Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strengthening the Councillor as a Representative and Scrutiniser: The Effects of Institutional Change on Councillors' Role Orientations in the Netherlands

Abstract In 2002 the Dutch Ministry of the Interior enacted a new Local Government Act. The introduction of the new legislation was supported by a large-scale Innovation Program. The main objective of this institutional reform in local government was to improve the responsiveness and democratic accountability of municipalities by changing the role orientations and role behaviour of local councillors. The first question we address in this paper is whether these institutional reforms have indeed changed the relevant role orientations of the councillors. Despite widespread scepticism about the impact of institutional change, on the basis of surveys conducted before and after the reforms we found that the Dutch reforms may have been successful in changing some relevant role orientations of councillors. The second question in this paper is whether such possible changes in role orientations can be explained as the result of processes of (1) socialisation of councillors and (2) their selection.
Excess Control, Corporate Governance and Implied Cost of Equity: International Evidence

We investigate whether the separation between ownership and control rights can be costly to controlling shareholders and firms in terms of capital-raising costs. Using estimates of the cost of equity capital implied by analyst earnings forecasts and growth rate for a sample of 1,207 firms from nine Asian and 13 Western European countries, we find strong, robust evidence that the cost of equity is increasing in excess control, while controlling for other firm-level characteristics. This core finding persists after controlling for legal institutions variables.
When Markets Fall Down: Are Emerging Markets All the Same?

This paper studies the dynamics of stock market regimes in emerging markets. Using a mixture version of the standard regime-switching model, we find that the 18 analyzed emerging markets fit into three groups. Whereas each of these three groups is characterized by the same two regimes -- a bull state with positive returns and low volatility and a bear state with negative returns and high volatility -- they clearly differ with respect to their regime-switching dynamics. The first group contains stock markets which swing frequently between the two regimes, the second group shows more regime persistence, and the third group consists of stock markets that are less likely than the others to move to a bear regime period. Standard practice among stock market analysts is to group emerging markets by geographical region. The fact that groups are weakly related with such a regional classification demonstrates the limited validity of the latter. Moreover, a detailed analysis of regime synchronicities across the 18 studied emerging markets shows that there is evidence of regime synchronicity for certain pairs of markets, but this does not rule out that two synchronized markets have different regime dynamics and thus belong to different regime-switching clusters. Hence, our results show that it is incorrect to treat the studied emerging markets as a single homogeneous group because there is strong evidence for substantial differences in their regime-switching dynamics.
The use of social media to enrich information systems field trip experiences

A well-designed field trip can promote active learning and reinforce classroom materials (Kisiel, 2006). Few studies examine the potential of using social media to enhance IS field trip experiences by promoting active and collaborative learning. One major barrier to the exploitation of this potential is the adoption of social media by students as a learning tool to enhance field trip experiences. Therefore, the first and foremost task is to understand the motivation and satisfaction of students with the use of social media to enhance IS field trip. The research set to understand factors that could help increase students' satisfaction with the use of social media to enhance IS fieldtrip and an intention to continue to do so in future field trips. The research shows that to help increase user satisfaction with the use of social media to enhance field trip study and an intention to do so, course instructors should ensure that students perceive the use of social media for enhancing field trip study as effortless, useful, and well used and accepted by their peers. Future research may further study how we should incorporate the use of social media to better enhance the field trip learning performance.
CORRUPTION AND ITS IMPACT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH: IS EAST ASIA SPECIAL?

The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis raised serious questions about the nature of East Asia’s rise to economic prosperity, once labelled as a ‘miracle’ by the World Bank. In particular, East Asian governments were criticised for allowing rampant corruption to pervade their economies. At a conceptual level, the overwhelming majority of studies argue that corruption, defined as the misuse of public office for private gain, has impeded growth. Empirically, many studies have shown the detrimental impact of corruption on economic growth but few have analysed the particular effect of corruption on East Asia’s economic growth in the years leading up to the 1997 Crisis, a period characterised by superior economic growth rates against the backdrop of corruption. This study seeks to fill that gap. By virtue of its clandestine nature, any study on corruption is subject to measurement limitations and this study is no exception. The only available data on corruption are indices published by a handful of various international organisations. Each of these indices follows a similar format: they are based partly or wholly on surveys of the corporate sector in each of the sample countries, the results of which are converted into corruption scores and used to rank the sample countries. Although there is a general consistency in rankings across the different indices, the survey questions tend to equate corruption with bribery. In one survey which questioned respondents about corruption and bribery in separate questions, the results indicated that the two are not necessarily synonymous at least in the minds of respondents. A brief analysis of the nature of corruption within East Asia reveals why the tendency to equate corruption with bribery can be misleading, and therefore raises doubts about the credibility of the aforementioned corruption indices. Many countries in East Asia are shown to harbour a network of patron-client relationships within a centralised framework. This led to strong rent-seeking behaviour from the corporate sector which became a key component of the development oriented strategy adopted by the rulers of the day. Government support for rent-seekers was consistently monitored and subject to performance requirements. This aligned the interests of the corporate sector with those of the government and ultimately led to strong economic growth. Countries such as South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia are good examples of this whilst a notable exception is the
Teachers' Work in a Time of Major Curriculum Change

This study examined teachers' perceptions of their work in the context of a major curriculum change initiative in Tasmania, Australia. The thesis was undertaken to present a report that would provide rich data, particularly from the Tasmanian government school context, of teachers' perspectives on their work in this curriculum change context. The major focus of this thesis was on teachers' views of the nature and challenges involved in their work during implementation, at a system-wide level, of a major curriculum change initiative. Accordingly, the researcher aimed to add substantial detailed material to the extant and emerging literature in this field. The literature underpinning the study was typically broad, yet a comprehensive search revealed few similar Australian studies, and no Tasmanian studies, which provided the depth of description of teachers' work in the current change context which is presented in this thesis. The data were gathered from 48 teacher and two principal participants from two schools on multiple occasions mainly over the course of one school year. Initial observation in schools was followed by one-on-one interviews, the completion of demographic surveys by each interview participant and two days spent shadowing the two principals by the researcher. Key change leaders were identified and follow-up interviews were conducted up to one year later. As data were analysed, key categories emerged in the light of relevant areas of the extant literature. The key categories were divided into three themes which addressed the study's two Research Questions: 1. How do teachers and principals in two rural Tasmanian schools perceive their work lives in the context of a major curricular and pedagogical change? 2. What issues arise for teachers and principals in two rural Tasmanian schools in the context of a major curricular and pedagogical change? The first theme concerned teachers' views of the curriculum change initiative and the second theme was about teachers' self-identities during a time of major curriculum reform. This second theme included: (a) the purposes of teachers' work; (b) teacher professional involvement and commitment; (c) teachers' responses to mandated change; and (d) the emotional aspects of teachers' work and identities. The third theme concerned the influence of the local school culture and leadership in enabling and sustaining educational change.
Inter-regional innovation in Brazilian agriculture and deforestation in the Amazon: income and environment in the balance

The paper examines how recent trends in agricultural productivity in Brazil, occurring both inside and outside the Amazon, affected deforestation and agricultural incomes. The analysis uses a computable general equilibrium model adapted to capture regional economic structures, and accounts for uncertainty concerning productivity improvements. Due to countervailing effects on deforestation of innovation inside and outside the Amazon – respectively, increasing and decreasing it – innovation in Brazilian agriculture in the period from 1985 to 1995 has not altered substantially deforestation rates. However, innovation inside the Amazon has to be reckoned as a driving force behind the continuing high levels of deforestation rates. Innovation rates for livestock activities, inside and outside the Amazon, prove crucial in determining deforestation and agricultural income. Technological improvements outside the Amazon for small farm production systems and for farms in general in the North-East increase agricultural income, improve income distribution, and limit deforestation rates.
National Sentiments in Eastern and Western Europe

In a world of presumed nation-states nation has been, and still is, an intrinsic part of political legitimization. The claim of nationality has played an important role in such legitimization for the last two centuries. More than this, it has also constituted a fundamental collective entity for an individual's understanding of who they are in relation to those who are perceived as not sharing the nationality. This is nothing new, but in an era of globalization we are witnessing the rebirth of nationalism and nationality (Castells, 1997), where the power struggle over the political agenda will increasingly be about the struggle for the right to identity and the risks of exclusion from the national community. Even if this is the case it stands clear that everyday nationalism and nationalist struggles take different forms in different parts of the world. It has often been claimed that there are two types of nationalism prevalent in different parts of Europe, one in the so-called West and one in the so-called East. Kohn (1945) claimed that the rise of nationalism in the West was a political occurrence based on the democratic creation of the modern nation-state whereas the rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe was of a more backward type drawing its power from the struggle for cultural hegemony. The legacy of Kohn is taken up by Smith (1986; 1991) in his classical division of civic and ethnic national identities and nationalism, claiming that the former is a Western product and the latter mainly an Eastern one (see also Ignatieff, 1993). More recently, White (2000) claims that national identities in Eastern Europe have been strongly influenced by romanticism. The emphasis on ethnic nationalism in Eastern Europe not only is related to historical nation formation, but also has been claimed to be of great importance in the postcommunist era (Lovell, 1999). It is widely realized that national identities and nationalism differ within the West as well as within the East, but it is still assumed that there are fundamental differences between Western and Eastern European nation formation and that these have influenced the types of national identity and nationalism prevalent in the different geographical areas. For example, Sugar (1969) claims that there are differences between the Eastern European states; nonetheless, there are also commonalties that make them differ from Western European states.
Event-triggered guaranteed cost control for uncertain networked Markov jump systems

The problem of event-triggered guaranteed cost control for uncertain networked Markov jump systems is presented in this paper. The parameter uncertainty is assumed to be norm-bounded. Different from the traditional time-triggered scheme based on fixed sampling period, a discrete event-triggered scheme is given to choose whether the sampled data should be transmitted or not. The event-triggered scheme, network-induced delays and Markov jump system are unified into the Markov jump time-delay system. Based on time-delay system method, an algorithm is derived to co-design the event-triggered conditions and the guaranteed cost controller. Finally, a numerical is given to show the effectiveness of our provided method.
Is the doctor in? A relational approach to job design and the coordination of work

When designing jobs, the degree of specialization is a key consideration. Though functional specialization allows workers to develop deep areas of expertise, it also increases the challenge of coordinating their work. In this article, we propose the concepts of stage- and site-based specialization and posit that together they can counteract the divisive effects of functional specialization. Taking advantage of a natural experiment in physician job design at a Massachusetts hospital, we explore the impact of stage- and site-based specialization on coordination and performance outcomes. Building on recent interest in relational approaches to job design, this study is the first to link relational job design to relational outcomes such as coordination. Our findings have practical implications for job design in professional service settings such as education, consulting, and health care. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Union Success in Representation Elections: Why Does Unit Size Matter?

The author documents four facts regarding NLRB-supervised representation election activity over the period 1952–98: (1) election activity fell sharply and discontinuously beginning in the mid-1970s, after a two-decade rise; (2) unions' election win rate declined less sharply, though continuously, over the entire period; (3) a “size gap” characterized unions' win rates throughout the period, with a lower win rate in larger units; and (4) the size gap widened substantially after 1952. A simple optimizing model of the union decision to hold a representation election can explain (1)–(3). The author describes two possible explanations for (4), one based on differing behavior by employers in different size classes, and one purely probabilistic. Results of empirical tests using NLRB election data for 1952–98 suggest that the optimizing model of the union decision to hold an election combined with the purely probabilistic explanation can largely account for the observed patterns.
The Impact of Shrouded Fees: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in the Indian Mutual Funds Market

We study a natural experiment in the Indian mutual funds sector that created a 22-month period in which closed-end funds were allowed to charge an arguably shrouded fee, whereas open-end funds were forced to charge entry loads. Forty-five new closed-end funds were started during this period, collecting $7.6 billion US, whereas only two closed-end funds were started in the 66 months prior to this period, collecting $42 billion US, and no closed-end funds were started in the 20 months after this period. We estimate that investors lost and fund firms gained approximately $350 million US due to this shrouding. (JEL D14, G23, G28, O16)
Chinese MNCs’ Preparation for Host‐Country Labor Relations: An Exploration of Country‐of‐Origin Effect

Numerous studies have demonstrated the existence of the country-of-origin effect and how this effect interacts with other factors in shaping multinational corporations� (MNCs�) practices. However, there has been little investigation of different forms of country-of-origin effect, the mechanisms through which this effect occurs, or country-of-origin effect on MNCs from emerging markets. This study explores how country-of-origin effect manifests in Chinese MNCs� preparation for managing host country labor relations, an important area of human resource management (HRM). Based on a study of 21 Chinese MNCs, we argue that country-of-origin effect in relation to Chinese MNCs mainly manifests in two implicit forms, including transfer of management ethos and competitive disadvantage generated from the home base, rather than in the form of direct practice transfer as commonly suggested in the current literature. The major mechanism through which country-of-origin effect plays out is the mind-set of managers, rather than formally established corporate control instruments
A DOCUMENT ANALYSIS OF THE PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE ESPOUSED IN AGRICULTURE TEACHING METHODS COURSES

The purpose of this study was to examine pedagogical knowledge espoused in teaching methods courses in agricultural education. The population was a census of 64 agricultural teacher educators nationwide who taught a teaching methods course during the 2002-03 academic year. The researchers utilized a content document analysis method (Hodder, 2000) of teaching methods course syllabi to identify the required course readings, assignments, and teaching methods taught by teacher educators. The most frequently required reading resource was Newcomb, McCracken, and Warmbrod’s (1986, 1993), Methods of Teaching Agriculture. Onefourth of the teaching methods teacher educators required this text. Nearly one in seven educators required a teaching methods text outside of agricultural education. Teacher educators had a wide range of the types of assignments and amount of work required in their teaching methods courses. Teacher educators spent an average of 21% of the course time teaching methods. The problem-solving approach to teaching was the most widely espoused teaching method in agricultural education course syllabi. The predominant number of teaching methods taught appeared to be directly from Newcomb et al.’s book. Regardless of the teaching method listed in the syllabi, teacher educators spent a low percentage of course time on teaching methods.
The Effects of Task Complexity on Auditors' Performance: The Impact of Accountability and Knowledge

This study delineates conditions under which performance is adversely affected by task complexity and reports‐related empirical evidence. Specifically, it examines the moderating roles of both accountability and knowledge on the relation between task complexity and auditors' performance. Based on a reanalysis of the data from Tan and Kao (1999), the results indicate that accountability and knowledge jointly moderate the relation between task complexity and performance. Results show that performance declines with increasing complexity only under combinations of low knowledge and high accountability, or low accountability and high knowledge. Performance is unaffected by increasing task complexity when auditors have high knowledge and high accountability, or have low knowledge and low accountability. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the conditions under which performance may (or may not) be adversely affected by task complexity.
The Ileum and Carbohydrate‐Mediated Feedback Regulation of Postprandial Pancreaticobiliary Secretion in Normal Humans

We investigated the effect of perfusing carbohydrate into the ileum on postprandial pancreaticobiliary secretion and the relationships among carbohydrate in the ileum, pancreaticobiliary secretion, and gastric emptying. Eighteen healthy volunteers were intubated with a multilumen oroileal tube. A metal labeled with 111In-diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (400 calories; 60% carbohydrate, 20% protein, 20% fat) was then infused into the stomach, and a carbohydrate solution (rice starch + glucose) was perfused into the terminal ileum at rates (mglmin) of 0 (saline; n = 6), 12.5 (n = 4), 25 (n = 4), 50 (n = 2), and 100 (n = 2). To prevent digestion of the carbohydrate in the ileum, an amylase inhibitor (3.3 mg/ml) was added to the perfusate used in half of the subjects. Postprandially, we measured outputs of amylase, trypsin, and bile acids in the duodenum, the amount of carbohydrate in the ileum, and gastric emptying. During the second postprandial hour the rate of gastric emptying was inversely related to the amount of carbohydrate in the ileum (p < 0.01) and was directly correlated with pancreaticobiliary secretion (p < 0.05). However, as the amount of unabsorbed carbohydrate in the ileum increased, the ratio of amylase to trypsin secretion increased (p < 0.005). Postprandially carbohydrate in the ileum induces changes of upper-gut function that should increase digestion and absorption of carbohydrate since gastric emptying (and delivery of carbohydrate to the duodenum) slows and pancreatic amylase secretion increases relative to trypsin secretion and gastric emptying.
Children as Co-ethnographers of their Plurilingual Literacy Practices: An Exploratory Case Study

Interdisciplinary childhood researchers have begun to advocate a shift from conducting research about children to engaging children themselves in the research process. In this article, I reflect on issues and insights that arose while working with grade 5 students as ethnographers of their own language and literacies practices over the course of a six-month transformative multiliteracies classroom intervention in a French school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I describe this initial exploratory case study as a way of provoking discussion on ways we may re-envision plurilingual multiliteracies research with children as co-researchers.
Political Parties and Policy Change: Explaining the Impact of French and German Greens on Energy Policy

Abstract This article assesses the conditions of partisan influence on public policy change, by comparing the action of the German and French Greens with regard to energy during their participation in the “Red–Green” (1998–2005) and “Plural Left” (1997–2002) coalitions, respectively. First, it highlights the importance of the institutional context in which political parties operate. In Germany, both political and sector-specific institutions made it possible for Die Grünen to have a stronger and deeper impact on energy policy than Les Verts. Second, it emphasizes the strategic and relational dimensions of partisan influence. The ability of the German Green party to foster contacts with the renewable energy industry and experts also explains its policy impact and the success of its strategy focusing on specific issues during its participation in government.