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The Doha Development Agenda recognizes the central role that international trade can play in the promotion of economic development. In fact, the increase of exports from developing countries to developed nations' markets has been considered a key element for developing countries to realize the potential benefits of globalization. Over the last decades, developed countries have provided preferential access to their markets to developing countries through nonreciprocal trade agreements. Moreover, developing countries have also participated in reciprocal trade agreements. This paper re-examines comparatively the effect of both kinds of trade agreements on exports from developing countries but also from the developed world. In line with other studies, our results across specifications are unstable. However, the results of our preferred specification give additional support to the argument raised by critics of nonreciprocal preference regimes who consider that developing countries should abandon their reliance on one-way trade preferences in favor of reciprocal agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of the global economy on the forestbased sector in Slovakia in the early years of the 21st century. Indicators such as gross domestic product, production value of forestry-wood sectors, net exports, foreign direct investments, and the ratio indices of foreign direct investment to GDP in industrial production and foreign direct investment to production value were used to analyze this sector in the context of globalization. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the factors that significantly affect the development of the forest-based sector and to shed light on how globalization impacts the analyzed sector. The results showed that the forest-based sector had a minor impact of the Slovak economy with less than 5% share on the whole GDP. Using multiple regression analysis it was found that globalization factors such as foreign direct investment and net export did not have a significant influence (p > 0.44175) on the forest-based sector during the investigated period. Nevertheless, the highest globalization indicators were detected by the pulp and paper industry (x = 2.72; 29.14) and the furniture manufacturing (x = 1.60; 27.57). The highest variability of FDI was identified in the forest sector (vx = 72.38%; 67.32%) by influence of zero FDI in the last three years and in the wood industry (vx = 38.90%; 38.51%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturing in China has developed rapidly with the widening and deepening of globalization, but only innovation can industry keep upgrading and enhancing its international competitiveness. This paper combines Global Value Chains (GVCs) and National Value Chains (NVCs) in a unified theory framework, uses Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) to explore how innovation capacity, production capacity, and vertical specialization affect innovation performance from the supply and demand sides by examining the case of Electronic Manufacturing of China. We observe that innovation inputs and outputs present strong regional heterogeneity between coastal and inland regions. Although most regions continue to engage in processing trade or assembly manufacturing in GVCs, NVCs are gradually established and led by coastal regions. The results indicate a good chance for cultivating innovation capacity in coastal regions. After assessing the influence of determinants on innovation performance, we observe that from supply-side, innovation capacity has a positive effect on innovation performance, production capacity in coastal regions is improving, and domestic demand for domestic products is increasingly important. From the demand side, innovation capacity continues to have a positive effect on innovation performance, production capacity improves rapidly, and imported intermediate inputs enhance innovation performance more effectively than domestic intermediate inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature on internationalization, in relation to the absence of objective and measurable performance indicators for the process of how firms sequentially enter external markets. To that end, this research develops a quantitative tool for use as a performance indicator of gradualness for firms entering external markets at a sectoral level. The performance indicator is based on firms’ export volumes, number of years operating in the export market, geographic areas targeted for export and when exports began to each area. The indicator is tested empirically in the wine sector. The main contribution of this study is the creation of a reliable international priority index, which can serve more widely as a valuable tool because of its potential use in other industry sectors and geographic areas, and which would allow the analysis of how geographically differentiated internationalization strategies develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

this is a critical and reviewer study, under an interdisciplinary approach (between Liberal Arts and Social Sciences), which warns to move on a global mass consumer society and its dangers, by the accentuated lost of humanity and sociality, because the priority of the having-issue than the been-issue (the preference of welfare than happiness, the business than the recreation, the company than the profession, the desire than the experience, etc.). The structure of the paper goes from general view (removing the confusion veils that make impossible the recognition of the post-globalized World and its study), to particular view (focusing on the complex economic and business rules in the new millennium), and the risk evaluation of the non-authenticity of the current consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Written in the autumn of 1985, this paper argued that the political economy of Britain under Margaret Thatcher had up until then been discussed largely as a national phenomenon, and one that reflected the subordination of industry to financial interests. The paper proposed that the internationalisation of British capital was in fact a crucial part of the strategy to defeat labour and roll back the state, since Thatcherism welcomed inward investment as well as outward, and was supported by industry as well as finance. A left alternative had not only to challenge this strategy at national level, but also to be resolutely internationalist in its theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recent economic world crisis was a product based on the idea that globalized "free" economy market, is the only and ideal law for the development and well- being. In the whole world, countries had to change what it was common practice till today i.e. the tradition and the local economy rules according to the global mandates, namely 'globalization'. In the same time, people are becoming more and more aware of the lost values, lost products, healthy-life, the changes of the environment, and turn to scientists and politicians for sustainable solutions. Livestock can make a positive contribution to the landscape and environmental management in this new world of globalization. Moreover, the local breeds are one of the main tools that hold people in rural areas and mountains, help the agrotourism and are connected to the tradition and culture of each area. This paper aims to present the role that local breeds could play to the regional development of the countries, including social, environmental and economical sustainability issues. The cases of Greek and Romanian local sheep and goats breeds are used as examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the context-sensitive nature of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), it is imperative to in-depth explore the EO-performance mechanism in China at its critical, specific stage of economic reform. Under the context of “reverse internationalization” by Chinese global startup original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), this paper aims to manifest the unique links and complicated interrelationships between the individual EO dimensions and firm performance. Using structural equation modeling, we found that during reverse internationalization, proactiveness is positively related to performance; risk taking is not statistically associated with performance; innovativeness is negatively related to performance. The proactiveness-performance relationship is mediated by Strategic flexibility and moderated by social networking relationships. The dynamic and complex institutional setting, coupled with the issues of overcapacity and rising labor cost in China may explain why our distinctive results occur. This research advances the understanding of how contingent factors (social network relationships and strategic flexibility) facilitate entrepreneurial firms to break down institutional barriers and reap the most from EO. It brings new insights into how Chinese global startup OEMs draw on EO to undertake reverse internationalization, responding the calls for unraveling the heterogeneous characteristics of EO sub-dimensions and for more contextually-embedded treatment of EO-performance associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic theory of rational choice was accepted for decades as a general theory to explain human behaviour which other social sciences lack. This paper reviews some limitations of the former. Through cognitive psychology, the paper describes the cognitive biases of people when assessing data and making choices, which puts into question the idea that the human mind is programmed to follow the assumptions of rational choice. On the other hand, the increased risks in modern civilization (monetary, ecological, geopolitical) and their global character define our society as "the society of global risk". The author discusses the limits of our rationality in regard to making choices as a troubling issue for coping with increasing global risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – With competitive pressures increasing, outsourcing has become a common phenomenon in today's global economy. While there is growing evidence of organizations increasingly seeking to outsource their information technology (IT) functions, there have been few comprehensive studies on this subject from the Middle East region. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the usage of IT outsourcing in Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical research is used to study the extent that firms use the services of IT companies, the time period these have been used, the decision-making process for outsourcing IT function, and its impact on the organization. Findings – Results based on the analysis of data relating to 178 firms in Saudi Arabia indicate that most of these users are satisfied with the service providers and have largely seen positive developments within the organization. Research limitations/implications – Limitations of this paper relate to the relatively small size of the sample. This somewhat limits generalization of findings to the entire Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Practical implications – Findings have several practical implications for small startup companies and even larger companies that are deciding to outsource IT function in the Arabian Gulf region. The results provide managers with evidence supporting the benefits of IT outsourcing. Originality/value – This paper makes a valuable contribution given the fact that there are only a limited number of comprehensive studies dealing with the assessment of IT outsourcing functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that the discourse of sustainable development (SD) within the United Nations (UN) represents a paradigm shift from first/industrial modernity to a reflexive modernity. Reflexive modernity is defined by the changing nature of political structures in the face of globalised environmental risk, as well as a questioning of the hegemony of the scientific process as a basis for the development of humanity and the planet. SD is a concept that innately reflects these concerns, questioning normative assumptions. This paper will argue that the rise of SD in governance discourse is not only a catalyst for a reflexive modernity, but also is representative of a modernity that is already in a state of reflexivity. This proposition is examined by exploring the various ways that SD is utilised in the governance structure of the United Nations (UN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely accepted that the rising gap in recent years between the global rich and the global poor can be linked to globalization in one way or another, although the strength and causality of the link is debated. Against the backcloth of the havoc wreaked by neo-liberalism and the Washington Consensus, new meta-narratives of global order are emerging to suggest ways of reducing global poverty and inequality. This paper examines two ‘Olympian’ visions of re-regulation along social democratic lines that propose new scalar arrangements. It evaluates these meta-narratives against another spatial ontology of regulation thrown up by the economy of global flows and networks – an unfolding regime of heterarchical order that is topological, hybrid, decentred and coalitional in its workings. The paper argues that these new ‘micro-worlds’ of regulation are as significant as, and equivalent to, so-called macro-orders of regulation in influencing global poverty and inequality, that they throw into doubt assumptions of control and reach held by the meta-narratives, and that their rise amounts to a situation of global regulatory excess, rather than, as some have argued, a condition of regulatory deficit or global disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most major transnational corporations (TNCs) are domiciled in the First World and are owned and controlled largely by citizens of these countries. On the basis of an analysis of the largest corporations outside the USA by revenues published annually by Fortune magazine since the 1950s, this paper demonstrates that there have been major corporations from the Third World for decades. Most of the literature on Third World TNCs concentrates on the large number of relatively small companies that have operations abroad in low technology sectors. The argument of this paper is that systematic study of major corporations from the Third World is important for debates about the national bourgeoisie, comprador capitalism and the controversy that currently surrounds the contentious concepts of the developmental state and globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we estimate the English premium in a globalizing economy, by exploiting an exogenous language policy intervention in India that abolished teaching of English in public primary schools. Our results indicate that a 10% lower probability of learning English in primary schools leads to a decline in weekly wages by 8%. On an average, this implies 26% lower wages for cohorts exposed to the policy change. We find supporting evidence that occupational choice played an important role in determining this wage-gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I will show how the tendency to a bigger growth of capital than the one of the overall economy has generated an excessive inequity. I will also show how this is linked to a regression in the welfare state and the transformation of the citizen into a producer of goods and a consumer. I will try to show that this situation contradicts the principles of protection of the social and economic minimal conditions stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and how international capitals influence political decisions and how it helps to transform the traditional concepts of sovereignty and citizenship. It is then evident that it is necessary to make political decisions to impose taxes to capital in particular to the international one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Strengthening health research capacity in low- and middle-income countries remains a major policy goal. The Health Research Capacity Strengthening (HRCS) Global Learning (HGL) program of work documented experiences of HRCS across sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: We reviewed findings from HGL case studies and reflective papers regarding the dynamics of HRCS. Analysis was structured with respect to common challenges in such work, identified through a multi-dimensional scaling analysis of responses from 37 participants at the concluding symposium of the program of work. Results: Symposium participants identified 10 distinct clusters of challenges: engaging researchers, policymakers, and donors; securing trust and cooperation; finding common interest; securing long-term funding; establishing sustainable models of capacity strengthening; ensuring Southern ownership; accommodating local health system priorities and constraints; addressing disincentives for academic engagement; establishing and retaining research teams; and sustaining mentorship and institutional support. Analysis links these challenges to three key and potentially competing drivers of the political economy of health research: an enduring model of independent researchers and research leaders, the globalization of knowledge and the linked mobility of (elite) individuals, and institutionalization of research within universities and research centres and, increasingly, national research and development agendas. Conclusions: We identify tensions between efforts to embrace the global 'Community of Science' and the promotion and protection of national and institutional agendas in an unequal global health research environment. A nuanced understanding of the dynamics and implications of the uneven global health research landscape is required, along with a willingness to explore pragmatic models that seek to balance these competing drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization is a motor that exports Western ideologies such as liberal democracy, capitalism to Africa, and other parts of the world. Hence, the situation in Africa since the post-colonial era demonstrates a discontent for liberal democracy and its economic option of capitalism. Thus, in this paper, we show that the discontent in Western individualistic ontology is in conflict with traditional African communalistic ontology, and therefore, it is detrimentally hunting the practice of liberal democracy in post-colonial Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to analyse the impact on water consumption of trade expansion in the first era of globalisation. To that end, we have chosen the case of Spain, a semi-arid country with significant cyclical water shortages. More specifically, we are interested in answering the following questions. What volume of water was required for exports of agricultural and food products? How did this variable evolve over time? Which factors drove this evolution? In short, we wish to understand the impact on water resources of Spain's entry into world agriculture and food markets. Firstly, we examine virtual water trade flows in the long run. Secondly, we attempt to disentangle certain major driving forces underlying these trajectories. In order to establish the role played by trade in the final net balance of water, a Decomposition Analysis (DA) is applied. Our findings show the great pressures that the first globalisation imposed on not only domestic but also foreign water resources. Trade volumes as well as trade patterns were essential factors driving rising virtual water flows, while yield improvements contributed smoothly to moderation in the expansion of water flows. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The unprecedented global technical and economic progress where the United States of America holds supremacy, imposed, in the process of globalization, the necessity of accepting a single language English as means of communication. As a result of the contact with the English language, Romanian current vocabulary has been undergoing, for more than two decades, significant transformations due to the massive borrowing of English words, some meant to fill lexical gaps particularly in the field of economics. These loanwords of English origin did not bring any change upon the grammar structure of the Romanian language but, nevertheless, they cannot be disregarded or overlooked. The present paper brings into discussion the issue of the importance English loanwords had upon the Romanian business vocabulary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The malaria disease has become a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development. The culprit of the disease is the parasite, which secretes an array of proteins within the host erythrocyte to facilitate its own survival. Accordingly, the secretory proteins of malaria parasite have become a logical target for drug design against malaria. Unfortunately, with the increasing resistance to the drugs thus developed, the situation has become more complicated. To cope with the drug resistance problem, one strategy is to timely identify the secreted proteins by malaria parasite, which can serve as potential drug targets. However, it is both expensive and time-consuming to identify the secretory proteins of malaria parasite by experiments alone. To expedite the process for developing effective drugs against malaria, a computational predictor called "iSMP-Grey" was developed that can be used to identify the secretory proteins of malaria parasite based on the protein sequence information alone. During the prediction process a protein sample was formulated with a 60D (dimensional) feature vector formed by incorporating the sequence evolution information into the general form of PseAAC (pseudo amino acid composition) via a grey system model, which is particularly useful for solving complicated problems that are lack of sufficient information or need to process uncertain information. It was observed by the jackknife test that iSMP-Grey achieved an overall success rate of 94.8%, remarkably higher than those by the existing predictors in this area. As a user-friendly web-server, iSMP-Grey is freely accessible to the public at http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/iSMP-Grey. Moreover, for the convenience of most experimental scientists, a step-by-step guide is provided on how to use the web-server to get the desired results without the need to follow the complicated mathematical equations involved in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author argues that there are three significant stages in the efforts of Third World/Global South development history as of Spring 2012. The article attempts to identify continuities and discontinuities within those three stages. The paper reviews the history of development in Third World/Global South areas following the end of World War II, the decolonization of African countries in the 1960s, and membership in the United Nations (UN). It also discusses modernization efforts in developing countries and the concepts of dependency and liberation. It mentions the efforts of the Alliance for Progress established by the late U.S. president John F. Kennedy in 1961, the debt crisis among Third World countries in the 1970s, and the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Fast and successful adjustment of a company to modern business environment that is characterized by globalization, high demands of customers and shortening of product life cycles has become the main factor of its survival, growth and development. As a response to new business conditions a new - strategic concept of business system management and numerous methods for support to its implementation have been developed. Strategic concept of management seeks from an organization, besides efficiency that is a goal of traditional concept, to be also effective by directing all their efforts towards realization of strategic goals. Nevertheless, in practice it has been proved that only limited number of companies manages to successfully implement their strategies. A wish is to present through this Paper the most common causes of these failures, and to give certain solutions through use of method of multi-criteria analysis with an aim to implement strategy more successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid economic development and transformation of Chinese society over the past three decades has, by a large mass of analysts, been called a "Miracle." This paper not only addresses the shortcomings of existing interpretations but also develops a new multi-dimensional framework based on North's theory of institutional change and Hayek's theory of institutional evolution to explain China's miraculous growth. Our analysis shows that both Hayekian spontaneous order and Popper's "piecemeal social engineering" played a major role in attaining China's miraculous growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows largely bypass the developing world? The objective of this article is to study this question by focusing on the effect of an increase in the level of democracy on FDI inflows into developing countries. An increase in the level of democracy provides the right macro and micro conditions for larger FDI inflows. The econometric results indicate that a one standard deviation increase in the level of democracy is associated with increased FDI inflows. My empirical findings support a direct relationship between enhanced levels of democracy and FDI inflows, and the results call into question the idea that developing countries receive less capital inflows if they choose to democratize. Moreover, a reanalysis of Li and Resnick's influential 2003 paper essentially overturns their findings in support of a direct association between an increase in the level of democracy and greater FDI inflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent spate of foreign takeovers once again raises the question of whether Canada's corporate elite is being "hollowed out" in a silent surrender to foreign-based transnational firms. Using data from a study of interlocking directorates among the largest corporations in Canada and the world for the years 1996 and 2006, this paper assesses whether recent changes in the Canadian corporate network indicate a process of hollowing out or the reproduction of a domestic elite within global circuits of capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the accelerated processes of transformation set into motion under the impact of political, economic and technological forces unleashed by the globalization the traditional ways and means for problem solving had to be reshaped as we have to reckon now with juxtaposed loci of political authority - national, regional, international - and an everincreasing network of actors involved in a process generally referred to as global governance. With the worst of the most recent world economic crisis considered to already lay behind, the present paper tries to examine to what extent the turmoil has been able to contribute to addressing at least some of the misgivings brought about by the global governance. Due to the limits [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information is becoming the engine, resource, and commodity that drives the economy and social institutions, as well as our personal and professional lives. Because we are living in a unique period of human history, we may not appreciate the scope, speed, and impact of Information Age change. Framing six characteristics of the Information Age, this paper suggests resulting imperatives for leaders who must create and lead Information Age organizations. They must leverage human and other resources, and solve today's complex and wicked problems to achieve organizational and cross-boundary goals. Global engagement, no longer limited by time or space, is enabled by worldwide information communication and technology networks that are instant, non-hierarchical, and dynamic. Smaller devices, tagging, and the integration of media and sources foster communication, collaboration, and innovation, along with new expectations for ourselves and others to be "always on" and responsive. In this dense information environment leaders face the danger of heightened decision uncertainty in a sea of meaningless, fragmented but apparently inter-connected data. Increasingly complex, chaotic, fragmented, interdependent wicked problems require new cross-boundary perspectives and deeper understanding. In the Information Age solo action focused on control of resources is giving way for former competitors to create win-win partnerships. Dynamic human networks are replacing, complementing, and competing with hierarchical organizations as powerful systems for communicating, sharing, and organizing. The authors, faculty members at a U.S. Government graduate institution, explore the essential elements of the Information Age and their imperatives for leaders, especially government leaders, who can create and lead organizations in this new environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Du Toit & Ally's (2003) results on the casualisation of farm work in the Western Cape confirmed the worst fears of sociologists: Globalisation and/or labour laws increased casualisation in agriculture. New labour data and a study conducted in 1976 allow one to revisit the casualisation result for the table grape industry of the Hex River Valley. This paper resolves imprecise definitions of regular versus permanent status, and of casual versus seasonal status. It also examines casualisation and job shedding. Results show a decrease in the share of seasonal work and no change in the casual component of seasonal work. The job status of most farm women in the Valley improved as a result of legislative changes implemented since 1994. Outsourcing is present but insignificant at this point. On the whole data for the table grape industry of the Hex River Valley does not support the hypothesis that globalisation and labour market reform caused dramatic increases in casualisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on the social impact of globalization. It focuses on the mediating role of the sectoral pattern of transnational production relocation to the postcommunist economies of Eastern Europe. We argue that the collapse of the socialist heavy industries and the eastward relocation of traditional light industries initially forced the social conditions of the East European countries to converge at the bottom and deepened the gap between the West and the East. Later, the eastward migration of high-skilled labor and capital-intensive industries and jobs led to decreasing social disparity between the West and some of the former socialist countries. However, convergence appears uncertain, costly, and uneven, and coincides with increasing social disparity within the group of East European new members and candidates of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past three decades sport has assumed an ever greater role within the globalisation process and in the regeneration of national, regional and local identities in the postcolonial and global age. With much of global culture displayed by the media, events, particularly significant sporting ones such as the Olympic Games or the soccer World Cup, have become highly sought after commodities as developed countries, and increasingly some leading developing countries, move towards event-driven economies. In the process, however, many countries are left behind without the necessary infrastructure or visibility to compete successfully. Furthermore, the process of displaying a culture in the lead-up to an event and during the event itself has had to focus on ready-made markets, thus reinforcing stereotypes about a place and its people. This paper discusses the paradoxes and inequalities brought on by the sport-media-tourism complex that drives the emphasis on global sporting events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is perhaps understandable that until the fall of the Soviet Union, the study of Marxism within the discipline of international relations was restricted largely to discussion of the state ideology Marxism-Leninism. The events of 1989, and the spectacular rise of the sub-discipline of international political economy in the context of globalisation, have, somewhat paradoxically, led to a resurgence of interest in critical, open forms of Marxism. Attempts to break away from the dogmatism of Marxism-Leninism whilst avoiding the complementary error of humanistic subjectivism have, of course, a long tradition in marxist thought.[1] Consistent with the 'open', critical tradition is the work produced by, amongst others, Luxemburg, Korsch, Bloch, Rubin, Pashukanis, Rosdolsky, the Italian tradition of 'autonomist' Marxism and the work of contributors to debates on value and the state held in the early years of the Conference of Socialist Economists.[2] This paper briefly outlines the contribution the 'CSE tradition' offers to the study of international relations and the fashionable analysis of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers how states and markets shape one another at the national and world-system levels and how globalization is transforming that relation- ship. This process is illustrated through a review of research on liberal, social rights, developmental, and socialist states in the postwar capitalist economy. These state models were reconciled with expanding international markets through a series of controls on trade and capital flows. Globalization has undermined many of these controls so that states must increasingly integrate themselves into local and global networks. States are experimenting with organizational and strategic changes nationally and internationally in order to respond to a networked economy and polity. Neoliberal institutions are the dominant force shaping the relation between states and markets in the contemporary era, but alternative state-society alliances are emerging to contest the hegemony of neoliberalism in shaping globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban and rural sociology is currently dominated by two relatively separate approaches. One perspective emphasises political economy and increasing globalisation. Another focuses on the meaning of urban and rural areas in people's lives. This paper argues for a fusion between these two views. Urban and rural sociology should be concerned with the relations between political economy on the one hand and the biological and psychological bases of human behaviour on the other. Recent developments in the human sciences and psychology assist in making this link. They can be used to extend the original insights of the early Chicago School of sociology, particularly as regards the formation of human identities. Nevertheless, there remain substantial arguments as to how 'the Chicago School's biotic level' should be conceptualised and how we envisage its links to the more conscious, pre-planned, aspects of human behaviour. Early Marx and Williams's now somewhat neglected work on the country and the city offer provocative yet helpful ways forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys sociological approaches to the study of markets. After considering the economic approach, I delineate the wide range of theoretical schools, including alternative schools in economics, economic anthropology, cultural sociology, the embeddedness approach, and the new political economy. I also briefly discuss recent debates on the transition from planned economy to market and on globalization. I conclude by noting the difficulties of theorizing about the historical and institutional complexity of markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economy plays an important role in the development of a region or a county/district as it promotes the exploitation of resources and space in a logical and rational manner. The trend of global economic uniformity allows opportunities and risks to Botoșani County since globalization involves economic development and rising living standards, but loss of cultural values, traditions and customs. The area of study currently confronts with socio-economic and demographic changes that may be addressed by globalization, but at the same time spatial development according to global standards will cause the loss of Botoșani County's authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalization has become a driving force to many industries in today's world. Tourism was one of these forces of the globalization system. People were brought together by tourism from distinct parts of the world and it is due to tourism that the exchange of information, economics and cultures has been possible. Ecotourism is an alternative way of travelling and discovering other countries that makes more sense at the time being for smaller players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]