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PurposeAlternative food networks (AFNs) have recently emerged in the food landscape as new ways of food production, distribution and consumption which are alternatives to the traditional food system. Drawing on the tragedy of the commons, this paper aims to test the role played by social capital and transparency in reducing customer's lethargy and thus enhancing AFN performance in terms of frequency and quantity of purchases made by customers.Design/methodology/approachAn ordered probit model was used to analyse data from a strong database of 2,115 Italian AFN customers. Given the novelty of the topic, the quantitative survey was anticipated by a preliminary qualitative study based on in-depth interviews, focus groups and participant observation.FindingsCustomers play an active role in AFN communities, co-creating value together with the other actors of the network. The two independent variables tested in this model, social capital and transparency, positively and significantly affect customers' quantity and frequency of purchases within AFNs, reducing the occurrence of the tragedy of commons.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this study represents one of the first attempts to measure, through a quantitative method, the effect of performance drivers (i.e. social capital and transparency) on AFN performance. Theoretical, managerial and policy implications will be thoroughly presented and discussed along the paper.

Background: No pathogen-specific prognostic biomarkers are yet available for SARS-CoV-2. We sought to assess whether SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold value (Ct) at diagnosis may predict COVID-19 severity, clinical manifestations and 6-month sequelae. Methods: Hospitalised and outpatient cases were randomly sampled from the diagnoses of March and data collected after 6 months by interview and from the regional database for COVID-19 emergency. Patients were stratified according to their RNA-dependent-RNA-polymerase Ct in the nasal-pharyngeal swab at diagnosis: group A≤20.0, 20.028.0. Disease severity was classified according to a composite scale evaluating hospital admission, worst oxygen support required and survival. Results: One-hundred sixty-eight survivors and thirty-two deceased patients were included: 27.5% in A and B both, 45.0% in C. 90% of patients were symptomatic and 63.7% were hospitalised. Median time from COVID-19 onset to swab collection was 5 days. Lethality, number of comorbidities, disease severity, type and amount of signs and symptoms, as well as 6-month sequelae inversely distributed among the groups with respect to SARS-CoV-2 Ct. After adjusting for confounding, SARS-CoV-2 Ct at diagnosis was still associated with COVID-19-related death (p=0.023), disease severity (p=0.023), amount of signs and symptoms (p

Background: Emerging evidence supports the “variolation hypothesis” in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), but the derivative idea that the viral load of index cases may predict disease severity in secondary cases could be unsubstantiated. We assessed whether the prevalence of symptomatic infections, hospitalization, and deaths in household contacts of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases differed according to the SARS-CoV-2 PCR cycle threshold (Ct) from nasal-pharyngeal swab at diagnosis of linked index cases.Methods: Cross-sectional study on household contacts of COVID-19 cases randomly sampled from all the infections diagnosed in March at our Microbiology Laboratory (Amedeo di Savoia, Turin). Data were retrospectively collected by phone interviews and from the Piedmont regional platform for COVID-19 emergency. Index cases were classified as high (HVl) and low viral load (LVl) according to two exploratory cut-offs of RdRp gene Ct value. Secondary cases were defined as swab confirmed or symptom based likely when not tested but presenting compatible clinical picture.Results: One hundred thirty-two index cases of whom 87.9% symptomatic and 289 household contacts were included. The latter were male and Caucasian in 44.3 and 95.8% of cases, with a median age of 34 years (19–57). Seventy-four were swab confirmed and other 28 were symptom based likely secondary cases. Considering both, the contacts of HVl and LVl did not differ in the prevalence of symptomatic infections nor COVID-19-related hospitalization and death. No difference in median Ct of index cases between symptomatic and asymptomatic, hospitalized and not hospitalized, or deceased and survived secondary cases was found. Negative findings were confirmed after adjusting for differences in time between COVID-19 onset and swab collection of index cases (median 5 days) and after removing pediatric secondary cases.Conclusions: The amount of SARS-CoV-2 of the source at diagnosis does not predict clinical outcomes of linked secondary cases. Considering the impelling release of assays for SARS-CoV-2 RNA exact quantification, these negative findings should inform clinical and public health strategies on how to interpret and use the data.

To date, there is no severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2- (SARS-CoV-2)-specific prognostic biomarker available. We assessed whether SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold (Ct) value at diagnosis could predict novel CoronaVirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity, clinical manifestations, and six-month sequelae. Hospitalized and outpatient cases were randomly sampled from the diagnoses of March 2020 and data collected at 6 months by interview and from the regional database for COVID-19 emergency. Patients were stratified according to their RNA-dependent-RNA-polymerase Ct in the nasopharyngeal swab at diagnosis as follows: Group A ≤20.0, 20.0&lt, group B ≤28.0, and Group C &gt, 28.0. Disease severity was classified according to a composite scale evaluating hospital admission, worst oxygen support required, and survival. Two hundred patients were included, 27.5% in Groups A and B both, 45.0% in Group C, 90% of patients were symptomatic and 63.7% were hospitalized. The median time from COVID-19 onset to swab collection was five days. Lethality, disease severity, type, and number of signs and symptoms, as well as six-month sequelae distributed inversely among the groups with respect to SARS-CoV-2 Ct. After controlling for confounding, SARS-CoV-2 Ct at diagnosis was still associated with COVID-19-related death (p = 0.023), disease severity (p = 0.023), number of signs and symptoms (p &lt, 0.01), and presence of six-month sequelae (p &lt, 0.01). Early quantification of SARS-CoV-2 may be a useful predictive marker to inform differential strategies of clinical management and resource allocation.

Purpose The increasing responsibility of organisations towards society and the environment has inverted the relationship between accounting and accountability, leading to accountability-based accounting systems. This study aims to explore the debate on accountability for climate change within the integrating thinking (IT) perspective. Ascertaining the most significant trends in the debate around purposes and performance that characterise climate mitigation engagement and their connections, the study would explore if and to what extent organisations are tackling climate actions. Design/methodology/approach A narrative review of the extensive academic literature developed from the Kyoto Protocol to date was performed. After selecting a representative sample, papers were analysed with the support of a new analytical framework that involves three dimensions – answerability, enforcement and outcome – and governance schemes that emerge from the involvement of the private and public sector and civil society. With the support of NVivo software, themes arisen were analysed and coded. Key items were labelled, creating specific nodes and synthesised into the proposed framework. Findings A “silo approach” largely characterises the debate on accountability for climate change. The most significant reasons behind the shortcomings of extant climate actions may be retrieved firstly in the weakness of the motivations that guide organisations to operate in a climate-friendly way. Social implications This study underlines the need for a 360° integrated approach for strategically tackling climate actions. Originality/value This study would represent a further step towards an integrated approach for studying organisations behaviours in the “climate war”, embracing the connectivity between purposes and outcomes, capitals and the relationships amongst the various stakeholders.

Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) are challenging the traditional food system by leveraging concepts such as self-organisation and self-management aiming to shorten the food supply chain and give cu...

The issue today is no longer to further investigate the “rules and mechanisms” of corporate governance, that have already been largely examined. It is more on reading through the lenses of corporate governance the new important issues that are challenging our world. The ten papers included in this issue discuss many different and interesting topics related to corporate governance and sustainability. We can see some common elements that certainly represent three emerging and relevant trends that characterize our contemporary world.The first one is obviously fundamental for our journal and is represented by the evolution of sustainability trends. The second common element that can be recognised in some papers of this issue is related to a global perspective approach and globalization. A third element that connects various papers of this issue and which constitutes an absolutely crucial and strategic trend for our world is represented by digital innovation and ICT.

Despite the increased level of awareness and concern towards social and environmental issues, many consumers have not yet modified their consumption and lifestyle behaviour. In response to this trend, previous works have shown that social and collective actions among customers, enabled by certain food system networks, have the potential to transform passive consumers into active citizens. The aim of this paper is to analyse if community-oriented motivations and knowledge sharing within a network have a positive effect on customers’ consumption in terms of purchase frequency and quantity. To do so we collected data from Italian Food Assemblies, a particular kind of alternative food network based on a digital platform enabling the direct trade between communities and local farmers and producers. The simultaneous coexistence of online and on-site elements characterizing Food Assemblies allowed us to individuate possible differences between knowledge sharing through online and onsite interactions. We developed a quantitative analysis based on a regression model, collecting data from a questionnaire submitted to 8497 Italian food assembly customers, finally receiving 2115 valid answers. The results show that community-oriented motivations and on-site knowledge sharing appear to be statistically significant for purchase frequency, while online knowledge sharing affects both frequency and quantity.

Pharmacists in the community and the essential requirement to safeguard their own health have become fundamental since the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The aims of this paper were (I) to analyze the directives provided to pharmacists in 2020 regarding preventative safety measures to be adopted, (II) to determine the number of pharmacists who came into contact with SARS-CoV-2 in North-West Italy and relate this to the adopted preventative measures. The first aim was pursued by conducting a bibliographic research, consulting the principal regulatory sources. The second one was achieved with an observational study by administering a questionnaire and performing a serological test. The various protection measures imposed by national and regional legislation were analyzed. Two hundred and eighty-six pharmacists (about 8% of the invited ones) responded to the survey. Ten pharmacists reported a positive result to the serological test. Of the subjects who presented a positive result, three declared that they had not used a hand sanitizer, while two stated that they had not scheduled the cleaning and decontamination of surfaces. Two interviewees had not set up a system of quota restrictions on admissions. In four cases, a certified cleaning company had decontaminated the premises. The results of our study show that during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the most pressing challenge for community pharmacists has been the protection of staff and clients inside the pharmacy, the challenge to be faced in the near future will probably be the management of new responsibilities.

The sustainability debate in the food sector has exposed the current food system to critics, encouraging the significant growth of Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), new ways of food production, distribution and consumption that aim to shorten the food chain. Our study is focused on Food Assembly (FA), a special kind of AFN combining the culture of social entrepreneurship and digital innovation to achieve sustainability and a high social impact. The coexistence of a digital platform and a weekly farmers&rsquo, market triggers, within this network, mechanisms of knowledge sharing and self-organisation. To date, however, few studies have focused simultaneously on online and on-site interactions within AFNs, especially with quantitative studies. Our paper aims to test the hypothesis that online and on-site knowledge sharing affects the success of a FA measured by customer sustainable behaviour change. To do so, we developed a quantitative analysis based on a regression model. We collected data via a questionnaire submitted to 8497 Italian FA customers, of which 2115 responses were included in our analysis. The results show that online knowledge sharing significantly affects customer change towards more sustainable purchasing and consumption behaviours, while on-site knowledge sharing positively affects sustainable purchasing behaviours.

The aim of this paper is to develop an empirical research on the nature and consequences of corporate governance on Eurozone Insurance Industry risk taking attitude. More particularly, we analyzed the effect of public ownership on risk taking with respect to privately held Insurance Companies. We also analyzed the effects on risk taking attitude of different degrees of ownership concentration, directors compensation, and the dimension/diversity of the Board of Directors. Our results provide quite strong evidence that, coherently with the Agency Theory, publicly traded insurance companies with more concentrated ownership are less risky than the corresponding privately held.

This research aims to analyse the dynamics of the book value of assets of a cross-section of Italian insurers in a medium/long period of time (from 1998 to 2012), correlating this with Italian nominal GDP. Subsequently, to permit more in-depth investigation of these dynamics, the research, based on a quantitative method, moves from an analysis of the absolute values to analysis of the rates of change of the assets book value with those of the Italian GDP. Lastly, for more analysis, attention has been focused on certain assets considered particularly significant. In this way, this research correlates macroeconomic variables with some of the most important financial variables (assets) in a medium/long period of time, that cover years both before and after the global crisis that started in 2007. This study may offer interesting suggestions both at theoretical and practical levels, mainly for managers (who frequently base their decisions only upon short-time data) and potential long-time investors.