This practice-based research discusses critical responses to the structural pressures of 'independent' curating under neoliberalism. The study argues for politicising project-making in accordance with such values as equality, collective autonomy and interdependency. The argument contributes to current debates about the practical plausibility of politicising project-related modes of production in the expanded field of art. The thesis acknowledges that 'independent' curators are culturally and economically dependent on the same apparatus that they want to contest. My work approaches this basic contradiction as a practical and conceptual challenge that prompts a series of questions as to how to practice within the apparatus, whilst at the same time resisting the social pressures of the very same system. The methodology merges sociological analysis of the social conditions of 'independent' curating with the tacit knowledge of the forms of curatorial resistance elicited by the pressures discussed. Thus, I set aside the aesthetical contents of curatorial projects and focus on their social forms. Utilising Walter Benjamin s concepts from The Author as Producer (1934), I argue that to politicise project-making, an 'independent' curator is required to intervene in the social apparatuses of curatorial production. The thesis reveals a number of social pressures, which manifest themselves in 'independent' curatorial practice and analyses tactics that 'independent' curators develop in response to those pressures. I interpret the examples of curatorial practice, submitted to evidence my argument, both as symptoms of those social pressures and as sites of politicised, curatorial intervention. To analyse politicised curating, I introduce two central terms 'the apparatus of project-making' and 'radical opportunism'. These terms facilitate the analysis of the intrinsic contradictions and ethical complexities of politicised curating. I apply this conceptual framework to the different aspects of project-making, analysing temporal structures, modes of governance and competitive features of the apparatus, alongside politicised, curatorial responses to the pressures discussed. In order to discuss curatorial tactics that respond to the social pressures of project-making, I introduce new terms, such as 'free/slowness', 'neither a project nor an institution' and 'interdependent curating', discussed in the consecutive Chapters.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Neste trabalho tivemos como objetivo caracterizar a dieta, uso do habitat e padrões comportamentais de Astyanax taeniatus da bacia do Rio Mato Grosso, que encontra-se na porção leste do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (22 52 S; 42 40 W e 22 53 S; 42 34 W). Para a análise da dieta, os exemplares foram coletados bimestralmente entre março de 2006 e janeiro de 2007 em três localidades que diferiram pelas variáveis físicas. As observações de uso dos recursos do habitat foram realizadas por observação subaquática, na posição focal dos exemplares avistados, enquanto a quantificação da disponibilidade foi realizada em 50 quadrats de 20x20cm (400cm2) ao longo dos mesmos 50m onde foi realizada a observação sub-aquática. A análise do conteúdo estomacal de 651 exemplares foi realizada sob microscópio estereoscópico de acordo com métodos qualitativos e quantitativos (Freqüência de Ocorrência e Volumétrica). A participação relativa de cada item registrado nos estômagos em relação à totalidade da dieta foi analisada através do Índice Alimentar (IAi). Para verificar possíveis diferenças entre as proporções dos itens de origem animal e vegetal, autóctone e alóctone, os valores proporcionais foram testados pelo 2 de contingência. A partir dos dados de comprimento padrão e comprimento do intestino, foi calculado o valor do quociente intestinal. Os itens de origem vegetal tiveram maior contribuição na dieta da espécie para as localidades com maior altitude, enquanto os itens animais tiveram maior contribuição na localidade baixa. A diferença na contribuição dos itens de origem autóctone e alóctone também foi significativa. Na dieta de jovens e adultos, houve diferença significativa na contribuição de itens de origem vegetal e animal somente na localidade mais alta, onde os adultos consumiram maior quantidade de matéria vegetal. Os valores médios de quociente intestinal em jovens e adultos foram significativamente diferentes nas localidades de maior altitude, com valores maiores para indivíduos adultos. Observamos 52% dos indivíduos em profundidades entre 30 e 45 cm, 72% em áreas de rápido, 72% em velocidades entre 0 e 0,5km/h, 66% encontravam-se distantes da margem entre 40 e 120 cm, 37,6% em substrato do tipo areia e 34,4% em substrato do tipo pedra. De todos os padrões comportamentais observados, aquele que mais se destacou foi o forrageamento, onde 70,91% dos indivíduos estavam forrageando no meio da coluna dágua. Os resultados da dieta reforçam a idéia de as espécies de Astyanax têm hábito alimentar onívoro e oportunista, onde a espécie alimentou-se dos recursos disponíveis no ambiente evidenciando sua alta plasticidade alimentar ao longo do riacho. Espécies do gênero Astyanax são consideradas generalistas em relação ao uso do habitat e altamente ativas, corroborando com os resultados do presente estudo. / In this work we aimed to characterize the diet, habitat use and behavior patterns of Astyanax taeniatus at Mato Grosso River Basin. This basin is located in the eastern portion of the State of Rio de Janeiro (22 52 'S; 42 40' W and 22 53 'S; 42 34' W). For the diet analysis, the specimens were collected bimonthly between March 2006 and January 2007 in three locations that differed by physical variables. Observations of resource "use" on the habitat were made by underwater observations, on the focal position of the specimens, while the quantification of resource "availability" was performed in 50 quadrats 20x20cm (400cm2) over the same 50m where the underwater observation was made. The analysis of stomach contents of 651 specimens was performed under a stereomicroscope according to qualitative and quantitative methods (Frequency of Occurrence and Volumetric). The proportional contribution of each item recorded in the stomachs for the whole diet was assessed through the Alimentary Index (IAi). To verify possible differences between the proportions of items of animal and vegetable, autochthonous and allochthonous, we used 2 contingency test. From the data of standard length and length of the intestine, we calculated the value of intestinal quotient. Items of plant origin were the major contributors in the diet of the species for locations with higher altitude, while the animal items were the major contributors in the low altitude locality. The difference in the contribution of autochthonous items and allochthonous was also significant. In the diet of youngers and adults, there was a difference in the contribution of items of plant and animal origin only in the highest location, where adults consumed greater amount of vegetable detritus. Mean values of intestinal quotient in youngers and adults were significantly different in places of higher altitude, with higher values for adults. We observed 52% of the individuals at depths between 30 and 45 cm, 72% in areas of rapid, 72% at water velocities between 0 and 0.5 km / h, 66% were distant from the margin between 40 and 120 cm, 37.6 % in the sand substrate and 34.4% in substrate with stones. Of all the behavioral patterns, the one that stood out was the foraging, where 70.91% of individuals were foraging in the middle of the water column. Diet results reinforce the idea of the Astyanax species are omnivorous and opportunistic, where the specie fed the resources available in their environment showing high feeding plasticity along the stream. Species of the genus Astyanax are considered generalists in relation to habitat use and highly active, corroborating the results of this study.

As negociações na fase pré-contratual permitem às partes determinarem de que forma certa operação econômica será concretizada e cumprida por cada um dos particulares, materializando-se como importante ferramenta para as partes estabelecerem, consensual e racionalmente, as melhores alternativas em termos de eficiência que estão à disposição. Inexistem rigidez e regramento específico no processo negocial, estando seu desenvolvimento submetido aos interesses e às pretensões de cada um dos negociantes, e o seu resultado varia de acordo com o tipo de negociação, as estratégias adotadas e o poder de barganha individual. Não obstante, há outros fatores que também condicionam o desenrolar e o desfecho deste processo, mas em geral impedindo a obtenção de resultados tão benéficos quanto os que poderiam ser alcançados em um paralelo livre de ineficiências. Em um mundo factual as partes precisam lidar com as adversidades existentes nas negociações se desejarem concluir o contrato e dele se beneficiar, seja por meio de medidas particulares ou por intermédio de soluções regulatórias, as quais têm a missão de fornecerem adequados incentivos para sua aplicação tornar-se socialmente desejável. Além disso, em virtude de as negociações serem norteadas pela autonomia de vontade e liberdade contratual, sem deveres de vinculação, os atos de exercício destes direitos devem ser medidos para que não produzam lesões ao patrimônio jurídico dos demais envolvidos nas tratativas. Tal controle é exercido pela incidência da boa-fé objetiva na fase pré-contratual, a qual impõe deveres de conduta aos particulares durante as negociações. Também é a regra da boa-fé o supedâneo da responsabilidade civil para recomposição dos prejuízos advindos de situações que malfiram a confiança gerada ao longo das tratativas, daí que o conteúdo da indenização nestas hipóteses deve considerar as justas expectativas criadas pelas partes e ser balizado para que o lesado não acabe em situação melhor do que estaria se o eventual contrato tivesse sido concluído e integralmente cumprido. / Negotiations in the pre-contractual stage allow the parties to determine how a certain economic operation will be carried out and fulfilled by each of the individuals, and is an important tool for the parties to establish, in a consensual and rational manner, the best alternatives available in terms of efficiency. There is no rigidity or specific regulation in the negotiation process, in such way that its development is submitted to the interests and the pretensions of each one of the traders, and its result varies according to the type of negotiation, strategies adopted and individual bargaining power. There are other factors that also condition the unfolding and outcome of this process, but generally preventing the achievement of results as beneficial as those that could be achieved in an inefficiency-free parallel. In a factual world, the parties need to deal with the adversities in the negotiations if they wish to conclude the contract and benefit from it, either through particular measures or through regulatory solutions, which have the task of providing adequate incentives so that their implementation is socially desirable. Moreover, because the negotiations are guided by the autonomy of will and contractual freedom, without binding obligations, the exercise of these rights must be measured so that they do not produce damages to the legal patrimony of others involved in the negotiations. Such control is exercised by the incidence of objective good faith in the pre-contractual phase, which imposes conduct duties on individuals during the negotiations. It is also the rule of good faith the foundation of civil liability for the recovery of damages arising from situations that mislead the confidence generated during the negotiations, hence the content of compensation in these cases must consider the fair expectations created by the parties and be restricted so that the injured party does not end up in a better situation than it would have been if the contract had been completed and fully complied with.

The Swedish pharmaceutical industry is going through structural changes due to the increased cost of drug development. This has led pharmaceutical firms to outsource clinical trials to Clinical Research Organisations (CRO). This thesis explores the inter-firm relationships between pharmaceutical firms and CROs in the Stockholm area, with focus on the development of trust and commitment. The empirical material gathered from nine qualitative interviews with representatives from both parties suggests that trust and commitment are both important factors. Trust is based on competence and reputation whilst commitment is developed through communication. Commitment is highly valued by the companies that wished to develop long-term relationships. The results also point to challenges in the area mainly regarding patient recruitment that due to the high competition amongst the CROs can lead to opportunism when they are overly optimistic of what they can deliver. This is an issue that needs to be addressed as it affects the whole industry.

This thesis, which consists of three self-contained essays, examines, both theoretically and empirically, some of the economic and identity strategies and mechanisms that federated co-operatives, in particular, and strategic alliances, in general, can use to achieve co-operation and coordination. To accomplish this objective, the thesis uses a combination of industrial organization and game theory concepts from economics, insights from social and cognitive psychology, and evidence from in-depth interviews with decision-makers in the Co-operative Retailing System (CRS) - an association of 264 independent Western Canadian retail co-operatives and their wholesaler, Federated Co-operatives Ltd. (FCL).<p> Essay One combines a case study of the CRS with an examination, in a game-theoretic framework, of the co-operation and coordination problems arising among firms in alliances and the potential solutions to these problems suggested in the economics and business strategy literatures. One of the contributions of this essay is to provide examples of the mechanisms that can be used to implement these theoretical solutions in a business setting - i.e., the essay identifies practical ways for alliances to alter partner firms' payoffs, to provide private rewards, to monitor behaviour, to establish long term goals among partners, to build high group identification within the alliance, and to focus partners' expectations on the efficient outcomes. Another contribution of this essay is to identify some of the second-order co-operation problems that arise in strategic alliances - e.g., lack of incentives by alliance partners to contribute resources that are necessary to develop alliance management mechanisms - and to offer examples of the strategies that can be used to deal with these problems.<p> Essay Two draws upon social identity theory and develops an economic model of behaviour to show how the core firm in a strategic network can promote effective co-operation among network members by inducing them to identify with the network. In addition, the essay offers empirical evidence from the CRS that identity has successfully been used, together with economic mechanisms, to foster co-operation among member retails, and provides examples of the most important mechanisms that FCL, as the core firm in the CRS, has used to manage the identity of the retails. More generally, by incorporating the psychology (and sociology) of identity into an economic model of behaviour, Essay Two contributes to an emerging view that non-economic (behavioural) factors are complementary to the economic ones in the management of strategic partnerships.<p> Essay Three considers the collective action problems that arise in co-operatives when it comes to financing growth and identifies the conditions under which retained patronage can be an effective way for co-operatives to raise growth capital. The essay develops a game-theoretic model to examine the trade-off between the share of patronage refunds a co-operative wholesaler pays to member retails in cash and the share of patronage refunds it retains and invests, so as to provide retails with enough short-run benefits to encourage them to patronize their organization, while still retaining resources to invest in long-term growth. Analytical results show that when there are increasing returns in patronizing the co-operative wholesaler, retails' decisions to patronize their organization are complementary strategies and, as a result, multiple equilibria are possible. Some of these equilibria are ones with high patronage and high investment, while others are characterized by low patronage and low investment. Retails' expectations about the actions of their counterparts are critical in determining the prevailing equilibrium. The analysis also shows that the existence of the horizon problem further constraints the ability of the wholesaler to raise growth capital. Taken together, these results suggest that the retention of patronage refunds can be an effective way for the co-operative wholesaler to raise growth capital, provided it acts to focus retails' expectations on the 'good' equilibrium and to mitigate the horizon problem.<p> By examining the strategies and mechanisms that the CRS has used to achieve co-operation and coordination, and in so doing illustrating the mechanisms that firms can use to manage partner opportunism and prevent coordination failure, the thesis contributes to the alliance management literature. Firms today are increasingly forming strategic alliances with suppliers, buyers, and even competitors in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, despite their increasing popularity and value-creation potential, alliances more often fail than succeed, with alliance failure often attributed to opportunistic (non-co-operative) behaviour by one or more of the partners and to coordination failure. As a result, it is important to identify strategies and mechanisms that alliance partners can use to achieve co-operation and coordination, and thus realize the benefits from their association.<p> The thesis also contributes to the co-operative literature by shedding light on the age-old debate on whether federated co-operatives need to be centralized to ensure efficiency. In particular, the thesis shows that federated co-operatives can be efficient, provided they address the co-operation and coordination problems that arise among their members, and provides examples of the mechanisms that federated co-operatives can use to achieve co-operation and coordination. In addition, the thesis offers the first analytical treatment of how the horizon problem influences investment decisions in co-operatives.

År 2005 införde Europeiska unionen en förordning som innebär att alla svenska börsnoterade företag måste nedskrivningspröva sin goodwill istället för att som tidigare göra årliga avskrivningar. Detta utförs med hjälp av en diskonteringsränta och påverkar utfallet om nedskrivning ska göras eller inte. Vår uppsats baseras på en studie av Carlin och Finch (2009) som jämförde australiensiska företags redovisade diskonteringsräntor med teoretiska sådana beräknade med hjälp av CAPM. De fann att en stor del av företagen använde en opportunistisk diskonteringsränta som gjorde att de undvek att skriva ned sin goodwill. Carlin och Finch val av modell fick dock kritik och därför använder vi både CAPM och trefaktormodellen när vi gör motsvarande undersökning på noterade svenska företag. Våra resultat visar inga tydliga tecken på att företagen i vår undersökning använder sig av en opportunistisk diskonteringsränta och det är endast marginella skillnader mellan våra båda modeller. Det går inte heller att se några tydliga tecken på att företag vars goodwillpost är viktig, det vill säga hög goodwillandel eller en hög goodwillintensitet, i större grad använder en opportunistisk diskonteringsränta vid nedskrivningsprövning av goodwill.

This thesis, which consists of three self-contained essays, examines, both theoretically and empirically, some of the economic and identity strategies and mechanisms that federated co-operatives, in particular, and strategic alliances, in general, can use to achieve co-operation and coordination. To accomplish this objective, the thesis uses a combination of industrial organization and game theory concepts from economics, insights from social and cognitive psychology, and evidence from in-depth interviews with decision-makers in the Co-operative Retailing System (CRS) - an association of 264 independent Western Canadian retail co-operatives and their wholesaler, Federated Co-operatives Ltd. (FCL).<p> Essay One combines a case study of the CRS with an examination, in a game-theoretic framework, of the co-operation and coordination problems arising among firms in alliances and the potential solutions to these problems suggested in the economics and business strategy literatures. One of the contributions of this essay is to provide examples of the mechanisms that can be used to implement these theoretical solutions in a business setting - i.e., the essay identifies practical ways for alliances to alter partner firms' payoffs, to provide private rewards, to monitor behaviour, to establish long term goals among partners, to build high group identification within the alliance, and to focus partners' expectations on the efficient outcomes. Another contribution of this essay is to identify some of the second-order co-operation problems that arise in strategic alliances - e.g., lack of incentives by alliance partners to contribute resources that are necessary to develop alliance management mechanisms - and to offer examples of the strategies that can be used to deal with these problems.<p> Essay Two draws upon social identity theory and develops an economic model of behaviour to show how the core firm in a strategic network can promote effective co-operation among network members by inducing them to identify with the network. In addition, the essay offers empirical evidence from the CRS that identity has successfully been used, together with economic mechanisms, to foster co-operation among member retails, and provides examples of the most important mechanisms that FCL, as the core firm in the CRS, has used to manage the identity of the retails. More generally, by incorporating the psychology (and sociology) of identity into an economic model of behaviour, Essay Two contributes to an emerging view that non-economic (behavioural) factors are complementary to the economic ones in the management of strategic partnerships.<p> Essay Three considers the collective action problems that arise in co-operatives when it comes to financing growth and identifies the conditions under which retained patronage can be an effective way for co-operatives to raise growth capital. The essay develops a game-theoretic model to examine the trade-off between the share of patronage refunds a co-operative wholesaler pays to member retails in cash and the share of patronage refunds it retains and invests, so as to provide retails with enough short-run benefits to encourage them to patronize their organization, while still retaining resources to invest in long-term growth. Analytical results show that when there are increasing returns in patronizing the co-operative wholesaler, retails' decisions to patronize their organization are complementary strategies and, as a result, multiple equilibria are possible. Some of these equilibria are ones with high patronage and high investment, while others are characterized by low patronage and low investment. Retails' expectations about the actions of their counterparts are critical in determining the prevailing equilibrium. The analysis also shows that the existence of the horizon problem further constraints the ability of the wholesaler to raise growth capital. Taken together, these results suggest that the retention of patronage refunds can be an effective way for the co-operative wholesaler to raise growth capital, provided it acts to focus retails' expectations on the 'good' equilibrium and to mitigate the horizon problem.<p> By examining the strategies and mechanisms that the CRS has used to achieve co-operation and coordination, and in so doing illustrating the mechanisms that firms can use to manage partner opportunism and prevent coordination failure, the thesis contributes to the alliance management literature. Firms today are increasingly forming strategic alliances with suppliers, buyers, and even competitors in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, despite their increasing popularity and value-creation potential, alliances more often fail than succeed, with alliance failure often attributed to opportunistic (non-co-operative) behaviour by one or more of the partners and to coordination failure. As a result, it is important to identify strategies and mechanisms that alliance partners can use to achieve co-operation and coordination, and thus realize the benefits from their association.<p> The thesis also contributes to the co-operative literature by shedding light on the age-old debate on whether federated co-operatives need to be centralized to ensure efficiency. In particular, the thesis shows that federated co-operatives can be efficient, provided they address the co-operation and coordination problems that arise among their members, and provides examples of the mechanisms that federated co-operatives can use to achieve co-operation and coordination. In addition, the thesis offers the first analytical treatment of how the horizon problem influences investment decisions in co-operatives.

Comments and Discussions : Hitoshi HIRAKAWA (平川均)

IAS 40 allows two methods of valuation for investment properties, fair value model and cost model. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what drive property companies to disclose their investment properties at fair value. In order to understand their choice, we use accounting choice theory and the three factors this theory describes, information asymmetry, allowing opportunism and agency costs. To answer our purpose, we have from a qualitative approach performed semi-structured interviews with respondents from five of the largest listed property companies in Sweden. The results suggest that firms have chosen the method that is most effective in the valuation of investment properties. But also that the three factors that accounting choice theory includes: information asymmetry, allowing opportunism and agency costs, reflected in their choice to choose one model over the other. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vad som påverkar fastighetsbolag att redovisa sina förvaltningsfastigheter till verkligt värde. Detta då IAS 40 tillåter två värderingsmetoder, verkligt värde och anskaffningsvärde. För att få förståelse för detta val använder vi oss av teorin om redovisningsval och tre faktorer denna teori beskriver; informationsasymmetri, utrymme för opportunism och agentkostnader. Vi utgår från ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt och har, för att besvara vårt syfte, utfört semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från fem av de största börsnoterade fastighetsbolagen i Sverige. Vi kommer fram till att företagen valt den metod som är mest effektiv och funktionell vid värdering av deras förvaltningsfastigheter. Men också att de tre faktorerna som teorin om redovisningsval innefattar; informationsasymmetri, utrymme för opportunism och agentkostnader, beaktats i deras val att välja den ena metoden framför den andra.

Lietuvos viešojo ir privataus sektoriaus subjektai įgyvendina Europos Sąjungos struktūrinių fondų finansuojamus projektus, kurių įgyvendinimas yra sudėtingas administracinis procesas, ir kuriame santykiai tarp ES struktūrinės paramos įsisavinimo proceso dalyvių reguliuojami kontraktais. Šio proceso dalyvių sąveika kontraktų pagrindu yra probleminė ir sąlygoja tam tikrus neigiamus reiškinius. Oportunizmas kontraktiniuose santykiuose gali paveikti galutinius projektų rezultatus. Viešųjų pirkimų pažeidimai sudarant kontraktus, netinkamai parengtas kontraktas, kontrakto įsipareigojimų nevykdymas gali nulemti ES struktūrinių fondų lėšų pripažinimą netinkamomis, dalies ES struktūrinės paramos grąžinimą, ES struktūrinių fondų lėšų mokėjimo sustabdymą. Pastarasis procesas 2012 m. pradžioje buvo pradėtas taikyti Europos Komisijos Lietuvai. Taigi, darbo tikslas – išstudijuoti kontraktinių santykių įgyvendinant ES struktūrinių fondų finansuojamus projektus Lietuvoje problematiką. Darbo pradžioje analizuojami kontraktų taikymo įgyvendinant ES struktūrinių fondų finansuojamus projektus Lietuvoje teoriniai pagrindai: kontraktų sąvokos, tipai ir jų taikymo viešajame sektoriuje teorija. Taip pat analizuojama užsakovo – vykdytojo teorija, kurios sąvokos pritaikomos kontraktinių santykių įgyvendinant ES struktūrinių fondų finansuojamus projektus Lietuvoje analizei, ir kuri puikiai atskleidžia kontraktiniuose santykiuose dažniausiai pasitaikančias problemas. Sekančios darbo dalys (2, 3 ir 4)... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The private and public entities in Lithuania implement projects financed by the European Union Structural Funds. This action is a complex administrative process, in which the relationship between its participants is based on contracts. The interaction among the participants of this process, which is contract based, is problematic and leads to certain negative phenomena. The opportunism in contractual relationship may affect the final results of the project, moreover certain irregularities in public procurement while negotiating the contract, improper contracting, the violation of the contract may result in recognition expenses of the EU Structural Funds as ineligible. In addition, the returning of the EU structural support and the suspension of the funding of the EU Structural Funds is also undeclinable. The latter process was started in Lithuania by the European Commission at the beginning of 2012. Therefore, the main objective of the final thesis is to analyze the contractual relations in the implementation process of projects financed by the EU Structural Funds in Lithuania. The theoretical part of the paper deals with the application of the contracts in the implementation process of projects financed by the EU Structural Funds in Lithuania. For this reason, the concept and types of the contract, the theory of application contract in a public sector are analyzed. Additionally, the analysis of the principal – agent theory is presented, which concepts are perfectly adjusted... [to full text]