bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ruin Probabilities in a Finite-Horizon Risk Model with Investment and Reinsurance
Authors: Romera R. , Runggaldier W.
Published: March 2016

A finite-horizon insurance model is studied where the risk/reserve process can be controlled by reinsurance and investment in the financial market. Our setting is innovative in the sense that we describe in a unified way the timing of the events, that is, the arrivals of claims and the changes of the prices in the financial market, by means of a continuous-time semi-Markov process which appears to be more realistic than, say, classical diffusion-based models. Obtaining explicit optimal solutions for the minimizing ruin probability is a difficult task. Therefore we derive a specific methodology, based on recursive relations for the ruin probability, to obtain a reinsurance and investment policy that minimizes an exponential bound (Lundberg-type bound) on the ruin probability.
Kronecker-Based Infinite Level-Dependent QBD Processes
Authors: Dayar TuǦrul , Can Orhan M.
Published: March 2016

Markovian systems with multiple interacting subsystems under the influence of a control unit are considered. The state spaces of the subsystems are countably infinite, whereas that of the control unit is finite. A recent infinite level-dependent quasi-birth-and-death model for such systems is extended by facilitating the automatic representation and generation of the nonzero blocks in its underlying infinitesimal generator matrix with sums of Kronecker products. Experiments are performed on systems of stochastic chemical kinetics having two or more countably infinite state space subsystems. Results indicate that, even though more memory is consumed, there are many cases where a matrix-analytic solution coupled with Lyapunov theory yields a faster and more accurate steady-state measure compared to that obtained with simulation.
On the Generalized Drift Skorokhod Problem in One Dimension
Authors: Reed Josh , Ward Amy , Zhan Dongyuan
Published: March 2016

We show how to write the solution to the generalized drift Skorokhod problem in one-dimension in terms of the supremum of the solution of a tractable unrestricted integral equation (that is, an integral equation with no boundaries). As an application of our result, we equate the transient distribution of a reflected Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) process to the first hitting time distribution of an OU process (that isnotreflected). Then, we use this relationship to approximate the transient distribution of the GI/GI/1 + GI queue in conventional heavy traffic and the M/M/N/Nqueue in a many-server heavy traffic regime.
Sharp Bounds for Sums of Dependent Risks
Authors: Puccetti Giovanni , Rüschendorf Ludger
Published: March 2016

Sharp tail bounds for the sum of d random variables with given marginal distributions and arbitrary dependence structure have been known since Makarov (1981) and Rüschendorf (1982) for d=2 and, in some examples, for d≥3. Based on a duality result, dual bounds have been introduced in Embrechts and Puccetti (2006b). In the homogeneous case, F
1=···=F

n
, with monotone density, sharp tail bounds were recently found in Wang and Wang (2011). In this paper we establish the sharpness of the dual bounds in the homogeneous case under general conditions which include, in particular, the case of monotone densities and concave densities. We derive the corresponding optimal couplings and also give an effective method to calculate the sharp bounds.
Limit Theorems for a Generalized Feller Game
Authors: Matsumoto Keisuke , Nakata Toshio
Published: March 2016

In this paper we study limit theorems for the Feller game which is constructed from one-dimensional simple symmetric random walks, and corresponds to the St. Petersburg game. Motivated by a generalization of the St. Petersburg game which was investigated by Gut (2010), we generalize the Feller game by introducing the parameter α. We investigate limit distributions of the generalized Feller game corresponding to the results of Gut. Firstly, we give the weak law of large numbers for α=1. Moreover, for 0<α≤1, we have convergence in distribution to a stable law with index α. Finally, some limit theorems for a polynomial size and a geometric size deviation are given.
Computing Stationary Expectations in Level-Dependent QBD Processes
Authors: Baumann Hendrik , Sandmann Werner
Published: March 2016

Stationary expectations corresponding to long-run averages of additive functionals on level-dependent quasi-birth-and-death processes are considered. Special cases include long-run average costs or rewards, moments and cumulants of steady-state queueing network performance measures, and many others. We provide a matrix-analytic scheme for numerically computing such stationary expectations without explicitly computing the stationary distribution of the process, which yields an algorithm that is as quick as its counterparts for stationary distributions but requires far less computer storage. Specific problems arising in the case of infinite state spaces are discussed and the application of the algorithm is demonstrated by a queueing network example.
Regular Perturbation of V-Geometrically Ergodic Markov Chains
Authors: Ferré Déborah , Hervé Loïc , Ledoux James
Published: March 2016

In this paper, new conditions for the stability ofV-geometrically ergodic Markov chains are introduced. The results are based on an extension of the standard perturbation theory formulated by Keller and Liverani. The continuity and higher regularity properties are investigated. As an illustration, an asymptotic expansion of the invariant probability measure for an autoregressive model with independent and identically distributed noises (with a nonstandard probability density function) is obtained.
A Time-Homogeneous Diffusion Model with Tax
Authors: Li Bin , Tang Qihe , Zhou Xiaowen
Published: March 2016

We study the two-sided exit problem of a time-homogeneous diffusion process with tax payments of loss-carry-forward type and obtain explicit formulae for the Laplace transforms associated with the two-sided exit problem. The expected present value of tax payments until default, the two-sided exit probabilities, and, hence, the nondefault probability with the default threshold equal to the lower bound are solved as immediate corollaries. A sufficient and necessary condition for the tax identity in ruin theory is discovered.
Duality Between the Two-Locus Wright–Fisher Diffusion Model and the Ancestral Process with Recombination
Authors: Mano Shuhei
Published: March 2016

Known results on the moments of the distribution generated by the two-locus Wright–Fisher diffusion model, and the duality between the diffusion process and the ancestral process with recombination are briefly summarized. A numerical method for computing moments using a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation and a method to compute closed-form expressions of the moments are presented. By applying the duality argument, the properties of the ancestral recombination graph are studied in terms of the moments.
Asymptotic Expected Number of Passages of a Random Walk Through an Interval
Authors: Kella Offer , Stadje Wolfgang
Published: March 2016

In this note we find a new result concerning the asymptotic expected number of passages of a finite or infinite interval (x,x+h) as x→∞ for a random walk with increments having a positive expected value. If the increments are distributed like X then the limit for 0<h<∞ turns out to have the form Emin(|X|,h)/EX, which unexpectedly is independent of h for the special case where |X|≤b<∞ almost surely and h>b. When h=∞, the limit is Emax(X,0)/EX. For the case of a simple random walk, a more pedestrian derivation of the limit is given.
The Laplace Transform of Hitting Times of Integrated Geometric Brownian Motion
Authors: Metzler Adam
Published: March 2016

In this note we compute the Laplace transform of hitting times, to fixed levels, of integrated geometric Brownian motion. The transform is expressed in terms of the gamma and confluent hypergeometric functions. Using a simple Itô transformation and standard results on hitting times of diffusion processes, the transform is characterized as the solution to a linear second-order ordinary differential equation which, modulo a change of variables, is equivalent to Kummer's equation.
On Joint Ruin Probabilities of a Two-Dimensional Risk Model with Constant Interest Rate
Authors: Hu Zechun , Jiang Bin
Published: March 2016

In this note we consider the two-dimensional risk model introduced in Avram, Palmowski and Pistorius (2008) with constant interest rate. We derive the integral-differential equations of the Laplace transforms, and asymptotic expressions for the finite-time ruin probabilities with respect to the joint ruin times T
max(u
1,u
2) and T
min(u
1,u
2) respectively.
Open Bandit Processes with Uncountable States and Time-Backward Effects
Authors: Wu Xianyi , Zhou Xian
Published: March 2016

Bandit processes and the Gittins index have provided powerful and elegant theory and tools for the optimization of allocating limited resources to competitive demands. In this paper we extend the Gittins theory to more general branching bandit processes, also referred to as open bandit processes, that allow uncountable states and backward times. We establish the optimality of the Gittins index policy with uncountably many states, which is useful in such problems as dynamic scheduling with continuous random processing times. We also allow negative time durations for discounting a reward to account for the present value of the reward that was received before the present time, which we refer to as time-backward effects. This could model the situation of offering bonus rewards for completing jobs above expectation. Moreover, we discover that a common belief on the optimality of the Gittins index in the generalized bandit problem is not always true without additional conditions, and provide a counterexample. We further apply our theory of open bandit processes with time-backward effects to prove the optimality of the Gittins index in the generalized bandit problem under a sufficient condition.
Generalized Telegraph Process with Random Jumps
Authors: Di Crescenzo Antonio , Iuliano Antonella , Martinucci Barbara , Zacks Shelemyahu
Published: March 2016

We consider a generalized telegraph process which follows an alternating renewal process and is subject to random jumps. More specifically, consider a particle at the origin of the real line at timet=0. Then it goes along two alternating velocities with opposite directions, and performs a random jump toward the alternating direction at each velocity reversal. We develop the distribution of the location of the particle at an arbitrary fixed timet, and study this distribution under the assumption of exponentially distributed alternating random times. The cases of jumps having exponential distributions with constant rates and with linearly increasing rates are treated in detail.
Stochastic Comparisons of Symmetric Supermodular Functions of Heterogeneous Random Vectors
Authors: Di Crescenzo Antonio , Frostig Esther , Pellerey Franco
Published: March 2016

Consider random vectors formed by a finite number of independent groups of independent and identically distributed random variables, where those of the last group are stochastically smaller than those of the other groups. Conditions are given such that certain functions, defined as suitable means of supermodular functions of the random variables of the vectors, are supermodular or increasing directionally convex. Comparisons based on the increasing convex order of supermodular functions of such random vectors are also investigated. Applications of the above results are then provided in risk theory, queueing theory, and reliability theory, with reference to (i) net stop-loss reinsurance premiums of portfolios from different groups of insureds, (ii) closed cyclic multiclass Gordon-Newell queueing networks, and (iii) reliability of series systems formed by units selected from different batches.
A Note on the Mixture Representation of the Conditional Residual Lifetime of a Coherent System
Authors: Feng Xiuying , Zhang Shuhong , Li Xiaohu
Published: March 2016

This paper builds a mixture representation of the reliability function of the conditional residual lifetime of a coherent system in terms of the reliability functions of conditional residual lifetimes of order statistics. Some stochastic ordering properties for the conditional residual lifetime of a coherent system with independent and identically distributed components are obtained, based on the stochastically ordered coefficient vectors.
Phase Changes in the Topological Indices of Scale-Free Trees
Authors: Feng Qunqiang , Hu Zhishui
Published: March 2016

A scale-free tree with the parameter β is very close to a star if β is just a bit larger than −1, whereas it is close to a random recursive tree if β is very large. Through the Zagreb index, we consider the whole scene of the evolution of the scale-free trees model as β goes from −1 to + ∞. The critical values of β are shown to be the first several nonnegative integer numbers. We get the first two moments and the asymptotic behaviors of this index of a scale-free tree for all β. The generalized plane-oriented recursive trees model is also mentioned in passing, as well as the Gordon-Scantlebury and the Platt indices, which are closely related to the Zagreb index.
On the Uniqueness of Martingales with Certain Prescribed Marginals
Authors: Tehranchi Michael R.
Published: March 2016

This note contains two main results. (i) (Discrete time) Suppose that S is a martingale whose marginal laws agree with a geometric simple random walk. (In financial terms, let S be a risk-neutral asset price and suppose that the initial option prices agree with the Cox-Ross-Rubinstein binomial tree model.) Then S is a geometric simple random walk. (ii) (Continuous time) Suppose that S=S
0eσ X-σ2〈 X〉/2 is a continuous martingale whose marginal laws agree with a geometric Brownian motion. (In financial terms, let S be a risk-neutral asset price and suppose that the initial option prices agree with the Black-Scholes model with volatility σ>0.) Then there exists a Brownian motion W such that X

t
=W

t
+o(t
1/4+ ε) as t↑∞ for any ε> 0.
Inference for a Nonstationary Self-Exciting Point Process with an Application in Ultra-High Frequency Financial Data Modeling
Authors: Chen Feng , Hall Peter
Published: March 2016

Self-exciting point processes (SEPPs), or Hawkes processes, have found applications in a wide range of fields, such as epidemiology, seismology, neuroscience, engineering, and more recently financial econometrics and social interactions. In the traditional SEPP models, the baseline intensity is assumed to be a constant. This has restricted the application of SEPPs to situations where there is clearly a self-exciting phenomenon, but a constant baseline intensity is inappropriate. In this paper, to model point processes with varying baseline intensity, we introduce SEPP models with time-varying background intensities (SEPPVB, for short). We show that SEPPVB models are competitive with autoregressive conditional SEPP models (Engle and Russell 1998) for modeling ultra-high frequency data. We also develop asymptotic theory for maximum likelihood estimation based inference of parametric SEPP models, including SEPPVB. We illustrate applications to ultra-high frequency financial data analysis, and we compare performance with the autoregressive conditional duration models.
Discrete, Continuous and Conditional Multiple Window Scan Statistics
Authors: Wu Tung-Lung , Glaz Joseph , Fu James C.
Published: March 2016

The distributions of discrete, continuous and conditional multiple window scan statistics are studied. The finite Markov chain imbedding technique has been applied to obtain the distributions of fixed window scan statistics defined from a sequence of Bernoulli trials. In this manuscript the technique is extended to compute the distributions of multiple window scan statistics and the exact powers for multiple pulse and Markov dependent alternatives. An application in blood component quality monitoring is provided. Numerical results are also given to illustrate our theoretical results.
Stein's Method for the Beta Distribution and the Pólya-Eggenberger Urn
Authors: Goldstein Larry , Reinert Gesine
Published: March 2016

Using a characterizing equation for the beta distribution, Stein's method is applied to obtain bounds of the optimal order for the Wasserstein distance between the distribution of the scaled number of white balls drawn from a Pólya-Eggenberger urn and its limiting beta distribution. The bound is computed by making a direct comparison between characterizing operators of the target and the beta distribution, the former derived by extending Stein's density approach to discrete distributions. In addition, refinements are given to Döbler's (2012) result for the arcsine approximation for the fraction of time a simple random walk of even length spends positive, and so also to the distributions of its last return time to 0 and its first visit to its terminal point, by supplying explicit constants to the present Wasserstein bound and also demonstrating that its rate is of the optimal order.
Shopping Ideologies for Independent India? Taraknath Das’s engagement with Italian Fascism and German National Socialism
Authors: Framke Maria
Published: March 2016

While looking at the world’s politics and ideologies for a vision of the future nation state, India’s anti-British freedom activists and intellectuals remained deeply ambivalent about drawing lessons from Europe’s experience of Fascism and National Socialism. Indian nationalists cautiously admired elements of National Socialist and Fascist ideology and expressed their distress with imperialist expansionism, racism, and anti-Semitism that accompanied the two regimes. This article draws on the exemplary “global biography” of one such Indian internationalist thinker, Taraknath Das, to investigate interwar Indian preoccupation with Fascism and National Socialism in articulating the discursive ground of Indian nationalism.
Radio as a Tool of Empire. Intercontinental Broadcasting from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies in the 1920s and 1930s
Authors: Kuitenbrouwer Vincent
Published: March 2016

In the interwar years, the colonial powers of the day instantly saw long-range radio technology as an instrument to strengthen their empires as it enabled broadcasters in the European metropoles to reach audiences in the peripheries via the ether. This article focuses on the Dutch colonial station PHOHI, a company that pioneered global radio broadcasting. The station was founded by a group of influential entrepreneurs in order to strengthen ties between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies by reaching out to colonial expatriates. This case study shows how geopolitical and ideological considerations shaped both the organisation and the content of Dutch intercontinental broadcasting.
ENDOGENOUS BORROWING CONSTRAINTS AND WEALTH INEQUALITY
Authors: Bhattacharya Joydeep , Qiao Xue , Wang Min
Published: March 2016

This paper studies the evolution of wealth inequality in an economy with endogenous borrowing constraints. In the model economy, young agents need to borrow to finance human capital investments but cannot commit to repaying their loans. Creditors can punish defaulters by banishing them permanently from the credit market. At equilibrium, loan default is prevented by imposing a borrowing limit tied to the borrower's inheritance. The heterogeneity in inheritances translates into heterogeneity in borrowing limits: endogenously, some borrowers face a zero borrowing limit, and some are partly constrained, whereas others are unconstrained. Depending on the initial distribution of inheritances, it is possible that all lineages are attracted either to the zero-borrowing-limit steady state or to the unconstrained-borrowing steady state—long-run equality. It is also possible that some lineages end up in one steady state and the rest in the other—complete polarization.
INTRODUCTION TO THE MACROECONOMIC DYNAMICS SPECIAL ISSUE ON TECHNOLOGY ASPECTS IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Azomahou Théophile T. , Boucekkine Raouf , Mohnen Pierre , Verspagen Bart
Published: March 2016

We present a set of theoretical and empirical papers and briefly describe the specific contributions to the Macroeconomic Dynamics special issue on technology aspects in the process of development.
25-Hydroxyvitamin D concentration and all-cause mortality: the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study
Authors: Heath Alicia K , Williamson Elizabeth J , Kvaskoff David , Hodge Allison M , Ebeling Peter R , Baglietto Laura , Neale Rachel E , Giles Graham G , Eyles Darryl W , English Dallas R
Published: March 2016

Objective

To investigate relationships between mortality and circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D3) and 25-hydroxyergocalciferol (25(OH)D2).

Design

Case–cohort study within the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS). We measured 25(OH)D2and 25(OH)D3in archived dried blood spots by LC–MS/MS. Cox regression was used to estimate mortality hazard ratios (HR), with adjustment for confounders.

Setting

General community.

Subjects

The MCCS included 29 206 participants, who at recruitment in 1990–1994 were aged 40–69 years, had dried blood spots collected and no history of cancer. For the present study we selected participants who died by 31 December 2007 (n2410) and a random sample (sub-cohort,n2996).

Results

The HR per 25 nmol/l increment in concentration of 25(OH)D and 25(OH)D3were 0·86 (95 % CI 0·78, 0·96;P=0·007) and 0·85 (95 % CI 0·77, 0·95;P=0·003), respectively. Of 5108 participants, sixty-three (1·2 %) had detectable 25(OH)D2; their mean 25(OH)D concentration was 11·9 (95 % CI 7·3, 16·6) nmol/l higher (P<0·001). The HR for detectable 25(OH)D2was 1·80 (95 % CI 1·09, 2·97;P=0·023); for those with detectable 25(OH)D2, the HR per 25 nmol/l increment in 25(OH)D was 1·06 (95 % CI 0·87, 1·29;Pinteraction=0·02). HR were similar for participants who reported being in good, very good or excellent health four years after recruitment.

Conclusions

Total 25(OH)D and 25(OH)D3concentrations were inversely associated with mortality. The finding that the inverse association for 25(OH)D was restricted to those with no detectable 25(OH)D2requires confirmation in populations with higher exposure to ergocalciferol.
PERSUASION, EDUCATION, AND MANIPULATION: SOME QUESTIONS FROM ANCIENT GREECE
Authors: Coope Ursula
Published: March 2016

If you kidnap or drug someone to prevent her from casting her vote, then you are responsible for her failure to cast her vote. There is nothing she can do about it. If you hypnotize a person to get her to assassinate your enemy, then you are responsible for the assassination. She cannot be blamed (except in the special case in which she is a willing accomplice, allowing herself to be hypnotized, in order to be a more effective assassin). Kidnapping, drugging and hypnosis are all methods of subjecting someone else to your will. But does persuading a person to do something count as a further method of controlling her, or subjecting her to your will? Intuitively, we want to say it does not. If you persuade me not to vote, then you get me to do what you want, but you do so in a way that leaves me in control. Having been persuaded does not exempt me from blame, as having been kidnapped, drugged or hypnotized would do. However, this intuitive view proves surprisingly difficult to justify. What makes being persuaded different? Why isn't persuading someone to do something simply a further way of controlling what she does?
FROM ZOMBIE ART TO DEAD ART
Authors: Majeed Raamy
Published: March 2016

Zombie art, or salvage art, are artworks that are damaged beyond repair, deemed ‘no-longer-art’ by insurance companies, and removed from the market and stored at claims inventories due to their purported loss of value. This paper aims to make sense of the notion of zombie art. It then aims to determine whether artefacts that fall under this concept retain any aesthetic value, and whether they can genuinely cease being artworks, i.e. be dead art.
WHY THERE IS SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING
Authors: Shand John
Published: March 2016

The answer to the question of why there is Something rather than Nothing is that there has to be Something and that Nothing is impossible. There cannot not be Something so there cannot be Nothing. The paper justifies this conclusion, while also explaining why we might believe there may be Nothing. In the course of this, the so-called subtraction-argument is shown to be inadequate and question-begging.
WHY SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS UNJUST
Authors: Spiegel James S.
Published: March 2016

Proponents of same-sex marriage often defend their view by appealing to the concept of justice. But a significant argument from justice against same-sex marriage can be made also, as follows. Heterosexual union has special social value because it is the indispensable means by which humans come into existence. What has special social value deserves special recognition and sanction. Civil ordinances that recognize same-sex marriage as comparable to heterosexual marriage constitute a rejection of the special social value of heterosexual unions, and to deny such special social value is unjust.
A GOD EXISTS
Authors: Harrison Gerald K.
Published: March 2016

I argue that normative reasons (reasons to do and believe things) are powerful evidence that a god exists. Normative reasons are presupposed by all intellectual inquiry, yet it appears there is only one thing they could credibly be: the favourings a god is having of us doing and believing things. I anticipate some possible objections and show them to be confused or dogmatic.
IT'S OFFICIAL: WE CAN NOW DOUBT JESUS' HISTORICAL EXISTENCE
Authors: Lataster Raphael
Published: March 2016

With the assistance of historian Richard Carrier, I have just published Jesus Did Not Exist: A Debate Among Atheists (2015), as a spiritual sequel to my earlier There Was No Jesus, There Is No God (2013). Unsurprisingly, I argue that – with the Christ of Faith already dismissed by mainstream secular scholars – it is very reasonable to doubt Jesus' historical existence. The basic premise of the book is to examine the arguments of four scholars who have recently published significant works about this controversial issue. What follows is a brief summary of these analyses.
A systematic review of instruments assessing dimensions of distress among caregivers of adult and pediatric cancer patients
Authors: Tanco Kimberson , Park Ji Chan , Cerana Agustina , Sisson Amy , Sobti Nikhil , Bruera Eduardo
Published: March 2016

Objective:

Caregivers of cancer patients face intense demands throughout the course of the disease, survivorship, and bereavement. Caregiver burden, needs, satisfaction, quality of life, and other significant areas of caregiving are not monitored regularly in the clinic setting, resulting in a need to address the availability and clinical effectiveness of cancer caregiver distress tools. This review aimed to determine the availability of cancer caregiver instruments, the variation of instruments between different domains of distress, and that between adult and pediatric cancer patient populations.

Method:

A literature search was conducted using various databases from 1937 to 2013. Original articles on instruments were extracted separately if not included in the original literature search. The instruments were divided into different areas of caregiver distress and into adult versus pediatric populations. Psychometric data were also evaluated.

Results:

A total of 5,541 articles were reviewed, and 135 articles (2.4%) were accepted based on our inclusion criteria. Some 59 instruments were identified, which fell into the following categories: burden (n = 26, 44%); satisfaction with healthcare delivery (n = 5, 8.5%); needs (n = 14, 23.7%); quality of life (n = 9, 15.3%); and other issues (n = 5, 8.5%). The median number of items was 29 (4–125): 20/59 instruments (33.9%) had ≤20 items; 13 (22%) had ≤20 items and were psychometrically sound, with 12 of these 13 (92.3%) being self-report questionnaires. There were 44 instruments (74.6%) that measured caregiver distress for adult cancer patients and 15 (25.4%) for caregivers of pediatric patients.

Significance of results:

There is a significant number of cancer caregiver instruments that are self-reported, concise, and psychometrically sound, which makes them attractive for further research into their clinical use, outcomes, and effectiveness.
Grain physical characteristic of the Australian wild rices
Authors: Tikapunya Tiparat , Fox Glen , Furtado Agnelo , Henry Robert
Published: March 2016

Rice yield improvement is required to support increasing global rice demand. However, the limited genetic diversity within the cultivated rice gene pool may be a major obstacle. Australian wild rice which has been largely genetically isolated from cultivated rice might be a new source of genetic variation for use in improving rice production. The physical properties of Oryza australiensis and of the two perennial Australian Wild rice taxa-belonging to the A genome wild rice were evaluated. Seeds collected from rice in the wild were generally smaller than those from domesticated rice. The wild rice A genome collections were classified as extra-long paddy rice with grains that were long or medium, while O. australiensis was categorized as long paddy rice with a short grain. However, these wild rices were slender compared with domesticated rice. The grain colour of these wild rices varied from light red brown to dark brown compared with domesticated rice which is brighter, with less redness and more yellowness than the wild rice. The physical characteristics of the grains of the Australian wild rice indicate that these rice grains may be successfully processed using current rice processing techniques and may be a useful novel food especially in the coloured rice market.
Agenda Control, Intraparty Conflict, and Government Spending in Asia: Evidence from South Korea and Taiwan
Authors: Yap O. Fiona
Published: March 2016

In nations where the executive has budgetary control, how are spending decisions and allocations affected? Is intraparty conflict relevant? This article sets out to show that institutional rules and leadership roles affect budgetary outcomes. It makes the following argument: if intraparty conflict exists in a one-party dominant or majority-party system, the executive reduces spending to punish the party in the legislature; if no intraparty conflict exists, then the executive increases spending to reward or cultivate loyalty to himself as the party leader. If intraparty conflict exists in a minority government or majority-coalition within a competitive multiparty system, the executive increases spending to reward or cultivate loyalty to himself as the party or coalition leader. Evidence from South Korea and Taiwan between the 1970s and 2000 supports the theory. This study advances scholarship in three ways. First, it shows that institutional rules that provide the executive with agenda control also lead to the strategic use of the budgetary process and outcomes to generate loyalty to the executive as leader. Second, it reveals that this strategy affects spending outcomes in election years; this is an important caveat to electoral spending manipulations. Third, the strategic use of the budget to control intraparty conflict occurred prior to and following democratization; this reveals that institutional changes need to include modifications in rules for policy transformations.
Balance, Parallelism, and Asymmetry: United States-Korea Relations
Authors: Cha Victor D.
Published: March 2016

The George W. Bush presidency has raised wide speculation about future United States' policy toward the Korean peninsula. The conventional wisdom among pundits in Washington, Seoul and elsewhere is that the incoming administration will switch to a ‘harder line’ regarding the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK) and move away from the engagement policy practiced during the Clinton administration. In a similar vein, others have argued that Bush will place a premium on reaffirming and consolidating ties with traditional allies and friends like the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan, and Taiwan while downplaying strategic engagement with China. The problem with such punditry is that it is usually overstated and under analyzed. Given the current state of relations, there is little incentive for dramatic changes in U.S. policy toward North Korea or with regard to the U.S.-ROK alliance. Moreover, given what is known of the Bush administration's foreign policy vision, there is little evidence upon which to predict an unadulterated hard line swing in policy toward Pyongyang.
Sizing Up Taiwan's Political Earthquake
Authors: Chu Yun-han , Diamond Larry
Published: March 2016

On March 18, 2000, Taiwan experienced an electoral earthquake. After half a century in power on the island of Taiwan and eight decades of an undisrupted ruling position dating back to its heyday on the Chinese mainland, the Kuomintang (KMT) lost power in a free and fair presidential election. The power rotation at the close of the century is historic by any measure. It has closed an epoch of one-party dominance and inaugurated a period of party dealignment and realignment. It deflated Lee Teng-hui's charisma and brought his era to an abrupt and calamitous end. At the elite level, it has triggered a generational turnover, pushing the baby boomers to the forefront of governing responsibility. Most significantly, it pushed the island's political system for a major step forward toward the consolidation of democracy.
Women in Politics, Protecting the Environment in Northeast Asia
Authors: Schreurs Miranda A.
Published: March 2016

Women are under-represented in politics in Northeast Asian countries. Yet, in the environmental realm, women have assumed prominent political, bureaucratic, and NGO positions. This article examines some of the forms that women's participation in environmental protection has taken in Japan, Korea, and China and attempts to assesses the reasons why women are engaging more actively with environmental issues than they are with many other policy areas.
Threats without Enemies, Security without Borders: Environmental Security in East Asia
Authors: Thakur Ramesh
Published: March 2016

Northeast Asia constitutes a “regional environmental security complex” wherein the actors and societies are enmeshed together in a web of positive and negative externalities with respect both to environmental problems and efforts to solve them. The three sets of environmental issues relevant to the security architecture can be summarized as follows: damage to and destruction of peaceful relations, stability and order of the state-based system of international relations caused by environmental decay and resource scarcity; threats to human security rooted in environmental decay and resource scarcity; and damage to and destruction of environmental integrity caused by instability and conflict. Environmental degradation can degrade human security by damaging the health of human populations; economic security by impacting adversely on local, national, regional and international economies; and national security by undermining stable relations among countries. Equally, though, recurring patterns of human, economic and national behavior can deplete the earth's resources and degrade the physical environment.
From “Strategic Partners” to “Strategic Competitors”: George W. Bush and the Politics of U.S. China Policy
Authors: Baum Richard
Published: March 2016

Ever since Richard Nixon's 1972 “opening” to China, U.S. presidential election campaigns have been the occasion for the opposition party to strongly challenge the incumbent president's policy of engagement toward China. Once in power, however, successful challengers (Carter, Reagan, Clinton) have softened their criticism and accepted the strategic necessity of cooperation with China. In the first stage of this cycle, the 2000 election appeared to be no exception, as presidential challenger George W. Bush sharply criticized Bill Clinton's notion of a “strategic partnership” with the PRC and proposed instead that the U.S. and China were “strategic competitors.” This paper examines the first six months of the Bush presidency to see if the historic pattern of post-election reversion to the status-quo ante is repeating itself in the Bush Administration. Looking, inter alia, at the individual preferences of key administration policymakers, the administration's enhanced arms sale package to Taiwan, the president's pledge to do “whatever it took” to defend Taiwan, and the mid-summer visit of Secretary of State Colin Powell to Beijing, the paper documents the existence of a sharp division between “soft” realists and “hard” realists within the Bush Administration; and it concludes that while there has been a perceptible shift toward a more adversarial outlook, it is too soon to tell whether this shift will be partly offset by the normal first-term “regression to the mean.”
Politics by Other Means: Village Elections in China
Authors: Chen Weixing
Published: March 2016

This article argues that the village election in China is a case of “politics by other means” in that it is a state act imposed on the peasantry with the purpose of reorganizing the peasantry and maintaining the state's macroeconomic and political control under the conditions of economic reform. In analyzing village elections, the paper examines the institutional limbo in the countryside and the state's motivations for introducing this electoral process in the 1980s. The paper also analyzes the inherent limitations of the “Organic Law of Villagers' Committee” by reviewing the central role of the state in village elections processes as well as by discussing economic aspects of the politics of village elections.
International Relations Studies in China
Authors: Wang Jianwei
Published: March 2016

This article traces the evolution of international relations studies as an academic discipline in China in the last two decades or so. Almost non-existent before the 1980s, IR studies has become an increasingly dynamic, sophisticated, and popular field of social science in both teaching and research. This is reflected in the growth of institutions, degree programs, scholarship and paradigmatic debate as well as interaction with the Western intellectual community in both theory and personnel. Nevertheless, the development of IR studies in China is still in its primitive stage and it must contend with various problems such as political control, a lack of well-trained scholars, inadequate funding, and ideational uncertainty.
Area Studies, Regional Studies, and International Relations
Authors: Katzenstein Peter J.
Published: March 2016

This paper discusses area, regional, and international relations studies as seen from the vantage point of the United States. Part I situates the issue of regionalism in the current debate about conceptualizing international relations since the end of the Cold War and at the dawn of a new millennium. Against the historical backdrop of a powerful case for area studies made soon after the end of World War II, Part II focuses attention on the crosscurrents that are affecting area studies from three different directions: (1) disciplinary-based, scientific critics who value nomothetic approaches more than contextualization; (2) cultural critiques developed from the perspective of the humanities and, at times, post-modernism; and (3) the growing emphasis on cross-regional studies that seek to blend and incorporate elements from both scientific and humanistic perspectives. Part III concludes with some brief reflections on the relations, in the classroom, between areas, regional and international studies.
International Relations Of Northeast Asia In the US: Area Studies, Disciplines, And Regional Coverage
Authors: Rozman Gilbert
Published: March 2016

A preoccupation with the US and narrow notions of area studies have obstructed scholarship on the diversity of bilateral relations and the emergence of the Northeast Asian regional community. During the Cold War, for example, this meant that Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese ties were neglected. In the 1990s the problem became more acute because many bilateral ties intensified and acquired new dimensions. There was an outpouring of new primary and secondary sources within the region, while rapidly evolving conditions made updating of insights imperative. The gap keeps widening between the claims of globalists with little area knowledge, and the opportunities to deepen understanding by applying area expertise to the flux in bilateral and regional relations. The traditions of Chinese, Japanese and Russian area studies have proven valuable, but inadequate. There is a need for scholars who will develop approaches that navigate between global and area studies. Few specialists on Northeast Asian area relations not involving the US can be found in the US, and the situation is scarcely improving. Experts must be trained for in depth, balanced bilateral analysis. Increasingly, there is a need for triangular experts as well. Indeed, working closely with centers inside the region, the US and other Western scholarly communities should be training a new generation of Northeast Asianists comfortable as area experts while also at home in the disciplines.
Asia Pacific and Global Order in the Post 9–11 World
Authors: Han Sung-Joo
Published: March 2016

This article contends that the September 11th terrorist attacks have had a significant effect on the Asian regional order as well as on the global order. Globally, they have had two seemingly contradictory effects. On the one hand, the post-9.11 situation has presented the major powers of the world, including the United States, Russia and China, to build a “system of concert,” overcoming their rivalries and conflicting interests. It seems to have given new impetus to the promotion of multilateralism in international relations. On the other hand, it has helped to revive and rediscover what is known as realism in international politics, realism that recognizes the supremacy of the state and national interest as individual states become the main protector of their citizens in times of crises.

The system of concert is also evolving in East Asia which, until September 11th, 2001, had been slow in catching up with the Western world (Europe and America) in international cooperation and multilateral mechanisms. Most remarkable in this regard is the improved relations between China and the United States and, secondarily, between China and Japan. Even though sources of conflict remain among various countries, major powers such as the United States, Russia, China and Japan now place greater emphasis upon cooperation and mutual assistance in fighting global terrorism. It nevertheless seems that Asians will continue to live in a regional order where a new system of concert that evolves in the aftermath of the 9–11 attacks coexists with a traditional geopolitical and real politics order.
The Politics of Financial Reform in Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand: When, Why, and How Democracy Matters?
Authors: Kim Byung-Kook
Published: March 2016

This article analyzes the impact of political regime and state bureaucracy on policy responses to the 1997 financial crisis in Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand. The political regime type — classified broadly into democracy and authoritarianism — is found to shape the direction of policy responses by influencing the political elites' understanding on causes, processes, and consequences of the crisis, whereas the state bureaucracy — classified into hybrid and Weberian types — decides the implementation of reform plans by determining the power of big business to resist policy change, as well as the state's organizational capacity to counter that resistance. The article argues that only when the political regime is democratic and the state Weberian will comprehensive — as opposed to partial — reform succeed.
Hyundai Crisis: Its Development and Resolution
Authors: Lim Youngjae
Published: March 2016

We attempt to trace the Hyundai crisis back to its roots with the following questions in mind. What actions taken by the Hyundai Group since its birth contributed to Hyundai's post-1997 afflictions and to the split and the subsequent fall of the parent group? What changes in the corporate environment, in particular, the changes in business-government relationships, brought on by the national financial crisis of 1997 determined the Hyundai Group's fate? The Hyundai crisis was ultimately a test on whether the old business- government relationship could survive the new market environment generated by the 1997 financial crisis. In spite of the government's indecision and inconsistency, however, it was the government itself which eventually yielded and accepted the new market environment it had helped to create after 1997. The government reluctantly transferred the control rights of Hyundai Construction and Hynix Semiconductor to creditor banks via debt-equity swaps starting from March 2001.
From “Iron Rice Bowl” to Labor Market in Two Decades: Changing Workplace Relations in the People's Republic of China on the Eve of WTO Entry
Authors: Ng Sek-Hong , Warner Malcolm
Published: March 2016

This article examines how management-labor relations and labor legislation have evolved in China since Deng Xiaoping's “Open Door” reforms were introduced in 1979 and how they have changed over the two decades since then. We reconsider the role of Chinese trade unions, enterprises and the state agencies involved, as they move from an employment system that was once called the “iron rice bowl” to a new one based on market forces. This change raises serious dilemmas and issues: are there contradictions between preserving workers' rights and at the same time, enhancing productivity? Does such a transition constitute the onset of “collective bargaining” and a labor-market in the Western sense? How are such shifts likely to be affected by China's entry into the WTO in late 2001? These and other related questions are analysed in the article.
State Mediation of Global Financial Forces: Different Paths of Structural Reforms in Japan and South Korea
Authors: Tiberghien Yves
Published: March 2016

This article compares the process of corporate structural reforms in Japan and South Korea in the late 1990s and raises two questions. Why have state-led economies such as Japan and South Korea engaged in politically costly corporate structural reforms in the late 1990s? What explains the variation in the reform process between Japan and South Korea?

I argue that the process of structural reforms in state-led economies has been the result of state mediation of global financial forces. The rise of portfolio capital inflows increases the pressure for domestic reforms, a change that is common to Japan and Korea in the late 1990s. However, the actual success of structural reforms depends on the ability of the elite bureaucracy to mediate among between global investors, domestic interest groups and the general public. In contrast to Korea, Japan exhibits a low level of bureaucratic control over the legislative agenda and a situation of tripolar deadlock.

The evidence presented here includes quantitative data, government documents, and legislative records as well as information gathered from over 100 interviews with bureaucrats, politicians, business leaders, labor leaders, and other actors in the two countries.
Judgment Heuristics and Prospect Theory: Some Practical Implications for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait
Authors: Chan Steve
Published: March 2016

People are subject to a variety of psychological factors that distort their reasoning. Emotions such as anger, fear, greed, and envy are examples of “hot” impulses that can cause such distortions. As well, motivations such as conformity and competition are another common source of judgmental errors. This paper, however, addresses a number of “cold” impulses that can also contribute to biased judgment. The focus is therefore on the cognitive rather than affective dimensions of judgment under uncertainty, and on situational rather than personality explanations, seeking to account for departures from rational decisionmaking.