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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pricing behavior between the Forest Service, the seller of national forest timber, and the firms in the Arizona timber industry, and buyers of this timber. The period of investigation was for the 1974 timber sales and the ultimate purchases of these sales through 1979. The market structure for the sale of national forest timber is one of monopoly on the part of the Forest Service and that of oligopsony for the industry. Two factors beside the market structure affect the behavior of the market participants. One, the interaction of the participants is constrained by several legal and institutional factors. Two, excess capacity exists in the industry and the supply of timber in Arizona is relatively fixed. Three methods were used in the study to analyze the behavior of the participants. First, the appraised value of the timber was compared to the residual value that could be afforded by each mill, using individual mill costs. Second, a linear transportation model was employed to determine the optimal allocation for the 1974 timber sales. The optimal results were then compared to the actual disposal for further analysis of the pricing behavior. Third, estimated profits were determined for the actual purchases of the 1974 sales and the results compared to the estimated profit allowances in the original appraisal. The results of the analysis showed the following. (1) The appraised values for the 1974 timber sales appeared to be overvalued. (2) The actual allocation of the 1974 sales was essentially optimal. The exceptions to the optimal allocations were generally where legal constraints prevented it. (3) Active bidding for the timber was minimal. Bidding among the firms included in the study occurred on slightly over 2% of the volume of the sales. The major conclusions reached from the analysis were that certain adjustments should be made in the appraisal process. These adjustments should be made for the lag effects of costs, the accuracy of imputed costs used, and the concept of profit allowance used. Also, the industry must improve its efficiency, especially in the area of utilizing the waste material from lumber production. The industry should also reduce its capacity to have a better balance between supply and demand, as supply is relatively fixed. Additionally, the behavior of the participants was determined to be as expected in view of the constraints, fixed supply, and locational factors. It is recommended that long-run study of this nature be conducted to offer more conclusive results.

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This study documents the recent commercialization and secularization of a form of religious art by the Navajo Indians of northern Arizona and New Mexico. The form, commercial sandpainting, is made of pulverized dry materials glued onto a permanent backing. Sacred sandpaintings are impermanent pictures that attract powerful supernaturals who are invoked to cure and to bless. The paintings are intentionally destroyed at the end of the ceremony and their use is surrounded by supernaturally sanctioned prescriptions. Unlike the sacred form from which the decorative art stemmed, commercial sandpaintings are designed and made as part of the national Indian arts and crafts market. The development of commercial sandpaintings, therefore, involved a shift from a sacred to a secular domain and a shift from native use to non-native consumption. The purpose of this work is to understand how and why a group of people decided to commercialize a sacred art form and the social and artistic repercussions of intentional sale to outsiders and the breaking of widely held religious rules. It focuses on the mechanisms of this complex process of innovation and diffusion. Basically it identifies the innovators and founders (both Navajo and Anglo-American), when and where these events occurred, how the idea to make commercial sandpaintings spread, and why Navajos who subsequently became sandpainters decided to pursue the craft. It will be shown that while reasons were numerous, economics was always of central importance. It is concluded that the commercialization of ethnic art occurs because of poverty situations when makers have few economic alternatives and there is a demand for luxury items by another group.

While professional football clubs are facing increasing pressures to balance their business with social goals, an important unanswered question is whether these rather stakeholder-oriented organizations understand the nature and impact of corporate and social responsibility (CSR). Research has yet provided little information on how football clubs perceive and react to CSR. This thesis examines how three important aspects of CSR (communication, development and integration with other strategies) evolve across different football clubs and cultures. Because specific clubs may have unique social responsibilities attributed to them, the current study is not limited to one industry and one particular club / segment. It rather contains three complementary case studies and explores CSR activities associated with an overall 38 professional football clubs residing in a pan-European, national (league), and organizational context respectively. Specifically, the primary international analysis reveals that while most football clubs communicate various CSR efforts, these activities primarily refer to ten distinct areas. These areas, as well as prior literature, served as the framework for the development of an international football CSR typology. In addition, qualitative results gathered from a second study across football clubs from the same national context sought to determine the moderating role of national business system characteristics (i.e. legislations, socio-political drivers, internal and external barriers, and phases of CSR development). The results of a third study generally supported the aforementioned contentions providing additional information on the strategic benefits more integrative CSR can offer. Synthesizing outcomes and findings from three complementary studies, this thesis develops a conceptual model that brings together the two different views of the modern CSR debate. This conception theorises CSR as being a legally, socially and organizationally constructed umbrella positioned over the corporate organization. On one hand, CSR is an umbrella protection to cover up corporate irresponsibility, window-dress illegitimate actions, and distract public attention from sensitive business issues. On the other hand, more collaborative, planned, participative and long-term involvement to CSR activity can turn the umbrella model upside down and provide a collector of public support, or a battery where public benevolence can be stored and reused for future purposes. These findings are discussed in the context of contributions to the field of sport management and marketing, practitioners within the football industry, and scholars pursuing a research agenda in the area of CSR and sports. Future research suggestions are forwarded.

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No description available.