Trust building in science-based SMEs in the North East of England: an ecosystem perspective

PurposeThis paper identifies exigent factors that enable and constrain trust building in a science-based innovation ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachSet in the Northeast England, this study adopts a processual sensemaking approach to thematically analyse interviews with a diverse range of participants in six science-based SMEs.FindingsThe findings provide a unique exposition of trust building in an innovation ecosystem across geographic and platform relationships. In doing so, the findings highlight factors outside of contractual agreements that enable or constrain trust building in an innovation ecosystem.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations centred on subjectivity in the use of thematic analysis, sample bias and size. Sampling limitations were mitigated through the research design and analysis.Practical implicationsThe findings provide unique insights into understanding the exigent factors that enable or constrain trust building in a science-based innovation ecosystem.Originality/valueThe study identifies five exigent factors that constrain or enable trust building in science-based SMEs' innovation ecosystem at a micro-level – building network relationships, degree of novelty, protection of innovations, propensity for adding value, propensity for risk.

Mitigating interorganizational conflicts in humanitarian logistics collaboration: the roles of contractual agreements, trust and post-disaster environmental uncertainty phases

PurposeGovernance is the key to establishing effective collaboration among humanitarian logistics partners addressing an ongoing relief work. With a focus on humanitarian interorganizational collaboration, this research draws on governance theories to investigate how conflicts can be mitigated in this challenging setting.Design/methodology/approachThe focus on governance extends attention to the frontiers of contractual agreement, trust and environmental uncertainty to be applied in the humanitarian setting. To develop perspectives, an online survey of 289 field executives working in humanitarian organizations across the globe is conducted. The findings are based on hierarchical regressions.FindingsEnvironmental uncertainty, in humanitarian logistics, is not straightforward, but wields distinctive challenges in the response phase (immediate to the disaster) as well as the recovery phase (beginning of build back) – to loom prospects of conflict between partners. Findings outline that contractual agreement can increase conflict during the response phase (high environmental uncertainty), but mitigate it during the recovery phase (low environmental uncertainty). Furthermore, contractual agreement interactively strengthens the ability of trust to reduce conflict. Yet, trust acting alone shows best outcome to mitigate conflict.Research limitations/implicationsContrary to the established understanding in traditional logistics suggesting the vitality of contracts to easily mitigate challenges posed by environmental uncertainty, the humanitarian setting extends a unique outset for interorganizational governance based on the temporality of response and recovery phases.Originality/valueThis research pioneers to quantitatively examine the setting of humanitarian logistics based on survey. Given the difficulty of data acquisition, the extant research has largely relied on qualitative investigations when considering the agenda of governance.

Regulation of Natural Resources Located in Indigenous Communities Territory under the Principles of Consultation and Free, Prior-Informed Consent: Perspectives in Selected Countries

Natural resources have long been said to be under the sovereign ownership of the states in whose borders they are found. Sovereignty grants such a state not only the ownership but also the power to regulate their access and use. States’ inability to convert the resources into tangible socio-economic development has witnessed massive contractual agreements with multinational companies to harness the same. Multinational companies and state contractual arrangements seem to have ignored other potential stakeholders like communities dependent on natural resources for their survival. Consequently, communities such as those of indigenous peoples who depend on available natural resources like rivers, lakes, forests and other ecological resources are victimised in the state-multinational contractual arrangements and implementation. Internationally, principles such as consultation and free and prior-informed consent seem to regulate access and use of resources located in indigenous communities. This article shows how such principles guarantee the indigenous communities their existence in cases of large-scale development in their territory.

A win-win situation? Urban regeneration and the paradox of homeowner displacement

This paper examines urban regeneration outcomes for homeowners through a mixed-methods analysis of population change in six redevelopment sites. Israel's national urban regeneration policy presents itself as a ‘win-win’ mechanism, claiming that it mitigates displacement. This claim is tested and discussed through the theoretical lens of state-led gentrification and displacement. The Israeli program relies on contractual agreements between private homeowners and developers and provides homeowners with newly built high-rise condominium units. Consequently, homeowners can choose how to capitalize on their new property – whether to inhabit, let or sell. We argue that their choice reflects the preferences and varied capabilities of owners. While homeowners are relatively protected from direct displacement, the variance in owner capabilities may lead to economic pressures that chiefly impact vulnerable low-income owners. We suggest that the Israeli model of sharing the benefits from housing commodification glosses over the capability gap and frames potential displacement pressures as market choice features.

Contractual Systems in the Oil and Gas Sector: Current Status and Development

Production activities in the oil and gas industry are capital-intensive and associated with high technology, with these assets not always being available to oil-producing countries or national companies. Any form of interaction between the parties involved in natural resource extraction requires clear regulation regarding contractual relationships. This study attempts to analyze Indonesia’s production sharing contract system in order to assess its applicability to other conditions. The article covers the key aspects of contract theory, provides a classification of contractual systems in the oil and gas sector, and discusses the most common types of contractual agreements. It also considers the key principles of production sharing contracts (PSCs), analyzes the development of PSC practices in Indonesia over the past sixty years, and highlights PSC advantages and disadvantages.

Article 16—Claims to Fair Compensation

This chapter talks about claims to fair compensation covered in Article 16 of the European copyright directive, Directive 2019/790. It explains the transfer of a licensed right from a publisher, which constitutes a sufficient legal basis for the publisher to be entitled to a share of the compensation for the use of the work. It also describes publishers, including those of press publications, books or scientific publications and music publications, that operate on the basis of the transfer of authors' rights by means of contractual agreements or statutory provisions. The chapter highlights how publishers make an investment with a view to the exploitation of the works contained in their publications and be deprived of revenues where works are used under exceptions or limitations, such as those for private copying and reprography. It cites several Member States wherein the compensation for uses under exceptions or limitations is shared between authors and publishers.

Enroll-HD: An Integrated Clinical Research Platform and Worldwide Observational Study for Huntington's Disease

Established in July 2012, Enroll-HD is both an integrated clinical research platform and a worldwide observational study designed to meet the clinical research requirements necessary to develop therapeutics for Huntington's disease (HD). The platform offers participants a low-burden entry into HD research, providing a large, well-characterized, research-engaged cohort with associated clinical data and biosamples that facilitates recruitment into interventional trials and other research studies. Additional studies that use Enroll-HD data and/or biosamples are built into the platform to further research on biomarkers and outcome measures. Enroll-HD is now operating worldwide in 21 countries at 159 clinical sites across four continents—Europe, North America, Latin America, and Australasia—and has recruited almost 25,000 participants, generating a large, rich clinical database with associated biosamples to expedite HD research; any researcher at a verifiable research organization can access the clinical datasets and biosamples from Enroll-HD and nested studies. Important operational features of Enroll-HD include a strong emphasis on standardization, data quality, and protecting participant identity, a single worldwide study protocol, a flexible EDC system capable of integrating multiple studies, a comprehensive monitoring infrastructure, an online portal to train and certify site personnel, and standardized study documents including informed consent forms and contractual agreements.

Group contracts and sustainability: Experimental evidence from smallholder seed production

Contract farming in seed production has played an instrumental role in bringing private investment into seed research and production. As developing countries have predominantly small and marginal farmers, the number of inefficiencies that arise from seed contractual agreements hinders producers from realizing the full potential benefits from seed contracts. We carried out an economic experiment with real producers and organizers currently engaged in seed production to analyze their preference for group seed contracts, its sustainability and welfare implications in the seed value chain. The producers are offered two types of group contracts: B and C. Contract B involves a company-organizer-seed producer group (SPG) whereas contract C removes the organizer and directly engages with the SPG (company → SPG). In the experiment, producers are asked to choose between an existing contract and either of the proposed group contracts. The experiment consists of two treatments: (i) concealed and revealed price information between agents, and (ii) presence and absence of a local organizer while making the decision. We find that the preference for group contract B is higher than for group contract C, suggesting the need for producers bargaining which can be achieved through group contract in the existing contract, Bargaining is high (6.3 percentage points) when price information is concealed. SPGs survive for about four out of five rounds and more than half of the groups (53%) formed in the first round survived throughout the five rounds, indicating a very high group sustainability.

Accounting and work relationships in an eighteenth-century Italian household

In elaborating on accounting and work, this study focuses on the distinctive arena of the household to uncover details regarding how relationships with paid subordinates were managed in the eighteenth century. To delve more deeply into the topic, this article focuses on the case of Silvia Rabatta, a widow in a noble family living in Friuli (Italy). Drawing on primary archival sources, this study shows that Silvia managed work relationships with her subordinates like business relationships, instrumental in nature and based on contractual agreements. However, her emotional attachment and attention to the subordinates’ wellbeing were also evident in the accounting books and correspondence of this Friulian noblewoman.

Farmers’ Preferences for Farming Enclaves in Forest Reserves of South-West, Nigeria: A Discrete Choice Experiment

Aims: Acquiring suitable land for agricultural purposes is a challenge for most prospective farmers in South-West, Nigeria. This makes them acquire lands in government-owned forest reserves with special contractual agreements. Therefore, we evaluate farmers’ preferences for selected attributes of farming enclaves in four hypothetical forest reserves in South-West, Nigeria. Study Design: An orthogonal main effects design was used to construct the choice sets used for preference elicitation. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in December, 2017 in randomly selected communities of Oluyole Local government area of Oyo State, South-West, Nigeria. Methodology: Focus group discussions and relevant literature search were conducted to identify the relevant attributes. Four hypothetical forest reserves were considered and the selected attributes were size of the farmland, type of cropping system and land rent fee per hectare. Multistage sampling techniques were used to select 100 farmers and data were collected via face-to- interview. Multinomial logit model was used to analyse the data and willingness to pay for each of the selected attributes was also calculated. Results and Conclusion: We find that farmers value intercropping system the most. The coefficient of land rent fee (per hectare) is negative and significant implying that farmers obtain higher utility from very low land rent fees. They are willing to pay an extra 12.50 US Dollars land rent fees (per hectare) to have intercropping on a particular farming enclave while avoiding other enclaves with other cropping systems. Farm size and taungya do not contribute significantly to the farmers’ choice of farming enclave. These results will help forest reserve managers in formulating policies that will benefit farmers without jeopardising efficient management of forest resources.