This article is an entry to be published in an International Encyclopedia of Civil Society in 2009. Mutual organizations exist everywhere in developed and developing countreies as well. After a definition founded on social economy principles, the paper gives the historical background of mutual...

International standard classifications were built to simplify the complex world of the business sector and analyse the international exchange of goods. Therefore they are less fitted to the classification of social economy organizations(SEO) and provision of services. Firstly this chapter...

This article aims to investigate the multiple meanings of "économie sociale" ("social economy"), a term which first appeared in France at the founding moment of modern capitalism, both as a concept in the framework for the creation of a social science in close relation with the tradition of...

This article aims to investigate the multiple meanings of "économie sociale" ("social economy"), a term which first appeared in France at the founding moment of modern capitalism, both as a concept in the framework for the creation of a social science in close relation with the tradition of...

While there could be separate streams of established research on lean production, global supply chain and sustainable development, the idea is to address the intersection of these strategic initiatives. The aim of the mission is to explore the link between sustainable development, global supply...

The new awareness of the consumers regarding environmental issues should allow companies to gain a competitive advantage by obtaining eco-labels which certify the low impact of a product on the environment. Getting such label requires to analyse a product according to rules expressed in natural...

Since the Brundtland report in 1987, at the start of the series of United Nations Conferences on the Environment and Development, the world population has grown by more than it was in the time of Adam Smith. Oil consumption has increased by 40% and the trend is similar for other exhaustible...

In this paper, we question whether there is a catch-up effect or announcement effecting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the European Union (EU) to the ten EU accession countries. We study FDI outflows for Romania, a small economy with few historical ties to Eastern Europe, and compare FDI...

In a context of climate change, increase in mobility and growing budgetary constraints, projects that fit with the pillars of sustainable development will be the only to be envisaged. This study aims to demonstrate to authorities the advantages of High Speed Rail as a comparison with other...

The contents and scope of Sustainable Development, as a model for the development towards which the international community wants to move forward, is the object of multiple interpretations. That way both, diagnosis of sustainability and the design, execution and assessment of actions aimed to...