title: Using flexible taste distributions to value collective reputation for environmentally friendly production methods

authors: Scarpa, Riccardo

subjects: environmentally friendly production

abstract: In this paper, we investigate consumer preferences for various environmentally friendly production systems for carrots. We use discrete choice multi-attribute stated preference data to explore the effect of the collective reputation of growers from an Alpine valley with an established reputation for its environmentally friendly production: Val di Gresta 'the valley of organic orchards.' Data analysis of the panel of discrete responses identifies unobserved taste heterogeneity for organic, biodynamic, and place of origin along with extra variance associated with experimentally designed alternatives. The assumed parametric taste distributions are each tested using the semi-nonparametric specification proposed by Fosgerau and Bierlaire, while the null of normality cannot be rejected for organic and biodynamic production methods, though it is for the place of origin. The latter is found to be bi-modal, with modes at each side of zero. The use of a flexible taste distribution increases the plausibility of this form of heterogeneity and it appears promising for future applied studies. 
Dans le présent article, nous avons examiné les préférences des consommateurs quant à divers systèmes de production écologiques de carottes. Nous avons utilisé des données sur les préférences déclarées, la valeur attendue et les choix discrets pour examiner l'effet de la réputation collective de producteurs dans une vallée alpine réputée pour sa production écologique: Val di Gresta, dite la ≪vallée des vergers biologiques≫. L'analyse des données de panel discrètes a fait ressortir une hétérogénéité inobservable des goûts quant à la culture biologique, la culture biodynamique et le lieu d'origine ainsi qu'une variance supplémentaire liée à des options expérimentalement conçues. Les distributions paramétriques hypothétiques des goûts sont testées à l'aide de la spécification semi-non-paramétique proposée par Fosgerau and Bierlaire (2007), tandis que l'hypothèse nulle de normalité(null of normality) ne peut être rejetée pour les méthodes de production biologique et biodynamique, bien qu'elle le soit pour le lieu d'origine. Cette dernière serait bimodale, avec des modes de chaque côté de zéro. L'utilisation d'une distribution des goûts souple augmente la plausibilité de cette forme d'hétérogénéité et semble prometteuse pour les études appliquées futures.

text: Using flexible taste distributions to value collective reputation for environmentally friendly production methods In this paper, we investigate consumer preferences for various environmentally friendly production systems for carrots. We use discrete choice multi-attribute stated preference data to explore the effect of the collective reputation of growers from an Alpine valley with an established reputation for its environmentally friendly production: Val di Gresta 'the valley of organic orchards.' Data analysis of the panel of discrete responses identifies unobserved taste heterogeneity for organic, biodynamic, and place of origin along with extra variance associated with experimentally designed alternatives. The assumed parametric taste distributions are each tested using the semi-nonparametric specification proposed by Fosgerau and Bierlaire, while the null of normality cannot be rejected for organic and biodynamic production methods, though it is for the place of origin. The latter is found to be bi-modal, with modes at each side of zero. The use of a flexible taste distribution increases the plausibility of this form of heterogeneity and it appears promising for future applied studies. 
Dans le présent article, nous avons examiné les préférences des consommateurs quant à divers systèmes de production écologiques de carottes. Nous avons utilisé des données sur les préférences déclarées, la valeur attendue et les choix discrets pour examiner l'effet de la réputation collective de producteurs dans une vallée alpine réputée pour sa production écologique: Val di Gresta, dite la ≪vallée des vergers biologiques≫. L'analyse des données de panel discrètes a fait ressortir une hétérogénéité inobservable des goûts quant à la culture biologique, la culture biodynamique et le lieu d'origine ainsi qu'une variance supplémentaire liée à des options expérimentalement conçues. Les distributions paramétriques hypothétiques des goûts sont testées à l'aide de la spécification semi-non-paramétique proposée par Fosgerau and Bierlaire (2007), tandis que l'hypothèse nulle de normalité(null of normality) ne peut être rejetée pour les méthodes de production biologique et biodynamique, bien qu'elle le soit pour le lieu d'origine. Cette dernière serait bimodale, avec des modes de chaque côté de zéro. L'utilisation d'une distribution des goûts souple augmente la plausibilité de cette forme d'hétérogénéité et semble prometteuse pour les études appliquées futures.

year: 2008

title: Imperial landscapes of health: Place, plants and people between India and Australia, 1800s-1900s.

authors: Beattie, James John

subjects: Imperial health

abstract: In the nineteenth century, place bore immediately and urgently on questions of imperialism, race, and health. This article considers European strategies to control local environments and improve healthiness through the exchange of people, plants, ideas and garden designs between India and Australia. Migration removed Europeans from unhealthy environments, either permanently (to Australia and elsewhere) or temporarily (to hill stations in India). Trees like the eucalyptus were introduced into India to enhance European health, based on belief they drained sources of disease. I argue a crucial new understanding of the intersection between health and place in the nineteenth-century British Empire can be provided by tracing the networks through which people, plants, and ideas moved to consider the broader imperial frameworks.

text: Imperial landscapes of health: Place, plants and people between India and Australia, 1800s-1900s. In the nineteenth century, place bore immediately and urgently on questions of imperialism, race, and health. This article considers European strategies to control local environments and improve healthiness through the exchange of people, plants, ideas and garden designs between India and Australia. Migration removed Europeans from unhealthy environments, either permanently (to Australia and elsewhere) or temporarily (to hill stations in India). Trees like the eucalyptus were introduced into India to enhance European health, based on belief they drained sources of disease. I argue a crucial new understanding of the intersection between health and place in the nineteenth-century British Empire can be provided by tracing the networks through which people, plants, and ideas moved to consider the broader imperial frameworks.

year: 2012

title: Equity, inclusivity and shared humanity:  Addressing intergenerational failure of schooling for Māori

authors: Egan, Margaret

subjects: Equity of Māori learners

abstract: Despite decades of education reform aimed at Māori students succeeding in schooling, the New Zealand education system’s failure to engage effectively with Māori is persistent with Māori underachievement remaining chronic and seemingly intractable.
This thesis examines the interface between leadership and professional learning in a single sex secondary school during their engagement with Te Kotahitanga (Unity of Purpose). The school’s leaders were focused on closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori students and asserted that if students remained engaged at school into the senior year levels, they were more likely to “achieve success”. Te Kotahitanga’s initial focus on teaching and learning in the junior years 9 and 10 presented a potential solution. As this school began to engage with Te Kotahitanga, Ka Hikitia (to step up), a strategy aimed at Māori students achieving educational success as Māori, was launched. Thus, a mandate for school reform focused on Māori potential supported the professional learning provided by Te Kotahitanga.
The findings, presented as quantitative and qualitative evidence, show that school leaders focused on their teachers implementing a more culturally responsive and relational pedagogy at Years 9 and 10 in order to close the achievement gap between Māori and their non-Māori peers. They believed that this would prepare Māori students for the more formal and traditional learning experience required in the senior school, aimed at getting through important national qualifications. While teachers and leaders who were fully engaged in Te Kotahitanga transformed the classroom experiences for their junior and senior learners, not all teachers and leaders engaged, therefore not all learners experienced the change in pedagogy throughout their time at this school. The findings also uncover layers of bias within the school and its community which prevented Māori families from contributing to their children’s education on their own terms. The two key foci, closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori and retaining Māori students into the senior school obfuscated a focus on shared humanity, equity, belonging and better engagement for all.
While this research took place in New Zealand with Māori students these findings can contribute to those involved with school reform especially those in other colonised countries where indigenous students and their families face similar issues.

text: Equity, inclusivity and shared humanity:  Addressing intergenerational failure of schooling for Māori Despite decades of education reform aimed at Māori students succeeding in schooling, the New Zealand education system’s failure to engage effectively with Māori is persistent with Māori underachievement remaining chronic and seemingly intractable.
This thesis examines the interface between leadership and professional learning in a single sex secondary school during their engagement with Te Kotahitanga (Unity of Purpose). The school’s leaders were focused on closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori students and asserted that if students remained engaged at school into the senior year levels, they were more likely to “achieve success”. Te Kotahitanga’s initial focus on teaching and learning in the junior years 9 and 10 presented a potential solution. As this school began to engage with Te Kotahitanga, Ka Hikitia (to step up), a strategy aimed at Māori students achieving educational success as Māori, was launched. Thus, a mandate for school reform focused on Māori potential supported the professional learning provided by Te Kotahitanga.
The findings, presented as quantitative and qualitative evidence, show that school leaders focused on their teachers implementing a more culturally responsive and relational pedagogy at Years 9 and 10 in order to close the achievement gap between Māori and their non-Māori peers. They believed that this would prepare Māori students for the more formal and traditional learning experience required in the senior school, aimed at getting through important national qualifications. While teachers and leaders who were fully engaged in Te Kotahitanga transformed the classroom experiences for their junior and senior learners, not all teachers and leaders engaged, therefore not all learners experienced the change in pedagogy throughout their time at this school. The findings also uncover layers of bias within the school and its community which prevented Māori families from contributing to their children’s education on their own terms. The two key foci, closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori and retaining Māori students into the senior school obfuscated a focus on shared humanity, equity, belonging and better engagement for all.
While this research took place in New Zealand with Māori students these findings can contribute to those involved with school reform especially those in other colonised countries where indigenous students and their families face similar issues.

year: 2022