People respond to incentives—people make decisions by comparing the costs and benefits of a particular action. When either the costs or benefits change, behavior also changes. My dissertation focuses on estimating the impact of two different behaviour-altering taxes on household consumption. In the first section, I conduct an empirical examination of a hypothetical "fat tax" on household food consumption in Canada. The simulation results suggest that when fat tax revenues are recycled as lump-sum transfers to households, this policy would be the most efficient and progressive scenario from both economic and health perspectives. In the second section, I examine the impact of British Columbia's (BC) recently implemented carbon tax on household energy use from an aggregate perspective. I find no significant impact of the BC carbon tax on residential natural gas consumption. The third section is a further investigation of the BC carbon tax on household natural gas consumption varied by their environmental ideology. The results suggest that the impact of the carbon tax is more effective for non-environmentally conscious households than for other households.

The question raised in this study is: Why are similar companies so different? That is, why do companies of the same size, in the same line of business, and with the same organizational structures, etc., function in different ways? The answer to these questions is expected to be found through knowledge of basic ideas in companies. Important points of departure are that small companies are interesting research objects and that an organization can be viewed as a set of deep and surface structures which may appear in the language of its members and other interested parties. Based chiefly on deep interviews, the study is intended to generate knowledge and understanding of basic ideas and their function in small companies. The deep structures of the four companies show that the basic ideas can be understood as ideologies. They refer to basic values, are apprehended by the members of the organization and other interested parties, and prescribe what is desirable. The differences between the cases form the basis of a classification of the ideologies into four ideal types: capitalistic, religious, narcissistic, and socialistic. The surface structures are viewed in two perspectives, one referring to the behaviour of the companies and the other to the relational behaviour between the companies and the interested parties. The former shows that the patterns of behaviour are different in the four companies and may be characterized as efficiency-directed, adaptation-directed, ego-directed, and socially-directed. A comparison between these patterns of behaviour and the ideologies of the companies makes the directing function of the ideologies visible. Through situation interpretation, ideologies direct organizational behaviour towards particular patterns. The relational perspective causes the controlling function of ideologies to appear. Differences in co-acting between the companies - that is, the extent to which and on what grounds the interested parties behave in accordance with the behaviour of the companies and the attitudes of the interested parties to the ideological values - show that ideologies can exercise control either through their power over problem interpretation or their power over acting. The results of this study indicate that the answer to the initial question is that organizations have different ideological faces. / digitalisering@umu

The present thesis analyzes the cultural image of the Russian neo-Romantic writer Alexander Grin (1880-1932) as it has been constructed by Soviet ideology and received in Soviet popular culture since the late 1950s. The topic of the thesis is unique, and it has not yet been investigated before. The thesis explores three major aspects of Grin's representation in Soviet culture: critical, fictional and cinematic. The first part "Critical representation of Grin's works in the USSR" focuses upon the process of construction and development of ideological "myths about Grin" in the system of Soviet culture. It demonstrates and analyzes the transformation of the official and public attitude to Grin's works from the 1920s to the 1980s. The second part is entitled "Representation of Grin's image in Soviet fiction: Grin as a fictional character". Through the coherent analysis of three Soviet novels (introducing Alexander Grin as a protagonist), it explores the phenomenon of the transformation of both the personal and socio-cultural attitudes to Grin. The fictional works are viewed in chronological order: The Black Sea by Konstantin Paustovsky (Chernoe more, 1935), The Wizard from Gel'-Giu by Leonid Borisov (Volshebnik iz Gel'-Giu, 1944) and The Lord of Chances by Valentin Zorin (Povelitel' sluchaynostey, 1977-79). The third part concentrates entirely on the Cinematic representation of Grin's works on the Soviet screen, analyzing five major film-versions of Grin's works: Scarlet Sails (Alye parusa, dir. Ptushko, 1961), She Who Runs the Waves (Begushchaya po volnam, dir. Lubimov, 1967), Shining World (Blistayushchiy mir, dir. Mansurov, 1984), The Golden Chain (Zolotaya Tsep , dir. Muratov, 1986), Mister Designer (Gospodin oformitel', dir. Teptsov, 1986). The study of Grin's case offers a unique opportunity to investigate how the old ideological myths are occupying the minds of younger generations nowadays. Grin is still a "cult figure" for Russian society, but it remains to be investigated to what extent his contemporary image (and the image of his fiction) is influenced by the old models of the Soviet era.

Very few women hold top corporate positions in Sweden, and women are underrepresented as managers in all work sectors. The present thesis examined stereotypes, perceptions and presuppositions about women, men and management with a combination of perspectives from social and organizational psychology, discourse analysis and gender in organization research. Study 1 of Paper I was a content analysis of management attributes and cultural stereotypes of female and male managers. In Study 2, an inventory of these attributes was formed, and participants’ stereotype endorsements tested. Stereotypes of female managers resembled good management more than male managers, and they were rated more positively, but a masculine norm was implied. Paper II aimed to study and compare gender-related management stereotypes and evaluations of actual managers, and examine perceived gender bias. Men evaluated the female manager stereotype more positively on communal attributes, and, contrary to women, judged the male manager stereotype more positively on agentic attributes. This may help explain the scarcity of women in top management. Women perceived more gender bias favoring male managers than men. Actual male and female managers were rated similarly. Still, the Euclidian distances showed that ratings of actual managers and stereotypes were linked. Paper III examined the discourse on the lack of women in top corporate positions, explanations and links to proposed measures in a project to counter the gender imbalance. A liberal discourse with contradictions and textual silences was exposed. Gender had to be construed in line with traditional gender norms and division of labor to make sense of the proposed explanations. To conclude, one can be reassured by the largely communal portrayal of good management and positive evaluations of female managers, but also apprehensive about the masculine norm of management, perceived gender bias in favor of men, and traditional gender constructions.

Die vorliegende Masterarbeit hat in einer Einstellungsstudie untersucht, welchen Einfluss Einstellungen gegenüber sprachlichen Varietäten und gegenüber der wahrgenommenen ethnischen Herkunft von Sprecher*innen auf die Leistungsbewertung von Schulaufsätzen haben. In Anlehnung an die Debatte um Sprachideologien wurden Einstellungen gegenüber den sprachlichen Varietäten Kiezdeutsch und dominantes Deutsch sowie, aufbauend auf Studien zur Wahrnehmung von sozialer Information über Sprecher*innen, Einstellungen gegenüber türkisch und deutsch markierten Vornamen miteinander verglichen. 157 Lehramtsstudierenden der Universität Potsdam wurde je ein fiktiver Schulaufsatz vorgelegt, der die jeweiligen Einstellungsobjekte sprachliche Varietät und ethnisch markierter Vorname enthielt. Durch einen Vergleich der individuellen Leistungsbewertung der Aufsätze wurde untersucht, welche Unterschiede sich im schulischen Kontext in der Bewertung und damit der Einstellung gegenüber bestimmten Sprecher*innen und ihrem Sprachgebrauch feststellen ließen. Die Studie ergab, dass in den fiktiven Schulaufsätzen Kiezdeutsch stärker sanktioniert wurde als dominantes Deutsch. Dieses Ergebnis konnte verstärkt beobachtet werden, wenn der Schulaufsatz vermeintlich von einer*m Sprecher*in mit türkisch markiertem Vornamen stammte. Die Ergebnisse der Studie lassen vermuten, dass eine Bewertung von Schüler*innen von einer Vorstellung darüber abhängt, wie weit oder nah entfernt der oder die betreffende Schüler*in zur sprachlichen und sozialen Norm steht. / The present master's thesis aimed to investigate whether attitudes towards linguistic varieties and a perceived ethnic background of speakers do influence the grading of school essays. 157 teacher trainees from the University of Potsdam had been asked to each grade an identical school essay which only differed in the attitude items ‘linguistic variety’ and ‘ethnically marked first name’. The study has shown that school essays containing the multiethnolect 'Kiezdeutsch' (Neighborhood German) – which is perceived by the media and the public opinion as a “poorly performed German spoken by adolescents from Turkish immigrant background” – are assessed worse than those containing structures of Dominant German. These results could be observed even more strongly when the essay supposedly came from a speaker who had a Turkish marked first name. The results indicate that the assessment of the performance of children and adolescents in school depends on the perception of how close or far the individual student is situated to the linguistic and social norm.

This study explores the differences (and similarities) between sentencing reform and the legal practices of criminal defence lawyers. This research specifically focuses on Section 718.2 (e) of the Criminal Code, which is aimed at reducing the use of imprisonment for Aboriginal offenders and the application of the section in the Supreme Court’s 1999 decision R .v. Gladue. It investigates whether or not the section and/or Gladue has affected the legal practices of criminal defence lawyers and if so, how. The practice of lawyers, in this study, is conceptualized as structured action. The agency of lawyers is thus constrained and enabled by both macro and micro processes. These include traditional legal ideology, managerial/organizational ideology, presuppositions surrounding Aboriginality as well as the broader socio-political context of neo-liberalism and neo-conservativism. How the practices of defence lawyers either reflect or contradict the section and Gladue is examined through the oral narratives of lawyers—obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews with twelve defence lawyers. The findings of this analysis show that the vast majority of lawyers were not integrating the section or Gladue in their defence strategies. This suggests that efforts to remedy the issue of Aboriginal over-incarceration need to be aware of the complexity of criminal justice processes, the agency of lawyers and the broader social and political context.

This essay will analyse how Asperger’s syndrome and autism spectrum disorder is made in two municipal high schools. I have interviewed school personnel and analysed the schools’ policy documents and diagnostic manuals. In this essay AS and ASD are being deconstructed as political and ideological object and I analyse techniques in school, that makes these objects to subjects. The school’s mission is to foster and educate pupils to become desirable citizens and at the same time its aim is to provide an equivalent school. The diagnostics function as explanatory models for behaviors’ that are made problematic in school, in the interaction of the aims of the school. The diagnostics are used as explanatory models that enable efficiency in the disciplining of the pupil, based on political interests. The medical discourse, the school’s compensatory discourse and the discourse of "a school for everybody" is manifested by a therapeutical ideology which directs thoughts about problems, such as illness, away from structures and towards individuals. The individuals will be directed to activation so that they strive to develop a behavior that is desired by the dominating order.

Ecological economics and its policy recommendations have become overwhelmed by economic valuation, shadow pricing, sustainability measures, and squeezing Nature into the commodity boxes of goods, services and capital in order to make it part of mainstream economic, financial and banking discourses. There are deeper concerns which touch upon the understanding of humanity in its various social, psychological, political and ethical facets. The relationship with Nature proposed by the ecological economics movement has the potential to be far reaching. However, this is not the picture portrayed by surveying the amassed body of articles from this journal or by many of those claiming affiliation. A shallow movement, allied to a business as usual politics and economy, has become dominant and imposes its preoccupation with mainstream economic concepts and values. If, instead, ecological economists choose a path deep into the world of interdisciplinary endeavour they will need to be prepared to transform themselves and society. The implications go far beyond the pragmatic use of magic numbers to convince politicians and the public that ecology still has something relevant to say in the 21st Century. (author's abstract)

This paper is a discussion and analysis of Red Scare propaganda from two different time periods: 1918-1921 and the 1940-50’s. Six examples of propaganda have been chosen and analyzed both visually and rhetorically. The paper also contains a discussion of the historical context and times surrounding the images, helping to place the texts within a proper framework for discussion. The six images are analyzed through Aristotle’s traditional rhetorical devices – ethos, pathos, and logos. Seven logical fallacies and drawn from this discussion of rhetoric and applied to the images as well. The images are visually analyzed in terms of stereotypes they uphold as well as the American ideology of “Americanism” that they allegedly support.

This study explores the differences (and similarities) between sentencing reform and the legal practices of criminal defence lawyers. This research specifically focuses on Section 718.2 (e) of the Criminal Code, which is aimed at reducing the use of imprisonment for Aboriginal offenders and the application of the section in the Supreme Court’s 1999 decision R .v. Gladue. It investigates whether or not the section and/or Gladue has affected the legal practices of criminal defence lawyers and if so, how. The practice of lawyers, in this study, is conceptualized as structured action. The agency of lawyers is thus constrained and enabled by both macro and micro processes. These include traditional legal ideology, managerial/organizational ideology, presuppositions surrounding Aboriginality as well as the broader socio-political context of neo-liberalism and neo-conservativism. How the practices of defence lawyers either reflect or contradict the section and Gladue is examined through the oral narratives of lawyers—obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews with twelve defence lawyers. The findings of this analysis show that the vast majority of lawyers were not integrating the section or Gladue in their defence strategies. This suggests that efforts to remedy the issue of Aboriginal over-incarceration need to be aware of the complexity of criminal justice processes, the agency of lawyers and the broader social and political context.