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Ecology, Genetics and Evolution of Metapopulations is acollection of specially commissioned articles that looks at fragmented habitats, bringing together recent theoretical advances and empirical studies applying the metapopulation approach. Several chapters closely integrate ecology with genetics and evolutionary biology, and others illustrate how metapopulation concepts and models can be applied to answer questions about conservation, epidemiology, and speciation.

The extensive coverage of theory from highly regarded scientists and the many substantive applications in this one-of-a-kind work make it invaluable to graduate students and researchers in a wide range of disciplines.

Provides a comprehensive and authoritative account of all aspects of metapopulation biology, integrating ecology, genetics, and evolution Developed by recognized experts, including Hanski who won the Balzan Prize for Ecological Sciences Covers novel applications of the metapopulation approach to conservation

Checkerspot butterflies have been used as an extraordinarily successful model system for more than four decades. This volume presents the first synthesis of the broad range of studies of that system as conducted in Ehrlich's research group in Stanford, in Hanski's research group in Helsinki and elsewhere. Ehrlich's long - term research project on Edith's checkerspot helped establish an intergrated disipline of population biology in the 1960s and ever since has contributed many fundamental insights into the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations. Hanski's and his associates' work an the Glanville fritillary for the past 14 years has been instrumental in establishing the field of metapopulation biology and showing how theoretical and empirical work can be effectively combined in the same project.

Ilkka Niiniluoto comes to the rescue of scientific realism, showing that reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. Philosophical realism holds that the aim of a particular discourse is to make true statements about its subject-matter. Niiniluoto surveys the different varieties of realism in ontology, semantics, epistemology, theory construction, and methodology. He then sets out his own original version, and defends it against competing theories in the philosophy of science. Niiniluoto's critical scientific realism is founded upon the notion of truth as correspondence between language and reality, and characterizes scientific progress in terms of increasing truthlikeness. This makes it possible not only to take seriously, but also to make precise, the troublesome idea that scientific theories typically are false but nevertheless close to the truth.

Ilkka Niiniluoto comes to the rescue of scientific realism, showing that reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. Philosophical realism holds that the aim of a particular discourse is to make true statements about its subject-matter. Niiniluoto surveys the different varieties of realism in ontology, semantics, epistemology, theory construction, and methodology. He then sets out his own original version, and defends it against competing theories in the philosophy of science. Niiniluoto's critical scientific realism is founded upon the notion of truth as correspondence between language and reality, and characterizes scientific progress in terms of increasing truthlikeness. This makes it possible not only to take seriously, but also to make precise, the troublesome idea that scientific theories typically are false but nevertheless close to the truth.

The interplay between intellectual property protection and antitrust rules in the communications industry is examined in this timely book, with particular focus upon the role of externalities in that interplay. There is substantial discussion of the innovation process and of how companies leverage their intellectual property rights in order to obtain market leadership. Particular emphasis is also placed upon how legal doctrines have developed to cope with these issues, and related economic analysis is also discussed.

Innovations are adopted when users integrate them in meaningful ways into existing social practices. Histories of major technological innovations show that often the creative initiative of users and user communities becomes the determining factor in the evolution of particular innovations. The evolutionary routes of the telephone, the Internet, the World Wide Web, email, and the Linux operating system all took their developers by surprise. Articulation of these technologies as meaningful products and systems was made possible by innovative users and unintended resources.Iterative and interactive models have replaced the traditional linear model of innovation during the last decade. Yet, heroic innovators and entrepreneurs, unambiguous functionality of products, and a focus on the up-stream aspects of innovation still underlie much discussion on innovation, intellectual property rights, technology policy, and product development. Coherent conceptual, theoretical and practical conclusions from research on knowledge creation, theory of learning, history of technology, and the social basis of innovative change have rarely been made.This book argues that innovation is about creating meaning; that it is inherently social; and is grounded in existing social practices. To understand the social basis of innovation and technology development we have to move beyond the traditional product-centric view on innovations. Integrating concepts from several disciplinary perspectives and detailed analyses of the evolution of Internet-related innovations, including packet-switched computer networks, World Wide Web, and the Linux open source operating system, the book develops foundations for a new theoretical and practical understanding of innovation. For example, it shows that innovative development can occur in two qualitatively different ways, one based on evolving specialization and the other based on recombination of existing socially produced resources. The expanding communication and collaboration networks have increased the importance of the recombinatory mode making mobility of resources, sociotechnical translation mechanisms, and meaning creation in communities of practice increasingly important for innovation research and product development.

Innovations are adopted when users integrate them in meaningful ways into existing social practices. Histories of major technological innovations show that often the creative initiative of users and user communities becomes the determining factor in the evolution of particular innovations. The evolutionary routes of the telephone, the Internet, the World Wide Web, email, and the Linux operating system all took their developers by surprise. Articulation of these technologies as meaningful products and systems was made possible by innovative users and unintended resources.Iterative and interactive models have replaced the traditional linear model of innovation during the last decade. Yet, heroic innovators and entrepreneurs, unambiguous functionality of products, and a focus on the up-stream aspects of innovation still underlie much discussion on innovation, intellectual property rights, technology policy, and product development. Coherent conceptual, theoretical and practical conclusions from research on knowledge creation, theory of learning, history of technology, and the social basis of innovative change have rarely been made.This book argues that innovation is about creating meaning; that it is inherently social; and is grounded in existing social practices. To understand the social basis of innovation and technology development we have to move beyond the traditional product-centric view on innovations. Integrating concepts from several disciplinary perspectives and detailed analyses of the evolution of Internet-related innovations, including packet-switched computer networks, World Wide Web, and the Linux open source operating system, the book develops foundations for a new theoretical and practical understanding of innovation. For example, it shows that innovative development can occur in two qualitatively different ways, one based on evolving specialization and the other based on recombination of existing socially produced resources. The expanding communication and collaboration networks have increased the importance of the recombinatory mode making mobility of resources, sociotechnical translation mechanisms, and meaning creation in communities of practice increasingly important for innovation research and product development.

From a small island in the Baltic Sea to the large tropical islands of Borneo and Madagascar, Messages from Islands is a global tour of these natural, water-bound laboratories. In this career-spanning work, Ilkka Hanski draws upon the many islands on which he has performed fieldwork to convey key themes in ecology. By exploring the islands' biodiversity as an introduction to general issues, Hanski helps us to learn how species and communities interact in fragmented landscapes, how evolution generates biodiversity, and how this biodiversity is maintained over time. Beginning each chapter on a particular island, Hanski dives into reflections on his own field studies before going on to pursue a variety of ecological questions, including: What is the biodiversity crisis? What are extinction thresholds and extinction debts? What can the biodiversity hypothesis tell us about rapidly increasing allergies, asthma, and other chronic inflammatory disorders?The world's largest island, Greenland, for instance, is the starting point for a journey into the benefits that humankind acquires from biodiversity, including the staggering biodiversity of microbes in the ecosystems that are closest to us the ecosystems in our guts, in our respiratory tracts, and under our skin. Conceptually oriented but grounded in an adventurous personal narrative, Messages from Islands is a landmark work that lifts the natural mysteries of islands from the sea, bringing to light the thrilling complexities and connections of ecosystems worldwide.

From a small island in the Baltic Sea to the large tropical islands of Borneo and Madagascar, Messages from Islands is a global tour of these natural, water-bound laboratories. In this career-spanning work, Ilkka Hanski draws upon the many islands on which he has performed fieldwork to convey key themes in ecology. By exploring the islands' biodiversity as an introduction to general issues, Hanski helps us to learn how species and communities interact in fragmented landscapes, how evolution generates biodiversity, and how this biodiversity is maintained over time. Beginning each chapter on a particular island, Hanski dives into reflections on his own field studies before going on to pursue a variety of ecological questions, including: What is the biodiversity crisis? What are extinction thresholds and extinction debts? What can the biodiversity hypothesis tell us about rapidly increasing allergies, asthma, and other chronic inflammatory disorders?The world's largest island, Greenland, for instance, is the starting point for a journey into the benefits that humankind acquires from biodiversity, including the staggering biodiversity of microbes in the ecosystems that are closest to us the ecosystems in our guts, in our respiratory tracts, and under our skin. Conceptually oriented but grounded in an adventurous personal narrative, Messages from Islands is a landmark work that lifts the natural mysteries of islands from the sea, bringing to light the thrilling complexities and connections of ecosystems worldwide.

The vivid discussion on civil society in Eastern Europe that flourished during the late 1980s and early 1990s has faded somewhat, and been partly replaced by new attempts to conceptualize the nature of social change taking place in these countries. This book strives to continue and go beyond the civil society discourse by analyzing the inter-relationship between education and civic culture in post-communist countries. The volume offers detailed case studies, written by specialists from the region and from Western Europe and North America, examining everyday patterns of civic culture, the linkage between education and national identity, ethnicity, gender and religion, the experience and attitudes of youth and attempts to render education systems better suited to the demands of post-communist society.

Examine today's best practices and key issues impacting international marketing with the best-selling, upper-level international marketing text -- Czinkota/Ronkainen/Cui's INTERNATIONAL MARKETING, 11E. This innovative resource offers cutting-edge international marketing strategies and guidelines using the latest examples. You explore the range of international marketing topics, from start-up operations and new market entry considerations to key international issues confronting today's giant global marketers. Updates address international e-commerce and technology as well as the impact of culture and government on marketing throughout the world. Case studies highlight the latest marketing practices in real organizations, while Internet exercises focus on online opportunities. This in-depth coverage prepares you for success in today's international business world, whether you are an upcoming international marketer or practicing executive.

This book critically analyses the changing EU-Russian security environment in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, with a particular focus on northern Europe where the EU and the Russian Federation share a common border. Russian involvement in conflict situations in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood has drastically impacted the European security environment, leading to a resurgence of competitive great power relations. The book uses the EU-Russia interface at the borders of Finland and the European North as a prism through which interwoven external and internal security challenges can be explored. Security is considered in the broadest sense of the term, as the authors consider how the security environment is reflected politically, socially and culturally within European societies. The book analyses changing political language and concepts, institutional preparedness, border governance, human security, migration and wider challenges to societal resilience. Ultimately, the book investigates into Finland’s preparedness to address new global security challenges and to find solutions to them on an everyday level.This book will be an important guide for researchers and upper-level students of security, border studies, Russian and European studies, as well as to policy makers looking to develop a wider, contextualized understanding of the challenges to stability and security in different parts of Europe.

This book critically analyses the changing EU-Russian security environment in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, with a particular focus on northern Europe where the EU and the Russian Federation share a common border. Russian involvement in conflict situations in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood has drastically impacted the European security environment, leading to a resurgence of competitive great power relations. The book uses the EU-Russia interface at the borders of Finland and the European North as a prism through which interwoven external and internal security challenges can be explored. Security is considered in the broadest sense of the term, as the authors consider how the security environment is reflected politically, socially and culturally within European societies. The book analyses changing political language and concepts, institutional preparedness, border governance, human security, migration and wider challenges to societal resilience. Ultimately, the book investigates into Finland’s preparedness to address new global security challenges and to find solutions to them on an everyday level.This book will be an important guide for researchers and upper-level students of security, border studies, Russian and European studies, as well as to policy makers looking to develop a wider, contextualized understanding of the challenges to stability and security in different parts of Europe.

In the aftermath of the Ukraine crises, borders within the wider post-Cold War and post-Soviet context have become a key issue for international relations and public political debate. These borders are frequently viewed in terms of military preparedness and confrontation, but behind armed territorial conflicts there has been a broader shift in the regional balance of power and sovereignty. This book explores border conflicts in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood via a detailed focus on state power and sovereignty, set in the context of post-Cold war politics and international relations.By identifying changing definitions of sovereignty and political space the authors highlight competing strategies of legitimising and challenging borders that have emerged as a result of geopolitical transformations of the last three decades. This book uses comparative studies to examine country specific variation in border negotiation and conflict, and pays close attention to shifts in political debates that have taken place between the end of State Socialism, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the Ukraine crises. From this angle, Post-Cold War Borders sheds new light on change and variation in the political rhetoric of the EU, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and neighbouring EU member countries. Ultimately, the book aims to provide a new interpretation of changes in international order and how they relate to shifting concepts of sovereignty and territoriality in post-Cold war Europe.Shedding new light on negotiation and conflict over post-Soviet borders, this book will be of interest to students, researchers and policy makers in the fields of Russian and East European studies, international relations, geography, border studies and politics.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were high hopes of Russia’s "modernisation" and rapid political and economic integration with the EU. But now, given its own policies of national development, Russia appears to have ‘limits to integration’. Today, much European political discourse again evokes East/West civilisational divides and antagonistic geopolitical interests in EU-Russia relations. This book provides a carefully researched and timely analysis of this complex relationship and examines whether this turn in public debate corresponds to local-level experience – particularly in border areas where the European Union and Russian Federation meet.This multidisciplinary book - covering geopolitics, international relations, political economy and human geography - argues that the concept ‘limits to integration’ has its roots in geopolitical reasoning; it examines how Russian regional actors have adapted to the challenges of simultaneous internal and external integration, and what kind of strategies they have developed in order to meet the pressures coming across the border and from the federal centre. It analyses the reconstitution of Northwest Russia as an economic, social and political space, and the role cross-border interaction has had in this process. The book illustrates how a comparative regional perspective offers insights into the EU-Russia relationship: even if geopolitics sets certain constraints to co-operation, and market processes have led to conflict in cross-border interaction, several actors have been able to take initiative and create space for increasing cross-border integration in the conditions of Russia’s internal reconstitution.

This book pursues a dual objective: on the one hand, it focuses on the actual and potential roles of civil society in developing new forms of political, economic, and socio-cultural cooperation between the European Union and its neighbours. On the other hand, through this investigation of civil society networks we will contribute to debate on the EU’s role as promoter of greater regional co-operation. The rationale for this collection is thus defined by changing political relationships between the 27-member European Union and countries in its immediate vicinity. These transformations include the ongoing but by no means straightforward process of Turkey’s EU membership, an evolving (and complex) partnership with Russia and the development of deeper political, economic and social relationships with many other neighbouring countries. More specifically, the work presented here involves comparative studies of how the EU is perceived by civil society actors both within and outside the EU. We ask whether the EU’s promotion of cross-border co-operation (e.g. though the European Neighbourhood Policy) is empowering civil society within member states and in neighbouring countries such as Russia, Moldova, Turkey and Morocco.This book was based on a special issue of Journal of European Integration.

The collapse of the Soviet Union has had profound and long-lasting impacts on the societies of Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia, impacts which are not yet fully worked through: changes in state-society relations, a comprehensive reconfiguration of political, economic and social ties, the resurgence of regional conflicts "frozen" during the Soviet period, and new migration patterns both towards Russia and the European Union. At the same time the EU has emerged as an important player in the region, formulating its European Neighbourhood Policy, and engaging neighbouring states in a process of cross-border regional co-operation. This book explores a wide range of complex and contested questions related to borders, security and migration in the emerging "European Neighbourhood" which includes countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia as well as the countries which immediately border the EU. Issues discussed include new forms of regional and cross-border co-operation, new patterns of migration, and the potential role of the EU as a stabilizing external force. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

In the fast-paced world of global business, success is marked by the ability to stay on top of currents events, to recognize new trends, and to react quickly to change. This book offers contributions by global marketing authorities to help you understand this rapidly changing international environment and respond to opportunities and perils. Editors Michael R. Czinkota and Ilkka A. Ronkainen use their years of experience in policy, business, and academia to provide these readings noted for their currency, relevancy, and scholarly depth.

Global Business: Positioning Ventures Ahead alerts every business to the new windows of opportunity open to those willing to explore global markets. Authors Czinkota and Ronkainen bring readers quickly up to speed on the essentials of international marketing, explaining all the strategic alternatives for going global—from exporting and licensing to distributorships and joint ventures. They illustrate how to present, promote, and price products and services to appeal to multiple world markets and how to strike back when world competitors move into one’s territory.Each chapter concludes with "Food for Thought" questions that challenge the reader to think more deeply about entry into the global market, as well as further readings and online resources that provide useful references for continuing investigation.Global Business: Positioning Ventures Ahead equips readers with the skills to ride out the risks and reap the rewards of world-class engagement.

Mobile Web services offer new possibilities and extraordinary rewards for the mobile telecommunications market. Service-oriented architectures (SOAs) implemented with Web services are fundamentally changing business processes supported by distributed computing. These technologies bring forward the promise of services available at any time, in any place, and on any platform. Through mobile Web services, operators can offer new value-added services for their users, explore new business opportunities and increase revenue and customer retention.This expands the commercial opportunities for developers to promote their applications and enables solutions that work seamlessly across computer and mobile environments.Mobile Web Services is a comprehensive, up-to-date and practical guide to adapting mobile Web services-based applications. The expert author team from Nokia explain in depth the software architecture and application development interfaces needed to develop solutions for these technologies.Mobile Web Services: Architecture and Implementation: Provides a complete and authoritative text on implementing mobile Web services.Describes the mobile Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) concept.Covers the discovery, description and security of Web services.Explains how to use Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) in Web service messaging.Discusses the challenges and possibilities of mobile Web services, and gives case studies to illustrate the application of the technology.Presents the Nokia Mobile Web Services platform.Offers material on developing mobile Web service clients using C++ and Java.This text is essential reading for wireless Web architects, mobile application developers and programmers, software developers, technical officers and consultants, as well as advanced students in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.

"The new era of powerful, mobile computing and sensing devices having ever larger memories and personal databases brings to light a number of difficult problems in software, interface design, search, organization of information, and methods for inferring context and for sharing personal content… The authors have done an admirable job at describing the problems and opportunities and, as such, this book should be on the shelves of researchers struggling to make these mobile devices truly valuable to the ever expanding number of their users."—David G. Stork, Chief Scientist, Ricoh Innovations Personal Content Experience is a comprehensive introduction to mobile personal content. The book introduces and explores issues such as context capture, user interfaces for continuous mobile use, UI design for mobile media applications, metadata magic, virtual communities, and ontologies. User interactions and behavioural patterns with personal content are also covered, resulting in a ‘GEMS’ lifecycle model for analysing media devices, services, applications, and user interfaces. In addition, the book describes an extensible software architecture targeted at content management in mobile devices, pointing out the essential topics that will benefit anyone developing mobile content-intensive applications and services.Personal Content Experience: Establishes a foundation for analyzing applications, services and user interfaces targeted at personal content.Provides a strong industrial insight, combining hands-on examples, application concepts and software architecture descriptions with theoretical frameworks and models.Offers a multi-disciplinary approach, considering both user perspective and technology aspects.This book is a clear and practical guide to the field of personal content and will be invaluable to practitioners in mobile industry and digital content management, media-intensive application developers, content creators and distributors, academic researchers, and lecturers in computer science and multimedia.

Essential reading for students studying International Business at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level, this text is based on the US book ‘International Business’ 7th Edition by Michael R. Czinkota, Ilkka A. Ronkainen, and Michael H. Moffett.   Presenting an up-to-date and complete exploration of international business issues and practice, the text is built upon a strong foundation of theory and includes current examples, cases and insights showing how global businesses apply these concepts.  The text examines the role and impact of culture and also includes numerous current world maps, helping learners develop and refine a global perspective. Building on the strengths of the original work, the new text covers topics that are included in European International Business courses, eg, The Nature of International Business, Economic Integration, International Financial Markets and Emerging Issues in International Business.  The new text will provide a more critical approach and will be condensed into 15 chapters.

Describes the basic prerequisities for a fluorometric immunoassay: the antibody, the immunological technology, the fluorescent probe, and the instrument. Provides a profile of the clinical applications of the various assay technologies. Topics include: background noise, the mechanization and automation of immunoassays, DNA-based specific binding assays, fluorescence immonosensors, multiparameter analyzing systems and more.

In many ecosystems dung beetles play a crucial role--both ecologically and economically--in the decomposition of large herbivore dung. Their activities provide scientists with an excellent opportunity to explore biological community dynamics. This collection of essays offers a concise account of the population and community ecology of dung beetles worldwide, with an emphasis on comparisons between arctic, temperate, and tropical species assemblages. Useful insights arise from relating the vast differences in species' life histories to their population and community-level consequences. The authors also discuss changes in dung beetle faunas due to human-caused habitat alteration and examine the possible effects of introducing dung beetles to cattle-breeding areas that lack efficient native species. "With the expansion of cattle breeding areas, the ecology of dung beetles is a subject of great economic concern as well as one of intense theoretical interest. This excellent book represents an up-to-date ecological study covering important aspects of the dung beetle never before presented."--Gonzalo Halffter, Instituto de Ecologia, Mexico City Originally published in 1991.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

In many ecosystems dung beetles play a crucial role--both ecologically and economically--in the decomposition of large herbivore dung. Their activities provide scientists with an excellent opportunity to explore biological community dynamics. This collection of essays offers a concise account of the population and community ecology of dung beetles worldwide, with an emphasis on comparisons between arctic, temperate, and tropical species assemblages. Useful insights arise from relating the vast differences in species' life histories to their population and community-level consequences. The authors also discuss changes in dung beetle faunas due to human-caused habitat alteration and examine the possible effects of introducing dung beetles to cattle-breeding areas that lack efficient native species. "With the expansion of cattle breeding areas, the ecology of dung beetles is a subject of great economic concern as well as one of intense theoretical interest. This excellent book represents an up-to-date ecological study covering important aspects of the dung beetle never before presented."--Gonzalo Halffter, Instituto de Ecologia, Mexico City Originally published in 1991.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Institutional Interaction focuses on talk and interaction in institutional contexts. The first systematic book-length study on this expanding area, it discusses the theory and methodology of conversation analysis, focusing on studies of institutional interaction, before examining the basics of institutional interaction in selected fields. Cutting-edge new applications are assessed, such as human-computer interaction, the role of ethnography, statistics and the relationship of institutional talk to ordinary talk. Accessibly written and carefully structured to provide a sophisticated introduction to conversation analysis applied in institutional settings, the book offers a wealth of examples ranging from the classroom, to the courtroom, to the doctor's surgery. The book also features helpful suggestions for further reading, designed to appeal to students and academics in socio-linguistics, social psychology, organizational studies, management and information systems and applied linguistics.

Can scientists study religion? Ilkka PyysiSinen says that they can. While the study of religion cannot be reduced to other disciplines, it must not ignore what other disciplines have learned about human thought and behavior. In this collection of essays, PyysiSinen shows how findings from cognitive science can offer new directions to debates in religion. After providing a historical and theoretical overview of the cognitive science of religion, PyysiSinen demonstrates how knowledge of the mind's workings can help deconstruct such concepts as 'god,' 'ideology,' 'culture,' 'magic,' 'miracles,' and 'religion.' For scholars of religion or for scholars of the mind-brain, Magic, Miracles, and Religion provides a helpful overview to this emerging field.

Can scientists study religion? Ilkka PyysiSinen says that they can. While the study of religion cannot be reduced to other disciplines, it must not ignore what other disciplines have learned about human thought and behavior. In this collection of essays, PyysiSinen shows how findings from cognitive science can offer new directions to debates in religion. After providing a historical and theoretical overview of the cognitive science of religion, PyysiSinen demonstrates how knowledge of the mind's workings can help deconstruct such concepts as 'god,' 'ideology,' 'culture,' 'magic,' 'miracles,' and 'religion.' For scholars of religion or for scholars of the mind-brain, Magic, Miracles, and Religion provides a helpful overview to this emerging field.

This work presents an applied econometric analysis of the demand for food in the Nordic countries. A system of demand equations, based on the neoclassical theory of consumer demand, is analyzed using modern econometric techniques for estimation and evaluation. The models investigated are mainly dynamic versions of the Almost Ideal Demand System, which was first proposed in static form by Deaton and Muellbauer. The authors have incorporated recent econometric advances in misspecification testing, allowing for a thorough investigation of the models. They construct specified demand systems that explain the historical development of the consumption of different food items in the Nordic countries. Equal attention is paid to the presentation of specific results concerning elasticities, tests, and to the description of the methodology used.