No abstract

No abstract

Pasture-based livestock farming generates income in regions with limited resources and is key to biodiversity conservation. However, costs derived from fighting disease can make the difference between profit and loss, eventually compromising farm survival. Animal TB (TB), a chronic infection of cattle and other domestic and wild hosts, is one of the primary limitations of beef cattle farming in some parts of Europe. When an animal tests positive for TB, a loss of profit is caused in the farm, which is due mainly to the animal’s slaughter, replacement of the slaughtered animal and the need to immobilize the rest of the herd. We estimated the economic impact in terms of loss of profit as a result of incremental costs and forgone incomes. We show that farms with a larger number of heads are more capable of dealing with the loss of profit caused by the disease. The quantification of the loss of profit contributes to the ongoing debate on the co-sharing of TB costs between government and farmers. The compensation farmers receive from the public administration to mitigate the economic effects of the disease control interventions is only intended to balance the loss due to slaughter of the infected cattle, being the loss of profit a more global concept.

La Responsabilidad Social de la Universidad (RSU) puede ser definida observando los impactos que provoca en el desarrollo de sus actividades. Partiendo de los grupos de impactos, podemos considerar un modelo de medición, identificando los aspectos de la RSU, con cuatro dimensiones: 1) organizacional, 2) educativa, 3) investigadora y 4) epistemológica y social.El objetivo del presente trabajo consiste en verificar la validez de un conjunto de indicadores propuestos de RSU, bajo el prisma de la dimensión organizacional.Los indicadores de medición de los impactos a nivel organizacional se definen partiendo de la clasificación por dimensiones propuesta por el Global Reporting Initiative, incorporando aquellos considerados específicos de la actividad universitaria. De las cuatro categorías identificadas en esta dimensión, analizaremos la del Gobierno Corporativo, ya que los indicadores del impacto económico, social y medioambiental están ampliamente contrastados por el mismo.La metodología utilizada es de naturaleza empírica y está basada en la interacción directa con un conjunto de expertos. Un requisito que la información contable externa debe cumplir es el de fiabilidad. En el estudio, se plantea inferir la validez de los indicadores propuestos, en relación con el citado requisito, mediante valoraciones particulares relativas a la Imparcialidad, Objetividad, Verificabilidad y Representación fiel.

According to the digital divide theory, the provision of opportunities to broaden participation in political processes pose a challenge for governments worldwide. In this research, the authors analyze the relationship between the evolution governments' effort to develop citizen e-participation in public policy—measured through the UN's e-participation index—and that of national contexts variables identified by the digital divide theory at country level, using panel data for 178 countries over the period 2008-2016. The results confirm the strong and positive connection between EPI and economic development and technological infrastructure of the countries, ageing population associated to higher life standards, as well as a negative impact of rurality, gender, and political freedom and democracy result not influential, as well as education. Some practical implications derive from the findings, contributing to explain performance differences across different national settings and identifying current inequalities that still require public action to bridge the divide.