, and politically astute, these groups may be reliable allies for climate change decision-makers to tap as they strive to achieve their mutual goal. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Focusing on the Coalition on Environment and Jewish Life, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, and Interfaith Power and Light, the author explores the diverse religious faith-based motivations underpinning their efforts, the extent to which they remain cognizant of the latest climate science, the structures through which they share their particular faith perspectives and collaborate with one another, and their efforts to reach decision makers at various levels of governance.

Motivated by their religious faiths, these three organizations demonstrate that they are scientifically informed, politically astute, and collaborative with others in striving to achieve their mutual goal of mitigating the adverse effects of climate change locally to globally.

The three groups on which the author focuses are based in the USA and collaborate with one another. In an earlier presentation prepared for an international conference, the author included two other groups outside the USA, but manuscript length precluded their inclusion in this submission. Perhaps the author's limited study will stimulate scholars to explore other groups in various parts of the world.

To assure and strengthen the momentum already underway, scholars of religions need to probe their foundations for responding to climate change, leaders of religious communities must heighten their efforts to educate their followers accordingly, adherents of religions must be open to embracing their motivating traditions, and religiously based groups must seek to collaborate with one another at various bioregional and political levels to demand actions that will advance a life-sustaining climate.

The author is unaware of studies exploring these three groups using the methodology the author employs for the purposes of describing and assessing the effectiveness of religious groups in addressing human-forced climate change.

This paper aims to explore the local knowledge on climate change, its impacts and the responses they are making at the household or community level to deal with the changes on the basis of their experiences and perceptions.

The study was based on household survey conducted with one male and one female respondent in 202 households. Alongside, series of focused group discussions were conducted with local people to capture the perception on about climate change, its impacts and adaptation strategies applied to enhance their resilience capacity to changing climate. Rainfall and temperature data were collected from Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) for seven and four different stations, respectively, within Kathmandu Valley and analyzed to understand the climatic trend.

The perception of most of the local people on changes in temperature was almost in line with the recorded long-term climatic trend both showing an increasing trend, whereas the perception of decreasing both monsoon and non-monsoon rainfall did not match with the recorded data as the rainfall data analysis did not reflect any clear long-term pattern. People have been facing several impacts such as decrease in water sources, decrease in agricultural crop production, increase in new crop pest and weeds in agricultural crops. Local people are responding to these impacts as per their own skills and traditional knowledge.

This is totally original research article and the impacts and adaptations measures documented in this article may represent the case of peri-urban areas of least developed countries like Nepal.

The purpose of the study was to assess the representation of different world views with respect to climate change in public opinion on the internet.

The authors conducted this world views analysis by means of a content analysis of publicly expressed opinions in the form of online lay reader comments to articles on climate change, published on Dutch newspaper web sites between August 2002 and December 2009. The comments were assigned to the world views of two typologies commonly used in ex ante assessment of climate policies. The classification of an online reader comment was based on world view specific keywords and positions on climate change.

From a set of 2,148 comments to 168 articles found on the web sites of 19 newspapers, 314 comments could be assigned to a particular world view. For both typologies, the distribution of comments over the different world views was highly uneven, with world views characterized as “climate sceptic” scoring more than 90 per cent of the assigned comments. The strong dominance of these “climate sceptic” world views was independent of year, newspaper, and scope of the article.

These findings are in stark contrast with the outcomes of public opinion surveys indicating that only a minority of the population has a preference for a “climate sceptic” world view. The most plausible explanation for this difference is that the contributors of online reader comments are not representative for the Dutch population at large. However, as internet-based opinions have a proven potential to strongly influence the opinion of the general public and politicians on climate change, the authors advise analysts to pay due attention to “climate sceptic” world views in ex ante assessment of the societal support for climate policies.

For a world views analysis, the study is unique both in its focus on internet public opinion and the data source used.