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Social entrepreneurship has been a subject of growing interest by academics and governments, however little still being known about environmental factors that affect this phenomenon. The main objective of this study is to analyze how these factors affect social entrepreneurial activity, in the light of the institutional economic theory as the conceptual framework. Using linear regression analysis for a sample of 49 countries, is studied the impact of informal institutions (social needs, societal attitudes and education) and formal institutions (public spending, access to finance and governance effectiveness) on social entrepreneurial activity. The findings suggest that while societal attitudes increase the rates of social entrepreneurship, public spending has a negative relationship with this phenomenon. Finally, the empirical evidence found could be useful for the definition of government policies on promoting social entrepreneurship.

A discussion of the relationship between environmental factors & att's, actions, & states of affair, focusing on how the environmental factors are related to pol'al phenomena &- what forms of speech are most fruitful in expressing such relationships. An attempt is made to establish the following theses: (1) environmental factors become related to the att's & decisions comprising a state's foreign policy only by being apperceived & taken into account by policy-makers, (2) how these factors are dealt with in foreign-policy-making is a function of the theory of decision-making which the analyst employs, (3) hyp's re this issue can provide fruitful linkages between ecological & behavioral approaches to the study of international politics, (4) environmental factors can be signif'ly related to the operational results of policy decisions even though they are not taken into account in the policyforming process, (5) the anlysis of state capabilities consists of calculating opportunities & limitations in the milieu of the state under consideration, (6) capability calculations are carried out within some framework of assumptions re the policy objectives, operational strategy, &pol'al relations of the state, & (7) conclusions re the opportunity & the topical explantory premises of the analyst. A distinction is made between capability analysis & foreign-policy analysis, which consists of explaining or predicting policy decisions. Environmental factors in both types of analysis are considered. I. Taviss.

The current state of research in environmental risk factors of ALS has provided many intriguing possible associations. Yet only one-smoking is at this time firmly established. The methodologic difficulties with studying a rare disease that occurs late in life, which could be related to exposures many decades ago, make relationships dauntingly difficult to prove. Despite continued improvement in methodology, significant challenges remain. The diagnostic criteria for ALS are complicated and there are continued efforts to improve them. As they are, the criteria do not yet capture all people with ALS, which further complicates epidemiologic studies. It is hoped that larger datasets with better characterization of different clinical features and laboratory markers will provide more robust estimates of risk factors in ALS in the years to come. A better understanding of environmental risk factors could help reduce exposures and it is hoped markedly reduce ALS incidence over time. Epidemiologic research is critical to advance this field, but the relative rarity of ALS and the current notion that exposures may affect the risk of ALS only decades later make such projects complex with many challenges. One US project of great potential is the National ALS Registry. It is a congressionally-mandated prospective population-based registry encompassing the entire US population. In addition to quantifying the incidence, prevalence, and demographics of ALS in the US, another main goal of the Registry is to examine the risk factors for the disease through online risk factor modules. There are currently 17 different risk factor modules that persons with ALS can complete including, but not limited to, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, military service history, occupational history, and a family history of ALS. Since the Registry's launch in October 2010, over 45,000 online risk factor modules have been completed. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically diverse collection of risk factor data available about ...