European Community Responses to the ‘Problem of World Hunger’: Food Aid, Food Security, Food Strategies and All That

SUMMARY The problem of ‘world hunger’ as it is conventionally understood in fact involves a number of related problems. A weakness of the North's response is its failure to recognise interrelationships between these problems, which often fall within the portfolios of different agencies. The EEC's agricultural production and trade policies, for example, have a major impact on the Third World food situation, but are normally regarded as a constant; hence, European attempts to help alleviate the ‘world hunger problem’ tend to focus exclusively on development assistance. Within these narrow confines, there are a number of policy changes that could benefit developing countries. These include an extension to the Stabex scheme to take account of food import costs, as well as major improvement in the Community's food aid programme to establish greater coordination with other donors and between the Community's programme and other elements of the recipients' food strategies. RESUMEN Pespuestas de la Comunidad Europea al ‘problema del hambre mundial’:ayuda alimenticia, seguridad alimenticia, estrategias alimenticias, etc. El problema del ‘hambre mundial’, como se entiende convencionalmente, involucra de hecho problemas interrelacionados. Una debilidad de la respuesta del Norte deriva de no reconocer estas interrelaciones, las que, a menudo, aparecen en las carteras de diversas agencias. Por ejemplo, las políticas de producción y comercio agrícolas tienen mayor impacto en la situación alimenticia del Tercer Mundo, pero normalmente se consideran como una constante. En consecuencia, los intentos europeos para ayudar a aliviar el ‘problema del hambre mundial’ tienden a concentrarse exclusivamente en la asistencia al desarrollo. Dentro de estos estrechos límites, hay algunos cambios de política que podrían beneficiar a los países en desarrollo. Estos incluyen una extensión del programa Stabex para considerar los costos de importación de alimentos, así como un importante mejoramiento en el programa de ayuda alimenticia de la Comunidad, tanto para establecer mayor coordinación con otros donantes, como entre el programa de ésta y otros elementos de las estrategias de los receptores de alimentos. RÉSUMÉ Les réponses de la Communauté Européenne au ‘probleème de la faim dans le monde’: assistance alimentaire, sécurité alimentaire, stratégies alimentaires et tout ce qui s'en suit Le problème de la ‘faim dans le monde’ auquel on se réfère habituellement comprend en fait un nombre de problèmes apparentés. Une faiblesse de la réponse du Nord est son incapacité à reconnaître la corrélation entre ces problèmes, qui souvent font partie de portefeuilles d'organismes différents. La politique de la CEE sur le commerce et la production agricole, par exemple, a un impact majeur sur la situation alimentaire dans le Tiers?Monde, mais est normalement considérée comme une constante; de ce fait, les tentatives européennes d'aide à la réduction du ‘problème de la faim dans le monde’ tendent à se concentrer exclusivement dans une assistance au développement. Dans ces limites réduites, il y a un certain nombre de changements de ligne d'action qui pourraient profiter aux pays en voie de développement. Ils comprennent une extension du projet Stabex en vue de prendre en compte le coût de l'importation de denrées alimentaires, ainsi qu'une amélioration majeure dans le programme d'assistance alimentaire de la Communauté pour établir une coordination plus grande avec les autres donateurs et entre le programme de la Communauté et d'autres éléments des bénéficiames des stratégies alimentaires

Enhanced broadband access as a solution to the social and economic problems of the rural digital divide

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

What is the effect of size on the use of the EFQM excellence model?

Purpose By contrasting a contingency with a universal approach to business excellence models (BEMs), the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of size on the use of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model by organizations that were officially “Recognized for Excellence” in Spain. It considers the potential differences between large organizations and SMEs on the level of adoption of EFQM criteria and on the impact that enablers-criteria may have on key performance measures. Design/methodology/approach This study uses actual sub-criteria and criteria scores attained by organizations in their assessment for EFQM recognition. Scores of a population of 216 organizations are analyzed via analysis of variance, factor and structural equations models. Findings Although there are some criteria in the EFQM model that appear to be universally adopted irrespective of size, the empirical analyses indicate that size may shape the adoption of other criteria and the impact that enablers can have on results, thus supporting a contingency perspective. Moreover, the findings call for the revision of the relationships embedded in the EFQM model. Originality/value In contrast to most previous research, which relied on surveys of managers’ perceptions, this study uses the actual scores achieved by organizations in their assessment for EFQM recognition. It addresses the effect of size on the whole model, which so far has been neglected in the literature. All in all this study contributes to the literature on contingency approaches to best practices, and more specifically to BEMs. To the practitioner, it provides guidelines for addressing perceived performance gaps in their pursuit of recognition for excellence

Institutions versus market forces: Explaining the employment insecurity of European individuals during (the beginning of) the financial crisis

In reaction to the recent financial crisis, the European Commission re-stated its view that the balance between flexibility and security is the key to success for the future of the European social economy, as well as its belief in the power of institutional arrangements it deems necessary for this balance. However, do powerful institutions actually counter market forces where flexicurity is concerned? In this paper we address this question by analysing the impact of institutional configurations and market factors on perceived employment insecurity among workers in Europe. We use the 4th wave of the European Social Survey for 2008/2009, which covers 22 countries, and implement a multi-level approach where contextual effects are taken into account and individuals are considered to be embedded within a country. We find that policies that secure one’s income and employability skills, such as passive and active labour market policies, are more important for providing employment security for individuals than institutions that secure one’s current job, such as employment protection. Of the economic and labour market factors, general market conditions (measured as employment rate average) and the strength of the financial crisis (measured as gross domestic product growth rate from 2008 to 2009) are both similarly influential in explaining cross-national variance in the employment insecurity perception of individuals. More generally, and most interestingly, we find that institutional factors lose their significance when market factors are taken into account. Thus, it seems that differences in economic and labour market conditions between countries better explain why workers feel insecure about their employment, than the differences in employment and income policies. Although this result could be influenced by the time period under investigation, which is characterized by a financial crisis, results from previous studies using data from different periods suggest that it is not period-specific

The financial and economic challenges of housing provision for an ageing society

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to assess the critical financial and economic issues associated with the provision of adequate housing in the UK in the face of current and future demographic change. Design/methodology/approach The review is based on an investigation of the current state of preparedness of the housing market and its various stakeholders based on recent reports and secondary statistical evidence. Findings The findings emphasise the need for a multi-faceted approach to tackle the challenges that need to be addressed. Unless measures are initiated to influence the market, the requisite increase in the stock of appropriate housing in the face of rapid demographic change will not occur. Originality/value The value of the study is that it identifies the issues based on the current state of provision and makes recommendations for meeting the challenges arising from these issues. These recommendations have strong implications for policymakers and other stakeholders

Is Bologna working? Employer and graduate reflections of the quality, value and relevance of business and management education in four European Union countries

This article focuses on the relevance of undergraduate business and management higher education from the perspectives of recent graduates and graduate employers in four European countries. Drawing upon the findings of an empirical qualitative study in which data was collated and analysed using grounded theory research techniques, the paper draws attention to graduates' and employers' perceptions of the value of higher education in equipping students with discipline-specific skills and knowledge as well as softer 'generic' skills. It also highlights the importance of formal 'work-based' learning within undergraduate curricula in providing students with the skills and experiences required by employers operating within a global workplace

Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment in the UK after leaving the European Union

The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union and, until the terms of the ‘Brexit’ are negotiated, this has led to considerable uncertainty over the future practice of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in the UK. Here we show that multiple obligations exist outside the scope of the EU which mean that EIA and SEA will continue to be required in the long-term, but that their future compliance with the Directives remains unclear. We consider three scenarios for Brexit and present the implications of each; these are: signing up to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement; membership of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but not EEA, or negotiate a separate agreement. The implications of no longer being subjected to the obligations of the Directives under some scenarios are discussed and include opening the door for increasing diversity of application across the regions of the UK, and the probability of raised screening thresholds so as to reduce the burden of assessment on developers