bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of serial position and frequency of presentation of common stimulus features on orienting response reinstatement
Authors: Ben–Shakhar Gershon , Gati Itamar
Published: March 2003

Two factors that might affect the novelty value of a test stimulus (the frequency of appearance of features common to the test stimulus and the set of preceding stimuli, and the serial position of these features) were systematically manipulated, and their effects on the electrodermal component of the orienting response (OR) were examined. We presented 256 participants with both verbal and pictorial stimulus sequences. Following 12 presentations of control stimuli, a test stimulus, which shared two common components with some of the control stimuli, was presented, followed by two additional presentations of control stimuli. The results revealed that recent presentations of the common components significantly reduced OR magnitude to the test stimulus, whereas the presentation frequency of common components had no significant effect. The implications of these findings for the feature–matching theory are discussed and a modification of the theory is proposed.
The Concept of Sebestoimost’ in Russian Farm Accounting: A Very Unmagical Mystery Tour
Authors: Kitching Gavin
Published: March 2003

This article examines the use of the concept of sebestoimost’ ‐ production cost ‐on large‐scale commercial farms (former collective and state farms)in European Russia. This examination is based on ?eldwork carried out by the author and some Russian colleagues in 1996 and 1997. This concept and the accounting magnitudes it generates are of no utility now, and should be abandoned as an actual impediment to effective farm management in current market conditions. But the manipulation of sebestoimost’ magnitudes in the Soviet period served, it appears, very important functions for farm chairmen and directors. In uncovering the mystery of those functions, an important revisionist hypothesis concerning the inef ?ciencies, or alleged inef?ciencies, of Soviet agriculture emerges. The data cited in this article are too scanty to prove the hypothesis, but are certainly suf ?cient to suggest that it warrants further investigation.
Policy Discourses on Women's Land Rights in Sub–Saharan Africa: The Implications of the Re–turn to the Customary
Authors: Whitehead Ann , Tsikata Dzodzi
Published: March 2003

This article examines some contemporary policy discourses on land tenure reform in sub–Saharan Africa and their implications for women's interests in land. It demonstrates an emerging consensus among a range of influential policy institutions, lawyers and academics about the potential of so–called customary systems of land tenure to meet the needs of all land users and claimants. This consensus, which has arisen out of critiques of past attempts at land titling and registration, particularly in Kenya, is rooted in modernizing discourses and/or evolutionary theories of land tenure and embraces particular and contested understandings of customary law and legal pluralism. It has also fed into a wide–ranging critique of the failures of the post–colonial state in Africa, which has been important in the current retreat of the state under structural adjustment programmes. African women lawyers, a minority dissenting voice, are much more equivocal about trusting the customary, preferring instead to look to the State for laws to protect women's interests. We agree that there are considerable problems with so–called customary systems of land tenure and administration for achieving gender justice with respect to women's land claims. Insufficient attention is being paid to power relations in the countryside and their implications for social groups, such as women, who are not well positioned and represented in local level power structures. But considerable changes to political and legal practices and cultures will be needed before African states can begin to deliver gender justice with respect to land.
How to create a crisis: empowering the ESL writer with lessons from narrative art
Authors: Tickoo Asha
Published: March 2003

This paper identi ?es a set of writing conventions whose primary function is to monitor the development of a crucial component of narrative, the crisis of the story, but which are also customarily used by skilled writers to enhance the attention‐getting power of their expository writing. The paper shows that ESL learners who have not learned to use these conventions in narrative also do not use them in essays. It is argued that there is a pedagogical advantage to learning the crisis conventions ?rst in their narrative manifestation (where their function is transparent)and then applying them to the task of heightening the newsworthiness of the writer's expository point.
Review: Rethinking Innateness
Authors: Cameron‐Faulkner Thea
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Jeffrey Elman, Elizabeth Bates, Mark Johnson, Annette Karmiloff‐Smith, Domenico Parisi & Kim Plunkett, Rethinking Innateness
Taking a lexical approach to teaching: principles and problems
Authors: Harwood Nigel
Published: March 2003

After briefly reviewing some of the reasons why the traditional grammar/vocabulary distinction is no longer adequate, this article describes two key principles which are claimed to be at the core of teaching according to a lexical approach. There are, however, a number of major difficulties which necessarily co‐occur alongside any attempted classroom implementation. Having discussed how these difficulties may be overcome, the article closes by conceding that there is still much work to be done before the approach can hope to become more fully integrated into the mainstream ELT coursebook.
On the framing of one kind of indefinite referring expression: learning challenges and pedagogical implications
Authors: Tickoo Asha
Published: March 2003

The paper shows that two key principles of communication (the Shared Knowledge Principle and the Economy Principle), which monitor the framing of all well‐formed referring expressions, are manifest in a specialized mode in the framing of focal specific indefinite referring expressions. It is suggested that the special features associated with this type of reference pose a challenge for a group of advanced learners whose L1 is Cantonese. The strategies that these learners adopt in framing this category of indefinite referring expressions are examined and compared to those customarily used by educated native speakers. Pedagogical implications are explored.
Two Job Cyclic Scheduling With Incompatibility Constraints
Authors: Persi Piero , Ukovich Walter , Pesenti Raffaele
Published: March 2003

The present paper deals with the problem of scheduling several repeated occurrences of two jobs over a finite or infinite time horizon in order to maximize the yielded profit. The constraints of the problem are the incompatibilities between some pairs of tasks which require a same resource.
Optimization of a PH/PH/1/N Queue with Controllable Service Time and Partial Information
Authors: Rodrigues Rita de Cassia M. , De Carvalho Solon V.
Published: March 2003

We study a queueing system where both inter‐arrival and service times are distributed according to phase‐type distributions. This system is modeled as a Markov decision process with full and partial information. The objective is to minimize the long‐run average cost of the system. Numerical results are presented.
Optimization of Wafer Exposure Patterns Using a Two‐Dimensional Cutting Algorithm
Authors: Chien Chen‐Fu , Deng Jing‐Feng
Published: March 2003

The semiconductor industry plays an integral role in Taiwan's manufacturing sector. Although defect reduction has received considerable attention to improve the yield rate, the problem of optimizing wafer exposure patterns has seldom been addressed. This study formulates the wafer exposure‐patterning problem into a cutting and packing problem by adopting an innovative approach. We developed a two‐dimensional cutting algorithm to maximize the number of dies that can be produced from a wafer to increase the gross die yield. The proposed algorithm is successfully implemented in a wafer fabrication factory. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
The Probabilistic Minimum Vertex‐covering Problem
Authors: Murat Cécile , Paschos Vangelis Th.
Published: March 2003

An instance of the probabilistic vertex‐covering problem is a pair (G=(V,E),Pr) obtained by associating with each vertex υi∈V an ‘occurrence’ probability pi. We consider a modification strategy Μ transforming a vertex cover C for G into a vertex cover CI for the subgraph of G induced by a vertex‐set I⊆V. The objective for the probabilistic vertex‐covering is to determine a vertex cover of G minimizing the sum, over all subsets I⊆V, of the products: probability of I times CI. In this paper, we study the complexity of optimally solving probabilistic vertex‐covering.
Soft Methods in Primary Schools: Focusing on IT Strategies
Authors: Sørensen Lene , Vidal René Victor Valqui
Published: March 2003

New legislation has been imposed on Danish primary schools to increase the use of information technology (IT), without giving guidelines on practical implementation. Many schools are, therefore, left in despair. We suggest that IT strategy development can be supported by soft OR methods. We present three case studies that illustrate different application perspectives of methods.
A Simulation‐based Production Scheduling Method for Minimizing the Due‐date‐deviation
Authors: Arakawa Masahiro , Fuyuki Masahiko , Inoue Ichiro
Published: March 2003

A simulation‐based scheduling method for minimizing the due‐date‐deviation is proposed on the basis of the combination of the BFHS (backward/forward hybrid simulation) method and the parameter‐space‐search‐improvement method. A new schedule generation method named the BFHS/type‐D is first developed, in which the information generated during the backward simulation is utilized to control operation‐onset timings and job priorities in the forward simulation. Then, after investigation of the backward‐simulation characteristics, two parameters are proposed to manipulate the simulation process systematically in relation to due‐date‐deviation. Furthermore, the best schedule with respect to due‐date‐deviation is searched for on the space spanned by the two parameters. Finally, the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated, not only on a simple job‐shop model, but also on a practical large‐scale system.
The Geometry of M/D/1 Queues and Large Deviation
Authors: Nakagawa Kenji
Published: March 2003

Since an M/D/1 queue is represented by a Markov chain, we can consider the set of all the M/D/1 queues as a subset of Markov chains. A geometric structure is induced from the geometric structure of the set of Markov chains, which forms an exponential family. In this paper, we show that in the large deviation of the tail probability of the queue length of an M/D/1, the rate function and a twisted Markov chain, etc., are represented in terms of the geometry. Moreover, in the importance sampling (IS) simulation for the M/D/1 queue, we elucidate the geometric relation between the underlying distribution and a simulation distribution, and evaluate the variance of an IS estimate by geometric quantities.
Analyzing the Trade‐off Between Investing in Service Channels and Satisfying the Targeted User Service for Brazilian Internet Service Providers
Authors: Fontanella Gisele C. , Morabito Reinaldo
Published: March 2003

The computer connection to the Internet is provided by firms known as internet service providers (ISPs). The simplest mode of physical connection is when the user connects to an ISP’s service channel by an ordinary telephone line (dial‐up). Finding an available channel may not be an easy task, especially during the peak hours of many Brazilian ISPs. This results in a problem for the ISPs, which is how to achieve the most appropriate trade‐off between investing in capacity and satisfying the target user service level. This paper analyzes this trade‐off based on a three‐step approach: (i) determine user arrival and service processes in chosen periods, (ii) select an appropriate queueing model using some simplifying assumptions, and (iii) generate trade‐off curves between system performance measures. To illustrate the application of this approach, some results derived from a case study performed at an ISP in Sao Paulo state are given.
On Proposing Statecharts to Specify Performance Models
Authors: Vijaykumar Nandamudi Lankalapalli , Carvalho Solon Venancio de , Abdurahiman Vakulathil
Published: March 2003

This paper shows that Statecharts, a high‐level specification technique, can be used to represent performance models. This is a powerful technique and is based on state‐transition diagrams added with concepts of hierarchy and orthogonality to represent a system behavior. It is shown that Statecharts may conveniently be used to represent models with richness and clarity. Using an analytical approach the technique to determine performance measurements is provided. Three examples are presented and the results show Statecharts’ potential for representing systems for performance evaluation.
Using Cpk index with fuzzy numbers to evaluate service quality
Authors: Lee Hong Tau , Chen Sheu Hua
Published: March 2003

Service quality is measured by customers’ satisfaction. Traditionally, the degree of satisfaction is calculated from the data obtained from questionnaires that have been filled by customers directly. The percentile of each different level of a customer’s satisfaction is employed to summarize and compare the quality of service provided by different enterprises. This approach does not consider the consistency of the customers’ perceptions, thus making comparison difficult. This paper introduces the concept of a process capability index that considers both the average and the consistency of the data simultaneously. Evaluations of service quality are usually vague and linguistic. We use the fuzzy numbers of linguistic variables developed in fuzzy set theory to modify the process capability index, and then apply it to evaluate the quality of a service. The average and consistency of the data obtained from a service quality evaluation are thus considered simultaneously, making the comparison of the performance of service quality easier. Moreover, the value of the index can be applied to help to point out the direction for improving the performance of service quality whenever it is lower than some default value.
Applying intelligent agents technology in a collaborative work environment
Authors: Karacapilidis Nikos , Vouros George , Darzentas John
Published: March 2003

The current state of the art in computer–mediated collaborative work is mainly limited by the fairly primitive discourse structures that most asynchronous conference systems implemented so far provide and because they lack consensus seeking and problem solving abilities. To address these issues, we first propose a refined model of the discourse acts met in a collaborative work environment. In the sequel, using this model in the context of an already implemented system, we apply intelligent agents technology in order to enhance and facilitate collaborative work. The overall approach combines concepts from the AI and CSCW disciplines, while aims at giving a highly active role to the participants involved in such environments.
The electrical distribution network planning problem
Authors: Paciornik N. , Ferland J.A. , Cléroux R.
Published: March 2003

In this paper we are dealing with the electrical distribution network planning problem where a network configuration has to be specified in order to meet demand, to satisfy the operating constraints, and to minimize investment, operating, and power–loss costs. The iterative procedure includes several heuristic algorithms to generate a radial network, to choose a set of open feeders to meet the reliability constraint, and to solve the reconfiguration problem in order to reduce the power–loss costs. Furthermore, in order to compare the reliability of potential solutions, a predictive reliability assessment measure is established.
Morocco's Economic Prospects: DauntingChallenges Ahead
Authors: Denoeux Guilain P.
Published: March 2003

This article draws on interviews conducted in Morocco in June 2000 and January 2001.
How to Compare Apples And Oranges: Poverty Measurement Based on Different Definitions of Consumption
Authors: Olson Lanjouw Jean , Lanjouw Peter
Published: March 2003

Poverty rates calculated on the basis of household consumption expenditures are routinely compared across countries and time. The surveys which underlie these comparisons typically differ in the types of food and non‐food expenditures included, often in ways which are easily overlooked by analysts. With several examples we demonstrate that these commonly occurring variations in expenditure definitions can give rise to marked differences in poverty rates where there are no real differences in well‐being. We show that one approach to calculating poverty lines, used with the headcount measure of poverty, can allow comparisons based on data with different definitions of consumption. In addition to allowing comparative poverty analysis using existing survey data, the results suggest that poverty monitoring could be done effectively at lower cost by alternating detailed expenditure surveys with far more abbreviated surveys.
Life‐Cycle Saving in the United States, 1900–90
Authors: Lee Chulhee
Published: March 2003

This paper examines how the proportion of US saving that represents life‐cycle accumulation changed over the last century. As individuals retire earlier and live longer than before, the expected length of male retirement has increased by more than six‐fold since 1850. According to life‐cycle models of saving, this means that the proportion of lifetime income saved for retirement should rise over time. I estimate that the fraction of lifetime income saved for retirement tripled between 1900 and 1990. In contrast to such an increase in the estimated retirement saving, the actual aggregate household saving rates exhibit a relatively stable long‐term tendency during the 20th century. Based on this result, I argue that the relative contribution of the life‐cycle saving to US wealth accumulation increased substantially, perhaps two to three times, over the last hundred years.
Sources of Inequality: Measuring the Contributions of Income Sources to Rising Family Income Inequality
Authors: Reed Deborah , Cancian Maria
Published: March 2003

We develop a simulation method for measuring the impact of changes in the distributions of the main income sources on growth in family income inequality. We simulate the entire distribution of family income under the counterfactual, “What if the distribution of each source had not changed?” The simulation method allows us to evaluate the impact of changes at any point in the distribution as well as with multiple measures of inequality. We incorporate married‐couple and single‐person families, appropriately accounting for changes in the proportion married. We apply the simulation method to investigate the impact of changes in male earnings, female earnings, and capital income on the distribution of family income in the United States between 1969 and 1999. We find that changes in the distribution of male earnings account for more of the growth in family income inequality than do changes in any other source of income. Changes in the distribution of female earnings have reduced family income inequality.
Inequality in Spain, 1973‐91: Contribution to a Regional Database
Authors: Goerlich Francisco J. , Mas Matilde
Published: March 2003

This paper provides the methodology and results of a database of inequality indices for the fifty provinces and seventeen regions of Spain on the basis of the Household Budget Surveys for the years 1973/74, 1980/81 and 1990/91. The inequality indicators considered are the indices of Gini, Theil (0), Theil (1) and Atkinson (1), as well as the distribution by deciles of the population. These indicators are drawn up for three variables: total income, total expenditure, and exclusively monetary expenditure. The variables are also expressed in terms of households, per capita and per capita equivalent. All are available on the Internet (http://www.ivie.es).
Eating like which “Joneses?” an Iterative Solution to the Choice of a Poverty Line “Reference Group”
Authors: Pradhan Menno , Suryahadi Asep , Sumarto Sudarno , Pritchett Lant
Published: March 2003

A standard method for calculating poverty lines (e.g. Ravallion, 1994) is not fully specified. The choice of the “reference population” for determining food baskets is left to the decision of the individual analyst. However, the poverty line can be quite sensitive to the real income of the reference group because the “quality” of the food basket—measured as the food expenditures per calorie—rises sharply with income. We propose that the reference group be centered on the poverty line. To address the obvious circularity problem in choosing a reference population at the poverty line to define the poverty line, we use an iterative approach. This iterative method provides a methodological anchor that fixes the reference group.
How Fast Has Chinese Industry Grown?—Measuring The Real Output Of Chinese Industry, 1949–97
Authors: Wu Harry X.
Published: March 2003

The motivation of this study is to test the widely accepted but never tested hypothesis that Chinese official statistics on growth rates may contain serious upward biases. By adopting a Laspeyres quantity index approach to the recently available official physical output data at commodity level, we have constructed an independent output index for Chinese industry, and produced a unique data set for the value added of 17 major industrial branches at 1987 prices for the period 1949–97. This study has, for the first time, systematically tested this hypothesis with supportive results. It implies that any growth accounting study using the official growth rates may have exaggerated the productivity performance of Chinese industry.
Education and Income Inequality: New Evidence From Cross‐Country Data
Authors: Gregorio José De , Lee Jong–Wha
Published: March 2003

This paper presents empirical evidence on how education is related to income distribution in a panel data set covering a broad range of countries for the period between 1960 and 1990. The findings indicate that educational factors—higher educational attainment and more equal distribution of education —play a significant role in making income distribution more equal. The results also confirm the Kuznets inverted–U curve for the relationship between income level and income inequality. We also find that government social expenditure contributes to more equal distribution of income. However, a significant proportion of cross–country variation in income inequality remains unexplained.
A Temporal Analysis of Earnings Surprises: Profits versus Losses
Authors: Brown Lawrence D.
Published: March 2003

I show that median earnings surprise has shifted rightward from small negative (miss analyst estimates by a small amount) to zero (meet analyst estimates exactly) to small positive (beat analyst estimates by a small amount) during the 16 years, 1984 to 1999. I show that a rightward temporal shift in median surprise from negative to positive describes earnings, but neither profits nor losses. Median profit surprise shifts within the positive quadrant, from zero to one cent per share. Median loss surprise shifts within the negative quadrant from extreme negative (about ‐33 cents per share) to zero. I show that the median surprise for profits exceeds that for losses in every year. I document significant positive temporal trends in both meet and beat analyst estimates for both profits and losses, but I find a greater frequency of profits that either meet or beat analyst estimates in every year. I find a significant positive temporal trend in positive profits that are “a little bit of good news,” and a significant negative temporal trend in managers who report losses that are an “extreme amount of bad news.” My results are robust to the four internal validity threats I consider—namely temporal changes in: (1) analyst forecast accuracy, (2) the mix of earnings of one sign preceded by earnings of another sign four quarters ago, (3) the timeliness of the most recent analyst forecast, and (4) the I/B/E/S definition of actual earnings. I find that managers of growth firms are relatively more likely than managers of value firms to report good news profits. I show that when they do report positive profit surprises, managers of growth firms are more likely to report “a little bit of good news” in every year.
Domestic Accounting Standards, International Accounting Standards, and the Predictability of Earnings
Authors: Ashbaugh Hollis , Pincus Morton
Published: March 2003

We investigate (1) whether the variation in accounting standards across national boundaries relative to International Accounting Standards (IAS) has an impact on the ability of financial analysts to forecast non‐U.S. firms’ earnings accurately, and (2) whether analyst forecast accuracy changes after firms adopt IAS. IAS are a set of financial reporting policies that typically require increased disclosure and restrict management’s choices of measurement methods relative to the accounting standards of our sample firms’ countries of domicile. We develop indexes of differences in countries’ accounting disclosure and measurement policies relative to IAS, and document that greater differences in accounting standards relative to IAS are significantly and positively associated with the absolute value of analyst earnings forecast errors. Further, we show that analyst forecast accuracy improves after firms adopt IAS. More specifically, after controlling for changes in the market value of equity, changes in analyst following, and changes in the number of news reports, we find that the convergence in firms’ accounting policies brought about by adopting IAS is positively associated with the reduction in analyst forecast errors.
Revenue Recognition in a Multiperiod Agency Setting
Authors: Dutta Sunil , Zhang Xiao‐jun
Published: March 2003

This paper examines how various revenue recognition rules affect the incentive properties of accounting information in a stewardship setting. Our analysis demonstrates that if revenues are recognized according to the realization principle, a single performance measure based on aggregated accounting information can be used to provide desirable production and effort incentives to the manager. In contrast, mark‐to‐market accounting does not provide efficient aggregation of raw information to solve the stewardship problem. Mark‐to‐market accounting, though sensible from a valuation perspective, fails to provide desirable incentives because it relies on the anticipated, rather than the actual, performance of the manager. We also consider a setting in which the manager can control the timing of the firm’s sales. It then becomes desirable to modify the realization principle and apply the lower‐of‐cost‐or‐market valuation rule. The desirable accounting thus exhibits a conservative bias.
Errors in Estimating Accruals: Implications for Empirical Research
Authors: Hribar Paul , Collins Daniel W.
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the impact of measuring accruals as the change in successive balance sheet accounts, as opposed to measuring accruals directly from the statement of cash flows. Our primary finding is that studies using a balance sheet approach to test for earnings management are potentially contaminated by measurement error in accruals estimates. In particular, if the partitioning variable used to indicate the presence of earnings management is correlated with the occurrence of mergers and acquisitions or discontinued operations, tests are biased and researchers are likely to erroneously conclude that earnings management exists when there is none. Additional results show that the errors in balance sheet accruals estimation can confound returns regressions where discretionary and non‐discretionary accruals are used as explanatory variables. Moreover, we demonstrate that tests of market mispricing of accruals will be understated due to erroneous classification of “extreme” accruals firms.
Does Meeting Earnings Expectations Matter? Evidence from Analyst Forecast Revisions and Share Prices
Authors: Kasznik Ron , McNichols Maureen F.
Published: March 2003

This paper investigates whether the market rewards firms meeting current period earnings expectations, and whether any such reward reflects the implications of meeting expectations in the current period for future earnings or reflects a distinct market premium. We document that abnormal annual returns are significantly greater for firms meeting expectations, controlling for the information in the current year’s earnings. We then test whether firms meeting expectations experience higher returns simply because their expected future earnings are also higher. We find firms meeting expectations have significantly higher earnings forecasts and realized earnings than firms that do not. We find that controlling for these higher future earnings, firms meeting expectations in one or two years do not receive a greater valuation than their fundamentals would suggest. We find, however, that the market assigns a higher value to firms that meet expectations consistently, controlling for an estimate of the firm’s fundamental value.
The Impact of the 1986 Tax Reform Act on Income Shifting from Corporate to Shareholder Tax Bases: Evidence from the Motor Carrier Industry
Authors: Enis Charles R. , Ke Bin
Published: March 2003

Using a sample of privately held C corporations and S corporations from the motor carrier industry during 1984–92, we assess the effect of the 1986 Tax Reform Act on the amount of corporate income shareholders of privately held C corporations shifted to their personal tax bases. We estimate that the C corporations shifted a mean of $130,587 taxable income each year to shareholders (representing 29% of their mean accounting earnings before income shifting) after the 1986 tax law change. The C corporations used deductible managerial compensation and rent expense, but not interest expense, to shift income to shareholders.
Forgiveness in Marriage: Implications for Psychological Aggression and Constructive Communication
Authors: Fincham Frank D. , Beach Steven R. H.
Published: March 2003

Two studies examined whether forgiveness in married couples predicted partner reports of psychological aggression and constructive communication. Study 1 found that forgiveness of hypothetical acts of psychological aggression predicted partner reports of psychological aggression. Study 2 examined actual transgressions and found two underlying dimensions of forgiveness (positive and negative). The negative dimension predicted partner reports of psychological aggression, and, for husbands, the positive dimension predicted partner reports of constructive communication. All findings were independent of both spouses’ marital satisfaction. The implications for understanding marital interaction and future research on forgiveness are discussed.
“I’ll never be in a relationship like that again”: Personal growth following romantic relationship breakups
Authors: Tashiro Ty , Frazier Patricia
Published: March 2003

This study investigated the prevalence and correlates of personal growth and distress following romantic relationship breakups. Causal attributions for why the relationship declined and ended, personality factors, gender, and initiator status were examined as correlates of growth and distress in 92 undergraduates who had experienced a recent romantic relationship breakup. In regard to the prevalence of growth, respondents reported, on average, five types of personal growth they thought might improve their future romantic relationships. Correlates of self–reported growth included causal attributions to environmental factors and the personality factor of Agreeableness. Women reported more growth than did men. Factors related to higher levels of distress included causal attributions to the ex–partner and to environmental factors surrounding the previous relationship. The importance of assessing growth following relationship breakups and of accounting for the environmental context of close relationships is discussed.
Coopting Change toward Industrial Democracy: Professionals as Agents of Structural Constraint
Authors: Darr Asaf , Stern Robert N.
Published: March 2003

This paper asks why the democratic election of leaders, which is so fundamental an institution in much of Western society, is held sacred in the political sector of social life but rejected in the economic one. We propose that democracy stops at the factory gates partly because of the practices and ideologies of practice of the professionals who construct and maintain the boundaries between the workplace and the larger political sphere. Specifically, we compare the role of lawyers, accountants, and academics in situations where workers attempt to implement or maintain a democratic governance structure in the workplace, within a socialist and a capitalist economic order. We conclude that professionals act as cooptation agents for democratic ideas in both the capitalist and the socialist context.
Valuing regional geoscientific data acquisition programmes: addressing issues of quantification,uncertainty and risk
Authors: Scott Margaretha , Dimitrakopoulos Roussos , Brown Richard P.C.
Published: March 2003

Geological surveys worldwide are involved with research in support of sustainable mineral resource development.The socio‐economic benefits to be derived from these activities, however, continue to raise organisational and government sector questions. Fundamental questions include whether or not the resources committed are appropriate and in economic balance with the total benefits to be derived. Another question concerns the degree to which such services should be funded by the community at large. These questions in turn raise important issues regarding the role and cost of geological surveys, the impact of their services, and how they should maximise community benefit from their activities and expertise. To assess the value of geoscientific information,standard valuation processes need to be modified. This paper reports on a methodology designed to quantify the ‘worth’ of programmes upgrading regional geoscientific infrastructure. An interdisciplinary approach is used to measure the impact of geoscientific information using quantitative resource assessment, computer‐based mineral potential modelling, statistical analysis and risk quantification to model decision‐processes and assess the impact of additional data. These modelling stages are used to address problems of complexity,uncertainty and credibility in the valuation of geoscientific data. A case study demonstrates the application of the methodology to generate a dollar value for current regional data upgrade programmes in the Geological Survey of Queensland. The results obtained are used for strategic planning of future data acquisition programmes aimed at supporting mineral resource management and stimulating effective exploration activity.
Optimal Designs for Estimating the Effective Dose in Developmental Toxicity Experiments
Authors: Krewski Daniel , Smythe Robert , Fung Karen Y.
Published: March 2003

Recent advances in risk assessment have led to the development of joint dose‐response models to describe prenatal death and fetal malformation rates in developmental toxicity experiments. These models can be used to estimate the effective dose corresponding to a 5% excess risk for both these toxicological endpoints, as well as for overall toxicity. In this article, we develop optimal experimental designs for the estimation of the effective dose for developmental toxicity using joint Weibull dose‐response models for prenatal death and fetal malformation. Based on an extended series of developmental studies, near‐optimal designs for prenatal death, malformation, and overall toxicity were found to involve three dose groups: an unexposed control group, a high dose equal to the maximum tolerated dose, and a low dose above or comparable to the effective dose. The effect on the optimal designs of changing the number of implants and the degree of intra‐litter correlation is also investigated. Although the optimal design has only three dose groups in most cases, practical considerations involving model lack of fit and estimation of the shape of the dose‐response curve suggest that, in practice, suboptimal designs with more than three doses will often be preferred.
PER Pressure: New Jersey's “Population Emissions Ratio” Environmental Equity Screening Model
Authors: Atlas Mark
Published: March 2003

In recent years, much attention has focused on how to incorporate environmental equity considerations into government permitting programs for environmentally regulated facilities. On February 4, 2002, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) became the first state environmental agency to propose a broad legally binding rule intended to guard against environmental inequity in its permitting decisions. The proposed rule centered on an innovative computerized environmental equity (EE) screening model that used “Population Emissions Ratios” to identify small geographic areas in which environmental equity concerns might exist and to simulate the effect on statewide environmental equity of increasing environmental risks in small geographic areas. The NJDEP's model examined an extensive array of ethnic groups, included a variety of environmental risks, evaluated most of those risks in terms of human health, and used an innovative simulation process designed to identify permitting decisions that would worsen statewide environmental inequity. The results of the NJDEP's efforts, however, pose substantial concerns. For example, some key provisions of the NJDEP's model were inadequately explained and some were illogical and would bias its results. The model might be susceptible to generating implausible results due to small, meaningless, and/or essentially random fluctuations in its data inputs. The model used relatively large geographic areas as the units of analysis and interpolated results between them, rather than using smaller geographic areas and avoiding interpolation errors. Finally, the environmental risks evaluated by the model were both arguably over‐ and underinclusive. Thus, the NJDEP's efforts, although noteworthy, raised more issues than they settled.
Personalization and the Promise of Contact Theory
Authors: Miller Norman
Published: March 2003

The article discusses theoretical issues regarding the generalization of positive intergroup contact. It contrasts the models of Brewer and Miller (1984), Hewstone and Brown (1986), and Gaertner and Dovidio (2000). It elaborates the conceptual meaning of key concepts: intergroup salience, typicality of an outgroup member, decategorization, differentiation, and personalization. In particular, the article argues for the conceptual independence of differentiation (individuation) among social category members and personalized interaction (self‐disclosure and self/other comparison) with category members. A hypothetical experiment is presented to illustrate the independent operationalization of the two constructs. Stronger benefits are expected for the latter. Whereas the benefits of differentiation primarily rest on cognitive effects, personalization also has motivational consequences: justifying one’s self‐disclosure and inducing increased trust.
Tax Expenditures in Michigan: A Comparison to Federal Findings
Authors: Jen Kyle I.
Published: March 2003

A substantial literature exists on federal tax expenditures, but almost no empirical research has been done on state tax expenditures. This article examines Michigan tax expenditures, with an emphasis on comparison to findings from the federal level. Three major topics are addressed: (1) allocation of resources by policy area, (2) distribution of tax expenditure benefits by income class, and (3) tax expenditure growth over time. Only the findings on resource allocation are consistent with findings from the federal level, suggesting that simple theories may be insufficient to systematically describe tax expenditures.
The Georgia Lottery and State Appropriations for Education: Substitution or Additional Funding?
Authors: Lauth Thomas P. , Robbins Mark D.
Published: March 2003

This article examines the use of lottery proceeds for funding public education in Georgia, with specific focus on the state’s effort to guard against fungibility of lottery proceeds. The Georgia lottery earmarks proceeds for education and Georgia is among the states requiring a high level of transparency at each stage of the budget and appropriations process. Based upon comparisons of spending before and after the lottery was put in place, we conclude that lottery spending has not been completely offset by substitution. Lottery funds appear to have stimulated additional spending in the target areas. Budget fungibility has been constrained by the transparency of the budget and appropriations process, gubernatorial commitment to supplement not supplant, the policy architecture of the lottery–for–education program, and a relatively strong state economy that renders substitution unnecessary.
Working Capital Fund Pricing Policies: Lessons from Defense Finance and Accounting Service Expenditure and Workload Data
Authors: Keating Edward G. , Gates Susan M.
Published: March 2003

This article analyzes how service‐providing government agencies should set the prices they charge to other governmental customers. Current Defense Working Capital Fund (DWCF) rules generally prescribe use of expected average cost transfer pricing. However, analysis of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), as an example, suggests DFAS has considerable fixed costs. These fixed costs are problematic under present DWCF pricing rules. If customer demand levels fall short of expectations, DFAS revenues fall commensurably, but costs almost certainly do not. It would be more consistent with DFAS's cost structure if DFAS could utilize nonlinear pricing. Such a pricing approach would give DFAS customers more appropriate incentives with respect to how much workload to give DFAS (versus trying to do it themselves or turning it over to contractors). We hypothesize that insights from DFAS may be applicable to other governmental working capital fund entities as well.
Managing Networks: Propositions on What Managers Do and Why They Do It
Authors: McGuire Michael
Published: March 2003

Measuring management in networks is difficult because the allocation of managerial resources in network structures is fluid—that is, the utilization of management behaviors varies across time and space within a given program or project. As a means of focusing the network management research agenda, propositions based in contingency logic are suggested to test ideas regarding when, why, and how network managers undertake these behaviors. The propositions are intended to identify the vast inventory of network management behaviors and, most importantly, determine how the manager strategically matches behaviors with the governing context. Suggestions are also offered to help us understand how and why managerial resources are re allocated over time and space. The proposed research agenda is offered as a guide to help us determine which choices are most likely to be effective.
Airport Security, High Reliability, and the Problem of Rationality
Authors: Frederickson H. George , LaPorte Todd R.
Published: March 2003

The events of September 11, 2001, have raised troubling questions regarding the reliability and security of American commercial air travel. This article applies the concepts and logic of high–reliability organizations to airport security operations. Contemporary decision theory is built on the logic of limited or buffered rationability and is based on the study of error–tolerant organizations. The concept of high–reliability organizations is based on the study of nearly error–free operations. For commercial air travel to be highly secure, there must be very high levels of technical competence and sustained performance; regular training; structure redundancy; collegial, decentralized authority patterns; processes that reward error discovery and correction; adequate and reliable funding; high mission valence; reliable and timely information; and protection from external interference in operations. These concepts are used to inform early–stage issues being faced by both local airports and the newly established Transportation Security Administration.
How to Analyze Survey Data Pertaining to the Time Bind, and How Not to Analyze Such Data
Authors: Goodman Leo A.
Published: March 2003

This note considers various ways of analyzing survey data pertaining to a central thesis of The Time Bind(Hochschild, 1997), and it comments on the particular analysis presented by Brown and Booth (2002). The following kinds of problems will be discussed here: (1) problems pertaining to the measurement of concepts, (2) problems pertaining to the selection of the data to be analyzed, and (3) problems pertaining to the selection of the statistical models to be used in the analysis. Appropriate methods for dealing with each of these three kinds of problems are introduced and described in the present note. When these appropriate methods are compared with the particular methods applied by Brown and Booth (2002), we find fault with the latter methods. Our attention in this note is focused on the analysis of data pertaining to a central thesis of The Time Bind, but the general approach presented here can also be applied more generally to study other theses of interest in the social sciences.
Explaining the Surge in Citizenship Applications in the 1990s: Lawful Permanent Residents in Texas
Authors: Freeman Gary P. , Plascencia Luis F. B. , Baker Susan González , Orozco Manuel
Published: March 2003

Objective. We explore the increase in citizenship applications in the mid–1990s in order to test popular explanations for them, such as the consequences of IRCA legalization, fear of loss of public benefits, and effects of citizenship outreach programs. Methods. We rely on a nonrandom sample of 526 lawful permanent residents in four Texas cities. About half had applied for citizenship and all were taking affirmative steps via participation in citizenship or English–language classes. Results. Having received amnesty under IRCA predicts rapid application for citizenship upon eligibility but is not associated with greater mastery of the naturalization process or better English skills. Fear of losing eligibility for public benefits and campaigns promoting naturalization motivated about one–quarter of citizenship applicants. Much larger proportions cite their desire to participate fully in American life, to sponsor the immigration of relatives, and to ensure opportunities for their children. The main obstacle they identify is limited English proficiency. Conclusions. Although factors peculiar to the political environment of the 1990s affected many permanent residents, most cited traditional incentives having to do with investment in opportunities for themselves and their families. Our data suggest that the most effective way to facilitate naturalization is to devote more resources to English–language training.
Rational Momentum Effects
Authors: Johnson Timothy C.
Published: March 2003

Momentum effects in stock returns need not imply investor irrationality, heterogeneous information, or market frictions. A simple, single‐firm model with a standard pricing kernel can produce such effects when expected dividend growth rates vary over time. An enhanced model, under which persistent growth rate shocks occur episodically, can match many of the features documented by the empirical research. The same basic mechanism could potentially account for underreaction anomalies in general.