bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Note on Selecting a Response Measure for Financial Distress
Authors: Ward Terry J. , Foster Benjamin P.
Published: March 2003

Since 1966, researchers have examined financial distress prediction models to determine the usefulness of accounting information to lenders. These researchers primarily used legal bankruptcy as the response variable for economic financial distress, or included legal bankruptcy with other events in dichotomous prediction models. However, theoretical models of financial distress normally define financial distress as an economic event, the inability to pay debts when due (insolvency). This study uses a loan default/accommodation response variable as a proxy for the inability to pay debts when due. The purpose of this note is to empirically test whether or not using the inability of a firm to pay debts when due, loan default/accommodation, as a response measure produces different results than using legal bankruptcy as the response measure. The study's empirical results show that legal bankruptcy and loan default/accommodation financial distress prediction models produce different statistical results, thus suggesting that the responses measure different constructs. A loan default/accommodation model also fits the data better than a bankrupt model. Our results suggest that a loan default/accommodation response may be a more appropriate measure to determine which accounting information is most useful to lenders in evaluating a firm's credit risk.
Diversification with American Depository Receipts: The Dynamics and the Pricing Factors
Authors: Jiang Christine X.
Published: March 2003

This paper studies the role of American Depository Receipts (ADRs) in international diversification by using a sample of 113 ADRs from eight foreign countries over 1980–1994. We find that investing in ADRs offers significant improvement in the risk‐return trade‐off. The effectiveness of ADRs as a vehicle for long‐term international diversification is further examined by performing cointegration analysis between ADR and the respective market portfolios. Consistent with Webb, Officer and Boyd (1995), we also find that the movements of ADR and the foreign market are highly correlated. Moreover, the pricing factors of ADRs are further investigated in a GARCH framework.
Time‐varying Beta Risk for Australian Industry Portfolios: An Exploratory Analysis
Authors: Faff R.W. , Brooks R.D.
Published: March 2003

The central focus of this paper is to provide an initial exploratory examination of ex post time‐varying beta estimation, modeling and asset pricing tests. In particular, these issues are investigated using a sample of monthly data on Australian industry portfolios over the nineteen‐year period 1974 to 1992. While primarily illustrative in nature, the industry betas are modeled, estimated and tested with reasonable success in terms of regimes related to periods of regulation/deregulation/imputation; the level of market returns; and a measure of volatility on the risk‐free rate of interest. However, univariate and multivariate tests reported in the paper provided mixed evidence concerning the applicability of a time‐varying beta CAPM, that incorporates these variables.
UK Accounting Disclosure Practices and Information Asymmetry During the First Quarter of the Twentieth Century: The Effects on Book Returns and Dividend Cover
Authors: Arnold A.J.
Published: March 2003

During the first quarter of the twentieth century there was marked information asymmetry as between senior managers and shareholders. The differences in information provision can be dichotomised into ‘volume’ and ‘distortion’ effects. This paper measures the (matched pair) differences between two standard measures of corporate performance, returns on equity capital and equity dividend cover, based on internal and then published data, in each case derived from a broadly‐based set of quoted companies in UK industrial sectors. The results suggest that levels of information distortion were low until 1914, and material and much higher, after rather than during the First World War.
Internal Capital Markets, Bank Borrowing, and Financing Constraints: Evidence from Belgian Firms
Authors: Deloof Marc
Published: March 2003

In Belgium, financial and industrial groupings play a crucial role in the accumulation and allocation of capital in the economy. In this paper, it is hypothesized that Belgian firms for which investment is partly financed on an internal capital market, will not be subject to financing constraints to the same extent as firms which have to borrow from banks. Moreover, it is hypothesized that firms belonging to a group, transfer internal surpluses of funds to other group members by investing in financial assets. An empirical analysis confirms the first hypothesis, but rejects the second hypothesis.
The Nature of Board Nominating Committees and Their Role in Corporate Governance
Authors: Vafeas Nikos
Published: March 2003

This study examines the association between the employment and composition of nominating committees with board and ownership characteristics. First, the results suggest that the likelihood of using a nominating committee is inversely related to the level of inside ownership and positively weakly, related to the independence, but not the number, of outside board members. Second, the percentage of insiders participating in the committee is positively related to inside ownership, and negatively related to proxies for outside director quality. Finally, outside directors are more likely to serve on the nominating committee the more outside directorships they hold, and the longer their tenure in the firm. The likelihood of insider committee membership rises with a director's equity investment, with board tenure, and with other committee memberships. Taken together, the results are consistent with nominating committees substituting inside ownership in controlling management, mostly improving board quality, and being staffed with independent, experienced, and knowledgable members.
The Independent Impact of Credit Rating Changes – The Case of Moody's Rating Refinement on Yield Premiums
Authors: Liu Pu , Seyyed Fazal J. , Smith Stanley D.
Published: March 2003

On April 26, 1982, Moody’s Investors Service refined its rating system for the first time in its seventy‐three year rating history. We examine the information content of the rating refinement in the study. We find a statistically significant change in the yields on bonds whose ratings were downgraded. The detection of the impact of refinement on bond prices implies that rating agencies perform an important function in financial markets, that is they provide information to investors.
Dividend Stability, Dividend Yield and Stock Returns: UK Evidence
Authors: Gwilym Owain ap , Morgan Gareth , Thomas Stephen
Published: March 2003

This paper establishes an empirical role for two measures of dividend stability (as a proxy for dividend policy) in explaining UK stock returns. There is little systematic empirical evidence concerning the relation between dividend stability, dividend yield and stock returns despite the fact that a variety of theoretical models point to dividend policy as an important stock attribute. Here we construct two definitions of dividend stability, one of which involves dividend cuts, and use a sample of all listed UK firms from 1975 to 1997 to explore the relationship between stock returns and a variety of characteristics, including dividend stability. We find an inverse correlation between the stability of past dividend policy and systematic risk. Both stability measures have explanatory power over returns, but this is concentrated in January.
The Theory‐Practice Gap in Capital Budgeting: Evidence from the United Kingdom
Authors: Arnold Glen C. , Hatzopoulos Panos D.
Published: March 2003

We report the results of a survey of capital budgeting techniques used by United Kingdom firms. Where possible, the evidence is combined with data collected over a 22 year period to provide a basis for the discussion of causes of trends. We observe that there has been a substantial narrowing of the theory‐practice gap in the use of project appraisal methods. The gap has also narrowed in other areas: the analysis of risk, inflation adjustment, capital budget preparation, WACC calculation and post‐auditing. However, there are other elements of capital budgeting theory, e.g. probability and beta analysis which have been adopted by very few practising managers. We also discuss non‐economic projects, capital rationing and hurdle rates.
The Increasing Use of Non‐Executive Directors: Its Impact on UK Board Structure and Governance Arrangements
Authors: Young Steven
Published: March 2003

The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the number of non‐executive directors (NEDs) on the boards of UK listed firms. Using a sample period spanning the publication of the Cadbury Report (1992), this paper evaluates the implications of this increase. The main findings can be summarised as follows. First, the increased demand for NEDs has been more pronounced for firms classified as having proportionately too many executive board members in the pre‐Cadbury period. Secondly, the probability of compliance with the Cadbury Report's proposal for a minimum of three NEDs is positively related to the magnitude of the expected net benefits of adding further non‐executives to the board. Finally, there is little evidence that the increased use of NEDs caused firms to make costly adjustments to other elements of their control systems in an attempt to re‐equilibrate their governance portfolios. These findings are consistent with claims that the recent trend towards greater NED representation on UK boards may have helped to raise general governance standards.
An Analysis of Transactions Data for the Stock Exchange of Singapore: Patterns, Absolute Price Change, Trade Size and Number of Transactions
Authors: Ding David K. , Lau Sie Ting
Published: March 2003

The availability of the transactions data of the Stock Exchange of Singapore allows us to examine intraday patterns and the relation among absolute price change, trade size and number of transactions. The presence of a trading halt in the mid‐day results in two crude U‐shaped return patterns but, contrary to Brock and Kleidon's (1992) model, it does not cause volume to be unusually high right before or after the halt. We find a positive relationship between absolute price changes and the number of transactions for both the active and inactive stocks. This supports the findings of Jones, Kaul and Lipson (1994) that these relationships also hold at the intraday level and in a market with different market architecture.
A Comparative Analysis of Earnings Forecasts in Europe
Authors: Capstaff John , Paudyal Krishna , Rees William
Published: March 2003

This study examines the accuracy and bias of financial analysts' EPS forecasts in nine European countries during 1987 to 1995. There are significant differences between the countries which may be due to the differences in earnings behaviour, accounting practices, and the influence of securities markets. An optimistic bias is endemic in European forecasts, consistent with research from the US. Investors who incorporate earnings forecasts in their stock selection procedures may be able to improve returns by explicitly adjusting their models for observed regularities in earnings forecast errors. However, we have shown that these regularities differ in incidence and magnitude across the countries studied, and further research is needed to effectively model these differences.
Credit Management: An Examination of Policy Choices, Practices and Late Payment in UK Companies
Authors: Pike Richard , Cheng Nam Sang
Published: March 2003

A central element in developing credit management policy involves design choices on the extent to which credit activities are best managed internally or through specialist market intermediaries. This paper draws on the findings of a survey on the credit management practices and policies of large UK companies to: (1) Examine the type of firm most likely to enter into specialist external credit management structural arrangements; and (2) Identify contextual and credit policy choices influencing the credit period taken and late payment of debts. The study found that specialist intermediaries are not particularly common in large firms. The paper also identifies a number of contextual and policy variables that help explain variation in debtor days and late payment by customers.
Is it Free Cash Flow, Tax Savings, or Neither?An Empirical Confirmation of Two Leading Going‐private Explanations:The Case of ReLBOs
Authors: Kosedag Arman , Lane William R.
Published: March 2003

Firms which ‘go private’ via a leveraged buyout (LBO) retain the option to ‘go public’ again, a process known as a reverse LBO transaction. This paper examines the rarer phenomenon of reLBOs; that is, the practice of going private via leveraged buyout, reobtaining public status through a new initial public offering, and then going private a second time. Among the several alternative hypotheses explaining LBOs, we focus on two prominent ones – free cash flow and tax savings – to explain reLBOs. With a sample of 21 reLBO firms, we find no empirical support for the free cash flow hypothesis but detect a significant relationship between the decision to go private for the second time and the tax savings potential of the firm.
Small and Medium Size Enterprise Financing: A Note on Some of the Empirical Implications of a Pecking Order
Authors: Watson Robert , Wilson Nick
Published: March 2003

Asymmetric information models predict a ‘pecking order’ which reflects a combination of owner‐manager preferences and external capital supply constraints whenever insiders know more about the true value of the firm's prospects than outsiders. The pecking order results in retained earnings being the most preferred source of finance, then debt and finally the issue of new shares to outsiders. Using a sample of 629 UK SMEs over the five‐year period from 1990 to 1995 we find evidence consistent with a pecking order in which retained equity is preferred over debt. As expected, the evidence of a pecking order was particularly strong in respect of the closely‐held firms in our sample.
Evidence on the Incremental Information Contained in the Components of Restructuring Charges
Authors: Lopez Thomas J.
Published: March 2003

Among the new disclosures required by EITF 94–3 is the requirement that firms disclose the nature and amounts of the material components of a restructuring charge. The objective of this paper is to assess whether these components provide information to financial statement users beyond that contained in the aggregate charge. The evidence is consistent with the decomposition of the charge providing incremental information that would be lost if only the aggregate number is reported. The results also appear to suggest that analysts interpret restructurings as bad news and that inventory writedowns and employee terminations are interpreted as the most negative restructuring components.
Board Composition in New Zealand: An Agency Perspective
Authors: Prevost Andrew K. , Rao Ramesh P. , Hossain Mahmud
Published: March 2003

This paper looks at board composition determinants in New Zealand. We document that the proportion of outside board members is inversely related to insider equity ownership supporting the notion that these variables are substitute mechanisms in controlling agency problems. We also find that board composition is directly related to debt, ownership concentration, and profitability and inversely related to growth and firm size. There is evidence that firms with influential CEOs have lower outside board representation. Finally, we document that the passage of the legislation reforming company and securities laws in 1993 was associated with increased outside members on the board.
The Random Walk Hypothesis in the Emerging Indian Stock Market
Authors: Poshakwale Sunil
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the random walk hypothesis in the emerging Indian stock market using daily data on individual stocks. The statistical evidence in this paper rejects the random walk hypothesis. The results suggest that daily returns earned by individual stocks and by an equally weighted portfolio show significant non–linear dependence and persistent volatility effects. The non–linear dependence takes the form of ARCH–type conditional heteroskedasticity and does not appear to be caused by nonstationarity of underlying economic variables. Though conditional volatility is time varying, it does not explain expected returns.
Assessing Credit Rating Agencies by Bond Issuers and Institutional Investors
Authors: Baker H. Kent , Mansi Sattar A.
Published: March 2003

We examine how a sample of publicly traded corporate bond issuers and institutional investors assess the four major nationally recognized rating agencies and their role in capital markets. The results show that issuers and investors differ dramatically in their assessments about rating agencies. Specifically, the majority of institutional investors require only one rating when they buy rated corporate bonds, but most issuers obtain two or more ratings. Issuers and investors also differ in their assessments about whether ratings accurately reflect creditworthiness and timeliness. The results suggest that differences reflect the different roles that rating agencies provide in the market place.
Is the ‘Hard Bargaining’ Image of the Council Misleading? The Committee of Permanent Representatives and the Local Elections Directive
Authors: Lewis Jeffrey
Published: March 2003

The quiet evolution of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) into a de facto decision‐making body has received surprisingly little attention from integration researchers. Even less attention has been paid to the novel institutional form and underlying rationality of this forum at the interface between the national and Community levels. This article argues that Coreper maintains the performance of the Council through the production of a distinct culture of compromise and community‐method. The result, empirically demonstrated in a case study of the 1994 local elections directive, is a shared commitment to finding solutions, where membership in the collective decision‐making process has become part of the rational calculus of defining and defending self‐interests. These findings suggest the need to modify the ‘hard bargaining’ image of EU decision‐making.
Explaining the Treaty of Amsterdam: Interests, Influence, Institutions
Authors: Moravcsik Andrew , Nicolaïdis Kalypso
Published: March 2003

This article offers a basic explanation of the process and outcome of negotiating the Treaty of Amsterdam. We pose three questions: What explains the national preferences of the major governments? Given those substantive national preferences, what explains bargaining outcomes among them? Given those substantive bargains, what explains the choice of international institutions to implement them? We argue in favour of an explanation based on three elements. Issue‐specific interdependence explains national preferences. Interstate bargaining based on asymmetrical interdependence explains the outcomes of substantive negotiation. The need for credible commitments explains institutional choices to pool and delegate sovereignty. Other oft‐cited factors – European ideology, supranational entrepreneurship, technocratic considerations, or the random flux and non‐rational processes of ‘garbage can’ decision‐making – play secondary roles. Remaining areas of ambiguity are flagged for future research.
Conceptualizing the European Union as an International Actor: Narrowing the Theoretical Capability‐Expectations Gap
Authors: Ginsberg Roy H.
Published: March 2003

This article identifies relevant explanatory concepts of European foreign policy (EFP) and organizes those concepts into a heuristically useful model that depicts the stimuli, processes and effects of EFP decision‐making. A cadre of scholars has worked on conceptualizing the European Union (EU) as an international actor, but explanations are still at the pretheoretical stage. Although theorists are developing new and reworking old explanatory concepts, these concepts are not linked in any meaningful way to an overall analytical model. The article begins on a sober note concerning the problems associated with conceptualizing the European Union external identity, but ends on a more sanguine one about the potential for progress not thought possible a short time ago. Scholars are developing explanatory concepts more balanced, rounded, finessed and nuanced than those of their predecessors, and they are moving beyond establishing the existence of EFP to assessing its outcomes.
Monetary Policies in the Presence of Asymmetries
Authors: De Grauwe Paul
Published: March 2003

In this article we study the theory of monetary policy when the monetary authority faces asymmetries in the countries constituting the monetary union. We identify two asymmetries (shocks and transmission) in the context of a two‐country model. A general finding is that, as the degree of asymmetries increases, the effectiveness of stabilization of output and unemployment is reduced. As a result, when asymmetries increase, the stabilization effort of the central bank declines for given preferences about stabilization. We also find that the central bank can improve the efficiency of its monetary policies when asymmetries in the transmission exist, by using national information in the setting of optimal policies. The declared strategy of the ECB conflicts with this prescription. However, in practice the ECB is likely to follow this prescription.
Have Business Cycles Become More Synchronized?
Authors: De Haan Jakob , Inklaar Robert , Sleijpen Olaf
Published: March 2003

Will further integration make business cycles in EMU countries more similar? This article answers the question by analysing to what extent business cycles in US and German states have become more synchronized and by examining whether synchronization in OECD countries is affected by trade intensity and exchange rate stability. Using long‐run data for the US we find only mixed evidence for synchronization. However, post‐war data for Germany suggest that business cycles behave more similarly over time. The evidence for OECD countries is mixed: trade intensity has led to more, and exchange rate stability to less, synchronization.
Why Expand?: The Question of Legitimacy and Justification in the EU’s Enlargement Policy
Authors: Sjursen Helene
Published: March 2003

Why does the European Union (EU) enlarge and why does it make certain prioritizations amongst applicants in the enlargement process? In this article, different reasons that have been used in mobilizing for enlargement are examined. An analytical distinction is made between three different types of reasons: pragmatic, ethical–political and moral. The conclusion is that ethical–political reasons, which testify to a sense of kinship–based duty, are particularly important in mobilizing for enlargement to incorporate central and eastern Europe and thus also central to an appreciation of prioritizations in the EU’s enlargement policy.
Another Road to Maastricht: The Christian Democrat Coalition and the Quest for European Union
Authors: Johansson Karl Magnus
Published: March 2003

This article breaks new ground in our understanding of the Maastricht outcome by examining the role of the European People’s Party (EPP) and its member parties. Special emphasis is placed on the meetings of Christian Democrat leaders. At the time of the 1991 parallel Intergovernmental Conferences, six out of 12 heads of government met in the EPP. The article argues that the Treaty on European Union was facilitated by the transnational coalition of the Christian Democrats and by the shared ideological identity of this federalist movement. This weakens the intergovernmental approach to European integration.
The Many Faces of Europeanization
Authors: Olsen Johan P.
Published: March 2003

Is ‘Europeanization’ as disappointing a term as it is fashionable? Should it be abandoned, or is it useful for understanding European transformations? Five uses are discussed and it is argued that research need not be hampered by competing definitions as long as their meaning, the phenomena in focus, the simplifying assumption used, the models of change and the theoretical challenges involved, are clarified and kept separate. The research challenge is one of model building, not one of inventing definitions. While it is premature to abandon the term, its usefulness may be more limited than its widespread use could indicate. Europeanization may be less useful as an explanatory concept than as an attention–directing device and a starting point for further exploration.
Understanding Business Failure: Learning and Un‐Learning From Industrial Crises
Authors: Stead Eleanor , Smallman Clive
Published: March 2003

Crisis management theory, developed through the study of industrial disasters and socio‐technical failures, is applied to three cases of business failure. The principle objective of the research reported in this paper was to identify whether or not successive failures could have been avoided through organizational learning from similar prior events and what factors might have contributed to or prevented learning. The research also aimed to establish whether or not theoretical frameworks for analyzing and understanding industrial disasters and socio‐technical failures are applicable to business failures.

Using detailed case analyses of the failures of Johnson Matthey Bank, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International and Barings, the paper illustrates a series of remarkable similarities in these business failures. It also demonstrates an apparent inability of the management involved in the later failures to learn from what had happened before. Organizational culture is singled out as the main contributing factor in these failures. This paper, in part, proves the case for applying industrial crisis management theory to business failure.
Constraints to Drought Contingency Planning in Spain: The Hydraulic Paradigm and the Case of Seville
Authors: Del Moral Ituarte Leandro , Giansante Consuelo
Published: March 2003

Spain is equipped with an extensive hydraulic infrastructure, aimed at the correction of temporal and spatial irregularities in the availability of water resources. This structural network, mainly based on surface water, is the manifestation of the traditional hydraulic paradigm, which has technical, economic, socio‐political and cultural ramifications. The traditional water management perspective tends to view drought as the structural deficit between water demand and water regulation capacity. This conceptualisation of drought led primarily to a structural response, while ignoring the need for drought risk assessment and water crisis management rules. The traditional hydraulic paradigm can, paradoxically, be regarded as one of the main constraints to the development of drought contingency planning and drought management. However, a new dynamism has entered the water policy arena, which encompasses elements of both innovation and persistence of the traditional perception. This dynamism is analysed through the Seville water management system, which is often affected by drought and severe water crises.
Training Decision Makers – Tactical Decision Games
Authors: Crichton Margaret T. , Flin Rhona , Rattray William A. R.
Published: March 2003

There is growing recognition of the need to train non‐technical skills, especially decision making, for emergency management in high reliability industries as well as in contained environments such as prisons. This article presents a training method, Tactical Decision Games, which appears to provide a good opportunity to practise the non‐technical skills that would be required in the management of an emergency situation. Case studies from the UK nuclear power industry and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) illustrate the adaptability and general application of TDGs for training of emergency response teams in a range of operational settings.
Mechanisms of action in youth psychotherapy
Authors: Weersing V. Robin , Weisz John R.
Published: March 2003

Background: In this review, we address a basic, but unanswered, question about psychosocial interventions for youth: How does psychotherapy work? Methods: We propose a framework for using mediation analysis to answer this question, and we review the youth therapy outcome literature for evidence on mediating mechanisms. We focus our review on clinical trials of empirically supported treatments for youth anxiety, depression, and disruptive behavior (N= 67). Results: Contrary to previous reports indicating that potential mediators are rarely assessed, 63% of the studies included measures of potential mediating mechanisms in their designs. Across treatment domains, percentages ranged from 22% of the studies of learning‐based interventions for anxiety (i.e., systematic desensitization, modeling, and reinforced practice) to 91% of parent training investigations. Despite the rather extensive assessment of potential mediators, only six studies included any attempt to use the measures in a formal mediation test. Thus, despite the positive effects of treatments and surprisingly ample assessment of mediators, we still know remarkably little about how youth psychotherapies work. Conclusions: We note common problems that hampered mediation testing (e.g., the design of many trials made it difficult to determine the temporal order of change in the mechanism and outcome), and we offer recommendations for improving study design to better assess mechanisms of therapeutic action. We also note the need to test mediation among referred youth treated in representative practice settings to complement the laboratory‐based evidence on therapy mechanisms that prevails to date.
Annotation: Chronic fatigue syndrome in children and adolescents
Authors: Garralda M. Elena , Rangel Luiza
Published: March 2003

Background:Over the past two decades Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) of childhood has gained increasing prominence. A number of clinical reports and case‐control studies have examined the nature of the disorder, its associations, response to treatment and outcome.Method:A review of publications on childhood CFS was undertaken and reference to work on adult CFS made. Most studies on childhood CFS have been on markedly affected children attending specialist pediatric clinics and very little is known about the condition as it presents in the community or to general medical services.Results:The main symptom is fatigue in association with a variety of physical symptoms and with marked and prolonged functional impairment. CFS is commonly reported as being brought on by acute infections. Co‐morbid psychiatric (usually mood) disorders are present in at least a half. Personality problems and health attitudes have been described as possible predisposing and maintaining factors. Clinical reports indicate that family work focused on engagement and on a rehabilitation programme (including graded increasing activity and treatment of psychiatric co‐morbidity) can help even the more severely impaired children. Recovery may be expected in over two‐thirds.Conclusions:CFS presents as a distinct, markedly impairing disorder of childhood. In its severe form, it is often associated with mood disorders. Further research into milder forms and into the efficacy of different treatment interventions is specially needed.
Parent–offspring resemblance for reading performance at 7, 12 and 16 years of age in the Colorado Adoption Project
Authors: Wadsworth S.J. , Corley R.P. , Hewitt J.K. , Plomin R. , DeFries J.C.
Published: March 2003

Background:The study aimed to conduct the first analysis of CAP parent–offspring resemblance for reading performance in children aged 7, 12 and 16 years, and to assess the etiology of individual differences in reading performance of children at 16 years of age.Method:The Reading Recognition subtest of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test was administered to children in the Colorado Adoption Project (CAP) at 7, 12 and 16 years of age, and to their adoptive and nonadoptive parents when the children were 7 years of age.Results:Resulting parent–offspring correlations in adoptive families were not significant at any age, but correlations between scores of nonadoptive control parents and their offspring were significant at all three ages.Conclusions:Results obtained from behavioral genetic model‐fitting analyses of data from parents and their children tested at age 16 are consistent with results of studies of twins and siblings indicating that individual differences in reading performance are due substantially to genetic influences. In contrast, environmental transmission from parents to offspring was negligible, suggesting that environmental influences on individual differences in the reading performance of children are largely independent of parental reading performance.
Sociodynamic relationships between children who stutter and their non‐stuttering classmates
Authors: Davis Stephen , Howell Peter , Cooke Frances
Published: March 2003

Background: Previous research has indicated that children who stutter are more likely to be bullied and to hold a lower social position than their peers who do not stutter. However, the majority of this research has used data from respondents who were in the educational system more than 20 years ago. The current policy on integration of children with severe disabilities into mainstream education and the increased awareness of bullying in schools would indicate that attitudes toward children who stutter might have changed in the intervening period. Method: The study uses a sociometric scale (adapted from Coie, Dodge, & Coppotelli, 1982) to assess children who stutter in classroom groups with fluent peers. The peer relationships between 16 children who stutter and their classmates (403 children in total) were examined. Results: Children who stutter were rejected significantly more often than were their peers and were significantly less likely to be popular. When compared to children who do not stutter, the children who stutter were less likely to be nominated as `leaders' and were more likely to be nominated to the `bullied' and `seeks help' categories. Conclusions: The changes in integration policy and the implementation of anti‐bullying policies in many schools appear to have made little impact on the social status of children who stutter. The incidence of bullying and rejection reported in this study has implications for schools and clinicians.
Annotation: Attachment disorganisation and psychopathology: new findings in attachment research and their potential implications for developmental psychopathology in childhood
Authors: Green Jonathan , Goldwyn Ruth
Published: March 2003

Background: The past 10 years have seen a fruitful line of enquiry building on identification of previously unclassifiable patterns of infant–mother interaction. A critical review of these new findings in attachment theory, highlighting their potential relevance to child psychopathology, is presented. Method: Selective literature review relating to disorganised attachment in childhood. Results: Disorganised patterns of attachment have only relatively recently been described. They show characteristic patterns of evolution in development. There is evidence that disorganised attachments are associated with specific forms of distorted parenting, which are distinct from general parental insensitivity and are associated with unresolved loss or trauma in the caregiver. There are also links with aspects of neurodevelopment vulnerability in the child. Attachment disorganisation is a powerful predictor of a range of later social and cognitive difficulties and psychopathology. Conclusions: The identification of disorganised attachment has greatly increased the potential relevance of attachment theory to general clinical work. However, the concept raises many methodological and theoretical issues. Among issues needing further exploration is the way in which attachment disorganisation relates to children's general mental states and may be affected by cognitive functioning and developmental impairment.
Association of ADHD and conduct disorder – brain electrical evidence for the existence of a distinct subtype
Authors: Banaschewski Tobias , Brandeis Daniel , Heinrich Hartmut , Albrecht Bjoern , Brunner Edgar , Rothenberger Aribert
Published: March 2003

Background: To evaluate the impact of psychopathological comorbidity with oppositional defiant/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) on brain electrical correlates in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to study the pathophysiological background of comorbidity of ADHD+ODD/CD.

Method: Event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a cued continuous performance test (CPT‐A‐X) in children (aged 8 to 14 years) with ICD‐10 diagnoses of either hyperkinetic disorder (HD; n=15), hyperkinetic conduct disorder (HCD; n=16), or ODD/CD (n=15) and normal children (n=18). HD/HCD diagnoses in all children were fully concordant with the DSM‐IV diagnosis of ADHD‐combined type. ERP‐microstates, i.e., time segments with stable brain electrical map topography were identified by adaptive segmentation. Their characteristic parameters and behavioral measures were further analyzed.

Results: Children with HD but not comorbid children showed slower and more variable reaction times compared to control children. Children with HD and ODD/CD‐only but not comorbid children displayed reduced P3a amplitudes to cues and certain distractors (distractor‐X) linked to attentional orienting. Correspondingly, global field power of the cue‐CNV microstate related to anticipation and preparation was reduced in HD but not in HCD. Topographical alterations of the HD occurred already in the cue‐P2/N2 microstate. In sum, the comorbid group was less deviant than both the HD‐group and the ODD/CD‐group.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that HD children (ADHD‐combined type without ODD/CD) suffer from a more general deficit (e.g., suboptimal energetical state regulation) including deficits of attentional orienting and response preparation than just a response inhibitory deficit, backing the hypothesis of an involvement of a dysregulation of the central noradrenergic networks. The results contradict the hypothesis that ADHD+ODD/CD represents an additive co‐occurrence of ADHD and ODD/CD and strongly suggest that it represents a separate pathological entity as considered in the ICD‐10 classification system, which differs from both HD and ODD/CD‐only.
Neuropsychological profiles of adolescents with ADHD: effects of reading difficulties and gender
Authors: Rucklidge Julia J. , Tannock Rosemary
Published: March 2003

Background: Executive function, particularly behavioral inhibition, has been implicated as a core deficit specific to Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) whereas rapid naming has been implicated as a core deficit specific to reading disabilities (RD). Females may be less impaired in executive function although adolescent females with ADHD have yet to be studied.

Method: Neuropsychological profiles of four adolescent groups aged 13–16 with equal female representation were investigated: 35 ADHD, 12 RD, 24 ADHD+RD, and 37 normal controls. A semi‐structured interview (K‐SADS‐PL), the Conners Rating Scales and the Ontario Child Health Study Scales were used to diagnose ADHD. RD was defined as a standard score below 90 on at least one of the following: Reading or Spelling of the WRAT3 or Word Attack or Word Identification of the WRMT‐R. The WISC‐III, Rapid Automatized Naming, Stroop and Stop tasks were used as measures of cognitive and executive function.

Results: The two ADHD groups (ADHD, ADHD+RD) showed deficits in processing speed, naming of objects, poor behavioral inhibition and greater variability in reaction times whereas the two RD groups (RD, RD+ADHD) showed verbal working memory deficits and slower verbal retrieval speed. Only the comorbid group was slower with naming of numbers and colors and had slower reaction times. Regression analyses indicated that incongruent color naming (Stroop) and variability in go reaction time were the best predictors of hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptoms whereas variability in go reaction time and processing speed were the best predictors of inattentive ADHD symptoms. Speed of letter naming and verbal working memory accounted for the most variability in composite achievement scores. No gender differences were found on any of the cognitive tests.

Conclusions: This study challenges the importance of behavioral inhibition deficits in ADHD and that naming deficits are specific to RD. Further investigation into cognitive deficits in these groups is required.  ADHD: Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; RD: Reading Difficulties; SES: socio‐economic status; CTRS: Conners' Teacher Rating Scale; OCHSS: Ontario Child Health Study Scales; WRAT: Wide Range Achievement Test; WRMT: Woodcock Reading Mastery Test; MDD: Major Depressive Disorder; SAD: Separation Anxiety Disorder; GAD: Generalized Anxiety Disorder; OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; WISC: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; RAN: Rapid Automatized Naming; SSRT: Stop Signal Reaction Time;
Developmental course of ADHD symptomatology during the transition from childhood to adolescence: a review with recommendations
Authors: Willoughby Michael T.
Published: March 2003

Although historically conceptualized as a disorder that was limited to males during middle childhood, ADHD is currently conceptualized as a chronic disorder that persists into adolescence and adulthood for both sexes. Nonetheless, the veracity of adult ADHD continues to be the source of debate. In order to frame this debate, research leading to the conceptualization of ADHD as a chronic disorder is reviewed. A distinction is made between the developmental outcomes versus the developmental course of ADHD. It is concluded that although childhood ADHD is associated with negative developmental outcomes in adolescence and adulthood, questions about the developmental course of ADHD remain. Although it appears that ADHD diminishes with advancing age, a number of methodological limitations prohibit firm conclusions. Recommendations for future studies are made with an emphasis on 1) overcoming extant methodological limitations in the literature and 2) the need for theoretically derived hypotheses regarding continuity and change in ADHD symptomatology over time.
Time and space in the Sri Lanka‐Tamil diaspora
Authors: Fuglerud Øivind
Published: March 2003

Based upon fieldwork in Sri Lanka and among Tamil migrants in Norway, this article discusses the relationship between space, time and national identity. The author argues that in the Sri Lanka‐Tamil diaspora one finds two different conceptions of Tamil culture, the ‘traditional’ and the ‘revolutionary’. The first expresses a space‐time relationship that is nomadic and grounded in heritage; the second one is sedentary and historicist. The latter serves as a basis for Tamil separatism, the first does not. By propagating the ‘revolutionary’ model of culture, with its particular understanding of space and time, the Tamil separatist movement Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has adopted viewpoints that throughout this century have fuelled the nationalism of the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka. The author argues that instead of explaining social change historically, which is one trend within anthropological theory today, anthropologists should concentrate on exploring under which conditions historical explanations are seen as more valid than their alternatives.
The model of ethnic democracy: Israel as a Jewish and democratic state
Authors: Smooha Sammy
Published: March 2003

The liberal democratic nation–state is on the decline in the West as a result of globalisation, regionalisation, universalisation of minority rights, multiculturalism and the rise of ethno–nationalism. While Western countries are decoupling the nation–state and shifting toward multicultural civic democracy, other countries are consolidating an alternative non–civic form of a democratic state that is identified with and subservient to a single ethnic nation. This model, ‘ethnic democracy’, is presented; its defining features, the circumstances leading to it and the conditions for its stability are elaborated upon; and it is applied to Israel. Contrary to its self–image and international reputation as a Western liberal democracy, Israel is an ethnic democracy in which the Jews appropriate the state and make it a tool for advancing their national security, demography, public space, culture and interests. At the same time, Israel is a democracy that extends various kinds of rights to 1 million Palestinian Arab citizens (16 per cent of the population) who are perceived as a threat. The criticisms against the general model and its applicability to Israel are discussed. The model has already been applied to other countries, but more applications are needed in order to develop it further.
Affective modulation and prepulse inhibition of startle among undergraduates high and low in behavioral inhibition and approach
Authors: Hawk Larry W. , Kowmas Audrey D.
Published: March 2003

Valence modulation and prepulse inhibition of startle were examined among 80 undergraduates scoring in the upper and lower quartiles of self–report measures of behavioral inhibition (BIS) and behavioral approach (BAS). Participants viewed a series of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures. Acoustic startle probes (102 dB) were presented during most pictures and during intertrial intervals, and a prepulse (120–ms SOA) preceded half of the probes. Valence modulation on no–prepulse trials was greater among high–BAS than low–BAS participants. Consistent with theory regarding behavioral approach, post hoc tests demonstrated robust inhibition during pleasant versus neutral pictures among high–BAS participants, but not low–BAS participants. Valence modulation was reliable among high–BIS but not low–BIS participants, but the group difference was not significant. Contrary to our prediction, prepulse inhibition tended to be greater among high–BAS than low–BAS participants. The present data call attention to the role of individual differences in pleasant affective experience in startle modification.
Event‐related brain potentials reflect discourse‐referential ambiguity in spoken language comprehension
Authors: Van Berkum Jos J. A. , Brown Colin M. , Hagoort Peter , Zwitserlood Pienie
Published: March 2003

In two experiments, we explored the use of event‐related brain potentials to selectively track the processes that establish reference during spoken language comprehension. Subjects listened to stories in which a particular noun phrase like “the girl” either uniquely referred to a single referent mentioned in the earlier discourse, or ambiguously referred to two equally suitable referents. Referentially ambiguous nouns (“the girl” with two girls introduced in the discourse context) elicited a frontally dominant and sustained negative shift in brain potentials, emerging within 300–400 ms after acoustic noun onset. The early onset of this effect reveals that reference to a discourse entity can be established very rapidly. Its morphology and distribution suggest that at least some of the processing consequences of referential ambiguity may involve an increased demand on memory resources. Furthermore, because this referentially induced ERP effect is very different from that of well‐known ERP effects associated with the semantic (N400) and syntactic (e.g., P600/SPS) aspects of language comprehension, it suggests that ERPs can be used to selectively keep track of three major processes involved in the comprehension of an unfolding piece of discourse.