The present research aims to shed light on the role of culture in the formation of career intentions. It draws on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB, Ajzen, 1991), which has been widely employed to predict intentions, including entrepreneurial career intentions, but past research has almost exclusively been conducted in 'Western' countries. The present research specifically explores the extent to which both the strength of relationships of TPB predictors with entrepreneurial career intentions and the TPB predictors themselves are invariant across cultures. The study compares six very different countries (Germany, India, Iran, Poland, Spain, and The Netherlands) drawing on an overall sample of 1,074 students and their assessments of entrepreneurial career intentions. Results support culture universal effects of attitudes and perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy) on entrepreneurial career intentions, but cultural variation in the effects of subjective norm.

3Producing enough food to meet the needs of a growing population has always been the greatest 4 concern of food policy-makers around the world. Given the increasing attention to organic 5 farming (OF), we conducted this study to investigate the main opportunities and challenges of 6 the food production system of small-scale farmers in developing countries with an emphasis on 7 their livelihoods. The study showed that the most significant advantages of OF are 8 environmental protection and a higher resilience to environmental changes, increasing farmers' 9 income and reducing external input cost, enhancing social capacity and increasing employment 10 opportunities. A s well as enhancing food security primarily by increasing the food purchasing 11 power of local people. However, the main challenges of this food production system include 12 lower yields in comparison to conventional systems, difficulties with soil nutrient management, 13 certification and market barriers, and the educational and research needs of small-holders. The 14 paper concludes that even though OF might present some significant challenges to small-scale 15 farmers, it could/should still be considered as a part of the solution and means of improving 16 their livelihoods.

There is substantial research on psychological consequences of disasters. However, most disaster studies to date have focused on acute disasters, ignoring slow-onset chronic hazards, such as extreme climate conditions and pollution. Using a multilevel theoretical framework based on the Conservation of Resources theory (S. ), this critical review of the current literature is aimed at increasing our understanding of personal and community impacts of drought as a classic example of a natural, slow-onset disaster affecting large numbers of people worldwide. A gap in the current literature was identified concerning appraisal and coping at the individual level. These include psychological coping strategies and the role of resources other than economic resources in explaining vulnerability to negative consequences of drought, such as personal resources (e.g., knowledge, skills, self-sufficiency, mastery, control) and social resources (e.g., social support). Important differences were identified with fast-onset disasters. Most importantly, dealing with drought is generally an integrated part of life for people in drought prone areas. Therefore, individuals may not recognize that their problems are part of a community wide stressor, and raising community awareness during severe and long droughts that deplete community resources needs special attention. Implications for studying drought and effective intervention strategies are given.

No abstract

The aim of this study was to identify difficulties and barriers to reporting clinically suspect situations, possibly caused by avian influenza (AI), and to explore possible incentives to reporting such situations, with the ultimate aim of facilitating early detection of AI outbreaks. Focus group sessions were held with policy-makers from the competent authority, representatives of veterinary practitioners and poultry farmers. Personal interviews with a group of poultry farmers and practitioners were held to ascertain the difficulties and barriers they perceived and their proposed solutions. An electronic questionnaire was put on the websites of a poultry farmer union and the Royal Dutch Veterinary Association to investigate perceptions and attitudes concerning AI-suspect situations in the Netherlands. Six themes emerged identifying factors that hinder the reporting of a clinically suspect situation: lack of knowledge and uncertainty about clinical signs of AI; guilt, shame and prejudice; negative opinion of control measures; dissatisfaction with post-reporting procedures; lack of trust in veterinary authorities; lack of transparency in reporting procedures and uncertainty about the notification process. Recommendations to facilitate early detection of AI are discussed.