A research study is undertaken to determine if economic incentives exist for noncompliance with regulatory standards, and if accounting related disclosure of regulatory enforcement actions is a determinant of environmental performance.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:34:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ruth Carolina Rodrigues Sgrignolli.pdf: 1524290 bytes, checksum: 03154c412be09bf8ee2d475b2656f1c1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-14 / This study aims to analyze how the regulatory framework meets the principles of television constitutional freedom of expression contained in Article 5, X, in addition to compliance with the educational, cultural and artistic activities, according to article 221, I. Based on this premise, it is analyzed the standards of most relevance to this particular sector, considering the broadcast television (broadcasting of images and sounds) and private television (governed by the telecommunications laws). In addition, the study aims to put into perspective the how television market works and the way it is organized in order to provide or facilitate the compliance with constitutional constraints. Nevertheless, it is important to address crucial issues of regulatory law and administrative law, and explore the issues relating to freedom of speech, the expression of thought, information, observing always the limits of state intervention in this sector, which although regulated, and full of challenges, there should always be free communication. / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo analisar como o marco regulatório da televisão atende os pressupostos constitucionais de liberdade de expressão, contido no artigo 5o, X, além da observância das finalidades educativas, culturais e artísticas, conforme artigo 221, I. Com base nesta premissa, são analisadas as normas de maior relevância para este setor específico, considerando a televisão aberta (radiodifusão de sons e imagens) e a televisão fechada (regida pela legislação das telecomunicações). Além disso, este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar de modo amplo o funcionamento do mercado da televisão e mostrar de que maneira seu surgimento e a forma pela qual se organiza propicia ou facilita o atendimento das imposições constitucionais. No mais, será importante abordar temas cruciais de direito regulatório e direito administrativo, além de explorar os temas relativos à liberdade de expressão, de manifestação do pensamento, de informação, verificando-se sempre o limite da intervenção do Estado neste setor que, embora regulado e cheio de desafios, deve observar sempre a comunicação livre.

Volumes of trade between the European Union and China have increased tremendously over the last decades, with the EU becoming China`s largest trading partner. Among the academic world there are serious concerns about the impacts of trade on national environmental regulation setting. There is fear that international trade will not only put advanced nations under strong competitive pressure to lower their environmental standards in order to stay competitive (race to the bottom) but also provide developing nations no incentives to strengthen their environmental protection measures as this would carry costs and reduce their global competitiveness (stuck at the bottom). In contrast to that believe, some scholars, such as David Vogel, argue that engaging in international trade can ¡V under certain assumptions ¡V result in tighter national regulation setting among trading partners (trading-up). This study sets out to analyze the linkage of trade and environmental standards between two major trading powers ¡V the EU and China. China`s integration with the world economy has spurred concerns among environmentalists as it was feared that the country`s national environmental regulatory system will be kept at low levels due to competitiveness considerations. However, China, the opposite can be observed. The EU has adopted strict environmental directives in several areas, and China has upgraded its environmental regulatory system. This study aims to find answers to the question if in the case of trade between the EU and China a situation of trading-up can be identified. In order to bring in domestic as well as international developments, the study applies a two-level games approach. The research is based on recent environmental directives that have been adopted by the EU. A selection of three directives forms the basis of the case studies: the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), car emissions standards, and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). The study provides insights into how China is affected by these external regulations, how it responded to them and how it tries to utilize them to boost its economic development and enhance the quality of its environment. As the study reveals, European environmental directives have positive impacts on China`s national environmental regulatory setting processes, since the EU regulations not only raise the awareness of the issue among China`s policy makers and public interest groups but they also called for responses from affected domestic constituents. The external regulations raised the stakes of numerous domestic actors which then had to decide how to react adequately. All in all, the study concludes that EU environmental directives have worked in favor of stricter regulation setting in China.

<p>The main objective of this study was to identify ways in which transaction costs can be lowered to improve small-scale farmers&rsquo / participation in and returns from agricultural output markets, with specific reference to small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo province. This study hypothesizes that transaction costs are lower in informal spot markets and increase when small-scale farmers sell in more structured markets (formal markets). This study builds on transaction cost economics (TCE) to demonstrate how to overcome transaction cost barriers that small-scale mango farmers face in the agro-food markets. The approach to collect primary information was sequenced in two steps: first, key informant and focus group interviews were conducted and, secondly, a structured survey instrument was administered in two districts of Limpopo. A total of 235 smallscale mango farmers were interviewed. A binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the impact of transaction costs on the likelihood of households&rsquo / participation in formal (=1) and informal (=0) agro-food markets. STATA Version 10 was used to analyse the data. This study found that a larger proportion of male than female farming households reported participation in the formal markets, suggesting deep-seated gender differentiation in market participation. The average age of small farmers participating in formal markets is 52, compared to 44 for those in informal markets, implying that older farmers might have established stronger networks and acquired experience over a longer period. Farmers staying very far from the densely populated towns (more than 50 km) participate less in the formal markets than those staying closer (0 &ndash / 25 km and 26 &ndash / 49 km), which implies that the further they are from the towns, the less the likelihood of farmers selling in the formal markets. Farmers who own storage facilities and a bakkie (transportation means) participate more in formal markets compared to those who do not own these assets, which suggests that these farmers are able to store mangoes, retaining their freshness and subsequently delivering them to various agro-food markets on time. Households that participate in formal markets have high mean values of income and social grants. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household&rsquo / s participation in the markets is less as income and social grants increase. This suggests that households do not invest their financial assets in order to overcome market access barriers. A large proportion of households that own larger pieces of arable land participate in the formal markets, which implies that they are able to produce marketable surplus. Households that have a high mean value (in Rand) of cattle participate more in formal markets than in informal markets. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household&rsquo / s participation in the markets does not change with an increase in the value of its livestock. These findings suggest that households do not sell their cattle in order to overcome market access barriers. Reduced transaction costs for small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo should improve their participation in and returns from the agro-food markets. Policy interventions to support this need to focus on: access to storage and transportation facilities, enforcement of gender equity requirements in existing policies, and better access to information about markets.</p>

<p>The main objective of this study was to identify ways in which transaction costs can be lowered to improve small-scale farmers&rsquo / participation in and returns from agricultural output markets, with specific reference to small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo province. This study hypothesizes that transaction costs are lower in informal spot markets and increase when small-scale farmers sell in more structured markets (formal markets). This study builds on transaction cost economics (TCE) to demonstrate how to overcome transaction cost barriers that small-scale mango farmers face in the agro-food markets. The approach to collect primary information was sequenced in two steps: first, key informant and focus group interviews were conducted and, secondly, a structured survey instrument was administered in two districts of Limpopo. A total of 235 smallscale mango farmers were interviewed. A binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the impact of transaction costs on the likelihood of households&rsquo / participation in formal (=1) and informal (=0) agro-food markets. STATA Version 10 was used to analyse the data. This study found that a larger proportion of male than female farming households reported participation in the formal markets, suggesting deep-seated gender differentiation in market participation. The average age of small farmers participating in formal markets is 52, compared to 44 for those in informal markets, implying that older farmers might have established stronger networks and acquired experience over a longer period. Farmers staying very far from the densely populated towns (more than 50 km) participate less in the formal markets than those staying closer (0 &ndash / 25 km and 26 &ndash / 49 km), which implies that the further they are from the towns, the less the likelihood of farmers selling in the formal markets. Farmers who own storage facilities and a bakkie (transportation means) participate more in formal markets compared to those who do not own these assets, which suggests that these farmers are able to store mangoes, retaining their freshness and subsequently delivering them to various agro-food markets on time. Households that participate in formal markets have high mean values of income and social grants. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household&rsquo / s participation in the markets is less as income and social grants increase. This suggests that households do not invest their financial assets in order to overcome market access barriers. A large proportion of households that own larger pieces of arable land participate in the formal markets, which implies that they are able to produce marketable surplus. Households that have a high mean value (in Rand) of cattle participate more in formal markets than in informal markets. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household&rsquo / s participation in the markets does not change with an increase in the value of its livestock. These findings suggest that households do not sell their cattle in order to overcome market access barriers. Reduced transaction costs for small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo should improve their participation in and returns from the agro-food markets. Policy interventions to support this need to focus on: access to storage and transportation facilities, enforcement of gender equity requirements in existing policies, and better access to information about markets.</p>

Magister Economicae - MEcon / The main objective of this study was to identify ways in which transaction costs can be lowered to improve small-scale farmers’ participation in and returns from agricultural output markets, with specific reference to small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo province. This study hypothesizes that transaction costs are lower in informal spot markets and increase when small-scale farmers sell in more structured markets (formal markets). This study builds on transaction cost economics (TCE) to demonstrate how to overcome transaction cost barriers that small-scale mango farmers face in the agro-food markets. The approach to collect primary information was sequenced in two steps: first, key informant and focus group interviews were conducted and, secondly, a structured survey instrument was administered in two districts of Limpopo. A total of 235 smallscale mango farmers were interviewed. A binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the impact of transaction costs on the likelihood of households’ participation in formal (=1) and informal (=0) agro-food markets. STATA Version 10 was used to analyse the data. This study found that a larger proportion of male than female farming households reported participation in the formal markets, suggesting deep-seated gender differentiation in market participation. The average age of small farmers participating in formal markets is 52, compared to 44 for those in informal markets, implying that older farmers might have established stronger networks and acquired experience over a longer period. Farmers staying very far from the densely populated towns (more than 50 km) participate less in the formal markets than those staying closer (0 – 25 km and 26 – 49 km), which implies that the further they are from the towns, the less the likelihood of farmers selling in the formal markets. Farmers who own storage facilities and a bakkie (transportation means) participate more in formal markets compared to those who do not own these assets, which suggests that these farmers are able to store mangoes, retaining their freshness and subsequently delivering them to various agro-food markets on time. Households that participate in formal markets have high mean values of income and social grants. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household’s participation in the markets is less as income and social grants increase. This suggests that households do not invest their financial assets in order to overcome market access barriers. A large proportion of households that own larger pieces of arable land participate in the formal markets, which implies that they are able to produce marketable surplus. Households that have a high mean value (in Rand) of cattle participate more in formal markets than in informal markets. However, this study found that the likelihood of a household’s participation in the markets does not change with an increase in the value of its livestock. These findings suggest that households do not sell their cattle in order to overcome market access barriers. Reduced transaction costs for small-scale mango farmers in Limpopo should improve their participation in and returns from the agro-food markets. Policy interventions to support this need to focus on: access to storage and transportation facilities, enforcement of gender equity requirements in existing policies, and better access to information about markets. / South Africa