bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
‘Premium Network Spaces’: A Comment
Authors: Coutard Olivier
Published: March 2003

This paper is a response to some of the arguments developed by Stephen Graham in an article published in IJURR in March 2000. In that article, Graham argues that the contemporary conditions of development of infrastructure networks worldwide are particularly favourable to ‘secessionary tendencies’ and lead to the deliberate creation of premium network(ed) spaces, i.e. ‘new or retrofitted transport, telecommunications, power or water infrastructures that are customized precisely to the needs of powerful users and spaces, whilst bypassing less powerful users and spaces’. In this response, I discuss cases in a variety of urban and national contexts that appear to stand in contrast with Graham’s narrative. In conclusion, I stress four directions which additional empirical research on these issues should address: incorporating the role of historical time; differentiating between developed and developing countries; expanding the analysis to spaces other than large cities; and integrating the features of socio‐political regimes.

Cet article répond à certains arguments développés par Stephen Graham dans un article publié dans l’IJURR en mars 2000. Dans son article, Graham soutient que les conditions contemporaines de développement des réseaux techniques sont particulièrement favorables à l’expression de ‘tendances sécessionnistes’ (selon ses termes) et au développement d’espaces‐réseaux de première classe, c’est‐à‐dire ‘des réseaux de transports, de télécommunications, d’énergie ou de distribution d’eau, nouveaux ou redéveloppés, qui sont adaptés précisément aux besoins d’espaces et d’utilisateurs puissants, au détriment d’espaces et d’utilisateurs moins puissants’. Dans cette réponse, je présente un certain nombre de travaux empiriques menés dans des contextes urbains et nationaux divers et qui me semblent aller à l’encontre de la thèse défendue par Graham. En conclusion, j’indique qu’il serait souhaitable que les études empiriques à venir approfondissent quatre dimensions du problème: le rôle de l’histoire et du temps long; les différences entre pays développés (équipés en réseaux d’infrastructures) et pays en développement (en voie d’équipement); la situation des territoires autres que ceux des grandes métropoles (et les interactions entre les différents types de territoires); et l’influence des régimes socio‐politiques.
Constructing Ethnicity: Myth of Return and Modes of Exclusion among Israelis in Toronto
Authors: Cohen Rina , Gold Gerald
Published: March 2003

Drawing upon data from ninety intensive interviews and from participatory observations of various social gatherings of Israelis living in Toronto, this study explores the role of the desire to return to the mother‐country in the production of a distinctive ethnic community.

Although plans to return rarely materialize, they do contribute to both the individual’s psychological well‐being and the group’s need to defy assimilation. On a personal level, the myth of return enables the immigrant to live in two social worlds; on a social level, the myth creates a collective fantasy which leads to excluding members from outsiders.

The research identifies modes of self‐exclusion such as preservation of language, reinforcement of romanticized biographies and enhancement of stereotypes, all of which are instrumental in reconstructing Israeliness in the Diaspora. The rise of special “Israeli” organizations such as clubs, a radio station, schools, newspapers and synagogues, represent a resistance to integrate into the organized Jewish community.

Modes of exclusion and the emergence of Israeli ethnic organizations are constantly energized by the individual, as well as the collective, objective to return to the homeland. Paradoxically, the myth of return, rather than contributing to the fragility of Israel ethnic networks, provides the very foundation upon which this ethnic community is constructed.
The Unemployment Insurance Compensation Usage of Canada’s Immigrants in Selected Provinces, 1981–1988
Authors: Siklos Pierre L. , Marr William
Published: March 2003

This paper explores the relationship between province of residence and the use of unemployment insurance (UI) among immigrants who landed in Canada during the period 1981‐88.

Use of a new data set, the Longitudinal Immigration Data Base, overcomes the restriction that other data sets are cross‐sectional only in nature or do not identify birthplace.

Our principal conclusion is that more generous UI benefits and poorer economic conditions than the Canadian average have a positive impact on the fraction of immigrants who receive UI. In addition, the province of residence has a separate effect on the likelihood of claiming UI, perhaps due to mobility costs.

Because national immigration policies have a differential impact across provinces, it is understandable that provincial policy makers wish to have greater influence over federal immigration policies.
“I know a place that is softer than this...”– Emerging Migrant Communitites in South Africa
Authors: Sinclair Marion Ryan
Published: March 2003

Since the end of apartheid, immigration into South Africa has increased dramatically. Migration has become a volatile issue, with South Africans increasingly xenophobic and threatened by the influx of foreigners.

Simultaneously, the question of national identity has increased in significance, with politicians and academics anxious to capture an understanding of the evolution and complementarity of parallel identities and group loyalties.

In the rush to develop a better understanding of identity formation, the opportunity to examine the impacts of hostility on identity, as in the example of migrant individuals and communities in South Africa, has been over‐looked. How migrant identities emerge, and how communities play a role in identities and in the survival of individuals, has been a neglected facet of migration in South Africa.

This article, constructed largely from interviews with migrants, presents a picture of the emergence of migrant communities in South African society and seeks to enrich understanding of the complexities of migrant society within the country.
Protection of Migrants' Human Rights: Principles and Practice
Authors: Mattila Heikki S.
Published: March 2003

In principle, migrants enjoy the protection of international law. Key human rights instruments oblige the States Parties to extend their protection to all human beings. Such important treaties as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights have been ratified by more than 140 states, but many political, social or economic obstacles seem to stand in the way of offering those rights to migrants.

In an attempt to bridge this protection gap, the more specifically targeted International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families was created and adopted by the United Nations in 1990. This treaty is not yet in force, but the number of States Parties is increasing towards the required 20.

In the past few years the human rights machinery of the United Nations has increased its attention towards migrants' human rights, appointing in 1999 the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. Governments, as the acceding parties to international human rights instruments, remain the principal actors as guardians of the human rights of all individuals residing in their territories.

Receiving countries are in a key position in the protection of the migrants that they host. However, active defence of migrants' rights is politically difficult in many countries where anti‐immigrant factions are influential.

Trafficking in migrants is one example of the complexity faced by states in formulating their migration policies. On the one hand, trafficking has made governments increasingly act together and combine both enforcement and protection. On the other, trafficking, with its easily acceptable human rights concerns, is often separated from the more migration‐related human smuggling. The latter is a more contentious issue, related also to unofficial interests in utilizing cheap undocumented immigrant labour.
The Role of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
Authors: Rodriguez Gabriela
Published: March 2003

The position of Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants was established in 1999 by the Commission on Human Rights.

During the short period since her appointment, the Special Rapporteur has directed her attention to examining ways and means to overcome obstacles impeding the full and effective protection of the human rights of migrants, and also examining difficulties for the return of migrants who are undocumented or in irregular situations.

This schedule has involved visits to governments and the dissemination of information on the legal framework and aspects of the mandate designed to explain the complexity of migration.

The Special Rapporteur calls for increased efforts to ensure success of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to be held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. She also encourages those governments which have not yet ratified the International Convention to take the necessary steps.
Interest Rate, Currency and Equity Derivatives Valuation Using the Potential Approach
Authors: Nakamura Naosuke , Yu Fan
Published: March 2003

Based on the potential approach to interest rate modelling, we introduce a simple tractable model for the unified valuation of interest rate, currency and equity derivatives. Our model is able to accommodate the initial term structure of zero‐coupon bond prices, generate positive and bounded interest rates, and handle cross products such as differential swaps, quanto options and equity swaps. As our model is specified under the actual probability measure, it can be directly used for portfolio risk management and the computation of value at risk. Furthermore, our model yields simple analytical formulas that are easy to calibrate and implement.
The Contributions of Professors Fischer Black, Robert Merton and Myron Scholes to the Financial Services Industry
Authors: Marsh Terry , Kobayashi Takao
Published: March 2003

This paper is written as a tribute to Professors Robert Merton and Myron Scholes, winners of the 1997 Nobel Prize in economics, as well as to their collaborator, the late Professor Fischer Black. We first provide a brief and very selective review of their seminal work in contingent claims pricing. We then provide an overview of some of the recent research on stock price dynamics as it relates to contingent claim pricing. The continuing intensity of this research, some 25 years after the publication of the original Black–Scholes paper, must surely be regarded as the ultimate tribute to their work. We discuss jump‐diffusion and stochastic volatility models, subordinated models, fractal models and generalized binomial tree models for stock price dynamics and option pricing. We also address questions as to whether derivatives trading poses a systemic risk in the context of models in which stock price movements are endogenized, and give our views on the ‘LTCM crisis’ and liquidity risk.
The Washington Consensus and Russian Economic Policy
Authors: Nekiplov Alexander
Published: March 2003

The Washington Consensus presents a set of standard measures for economic policy, based on monetarist theory. Initially, it was designed for developing economies, already largely based on the market. Later on it was applied mechanically to post‐communist states. However, the latter differ from the former at least in two respects. First, at the initial stage, post‐communist economies are essentially non‐market economies, and simply dismantling central planning and liberalising prices cannot change this. Second, in contrast to developing economies, they are industrialised economies where allocation of resources has not conformed with market principles. This meant that they faced aunique problem of massive reallocation of the factors of production as a result of market transformation. Application of the Washington Consensus approach in Russia resulted in the advent of a strange, hybrid, quasi‐market system thatreacts in an unusual way to market signals and macroeconomic policies and is unable to get out of an unprecedented economic crisis. Thus, paradoxical as it may be, the recipes of the supporters of the Washington Consensus prevent the Russian economic system from being transformed into a genuine market economy.This means that major changes are needed.
Introduction: federalism in an era of globalisation
Authors: Watts Ronald
Published: March 2003

Under the pressure of globalization we appear to be in the midst of a paradigm shift from a world of nation‐states to one in which federalism provides the closest political approximation to the complex diversity of the contemporaryworld. In this context the Forum of Federations, as its first major activity, held an international conference at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, 5‐8 October 1999, on ‘Federalism in an Era of Globalization’. The articles in this issue of the International Social Science Journal are drawn from among the many presentations and back‐ground papers at that conference, and provide an insight into a range of salient issues within contemporary federations.
Economic policy‐making: advantages and disadvantages of the federal model
Authors: Kincaid John
Published: March 2003

In principle, key advantages of a democratic federation include (1) more efficient provision and production of public services tailored to the diversity of citizen and communal preferences; (2) better alignment of the costs and benefits of government for a diverse citizenry and thus more equity, insofar as citizens get what they pay for and pay for what they get; (3) better fits between public goods and their spatial characteristics, especially the variable economies of scale of different public goods; (4) increased competition, experimentation, and innovation in government; (5) greater responsiveness to citizen preferences, especially insofar as regional and local governments have the authority and ability to respond to those preferences; (6) more transparent and close‐to‐the‐citizen accountability in policy‐making; and (7) more sensitivity to subnational regional concerns, including the power of constituent governments to provide for primarily by considerations relating to liberty, the promotion of active citizenship, and democracy. In multination states, federal arrangements will also be necessitated by considerations of equity and the right to self‐determination. Federal constitutions nevertheless tend to make it mation; there are significant differences between liberal individualist and multi‐communal federations; and many factors other than federalism affect economic policy‐making. Consequently, federations include both the world's richest and the world's poorest nations.
Local governance and federal political systems
Authors: Gibbins Roger
Published: March 2003

Federal theory and federal scholarship have paid little attention to the role of local communities and their governments, which receive scant recognition in the constitutional and institutional arrangements of mature federal systems such as Australia, Canada, and the United States. However, local governments have become extensively entangled in the fiscal relations and social service delivery of federal political systems. Moreover, it can be argued that localities in general and international cities in particular will play a more important role in the decades to come. This role may be particularly pronounced in emergent federal systems. It is important, therefore, to bring local communities and their governments into play as we try to understand the evolving nature of federal governance.
The Drug Trade, the Black Economy, and Society in Western Amazonia
Authors: Araújo Roberto
Published: March 2003

This article describes some of the main social and political consequences of the emergence of the cocaine trade in Brazilian Amazonia, taking as an example the state of Acre. Drug trafficking, which concerns all sections of society, has, like other illegal networks, become an alternative to the rubber industry, which has been in crisis since the 1980s. Its implications differ, however, in the northern and southern parts of the state. In the latter, especially in the capital, Acre, the development of a local market of urban consumers is closely connected to police corruption and the illegal use of violence by law enforcement agencies. In the former, where machinery for the social redistribution of illegal income seems to be more effective, the cocaine trade is contributing to a degree of prosperity, thanks in particular to recent growth in the service sector. While violence is, comparatively speaking, less necessary as a guarantee of social control in that region, the control exercised by drug barons and business people over the executive branches of the state means that political life as a whole is criss‐crossed by relationships forged in the criminal world.
Community governance and the new central–local relationship
Authors: Banner Gerhard
Published: March 2003

Decentralisation used to be a top–down process with the state “granting” some more local autonomy. Today decentralisation drives in most developed countries also go bottom–up. This is happening because large areas of domestic policy–making in these countries have become intergovernmental in nature. In the process the cities and agglomerations have acquired increased bargaining power, the higher levels of government depending on them as implementers of their legislation and programmes. The local authorities have also stepped up their endogenous problem solving and “community governance” capacity by mustering local support, building partnerships and modernising their bureaucracies. As a result a readjusted central–local balance based on a philosophy of “cooperative dualism” seems to be evolving. However, consistent legislative support and a proactive strategy of the local authorities taking due account of the basic interests of the state are needed to fully exploit the modernisation potential of the new central–local balance.
Squaring the welfare circle and government ideology: Greece and Spain in the 1990s
Authors: George Vic , Stathopoulos Peter , Garcés Jorge
Published: March 2003

This article examines the “squaring the welfare circle” thesis and its usefulness to our understanding of welfare developments in Greece and Spain in the 1990s. The welfare state in both Greece and Spain was expanded considerably in the early 1980s by the newly elected socialist governments, only to hit the buffers of diminishing resources and rising demands in the late 1980s as well as the hostile neo‐liberal welfare ideology. The process of welfare expansion was halted in the 1990s, labour market deregulation was encouraged and containment of welfare expenditure became the dominant aim of government policies. This article concentrates on the actual policies of governments in the 1990s rather than on the rhetoric of political parties. It concludes that governments of both the Left and the Right in both countries attempted to “square the welfare circle” mainly through reductions in the supply of welfare. This general conclusion is country‐specific and may not apply to other countries involved in welfare restructuring. While recognizing the significance of institutional factors to welfare reform, the article concentrates on the outcomes of reforms rather than on the political process leading to them.
Gender and Social Security Reform in Africa
Authors: Kasente Deborah
Published: March 2003

As a result of pressures from structural adjustment policies, persistent poverty and slow economic growth in most African countries, there is widespread reform of formal social security systems in the region. The designs for reform have ignored gender concerns and non‐formal social security systems, yet it is widely known that women and men have different experiences in the labour market and that non‐formal systems are currently the main source of social security for most women and men, especially in rural communities. The paper points out the efficiency and equity costs of ignoring gender and non‐formal social security systems and proposes action for policymakers.
Cooperation between social security and employment services: Evaluation of a reform strategy in the Netherlands
Authors: Terpstra Jan
Published: March 2003

Since the early 1990s in the Netherlands a process of restructuring social security has been going on. A central element is the introduction of regional Centres of Work and Income, stimulating people living on benefits to return to paid work and making services more client–oriented. In these centres, social security organizations and employment services are supposed to cooperate. In practice this cooperation is hard to accomplish. The intended activation of clients is hardly realized. The problems encountered by this policy are characteristic of a top–down reform strategy in a corporatist welfare state like the Netherlands.
Provident funds in Asia: Some lessons for pension reformers
Authors: Lindeman David C.
Published: March 2003

As the British were dismantling their empire in the 1950s, they generally left behind a pension legacy consisting of two elements. One was a conventional defined benefit pension scheme for government workers, basically budget–supported. The other was a provident fund for those in the industrial and urban formal sector. Some components of the empire chose to ignore London’s advice to create a provident fund — notably Hong Kong, which only recently has created an employer–based system for its workforce. Three features traditionally define state provident funds: central management (with some contracting–out exceptions), a formal structure of individual accounts, and lump sum withdrawals. The term has begun to migrate, however. In Hong Kong, the new mandatory system is called a mandatory provident fund, though it works on a very decentralized basis through employers and requires workers to make their own investment choices. The term is also used in Thailand to describe various schemes that apply to government workers and some private sector firms, along with an evolving pensions system. This paper will concentrate on the four “classic”, colonial–era–derived provident funds of Singapore, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka.
Was lehrt uns die Empirie in Sachen Rentenreform?
Authors: Börsch-Supan Axel
Published: March 2003

Almost all OECD countries have pension reform at the top of their social policy agendas. This paper explores where empirical analysis might help to shed light on the central questions concerning pension reform.

The first part of the paper addresses modifications of the current pay-as-you-go systems: How do we regulate the retirement age? Do we need a system of transparent notional accounts? The second part concerns a (partial) transition from a pay-asyou- go to a fully funded system: What does empirical analysis have to say about a Pareto-improving transition? Which distortions can be reduced? What do we know about the effects on saving, productivity and economic growth? Finally, the third part addresses questions about the design of funded pension systems: How expensive is their administration? Are tax incentives sufficient or do we need mandatory savings programmes in order to guarantee sufficient pension levels?
Perspektiven für mehr Jobs in Deutschland
Authors: Zimmermann Klaus F.
Published: March 2003

There is no simple solution to the German unemployment dilemma. Neither too high wages, nor unionized central bargaining, nor the evidence of the effects of the welfare state deliver a simple explanation. The East German experience confirms this view. A solution needs to combine flexibility with economic growth. More flexible product markets could help to generate the higher demand for unskilled labour that is so badly needed.
Warum haben wir rigide Arbeitsmärkte? Rent-seeking versus Soziale Sicherung
Authors: Agell Jonas
Published: March 2003

Wodurch wird die Struktur der Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen bestimmt? In diesem Aufsatz wird argumentiert, dass die gängigen Erklärungen auf der Grundlage des rent seeking unvollständig sind. Gewerkschaften, Arbeitsschutzgesetze und egalitäre Lohnstrukturen haben ebensoviel mit sozialer Absicherung von ansonsten nicht versicherbaren Risiken zu tun wie mit der Wahrung von Besitzständen. Um diese wohlwollendere komplementäre Hypothese zu stützen, präsentiert die Arbeit eine Reihe von Belegen aus Sozialgeschichte, Wirtschaftstheorie und Regressionsanalysen auf der Basis von Länderquerschnittsdaten. Die Sozialversicherungsperspektive führt zu einer substantiell veränderten Einschätzung oft vorgeschlagener Reformen von europäischen Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen. Dem Nutzen durch die Abschaffung von Arbeitsmarktrigidita Èten müssen die Kosten der verringerten Abdeckung von Risiken in bezug auf das Humankapital gegenübergestellt werden. Der Aufsatz zeigt auch, dass es unklar ist, ob die Kräfte der Globalisierung und des Neuen Marktes tatsächlich Volkswirtschaften dazu zwingen werden, ihre Arbeitsmärkte flexibler zu gestalten. Diese Phänomene können zwar die Effizienzkosten existierender Institutionen erhöhen, sie können aber auch dazu führen, dass die Zahlungsbereitschaft fü r die Erhaltung von Institutionen, die einen Versicherungsschutz bieten, ansteigt.
Was ist am ostdeutschen Arbeitsmarkt anders?
Authors: Paqué Karl-Heinz
Published: March 2003

This paper presents and evaluates two interpretations of the eastern German labour market. These interpretations are called `wage gap’ and `innovation gap’. The former follows standard neoclassical thinking and regards high eastern German unemployment as the consequence of too high a wage level. The latter follows endogenous growth theory and regards a lack of product innovations as the main constraint on output and employment growth in the eastern German economy. The paper argues that the `innovation gap’ explains the facts much better than the `wage gap’. From this, the paper draws conclusions for economic policy: given the high interregional mobility of the workforce and the erosion of collective bargaining in eastern Germany, the wage level is not an appropriate policy instrument anymore. Instead, policy should aim at strengthening the innovative power of the eastern German economy by supporting research and development in the region.
Der neue Systemwettbewerb
Authors: Sinn Hans-Werner
Published: March 2003

While the old systems competition took place with closed borders, globalisation has brought about a new type of systems competition that is driven by the mobility of factors of production. The new systems competition will likely imply the erosion of the European welfare state, induce a race to the bottom in the sense that capital will not even pay for the infrastructure it uses, and erode national regulatory systems. In general, it will suffer from the same type of market failure which induced the respective government activity in the first place. The new systems competition may force inefficient governments to seek national efficiency, but national efficiency does not imply that systems competition will itself be efficient.
A marginalization model for the multidimensional unfolding analysis of ranking data
Authors: Hojo Hiroshi
Published: March 2003

A marginalization model for the multidimensional unfolding analysis of ranking data is presented. A subject samples one of a number of random points that are multivariate normally distributed. The subject perceives the distances from the point to all the stimulus points fixed in the same multidimensional space. The distances are error perturbed in this perception process. He/she produces a ranking dependent on these error‐perturbed distances. The marginal probability of a ranking is obtained according to this ranking model and by integrating out the subject (ideal point) parameters, assuming the above distribution. One advantage of the model is that the individual differences are captured using the posterior probabilities of subject points. Three sets of ranking data are analyzed by the model.
The Effects of Relaxation and Postural Training on External Perception: Improvement of Visual Acuity, Visual Field, and Hearing Acuity
Authors: Konno Yoshitaka
Published: March 2003

This study examined the effects of muscular relaxation and postural training on external perception using a visual acuity test, a visual field test, and a hearing acuity test. Eighteen undergraduate students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent muscular relaxation and postural training. Each subject in this group was administered the tests before and after the training. Each subject in the control group carried out the tests before and after participating in a 30‐min conversation with the experimenter. On all three tests, the experimental group improved significantly more than the control group.
A study on the role of AIDS mass communication: How do the mass media affect HIV testing behavior?
Authors: Hirose Hirotada , Nakaune Naoko , Ishizuka Tomoichi , Tsuchida Shoji , Takanashi Yasue
Published: March 2003

The present study shows how mass communication messages regarding HIV/AIDS affect HIV antibody testing behavior. Two surveys were carried out in 1995 and 1996, using face‐to‐face interviews. The area surveyed covered towns and wards within 30 km of the center of Tokyo. Subjects were male and female individuals 18 to 65 years old in 1995 and 17 to 59 in 1996. Samples were extracted by means of a two‐step stratified random sampling of the basic town register. Completion rates were 57.3% (N = 1099) in the 1995 survey and 52.2% (N = 630) in 1996. The variable “Exposure to mass communication on AIDS” together with the variable “Interest in AIDS issues” play vital roles in attitude formation toward HIV/AIDS and in decision making over HIV antibody testing. The mass mediaÃs AIDS coverage promotes HIV/AIDS prevention behavior by changing perceptions and attitudes
The development of optimism and perceived attainment from elementary school to junior high school
Authors: Koizumi Reizo
Published: March 2003

Optimism (a perception of future improvement of children's own achievement levels) and perceived present attainment were examined developmentally in relation to academic achievement and motivation. Subjects were 507 Japanese third‐, fifth‐, and seventh‐grade children. After categorization as high or low on perceived attainment (H/L) and optimism (h/l), two (Hh, Ll), three (Hh, Lh, Ll), and four (Hh, Hl, Lh, Ll) groups were obtained in the third, fifth, and seventh grades, respectively. These groups showed characteristic features in terms of motivation‐ and achievement‐related measures. Both optimism and perceived attainment explained the differences in scores on the measures between the two third‐grade groups. In grades 5 and 7 perceived attainment was the primary factor explaining the group differences, while the optimism dimension was a secondary factor, whose influence was stronger in grade 7. The results are discussed in relation to the development of self‐perceptions, as well as changes in learning environment between elementary school and junior high school.
The perception of self‐motion induced by central and peripheral visual stimuli moving in opposite directions
Authors: Nakamura Shinji
Published: March 2003

The effects of the size of a stimulus and its eccentricity (central or peripheral) on the visually induced perception of horizontal translational self‐motion (vection) were investigated. The central and peripheral areas of the observers' visual field were simultaneously stimulated by random dot patterns that moved in opposite directions. The results of two experiments indicated that the effects of central and peripheral presentations of the moving visual pattern are equivalent, and that vection strength is determined by the stimulus size and speed but not by its eccentricity. These results are consistent with the findings of previous studies that suggested that there are no qualitative differences in the vection‐inducing potentials of the central and peripheral areas of the visual field, and are counter to the more traditional hypothesis, which has assumed that the perception of self‐motion is specifically assigned to peripheral vision.
The Persistence of Faith Among Nonheterosexual Christians: Evidence for the Neosecularization Thesis of Religious Transformation
Authors: Yip Andrew K. T.
Published: March 2003

The neosecularization thesis, which combines the “secularization” and “postsecularization” paradigms, argues that religion is in a constant state of transformation (thus persistence). It also argues that the examination of “secularization” needs to be conducted on three levels: macro, meso, and micro. Drawing from a quantitative and qualitative study involving 565 nonheterosexual Christians in the United Kingdom, this article aims to lend credence to the neosecularization thesis, focusing on the micro, or individual, level only. This article highlights the lack of influence and impact of religious authority structures on the respondents’ views of sexuality and spirituality. Data also demonstrated that, in the construction of the respondents’ identity and Christian faith, as well as the fashioning of Christian living, religious authority structures were considered the least significant factor, compared to the respondents’ employment of human reason and biblical understanding, within the framework of lived experiences. On the whole, data suggested that the self, rather than religious authority structures, steers the respondents’ journeys of spirituality and sexuality. This is evidence of the impact of the “detraditionalization” process on the late modern religious landscape, where the basis of religious faith and practice is primarily predicted on the self, rather than traditions and structures.
Physiology and Faith: Addressing the “Universal” Gender Difference in Religious Commitment
Authors: Stark Rodney
Published: March 2003

That men are less religious than women is a generalization that holds around the world and across the centuries. However, there has been virtually no study of this phenomenon because it has seemed so obvious that it is the result of differential sex role socialization. Unfortunately, actual attempts to isolate socialization effects on gender differences in religiousness have failed, as have far more frequent and careful efforts to explain gender differences in crime. There is a growing body of plausible evidence in support of physiological bases for gender differences in crime. Making the assumption that, like crime, irreligiousness is an aspect of a general syndrome of short–sighted, risky behaviors leads to the conclusion that male irreligiousness may also have a physiological basis. If nothing else, this article may prompt creative efforts to salvage the socialization explanation.
Religion and the Decision to Use Contraception in India
Authors: Iyer Sriya
Published: March 2003

This article investigates two hypotheses put forward to explain the effect of religion on the decision to use contraception in India. The first hypothesis is the “pure religion effect,” that the intellectual content of religion influences contraceptive behavior. This hypothesis is explored by examining women's views on the theological content of Islam and Hinduism in relation to birth control, provided by a sample of 186 rural Hindu and Muslim women from southern India. The second hypothesis examined is the “characteristics” hypothesis, that religious differences in contraceptive adoption are explained by socioeconomic characteristics of religious groups. This is tested by a logit model that shows that there is no statistically significant difference between Hindus and Muslims in the effect of religion on contraceptive adoption, after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics. Taken together, the qualitative and quantitative findings have significant implications for religious groups and for population policies in India.
Explaining the Belief in God for Self, In–Group, and Out–Group Targets
Authors: Kenworthy Jared B.
Published: March 2003

Previous work suggests that people perceive their attitudes and beliefs as deriving from an internal, rational thought process, but not from an emotional process or from external sources. This work has examined explanations for the belief in God using such an attributional approach. The current study examines the explanations individuals give for why (1) they themselves, (2) the group of those who hold the same belief position, or (3) the group of those who hold the opposite position, believe (or not) in God. The attributional dimensions of internality, externality, emotionality, and rationality are used to assess explanations for belief or nonbelief. Believers reported arriving at their own belief position because of an internal, rational process despite the average characterization of the belief in God as less rational and more emotional.
Struggling To Be Happy — Even When I’m Old
Authors: Gullan‐Whur Margaret
Published: March 2003

My thesis seeks to reduce what may be a natural human antipathy to ageing and/or the elderly by working with one distinctive and consistently approved feature of some older people. This feature is a bold and cheerful struggle within a self‐chosen project. The argument opens by distinguishing short‐term gratification from lasting, fulfilling happiness, and showing the link between gratification and dependence. Three kinds of struggle (non‐voluntary, part‐voluntary and positive) are then outlined and exemplified. Gerontological and anthropological research suggest that attitudes to struggle are fixed early in life, and while in the past they mitigated for or against successful survival, they now influence happiness and coping in later life. I argue that the negative effects of the first two kinds of struggle ‐ which are often misguided, grudging or ‘no‐win’ struggles ‐ are responsible for the rigidity, narcissism and resentment disliked in some older people. Self‐respect, contrasted with self‐righteousness, is shown to accrue only from the positive (voluntary and congenial) struggle that seems at any age to deflect or compensate for depression, disappointment, loneliness and illness.
On Euthanasia: Blindspots in the Argument from Mercy
Authors: Bachelard Sarah
Published: March 2003

In the euthanasia debate, the argument from mercy holds that if someone is in unbearable pain and is hopelessly ill or injured, then mercy dictates that inflicting death may be morally justified. One common way of setting the stage for the argument from mercy is to draw parallels between human and animal suffering, and to suggest that insofar as we are prepared to relieve an animal’s suffering by putting it out of its misery we should likewise be prepared to offer the same relief to human beings.

In this paper, I will argue that the use of parallels between human and animal suffering in the argument from mercy relies upon truncated views of how the concept of a human being enters our moral thought and responsiveness. In particular, the focus on the nature and extent of the empirical similarities between human beings and animals obscures the significance for our moral lives of the kind of human fellowship which is not reducible to the shared possession of empirical capacities.

I will suggest that although a critical examination of the blindspots in these arguments does not license the conclusion that euthanasia for mercy’s sake is never morally permissible, it does limit the power of arguments such as those provided by Rachels and Singer to justify it. I will further suggest that examination of these blindspots helps to deepen our understanding of what is at stake in the question of euthanasia in ways that tend otherwise to remain obscured.
The Vertex Project: Children Creating and Populating 3D Virtual Worlds
Authors: Bailey Fiona , Moar Magnus
Published: March 2003

This paper outlines early investigations and initial outcomes of The Vertex Project, a school‐based action research project currently underway at Middlesex University. The project aims to explore the potential of Shared 3D Virtual Environments as creative learning tools for children, and looks into the challenges facing their practical integration into the primary classroom. Working in partnership with three primary schools, the project sets out to investigate the teaching and learning possibilities offered by Internet based 3D virtual environments, placing particular emphasis on the opportunities provided by the active participation of children in the design and construction of their own virtual worlds, and in the creation of avatars with which to represent themselves within these spaces.
Individual Investors' Perceptions Regarding the Meaning of US and UK Audit Report Terminology: ‘Present Fairly in Conformity with GAAP’ and ‘Give a True and Fair View’
Authors: McEnroe John E. , Martens Stanley C.
Published: March 2003

The standard unqualified audit report in the United States contains the phrase ‘present fairly ... in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles’ (PFGAAP), while in the United Kingdom, the corresponding phrase is ‘give a true and fair view’ (TFV). Despite the former phrase existing in audit reports since 1939 and the latter since 1947, there is little agreement as to what the respective phrases represent. Accordingly, this paper examined UK and US individual investors' perceptions towards various dimensions of the meanings of the phrases including whether they imply that the financial statements are not misleading and free from bias. The results indicate that a majority of both groups perceive that the UK phrase precludes misleading financial statements. A smaller percentage of both groups feel that the US terminology achieves this objective. The results are similar as to whether the respective wording implies that the financial statements are free from bias. In general, the respondents awarded a greater level of confidence to the UK ‘true and fair view’ than the US ‘present fairly in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.’ No policy recommendation is drawn from these results, however, since there is also evidence that as long as audit report language is pre‐determined by law or some official body, investors will evince indifference as to the kind of language prescribed.
The Performance of Long‐run Stock Returns Following Issues of Public and Private Debt
Authors: Dichev Ilia D. , Piotroski Joseph D.
Published: March 2003

This study uses a balance sheet‐based method to identify both public and private debt issues. This feature is important because there have been no studies of the information content of private debt issues, while private debt is substantially more prevalent than public debt. We find no abnormal returns following straight debt issues. However, convertible debt issuers under‐perform the market on the order of 50 to 70 percent in the following five years. In pursuit of explanations, we find that convertible debt issues signal a deterioration of future profitability, which accounts for at least part of the stock price underperformance.
The Empirical Distribution of UK and US Stock Returns
Authors: Harris Richard D. F. , Küçüközmen C. Coskun
Published: March 2003

There is now substantial evidence that daily equity returns are not normally distributed but instead display significant leptokurtosis and, in many cases, skewness. Considerable effort has been made in order to capture these empirical characteristics using a range of ad hoc statistical distributions. In this paper, we investigate the distribution of daily, weekly and monthly equity returns in the UK and US using two very flexible families of distributions that have been recently introduced: the exponential generalised beta (EGB) and the skewed generalised‐t (SGT). These distributions permit very diverse levels of skewness and kurtosis and, between them, nest many of the distributions previously considered in the literature. Both the EGB and the SGT provide a very substantial improvement over the normal distribution in both markets. Moreover, for daily returns, we strongly reject the restrictions on the EGB and SGT implied by most of the distributions that are commonly used for modelling equity returns, including the student‐t, the power exponential and the logistic distributions. Instead, our preferred distributions for daily returns are the generalised‐t for the US and the skewed‐t for the UK, both of which are members of the SGT family. For weekly returns, our preferred distributions are the student‐t for the UK and the skewed‐t for the US, while for monthly returns, our preferred distributions are the EBR12 for the UK and the logistic for the US. We consider the implications of our findings for the implementation of value‐at‐risk, a risk management methodology that rests heavily on the distributional characteristics of returns.
New Challenges to the Study of European Integration: Implications for Theory‐Building
Authors: Chryssochoou Dimitris N.
Published: March 2003

The progressive fusion of federal principles, confederal structures and consociational processes in the EU of the 1990s has set in train a sense of renewed theoretical excitement among its students. This article aims to assess the dialectics of theory‐building in the larger polity, and reveal alternative ways of reconceptualizing its current political properties and functions. Focusing on the dynamic interplay between autonomous self‐rule and collective governance, it advances the theory of confederal consociation, arguing that it is possible to strike a balance between the concurrent demands for territorial segmental autonomy and ‘ever closer union’ insofar as the constituent parts are bound together in a sensibly arranged ‘Union’ that is closer to a Gesellschaft rather than to a Gemeinschaft‐type of transnational political organization.
European Collective Bargaining: A Virtual Prospect?
Authors: Marginson Paul , Sisson Keith
Published: March 2003

Recent developments in the EU have given renewed impetus to the prospect of European‐level collective bargaining. Greater divergence within national systems of industrial relations alongside the emergence of European‐level structures is reflected in the emergence of nascent forms of European collective bargaining at three levels: interprofessional, sector and Euro‐company. Best described as ‘virtual collective bargaining’, these embrace two processes: the conclusion of ‘framework agreements’ or ‘joint opinions’ which establish bargaining parameters for national‐level actors; and ‘arms length’ bargaining, where the parties do not negotiate directly, but where bargaining outcomes are increasingly anticipated and co‐ordinated across countries. EMU is likely to accelerate these processes.
The European Union and Central and Eastern Europe: Governance and Boundaries
Authors: Friis Lykke , Murphy Anna
Published: March 2003

This article applies an analytical framework of governance and boundaries to explore the development of EU relations with the central and eastern European countries (CEEC) and the politics of enlargement. It examines how boundary changes create opportunities and incentives to extend governance below the membership line. Furthermore, it demonstrates how, through a process of internalization, the CEEC increasingly impact on EU governance through issue linkage, changes in actors’ preferences and effects on the negotiation process. This demonstrates a linkage between the governance system and the EU’s capacity to contribute to Europe’s wider political, security and economic order.