The aim of this thesis is to present and analyse the role of the environmental groups and the trade unions on the issue of the environmental protection through the economic methodology. The specific groups have strong connection with the environmental issue since the beginning of the environmental movement. However, the two groups stand on different positions in the market and in the society, therefore they have different objectives and different tools for the achievement of their targets. Following the groups' different characteristics, I analyse their targets and how these could influence the firms' technological choice, the level of the production, the profits and finally the level of the emissions released by the firms' production. In the second chapter, a deeper analysis on the behavior and the strategy of the environmental groups is provided in order to shed more light on their objectives from the beginning of the environmental movement. Following a review of the literature an analytical framework for studying targets or motivations of the environmental groups is analysed. Three interrelated factors which affect the strategy and the decisions of the group are identified; the group s size, their budget and the weight of impure altruism in their individual and collective objectives. A positive relation exists between the group s size and the financial contributions, and the interaction of the personal expectations with the collective objectives encourages and benefits the group s actions. In the third chapter following the experience from the real world, the participation of the environmental groups in the emissions trading system (ETS) is analysed. Concretely, a competition in an ETS as a game between two firms and environmental group is modelled. According to the results, there is a U-shape relationship between how polluting the chosen technology is and the degree of the environmentalists impure altruism. Firms choose a more polluting technology in the presence of the environmentalists than in their absence if they are characterised by a high enough degree of impure altruism. Finally, in the fourth chapter the influence of the trade unions on the firms' environmental technological choice is analysed. However, in addition to the literature and according to the real world experience the unions care for the environmental protection. Particularly, the decentralised structure is compared with the centralised structure under a Cournot duopoly. I conclude that the decentralised structure could always provide higher incentives to the firms for the adoption of a better (less polluting) technology. Furthermore, there is an inverse U-shape relation between the firm s emissions and the size of the market. Finally, the emissions could be less under the centralised case compared to the decentralised for relatively low market size.

This doctoral thesis contains three research papers in social finance, a field concerned with the financing issues of organizations aiming to solve social problems. Intertemporal Preferences of Nonprofit Organizations This paper studies the intertemporal preferences that govern the spending decision of nonprofit organizations. I estimate the subjective discount rate and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution based on an extension of the consumption Euler model that allows for heterogeneous parameter estimates with regards to donation dependency and size. Biting the Hand That Feeds You: Effects of Embezzlement in Nonprofits This paper studies how newspaper reports on embezzlement affect donations received by nonprofit organizations. Based on a unique data set on wrongdoings by top managers in nonprofits between 1995 and 2002, I provide evidence that the cost of weak governance in nonprofits is very high. What is the Business of Business? This paper develops a theoretical framework for understanding the emergence of new organizational forms, such as socially responsible firms and social enterprises, which embody the private sector’s efforts to resolve problems that typically have been within the purview of government and traditional charities. The framework yields an optimal investment policy, which typically Pareto-dominates many common social investment principles, such as break-even conditions, social screening and SROI. About the author Andreas Nilsson pursued his PhD in the Department of Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics. During this time, he was affiliated with the Swedish House of Finance and SIFR and spent two years as a visiting fellow at Harvard University. He is the founder of Sonanz, an asset management firm focused on social investments. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2014. Sammanfattning jämte 3 uppsatser</p>

Indirect reciprocity describes a class of reputation-based mechanisms which may explain the prevalence of cooperation in groups where partners meet only once. The first model for which this has analytically been shown was the binary image scoring mechanism, where one's reputation is only based on one's last action. But this mechanism is known to fail if errors in implementation occur. It has thus been claimed that for indirect reciprocity to stabilize cooperation, reputation assessments must be of higher order, i.e. contingent not only on past actions, but also on the reputations of the targets of these actions. We show here that this need not be the case. A simple image scoring mechanism where more than just one past action is observed provides ample possibilities for stable cooperation to emerge even under substantial rates of implementation errors. (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2002. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-138).

Thesis (Ph.D. in Nursing) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-203). Free to UCD Anschutz Medical Campus. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Submitted by Noeme Timbo (noeme.timbo@metodista.br) on 2017-03-28T17:43:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Rosa da Silva.pdf: 1267545 bytes, checksum: 937466510d769f2df4a24ba132ffaeeb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-28T17:43:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Rosa da Silva.pdf: 1267545 bytes, checksum: 937466510d769f2df4a24ba132ffaeeb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-01-24 / Some organizations have been concerned in offering social projects that involve the overall community and its employees. These projects are carried with the participation of volunteers. The initiative empower citizenship and social consciousness of individuals, involving them in building a better future. This study proposes to identify background factors of volunteer behavioral intention to remain in social projects and engage in the institutions where the social work is accomplished. Altruism variables and switching costs were analyzed in order to increase knowledge in engagement and intention to remain history on social projects. The research is based on a quantitative research approach with single cross-section exploratory study, where data were collected through a survey, obtaining 351 completed questionnaires. To test the study hypothesis, structural equations based on the PLS-PM (Partial Least Squares Path Modeling) were analyzed, resulting in satisfactory grades concerning the investigated construct and proposed model and some relations between constructs being classified as significant. The results indicate that switching costs and altruism positively influence the engagement of individuals in the organization responsible for the social projects and that engagement and switching costs positively influence the intention to remain in social projects. Understanding motivations and determinants of commitment to voluntary work is crucial for managers of this workforce on being able to design effective mechanisms of attraction, engagement and retention of said volunteers. / Algumas organizações têm se preocupado em oferecer projetos sociais que englobam a comunidade em geral e os seus colaboradores. Esses projetos são realizados com a participação do trabalho voluntário. Estas iniciativas potencializam a cidadania e a consciência social dos indivíduos, envolvendo-os na construção de um futuro melhor. Analisar os fatores antecedentes que movem o cidadão voluntário a permanecerem nos projetos sociais e a se engajarem nas instituições onde são prestados esses trabalhos sociais é a proposta deste estudo. Para ampliar o conhecimento sobre os antecedentes do engajamento e da intenção de permanecer em projetos sociais foram analisadas as variáveis altruísmo e os custos de troca. A pesquisa fundamenta-se em uma abordagem de investigação quantitativa e o estudo foi exploratório com corte transversal único, onde os dados foram coletados por meio de um instrumento de pesquisa com a obtenção de 351 questionários respondidos. Para os testes das hipóteses do estudo, foi realizada a análise de equações estruturais, com base no PLS-PM (Partial Least Squares Path Modeling), onde foram apresentadas medidas satisfatórias para os construtos investigados e o modelo proposto, sendo significantes algumas relações entre os construtos. Os resultados indicam que os custos de troca e o altruísmo influenciam positivamente no engajamento dos indivíduos na organização que desenvolve projetos sociais e que o engajamento e custos de troca também impactam positivamente na intenção de permanecer nos projetos sociais. A compreensão de motivações e determinantes do comprometimento com o trabalho voluntário torna-se crucial para que os gestores desta força de trabalho possam desenhar mecanismos eficazes de atração, engajamento e retenção

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:20:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PAULO BESSA DA SILVA.pdf: 1105966 bytes, checksum: 7f8e6bc64663313a3d42871993f60a57 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-03-11 / The present research proposes to study possible relations between age, time of ministerial, or clerical, service in the Methodist Church, and self-image in terms of altruism. The theme of altruism is approached via philosophy, psychoanalysis, evolutionary studies, and the cognitive psychology of moral development. The research examines the criticisms and contributions offered by the psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, with respect to the debate regarding altruism, and contributions offered by the investigations of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, with regard to the elaboration of ethical judgments made by persons. The text analyzes the image that Methodist pastors in Brazil have, or present, regarding themselves, in terms of actions toward the well-being of other human beings, taking into consideration responses and justifications to questions offered in the research questionnaire, in which hypothetical situations regarding altruism is required. The results show evidence that older pastors hold a more positive self-image than young pastors about altruism.(AU) / A presente pesquisa propõe-se a estudar possíveis relações entre idade, tempo de serviço como clérigo ou clériga na Igreja Metodista e auto-imagem destes últimos acerca de altruísmo. O tema do altruísmo é abordado a partir da filosofia, da psicanálise, dos estudos evolucionistas e da psicologia cognitiva do desenvolvimento moral. Examina as críticas e contribuições que a psicanálise de Sigmund Freud e Jacques Lacan deu aos debates sobre altruísmo, bem como as possíveis relações com o tema proporcionadas pelas investigações de Jean Piaget e Lawrence Kohlberg sobre a elaboração de juízos éticos pelas pessoas. Analisa a imagem que pastores(as) metodistas no Brasil têm ou apresentam acerca de si mesmos(as), no tocante a ações visando ao bem-estar de outros seres humanos, levando-se em conta suas respostas e justificativas ao questionário apresentado, no qual aparecem situações hipotéticas em que o altruísmo é requerido. Os resultados evidenciam que clérigos(as) mais idosos possuem uma auto-imagem mais positiva do que a apresentada pelos mais jovens, no tocante ao altruísmo.(AU)

In what has been described as “the age of migration” by Castles et al. (2014) the international transfers of remittances is an ever-growing phenomenon, which has generated an increased interest among both scholars and policy-makers. According to the World Bank (2016), the flow of remittances to developing countries is today exceeding the amount of official development aid by three times. The objective of this study is to contribute to a more nuanced view of the motivations for remittances by conducting a qualitative interview study with remittance senders in Sweden. The study uses data obtained from 18 interviews in order to receive an in-depth understanding of remittance attitudes. An analytical framework departing from Lucas and Stark’s hypotheses on motives to remit (1985) combined with the conjugal contract model (Whitehead, 1984) is constructed and used for the analysis of the findings. The paper argues that the relationship between household members can be seen as a social contract, and the findings suggest a correlation between social norms and gender roles within the family. The results of the interviews indicate that social norms do influence remittance behaviour, and the determinants of time and expectations from the household are also proven relevant to the topic. The findings thus show that the concept of social contracts between family members can be usefully employed in order to extend our understanding of remittance behaviour. In conclusion, this study shows that viewing remittances as part of a social contract within households can provide a useful tool for further research on the topic.

Background: The aim of this thesis was to investigate the relationship of moral cognition and emotions to the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). Patients with MDD may experience excessive guilt or self-blaming biases despite recovery from the depressed state. Since guilt is a moral emotion thought to motivate altruistic behaviours, it has been hypothesized that elevated self-blame in MDD may result in pathological increases to altruism in some patients. The relationship of self-blame to altruistic choices in individuals with remitted MDD (rMDD), however, has not been established. Guilt has been shown to activate the subgenual cingulate and adjacent septal region (SCSR) which is of known importance to the pathophysiology of MDD. Since MDD is thought to arise from network-level dysfunctions, and moral cognition and emotions are hypothesized to emerge from network-level binding, investigating resting-state SCSR functional connectivity in rMDD patients and healthy control (HC) participants could reveal networks of potential relevance both to MDD and to moral cognition and emotions. Chapter 2: We investigated whether melancholic rMDD patients could be distinguished from non-melancholic and HC groups on the basis of resting-state functional connectivity to an SCSR seed region. Lower SCSR-amygdala connectivity distinguished the melancholic rMDD group from non-melancholic and HC groups. Chapter 3: We investigated whether patients who remained resilient to recurring depressive episodes were distinguishable from recurring episode MDD and HC groups on the basis of resting-state connectivity to an SCSR seed region. Lower interhemispheric SCSR connectivity distinguished the resilient MDD patients from the recurring episode MDD and HC groups. Chapter 4: We measured explicit and implicit preferences for social options with and without altruistic motivations relative to selfish options in the rMDD and HC groups during emotion priming to modulate feelings of guilt. The rMDD patients explicitly preferred prosocial options (i.e., social options and altruism directed towards friends or colleagues) less than HC participants. Regardless of group, guilt priming increased explicit and implicit preferences for altruism towards strangers. Chapter 5: We investigated whether explicit and/or implicit preferences for prosocial options during guilt priming were correlated with resting-state connectivity to an SCSR seed region, and whether this relationship could distinguish the rMDD and HC groups. Across all participants, implicit prosocial choice preference negatively correlated with connectivity between the SCSR and right temporoparietal junction (TPJ). The relationship of SCSR-TPJ connectivity to implicit preferences for social options and for altruism towards friends and colleagues was weaker in the rMDD group compared to the HC group, particularly for implicit altruism. Conclusions: We identified resting-state SCSR networks associated with vulnerability to melancholia and with resilience to recurring depressive episodes. Patients with rMDD explicitly preferred options entailing social withdrawal, a symptom associated with MDD vulnerability. Irrespective of group, guilt motivated altruism towards strangers but not friends and colleagues. Implicit prosociality was negatively associated with connectivity in a social agency network, and the comparatively weak relationships between connectivity and implicit choice preferences in rMDD patients may reflect a vulnerability factor for MDD.