45 research outputs found
Beyond the Bosphorus? Comparing German, French and British Discourses on Turkey’s Application to Join the European Union
No full textThis article examines the impact of national borders on public discourses, based on a case study of the struggle surrounding Turkey’s application to join the European Union (EU). Comparing opinions, reasons and interpretation patterns in press commentaries about enlarging the EU beyond the Bosphorus, the findings confirm the paramount importance and robustness of national cleavages between the German and the French public sphere on the one hand, and the British on the other. Whereas Turkish membership was predominantly re-jected on the continent, the British commentators strongly and almost unanimously sup-ported Ankara’s request to open doors. These similarities and divergences, I argue, are first and foremost the result of, and linked with, competing visions of Europe’s finality, especially regarding various constitutional ideas and cultural principles. Against this background, the Turkey question was partly exploited as an instrument supporting or repressing different conceptions of the European Union’s future
Faglig program i arkeologi for Universitetsmuseet i Bergen 2020–2025. Steinalder til og med mellomneolittisk tid (9500–2350 f.Kr.)
No full text
Beyond the Bosphorus? Comparing German, French, and British Discourses on Turkey's Application to Join the European Union. IHS Political Science Series Paper, No. 111, December 2006
No full textThis article examines the impact of national borders on public discourses, based on a case study of the struggle surrounding Turkey’s application to join the European Union (EU). Comparing opinions, reasons and interpretation patterns in press commentaries about enlarging the EU beyond the Bosphorus, the findings confirm the paramount importance and robustness of national cleavages between the German and the French public sphere on the one hand, and the British on the other. Whereas Turkish membership was predominantly re-jected on the continent, the British commentators strongly and almost unanimously sup-ported Ankara’s request to open doors. These similarities and divergences, I argue, are first and foremost the result of, and linked with, competing visions of Europe’s finality, especially regarding various constitutional ideas and cultural principles. Against this background, the Turkey question was partly exploited as an instrument supporting or repressing different conceptions of the European Union’s future
The Effects of Labour Migration and Interventions on Tax Compliance
No full textFirst of all, I would like to thank my supervisors at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH),
Evelina Gavrilova-Zoutman and Floris Zoutman for excellent guidance throughout my PhD.
Following my many years outside academia, prior to my PhD journey, their effort was timely
and appreciated. I would also like to thank Jarle Møen for facilitating the admission to the PhD
program at the NHH. Thanks also to Lars Jonas Andersson at NHH for providing good
guidance on machine learning, and support for my notion on its relevance to this project.
This PhD could not have been realised without the funding and support from the Norwegian
Research Council and the Norwegian Tax Administration (NTA). But equally important, the
many brilliant colleagues in the latter institution. I would like to thank Marcus Zackrisson who
paved the way for this project at management level, and Terje Nordli and Monica Bredesen for
anchoring the interest among the colleagues engaged in the important work of preventing tax
related labour market crime. Research coordinator at the NTA, Torhild Henriksen, deserves a
special thanks for facilitating and maintaining research interaction between the NTA and the
NHH, and for giving professional advice during the whole period.
I am very thankful for the great talks and substantial contributions to machine learning
provided by Nils Gaute Voll. Øystein Olsen and Tore Sjøstedt helped a lot with specifying the
data extraction. I would like to thank Hanne Beate Næringsrud for the many comments on
specific issues, including interpretation, message, and narratives. Nina Serdarevic, Julia
Tropina Bakke, Knut Løyland, Inge Sandstad Skrondal, and Arnstein Øvrum have provided
useful comments on earlier drafts as well. I would also like to thank Kari Djupdal, Anders
Berset, Andreas Olden, Joakim Døving Dalen, and Terje Dalen for the many fruitful
discussions I have had over the years at the NTA. What a great knowledge pool you all are!
A special thanks goes to Anne May Melsom who was appointed my co-supervisor at the NTA
and co-authored two of the papers. Not only do I owe you for improving my Stata knowledge
to an adequate level, but also for your impeccable understanding of the data, your substantial
inquiries, and finally for the considerable effort to the very end. Your help has been invaluable.
I would also like to thank academic staff at other institutions, for their valuable insights and
comments. Those are Joel Slemrod at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Steinar Strøm,
Andreas Kotsadam and Thor Olav Thoresen at the University of Oslo, and Hamed Saiedi at
the Norwegian Business School.
I am grateful for the many conversations and colloquial preparations with peer students at the
Stockholm Doctoral Course Program in Economics, Econometrics and Finance (SDPE) jointly
by Stockholm University and Stockholm School of Economics, where I undertook most of my
4
course components. I am equally thankful for the talks and encounters at various conferences
with my peer PhD students at the NHH.
A particular gratitude goes to my dear friends at the NTA, namely Hanne Beate Næringsrud,
Julia Tropina Bakke, Øystein Olsen, Anders Berset, and Ivana Haakens for being there in
challenging times. Friends like You last a lifetime.
I am forever thankful to Rebecka Maria Norman for the continuous, but nevertheless (at least
for me) useful discussions on so many topics on statistical inference over the years. I hope our
kids, Felicia, Gabriel, and August, were not permanently damaged by nitty gritty talks on
standard error clustering or heteroscedasticity. Their patience has been remarkable.
Finally, my heartfelt gratitude to Ann-Kristin Midtskog for new perspectives on compliance,
text clarifications, strategic choices, and for your unconditional love and support (“…Og jeg
kan ikke miste det uansett hva som skjer”).
Oslo, December 2023
Thomas Lang
Thermoperiodic growth control by gibberellin does not involve changes in photosynthetic or respiratory capacities in pea
No full textNewtools—Developing New Tools for a Sustainable Food System, Including Two Scoring Systems for Foods on Nutritional Quality and for Environmental and Social Sustainability
No full textBackground and objectives: Today, enough food is produced in the world, but much of the food produced and offered has poor nutritional quality, is unevenly distributed, or requires a lot of natural resources. To achieve a more sustainable food system, there is a need for simple tools to guide consumers, food producers, politicians, etc. towards more sustainable foods and diets. The main aim of the NewTools project is to develop two new scoring systems for foods; one that indicates nutritional quality, and one that indicates environmental and social sustainability, and to explore potential areas of application. Methods: In the research project NewTools (2021-25), 28 different actors in the Norwegian food system are partners and represent research institutions (7), food industry (13), governmental agencies (3), and non-governmental organizations (5). Building on existing knowledge and scoring systems, the project will first work to identify relevant indicators for being included in the scores. Indicators should be evidence based, measurable, and reasonably easily accessible. The indicators shall then be weighted according to their relative importance into the aggregated scores. NewTools also facilitates co-creation so that possible uses for the scores can be identified and tested. Research integrity is ensured by following a predefined framework for cooperation. Results: Until now, the evaluation of the newly revised Nutri-Score in a Norwegian setting has revealed several potential areas of improvement. We have defined a set of criteria for a nutrition quality score that will better align with food-based dietary guidelines, and a prioritized list of gaps compared to the Nutri-Score. For environmental and social sustainability, we are currently mapping relevant indicators with input from the literature and food system actors. Discussion: NewTools is a research project and a platform for broad collaboration that can contribute to the development of effective tools for shifting the food system towards a more sustainable direction, including more dimensions of sustainability compared to the European “product environmental footprint” (PEF). Partners representing governmental agencies, the food industry, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) contribute information, critical perspectives, data, and feedback, and their involvement is important to ensure that different perspectives are included
Prevalence and Risk Factors for HIV-1 Infection in Rural Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania: Implications for Prevention and Treatment.
No full textVariability in stages of the HIV-1 epidemic and hence HIV-1 prevalence exists in different areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate the magnitude of HIV-1 infection and identify HIV-1 risk factors that may help to develop preventive strategies in rural Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and May of 2005 involving all individuals aged between 15-44 years having an address in Oria Village. All eligible individuals were registered and invited to participate. Participants were interviewed regarding their demographic characteristics, sexual behaviors, and medical history. Following a pre-test counseling, participants were offered an HIV test. Of the 2 093 eligible individuals, 1 528 (73.0%) participated. The overall age and sex adjusted HIV-1 prevalence was 5.6%. Women had 2.5 times higher prevalence (8.0% vs. 3.2%) as compared to men. The age group 25-44 years, marriage, separation and low education were associated with higher risk of HIV-1 infection for both sexes. HIV-1 infection was significantly associated with >2 sexual partners in the past 12 months (women: Adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.5 (95%CI: 1.3-4.7), and past 5 years, [(men: AOR, 2.2 (95%CI:1.2-5.6); women: AOR, 2.5 (95%CI: 1.4-4.0)], unprotected casual sex (men: AOR,1.8 95%CI: 1.2-5.8), bottled alcohol (Men: AOR, 5.9 (95%CI:1.7-20.1) and local brew (men: AOR, 3.7 (95%CI: 1.5-9.2). Other factors included treatment for genital ulcers and genital discharge in the past 1 month. Health-related complaints were more common among HIV-1 seropositive as compared to seronegative participants and predicted the presence of HIV-1 infection. HIV-1 infection was highly prevalent in this population. As compared to our previous findings, a shift of the epidemic from a younger to an older age group and from educated to uneducated individuals was observed. Women and married or separated individuals remained at higher risk of infection. To prevent further escalation of the HIV epidemic, efforts to scale up HIV prevention programmes addressing females, people with low education, lower age at marriage, alcohol consumption, condom use and multiple sexual partners for all age groups remains a top priority. Care and treatment are urgently needed for those infected in rural areas
NewTools: a novel collaboration across the Norwegian food system with the aim of developing tools for food system transformation
No full textAbstract
Objective:
The NewTools project aims to support the transformation of the food system by developing summary scores for the nutritional value and environmental and social sustainability of foods and exploring potential applications. In this conceptual paper, we present the governance, objectives, conceptualisation and expected outcomes of the NewTools project.
Design:
A cross-sector research partnership involving actors across the Norwegian food system.
Setting:
The need to transform food systems both globally, regionally and nationally.
Participants:
A broad constellation of twenty-eight project partners includes research institutions, governmental agencies, food industry and Non-governmental organization (NGO).
Expected results:
Outputs from the project will include the development and testing of a score for nutritional quality using the European Nutri-Score version 2023 as a starting point, identifying of indicators to measure social and environmental sustainability, proposing weighting of these into one or several summary scores, pilots testing potential applications of use for the scores and protocols for relevant spin-off projects.
Conclusion:
The multitude of perspectives represented by this unique variety of partners is seen as valuable to better understand the opportunities and limitations of the proposed tools designed to foster transformations towards a more resilient and sustainable food system
