bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
‘Bongo Fury’: tourism, music and cultural economy at Byron Bay, Australia
Authors: Gibson Chris , Connell John
Published: May 2003

While tourism has been somewhat neglected in literature on the ‘cultural economy’, it remains an important influence on cultural production, particularly within a global matrix of youth travel. A distinct cultural economy has emerged at Byron Bay in Far North Coast, New South Wales, Australia, which builds on connections between tourism and the production and marketing of music. Counter‐urban migration and tourism have contributed to transformations of regional identity, as the Far North Coast is increasingly perceived as an ‘alternative’ or ‘lifestyle’ region, attracting more overseas visitors than any other non‐metropolitan area and transforming Byron Bay, a small ex‐whaling town, into a unique site of backpacker subcultures. A crucial element of tourist consumption is popular music, produced specifically for youth markets, informed and influenced by the attitudes and style of backpacker cultures. These themes come together in the marketing and consumption of ‘world music’ and its artefacts to ‘neotribal’ subcultures. This paper discusses the economic impacts and cultural discourse of these trends, emphasising the role of a politics of representation within economic and social geography.
The functions of Australian towns, revisited
Authors: Freestone Robert , Murphy Peter , Jenner Alan
Published: May 2003

This paper reports an inter‐temporal investigation of urban employment and spatial trends in Australian urbanisation over nearly a half century using city classification methodology. Published in this journal in 1965, Robert Smith's classic paper, ‘The Functions of Australian Towns’, provides the benchmark analysis. Smith used 1954 employment census data to group the then national total of 422 urban places into functional categories which provided a succinct description of the pattern of early postwar urbanisation. The present study revisits (without exactly replicating) Smith's study, employing 1996 data for 741 urban centres. A two‐stage procedure using principal components and cluster analyses identifies 13 functional town groupings which capture both enduring and new patterns of employment distribution across the Australian urban system.
An analysis of dual‐track urbanisation in the Pearl River Delta since 1980
Authors: Wong Kwan‐yiu , Shen Jianfa , Feng Zhiqiang , Gu Chaolin
Published: May 2003

This paper argues that the Chinese pattern of urbanisation since 1978 is distinguished by dual‐track urbanisation – state‐sponsored urbanisation and spontaneous urbanisation, and that both tracks contribute significantly to the transformation of the spatial pattern of urbanisation. The Pearl River Delta region is chosen for a detailed analysis of the dual‐track urbanisation in post‐reform China. It is found that special economic zone (SEZ) cities are leading both state‐sponsored and spontaneous urbanisation in the region, which is different from either large city or small town‐based urbanisation advocated in the literature. Multivariate statistical analysis shows that factors affecting the two tracks of urbanisation are different and have changed over time. The level of economic development has an important impact on the level of the state‐sponsored urbanisation, but is not significant to spontaneous urbanisation. Areas with fewer state owned enterprises (SOEs) have a higher level of spontaneous urbanisation. The non‐state sector also became more important in the state‐sponsored urbanisation of the 1990s.
The attraction force of out‐of‐town shopping malls: a case study on run‐fun shopping in the Netherlands
Authors: Gorter Cees , Nijkamp Peter , Klamer Pim
Published: May 2003

Recent years have witnessed a shift from central urban locations of shopping facilities to extra‐urban locations. This trend, which has become a prominent one in North America, is also increasingly observed in several European countries (e.g. France and Germany). The Netherlands has always had a discouraging policy for out‐of‐town shopping malls. Recently, however, a new experiment has been implemented, namely in the Greater Rotterdam area. This paper deals with the potential competition of such an out‐of‐town shopping mall in the retail sector with respect to the inner‐city of Rotterdam. Based on a survey questionnaire, this paper aims to identify the motives of visitors and buyers for such large‐scale shopping facilities. Analytical research into the nature (with a main distinction according to run and fun shopping) and the spatial market area of a particular shopping centre located in Greater Rotterdam (Alexandrium) shows that the anticipated policy goals are met, in the sense that the shopping mall concerned turns into a regional market for run shopping purposes rather than into a competing fun shopping centre.
The economics of rural areas in the proximity of urban networks: evidence from Flanders
Authors: Cabus Peter , Vanhaverbeke Wim
Published: May 2003

Flanders is a densely populated, strongly urbanised region in Northwest Europe, but with still recognisable peri‐urban rural territories. These territories have a distinct economic profile that is far from being marginal, but which has a diminishing role for agriculturally related economic activities. From a regionally‐based economic approach, the authors argue that these rural areas act as flanking areas for the nearby urban areas, with mutual benefits. Therefore a model representing local economic development in these flanking rural territories can only be relevant if it takes into account this urban‐rural partnership, in respect to the territorial identity and cultural features of both these types of areas.

 The rural‐urban partnership should also be an important basis for a rural renewal policy. This policy will undoubtedly contain traditional rural elements stemming from traditional agricultural activities. However, it must also consider economic activities, in particular those of manufacturing and service industries in the countryside. It should also foster those characteristics of the rural environment which can play a decisive role in creating the new opportunities offered by the new localisation factors which are intrinsic to the rise of the new knowledge‐based economy.
Conceptualising the ‘competitive’ strategies of rural manufacturing SMEs
Authors: Jarvis David , Dunham Philip
Published: May 2003

Recent research attributes rural industrialisation to the enhanced competitive performance of rural small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Central to much of this work has been a desire to acknowledge empirical diversity in business behaviour and performance between different rural spaces. Drawing on the tenets of critical realism the authors develop a conceptual framework which permits the diversity of behaviour exhibited by rural SMEs to be more fully recognised and understood. This highlights the role of generic ‘structural’ influences on the performance of rural enterprises, yet emphasises the need to investigate the precise ‘local’ conditions through which these mechanisms are mediated and experienced. In this way, the form of competitive behaviour exhibited by rural SMEs is posited as an outcome of the interplay of structural influences (or mechanisms) and the unique circumstances (or contingent conditions) prevailing at the level of the individual enterprise.
Price discrimination between EU regions
Authors: Hassink Wolter H.J. , Schettkat Ronald
Published: May 2003

Prices of identical products differ tremendously among EU countries. Prices of IKEA products range by more than 40% on average, which is far more than the 12% price difference the EU Commission regards as compatible with competitive markets. These price differences can only partly be attributed to differences in non‐tradable cost components between countries (such as wage costs or value‐added taxes). The economic explanation for this phenomenon is that consumers are hardly aware of differences in prices across countries and that transportation costs are too high to make arbitrage profitable. Market intransparency for the consumer allows firms to discriminate between regional markets. However, knowledge of market‐specific demand conditions is very limited leaving firms to find the profit maximising price in a trial‐and‐error process.
Income differences between central cities and suburbs in Dutch urban regions
Authors: Dieleman Frans M. , Wallet Christiaan
Published: May 2003

The Dutch Government has consistently pursued a policy of keeping income differences in the Dutch population moderate over the last 50 years. This policy also has a geographical component. Funds from the national Municipalities Fund are allotted to local government more or less on the basis of need. Nonetheless substantial differences in average income have emerged between central cities and suburbs during 1946–94. Within the group of 24 metropolitan regions there are three groups of urban regions with a distinctive pattern of central city–suburbs income differences. These patterns are clearly related to the housing strategies pursued by the various city governments over the past decades.
Modernity, Modernization and the Deinstitutionalization of Incremental Budgeting in Local Government
Authors: Seal Willie
Published: May 2003

Governmental reform programs in the UK have a long history of failed attempts to end incrementalism in local government budgeting. Drawing on structuration theory, incrementalism is presented as institutionalized organizational behaviour. From this perspective, the recent New Labour reform agenda may be interpreted via a theory of de‐institutionalization. The approach is illustrated through an analysis of recent developments in a large UK metropolitan authority where new political structures, inspection regimes and regulatory pressures are beginning to challenge incrementalism. A new belief in the measurability of public sector performance seems to be legitimized by a post‐bureaucratic modernity rather than any significant technical innovations.
On Being a Financial Manager in a Church Organisation: Understanding the Experience
Authors: Lightbody Margaret
Published: May 2003

Accountants and financial managers, as individuals and as occupational groups, are largely invisible in the growing body of financial management literature. In particular, limited privilege has been given to the experiences of financial managers in organisations dominated by social or value‐based goals, rather than financial motives. To begin to address this lacunae, this paper presents a micro study of financial managers ‘in motion’(Hopwood, 1987) in the state division of a large Australian church. By explicating the financial managers’ own perspectives of their experiences, the study provides a unique perspective of understanding of what it is to ‘be’ a financial manager in a non‐profit entity.
Not‐for‐Profit Annual Reports: What do Museum Managers Communicate?
Authors: Christensen Anne L. , Mohr Rosanne M.
Published: May 2003

This study addresses: (1) What disclosures are provided in annual reports of not‐for‐profit entities?(2) What characteristics of the reporting entities explain variations in the quantity of financial disclosure?(3) How do not‐for‐profit disclosures compare with those in for‐profit corporate reports? The annual reports of 170 not‐for‐profit museums were examined. The reports were highly variable. Some contained no financial data and only 22 percent included complete financial statements with footnotes. Regression analysis indicated that the amount of museum financial data was positively associated with museum size, a larger number of pages of donor disclosures, and museum type (art and history, but not science, natural history, or general).
Financial Accounting Reform in Flemish Universities: An Empirical Study of the Implementation
Authors: Christiaens Johan , Wielemaker Els De
Published: May 2003

This paper presents an overview of the current accounting reform towards accrual accounting in Flemish universities. The focus is on the concept of the reformed accounting legislation and on the empirical outcomes of implementation based on an examination of annual accounts. An important issue is the unsuccessful mixing up of the traditional budgetary accounting system with the new financial accounting system. The empirical examination reveals a lot of accounting problems in the area of the reformed regulations as well as in the accounting practices and that the comparability of the annual reporting is not guaranteed even after years of experience.
The Relative Importance of Domestic and Global Factors in Explaining Australian Stock Returns
Authors: Clarkson Peter , Ragunathan Vanitha , Nowland John
Published: May 2003

In this study, we explore the relative importance of the several documented factors in explaining the behaviour of stock returns for a sample of 157 Australian companies over the period 1993–9. In line with prior evidence, we contend that the influence of global (market, industry and currency) factors is related to the extent of a firm's international activity. We find that Australian firms are in large part impacted by domestic factors with the level of sensitivity declining as the level of international activity increases. In contrast to prior literature, we also show that Australian firm returns are related to regional market, global industry and currency factors and the firm's sensitivity to these factors is an increasing function of its level of international activities.
Foreign Firms Issuing Equity on US Exchanges: An Empirical Investigation of IPOs and SEOs
Authors: Kadiyala Padma , Subrahmanyam Avanidhar
Published: May 2003

We analyse a sample of foreign firms issuing equity in the USA to determine the factors that affect IPO and SEO pricing. The average SEO discount, defined as the percentage difference between the price in the local market on the offering date and the SEO offer price, is 2.07%, and is significantly lower for stocks that are ultimately listed on the NYSE/AMEX than for stocks that are listed on the Nasdaq. Foreign equity issues are underpriced; the traditional underpricing discount, which is defined as the percentage difference between the closing price on the first day of trading and the offer price, is 18.75% on average. Equity issuers from industry groups with the largest six–month pre–IPO return in the US market experience a higher level of underpricing. For the subsample of emerging market issues, we document that, in the after–market, the ADR price remains persistently above the dollar denominated price in the domestic market for up to 90 days following the date of the issue.
Managerial Opportunism and Capital Structure Adjustments: Equity–for–debt Swap and Convertible Debt
Authors: Isagawa Nobuyuki
Published: May 2003

This paper shows how capital structure adjustments through an equity–for–debt swap and convertible debt can resolve the inefficiency caused by managerial opportunism. We consider a situation in which a corporate manager's investment decision is affected by the firm's debt level. Although both an equity–for–debt swap and convertible debt can induce the self–interested manager to undertake only value–increasing projects through capital structure adjustments, there exists a significant difference between these two financial instruments. An equity–for–debt swap, which requires the agreement of both shareholders and debt holders, can change a firm's debt level only prior to the manager's investment decision. On the other hand, convertible debt, which gives debt holders a unilateral right to convert, can change a firm's debt level even after the manager's investment decision.
Linked Lives, Faith, and Behavior: Intergenerational Religious Influence on Adolescent Delinquency
Authors: Regnerus Mark D.
Published: May 2003

Research on religion and delinquency has generally concluded that only minor forms of delinquency are affected by religious commitments. However, parents have not often been the focus of religion and delinquency research. This study explores the influence of parental religious identity and behavior on the serious delinquency of adolescent children. This analysis tested an intergenerational model of religious influence on delinquent behavior. Results suggest parental religious devotion protects girls considerably better than boys. In fact, it may amplify delinquency among boys, at least when controlling for other important influences such as autonomy and family satisfaction. Parents' conservative Protestant affiliation displays consistent negative direct effects on delinquency, but little indirect influence. This study reinforces the importance of considering linked lives in the development of youth, as well as the need to assess both direct and indirect religious influences.
Race Differences in Congregational Social Service Activity
Authors: Tsitsos William
Published: May 2003

This article uses data from the 1998 National Congregations Study, a survey of a representative sample of 1,236 religious congregations in the United States, to examine the social service activity of African‐American congregations. The first goal is to explore the question of whether African‐American religious congregations participate more (or less) than other congregations in social service provision in general. Then, the focus shifts to specific types of social service programs in order to determine if African‐American congregations tend to specialize in the provision of certain types of services. The rates at which congregations support nine different types of social service programs are reported, and participation in programs is then subjected to logistic regression analysis. Significant race effects for African‐American congregations exist for four types of programs: clothing, substance abuse, tutoring/mentoring, and nonreligious education. These findings, particularly the effect on education and mentoring programs, counter the assertion by Lincoln and Mamiya (1990) that African‐American congregations are not doing enough in areas that are critical to African‐American youth.
Multiracial Congregations: An Analysis of Their Development and a Typology
Authors: Emerson Michael O. , Kim Karen Chai
Published: May 2003

Although the overwhelming majority of religious congregations consist of members who share the same racial background, there are a significant number of multiracial congregations in the United States. We begin with an analysis of why most congregations remain uniracial despite racial integration in other institutions. Then, based on our two‐year national study, we examine the key variables underlying the development of multiracial congregations. Specifically, we consider the primary impetus for change and the source of racial diversification. Based on the analysis of how some congregations have become multiracial, we present a typology of multiracial congregations. We find seven main types. It is our hope that the typology and analysis will illuminate the effects of racial diversity on the life cycle of congregations and serve as a useful framework to guide future studies of multiracial congregations. Ultimately, we intend this article to facilitate the development of formal theory and research on the genesis and sustainability of multiracial congregations. To that end, we conclude the article by offering hypotheses suggested by the typology and its underlying causes.
The Political Activities of Religious Congregations in the United States
Authors: Beyerlein Kraig , Chaves Mark
Published: May 2003

In recent decades, much research has focused on how religious congregations affect individuals' political participation. However, only scant attention has been paid to examining the various ways in which religious congregations engage in political activism as formal organizational entities. Using data from the 1998 National Congregations Study (NCS), a survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,236 religious congregations, we begin to fill this gap in our knowledge about religion and politics. We report the rates at which congregations engage in a broad range of political activity, and we examine variations in this activity among major religious traditions. We emphasize two basic findings. First, although in absolute terms congregations' levels of political activism seem rather low, relative to other nonpolitical organizations they engage in politics in substantial numbers. Second, there are qualitative rather than quantitative differences in political activity across religious traditions. Religious traditions specialize in different modes of political participation, a fact that is obscured when attention is focused solely on the political activities of conservative religious groups.
Religious Participation and Network Closure Among American Adolescents
Authors: Smith Christian
Published: May 2003

A large body of empirical studies shows that religion often serves as a factor promoting positive, healthy outcomes in the lives of American adolescents. This research note reports findings of one test of a “network closure” explanation of these religious effects. It uses the national Survey of Parents and Youth (1998–1999) data to examine the relationship between religious participation and five measures of network closure. The findings support the hypothesis that participation in American religious congregations increases network closure between the parents of youth and their children's friends, their children's friends' parents, and their children's teachers.
Secularization and Aging in Britain: Does Family Formation Cause Greater Religiosity?
Authors: Tilley James R.
Published: May 2003

Using data from the British Election Studies and the British Household Panel Study, this research note examines how family formation factors, such as marriage and childrearing, affect church attendance in Britain. Debates in the United States have centered on how, first, apparent aging effects could be due to family formation or be evidence for cohort differences, and, second, how family formation effects are sex specific. This research note shows that sex‐specific effects are also present in Britain, but more importantly that family formation alone cannot begin to account for differences between age groups in church attendance. Evidence presented here suggests that generational differences are actually responsible for both age disparities and the large declines over time in church attendance in Britain.
Lebanese Muslim Views of September 11
Authors: Haddad Simon , Khashan Hilal
Published: May 2003

This research note aimed at empirically assessing Lebanese Muslim views of the September 11 attacks. We proposed that young age and political Islam served as significant determinants of support for the attacks. Although we proposed that Sunni Muslim respondents would manifest more support for the attacks than Shi'is, we advanced that socioeconomic conditions should not affect the views of the respondents. The data came from a stratified random sample, consisting of 337 male and female Sunni and Shi'i respondents, conducted in the Greater Beirut area during the months of October and November 2001. The findings sustained the hypotheses that age and political Islam determined approval of the attacks, as well as the hypothesis that socioeconomic conditions did not predict the respondents' views. The results did not sustain the hypothesis that Sunni respondents exceeded Shi'is in their display of support for the attacks.
The Religious, the Paranormal, and Church Attendance: A Response to Orenstein
Authors: Mckinnon Andrew M.
Published: May 2003

Orenstein's (2002) JSSR article “Religion and Paranormal Belief” uses Reginald Bibby's 1995 Project Canada data to argue that religious and paranormal belief are positively correlated, but that church attendance and paranormal belief are negatively correlated. In this response, I use the same data to show that while his basic model is true, we also need to consider the interaction between church attendance and religious belief. Religious attendance conditions the effect of religious beliefs on paranormal beliefs in an important fashion. I find that religious and paranormal belief are positively correlated, but only for those who do not attend church regularly.
“Shaking Out the Mat”: Schism and Organizational Transformation at a Mexican Ark of the Virgin
Authors: Leatham Miguel C.
Published: May 2003

The apocalyptic Marian colony of Nueva Jerusalén, Mexico suffered a violent schism in 1982, marking a turning point in the history of the sect. The rift resulted in a major organizational transformation and helped to establish the centralized system of authority now observable in the colony. This article examines the ideological and structural factors that promoted the schism. A succession crisis, caused by the death of a Marian apparition seer, precipitated schismatic activity as dissidents struggled to block the charismatic leader's attempts to revise the sect's authority structure and identity. At the same time, the prophet escalated tensions by reframing the conflict as a commitment test. Wallis's theory of structural opportunity for schism is used to show how the conflict grew out of long‐standing interest groups and ambiguous authority arrangements in the colony.
The Roots of Public Attitudes Toward State Accommodation of European Muslims' Religious Practices Before and After September 11
Authors: Fetzer Joel S. , Soper J. Christopher
Published: May 2003

More than nine million Muslims currently live in Western Europe, which makes them the largest religious minority in the region. There has been significant political controversy in various European states over how best to recognize Muslims' religious rights. These questions have become even more significant and contentious in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks by Islamic extremists. Using privately commissioned polls on attitudes toward Muslim religious rights taken before and after September 11 in Britain, France, and Germany, this article determines the extent of popular opposition to state accommodation of Muslim practices and tests several leading theories of attitudes toward Muslims. We conclude that the most important determinants of attitudes toward Muslims are education and religious practice.
A Typology of LDS Sociopolitical Worldviews
Authors: Fox Jeffrey C.
Published: May 2003

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐Day Saints (Mormons, Latter‐Day Saints, or LDS) are sometimes thought of as a monolithic block of economic and social conservatives. This article addresses whether this is caused by strong religious effects, or whether it is an artifact of unrepresentative sampling. Q methodology is used to identify six “types” of political worldviews among a multinational and multiracial sample of active Latter‐Day Saints. The six types reveal some interesting ideological variations among Mormons, particularly on economic issues, and even some unique LDS issues. A second‐order factor analysis indicates a high level of commonality across types on social issues, but important differences on orientation toward government. I conclude that the failure to include racial and cultural variation in Mormon samples has led us to overestimate the otherwise significant influence of LDS doctrine on members' political views.
Personal Bias in Automobile Claims Settlement
Authors: Doerpinghaus Helen , Schmit Joan , Yeh Jason Jia‐Hsing
Published: May 2003

Despite the importance of claims handling practices to consumers and insurers, relatively little research has been done in this area. Our purpose here is to consider one aspect of automobile bodily injury liability claims management: the assignment of fault across parties as judged by the insured defendant's claims adjuster. Because legal fault assessment directly affects whether a defendant is held liable, and if so, for how much, this aspect of claims management is significant. We use accident data from the 1997 Insurance Research Council Closed Claim Survey to test for relationships between fault assessment and gender, age, and state comparative negligence rules. Controlling for actual fault, we find a greater assessment of fault against female, young, and elderly drivers. The results of the study are of interest to insurers seeking to provide better customer service, to consumer advocacy groups interested in claims settlement practices, and to insurance regulators.
Fixed‐Reimbursement Insurance: Basic Properties and Comparative Statics
Authors: Eeckhoudt Louis , Mahul Olivier , Moran John
Published: May 2003

In a number of settings, insurance contracts specify a fixed reimbursement in the event of a loss which is not conditioned on the size of the realized loss. In this article, we explore the theoretical properties of this form of insurance and draw comparisons with other types of insurance policies, such as those based on coinsurance and deductibles. We also examine links between our results and those from the literature on precautionary saving.
The Impact of Insurance Prices on Decision Making Biases: An Experimental Analysis
Authors: Laury Susan K. , McInnes Melayne Morgan
Published: May 2003

This article tests whether the use of endogenous risk categorization by insurers enables consumers to make better‐informed decisions even if they do not choose to purchase insurance. We do so by adding a simple insurance market to an experimental test of optimal (Bayesian) updating. In some sessions, no insurance is offered. In others, actuarially fair insurance prices are posted, and a subset of subjects is allowed to purchase this insurance. We find significant differences in the decision rules used depending on whether one observes insurance prices. Although the majority of choices correspond to Bayesian updating, the incidence of optimal decisions is higher in sessions with an insurance option. Most subjects given the option to purchase actuarially fair insurance choose to do so. However, fewer subjects purchase insurance when the probability of a loss is higher.
Determinants of International Insurers’ Participation in Foreign Non‐Life Markets
Authors: Ma Yu‐Luen , Pope Nat
Published: May 2003

Mirroring the trend in the broader marketplace, the global insurance industry is steadily moving toward increased liberalization and deregulation. This study seeks to develop the first empirical model that examines the importance of foreign market characteristics as they relate to the participation of international insurers in the non‐life business of those countries. The analysis reveals that market structure is an important factor in determining whether international insurers participate in a given foreign market. In addition, for markets that are not competitive, removing trade barriers would significantly improve the desirability of those countries as host markets. The results also suggest that countries with higher gross domestic product tend to attract more involvement from international insurers. While this research focuses on the markets of industrialized countries, the findings will provide significant implications for those emerging markets that have not yet collected relevant data on a number of the variables included in this study.
Japanese Corporate Pension Plans and the Impact on Stock Prices
Authors: Yoshida Kazuo , Horiba Yutaka
Published: May 2003

This study focuses on the stock market impact of Japanese corporate decisions to adopt pension plans. Implementing corporate pension plans in Japan is complicated because they are heavily regulated by the government and the traditional lump‐sum‐only severance benefit plans already exist, requiring interfacing newly adopted plans with existing ones. Using the GARCH estimation method, the market model applied in this article for the relatively long period 1975–1995 yields evidence that suggests that the stock market responds to some of the more specific characteristics of adopted plans. Alternative specifications of the pension “event” also suggest that relatively little of the market impact comes from public announcements about pension adoption occasioned by the release of a firm's financial statement.
The Determinants of Intra‐Industry Trade in Insurance Services
Authors: Li Donghui , Moshirian Fariborz , Sim Ah‐Boon
Published: May 2003

In light of the growing significance of trade in financial services, and the emphasis placed on trade in financial services during the Uruguay round of trade negotiations, this article is the first study of the determinants of intra‐industry trade (IIT) in insurance services. The article analyzes and measures the magnitude of IIT in insurance services for the United States. The empirical results of the determinants of IIT indicate that foreign direct investment in insurance services (FDI) is a significant contributor to the volume of trade in insurance services. These empirical findings confirm the new theoretical trade models that, unlike the traditional trade theory that considered trade and foreign direct investment in insurance services as substitutes, trade and FDI complement each other and hence multinational insurance companies are contributing to an increase in the volume of trade in insurance services. Furthermore, this study shows that trade intensity between the United States and its trading partners leads to product differentiation in insurance services and hence an increase in consumer welfare.
Corporate Risks and Property Insurance: Evidence From the People's Republic of China
Authors: Zou Hong , Adams Mike B. , Buckle Mike J.
Published: May 2003

Using panel data (1997–1999) for 235 publicly listed companies in the People's Republic of China, this study empirically tests the linkage between corporate risks and the decision to purchase property insurance and its financial extent. To achieve these objectives, we first estimate a probit insurance participation decision model and then a fixed‐effects insurance volume decision model with Heckman's sample selection correction. Our results indicate that the managerial decision to purchase property insurance is positively related to company size and insolvency risks. By contrast, the amount of property insurance purchased is positively related to systematic risks but negatively related to insolvency and unsystematic risks and company size. We find that the amount of property insurance used by Chinese companies can also be affected by other factors (e.g., the cash flow constraints). In addition, the decision to purchase property insurance and the financial extent to which it is used varies among Chinese companies according to their geographical location. However, state ownership does not appear to be an important determinant of the purchase of property insurance by Chinese publicly listed companies.
An Analysis of Risk, Insurance, and Actuarial Research: Citations From 1996 to 2000
Authors: Lee Colquitt L.
Published: May 2003

This article evaluates the relative significance of research published in 16 risk, insurance, and actuarial journals by examining the frequency of citations in these risk, insurance, and actuarial journals and 16 of the leading finance journals during the years 1996 through 2000. First, the article provides the frequency with which each sample risk, insurance, and actuarial journal cites itself and the other sample journals so as to communicate the degree to which each journal's published research has had an influence on the other sample journals. Then the article divides the 16 journals into two groups: (1) the risk and insurance journal group, and (2) the actuarial journal group, and ranks them within their group based on their total number of citations, including and excluding self‐citations. A ranking within each group is based on the journals’ influence on a per article published basis. Finally, this study observes and reports on the most frequently cited articles from the sample risk, insurance, and actuarial journals.
Survivor Bonds: A Comment on Blake and Burrows
Authors: Dowd Kevin
Published: May 2003

This article offers a critical assessment of the “survivor bonds” (SBs) proposal recently put forward by Blake and Burrows, which calls for the government to issue bonds whose coupon payments are contingent on the proportions of retirees surviving to particular ages. It suggests that the proposal has considerable merit and discusses the circumstances in which SBs would be useful risk management tools for insurance companies. It also discusses alternatives such as reinsurance, hedging with life contracts, dynamic hedging, and other forms of survivor derivative. Finally, it evaluates and rejects the argument that SBs should be issued by the state.
Help One Another, Use One Another: Toward an Anthropology of Family Business
Authors: Stewart Alex
Published: May 2003

Anthropological kinship theory is explored for potential contributions to a theory of family business. This article considers the costs and benefits of a role for kinship in business. Both derive from the discrepancy between the normative orders of kinship and markets; respectively, long–term generalized reciprocity and short–term balanced reciprocity. Because the former reflects the morality of society as a whole, kinship integrates social fields more readily than more specialized orders like markets.
The Family: The Missing Variable in Organizational Research
Authors: Dyer W. Gibb
Published: May 2003

Few studies in the mainstream management literature have included the family as a variable. The focus of this article is to describe (1) why there is a dearth of research using family as a variable; (2) how failing to use the family as a variable in organizational research can lead to incomplete or misleading findings; (3) the issues and concerns related to using the family as a variable in organizational research; and (4) options in research design for using the family as a variable. Given that the vast majority of organizations can be classified as “family firms,” including the family as a variable in research designs will provide researchers with theories that are more robust and that can be generalized to a larger population of organizations.
Managing Resources: Linking Unique Resources, Management, and Wealth Creation in Family Firms
Authors: Sirmon David G. , Hitt Michael A.
Published: May 2003

The appropriate resources are necessary but insufficient to achieve a competitive advantage. Resources must also be managed effectively. Herein, we develop a resource management process model composed of three components that can lead to a competitive advantage. These components include the resource inventory (evaluating, adding, and shedding), resource bundling, and resource leveraging. We examine resource management in family firms and thus explore the unique characteristics of five resources and attributes of family firms that provide potential advantages over nonfamily firms. The resources are human capital, social capital, patient capital, survivability capital, along with the governance structure attribute.
Agency Problems in Large Family Business Groups
Authors: Morck Randall , Yeung Bernard
Published: May 2003

Greater managerial ownership in family firms need not mitigate agency problems, especially when each family controls a group of publicly traded and private firms, as is the case in most countries. Such structures give rise to their own set of agency problems, as managers act for the controlling family, but not for shareholders in general. For example, to avoid what we call “creative self–destruction,” a family might quash innovation in one firm to protect its obsolete investment in another. At present, we do not know whether these agency problems are more or less serious impediments to general prosperity than those afflicting widely held firms.
Nothing Thicker than Blood? Commentary on “Help One Another, Use One Another: Toward an Anthropology of Family Business”
Authors: Peredo Ana Maria
Published: May 2003

In this commentary, the received definitions of kin–based business are expanded in a way that allows application of the concept to a wider variety of cultures. Three types of kin–based enterprise are discussed: blood and marriage, spiritual, and community–based enterprises.
Impulse propagation over tactile and kinaesthetic sensory axons to central target neurones of the cuneate nucleus in cat
Authors: Coleman G. T. , Mahns D. A. , Zhang H. Q. , Rowe M. J.
Published: May 2003

Paired, simultaneous recordings were made in anaesthetized cats from the peripheral and central axons of individual tactile and kinaesthetic sensory fibres. The aim was to determine whether failure of spike propagation occurred at any of the three major axonal branch points in the path to their cuneate target neurones, and whether propagation failure may contribute, along with synaptic transmission failures, to limitations in transmission security observed for the cuneate synaptic relay. No evidence for propagation failure was found at the two major axonal branch points prior to the cuneate nucleus, namely, the T‐junction at the dorsal root ganglion, and the major branch point near the cord entry point, even for the highest impulse rates (∼400 impulses s−1) at which these fibres could be driven. However, at the highest impulse rates there was evidence at the central, intra‐cuneate recording site of switching between two states in the terminal axonal spike configuration. This appears to reflect a sporadic propagation failure into one of the terminal branches of the sensory axon. In conclusion, it appears that central impulse propagation over group II sensory axons occurs with complete security through branch points within the dorsal root ganglion and at the spinal cord entry zone. However, at high rates of afferent drive, terminal axonal propagation failure may contribute to the observed decline in transmission security within the cuneate synaptic relay.
Effects of short‐term training on plasma acid‐base balance during incremental exercise in man
Authors: Putman Charles T. , Jones Norman L. , Heigenhauser George J. F.
Published: May 2003

The present study examined the effect of short‐term submaximal training on plasma acid‐base balance during exercise. The influence of water and ion exchange between plasma, active muscles and erythrocytes in the response to training were also studied. The contributions of independent physicochemical variables (i.e. strong ion difference ([SID]), total concentration of weak acids ([Atot]) and PO2) to changes in arterial (a) and femoral venous (v) plasma [H+] were examined in six subjects (age 24 ± 1.5 years; maximum oxygen consumption rate (V̇O2,max), 3.67 ± 0.24 l min−1) during steady‐state cycling for 15 min at each of 30, 65 and 75 % of V̇O2,max before (pre) and after (post) training for 7 days on a cycle ergometer (2 h daily at 60 % V̇O2,max). The rise in [H+]a during exercise was attenuated post‐training by 3 and 5 nequiv l−1 (P < 0.05) at 65 and 75 % V̇O2,max, respectively, due first to less decrease in [SID]a, secondary to lower [Cl−]a and [Lac−]a; and second, to a reduction in [Atot]a, due to greater plasma volume and less plasma water flux (Jv) into leg muscle (P < 0.05). The rise in [H+]v was also less in post‐training by 4.5 and 6 nequiv l−1 (P < 0.05) at 65 and 75 % V̇O2,max, respectively, and attributed solely to lower [Atot]v (P < 0.05). Attenuation of exercise induced decreases in plasma [SID]a and [SID]v from rest to 75 % V̇O2,max was accompanied by reductions in erythrocyte Lac− and Cl− uptake (P < 0.05), and smaller increases in erythrocyte K+ release (P < 0.05). We conclude that the training‐induced attenuation of the rise in plasma [H+]a and [H+]v during incremental exercise resulted from adaptive changes within muscles (less Lac− production and less water uptake) and erythrocytes (less uptake of Lac−, Cl− and K+), leading to greater [SID] and lower [Atot] in both arterial and femoral venous plasma.
Glycosylation Affects Rat Kv1.1 Potassium Channel Gating by a Combined Surface Potential and Cooperative Subunit Interaction Mechanism
Authors: Watanabe Itaru , Wang Hong‐Gang , Sutachan Jhon J. , Zhu Jing , Recio‐Pinto Esperanza , Thornhill William B.
Published: May 2003

The effect of glycosylation on Kv1.1 potassium channel function was investigated in mammalian cells stably transfected with Kv1.1 or Kv1.1N207Q. Macroscopic current analysis showed that both channels were expressed but Kv1.1N207Q, which was not glycosylated, displayed functional differences compared with wild‐type, including slowed activation kinetics, a positively shifted V1/2, a shallower slope for the conductance versus voltage relationship, slowed C‐type inactivation kinetics, and a reduced extent of and recovery from C‐type inactivation. Kv1.1N207Q activation properties were also less sensitive to divalent cations compared with those of Kv1.1. These effects were largely due to the lack of trans‐Golgi added sugars, such as galactose and sialic acid, to the N207 carbohydrate tree. No apparent change in ionic current deactivation kinetics was detected in Kv1.1N207Q compared with wild‐type. Our data, coupled with modelling, suggested that removal of the N207 carbohydrate tree had two major effects. The first effect slowed the concerted channel transition from the last closed state to the open state without changing the voltage dependence of its kinetics. This effect contributed to the G‐V curve depolarization shift and together with the lower sensitivity to divalent cations suggested that the carbohydrate tree and its negatively charged sialic acids affected the negative surface charge density on the channel's extracellular face that was sensed by the activation gating machinery. The second effect reduced a cooperativity factor that slowed the transition from the open state to the closed state without changing its voltage dependence. This effect accounted for the shallower G‐V slope, and contributed to the depolarized G‐V shift, and together with the inactivation changes it suggested that the carbohydrate tree also affected channel conformations. Thus N‐glycosylation, and particularly terminal sialylation, affected Kv1.1 gating properties both by altering the surface potential sensed by the channel's activation gating machinery and by modifying conformational changes regulating cooperative subunit interactions during activation and inactivation. Differences in glycosylation pattern among closely related channels may contribute to their functional differences and affect their physiological roles.
α‐Adrenergic Vascular Responsiveness during Postexercise Hypotension in Humans
Authors: Halliwill John R. , Dinenno Frank A. , Dietz Niki M.
Published: May 2003

In sedentary individuals, postexercise hypotension following a single bout of aerobic exercise is due to an unexplained peripheral vasodilatation. We tested the hypothesis that α‐adrenergic responsiveness in the forearm and leg vasculatures is blunted during postexercise hypotension. We studied 12 men and two women before and 30 min after a 60 min bout of cycling at 60 % V̇, peak. In the first five subjects, arterial pressure (brachial artery catheter) and forearm blood flow (plethysmography) were measured and vascular conductance was calculated during intraarterial infusions of the α1‐agonist phenylephrine and the α2‐agonist clonidine. Exercise reduced mean arterial pressure (89 ± 2 vs. 95 ± 2 mmHg, P < 0.05) and increased forearm vascular conductance 77 ± 33 % (P < 0.05). Despite these changes in baseline vascular conductance, vasoconstrictor responses in the forearm to phenylephrine and clonidine were similar (or enhanced) postexercise vs. preexercise. In the remaining nine subjects, arterial pressure (femoral artery catheter) and leg blood flow (Doppler ultrasound of the femoral artery) were measured and vascular conductance was calculated during intraarterial infusions of phenylephrine and clonidine. Exercise reduced mean arterial pressure (80 ± 2 vs. 89 ± 2 mmHg, P < 0.05) and increased leg vascular conductance 94 ± 16 % (P < 0.05). Despite these changes in baseline vascular conductance, vasoconstrictor responses in the leg to phenylephrine and clonidine were similar (or enhanced) postexercise vs. preexercise. These results suggest that vascular responsiveness to α‐adrenergic agonists is maintained during postexercise hypotension in humans. Thus, while postexercise hypotension is associated with increased vascular conductance in the forearm and leg, it does not appear that blunting of α‐adrenergic responsiveness is the cause.