Choosing between his time and her time? Paid and unpaid work of Danish couples

In terms of paid and unpaid work, Danish men and women work the same number of hours per week. But while men do most paid work, women do most unpaid work. We investigate the interaction between paid work and unpaid work for Danish working couples, using the 2001 Danish Time Use Survey. We test several competing theories regarding the intra-individual and intra-household allocation of paid and unpaid work: comparative advantage, bargaining, assortative mating and ‘doing gender’. In addition, we divide unpaid work into ordinary housework and childcare and analyse whether these two activities interact differently with paid work hours. In general, the results favour the assortative mating and ‘doing gender’ theories, but do not support the bargaining or comparative advantage theories. Furthermore, results clearly show that housework and childcare are separate activities with different interaction effects.Labour supply, paid and unpaid work, intra-household allocation of time

Research in Organic Animals and Livestock Production

Over the last 80 years a wide range of diverse organic livestock systems have developed. The driving force behind these developments has mainly been the farmers, consumers and various movements; and it has happened more “despite research” than “because of research.” Most production methods have developed in Western Europe and USA, where they are primarily niche products for consumers who give priority to environmental and animal welfare concerns. In these countries organic livestock production offers the option of establishing a niche product that can be sold at a higher price, e.g. as for milk and eggs. In some cases, the potential of organic farming is associated with the adoption of organic principles into existing systems with the aim of improving sustainability, and achieving environmentally friendly production, food security and good food quality. In the US, government support for organic research, some of which was for livestock studies, increased from 15 million dollars in 2002 to 78 million in 2008. In Australia where more than 95% of the certified organic land is pasture, government-supported research tends to focus on organic dairy and meat production. In addition, research into agro-forestry systems is also of potential interest to the Australian organic sector. In many African and Asian countries, organic livestock plays a very minor role compared with production of high value organic crops, and hence is not covered specifically in research initiatives. A recent survey on African organically-oriented research projects concluded that no significant research focuses on organic livestock. In South America, a number of research projects have been carried out on integrated agro-ecological farming, which includes livestock. These are not necessarily certified organic systems, as “organic” is often perceived as high value products, while “agro-ecological farming” is basically the application of the fundamental organic principles, so research in these systems provides valuable insights for organic research in general. Research is necessary for many reasons, but at a fundamental level it is relevant to both provide specialised knowledge relevant to organic situations (e.g. feed stuffs) and to take a systems approach through interdisciplinary research (e.g. how grazing systems integrate good animal welfare aims with environmental care). A third aspect important to consider is the human and social structures around organic livestock systems, e.g. farmer attitudes, actions, practices and interactions with advisory services

Organic Farming as A Development Strategy: Who are Interested and Who are not?

Much evidence shows that implementation of organic farming (OF) increases productivity in the Global South, and that it will be possible to feed a growing world population with food produced in OF systems. OF is explored, analysed and discussed in relation to the principles of Ecology, Health, Care and Fairness as enunciated by IFOAM, as a developmental strategy. Major financial powers are involved in the agro-related industries. A number of civil society-based organisations point to the major negative side effects of the trade with and use of agro-chemical products environmentally and in the further deepening of the gaps between rich and poor. The MDGs target the environmental sustainability explicitly, and OF is regarded as being a relevant strategy to meet many goals. A global development strategy is needed that explicitly includes future generations, ecosystems, biodiversity and plant and animal species threatened by eradication

Renewing Film’s Public Emphasis

A review of Patricia White Women’s Cinema, World Cinema: Projecting Contemporary Feminisms (Duke University Press, 2015)

Participatory Common Learning in Groups of Dairy Farmers in Uganda (FFS approach) and Danish Stable Schools

Farmer Field Schools (FFS) is a well-known concept, which is widely used in many types of farming systems in the Global South. In this report different approaches to FFS adjusted to Ugandan smallholder dairy systems and to Danish organic dairy systems are explored and discussed. The report is based on a Master Thesis in Health Anthropology and a mini manual to the so-called Stable Schools. Improvements of farming practices should be based on the context of the individual farm and include the goals of the farmer and the farming system. This should be the case in all types of farming systems. Viewing learning as a social phenomenon and process, as well as an interaction between the learner and the learning environment (including other farmers) may give opportunities for context based innovations and developments towards a common goal in a group of farmers. It is also seen as a result of common transformative learning and legitimate peripheral participation in a social learning environment

Learning and empowerment in farmer groups as one way of creating a healthy process of animal health and welfare planning

An animal health and welfare plan is a useful document as a tool for improving the farm in ways which will lead to improvements in the herd. Atkinson & Neale (2008) distinguished between ‘animal health plan’ and ‘animal health planning’, where the first was the document, and the latter was the necessary process leading to formulating a plan. This means that the document becomes useful because it is a result of an active planning process, which involves a systematic analysis of the situation and a reflective process where the people, who are actually responsible for changes in the farm, are actively participating in the analysis of the situation and articulating their perceptions and planned actions. This process can be carried through in very many ways in practice, although based around some overall principles which ensure that there is room to carry through the process

Medium-term consequences of low birth weight on health and behavioral deficits – is there a catch-up effect?

A number of studies have documented negative long term effects of low birth weight. Yet, not much is known about the dynamics of the process leading to adverse health and educational outcomes in the long-run. While some studies find effects of the same size at both school age and young adulthood, others find a diminishing negative effect over time due to a catching-up process. The purpose of this paper is to try to resolve this puzzle by analyzing the medium term consequences of low birth weight measured as various child outcomes at ages 6 months, 3, 7 and 11, using data from the Danish Longitudinal Survey of Children. Observing the same children at different points in time allows us to chart the evolution of health and behavioral deficits among children born with low birth weight and helps inform the nature and timing of interventionslow birth weight; medium term effects; health and behavioral outcomes; longitudinal child-mother survey

From peasant society to manufacturing society

Since the early 1990's when the first cases of HIV were found in Vietnam, the number of people infected with HIV has been increasing. Over half of the Vietnamese population is under the age of 25 and 78.9% of the reported cases of HIV are people between the ages of 20 and 39. This thesis work has been undertaken to evaluate whether there is a need to focus more on the youth in terms of prevention within HIV and AIDS related to the move from a peasant society to a more industrialised society. To investigate this, a literature desk study was carried out supported by key informant interviews and a small questionnaire. It was found that specifically the HIV and AIDS law, stigma, discrimination, gender roles, and risk-behaviour of migrants and the Vietnamese youth were important factors linked with vulnerability and livelihood change after doi moi. Although more research on a national level on the subject is needed, the findings indicate that changes have happened since doi moi which influences the linkages between livelihood change and HIV and AIDS vulnerability among the youth in Vietnam

Heterogeneity in consumer demands and the income effect: evidence from panel data

All micro studies of demand are based on using time series cross sectional data. Because in such data each household is only observed once, it is only under strong identifying restrictions that one can interpret the coefficients on consumer behavior. For example, if tastes are correlated with income, the usual estimates of income elasticities from cross sectional data are biased. In contrast, panel data allows identification of the coefficients on consumer behavior in the presence of unobservable correlated heterogeneity. In this paper we make use of a unique Spanish panel data set on household expenditures to test whether unobservable heterogeneity in household demands (taste) is correlated with total expenditures (income). We find that tastes are indeed correlated with income for half of the goods considered.

An Empirical Model of Firm Behaviour A Dynamic Approach to Competence Accumulation and Strategic Behaviour

The aim of this paper is to develop and implement an empirical model of firm behaviour. The data applied are patent applications taken out by 16 multinationals within telecommunications. The first dimension of the model deals with the strategic behaviour of firms. Second dimension deals with the accumulation of technological competencies, and finally a test of persistence and diversification in the technological profile of the single firm over time is carried out. Three types of results are reported: 1. For a small number of firms the process of accumulating technological competencies is very unstable leading to fragile competence bases. 2. The main part of the firms experience incremental accumulation of technological competencies over time even though the environment is highly dynamic. 3. For some firms the dynamics of the environment through competitor activities influence the accumulation of technological competencies to such a degree that the strategic intent is not reflected in the competence base. These findings support the theoretical argument that the resource-based view is too narrow and should include the dynamic effects imposed upon the firm by the environment in which the firm operatesStrategic behaviour, accumulation of technological competencies, patents, methodology