Music for a French Piano

In late 1803, Beethoven acquired a new piano from the French firm of Sébastien Erard. This piano differed from the one built by Anton Walter that he owned in the late 1790s, most notably in its heavier construction, English-style action rather than the lighter Viennese action, triple stringing, four pedal stops (lute, dampers, buff, una corda), and five-and-a-half octave range from FF to c4. The piano’s influence on Beethoven’s compositional process is apparent in his Thirty-Two Variations on an Original Theme, WoO 80 (1806), a quasi-systematic exploration of piano techniques, textures, and sonorities that exploits both the capacities and limitations of the Erard.

La enseñanza de la Botánica y los modelos anatómicos de Les Fils d’Émile Deyrolle

Resumen Los modelos anatómicos fueron muy utilizados en la enseñanza de la historia natural entre el siglo XIX y primer tercio de siglo XX. Hoy en día, siguen siendo un recurso didáctico importante para la enseñanza de la biología en muchos centros históricos de secundaria y museos de nuestro país. Estudiamos los modelos tridimensionales de la casa comercial francesa Les Fils d’Émile Deyrolle con su oferta de reproducción de organismos y estructuras botánicas, centrando nuestra investigación en una de las colecciones más completas que existen de esta serie conservada en el antiguo gabinete-laboratorio de biología de la Universidad de Murcia. Por una parte, se analizan sus características técnicas, funcionamiento, así como también su función didáctica y contenidos asociados. Abstract Anatomical models were widely used in the teaching of natural history between the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century. Nowadays, they still are an important didactic resource in many historical institutions of secondary school education and museums in Spain. We study the three-dimensional models of the French firm Les Fils d’Émile Deyrolle, which offered a reproduction of organisms and structures related to botany. We focused our study on one of the most complete collection - kept in the historic laboratory of biology of the University of Murcia. Its technical characteristics, functioning, as well as its didactic function and associated contents have been included in our analysis.

Firm Sorting and Agglomeration

To account for the uneven distribution of economic activity in space, I propose a theory of the location choices of heterogeneous firms in a variety of sectors across cities. In equilibrium, the distribution of city sizes and the sorting patterns of firms are uniquely determined and affect aggregate TFP and welfare. I estimate the model using French firm-level data and find that nearly half of the productivity advantage of large cities is due to firm sorting, the rest coming from agglomeration economies. I quantify the general equilibrium effects of place-based policies: policies that subsidize smaller cities have negative aggregate effects. (JEL D22, D24, R11, R32)

“It can cry, it can speak, it can pee”: Modality values and playing affordances in contemporary baby dolls’ discourse

Baby dolls have been in the toy market for more than a hundred years, since French firm Jumeau entered the toy industry in the 19th century and started producing ‘bébés’, considered the greatest phenomena of the toy market (FLEMING, 1996). The aim of this analysis is to shed some light on the multimodal properties provided by the aural, verbal and visual texts of the packages of Brazilian baby dolls through a careful look at their textual and contextual meanings, anchored on Kress & Van Leeuwen’s (2006) subsystem of modality (reality value), within the interpersonal visual metafunction. The analyses of the baby dolls’ packages point to roles suggested to young girls from very early age, varying from parenting roles they are asked to fullfill later in life as future mothers to medical abilities they are encouraged to master in order to care and nurture for their “children”.

Do dimensions of corporate social responsibility affect earnings management?

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on earnings management measured by discretionary accruals based on Dechow et al.’s (1995) model with cash flow from operation. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a sample of 119 French non-financial companies listed on the CAC All Tradable index for the 2010-2014 period. All used regressions for the analysis are estimated based on panel data with random-effects. Findings Based on a panel data of 595 French firm-year observations during the period 2010-2014, the authors find a negative impact of CSR on earnings management, and some CSR dimensions negatively impact earnings management. Practical implications The results suggest several implications for regulatory in France, as well as those in other countries that try to implement CSR activities. Originality/value The originality of this work lies in the division of CSR into sub-dimensions defined by the ISO 26000 standard. This division reduces the complexity of societal reality and obeys a coherent institutional logic. In addition, it enables the operationalization of CSR in a new way to determine the impact of CSR on earnings management.

Cross-cultural Communication and Language Perspective: Moving from Localization to Glocalization

Objective: This is a case study on how a French firm went from Localization to Glocalization from a cross-cultural communication and language perspective. Methodology: The method used was a case study approach. Lionel Thibaud, the General Manager, Impression et Enregistrement des Résultats (IER) (a French firm) based on the Middle East thought about achievements and challenges faced by the company within the Middle East region over the period of 2007–2013 in relation to various cross-cultural and multi-national issues. Findings: The problem faced by the decision-makers in this region was how to do business with the different Middle Eastern countries while handling and striking a balance with all varying cultures and customs. In addition, to meet the needs of the customers, a key strategic mission was to establish long-term relationships and collaborations with suppliers and customers. This ‘way of doing business’ was made all the more difficult as the Middle Eastern culture was perceived similar from the outside. Value Added: Culture in Middle East was a good way to create discussions and healthy debate to understand how to do business in the Middle East and gain a competitive advantage through the relationships that IER developed through trust from the customers. IER Middle East continued to strive successfully on how to do business within the Middle Eastern region in handling and striking a balance with all varying cultures and customs. In addition, to meet the needs of the customers, IER had a long-term mission to establish long-term relationships and collaborations within the Middle East region. Recommendations: IER Middle East was to continue being the preferred vendor of airlines and airports while providing innovative ideas and solution as well as to continue to offer outstanding customer support.

The Micro Origins of International Business-Cycle Comovement

This paper investigates the role of individual firms in international business-cycle comovement using data covering the universe of French firm-level value added and international linkages over the period 1993–2007. At the micro level, trade and multinational linkages with a particular foreign country are associated with a significantly higher correlation between a firm and that foreign country. The impact of direct linkages on comovement at the micro level has significant macro implications. Without those linkages the correlation between France and foreign countries would fall by about 0.098, or one-third of the observed average correlation of 0.291 in our sample of partner countries. (JEL F14, F23, F44, F62, L14)