In the first issue many very interesting research papers have been submitted from qualified international Scholars. We propose an overview about the main research- streams that have been chosen by the Authors. This mapping process provides the opportunity to check the guidelines for the study of economic and managerial phenomena that international scholars have followed for thirty years in the international associations that deal with economics and management, called ARETHUSE.

In the year that we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the ARETHUSE association, the second issue of 2014 includes a selection of research papers on topics of study and research that have always been focused on by the international university research groups that are members of the ARETHUSE association. These main research fields are Economics & Statistics (Economic Development, Resources and Territory, Services and Labor Markets), Strategic Management (R & D Management, Governance and Public Administration, Strategy and Control), Public Finance (Finance Policies, National versus European Finance, and European Finance Institutions). In the first paper, Consiglio, Cicellin, and Scuotto discuss the possibility of creating new models of healthcare. They affirm that the changing welfare system involves processes that are linked to the low cost approach and new initiatives are designed to meet the social need for community health and draw on the complex world of ‘bottom- up approach’. This article analyses the modern paradigm of social innovation by examining the issue of healthcare. Through the cases that currently exist in Italy, the Authors demonstrate that low cost healthcare is a specific model of social innovation which does not just consist of “low prices for mass consumption” as a competitive incentive. This research paper has the advantage of analysing the Italian healthcare system as an “extended enterprise” where the boundaries between internal and external resources appear to be less rigidly defined. Moreover, social innovation is not solely designed in order to increase the quality of the standard of living but also to play an important role in terms of increased competitiveness, efficiency of resources employed, and sustainability. In the second research contribution, González Laxe, Martín Palmero and Pateiro Rodriguez present the results of an important piece of research regarding a sample of 142 countries, in which they have verified that when income per capita (RGPD) in a country is high, the ecological footprint (EF) per capita is also at a high level. Following this experience carried out in different economic spaces, this paper assesses the evolution of incomes per capita in the Spanish economy, together with its ecological footprint, on the basis of the period 1955-2000. To carry out this research, the Authors defined two theoretical concepts identified as Autonomous Ecological Footprint, and Marginal Tendency. This research work highlights how the Spanish economy underwent a significant structural change after the second third of 20th Century. More precisely, the subsequent analysis of the most significant features in the different stages of the Spanish development, as well as the structural changes, will permit the establishment of a series of recommendations for the implementation of sustainability plans and programs. Calederón Patier and Campuzano analyse the regulation of corporate restructuring in Spain as a response to a dynamic, changing and internationalized economic reality, that requires business operators, i.e. companies, to conduct operations to reorganize or alter their financial or personnel structure (transformation, merger, division, exchange of securities, change of registered office etc.) within an appropriate legal, tax and accounting framework to ensure their viability and effectiveness. They highlight how the commercial and tax regulations applicable to corporate restructuring operations urgently requires harmonization, not only to rationalise the rules, in their development and implementation, but also to facilitate and encourage these types of operations, which are often a very important means of maintaining many corporate structures. This paper presents an interesting evaluative analysis of the differences between commercial and tax legislation that is applicable to the split-off, and conducts a critical and evaluative analysis of existing normative discrepancies on this issue. The research paper of Rivero Ceballos and Serafin Corral discuss the idea that natural resources’ economic evaluation processes cannot be isolated from scientific uncertainties and the influence of stakeholders’ strong concerns. They affirm that environmental decision-making processes are far from ideal processes where knowledge is available and experts and decision-makers are unaffected by the pressure of stakeholders’ interests. Based on the empirical analysis of the most representative business cases currently involving the gas and oil drill exploration occurring in the waters adjacent to the Canary Islands, the study analyses the expected economic benefits. Integrated qualitative assessment tools are implemented, in particular a multi- criteria assessment is carried out and two scenarios are built. It is interesting how this analysis integrated formal and informal aspects which may be used later for the resolution of the problem or for ways of exploring policy compromises. Mingorance Arnaíz and Barrusao Castillo’s interesting contribution analyses why some European countries have unemployment rates that are higher than others. By utilising a panel data model for the period 1985-2011 in order to know which variables are better to resolve unemployment, they study the role of macroeconomic and institutional variables (labor and product markets regulations) on the unemployment rate in 14 countries of the EU. The empirical results that they find and the conclusions with motived proposals to reduce the unemployment rate are interesting. This is very important given that the unemployment rate is one of the macroeconomic variables that is most affected by business cycles, and its fluctuations, a problem in all countries. In the end they highlight how employment protection legislation, the minimum wage, coordination of wage bargaining, a high employers contribution to social security, and entry barriers, may explain in part the high unemployment rates in some countries. Díaz Pérez and González Morales offer empirical evidence of the profile of the working population in Spain according to gender, quantify the extent to which self- employment or salaried employment is associated with certain characteristics or status (employment status, education level, activity sector, age, marital status) and analyse the situation in 2009. Their research work is particular important in analysing the effect of the economic crisis on the decline suffered by Spain’s working population between 2005 and 2009 and on the significant gender differences in employment status. Finally we would like to remind readers that this issue is the fruit of scientific research work that has been undertaken by numerous researchers of European universities. The articles presented in this issue are the result of a process of rigorous selection, in a scientific sense, carried out both by the Scientific Committee, and by the Editorial Board.

The papers presented in this issue are those that the Scientific Committee has assessed as being particularly of merit. They relate to three areas, Strategic Management, Economics and Statistics, and Public Finance. These areas have not only been the subject of study of researchers who adhere to the international Association, Arethuse, but especially in recent years provide a useful opportunity for whoever operates in European countries (university researchers, spin-off, managers, entrepreneurs, local associations, public authorities, governmental and non- governmental financial institutions etc.) to enrich their knowledge. In this year with the Expo taking place in Italy, the issues concerning the quality and development of the people and territory have led to scientific fields of study and discussions that are of particular global relevance. The Universal Exposition of Milan places special emphasis on sustainable development and the new sense of globalization of economic and social phenomena. A great deal of research, the results of which are presented in this issue, provide useful contributions. They highlight the metrics to be used to promote the development of the territory; they study the impact of information technology in the tourism sector; they present studies on the most appropriate reconfiguration of relationships with retailers and the reconfiguration of supply chains; finally, special attention is paid to the redesign of management techniques and of inter- enterprise relations, in order to facilitate the growth of SMEs and the environment in which they are rooted.

In the second issue of 2015, the Journal of International Studies of the scientific association, Arethuse as is by now a tradition, presents a comparison and discussion of international academic scholars on three scientific areas, Strategic Management, Economics and Statistics, and Public Finance.

This is the first thorough investigation of the Brummer brothers’ remarkable career as dealers in antiques, curiosities and modernism in Paris and New York over six decades (1906-1964). A dozen specialists aggregate their expertise to explore extant dealer records and museum archives, parse the wide-ranging Brummer stock, and assess how objects were sourced, marketed, labelled, restored, and displayed. The research provides insights into emerging collecting fields as they crystallised, at the crossroads between market and museum. It questions the trope of the tastemaker; the translocation of material culture, and the dealers’ prolific relationships with illustrious collectors, curators, scholars, artists, and fellow dealers.

Heavy gun mountings dominated the design of larger warships, on account of their size, weight, protection and cost. In the 1890s, British gun mountings developed rapidly with new gun technologies (wire winding, cordite) and the rise of the two major ordnance companies, Armstrongs and Vickers, producing large numbers of weapons for the Royal Navy and for worldwide export. But by 1960, aircraft and guided missiles had made the big gun redundant, so the period from 1890s to 1950s covering the two world wars is the most historically significant. The focus of this book is on the larger mountings and those fitted in the larger ships – the massively engineered ‘non transferable’ mountings, whose complexities and associated magazines took up a huge volume of the ship, unlike the smaller calibre ‘transferable’ mountings mostly bolted to the deck. Such mountings could weigh over 1000 tons, take two years to build and make up a quarter of the cost of a battleship. Although they existed in many variants, there were only about forty basic mountings from 4.5in to 18in calibre fitted to the majority of the RN’s larger ships so these take up the bulk of the book. For each, well illustrated handbooks with colored plates were produced, but are largely inaccessible to the public, so about 50 of these highly detailed drawings are reproduced at large scale. The smaller mountings and the guns themselves each have a separate chapter. Although the impact of the book is largely visual, there is an expert account of the design, construction and installation of such mountings, and their manufacturers, supported by a range of internal and close-up photographs. The reference value of the work is enhanced by a comprehensive table of mountings and their characteristics, plus a list of all the mountings made by Vickers of Barrow between 1900 and 1950. Providing easy access to so much rarely seen material, this handsome volume will appeal to modelmakers, ship enthusiasts and technical historians.

The task of design is to integrate functional requirements, contextual conditions and technological means into the creation of a work of architectural culture. After twenty years of practice, a team involving Ignacio Dahl Rocha, Kenneth Ross, Christian Leibbrand, Manuela Toscan and others of the Lausanne-based Swiss office of Richter ∙ Dahl Rocha & Associés has undertaken to formulate the knowledge behind their architectural practice in a comprehensive manual. Covering the full span from initial design, building typology, technology to the cooperation with other professions in four extensive sections, this book conveys the concepts, methods and details that constitute the tools of state-of-the-art architectural projects. The material used is completely first-hand, with the technical drawings redrawn to this purpose, coming from projects like the much-acclaimed integral renovation of Nestlé Headquarters, from residential, office and healthcare buildings to the groundbreaking Swiss Tech Convention Center on the Lausanne Polytechnic Campus. Written with the editorial collaboration of Denise Bratton, this book sets new standards for architectural publications as tools for design.

This book is one of the main outcomes of the projects “Development Programmes and Rural Change in the European Union: governance, results and lessons to share”and “Successes and failures in the practice of neoendogenous rural development in the European Union (1991-2013)”, funded both of them by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. This publication aims, on one side, to clarify and deepen the knowledge of the social, economic and territorial effects of the LEADER approach, and, on the other, to analyze the importante of the participation of several stakeholders (young people and women) as well as some traditional activities –agriculture- or modern ones (tourism) linked all of them to the rich cultural and natural heritage of these areas. It also provides an in-depth study of the causes that lead to the generation of successful projects in the practice of neoendogenous rural development and also explores the reasons that cause certain projects to fail in the path towards LEADER support so that they are finally not implemented. In addition, it is shown the problems, results and best practices that cause the neoendogenous rural development in different areas inside of the European Union: Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom. Thereby it helps to improve the decision-making in rural development, both on a local and regional scale. The multidisciplinary and international character of the authors, as well as the specificity of the research trajectory of each of them, in the analysis of rural development, enriches the publication and facilitates the different and critical reflections on the contributions, errors and meaning of the neoendogenous local development. Researchers in this discipline and technicians working in the practice of rural development along the European Union are the main audience of the book.