Productive Inclusion of Smallholder Farmers in Brazil?s Biodiesel Value Chain: Programme Design, Institutional Incentives and Stakeholder Constraints

One of the principal challenges in sustainable development, especially in developing countries, is to build institutions that generate positive environmental and social externalities by helping individuals to perceive a positive relationship between self-interest and ?the common good?. Collective engagement can enable individuals to overcome self-interestedness and work toward shared goals, but ?getting the institutions right? requires an understanding of how the particular set of market and non-market relationships really work for participants. In the context of the biodiesel value chain in Brazil, this paper explores how institutional arrangements need to evolve if they are to foster the productive and sustained inclusion of small farmers and promote sustainable innovation as a regional economic development strategy, one that helps reduce social vulnerability without increasing environmental risks. The paper uses the institutional analysis and design (IAD) framework, which looks at how actors are involved in repetitive situations affected by a biophysical world, a cultural world and a set of rules, in order to understand how different institutional structures can accommodate the power of both internal and exogenous forces that shape the trajectory of sustainable innovation. After a general overview of stakeholders and policy instruments in the biodiesel programme, the paper provides a brief institutional analysis of the interaction between actors and processes, with a view to offering insights into the current effectiveness of the programme as a sustainable rural development tool. (...)Productive Inclusion of Smallholder Farmers in Brazil?s Biodiesel Value Chain: Programme Design, Institutional Incentives and Stakeholder Constraints

The Contribution of Global Alliances to Airlines’ Environmental Performance

Global alliances have traditionally been related to improvements in the economic and operational performances of companies, particularly in the airline industry. However, we still do not know the effect of the participation in this kind of multilateral agreement on the environmental performance of airlines. The main aim of this work is to analyze whether the alliance membership of airlines has an effect upon their environmental performance, and if so, whether or not the characteristics of the global alliance, as well as the business model of the airline, may influence this relation to a greater or lesser extent. The results of regression and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) in a sample of 252 airlines (58 included in one of the three global alliances: Star Alliance, Oneworld, and SkyTeam) show a strong and inverse relationship between environmental performance and belonging to an alliance. The paper also shows empirical evidence of the influence of the business model of the airline on environmental performance. These results suggest important implications for managers facing challenges regarding sustainability

Green Growth Policy, De-Growth, and Sustainability: The Alternative Solution for Achieving the Balance between Both the Natural and the Economic System

“We are ethically obliged and incited to think beyond what are treated as the realistic limits of the possible” [...

What Characteristics Do the Firms have That Go Beyond Compliance with Regulation in Environmental Protection? A Multiple Discriminant Analysis

This paper is focused on analyzing the characteristics of firms that have environmental performance beyond the requirements of regulation in environmental protection. To identify such characteristics, we propose a value and context model building on environmental paradigms as conceptualized by Dryzek’s environmental discourse theory. Using multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) to analyze data collected from a multi-respondent survey of Argentinean polluting firms, we identify distinctive characteristics of firms going beyond regulation and firms that do not comply with regulation. In particular, comparing with other five environmental discourses, endorsement of green growth is evaluated in its connection with compliance patterns. We find that supporting green growth discourse (also known as ecological modernization) is one of the characteristics of those firms that go beyond compliance in their environmental performance

The Management of Agricultural Waste Biomass in the Framework of Circular Economy and Bioeconomy: An Opportunity for Greenhouse Agriculture in Southeast Spain

For decades, non-renewable resources have been the basis of worldwide economic development. The extraction rate of natural resources has increased by 113% since 1990, which has led to overexploitation and generation of vast amounts of waste. For this reason, it is essential that a sustainable development model is adopted—one which makes it possible to produce more food and energy with fewer fossil fuels, low pollutant gas emissions and minimal solid waste. Certain management policies and approaches, such as the strategy of a circular ecocomy or bioeconomy, are oriented towards sustainable production and consumption. The present study focuses on the importance of intensive horticulture in the Mediterranean region, specifically in the province of Almería (Spain). After having conducted a study of the main crops in this area, it was determined that the waste biomass generated presented strong potential for exploitation. With the proper regulatory framework, which promotes and prioritises the circularity of agricultural waste, there are several opportunities for improving the current waste management model. In the same way, the results of the economic evaluation demonstrate that the alternative of self-management of waste biomass is profitable, specifically from tomato crops. Compost and green fertilizer production also prove to be a key strategy in the transition towards a more circular and sustainable agricultural production model. As for the said transition, government support is vital in terms of carrying out awareness campaigns and training activities and providing financing for Research and Development (R&D)

Sustainable Business Model in the Product-Service System: Analysis of Global Research and Associated EU Legislation

The business fabric is trying to resolve the many transformations that have occurred in recent decades. Companies are obliged to offer new ways to meet the needs of the market. This situation has led to the creation of new business models that combine both competitiveness and sustainability. Among the most consistent strategies, the product-service system (PSS) stands out. A bibliometric analysis was carried out on 1088 documents during the period 2000–2020, to synthesize the knowledge base on PSS in a global context and analyse future trends. The results obtained have made it possible to identify the evolution of scientific production, the main drivers of this issue, the lines of research developed and their link with EU legislation and reveal some critical gaps in knowledge. The main lines of research describe different aspects of PSS: servitisation, product design, manufacturing, life cycle, circular economy, and sustainable development. This study has identified how its analysis has developed to date and what terms allow us to glimpse new approaches; hence, it is a useful tool for PSS researchers and sponsors who provide financial resources that allow new directions in this research

La integración de los stakeholders en la empresa: identificación de sus principales dimensiones

La importancia de los Stakeholders en el mundo empresarial actual hace que las empresas estén obligadas a tenerlos en cuenta, y les provoca la necesidad de realizar esfuerzos en integrar las demandas de sus grupos de interés (GI) en las políticas y prioridades de la firma para conseguir su satisfacción. Tras analizar los distintos aspectos que se han tenido en cuenta para analizar las relaciones con los Stakeholders, y utilizando tanto el enfoque descriptivo como normativo de la teoría, identificamos tres dimensiones en el proceso de integración de los GI: el conocimiento de los GI, su implicación en la empresa a través de la consulta y la participación y la modificación de políticas y objetivos para adaptarse a sus demandas. Estas dimensiones se identifican especialmente relevantes para conseguir la satisfacción de los grupos de interés.The importance of Stakeholders in the current managerial world is forcing companies to keep them continually in mind. In addition, it causes the necessity of carrying out efforts aimed at integrating stakeholders’ demands into their politics and priorities in order to achieve their satisfaction. After analyzing the different aspects considered in the study of relationships with Stakeholders, and using both a descriptive and normative theory scope, we identify three dimensions in the process of stakeholders´ integration: the knowledge about them, their implication in the company through consulting and participation, and finally, the modification of enterprises’ politics and objectives in order to adapt to their demands. These dimensions are considered to be of special importance in ensuring Stakeholders’ satisfaction

El efecto indirecto sobre el rendimiento de la integración de los stakeholders

La literatura, tanto desde el enfoque instrumental como normativo de la Teoría de los Stakeholders, ha resaltado la influencia en el resultado de las relaciones con los grupos de interés (GI), pero este efecto se ha analizado de forma directa. En el presente trabajo, desarrollamos la influencia de la integración de los GI en el rendimiento empresarial, no de forma directa sino indirecta, a través de otras capacidades. Exponemos que la integración de los GI influye de forma indirecta sobre el rendimiento a través de otras capacidades empresariales como la innovación o el aprendizaje organizativo. Además, exponemos que este efecto indirecto se produce de dos formas: bien como elemento potenciador de esas capacidades, o bien como activo complementario sobre el resultado.Existent literature, both from the instrumental as well as the normative Stakeholders’ Theory scope, has highlighted the influence of the relationships with the stakeholders on the enterprises´ performance, but this effect has been analyzed from a direct perspective. In the current paper, we develop the influence of the stakeholders’ integration on the enterprises´ performance, not from a direct way but using an indirect perspective, through other capacities such us innovation, or organizational learning. In addition, we argue that this indirect effect takes place in two ways: as a strengthen element of those capacities, or as a complementary asset on performance

pH-triggered endosomal escape of pore-forming Listeriolysin O toxin-coated gold nanoparticles

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (ERC grant agreement n° 338133)Background: A major bottleneck in drug delivery is the breakdown and degradation of the delivery system through the endosomal/lysosomal network of the host cell, hampering the correct delivery of the drug of interest. In nature, the bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes has developed a strategy to secrete Listeriolysin O (LLO) toxin as a tool to escape the eukaryotic lysosomal system upon infection, allowing it to grow and proliferate unharmed inside the host cell. Results: As a “proof of concept”, we present here the use of purifed His-LLO H311A mutant protein and its conjuga tion on the surface of gold nanoparticles to promote the lysosomal escape of 40 nm-sized nanoparticles in mouse embryonic fbroblasts. Surface immobilization of LLO was achieved after specifc functionalization of the nanoparti cles with nitrile acetic acid, enabling the specifc binding of histidine-tagged proteins. Conclusions: Endosomal acidifcation leads to release of the LLO protein from the nanoparticle surface and its self-assembly into a 300 Å pore that perforates the endosomal/lysosomal membrane, enabling the escape of nanoparticles.Depto. de Química FísicaFac. de Ciencias QuímicasTRUEUnión Europea. FP7Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)Comunidad de MadridUniversidad Complutense de Madridpu