bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Extreme violence in combat and wilful blindness
Authors: Audoin‐Rouzeau Stéphane
Published: March 2003

Most of the social scientists ‐ historians especially ‐ who specialise in the study of war ‘overlook’ the violence of combat voluntarily,though seldom as a conscious choice. This article aims to argue for a project to reveal and analyse the extreme violence of combat situations and of the combatants who are both the victims of this violence and its authors. The intention is not to disparage or undermine the study of extreme violence inflicted on unarmed populations by armed ones, but to reflect upon the foreshortened view that must result from any research effort prepared to neglect the reciprocal violence between armed groups. The violence of combat is not a sort of ‘constant’ in the activities of war that we need not bother to describe or analyse. This wilful blindness becomes a hindrance to any study of what is actually done in the violence of war, in this ‘language’ which can often quite starkly reveal the agents' systems of representation. It also leads to overlooking how porous the boundary is between violence on the field of battle and violence against unarmed populations. The interchanges across that boundary need critical investigation, if we wish to understand not just this or that aspect of acts of extreme violence in time of war, but the totality of such acts.
Micro‐insurance: Extending Health Insurance to the Excluded
Authors: Dror David M. , Jacquier Christian
Published: March 2003

This paper proposes a way to improve health provision for populations that are usually excluded from access to health services. It starts out from a short description of who the excluded are, and what they are excluded from. The paper then looks at the major policy statements elaborated at the international level, and proceeds to propose the missing dimension. Next, based on field testing and analysis of several tens of pilot cases, the paper proposes a concept for group‐based health insurance, or “micro‐insurance”, and explains its rationale and its components. Lastly, the paper proposes a strategy to implement this concept.
Portability of Supplementary Pension Rights in the European Union
Authors: Andrietti Vincenzo
Published: March 2003

European Union (EU) legislation on portability of supplementary pension rights accrued by private‐sector migrant workers is at an early stage. The recent directive on this topic, aiming to preserve accrued pension rights at least at the level guaranteed in the case of within‐borders mobility, emphasizes the role of country‐specific legislation on pension portability issues. This paper analyses EU as well as national pension portability regulation for a representative sample of EU countries, in the light of recent empirical evidence outlining the role of occupational pensions in individual job mobility choices in these countries.
Anti‐Poverty Effectiveness of Taxes and Income Transfers in Welfare States
Authors: Kim Hwanjoon
Published: March 2003

This study aims to compare the anti‐poverty effectiveness of taxes and income transfers among western welfare states. It is shown that countries' poverty outcome can be decomposed into the level of market‐generated poverty, the overall level of welfare efforts, and the poverty reduction efficiency of taxes and transfers. Using the LIS microdata, the decomposition analysis suggests that welfare states differ widely with respect to the anti‐poverty effectiveness of taxes and transfers and that cross‐national variation in such effectiveness is mainly attributable to differences in the level of welfare efforts rather than in poverty reduction efficiency.
The Spanish public retirement pensions system: Principal challenges and recent developments
Authors: Angel Francisco Blanco
Published: March 2003

This paper first describes the basic characteristics of the Spanish system of retirement pensions, before addressing its major challenges in the future and the principal solutions proposed. For this purpose, many of the works on social security published in Spain over the past years have been reviewed to provide a recent overview of technical discussions on this subject. Finally, the main reforms undertaken by the government since 1995 are described in some detail and assessed.
Reforming formal social security systems in India and Sri Lanka
Authors: Karunarathne Wasana , Goswami Ranadev
Published: March 2003

This paper analyses the formal social security systems of India and Sri Lanka. While many of the social, demographic, and economic indicators differ markedly between the countries, the structure of the social security systems, challenges, and reform directions are quite similar. Thus, the provident fund organizations in both countries need to modernize and benchmark their governance, operations, and investment policies. The dualism in their systems, which has resulted in relatively generous non–contributory pensions being provided to civil servants, also needs to be addressed. This dualism and the fiscal unsustainability of current civil service pension arrangements lend urgency to reforms in this area in the two countries. The prospects for voluntary tax–advantaged private sector schemes are encouraging, particularly in India. The conditions for reforms are more favourable now owing to hopeful signs of an end to longstanding conflict in Sri Lanka, and decade–long experience with financial sector reforms in India.
Participation and opportunity: Redefining social security in Australia and New Zealand
Authors: Mitchell Deborah
Published: March 2003

Against a political background of shifting societal expectations about the role of social security in terms of mutual obligation and social responsibility, both Australia and New Zealand have conducted major social policy reviews within the past two years. Two of the central themes of the McLure Report (Australia) and the Pathways to Opportunity Report (New Zealand) are social participation and opportunity creation. This paper focuses on these issues from several perspectives. An outline of the motivations for reform and the concepts guiding it is followed by a summary of the reform strategies identified in each report. After a discussion of the similarities and differences in the changes implemented since the two reviews, the conclusion points to some of the potential problems raised by the critics of the reform proposals.
Information technology and transformations in social security policy and administration: A review
Authors: Henman Paul , Adler Michael
Published: March 2003

In this paper we analyse the interactive relationship between technology, administration and policy in social security. Focusing on new and emerging information and computing technologies, we show how they have been shaped and adopted by social security institutions in different countries, and explore their differential impact on recipients and staff, on organizational structures, and on policy and practice. We conclude that similar technologies have been adopted in a variety of ways to address different economic, social, political and organizational objectives and that, although these differences are becoming more blurred, different patterns have been associated with different welfare state regimes.
Psycho‐physiological analysis of mental workload at an elevated work place
Authors: Usui Shinnosuke , Egawa Yoshiyuki
Published: March 2003

The purpose of the present study was to make a psycho‐physiological analysis in order to study the degree of mental workload at an elevated place. Two experiments were carried out on 10 scaffolding workers and 10 office workers (seven in Experiment 2), who were made to walk along the footing boards of a temporary scaffold. In Experiment 1, the psycho‐physiological responses of the subjects were measured. In experiment 2, the subjects’ spare capacity at an elevated place was measured using a dual task method. The results did not indicate any clear physiological response due to height elevation, although an increase in mental workload caused by the height was observed and secondary task performance fell at an elevated place in the office workers. The effect of the height was less noticeable on the scaffolding workers than on the office workers, but their spare capacity at that height decreased as the task demand increased due to narrower footing boards or increased task difficulty.
Perception of Object Unity in a Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)
Authors: Sato Akira , Kanazawa So , Fujita Kazuo
Published: March 2003

Perception of object unity was studied in an 18‐year‐old female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) using a two‐choice delayed matching‐to‐sample task. The subject was trained with two rod‐shaped figures which were exactly identical except that one of them had a small gap at its center. After mastering this baseline task, she was shown the figure with its center occluded by a colored rectangle. We examined the perception of the subject's matching response on either the complete or the broken rod to investigate how she perceived these partly invisible figures. In four separate experiments, the alignment and the movement of the portions above and below the occluding rectangle were manipulated. She matched the partly occluded stimuli to the complete rod as long as the alignment was sufficient. The results suggest that like human adults, the chimpanzee can perceive unity of physically separated figures.
Effects of Performance‐Based Pay Systems on Quantity and Quality in Computer Programming
Authors: Shimamune Satoru
Published: March 2003

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of quality‐contingent pay systems on quantity and quality. Three computer science students were paid to create simple computer programs across 25 sessions. A multiple‐baseline across subjects design was used to compare the effects of three kinds of pay systems; pay‐for‐hour, pay‐for‐quantity, and pay‐for‐quality systems. The quantity was higher when pay was based on the quantity of the programs produced, and the quality was highest when pay was based on the quality of the programs. The production cost including quality inspection costs was highest when pay was based on the time worked.
College students and religious groups in Japan: How are they influenced and how do they perceive the group members?
Authors: Ando Kiyoshi , Tsuchida Shoji , Imai Yoshiaki , Shiomura Kimihiro , Murata Koji , Watanabe Namiji , Nishida Kimiaki , Genjida Ken'ichi
Published: March 2003

Almost 9,000 Japanese college students completed a questionnaire designed to tap: how they were approached by religious groups and how they reacted to them; how they perceived “mind control” techniques which they believed were adopted by some religious groups; and how their psychological needs were related to their reactions to the attempt to influence them by religious groups. About 20% of respondents listed religion‐related requests as making the most impression. Although respondents'impressions of the recruiter were somewhat favorable in comparison with those of salespersons, their level of compliance was rather low. The regression analysis showed that they tended to comply with the request when they were interested in what the agents told them, when they were not in a hurry or did not have any reason to refuse, when they had a liking for the agents, and when they were told that they had been specially selected, that they could gain knowledge of the truth, and that they could acquire a special new ability. When asked to evaluate people who were influenced or mind controlled by a religious group, the respondents tended to perceive that it was “inevitable” that they had succumbed, and they put less emphasis on dispositional factors. However, where mind control led to a criminal act, they tended to attribute responsibility to the person. More than 70% of respondents answered in the affirmative when asked if they themselves could resist being subjected to mind control, showing the students' underestimation of their personal vulnerability. The respondents' needs or values had little effect on the reactions, the interest, and the impression of the influencing attempt by religious groups.
Heuristics in learning classifiers: The acquisition of the classifier system and its implications for the nature of lexical acquisition
Authors: Uchida Nobuko , Imai Mutsumi
Published: March 2003

Classifiers are like nouns in that they classify entities in the world into lexical categories. However, the lexical nature of the classifier system is very different from that of nouns. We discuss how Japanese and Chinese children learn the meanings of classifiers. We focus on two specific questions: How classifier acquisition is different from noun acquisition; and what the prerequisites are for spontaneously extracting the meanings of classifiers. It is shown that children are very conservative in assigning meaning to classifiers. The pace of learning largely depends on semantic complexity, across languages and within each language. Furthermore, we suspect that learning the meanings of classifiers requires a certain cognitive ability – an ability to synthesize pieces of partial knowledge and form them into a cohesive whole. It may be only when children have developed such an ability that they are able to extract the complex semantic rules of classifiers on their own. We conclude that children take very different routes in learning nouns and classifiers: Unlike noun acquisition, classifier acquisition is guided by a slow, bottom‐up process.
Qualitative analyses of critical aspects of adaptation to the visually left‐right reversed world
Authors: Yoshimura Hirokazu
Published: March 2003

In this article, mechanisms of perceptual adaptation to the transposed world are analyzed based on introspective and behavioral performance data gathered during an extended period of wearing left‐right reversing goggles. Three aspects central to this study were the mental map of the living space surrounding the subject, body image (both seen and felt), and the sensorimotor coordination system, which reflects the relationship between the subject and surroundings. These were investigated through map‐drawing tests, self‐representation tests when postures other than face forward were adopted, and after effects observed immediately after removal of the reversing goggles. It was concluded that the main course of the perceptual adaptation to the visually left‐right reversed world consists of double reversals of the mental map and body image as well as the establishment of a new sensorimotor coordination system. In sharp contrast to the proprioceptive‐change hypothesis, the importance of the visual nature of the body image was emphasized.
The lateral effects of Dohsa‐method relaxation on visual and auditory responses
Authors: Konno Yoshitaka
Published: March 2003

The effects of relaxation training, using the Dohsa method, on visual and auditory responses were examined. Twelve college students underwent relaxation training either to the left shoulder, left side of the waist, and the left foot, or to the right side. The measures used in this study were weight‐bearing, body perception and external perception, visual field, and visual and hearing acuity. Weight‐bearing significantly increased for the foot undergoing relaxation training, compared with the untreated foot, indicating that the subjects stood more firmly on the ground on the relaxed foot. Subjects could also perceive positive changes in their “sense of standing firmly on the ground,”“sense of activity in the body,”“sense of muscular relaxation,” and “sense of fullness in the abdomen” on the side of the body receiving relaxation training. There were positive changes in external perception such as “vividness of the external world,”“breadth of the visual field,” and “active impression of the external world” for subjects' vision on the side receiving relaxation training. Furthermore, visual and hearing acuity on the side on which relaxation training was administered improved significantly.
Nonmetric multidimensional scaling with clustering of subjects
Authors: Adachi Kohei
Published: March 2003

A new nonmetric multidimensional scaling method is devised to analyze three‐way data concerning inter‐stimulus similarities obtained from many subjects. It is assumed that subjects are classified into a small number of clusters and that the stimulus configuration is specific to each cluster. Under this assumption, the classification of subjects and the scaling used to derive the configurations for clusters are simultaneously performed using an alternating least‐squares algorithm. The monotone regression of ordinal similarity data, the scaling of stimuli and the K‐means clustering of subjects are iterated in the algorithm. The method is assessed using a simulation and its practical use is illustrated with the analysis of real data. Finally, some extensions are considered.
Initial excitatory conditioning with the truly random control procedure in rats: The effects of density of the conditioned stimulus
Authors: Kitaguchi Katsuya
Published: March 2003

The present experiments were designed to test whether initial excitatory conditioning to a stimulus was obtained, using a within‐subject design of the truly random control (TRC) procedure, and to examine the effects of the density of the conditioned stimulus on it. In Experiment 1, the effect of the three levels of CS density (50%, 25%, 20%) was assessed at six different stages of training, using the conditioned suppression of licking in rats. Although all of the groups given the TRC procedure showed evidence of initial excitatory conditioning, it was more marked in the group with the highest CS density than in the other groups. Experiment 2 confirmed the results of Experiment 1, using a between‐subject design. The findings are in line with predictions from the Rescorla‐Wagner model, and are discussed with reference to other contemporary theories of associative learning.
Effect of phonological processing on temporal processing
Authors: Kawamura Satoru
Published: March 2003

Many studies have reported that the effect of concurrent nontemporal processing on time estimation depends on the difficulty of the nontemporal task. The perceived duration of a given temporal interval decreases as the difficulty of the concurrent nontemporal task increases. A question thus arises as to whether any kind of nontemporal task will have the same effect on temporal processing. Two experiments were conducted in which the level of the nontemporal task demand was systematically varied. In Experiment 1, the effect of phonological processing on concurrent time estimation was shown to vary linearly with the number of items to be processed. Experiment 2 showed that the concurrent time estimation did not vary with the level of figural processing demands. This suggests selective interference with temporal processing on the part of concurrent phonological processing.
A Longitudinal Study of Religious Doubts in High School and Beyond: Relationships, Stability, and Searching for Answers
Authors: Hunsberger Bruce , Pratt Michael , Pancer S. Mark
Published: March 2003

This questionnaire study of 939 senior high school students, and a follow‐up of 336 of these people two years later, investigated a variety of issues related to religious doubts and their implications for adolescents’ lives. Although average doubt levels were “mild” as measured by the Religious Doubts scale, the greatest doubts were expressed based on religion’s failure to make people “better,” the claimed infallibility of scriptures, and pressures to accept religious teachings. Doubting was consistently related to decreased personal religiousness, and doubt levels remained relatively stable over the two years of this study. Greater doubting was linked with more problematic family environments, and less parental warmth and strictness. There was mixed evidence that doubt was associated with poorer personal adjustment, and when these relationships were investigated within major denominational subgroupings, only (some) associations for mainstream Protestants were significant. Doubting was also associated with an inclination to consult anti‐religious sources of information (rather than pro‐religious sources), and these styles of consultation also predicted levels of future religiousness.
Mapping American Adolescent Religious Participation
Authors: Smith Christian , Denton Melinda Lundquist , Faris Robert , Regnerus Mark
Published: March 2003

Sociologists know surprisingly little about the religious lives of adolescents in the United States. This article begins to redress that unfortunate lack of knowledge by examining descriptive findings on adolescent religious participation from three recent, reputable national surveys of American youth. We present descriptive statistics on three fundamental aspects of youth religious participation: religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and involvement in church youth groups. We also examine the influences of gender, race, age, and region on these religious outcomes. This descriptive inquiry should help to heighten broader understanding of and to lay down a baseline of essential information about American adolescent religious participation. Further research is needed to investigate the social influence of different kinds of religiosity on various outcomes in the lives of American youth.
Kinesthetic‐Visual Matching and the Self‐Concept as Explanations of Mirror‐Self‐Recognition
Authors: Mitchell Robert W.
Published: March 2003

Since its inception as a topic of inquiry, mirror‐self‐recognition has usually been explained by two models: one, initiated by Guillaume, proposes that mirror‐self‐recognition depends upon kinesthetic‐visual matching, and the other, initiated by Gallup, that self‐recognition depends upon a self‐concept. These two models are examined historically and conceptually. This examination suggests that the kinesthetic‐visual matching model is conceptually coherent and makes reasonable and accurate predictions; and that the self‐concept model is conceptually incoherent and makes inaccurate predictions from premises which are themselves inaccurate. From a theoretical (and empirical) standpoint, the kinesthetic‐visual matching model is the better explanation of self‐recognition.
Fodor’s Impasse – a Converse Perspective and a Way Out
Authors: Shanon Benny
Published: March 2003

In recent publications, Fodor points out a basic impasse that the representational‐computational view of mind confronts. Mental representations have to serve two functions—to be the substrate of mental computations and to be the carriers of meaning. Fodor points out that these two functions cannot be brought together and concludes that semantics is not part of psychology. On the basis of similar observations, I suggest drawing another conclusion, namely, that the premises of the representational‐computational view are wrong, and that psychology is not mentalistic. The discussion presents a fundamental contrast between two notions of the key term semantics. These, in turn, define two different perspectives for cognitive research. A third perspective for the study of meaning and cognition is suggested. With it, it is argued, the Fodorian impasse is avoided.
The Impossibility of Naturalism: The Antinomies of Bhaskar’s Realism
Authors: King Anthony
Published: March 2003

From the publication of The Possibility of Naturalism, Bhaskar’s critical naturalism or realism has argued for a dualistic social ontology of interpreting individuals and objective, ‘real’ social structures. In arguing for a dualistic ontology, Bhaskar commits himself to two antinomies; he insists that society is dependent on individuals but also independent of them, and that social action is always intentional but it also has non‐intentional, material features. These antinomies are apparently resolved by appeals to emergence. In fact, the appeal to emergence is merely a disguised regression into reification and the only genuine path out of these antinomies is the adoption of a fully hermeneutic social theory in line with the positions of Winch and Gadamer.
FIC Descriptions and Interpretive Social Science: Should Philosophers Roll Their Eyes?
Authors: Jones Todd
Published: March 2003

Many social scientists and journalists attempt to explain events in recent or distant history by uncovering hidden beliefs and desires held by groups. Such ascriptions are problematic in that beliefs are attributed to groups rather than individuals, and, in that being “hidden,” they cannot be attributed using ordinary everyday methods. In this paper, I try to sort out what is sensible and what is muddled in this unusual but very common type of belief ascription.
The Interhuman and What is Common to All: Martin Buber and Sociology
Authors: Friedman Maurice
Published: March 2003

Martin Buber was close to sociology and sociologists from his university years on and in 1938 was head of the new Department of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Although influenced by Ferdinand Toennies, and George Simmel, he went beyond them in his philosophy of the “interhuman” from which standpoint he also criticized Max Scheler. Focal social concepts of Buber's are “the interhuman”_the dialogical relationship between persons that entails “inclusion,” or “imagining the real,” making present, and confirmation (compared here with the social psychology of George Herbert Mead); the “essential We” or common cosmos that each helps to build by speech‐with‐meaning from his or her unique stance; the distinction between the “political principle” of government and the “social principle” of fellowship and social spontaneity; and the philosophy of community that led Buber to a federalistic socialism and the vision of restructuring society into a “community of communities”.
A Realist Theory of Hegemony
Authors: Joseph Jonathan
Published: March 2003

A new approach to understanding hegemony is developed based on the method of critical realism. Breaking from the traditional interpretations that emphasise inter‐subjective, superstructural and cultural aspects of hegemony, this article looks at hegemony's structural context and the conditions for its possibility. A realist conception of hegemony relates hegemonic projects to structural reproduction and transformation via Bhaskar’s transformational model of social activity. In doing so this model is itself modified to incorporate hegemony as the political moment of social reproduction. A distinction is made between hegemony in its structural aspect, and specific hegemonic projects as emergent possibilities.
Psychodynamic and Neurological Perspectives on ADHD: Exploring Strategies for Defining a Phenomenon
Authors: Rafalovich Adam
Published: March 2003

This article is a discourse analysis of two historical inquiries into what clinici‐ans today call attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Of primary con‐cern in this regard are psychodynamic perspectives towards ADHD symptoms, championed by psychoanalysts and psychologists, and neurological perspectives towards ADHD, which continue to favor a purely physiological approach to understanding the disorder. Those within the psychodynamic camp are inclined to view ADHD as an interactional difficulty between self and social environment ‐ a condition best remedied by psychotherapy. Those within the neurological camp see ADHD as a specific brain process, whose effective treatment depends upon adequate psychopharmacology. This essay argues that both psychodynamic and neurological perspectives towards ADHD have strategized to legitimate one perspective through the expulsion of the other. Within the current era of ADHD nomenclature and treatment it is clear that neurological perspectives dominate the debate. However, neurological perspectives continue to be haunted by a considerable amount of skepticism, both nationally and internationally. Because of this it would be difficult to assert that neurological perspectives, though winning the “legitimation race” in contemporary understandings of ADHD, are entirely monolithic sources of ADHD knowledge.
Cantona and Aquinas on Good and Evil
Authors: O’Neill John
Published: March 2003

An important but neglected difference between modern utilitarian and Kantian ethics on one side and virtues ethics on the other concerns the relation of good and evil. By taking virtues to be ethical primitives, standard versions of virtues ethics entail that some goods are logically evil‐dependent. That is, at least some central virtues cannot be characterised without reference to the possible existence of an evil, and cannot be exercised without the actual existence of that evil. Given this account on the logical relation of good and evil, can a virtues ethic be defended? In particular, does a virtues ethic sanction an inference from a virtue to the evil that is the occasion for its exercise? The paper examines some prima facie examples of such inferences and considers how they might be blocked from within a virtues ethic.
The Morality of Terrorism
Authors: Primoratz Igor
Published: March 2003

In this paper (a sequel to ‘What Is Terrorism?’, Journal of Applied Philosophy, vol. 7 [ 1990]) I discuss both consequentialist and deontological justifications of terrorism. In the consequentialist context, I look in particular into Leon Trotsky’s classic defence of the ‘red terror’, based on the argument of continuity of war, revolution, and terrorism, and the claim that the distinction between the guilty and the innocent, combatants and noncombatants, is not relevant to modern warfare. On the deontological side, I discuss Virginia Held’s recent attempt at justifying terrorism in terms of basic human rights and distributive justice. The conclusion reached is that terrorism remains almost absolutely morally impermissible.
Justice and a Citizens' Basic Income
Authors: Farrelly Colin
Published: March 2003

Is it possible for a society with a market economy to be just? Unlike Marxists, egalitarian liberals believe that there are some conceivable circumstances where such a society could fulfil the requirements of social justice. A market society need not be exploitative. One proposal that has recently received much attention among political theorists is the suggestion that citizens should receive a basic income. Philippe Van Parijs's Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) can justify capitalism? presents one of the most sophisticated philosophical arguments in favour of a citizens' basic income. In this paper I critically assess Van Parijs's proposal for a citizens' unconditional basic income. I develop three Rawlsian objections which cast doubt on the idea that Van Parijs's proposal can play a foundational role in a viable theory of social justice. I label these objections: (1) the objection from leisure (2) the objection from citizenship and (3) the objection from self‐respect.
An Internalist View on the Value of Life and Some Tricky Cases Relevant to it
Authors: Willigenburg Theo van
Published: March 2003

If we understand death as the irreversible loss of the good of life, we can give meaning to the idea that for suffering patients in the end stage of their illness, life may become an evil and death no longer a threat. Life may lose its good already in the living person. But what does the good of life consist in, then? I defend an internalist view according to which the goodness of life is intrinsically related to the attitudes, concerns, interests and experiences of the person who is leading the life. This results in the contention that the core of what we understand as the value of a person’s life is to be identified with what makes life go well for the person living the particular life. This internalist view does not presuppose (or imply) hedonism or mentalism, nor does it pose an experience requirement. Something may be good for you, because it is valuable as seen from your authentic viewpoint, even if you do not actually experience this goodness, or think otherwise because you are mistaken about your own well‐being. To test this position, and the authenticity‐requirement it includes, I discuss three cases of patients who are persistent in denying that in their life any value is left and who contend that death is no worse than further living. Internalism acknowledges that in the life of these patients there may be ’functionings’ and ’beings’ that are worthwhile, where the test of value is at least partially independent of subjective assessment. Still, internalism claims that something truly valuable can only contribute to the good of one’s life of it has positive meaning as seen from the attitudinal viewpoint that identifies oneself.
Callicott’s Land Communitarianism
Authors: Crook Seth
Published: March 2003

In his most recent collection of papers, J. Baird Callicott has continued to advance a communitarian environmental ethic inspired by the mid–century “land ethic” writings of Aldo Leopold. One subject of concern is a dilemma. Either: the position is open to a charge of “eco–fascism” because it holds that only one maximal community fundamentally matters and interests of smaller communities and individuals can be swamped by a fundamental concern with the whole. Or: it is a “paper tiger” because it says that many communities fundamentally matter, but offers no advice about how we are settle prima–facie conflicts of obligations tied to our various communities. Callicott now offers two new second–order priority principles designed to steer the communitarian position through the dilemma. I outline the relevant parts of his new position. However, I argue that one of the principles ends up offering no coherent advice over the priority of the very communities that inspire interest in the position of Leopold. Callicott proposes that the more intimate and venerable of our communities should have priority, but these elements can come apart in the relevant cases
Image – Sculpture – Site
Authors: Blacker Kate
Published: March 2003

Sculpture is what you bump into when you back up to see a painting. Barnett Newman
An Art Enrichment Project for Eight to Ten Year Olds in the Ordinary Classroom
Authors: Martin Angela
Published: March 2003

The definition of enrichment, embedded in the literature on the subject, means taking children above and beyond their every day learning experience by providing for a short time an unusually challenging environment that will uncover and strengthen talent. The author is a practising teacher who recently did some classroom‐based action research examining the effects of immersing mixed ability eight‐to ten‐year olds in a range of differentiated art experience over an intensive two day period. Three separate projects were undertaken, although only one – a design project – can be discussed here in detail. This involved the author working alongside a class teacher in order to provide `hands on’ InSET experience and help develop confidence in art teaching. Some enrichment art activities were specifically planned requiring children to think and analyse in depth. These were available to all children who selected them but were also targeted to children who in the opinion of their teachers already showed some interest, talent and commitment to art. The other art activities on offer provided a stimulating general art experience but not a high level of cognitive challenge. This paper explores the purpose and design of the research, and offers some conclusions based on a variety of interview and photographic data.
Language in Art and Art in Language
Authors: Stibbs Andrew
Published: March 2003

The National Curriculum is bringing a systematic attention to the place of language in the teaching and learning of Art, but may be suppressing some of the liveliness of language in art. Art teaches a specialist vocabulary with benefits beyond the art lesson, but there are dangers (and opportunities) in the use of words in art which have different meanings elsewhere. Art rooms have traditionally promoted a rich variety of language uses, but new pressures could lead to formulaic didactic lessons with too little pupil discussion. One language use in art, from which English teachers could learn, is discussion about the aesthetic qualities of artefacts which pupils make or are shown. English teaching too often treats poems as documentaries, but art can teach pupils to use words for looking and thinking about artefacts in their own terms. A danger here, in art as in English, is that introducing a canon can encourage talking about art in second‐hand language which does not connect with pupils’ experiences. Language would drive a model of pedagogy in which experience and perception inform the formation of new concepts, then new concepts inform the search for new experience and perception, in an ascending spiral of aesthetic understanding which could also be both a pleasure and an education of the feelings.
Post‐it Culture: Post‐modernism and Art and Design Education
Authors: Macdonald Stuart W
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the phenomenon of Post‐modernism and its growing relationship to art and design education and its limitations in that context. It examines how and why an authentic architectural style developed into a late twentieth century philosophy, was exploited by visual artists, and was then applied to art and design education. The paper looks at a range of issues and concepts coterminous with the growth of post‐modern thought, particularly the idea of post‐historicism. In that sense it posits Post‐modernism as one narrative amongst a number. The language of Post‐modernism is also explored, as is the idea of a ‘post‐medium age’. It is then suggested, using the argument of Post‐modernism itself, that art and design education for the next millennium depends upon the recognition of the need for a range of new narratives.
New and Old: Multimedia as a Tool for Providing Interpretation and Meaning: Reflections on the Finnish Art Education History Project
Authors: Pohjakallio Pirkko
Published: March 2003

During the last decade, Pirkko Pohjakallio, a researcher at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, has been involved in historical research. In her presentation of a recently produced CD‐ROM, she emphasizes the role of art education in building a national identity and in shaping gender roles. Children’s pictures are also used to analyze how educational concepts and philosophies have changed. Without this new medium, it would be much harder to organize the riches of the pictures in the collection for students and researchers to explore.
Drawing: An Image‐Making Approach
Authors: McCarthy Peter , Sherlock George
Published: March 2003

This paper is based on a lecture given at the University of Oporto in Portugal to mark the opening of the Lugar Do Desenho, Oporto in 1999. It describes a method of teaching drawing from observation that was developed by the authors for first year fine art students at Coventry University and as a short refresher course for seconded art teachers. It continues to be offered as one of three options in the inaugural drawing module of the visual arts programme. Its holistic approach is designed to encourage flexibility and invention as a way of enlarging the drawing vocabulary of students. The paper describes the thinking behind the course and how it sets about fulfilling its aims of broadening students understanding of observational accuracy and equipping weaker students in particular for the difficulties they might encounter when trying to make a coherent image.
‘Drawing Out’ ‐ a Humanist Approach to Drawing
Authors: Walker Rab
Published: March 2003

Over the past twenty‐five years as an art teacher I have sought answers to three questions:

1. In what ways and to what extent can drawing practice explore both conscious and unconscious thought processes?

2. In what ways can the participant individuate his or her experience through the practice of drawing?

3. In what ways can drawing form a dialogue between personal philosophy and experience?

Refering to my own experience and pedagogy I define some of the historical, pschological and philosophical contexts for my perception of drawing, including comments from my students, in the process making no special distinction between child and adult art. I have studied the evolution of pupil’s drawing practices and particularly those of my own children, as they assert their own perceptions and responses to experience, conceptualising feelings both sensuous and emotional through telling stories and defining realities. Throughout history the will to draw has persisted, its function differing and changing through time and cultural contexts. Beuys commented that everyone can be an artist, if they want to be; can anyone really afford not to draw?
The Association Between Operating Cash Flows and Dividend Changes: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Charitou Andreas , Vafeas Nikos
Published: March 2003

The Association between earnings and dividend changes has been established since Lintner’s (1956) pioneering work. Subsequent research attempted to establish an association between operating cash flows and dividend changes, given earnings, without success (Simons, 1994). Recently, there has been increased attention in cash flow reporting. Regulatory bodies worldwide have stressed the significance of cash flow information in capital markets. Research on the association between cash flows and dividends has been limited, yielding inconclusive results. The purpose of this study is to re‐evaluate and extend prior studies by examining the incremental ability of cash flows to explain dividend changes, given earnings. We argue that a positive relationship between cash flows and dividend changes should exist due to liquidity and accruals management considerations. The empirical evidence of this study supports that the dividend changes‐cash flow relationship is significantly positive (a) when operating cash flows are low compared to earnings, and (b) when firm growth is moderate.
The Use of Foreign Accounting Data in UK Financial Institutions
Authors: Miles Samantha , Nobes Christopher
Published: March 2003

Globalisation of securities markets has caused many members of the investment community to use foreign accounting data. This paper examines how this foreign data is used by some London‐based participants in the market. Areas for examination are established after looking at the extensive published research on the use of domestic accounting data and the small amount of published research in an international context. Twenty‐one market participants were interviewed, although four of these were treated as a pilot, so that most findings were based on 17 interviewees working for six institutions. If this sample is representative, our findings suggest that market participants are inexpert in accounting; sector experts see international accounting differences as a hindrance but country experts do not; participants use foreign accounting data for analysis but very few adjust it (although fund managers think that analysts do); there is some avoidance of countries or sectors for accounting reasons; and there is very little knowledge of international accounting differences.
International Variation in Accounting Measurement Rules and Analysts’ Earnings Forecast Errors
Authors: Basu Sudipta , Hwang LeeSeok , Jan Ching‐Lih
Published: March 2003

We theorize that accounting systems affect analysts’ forecast accuracy through changes in earnings variability. We argue that the matching and historical cost principles reduce earnings variability, and hence, reduce analysts’ earnings forecast errors. We also argue that restricting the choice of accounting methods can result in larger forecast errors. We argue that more informative disclosure environments should reduce forecast errors. We test whether variation in these factors across countries explain variation in analysts’ earnings forecast bias and accuracy. Our results indicate that these characteristics of financial accounting systems are complements, and that they affect financial analysts’ earnings forecast errors.
The Stock Market Reaction to Investment Announcements: The Case of Individual Capital Expenditure Projects
Authors: Burton Bruce M. , Lonie A. Alasdair , Power David M.
Published: March 2003

In this paper we provide novel evidence about the market reaction to capital expenditure announcements in the UK using a sample of nearly 500 disclosures made between 1989 and 1991. First, we show that the market reaction to joint venture announcements is significantly positive, whilst similar announcements from individual companies do not elicit any response. Second, we find that the market reaction to single company investments is positively related to the size of the expenditure, but only for projects which immediately generate cash. Finally, we report that the variability in the market response to announcements which follow large cash inflows is significantly lower than the variability in investors’ reactions to announcements which are not preceded by such inflows.
A Mathematical Programming Approach for Procurement Using Activity Based Costing
Authors: Degraeve Zeger , Roodhooft Filip
Published: March 2003

Activity Based Costing and Management are important topics in today's management accounting literature. While there has been much attention paid in the Activity Based Costing literature to customer profitability analysis, process improvement and product design, there has been far less notice taken of purchasing. In this paper we develop an Activity Based Costing approach for the determination of procurement strategies. Vendor selection using an Activity Based Costing approach is choosing the combination of suppliers for a given product group that minimizes the total costs associated with the purchasing strategy. To this end we develop a mathematical programming model where decisions involve the selection of vendors and the determination of order quantities. The system computes the total cost of ownership, thereby increasing the objectivity in the selection process and giving the opportunity for various kinds of sensitivity analysis.
The Information Content of Just‐in‐Time Inventory System Adoption Announcement
Authors: Howton Shawn D. , Higgins Eric James , Biggart Timothy B.
Published: March 2003

This paper examines the stock market reaction and analysts’ earnings forecast revisions associated with just‐in‐time (JIT) inventory system adoption announcements. The stock market reaction is positive, however, analysts do not revise their earnings forecasts when firms announce a JIT adoption. The results of the paper show mixed support for the hypothesis that JIT is viewed by markets as a costly capital expenditure intended to increase the net cash flows of the firm and mixed support for the hypothesis that JIT is viewed by markets only as an accounting change.
Stock Market Volatility in an Emerging Market: Further Evidence from the Athens Stock Exchange
Authors: Chortareas Georgios E. , McDermott John B. , Ritsatos Titos E.
Published: March 2003

We investigate the time series properties of the daily and weekly returns from the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) index for the years 1987 to 1997. We investigate whether important time‐series characteristics have changed significantly over time. The Greek market has recently undergone major changes including complete capital flow liberalization, the implementation of computerized trading, as well as significant increases in market volume and capitalization; we thus contrast the 1987–90 and 1991–97 periods. Our findings suggest the dynamics of the ASE composite index returns have changed as the market has developed.