bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Did Credit Rating Agencies Make Unbiased Assumptions on CDOs?
Authors: Griffin John M , Tang Dragon Yongjun
Published: June 2011

We compare key CDO assumptions from two departments within the same rating agency but with different financial incentives. Assumptions made by the ratings division are more favorable than those by the surveillance department. The differences are not explained by collateral switching during the ramp-up period, a long time gap between reports, nor the collapse of the CDO market in 2007 Additionally, CDOs rated with more favorable assumptions by the ratings group were more likely to be subsequently downgraded. As the useful signals from the surveillance group were seemingly ignored, these findings suggest rating agencies bias towards high ratings.
What Is the Value of Terroir?
Authors: Cross Robin , Plantinga Andrew J , Stavins Robert N
Published: June 2011

We examine the value of terroir—the set of special characteristics of a location that impart unique qualities to the wine produced. We conduct a hedonic analysis of vineyard sales in the Willamette Valley of Oregon to ascertain whether site attributes—such as slope, aspect, elevation, and soil types—or designated appellations are more important determinants of price. We find that prices are strongly determined by appellation designations, but not by specific site attributes. These results indicate that the concept of terroir matters economically, but that the reality of terroir—as proxied by locational attributes—is not significant.
Markets and Morality
Authors: Bhagwati Jagdish
Published: June 2011

The paper addresses two issues. First, economics has evolved both as a positive science and, from moral philosophy, also as a normative discipline. Advancing the public good requires that public policy walk on both these legs. Second, the criticism has been forcefully made that markets undermine morality. This contention is refuted in several ways.
Economics: A Moral Inquiry with Religious Origins
Authors: Friedman Benjamin M
Published: June 2011

In contrast to the standard interpretation of the origins of economics out of the secular European Enlightenment of the 18th century, the transition in thinking that we rightly identify with Adam Smith and his contemporaries and followers, which gave us economics as we now know it, was powerfully influenced by then-controversial changes in religious belief in the English-speaking Protestant world in which they lived: in particular, key aspects of the movement away from orthodox Calvinism. Further, those at-the-outset influences of religious thinking not only fostered the subsequent spread of Smithian thinking, especially in America, but shaped the course of its reception. The ultimate result was a variety of fundamental resonances between economic thinking and religious thinking that continue to influence our public discussion of economic issues, and our public debate over economic policy, today.
Does Quality Adjustment Matter for Technologically Stable Products? An Application to the CPI for Food
Authors: Greenlees John S , McClelland Robert
Published: June 2011

Most indexes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) use a form of the “matched-model” approach. It is frequently assumed that this approach accurately reflects inflation for items that have no major trend in quality. In this paper we investigate that hypothesis using CPI data for retail food items. We find that CPI analysts may be correct on average when they decide that new and replacement items are similar in quality. We also find, however, that when sample items are replaced by items of significantly different quality the CPI imputation procedures may underestimate price change and overstate quality change.
Optimal Learning Patterns for Creativity Generation in a Field
Authors: Feinstein Jonathan S
Published: June 2011

I present a model of optimal learning for creativity generation in a field. The field is defined as a knowledge structure. A creative contribution is based on combining two previously unconnected elements, generating a new element. Individuals may possess private information/intuition about new combinations. Individuals contribute the maximum creative contribution they are able to produce based on the set of elements they have learned. In equilibrium individuals learn different elements, with some degree of overlap, effectively pursuing distinct creative interests. The model illustrates a general approach for analyzing the creative development of fields and, in a broader sense, cultural innovation.
Financial Regulatory Reform: Challenges Ahead
Authors: Kroszner Randall S , Strahan Philip E
Published: June 2011

Today's financial system is dominated by markets with institutions connected by short-term financing, securitization, derivatives, and other means. Yet regulations have focused on depositories, leaving regulators unprepared for the 2008 crisis. We suggest two key principles for regulatory reform. First, some changes in the financial system came as institutions lowered the burden of regulations through “regulatory arbitrage.” Reform needs to avoid driving businesses “into the shadows,” where risks may accumulate and sow seeds of future crises. Second, reform ought to improve transparency to reduce uncertainty and inter-linkages between players. We evaluate some of Dodd-Frank Act in light of these principles.
Corrective Taxation versus Liability
Authors: Shavell Steven
Published: June 2011

Taxation and liability are compared as means of controlling harmful externalities, with a view toward explaining why the use of liability predominates over taxation. Taxation suffers from a disadvantage in the analysis: because taxes do not reflect all the variables affecting expected harm, inefficiency results, whereas efficiency under liability requires only assessment of actual harm. However, liability also suffers from a disadvantage: incentives are diluted because injurers escape suit. Joint use of taxation and liability is examined, and it is shown that liability should be employed fully, with taxation taking up the slack due to escape from suit.
Optimal Proof Burdens, Deterrence, and the Chilling of Desirable Behavior
Authors: Kaplow Louis
Published: June 2011

The optimal stringency of the burden of proof is characterized in a model in which relaxing the proof burden enhances deterrence but also chills desirable behavior. The result are strikingly different from those in prior work that uses a simpler model in which individuals only choose whether to commit a harmful act (so only deterrence is at stake). Moreover, the qualitative differences between the optimal rule and the familiar preponderance of the evidence rule—and related rules that look to Bayesian posteriors—are great, much more so than revealed by prior work.
The “Collapse in Quality” Hypothesis
Authors: Levchenko Andrei A , Lewis Logan T , Tesar Linda L
Published: June 2011

This paper evaluates the hypothesis that during the 2008–2009 collapse in international trade, imports of higher quality goods experienced larger reductions compared to low-quality imports, using data on US imports disaggregated by HS-10 product category and source country. We find little, if any, robust econometric evidence in support of this hypothesis.
Vertical Linkages and the Collapse of Global Trade
Authors: Bems Rudolfs , Johnson Robert C , Yi Kei-Mu
Published: June 2011

A common view is that cross-border vertical linkages played a key role in the 2008–2009 collapse of global trade. This paper presents two accounting results from a global input-output framework that shed light on this channel. We feed in observed changes in final demand and find that trade in final goods fell by twice as much as trade in intermediate goods. Nevertheless, intermediate goods account for more than two-fifths of the trade collapse. We also find that vertical specialization trade fell 13 percent, while value-added trade fell by 10 percent, because declines in demand were largest in highly vertically-specialized sectors.
Time to Retire? The Effect of State Fiscal Policies on Retirement Decisions
Authors: Gurley-Calvez Tami , Hill Brian
Published: June 2011

Our research addresses the importance of state fiscal policies on the probability of retirement using a panel of individual tax return data. Results indicate that a one percentage point increase in the income or sales tax rate reduces the probability of retirement by about 8.7 percent. The evidence suggests that state spending might also affect retirement decisions but magnitudes are inconclusive. In general, the results suggest that the income effect dominates; that is, higher tax rates at the state-level reduce disposable income and decrease the probability of retiring. Results are similar in models examining single and married filers separately.
The War at Home: Effects of Vietnam-Era Military Service on Postwar Household Stability
Authors: Conley Dalton , Heerwig Jennifer
Published: June 2011

Prior researchers have deployed the Vietnam-era draft lottery as an instrument to estimate causal effects of military service on health and earnings. However, household and residential outcomes may be more sensitive to the psychological effects of military service. Using 2SLS analyses of the 2000 Census and the 2005 American Community Survey, we find mixed results for residential stability, housing tenure, and extended family residence. While in the ACS white veterans are less mobile, veteran status has no effect on homeownership. Veteran status reduces extended family living for whites in the Census but increases it for ACS veterans of “other” races.
Covenants without Courts: Enforcing Residential Segregation with Legally Unenforceable Agreements
Authors: Brooks Richard R. W
Published: June 2011

Racial restrictive covenants are private agreements prohibiting sale, rental, use or occupancy of properties by persons of designated races, ethnicities, nationalities and religions. Widely acknowledged for facilitating residential segregation, the Supreme Court ruled covenants unenforceable in 1948. Yet they remained legal to write and reference, allowing realtors, banks, insurers, title companies and government agencies to continue to rely on unenforceable covenants in their decisions and policies. Beyond legal enforceability, covenants were essentially signals that coordinated the behavior of a variety of private individual and institutional actors—signals that remained effective without the courts. Evidence is presented to support this claim.
The Medium-Term Impact of Medicare Part D on Pharmaceutical Prices
Authors: Duggan Mark G , Morton Fiona Scott
Published: June 2011

Medicare Part D began coverage of prescription drugs in 2006. Using data from the first year of the program we found that Part D reduced pharmaceutical prices for Medicare recipients, with these effects driven by enrollees previously without drug coverage. In this paper we extend our analysis through 2009, the fourth year of the program, to investigate whether plans continued to extract price concessions in return for favorable formulary placement, or if consumer inertia or other factors caused prices to bounce back after their initial decline. We find price declines persisted through at least the third year of the program.
Are Drugs Substitutes or Complements for Intensive (and Expensive) Medical Treatment
Authors: Zhang Yuting , Newhouse Joseph P , Baicker Katherine
Published: June 2011

Little is known about the relationship between variation in drug and non-drug medical treatment and how areas may substitute one type of care for the other. Using pharmacy and medical claims data for Medicare beneficiaries, we examine whether areas with more drug use have lower non-drug medical costs and how the quality of prescribing and primary care are associated with medical costs. We find that areas with higher drug spending do not have lower non-drug medical spending; however, poorer-quality prescribing and primary care are associated with higher medical spending in general and inpatient spending in particular.
Helping Consumers Know Themselves
Authors: Kamenica Emir , Mullainathan Sendhil , Thaler Richard
Published: June 2011

Firms sometimes know more about a consumer's expected usage than the consumer herself. We explore the consequences of this reversal in the information asymmetry. We analyze the consequences of making consumers more informed about themselves. While making consumers more informed decreases their expenditure conditional on a given set of prices, equilibrium prices may increase, offsetting the direct benefit of information. We discuss theoretical and practical issues surrounding so-called RECAP regulation that would require firms to provide each consumer with information about her own usage of the firm's product.
Monopsony, Mobility, and Sex Differences in Pay: Missouri School Teachers
Authors: Ransom Michael R , Lambson Val E
Published: June 2011

We examine the sex differences in the pay of school teachers in Missouri. In Missouri school districts, pay is determined by a salary schedule that maps teaching experience and education level of an individual to a salary level. In spite of this apparently mechanical rule for determining pay, female teachers earn less than male teachers, after controlling for experience and education. We explore how such a difference could arise from differential job mobility and find some evidence to support this idea. However, within district differences in pay are a more important source of differences in pay between men and women.
Are Micro and Macro Labor Supply Elasticities Consistent? A Review of Evidence on the Intensive and Extensive Margins
Authors: Chetty Raj , Guren Adam , Manoli Day , Weber Andrea
Published: June 2011

We evaluate whether state-of-the-art macro models featuring indivisible labor are consistent with modern quasi-experimental micro evidence by synthesizing evidence on both the intensive and extensive margins. We find that micro estimates are consistent with macro estimates of the steady-state (Hicksian) elasticities relevant for cross-country comparisons on both the extensive and intensive margins. However, micro estimates of intertemporal substitution (Frisch) elasticities are an order of magnitude smaller than the values needed to explain business cycle fluctuations in aggregate hours by preferences. The key puzzle to be resolved is why micro and macro estimates of the Frisch extensive margin elasticity are so different.
The Weight of History on European Cultural Integration: A Gravity Approach
Authors: Grosjean Pauline
Published: June 2011

The cultural gravity model proposed in this paper uses micro-level survey data of 21,000 households to estimate the contribution to cultural heterogeneity of a long history of division between the Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian or Prussian Empires since the year 1300 in 21 European countries. By exploiting the variation in the duration of integration of localities in different empires, this paper sheds light on the influence of political integration on cultural integration and on the rate of cultural change. History matters and cultural values change very slowly: long lasting effects on social trust comes after 400 years of common imperial rule.
Learn English, Not the Local Language! Ethnic Russians in the Baltic States
Authors: Toomet Ott
Published: June 2011

This paper analyzes the return to dominant language fluency for ethnic Russians in the Baltic States. We look at male workers using Estonian Labor Force Survey for years 2000–2010 and the 1998 wave of a panel of high-school graduates of 1982. The results indicate that the ethnic Russian men enjoy little income premium on their skills of the dominant language. We identify positive returns only in the low end of the income distribution and in public administration sector. Surprisingly, the returns to English fluency are far larger. These outcomes point toward segregation and discrimination at the upper-end hiring.
Flexible Estimation of Treatment Effect Parameters
Authors: MaCurdy Thomas , Chen Xiaohong , Hong Han
Published: June 2011

A variety of identification strategies have a common cell structure, in which the observed heterogeneity of the regression defines a partition of the sample into cells. Typically in the presence of exogenous covariates that define the cell structure, identification assumptions are imposed conditional on each value of the covariate, or cell by cell. Treatment effects across cells are typically heterogeneous. Researchers might be interested in unconditional parameters which are the averaged treatment effects across the cells. Alternatively, treatment effects can be estimated more efficiently if researchers are willing to impose additional parametric and semiparametric structures on the heterogeneous treatment effects across cells.
The Lerner Index of Monopoly Power: Origins and Uses
Authors: Elzinga Kenneth G , Mills David E
Published: June 2011

Abba Lerner's paper in the Review of Economic Studies (1934) is the source of what is now referred to as the Lerner Index of monopoly power. The Lerner Index has become the standard measure of monopoly power and one of the most widely cited indexes in the discipline of economics. This paper traces the origins of the index, sets out its strengths and weaknesses, and examines its role in antitrust enforcement. The Index is a better indicator of a firm's price-setting discretion than its ability to sustain monopoly prices.
Challenges in Merger Simulation Analysis
Authors: Knittel Christopher R , Metaxoglou Konstantinos
Published: June 2011

In this paper, we share our experience with merger simulations using a Random Coefficient Logit model on the demand side and assuming a static Bertrand game on the supply side. Drawing largely from our work in Knittel and Metaxoglou (2008), we show that different demand estimates obtained from different combinations of optimization algorithms and starting values lead to substantial differences in post-merger market outcomes using metrics such as industry profits, and change in consumer welfare and prices.
Real Wage Index Numbers
Authors: Pencavel John
Published: June 2011

Real wage index numbers have been used to measure movements in the standard of living of the typical worker. This paper describes some of these indicators for the United States and England. A new real wage index is proposed that resembles the sliding scale used to adjust wages in certain industries years ago. This new index is applied to US manufacturing industry and it implies a fall in real wages by about 40 percent since 1960. Workers' distributional position in US manufacturing has deteriorated considerably.
Estimating the ex ante Expected Returns to College
Authors: Hussey Andrew J , Swinton Omari H
Published: June 2011

Rather than estimating the returns to obtaining a college degree, this paper treats the college education decision as an uncertain investment involving varying likelihoods of successful graduation. We predict earnings conditional on both graduating and not graduating from both selective and non-selective institutions, and incorporate estimated individual-specific graduation rates in calculating the ex ante expected returns from college attendance for individuals across the ability distribution. Our results suggest that, especially for lower ability students, ex ante returns may differ substantially from typical estimates of the returns to a college degree, and typical estimates of the selectivity premium may be underestimated.
Owner-Occupied Housing: Life-Cycle Implications for the Household Portfolio
Authors: Flavin Marjorie , Yamashita Takashi
Published: June 2011

The paper constructs a model of optimal portfolio allocation incorporating the role of housing as collateral. Current house value is a state variable in the portfolio decision due to a nonconvex adjustment cost. Holding risk aversion constant, the percentage of the portfolio held in stocks is decreasing in the ratio of house value to net wealth; thus an older household with a lower ratio of house value to net wealth will generally hold more its portfolio in stocks than younger households. Empirical results using the Survey of Consumer Finances confirm the quantitative and statistical significance of the housing state variable.
A multicentre evaluation of the new Beckman Coulter anti-Müllerian hormone immunoassay (AMH Gen II)
Authors: Wallace A M , Faye S A , Fleming R , Nelson S M
Published: June 2011

Background

The measurement of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) has been by two commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assays: Diagnostics Systems Laboratory (DSL 10-14400) and Immunotech (A11893 IVD EU only). Beckman Coulter has developed a new assay for AMH (AMH Gen II A79765), which uses the DSL antibodies but is standardized to the Immunotech calibration. As a result, comparative data are urgently required between the old DSL assay and its replacement AMH Gen II.

Methods

An evaluation of the AMH Gen II assay was performed at three sites, each with extensive experience of measuring circulating AMH in the adult female. Results were compared with the original DSL ELISA assay. The analysis was performed on a total of 271 patients' samples, approximately 90 at each site.

Results

Performance characteristics were evaluated for the AMHGen II assay. Linearity was acceptable with observed values close to the expected (mean recovery 106.3%). The functional sensitivity (20% coefficient of variation), calculated from precision profile data, was 1.5 pmol/L. Within- and between-batch imprecision, assessed over the concentration range of 5–70 pmol/L, were 5.3–11.4% and 3.8–17.3%, respectively. There was good agreement between assays with a Bablok-Passing regression equation AMH Gen II = 1.40 DSL–0.62 pmol/L, r = 0.96, n = 271.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that similar precision and excellent between-assay agreement should be obtained when laboratories change from the DSL to the AMH Gen II ELISA and they should expect an increase in AMH values of approximately 40%.
Evaluation of a self-diagnostic tool for Dupuytren's disease in rock climbers
Authors: Pervulesko Nora , Schöffl Volker , Gormasz Christian
Published: June 2011

Objective

To determine the validity of a self-diagnostic questionnaire for Dupuytren's disease among rock climbers.

Methods

A simple, self-diagnostic questionnaire for Dupuytren's disease was freely distributed to climbers in Austria and Germany. None of the subjects were medically prescreened. The questionnaire consisted of four questions with pictures concerning their present diagnosis and the differential diagnosis for Dupuytren's disease. Medical experts then clinically examined those climbers who completed the questionnaire for Dupuytren's disease.

Results

Sixty-one climbers (46 men, 15 women; mean age 32 [13] years; climbing for 10 [11] years) participated in the survey; 16 participants were competition climbers. Clinical diagnosis of Dupuytren's disease was confirmed in five cases (8.2%). The questionnaire produced no false-negatives, but there were three (4.8%) false-positive results in this sample. The correlation between the self-diagnostic tool and the clinical examination was r = 0.62 ( P = 0.005). No significant difference ( P = 0.250) was found between the self-diagnostic tool and the clinical examination. The sensitivity of the self-diagnostic tool in a sample of rock climbers was 100%, and its specificity 94.9%.

Conclusions

The questionnaire is an accurate and precise self-diagnostic tool for rock climbers to determine the diagnosis of Dupuytren's disease.
Pseudouridine formation in archaeal RNAs: The case ofHaloferax volcanii
Authors: Blaby Ian K. , Majumder Mrinmoyee , Chatterjee Kunal , Jana Sujata , Grosjean Henri , de Crécy-Lagard Valérie , Gupta Ramesh
Published: June 2011

Pseudouridine (Ψ), the isomer of uridine, is commonly found at various positions of noncoding RNAs of all organisms. Ψ residues are formed by a number of single- or multisite specific Ψ synthases, which generally act as stand-alone proteins. In addition, in Eukarya and Archaea, specific ribonucleoprotein complexes, each containing a distinct box H/ACA guide RNA and four core proteins, can produce Ψ at many sites of different cellular RNAs. Cbf5 is the core Ψ synthase in these complexes. UsingHaloferax volcaniias an archaeal model organism, we show that, contrary to eukaryotes, the Cbf5 homolog (HVO_2493) is not essential in this archaeon. The Cbf5-deleted strain ofH. volcaniicompletely lacks Ψ at positions 1940, 1942, 2605, and 2591 (Escherichia colipositions 1915, 1917, 2572, and 2586) of its 23S rRNA, and contains reduced steady-state levels of some box H/ACA RNAs. Archaeal Cbf5 is known to have tRNA Ψ55 synthase activity in vitro but we could not confirm this activity in vivo inH. volcanii. Conversely, the Pus10 (previously PsuX) homolog (HVO_1979), which can produce tRNA Ψ55, as well as Ψ54 in vitro, is shown here to be essential inH. volcanii, whereas the corresponding tRNA Ψ55 synthases, Pus4 and TruB, are not essential in yeast and E. coli, respectively. Finally, we demonstrate that HVO_1852, the TruA/Pus3 homolog, is responsible for the pseudouridylation of position 39 inH. volcaniitRNAs and that the corresponding gene is not essential.
Discovery of the elements with atomic numbers greater than or equal to 113 (IUPAC Technical Report)
Authors: Barber Robert C. , Karol Paul J. , Nakahara Hiromichi , Vardaci Emanuele , Vogt Erich W.
Published: June 2011

The IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party (JWP) on the priority of claims to the discovery of new elements 113–116 and 118 has reviewed the relevant literature pertaining to several claims. In accordance with the criteria for the discovery of elements previously established by the 1992 IUPAC/IUPAP Transfermium Working Group (TWG), and reinforced in subsequent IUPAC/IUPAP JWP discussions, it was determined that the Dubna-Livermore collaborations share in the fulfillment of those criteria both for elements Z = 114 and 116. A synopsis of experiments and related efforts is presented.
Cultural Imperialism and Intercultural Encounter in Merchant Ivory's Shakespeare Wallah
Authors: Venning Dan
Published: May 2011

The 1965 Merchant Ivory Productions film Shakespeare Wallah depicts a British theatrical troupe performing Shakespeare in post-independence India. Although the film situates the viewer's sympathy with the British members of the troupe, the filmmakers also present the troupe ironically, showing how they are floundering and nostalgic in the face of a liberated India. The film is made more complex by the fact that the actors playing the central roles were themselves members of the Shakespeareana troupe that had actually toured Shakespearean productions across India both before and after independence; several of the actors were essentially playing themselves. The film and its characters—both the real and fictionalized versions—thus adopt a highly ambivalent attitude toward postcolonialism and the role of Shakespeare in India. This article begins with an overview of interculturalism and cultural imperialism as they relate to Shakespeare in Asia and then explores how these different modes of postcolonial cross-cultural interaction are depicted and performed in this fascinating film.
Political Theatre: The Rise and Fall of Rome and The Sword of Freedom , Two Translations of Julius Caesar in Meiji Japan by Kawashima Keizō and Tsubouchi Shōyō
Authors: Quinn Aragorn
Published: May 2011

Julius Caesar initially seems a curious choice for the first two full translations of Shakespeare into Japanese. In seeking to understand the early popularity of the play, this article examines the translations by Kawashima Keizō and Tsubouchi Shōyō within the context of performative modes of political discourse in 1880s Japan. This article argues that Shōyō's translation demonstrates a naturalizing translation strategy and a progressive political agenda, while Kawashima's translation strategy is foreignizing and is allied with the establishment. It further argues that their diametrically opposed interpretations are both inscribed in the source text and manifest themselves in ways that address political and historical conditions specific to the early Meiji period (1868-1912).
Shakespeare-Asian Theatre Fusions: Globe-"alization" of Naked Masks (Bangkok), Shadowlight (San Francisco), and Setagaya Public Theatre (Tokyo)
Authors: Foley Kathy
Published: May 2011

This essay explores historical and cultural features that have contributed to increases in use of Shakespeare by both Asian performers and Western artists who have been deeply affected by Asian theatre models, using the examples of Ninart Boonphothong's Bangkok-based Naked Masks Group, Larry Reed's San Francisco-based, Shadowlight Company, and Nomura Mansai's Tokyo-based Setagaya Pubic Theatre.
King Lear in Beijing and Hong Kong
Authors: Yang Daniel S. P.
Published: May 2011

This paper reports on the author's own translation of King Lear , which he directed for the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre in 1993, comparing it to an adaptation by Sun Jiaxiu staged by the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing in 1986. An earlier version of this article was delivered at the Scaena: Shakespeare and his Contemporaries in Performance international conference at St. John's College, Cambridge University, 13-15 August 1997, and was scheduled for publication in an associated volume, which was later aborted, delaying the information which appears here.
Toward a Poetic Minimalism of Violence: On Tang Shu-wing's Titus Andronicus 2.0
Authors: Choy Howard Y. F.
Published: May 2011

A review of six theatre and film versions of Titus Andronicus notes varied approaches to the text: Peter Brook's stylized symbolism, Ninagawa Yukio's victim art, Jane Howell's mimetic realism, Julie Taymor's postmodern absurdism, Wang Chia-ming's playful parody, and Christopher Dunne's Gothic horror. Tang Shu-wing's approach in Titus Andronicus 2.0 (Hong Kong: Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio, 2009) shows his rejection of sensationalist and consumerist presentations of the violence in the script. Tang's minimalism de-dramatizes violence via the narrative form of tale telling, and then poeticizes it through the performance of the poetic body, creating a profound and thought-provoking production.
Another Midsummer Night's Dream in Ho Chi Minh City
Authors: Nguyen Khai Thu
Published: May 2011

This report details the activities of the Ho Chi Minn City theatre company North-East-West-South (NEWS), cofounded and codirected by the author, noting the adaptation of Shakespeare to a Vietnamese milieu.
"Ancestral Shades": The Arti Foundation and the Practice of Pelestarian in Contemporary Bali
Authors: Hough Brett
Published: May 2011

In 1999 the Arti Foundation, under the creative leadership of Kadek Suardana, staged an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth in the classical Balinese dance-drama form of gambuh . The production signaled the foundation's intent to actively engage with classical forms of Balinese performing arts as a means of stimulating interest in their ongoing survival. The foundation was established and staged Gambuh Macbeth within a context of a discourse exhorting Balinese to preserve their heritage, in particular those classical forms such as gambuh perceived to be in danger of disappearing. This discourse of preservation (pelestarian) has come to encapsulate a sense of the past as representing demise or loss and a concomitant imperative to intervene to ensure that forms do not die out. At an official level the discourse has tended to be somewhat programmatic and based on a static sense of pelestarian as "museumification." My concern in this article is to explore the implications of such a discourse for artistic production in Bali. In particular, how it can impose constraints upon choreographers, composers, and dramaturgs seeking to create modern Balinese performing arts that resonate with a wider public surrounded by a surfeit of traditional forms. I argue that the Arti Foundation and the production of Gambuh Macbeth offer insight into the potential of pelestarian that offers a creative model for reinvigorating traditional forms in Bali.
A Bangzi Merchant of Venice in Taipei: Yue/Shu (Bond)
Authors: Perng Ching-Hsi
Published: May 2011

This report, discussing the author's adaptation of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to Henan-area bangzi , is revised from a speech given at the National Taiwan University Shakespeare Forum's conference Shakespeare in Culture, 26-28 November 2009.
Shamanism in Korean Hamlet s since 1990: Exorcising Han
Authors: Lee Hyon-u
Published: May 2011

During the Korean Shakespeare boom of the last twenty years, Hamlet has been performed more than any other drama. Hamlet productions admired by Korean audiences and critics have, like other successful Shakespeare productions in the same period, shared a common tendency for Koreanization in respect of style and theme. The Koreanization of Hamlet productions, in particular, is closely connected with shamanism. The most prominent of Hamlet productions since the 1990s stage rituals like the gut —in which a shaman appears to be possessed. Looking back over the hundred-year history of Hamlet in the modern Korean theatre, this paper argues that these shamanistic Hamlet s, which have emerged with democratization, globalization, and the extended freedom of the 1990s, serve to exorcise pain of a people who have suffered from the problems of "to be or not to be" through times of colonialism, war, dictatorship, and IMF crisis. Examining the major Hamlet productions (1993-2007), this paper explains the relationship between Hamlet and Korean shamanism, which is closely connected with Korean people's han , an indigenous sentiment of pain and regret.
Ku Na'uka's Hamlet in Tokyo: An Interview with Miyagi Satoshi
Authors: Eglinton Mika
Published: May 2011

This interview was conducted in Nishisugamo, Tokyo, on 12 March 2006, a year before Ku Na'uka entered a "period of solo activities " and fifteen years after the formation of the company. In April 2007, Miyagi Satoshi became the artistic director of the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC), taking over Suzuki Tadashi's position. Since then, Miyagi has directed several pieces, including Hamlet (2008), with actors from SPAC, marking a clean break from the unique style and method of Ku Na'uka. In this extracted interview Miyagi reflects back on his directorial debut production of Hamlet (1990).
Otelo , Intercultural Spectatorship, and Ocular Proof
Authors: Ick Judy Celine
Published: May 2011

Is intercultural Shakespeare always apprehended at first sight? This essay explores the related notions of spectacle and spectatorship in intercultural/Asian Shakespeare and argues for an understanding of interculturality beyond presentational spectacle or obviously visible relocation. Ricardo Abad's production of Othello ( Otelo, Ang Moro ng Venecia , Tanghalang Ateneo 2008) challenges conventional notions of a play's location by deliberately obscuring visual cues of cultural specificity. Instead, it locates the play within the aesthetics of the Philippine komedya and allows for the emergence of a culturally disposed vision of the play in which the fact of its interculturality emerges not from the visually represented onstage locus but from the audience's habitus or a cultural subjectivity that shapes its reception. Otelo underscores the vital role of spectatorship as an element in the production of the intercultural and makes a case for the idea that interculturalism is only created or completed by audience response.
Global Shakespeares and Shakespeare Performance in Asia: Open-Access Digital Video Archives
Authors: Huang Alexander C. Y.
Published: May 2011

Asian performances of Shakespeare in Asia, Europe, and beyond have transformed both Shakespeare and Asian cultures. Global Shakespeares and Shakespeare Performance in Asia (SPIA) chronicles this exciting new wave of East-West cultural exchange and makes primary research material including videos freely available to researchers, educators, and students. This review discusses the philosophy behind Global Shakespeares and SPIA , a collaborative archival and research project, and the unique resources it provides, including video highlights with English subtitles, photos, and texts from Asia, the United States, and Europe.
Fictional Spaces, Contested Images: Anne 's "Authentic" Afterlife
Authors: Bhadury Poushali
Published: May 2011

This article addresses the active afterlife of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908) in terms of its commodification. Focusing specifically on the Anne dolls available in the market, as well as certain Canadian tourist spots inspired by Anne , the article delves into the thorny issue of "authenticity"—imagined in textual, legal and corporate terms—in case of these literary spin-off products. Finally, it takes up the question of materiality, with respect to Anne dolls in particular, in order to interrogate (English-) Canadian nationalism in the context of global Anne commodity circulation.
Solar Systems and Power Systems: Decentering the Naturalized Universe in Virginia Hamilton's The Planet of Junior Brown
Authors: Lesley Naomi
Published: May 2011

Critical race theorists argue that white ideals of culture become "natural" standards against which adolescents and nonwhites are judged. They argue that this naturalization of whiteness both reinforces dominant power structures and conceals the un-natural machinations of repression. Virginia Hamilton addresses similar concerns in The Planet of Junior Brown . The central image of the novel is the reconstruction of a model solar system to include a new planet, a process that becomes a metaphor for the need to reconstruct society. Through manipulating the "natural" physical universe, the characters realize that the social universe needs to recognize the needs of people who do not match systemic norms. In the process, Hamilton demonstrates the cracks in the constructs of age and race, and suggests that their naturalization is the source and the solution of the problem.
"Straighten Up and Fly Right": HeteroMasculinity in The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963
Authors: Chaudhri Amina
Published: May 2011

This article examines Christopher Paul Curtis' novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 with a focus on representations of race and masculinity. The novel is recognized for being culturally empowering for young African American readers, especially boys. In this analysis I suggest that when race, gender and sexuality are viewed as intersecting expressions of power, we see how even progressive authors like Curtis are implicated within hegemonic social paradigms.
"I want to be like you": Riffs on Kipling in Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book
Authors: Robertson Christine
Published: May 2011

This article explores the intertextual relationship between Neil Gaiman and Rudyard Kipling. Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (2008) adapts or "riffs" on Kipling's two Jungle Books (1894-5) complicating Kipling's conventional representations of good and evil, as well as his construction of individual identity. In exchange, Gaiman reads Kipling back to a contemporary audience, resurrecting him from the graveyard of Empire. By transforming Kipling's Victorian jungle into a Victorian graveyard set in the middle of 21 st century England, Gaiman re-contextualizes Kipling's value-system, suggesting to contemporary readers how we might now read or re-read Kipling while re-negotiating his imperialist politics.
"Strange Fruit": Representations of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in Children's and Young Adult Nonfiction
Authors: Peel Katie R.
Published: May 2011

This essay looks at representations of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in interactive nonfiction for young readers, and both examines the kinds of interactivity of these texts, and considers developments in what we know about the Rosenberg case. The various ways in which these texts invite reader participation, namely in placing readers in the position of jurors for the Rosenberg case, as well as developments such as the 1995 release of the Venona documents, open narrative possibilities that ultimately resist master narrative.
Does Justification Aim at Truth?
Authors: Graham Peter J.
Published: May 2011

Does epistemic justification aim at truth? The vast majority of epistemologists instinctively answer ‘Yes’; it's the textbook response. Joseph Cruz and John Pollock surprisingly say no. In ‘The Chimerical Appeal of Epistemic Externalism’ they argue that justification bearsnointeresting connection to truth; justification doesnotevenaimat truth. ‘Truth is not a very interesting part of our best understanding’ of justification (C&P 2004, 137); it has no ‘connection to the truth.’ A ‘truth-aimed… epistemology is not entitled to carry the day’ (C&P 2004, 138, emphasis added).

Pollock and Cruz's argument for this surprising conclusion is of general interest for it is ‘out of step with a very common view on the part of epistemologists, both internalist and externalist alike’ (C&P 2004, 136), as nearly all ‘epistemologists have claimed that truth and falsity play a crucial role in distinguishing between justified and unjustified beliefs [for] believing truths is the ultimate aim of human rational cognition’ (C&P 2004, 125; cf. Audi 1988).
Indeterminacy, Incompleteness, Indecision, and Other Semantic Phenomena
Authors: Montminy Martin
Published: May 2011

This paper explores the relationships between Davidson's indeterminacy of interpretation thesis and two semantic properties of sentences that have come to be recognized recently, namely semantic incompleteness and semantic indecision. More specifically, I will examine what the indeterminacy thesis entails for sentences of the form ‘By sentence S (or word w), agent A means that m’ and ‘Agent A believes that p.’ My primary goal is to shed light on the indeterminacy thesis and its consequences. I will distinguish two kinds of indeterminacy that have very different sources and very different consequences. But this does not purport to be an exhaustive study: there may well be other forms of indeterminacy that this paper does not address.

I will first explain the phenomena of semantic incompleteness and semantic indecision, and then explore their relationships with the indeterminacy thesis.
Gappy Propositions?
Authors: Mousavian Seyed N.
Published: May 2011

After introducing Millianism and touching on two problems raised by genuinely empty names for Millianism (section I), I provide a brief exposition of the Gappy Proposition View (GPV) and of how different versions of this view can reply to the problems in question (section II). In the following sections I develop my reasons against the GPV. First, I will try to argue that apparently promising arguments for the claim that gappy propositions are propositions are not successful (section III). Then, I will develop two arguments against GPs via demonstrating two odd consequences of the GPV: (a) that there can be an atomic proposition which contains other propositions that are not the semantic contents of any part of the sentence expressing that atomic proposition, and (b) that propositional structures are propositions (section IV). And finally, I will attempt to show that if any of these views can provide a successful defense of Millianism, it can do so without GPs, given some slight changes (section V). I will conclude that GPs should be avoided (section VI).
The Explanationist Argument For Moral Realism
Authors: Sinclair Neil
Published: May 2011

In this paper I argue that the explanationist argument in favour of moral realism fails. According to this argument, the ability of putative moral properties to feature in good explanations provides strong evidence for, or entails, the metaphysical claims of moral realism. Some have rejected this argument by denying that moral explanations are ever good explanations. My criticism is different. I will argue that even if we accept that moral explanations are (sometimes) good explanations the metaphysical claims of realism do not follow.

According to moral realists, moral properties such asjusticeandgoodnesstake their own unique place in nature's ontological roll-call. Although realists disagree about the nature of these moral properties — for example, whether they are reducible or otherwise constituted by non-moral or natural properties — they all agree that such properties are genuine constituents of the world that are sometimes instantiated by objects, events or states of affairs.
What are Thick Concepts?
Authors: Eklund Matti
Published: May 2011

Many theorists hold that there is, among value concepts, a fundamental distinction betweenthinones andthickones. Among thin ones are concepts likegoodandright. Among concepts that have been regarded as thick arediscretion,caution,enterprise,industry,assiduity,frugality,economy,good sense,prudence,discernment,treachery,promise,brutality,courage, coward, lie, gratitude, lewd, perverted, rude, glorious, graceful, exploited, and, of course, many others. Roughly speaking, thick concepts are value concepts with significant descriptive content. I will discuss a number of problems having to do with how best to understand the notion of a thick concept. Thick concepts have been widely discussed in the metaethical literature. But some important problems concerning what thick concepts are supposed to be have not been squarely addressed even in the most systematic of these discussions. Here I want to highlight these problems.
Developing a Community Action Plan to Eliminate Cancer Disparities: Lessons Learned
Authors: Wynn Theresa Ann , Anderson-Lewis Charkarra , Johnson Rhoda , Hardy Claudia , Hardin Gail , Walker Shundra , Marron John , Fouad Mona , Partridge Edward , Scarinci Isabel
Published: May 2011

Background : African Americans bear an unequal burden of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer. The Deep South Network for Cancer Control (DSN) is a community–academic partnership operating in Alabama and Mississippi that was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to address cancer disparities using community-based participatory research approaches.
Objective : In addition to reporting on the plans of this work in progress, we describe the participatory process that local residents and the DSN used to identify needs and priorities, and elaborate on lessons learned from applying a participatory approach to the development of a community action plan.
Methods : We conducted 24 community discussion groups involving health care professionals, government officials, faith-based leaders, and other stakeholders to identify cancer health disparity needs, community resources/assets, and county priorities to eliminate cancer health disparities. To develop a community action plan, four working groups explored the themes that emerged from the discussion groups, taking into consideration evidence-based strategies and promising community practices.
Results : The DSN formulated a community action plan focusing on (1) increasing physical activity by implementing a campaign for individual-level focused activity; (2) increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables by implementing NCI’s Body and Soul Program in local churches; (3) increasing cancer screening by raising awareness through individual, system, and provider agents of change; and (4) training community partners to become effective advocates.
Conclusions : A community–academic partnership must involve trust, respect, and an appreciation of partners’ strengths and differences. The DSN applied these guiding principles and learned pivotal lessons.