bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
HOW NOT TO COMPARE WESTERN SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE WITH AFRICAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
Authors: TANGWA GODFREY B.
Published: March 2007

In his commentary on Aceme Nyika’s paper ‘Ethical and Regulatory Issues Surrounding African Traditional Medicine in the Context of HIV/AIDS’,1 Godfrey B. Tangwa charges the author with inappropriately using expressions, terminology and criteria of evaluation appropriate in Western scientific medicine to judge African traditional medicine (TM). He seriously frowns on Nyika’s suggestion that African TM needs to be incorporated into, and subjected to the canons of Western scientific medicine. Such a suggestion, he believes, is a prescription for invasion, colonization and exploitation so characteristic of the relationship between Africa and the Western world. However, he thinks that African TM is quite compatible with Western scientific medicine.
Literature and language teaching 1986–2006: a review
Authors: Carter Ronald
Published: March 2007

For Christopher Brumfit (1940–2006)

The teaching of literature can thus be seen as a means of introducing learners to such a serious view of our world, of initiating them in the process of defining themselves through contact with others’ experience. How it is best done, what the relationship between ‘reading’ and ‘literature’ needs to be for the greatest number of people to be led to literature, exactly what books are appropriate at what levels – these are questions for teachers to address. But the seriousness of the enterprise should not be doubted. It is only when these reading processes are centrally addressed as processes and when the debate moves away from content to what we do with literary texts, that genuine literary issues can be addressed.

(Brumfit 2001: 92)
First‐ to second‐language reading comprehension: not transfer, but access1
Authors: Walter Catherine
Published: March 2007

The ‘transfer’ of reading comprehension skills from a first language (L1) to a second language (L2) has long been discussed in the literature. This study challenges the transfer metaphor, proposing instead a notion of access. Studies based on Gernsbacher's Structure Building Framework (SBF) show that reading comprehension draws on general, amodal cognitive processes. It follows that L1‐literate learners of an L2 already have comprehension skills: their need is to access these skills from the L2. To examine whether the SBF predicts L2 readers’ performance, two groups of French learners of English performed an anomaly detection task. Results corresponded to the predictions of the SBF. The difficulty of lower‐intermediate readers in accessing their comprehension skills was also linked to capacity problems in L2‐based working memory.
Effects of Aging and Ouabain on Left Atrial Arrhythmogenicity
Authors: WONGCHAROEN WANWARANG , CHEN YAO‐CHANG , CHEN YI‐JEN , LIN CHENG‐I , CHEN SHIH‐ANN
Published: March 2007

Objectives: Aging increases atrial fibrillation (AF) vulnerability. The left atrium (LA) is important for the generation of AF. However, the effect of aging on the electrophysiological properties of the LA in general, on the specific LA sites, and of possible accentuation of regional differences between the LA sites with aging is not clear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of aging on the LA electrophysiological heterogeneity and ouabain‐induced arrhythmogenicity.

Methods: We used conventional microelectrodes to record the action potentials (APs) in isolated young (age, 3 months) and aged (age, 3 years) rabbit LA posterior wall (LAPW) and LA appendage (LAA) tissue specimens before and after the administration of ouabain.

Results: Young LAPWs (n = 10) had larger AP amplitudes than young LAAs (n = 10, P < 0.05), and aged LAPWs (n = 9) had longer AP durations than aged LAAs (n = 9, P < 0.05). Ouabain (1 μM) induced a higher incidence (80% vs 30%, P < 0.05) of delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs) and spontaneous activity (60% vs 10%, P < 0.05) in the young LAPWs than in the young LAAs. Compared with the young group, the aged LAs had a higher incidence of DADs with a less negative resting membrane potential and smaller maximum upstroke velocity. After the ouabain (1μM) administration, the aged LAPWs had a greater shortening of the AP duration. Ouabain‐induced spontaneous activity was similar between the young and aged groups.

Conclusions: Aging enhanced the LA regional electrical heterogeneity and LAPW arrhythmogenesis.
Serious Complications from Dislocation of a Watchman Left Atrial Appendage Occluder
Authors: STÖLLBERGER CLAUDIA , SCHNEIDER BIRKE , FINSTERER JOSEF
Published: March 2007

Left atrial appendage (LAA) elimination is regarded to protect patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) from stroke or embolism. The Watchman occluder is a device for percutaneous LAA occlusion and is at present investigated in the PROTECT AF trial. In a 78‐year‐old man, embolization of the Watchman device occurred 10 minutes after implantation. At emergency cardiac surgery, the device was removed from the aortic valve and an aortic bioprosthesis and a pacemaker had to be implanted. One year postoperatively, he still suffers from heart failure. This case shows that percutaneous LAA occlusion may result in serious complications.
Assembly bias in the clustering of dark matter haloes
Authors: Gao Liang , White Simon D. M.
Published: March 2007

We use a very large simulation of structure growth in a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) universe — the Millennium Simulation — to study assembly bias, the fact that the large-scale clustering of haloes of given mass varies significantly with their assembly history. We extend earlier work based on the same simulation by superposing results for redshifts from 0 to 3, by defining a less noisy estimator of clustering amplitude, and by considering halo concentration, substructure mass fraction and spin, as well as formation time, as additional parameters. These improvements lead to results with less noise than previous studies and covering a wider range of halo masses and structural properties. We find significant and significantly different assembly bias effects for all the halo properties we consider, although in all cases the dependencies on halo mass and on redshift are adequately described as a dependence on equivalent peak height ν(M, z). The ν-dependencies for different halo properties differ qualitatively and are not related as might naively be expected given the relations between formation time, concentration, substructure fraction and spin found for the halo population as a whole. These results suggest that it will be difficult to build models for the galaxy populations of dark haloes which can robustly relate the amplitude of large-scale galaxy clustering to that for mass clustering at better than the 10 per cent level.
Field Test of the In Situ Permeable Ground Water Flow Sensor
Authors: Alden Andrew S. , Munster Clyde L.
Published: March 2007

Two in situ permeable flow sensors, recently developed at Sandia National Laboratories, were field tested at the Brazos River Hydrologic Field Site near College Station, Texas. The flow sensors use a thermal perturbation technique to quantify the magnitude and direction of ground water flow in three dimensions. Two aquifer pumping tests lasting eight and 13 days were used to field test the flow sensors. Components of ground water flow as determined from piezometer gradient measurements were compared with ground water flow components derived from the 3‐D flow sensors. The changes in velocity magnitude and direction of ground water flow induced by the pump were evaluated using flow sensor data and piezometric analyses. Flow sensor performance closely matched piezometric analysis results. Ground water flow direction (azimuth), as measured by the flow sensors and derived in the piezometric analysis, predicted the position of the pumping well accurately. Ground water flow velocities measured by the flow sensors compared well to velocities derived in the piezometric analysis. A significant delay in flow sensor response to relatively rapid changes in ground water flow was observed. Preliminary tests indicate that the in situ permeable flow sensor provides accurate and timely information on the velocity magnitude and direction of ground water flow.
Experimental Investigation of Surfactant‐Enhanced Dissolution of Residual NAPL in Saturated Soil
Authors: Chevalier Lizette R. , Masten Susan J. , Wallace Roger B. , Wiggert David C.
Published: March 2007

Nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) is a long‐term source of ground water contamination as the pollutant slowly partitions into the air and water phases. The objective of this work was to study the efficacy of aqueous surfactant solution to enhance the dissolution of a residual NAPL below the capillary fringe, hence reducing the time needed for aquifer restoration. An analytical technique was developed to measure the concentration of NAPL in a nonionic surfactant. Soil column experiments simulated conditions in the saturated soil where a NAPL may become trapped as a discontinuous immobile phase. Experimental results indicate that dissolution was a rate‐limited process, approaching equilibrium concentrations after 24 hours. The relative permeability of the aqueous phase initially decreased as surfactant was injected, but increased over time as the saturation of residual NAPL was reduced through mass transfer into the surfactant‐enhanced aqueous phase. These findings suggest that enhancing the aqueous phase with a nonionic surfactant may significantly enhance the in situ recovery or residual NAPL.
Spodic Material for In Situ Treatment of Arsenic in Ground Water
Authors: Lindberg J. , Sterneland J. , Johansson P.‐O. , Gustafsson J.P.
Published: March 2007

The leaching of chromium‐copper‐arsenic salts from old wood preservation sites is a threat to ground water at many places in Sweden. The installation of in situ reactive barriers is an attractive “passive’ technique to prevent the further spreading of contaminants. The use of peat as a reactive barrier material has been suggested for heavy metals, but this material was expected to be unsatisfactory for arsenic (As). Therefore, the feasibility of using spodic B horizon material for the retention of arsenic was tested in laboratory column experiments. Contaminated soil was taken from an old preservation site and leached under conditions designed to imitate the field conditions. The arsenic load during the three‐month duration of the test corresponded to a load at the field site during three years. The B horizon material proved to be efficient for retention of arsenic, despite the observation that As(III) dominated the As speciation. The As(III) concentration was reduced from 1 to 3 mg dm−3 to < 0.02 mg dm−3. Pure peat was, as expected, not suited as a reactive barrier for As, and a mixed B horizon/peat reactive barrier also proved unsatisfactory for the removal of As. It is therefore important to separate the B horizon material from any peat that is used to sorb heavy metals. Before applying the B horizon reactive barrier technique in the field, the effect of the naturally occurring variability of the reactive compounds should be tested. The inclusion of oxidizing agents in the barrier could possibly improve the lifetime considerably. Furthermore, the influence of the flow rate should be evaluated since the kinetics of the arsenic adsorption is relatively slow.
Household Savings Motives
Authors: DEVANEY SHARON A. , ANONG SOPHIA T. , WHIRL STACY E.
Published: March 2007

This study proposed a hierarchy of savings motives and identified factors that influence the movement to higher levels of the hierarchy. Continuation ratio analysis utilizing data from the 2001 Survey of Consumer Finances shows the likelihood of advancing to higher levels of savings motives from the current level. Age, family size, and length of the planning horizon are important predictors for advancing from lower levels to higher levels in the proposed hierarchy. Implications are offered for public policy regarding education and programs.
A NOTE ON THE “BUSINESS COMBINE’ IN INDIA — with Special Reference to the Nattukottai Chettiars*—
Authors: ITǑ SHǑJI
Published: March 2007

The history and present position of the business combines controlled by members of the Nattukottai Chettiar community in southern India have not been elucidated so far. Their business combines have many aspects common to the well‐known business combines of northern India. But they possess distinct peculiarities relating to the leaders' characteristics. Through analysis of these peculiarities the present writer insists that there have been some defects in viewpoints and methodologies of the studies done so far on Indian business combines.
THE “DUAL STRUCTURE’ OF FINANCE IN POST‐WAR JAPAN
Authors: KAWAGUCHI HIROSHI
Published: March 2007

The “high growth rate’ of the Japanese economy after World War II was accelerated by financial concentration, and thus it has been necessary to impose strong credit rationing continuously on the medium and smaller enterprises. From this emerged a “dual structure’ of finance. It is the aim of this paper to divide this “dual structure’ into the two aspects, the “dual structure of borrowers’ and the “dual structure of lenders,’ to explain how these structures came into existence, and, at the same time, to attempt some theoretical analysis regarding the meaning of “credit rationing’ in these contexts.
A REVIEW OF THE CONCEPT OF THE “DUAL ECONOMY”*
Authors: ITAGAKI YOICHI.
Published: March 2007

The primary object of this paper is to present a methodological study which is concerned with how to clarify and evaluate the characteristics of that social and economic structure which is called “dual economy” in today's developing countries. It attempts a critical review of the concepts developed by J. H. Boeke, J. van Gelderen, J. S. Furnivall, H. Frankel, H. Myint, G. Myrdal and C. Geertz, among those who have taken the view of “social dualism.” It concludes that the concept of a dual economy should be perceived in terms of “colonial social dualism” as a system; and that it is solely from this point of view that the nature and direction of economic development in the context of economic nationalism in developing countries can adequately be explained.
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT IN JAPAN
Authors: UMEMURA MATAJI
Published: March 2007

With the rapid economic development from the Meiji era on, Japan has progressed from an agricultural nation at the beginnig of this century to a present‐day advanced industrialized nation. However, because of a pronounced regional concentration of industry which exists despite Japan's small size, there have come to be wide regional differences in the structure of industry. I believe that this may be witnessed in the regional differences in the distribution of industrial empolyment.
EMPLOYMENT STRUCTURE IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRIES*
Authors: EMI KŌICHI
Published: March 2007

The development of the service industries is a recent and prominent trend in advanced nations. In the case of Japan too, this trend first became more or less visible during the 1960's. It took the form of a gradual shift of employment in both absolute numbers and in relative percentages to the service sector. However, the influence exerted by this trend differs according to the specific type of business within the service sector. Therefore, in this paper I intend to clarify the influence not merely of major groups, but also of subgroups as well; and at the same time to analyze the characteristics of Japan's service industries through an international comparison.
ACTIVE AGRICULTURAL POPULATION IN POSTWAR JAPAN
Authors: NAMIKI MASAYOSHI
Published: March 2007

It is the postwar period that the active agricultural population in Japan has for the first time shown a decline in numbers. This article is based on a statistical examination of the fact that the decline was due to the decrease of young recruits to agriculture rather than to an outflow of population from agriculture. From this the author points out (1) the fact that there exist conditions which will accelerate the tendency toward decrease in the agricultural population, and (2) the changes that have been occurring in the role and characteristics of the agricultural population as a source of labor supply. Serious attention is also paid to the influence of this decrease upon wage costs of industrial enterprises, chief point of which is the shift in the relative weight of the labor force supplied from rural areas, from single persons to persons tied to family and land.
THE EMPLOYMENT AND WAGE SYSTEMS IN POSTWAR JAPAN
Authors: KOBAYASHI KEN'ICHI
Published: March 2007

This paper presents an analysis of the systems of employment and wage decisions in, for the most part, large‐scale enterprises in Japan, and of changes therein as well as of the controlling factors. Hence particular attention is paid to the systems of temporary and external employees hired by subcontractors, lifetime employment, and seniority wages (by length of service). While there is obviously no doubt that these are characteristically Japanese systems, they can be regarded as reflecting nothing more than the fact that in Japan the operation of some of the various general factors which control the labor market is particularly strong while the operation of other such factors is especially weak. And these systems are being altered, having taken on Japanese forms.
LONG‐TERM CHANGES IN FOOD CONSUMPTION IN JAPAN*
Authors: NAKAYAMA SEIKI
Published: March 2007

The Japanese economy has shown a high rate of growth compared with European countries and America. Food consumption in Japan, however, has risen less rapidly than in these countries. The purpose of this paper is to explain the prewar rigidity in food consumption in Japan and to show how this has changed in the postwar period. The main factor in the rise of food consumption is usually the increase in per‐capita income. Consumption of starchy foods generally decreases at certain levels of percapita income. In Japan, however, this level of income is lower than in other countries. While in the West the decline in demand for starchy foods has generally been due to the increased substitution of livestock products, in Japan this has been due mainly to low caloric consumption. Before the Second World War, starch intake in Japan remained fairly constant despite the rise in per‐capita income. One reason for this rigidity is Japan's fondness for rice. In the postwar period, however, income elasticity for food and drink has doubled and livestock products have become more important, thus raising total caloric intake. This shift in food consumption, however, has caused problems for food production and agricultural incomes.
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY: AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE STUDY
Authors: HAYAMI YoJIRo
Published: March 2007

This paper is based on the observation that while agricultural productivity in less developed countries whose comparative advantage seems to lie in agriculture is growing slowly relative to agriculture in developed countries. In order to explain this phenomenon, we have established a hypothesis that industrialization promotes agricultural development by improving the conditions of supply of modern inputs to agriculture. This hypothesis is tested on international comparisons and the analysis of Japanese experience.
THE LAND SYSTEM IN CENTRAL THAILAND*
Authors: TOMOSUGI TAKASHI
Published: March 2007

Although the view that Thai peasants are almost all owner‐cultivators is commonly accepted, I demonstrate the fact that in the Chaophraya Delta at least nearly half the peasants are tenants or part‐owners. I also suggest that the tendency for owner‐cultivators to become tenant‐cultivators is increasing remarkably. In the course of discussion the emphasis is placed upon the socio‐economic function of landownership in the development of Thai society on the grounds that the clarification of the land system is indispensable for a dynamic analysis of social change in Thailand.
THE URUGUAY ROUND AND THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THAILAND AND THE PHILIPPINES
Authors: WARR Peter G.
Published: March 2007

Studies on the economic impact of the Uruguay Round of the GATT have frequently suggested that all or almost all countries–developed and developing–will gain. In the present paper it is argued that the number of developing countries which lose from the Round may be much larger than is generally assumed. This issue is discussed in the context of Thailand and the Philippines, two countries generally considered to be so similar for trade analysis purposes that they are often grouped together as if their interests were the same. It is suggested here that Thailand is a net gainer from the Round and the Philippines a net loser.
BOOK REVIEW
Authors: Yazawa Hirotake
Published: March 2007

The Books Reviewed in this Article:

Behind State Company Nexus: One and Half Century Experience of Japanese Economic Development in a Statistical Mirror by Yoshiro Matsuda and Fumiko Arita, Tokyo, Maruzen Co., 1996, xiii + 352 pp.
DEMOCRATIZATION AND FINANCIAL REFORM IN TAIWAN: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF BAD‐LOAN CREATION
Authors: SATŌ Yukihito
Published: March 2007

This study shows that many bad loans now burdening Taiwan's financial institutions are interrelated with the society's democratization which started in the late 1980s. Democratization made the local factions and business groups more independent from the Kuomintang government. They acquired more political influence than under the authoritarian regime. These changes induced them to manage their owned financial institutions more arbitrarily and to intervene more frequently in the state‐affiliated financial institutions. Moreover they interfered in financial reform and compelled the government to allow many more new banks than it had originally planned. As a result the financial system became more competitive and the qualities of loans deteriorated. Some local factions and business groups exacerbated the situation by establishing banks in order to funnel funds to themselves, sometimes illegally. Thus many bad loans were created as the side effect of democratization.
STRATEGY AND STRUCTURE OF MARKET COMPETITION: THE TAIWANESE CABLE TV INDUSTRY IN THE 1990s
Authors: CHENG Lu‐Lin
Published: March 2007

Cable TV plays a dominant role in the media environment of Taiwanese society. Before the passage of the Cable TV Law in 1993, the industry was a vibrant informal sector; it was highly differentiated, and acted as a democratic alternative to the formal media. The 1993 Cable TV Law, which designed a competitive market with five licenses issued in each area, was touted as a victory for democracy by the opposition parties. In less than a decade, however, drastic merger movements led to a monopolistic structure. The abuse of monopolistic power has become pervasive. This article studies this unexpected historical twist by examining the industry's market dynamics during the country's democratization in the 1990s. To show the path‐dependent mechanisms in the nonlinear development trajectory of the market, a sociological approach is applied that emphasizes firms’ competitive strategies in controlling the multiple dimensions of uncertainties and rules that induce this competition.
AN INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION DISPUTES IN TAIWAN: CASES OF “SELF‐RELIEF”
Authors: TERAO Tadayoshi
Published: March 2007

During the late 1980s and early 1990s in Taiwan, people's protests against environmental pollution often took the form of “self‐relief,” meaning that they attempted to fight polluters using their own resources, without relying on legal or administrative procedures. Why did such an extreme form of dispute become so widespread? What institutional changes did these movements bring about? These questions are analyzed using the analytical framework of “law and economics.” Our research shows that self‐relief functioned to a certain extent as a means of realizing quick compensation for victims, and for reflecting the opinions of local people concerning development projects; in addition, it served to promote the formulation of law and administrative systems. However, as it was based on direct negotiations between the parties concerned, the outcome of each dispute only reflected the transient balance of forces, and the experience gained in negotiations was not accumulated as a social norm.
THE POLITICS OF REREGULATION: GLOBALIZATION, DEMOCRATIZATION, AND THE TAIWANESE LABOR MOVEMENT
Authors: HUANG Chang‐Ling
Published: March 2007

Since the early 1990s, Taiwanese workers have faced two simultaneous trends: democratization and globalization. These two trends have different, if not exactly opposite, implications for the labor movement. Democratization has empowered the working class and made its members more effective in the political process. Globalization, however, has led to an increase in the flexibility of the labor market and made workers more vulnerable to changes in the economic environment. This paper begins with a discussion of the general characteristics of Taiwan's labor movement and the general impact of globalization on labor institutions. Then, by examining the transformation of Taiwan's labor institutions in recent years, and specifically the process of union reorganization and the revisions of the Labor Standards Law, the paper shows how, against the background of globalization, Taiwanese workers have used their newly acquired political power to maneuver between different political forces and set the development course for the labor movement.
THE POLICYMAKING PROCESS FOR THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM IN TAIWAN: THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE AND NATIONAL PENSION PROGRAM
Authors: Chen‐Wei LIN
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the policymaking process and contents of the two major social security policies of Taiwan in the 1990s. The National Health Insurance (NHI), which was introduced in 1995, was a mixture of success and failure. While it brought about universal health insurance, part of the original objective of creating a comprehensive welfare system through the NHI initiative was not realized. The attempt to introduce a National Pension Program (NPP) in 2000 went through dramatic turns in both policy contents and the prospects for implementation. Though it was originally designed as a modified form of social insurance, a general tax revenue‐funded defined‐benefit scheme was added as an alternative when a new government came into power. The bill, however, was withdrawn before the actual deliberations began. The author argues that policy legacies and actors, and the interactions of these variables within different policy phases, determined the policy contents and changes.
INDONESIA'S ECONOMIC CRISIS: CONTAGION AND FUNDAMENTALS
Authors: IRIANA Reiny , SJÖHOLM Fredrik
Published: March 2007

The severe and unanticipated economic downturn in Indonesia mirrored the regional economic fallout following the 1997 financial crisis. Although it is likely that the crisis in neighboring countries had an adverse impact on Indonesia, the issue has so far received little attention. This paper examines whether contagion from the economic crisis in Thailand triggered the crisis in Indonesia. Evidence of such a contagion is revealed, and the contagion was possibly exacerbated by increasing imbalances in the Indonesian economy. The paper also examines the channels through which the economic difficulties of Thailand might have been transmitted to Indonesia. Investors’behavior, rather than real links, is identified as one important channel for the contagion.
THE HONG KONG CURRENCY BOARD'S DEFENSE AGAINST FINANCIAL MARKET PRESSURE: A BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE
Authors: MUSHKAT Miron
Published: March 2007

Exchange rate regimes do not operate in an institutional vacuum, even when the scope for exercising policy discretion is distinctly limited. The Hong Kong linked exchange rate system is no exception. An interesting feature of the institutional environment in this case, not highlighted previously, is the apparent divergence in the assumptions of policymakers and market players regarding the merits of this mechanism in particular and currency boards in general. The corollary is that the Hong Kong monetary authorities need to intensify their efforts to disseminate relevant information, focusing especially on targets in the financial sector.
COMPETITIVE ISSUES IN THE TAIWANESE BANKING INDUSTRY: MERGERS AND UNIVERSAL BANKS
Authors: YU Peiyi
Published: March 2007

This paper investigates scale economies and scope economies in the Taiwanese banking system, looking beyond the market‐power (MP) and efficient‐structure (ES) hypotheses. Given the existence of overall economies of scale and the positive value of expansion path sub‐additivity, we conclude that there might be large increases in profits following mergers. Moreover, since the profit‐structure relationship after financial reform is determined by the relative‐market‐power hypothesis, this consolidation trend will not necessarily decrease the social benefit for Taiwanese consumers. With regard to scope economies and product‐specific economies of scale, we are unable to recommend whether Taiwanese banks should develop as specialized banks or diversified banks in the future. Finally, we find that risk indicators play an important role in explaining the observed variation in bank profitability, and present evidence that default risk and leverage risk have negative effects on the profits of banking, although the effect of portfolio risk is uncertain.
EXPORTING AND PRODUCTIVITY: A FIRM‐LEVEL ANALYSIS OF THE TAIWAN ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY
Authors: YANG Chih‐Hai
Published: March 2007

Based on the panel data of Taiwanese electronics firms, this paper explores the relationship between exporting and productivity. Contemporaneous levels of exports and productivity are indeed positively correlated. The causality tests show causality from productivity to exporting and vice versa, implying that self‐selection and learning‐by‐exporting effects coexist in the Taiwan electronics industry, while the learning‐by‐exporting effect is less supported. Exporting also has a positive impact on the productivity growth of firms, while the effect diminishes gradually after entering foreign markets. Decomposing the productivity growth shows that the reallocation effect accounts for only 20 per cent compared to the own‐effect share of 80 per cent, which is mostly contributed by firms that continually export.
MANAGERIAL STRUCTURE OF BUSINESS GROUPS IN TAIWAN: THE INNER CIRCLE SYSTEM AND ITS SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Authors: CHUNG CHI‐NIEN
Published: March 2007

This paper examined the management structure of Taiwan's business groups. The objective was to determine how independent group firms coordinate their business. Employing longitudinal data of the top 100 groups, I investigated the “inner circle” system and its evolution. I found that group leaders occupied overlapped positions at the director rather than at the manager level, which implied a separation of strategic planning and routine administration. Secondly, the dynamics of inner circle management did not hinge upon the group president as in the Korean chaebol, nor on the norm of corporate community as in the Japanese keiretsu, but on the social ties in the inner circle. Analyzing the background of the leaders indicated that family never dominated the scene even in the early years, and their significance decreased along with environmental changes. The transition in Taiwan in the late 1980s motivated business groups to introduce more “outside” talent into decision‐making.
THE ORDINAL AND CARDINAL JUDGMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE CHANGES IN SINGAPORE, 1982?99
Authors: MUKHOPADHAYA PUNDARIK
Published: March 2007

This paper analyzes the changes in social welfare in Singapore using both cardinal and ordinal measures. Labour Force Survey data published by the Manpower Research and Statistics, Department of the Ministry of Manpower, Singapore are used. It is observed with the use of Lorenz dominance technique that social welfare in Singapore during 1999 is less than in 1991 while an unambiguous conclusion cannot be made on the welfare ranking of 1982 and 1991 or of 1982 and 1999. According to the generalized Lorenz dominance, 1999 ranks first; however, this criterion is also unable to make any unambiguous ranking between 1982 and 1991. The ranking based on Sen social welfare function shows a continuous increase in the social welfare in Singapore. But when a more general social welfare function is used a different ordering might occur.
THE GROWTH OF THE KOREAN MIDDLE CLASS AND ITS SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Authors: ARITA SHIN
Published: March 2007

The middle class in the Republic of Korea grew quickly in the course of the country's rapid economic growth. This paper analyzes the characteristics of Korea's new and old middle classes by examining the socioeconomic conditions, experience of mobility, and social consciousness of the people in these classes Analysis shows that many people presently in these well‐off classes have experienced intra‐ and intergenerational mobility. While the old middle class is greatly open to both inter‐ and intragenerational inflow, the new middle class is close to intragenerational inflow. The probability of reaching the new middle class is greatly affected by one's level of education, however, education level largely depends on one's class origin. It is also shown that the Korean new middle class has a comparatively progressive social consciousness. However, people's political attitudes are determined not by one's position in the class structure but by nonclass factors, such as one's age, education level, and native region.
THE EMERGENCE OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES AND POLITICAL CHANGE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Authors: KIMURA MASATAKA
Published: March 2007

This article provides a study of the middle classes in the Philippines. First, the process of their emergence was examined in relation to that of Philippine industrialization, which started in the 1930s but from the 1960s progressed slowly and was accompanied by the expansion of the tertiary industries and informal sector. Then, the composition and characteristics of the middle classes, including their relatively small population size, distinctness from the lower classes, and internal diversity were analyzed. Finally, based on the data of the middle‐class‐centered organizations formed during the anti‐Marcos struggle, their political aspects were discussed, with emphasis placed on the new pattern of political participation which appeared after the Aquino assassination.
EFFECTS OF THE REAL EXCHANGE RATE ON OUTPUT AND INFLATION: EVIDENCE FROM TURKEY
Authors: BERUMENT Hakan , PASAOGULLARI Mehmet
Published: March 2007

This paper assesses the effects of real depreciation on the economic performance of Turkey by considering quarterly data from 1987:I to 2001:III. The empirical evidence suggests that, contrary to classical wisdom, the real depreciations are contractionary, even when external factors like world interest rates, international trade, and capital flows are controlled. Moreover, the results obtained from the analyses indicate that real exchange rate depreciations are inflationary.
EFFECT OF IT JOB TRAINING ON EMPLOYMENT AND WAGE PREMIUM: EVIDENCE FROM KOREA PANEL DATA
Authors: KIM Hong‐Kyun , SHIN Ilsoon
Published: March 2007

In this paper, we examine whether IT job training raises the probability of getting employed and enables the trainee to obtain a high wage. In this paper, it is reported that, in the Republic of Korea, IT job training as a whole affects not only employment but also wage premium, even though the effect on wage premium is somewhat less conspicuous. In particular, the intensity of IT job training is more instrumental in the opportunity of getting employed than simply whether receiving IT job training or not. This effect is intensified in the low‐education group. In this group, the probability for the persons who undergo IT job training for more than six months of getting employed is higher than that for a person without any job training. Additionally, provision of IT job training by a private institute and cost sharing with the government enhances the opportunity of employment.
GENUINE SAVINGS MEASUREMENT AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE UNITED KINGDOM AND TAIWAN
Authors: LIN Grace T. R. , HOPE Chris
Published: March 2007

The genuine savings index (GSI) is a simple indicator that can be used to assess an economy's sustainability. It defines wealth more broadly than orthodox national accounts, and recalculates national savings figures based on this new definition. Genuine savings aim to represent the value of the net change in the whole range of assets that are important for development: produced assets, natural resources, environmental quality, and human resources. This paper takes the broad framework developed in previous studies and tests its application with respect to the United Kingdom and Taiwan between 1970 and 1998, with the goal of assessing the feasibility of using such measures quite broadly as indices of sustainable development. The paper shows that both the United Kingdom and Taiwan have positive genuine savings rates over the period in question, with the United Kingdom registering lower ones than Taiwan.
THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM IN HONG KONG: ESTABLISHMENT AND READJUSTMENT OF THE LIBERAL WELFARE MODEL
Authors: Sawada Yukari
Published: March 2007

Hong Kong's social security system has followed a “liberal” welfare state regime. The system has undergone changes along with the high economic growth, changes in the labor market, and transformation of the political environment, but has retained the fundamental principle of a social security system led by the private sector. In recent years, Hong Kong has responded to the aging population and growing unemployment by introducing the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme that requires individuals to join private‐sector pension schemes and by intensifying cooperation with nongovernmental organizations. This indicates the deep‐seated nature of the influence of the liberal regime in Hong Kong.
TRANSFORMATION AND CONTINUITY OF THE ARGENTINE WELFARE STATE: EVALUATING SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM IN THE 1990s
Authors: Usami Koichi
Published: March 2007

Beginning after World War II, Argentina institutionalized a limited conservative corporatist welfare state where occupation‐linked social insurance held a central position and social assistance had a residual character. This was called a limited conservative corporatist welfare state, because the huge population within the informal sector was excluded from the main system. A populist government supported by trade unions and the economic model of import‐substituting industrialization were the background for the formation of this type of welfare state. During the 1990s, elements of a liberal regime were added to the Argentine welfare state under the reform carried out by the Menem Peronist government. However, social insurance reform and labor reform were not as drastic as the economic reform. They still retained a certain continuity from the traditional systems. The government intended to carry out more drastic social security and labor reform, but was unable to do so due to the legacy of corporatism of the Peronist government.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE MEXICAN WELFARE STATE AND SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM IN THE 1990s
Authors: Murai Tomoko
Published: March 2007

Before 1982 Mexico's welfare state regime was a limited conservative one that put priority on the social security of organized labor. But following the country's debt crisis in 1982, this regime changed to a hybrid liberal model. The Ernest Zedillo government (1995–2000) in particular pushed ahead with liberal reform of the social security system. This paper examines the characteristics and the policy making of the social security reforms in the 1990s. The results suggest that underlying these reforms was the restructuring of the economy and the need to cope with the cost of this restructuring. The paper also points out that one of the main factors making possible the rapid execution of the reforms were the weakened political clout of the officialist labor unions due to their steady breakdown during the 1990s and the increase in the monopolistic power of the state vis‐à‐vis the position of labor during the negotiations on social security reforms.
CUBA'S SOCIAL POLICY AFTER THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE SOVIET UNION: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AS LEGITIMACY OF THE REGIME AND ITS ECONOMIC EFFECTIVENESS
Authors: Yamaoka Kanako
Published: March 2007

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Cuba has experienced a severe economic crisis, and the country's social policy has played an important role in showing the people a raison‐d'ětre for the revolution. This role has become even stronger in recent years, as internal and external actors demand political reforms and economic liberalization. This article first examines the Cuban government's use of social development to counter the demands for changes. It then looks at the extent that government social policy contributes economically to improving the Cuban living standard.

The article demonstrates empirically how the leadership emphasizes their social accomplishments whenever demands for change come, and then shows that after the suspension of Soviet aid, Cuban social policy has been able to provide services mainly by relying on human capital and reducing quality materially because of the shortage of foreign reserves. This has limited the economic effectiveness of the services.
Some Questions in Hume's Aesthetics
Authors: Williams Christopher
Published: March 2007

The central problem posed in Hume's essay ‘Of the Standard of Taste’ concerns the mutual adjustment of two things: a skepticism about the correctness of tastes, and a belief that artistic productions genuinely differ in their merits. In response, Hume modifies the skepticism by proposing that the ‘joint verdict of true judges’ is the standard of taste. This article surveys three sets of issues in connection with this solution: the role of rules in grounding verdicts; the possibility of circularity in the judge‐verdict relation; and the relevance of the judges’ verdicts to those that non‐judges would or should make.
OPEN‐BOAT WHALING ON THE STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR GROUND AND ADJACENT WATERS
Authors: Aguilar Alex , Borrell Assumpció
Published: March 2007

Abstract

Logbooks (n= 317) from whaling expeditions made in the North Atlantic during the 19th century were examined to investigate activity in the Gibraltar Straits grounds. At least forty expeditions of whaling vessels from European and American ports visited the area. In all cases the main target was the sperm whale, but pilot whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and even a blue whale were also taken. Whaling effort concentrated on the Atlantic side of the Straits; only two expeditions ventured into the Mediterranean Sea, obtaining negligible catches. The whaling season extended during spring and summer and peaked in June–July. This seasonality appeared not to be governed by changes in whale density but by the trade winds necessary to sail southward or westward to cross the Atlantic. Searching effort continued while trying out, but the rate of sighting cetaceans was about half that of searching periods. However, the rate of sighting or capturing a sperm whale remained unchanged during processing, probably because the gregarious habits of the species produced clumping of catches. For every whale secured, 1.31 whales were struck. After correcting for struck but lost whales and for “gammed” vessels, the minimum number of removals of sperm whales during 1862–1889 is estimated at 237.
DIVING DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR OF A REHABILITATED MEDITERRANEAN MONK SEAL (MONACHUS MONACHUS)
Authors: Dendrinos Panagiotis , Karamanlidis Alexandros A. , Androukaki Evgenia , McConnell Bernie J.
Published: March 2007

Abstract

Among the priority actions identified for saving the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal are gaining basic biological information on movements and behavior, and rescuing and rehabilitating wounded, stranded, and orphaned pups. On 22 May 2004 a rehabilitated monk seal juvenile was fitted with a satellite tag, released in the National Marine Park of Alonnisos, Northern Sporades, Greece, and monitored for 167 d. Postrelease, the seal remained close to the islands of the park and within the 200‐m isobath. Throughout the monitoring period, the seal reduced time hauled out, while 95‐percentile dive duration and depth gradually increased. The overall maximum depth of 123 m recorded in this study is the greatest depth ever recorded for the species. These results confirm the effectiveness of the rehabilitation program carried out on the particular animal and provide additional support for the continuation of the rehabilitation program as a conservation measure for the species. We demonstrate that satellite tracking of rehabilitated seals is a valuable research and conservation tool, even for a species that commonly uses shoreline caves for resting, molting, and parturition.
Comparison of the MagNA pure LC automated system and the RiboPure‐Blood RNA manual method for RNA extraction from multiple myeloma bone marrow samples conserved in an RNA stabilizer
Authors: GARCIA‐EFFRON G. , GAMARRA S. , CROOKE A. , MARTÍNEZ‐SÁNCHEZ P. , LAHUERTA J. , MARTÍNEZ‐LÓPEZ J.
Published: March 2007

A total of 62 frozen bone marrow specimens conserved in RNA later® (Ambion) were processed using two different extraction methods, the MagNA Pure LC system (MAG; Roche) and the manual RiboPure‐Blood RNA method (RIBO; Ambion); Beta glucoronidase RNA (GUS) was amplified by LightCycler PCR to evaluate the quality of both extraction procedures. Less than 1000 GUS copies/ml was detected in 26 of 62 specimens (41.94%) processed by MAG and in five of 62 specimens (8.06%) processed by RIBO. Moreover, RNA recovery from the 62 specimens by MAG is, on average, 2.91 cycle threshold‐fold higher than RIBO (P = 0.0008). Furthermore, we compared the extraction times and reagent costs of both methods. In conclusion, RNA extraction using MAG is faster to process 32 samples and less expensive than RIBO but it is not sensitive enough to be employed for research purpose in our laboratory.
A prospective comparison of four techniques for diagnosis of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
Authors: GUPTA R. , PANDEY P. , CHOUDHRY R. , KASHYAP R. , MEHROTRA M. , NASEEM S. , NITYANAND S.
Published: March 2007

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired clonal stem cell disorder with altered expression of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)‐anchored proteins, resulting in the increased susceptibility of erythrocytes to complement‐mediated lysis. This study compared the available laboratory methods for detection of PNH cells and evaluated their utility in routine clinical practice. Fifty patients were evaluated by flow cytometric immunophenotyping (FCMI) using CD55 and CD59 monoclonal antibodies, PNH gel card test (GCT), Ham test and sucrose lysis test (SLT). A PNH clone was detectable in erythrocytes in 14 (28%) patients by FCMI, 13 (26%) by GCT and 10 (20%) by Ham test and SLT. The GCT and lytic tests showed 100% specificity and sensitivity was 92.8% and 71.1%, respectively. The GCT results correlated with type III cells (positive for ≥3.21% type III cells) and lytic test results correlated with CD59− type III cells (positive for ≥5% CD59− type III cells). The GCT and lytic tests were comparable in their sensitivity to detect type II cells (positive for ≥18.5% type II cells). Among the available methods, FCMI is most sensitive, can quantify and delineate PNH cells with differential expression of GPI‐anchored proteins. The GCT is a useful screening tool as it is fairly sensitive, easy to perform and interpret. Well‐standardized lytic tests are fairly reliable as screening tests.