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Purpose – Institutional investors are facing increased pressure and threats of legislation from the European Union to abandon passive ownership strategies. This chapter investigates the legal prerequisites for active ownership among institutional investors in two Scandinavian countries to highlight differences in the legal framework that potentially account for apparent dissimilarities in the practice of shareholder activism.

Design/methodology/approach – Data on shareholder proposals from Danish and Swedish annual general meetings from 2006 throughout 2010 suggest that institutional investors are approximately a thousand times more active in Sweden than in Denmark.

Findings – The comparative study of the legal framework for shareholder activism shows diminutive legal distance in general, however, we find that the shareholder-based nomination committee employed in Sweden constitutes an exception. This is relevant, as such a setup transfers power from the board of directors to the owners. Presumably, this reduces the impact of free-rider and collective action problems, and increases the shareholders’ inclination to make proposals, which is also what we find. Moreover, we find other differences in the legal framework that support the transfer of power to the owners.

Research implications – We contribute to literature by investigating the importance of local governance mechanisms created by the legal framework – an area where research is scarce. The chapter discusses how two classical theoretical dilemmas – free-rider problems and collective action problems among shareholders – can be reduced by the implementation of local corporate governance elements.

Originality/value – The chapter outlines the actual practice of shareholder activism, in terms of proposals, in Denmark and Sweden, and highlights divergent legal elements which theoretically transfer power to the shareholders. Thus, regulators should be aware of the impact by local governance mechanisms, and how shareholders react under different legal prerequisites.

Purpose – This chapter introduces this book’s topics, purpose, and key themes. It summarizes the purpose of the book which is to explore through both descriptive and conceptual means the use of power by institutional investors in bringing about changes to corporate behavior, so that corporations engage in improved environmental, social, and governance actions.

Methodology/approach – This chapter reviews literature and chapters and offers conceptual development.

Findings – The forces driving the actions of institutional investors are different from many other shareholders being determined by a unique set of costs, benefits, and objectives. As such three general categories of institutional elements constrain and guide this behavior: regulative elements which include constitutions, laws, and property rights; normative elements which include informal norms, values, and codes of conduct; and cultural-cognitive elements which include shared beliefs, identities, and mental models. It highlights the role of regulation and “soft” law, the impact of values and customs, and the way sense-making and cognition impacts on decisions and actions.

Practical/social implications – The chapter highlights the interplay between hard and soft law in progressing the agenda. It seems that hard law is a hygiene factor forming the base on which initial gains can be made in the application of institutional shareholder power. Moreover, the use of soft law such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the newly founded Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, institutional investors can gain improved disclosure of sustainability performance to incorporate into their investment decisions. Moreover, it highlights the gaps in the use of the power that exists. The movement is still emerging with the focus on corporate governance and environmental considerations primarily. There are still improvements to be made for institutional investors in the social aspects of the responsibility agenda as well in pushing companies to be more transparent, improve reporting, and engage in more long-term decision-making.

Originality/value – The chapter contributes to the debate on governance convergence between liberal market economies (LMEs) and coordinated market economies (CMEs). It is important to look beyond national characteristics alone and demonstrate that organizations, even though they are impacted by institutions, are not necessarily passive acceptors of their fate. Hence this chapter highlights that in expanding from a dyadic approach comparing LMEs and CMEs, the strategic choice of decision-makers, the power of the actors, and the processes used by institutional investors in changing corporate behavior are important considerations.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the implications for higher education of a rapidly changing global context, where technologies play a role in the propagation of unsustainable patterns of change. Drawing from research on science and technology studies as well as existing work on (higher) education for sustainability, it seeks to expose the multidimensional nature of these patterns to raise a series of questions for educators, particularly those in engineering, computer science and other technical disciplines, and inform structured curricular and organisational interventions.

Theoretical perspectives on unsustainable patterns of technological change are explored with the objective of informing how the mitigation of their evolution could be addressed in educational settings. Key themes in the sustainability and higher education literature are then identified with the purpose of informing curricular and organisational intervention.

Countering unsustainable patterns of technological change requires the development of key sustainability competencies within more technical disciplines, informed by concepts in science and technology studies. This requires change at curricular, organisational and institutional levels to enable spaces for inter- and transdisciplinary learning to be created, so that skills may be developed.

This paper reflects on unsustainable patterns of technological change, identifying challenges for educators, in particular those in more technical disciplines.

This paper aims to design and evaluate an innovative community-based service for adults with autism in a rural region of Northern Ireland. The goal was to reduce their social isolation through gaining social skills and building social networks.

Over three years, 54 persons with a median age of 21 years received 12 months of one-to-one, personalised support and opportunities to participate in peer groups and social activities which are detailed in the paper. Quantitative and qualitative information about the impact of the service was obtained from its users, their relatives, as well as service personnel.

Service users rated themselves to have changed in more ways than did their relatives and staff although there was a consensus that the changes were most marked in terms of spending more time out of the house, engaging in more community activities, being more independent and increased confidence. The main benefits they perceived from participation in the project were socialising, new experiences and learning new things.

As with many service projects, a longer term follow-up of service users was not possible due to resource constraints.

The service could be replicated with suitable staff although current constraints on social care budgets have limited its expansion to more users and extension to other areas in Northern Ireland.

Reducing the social isolation of adult persons with autism spectrum disorders needs to be personalised to the person, their living circumstances and the community in which they live. Family carers also stand to gain from community support services.

This low level, low cost service was implemented in a predominantly rural area with a majority of users from socially deprived areas.

Purpose – The chapter explores the UK’s evolving counter-radicalization program – Prevent – and its increasing alignment with a broader Counter Extremism agenda, which it argues exemplifies not merely a concern with countering radicalization or terrorism, but a broader “civic turn” toward a narrow and restrictive conception of integration and citizenship.

Methodology/Approach – The chapter draws on a range of studies of Prevent and the governance of British Muslims, to examine the traces and impact of Prevent and Counter Extremism agendas across a range of governance domains, including urban governance, schooling, and public sector institutions and integration.

Findings – Prevent has undergone substantial conceptual and operational expansion that has meant that its purpose and efficacy as a counter terrorism strategy has become ambivalent. Its evolution into an element of a broader integration policy places limits on the terms of particularly Muslims’ citizenship. It also brings it into tension with other public sector duties and legal norms.

Originality/Value – The chapter extends existing studies of the permeation of security concerns across governance and public life, and the securitization of citizenship, to examine how these have been expressed in particular domains of governance and their implications for the inclusion and accommodation of Muslims. It also offers a caveat to the tendency in much of the literature to see such securitization as exemplifying a highly cohesive governing project.

Part II and last MECHETTI. Vienna FOUNDED in 1795 by Carlo Mechetti as a dealer; since 1807 in partnership with his nephew, Pietro; the publishing firm styled Carlo Mechetti & Neffe in 1809; after Carlo's death in 1811, Pietro became sole owner; he was succeeded in 1850 by his widow, Therese; c. 1855 the firm was taken over by A. Diabelli & co. (cp. Peter Cappi).

Purpose − The principal aim of this chapter is to present a comprehensive and critical review of Murray Kemp's contributions to the discipline of international trade and welfare economics.

Methodology/Approach − This chapter employs the critical literature review approach, including archival analysis and face-to-face interviews.

Findings − It is shown that Kemp has been a key player in the modernization of trade theory. In particular, he has extended the theorems of gains from trade in many different directions and under the most general conditions.

Practical implications − In surveying Kemp's research contributions this chapter provides a useful overview of the development of the normative theory of trade. It also examines a number of methodological issues that may prove to be useful to economic theorists.