Based on the research activity within the ISLE International Sustainability Network, this paper represents a step forward aiming to find some contacts points in the experiences some international cases (USA, Brazil, Italy and France) have grown in the development of agritourism in mountain contexts. Despite the singular differences and the national specificities, agritourism is generally considered a particular form of social innovation in agriculture and rural development of mountainous areas, aiming at recomposing the natural and the human dimensions within the framework of a new sustainable way of doing agriculture. At the basis of the research is the hypothesis that agritourism operations are slowly and gradually shifting towards a new perspective/model. Some years ago, agritourism was traditionally viewed as a way for farmers to integrate or diversify their incomes. Nowadays instead—as the diversity of practice has grown and new values have emerged—the range of farmers’ motivations has become much broader. Some of these motivations include not only economic issues but also social, environmental and cultural ones, while addressing a more comprehensive idea of community-based and sustainable development. Case studies from South Carolina (USA), from Italian mountain regions, from Santa Catarina State in Brazil and from France are illustrated in which different innovation perspectives are highlighted.

No abstract

Agritourism is a growing area of the tourism sector with many positive social and economic benefits for farmers, their communities, and for tourists. While researchers have been studying the phenomenon for several decades, factors that lead to profitable outcomes for agritourism operators are still not well understood, hindering the effectiveness of agritourism development and the systems of support available to farmers. Using a survey of 1834 farms and ranches open to visitors in the United States, the goal of this study is to identify the factors that influence the profitability of agritourism operations. This study shows that several factors have positive associations with increased agritourism profitability, such as the number of years of experience of the operator, farm scale (acreage and total farm revenue), providing on-farm product sales, and offering events and entertainment. Off-farm product sales and being a female operator have a negative association with profitability in agritourism. We discuss the implications of our findings on agritourism operators, suggest their utility for tourism planning and rural community development professionals, and offer suggestions for future research.

This study provides a realistic picture of the challenges associated with ET usage among South Carolina Medicaid breast cancer patients. It particularly highlights small improvements over time in ET usage rates, indicating more opportunities for improvement in ET initiation, adherence, and duration among younger women of lower socio-economic status.

Between October and November 2001 the world witnessed the collapse of Enron, a major US publicly traded corporation with global operations. The Enron case highlights the impact corporate failure has on American society and capital markets and underscores the need for better enforcement of regulations and ethical business behavior. This paper discusses the role played by Enron’s senior management, its board of directors, Enron’s auditors, consultants, bankers, Wall Street and the government, in the spectacular rise and fall of this corporate giant. It also examines the impact of Enron’s failure on its employees, the employees of Andersen, and on thousands of ordinary Americans who invested in the stock via their pensions and mutual funds. This paper highlights the conflicts of interest that pervade the financial system and discusses the social and financial impact of a combined business and oversight failure. Students and teachers of finance, corporate governance, and business strategy may be interested in this paper as a pedagogical tool to teach undergraduate finance, business ethics, business strategy, and corporate governance.