bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mycobacterium cosmeticum sp. nov., a novel rapidly growing species isolated from a cosmetic infection and from a nail salon
Authors: Cooksey Robert C. , de Waard Jacobus H. , Yakrus Mitchell A. , Rivera Ismar , Chopite Marina , Toney Sean R. , Morlock Glenn P. , Butler W. Ray
Published: November 2004

Four isolates of a rapidly growingMycobacteriumspecies had a mycolic acid pattern similar to that ofMycobacterium smegmatis, as determined by HPLC analyses. Three of the isolates were from footbath drains and a sink at a nail salon located in Atlanta, GA, USA; the fourth was obtained from a granulomatous subdermal lesion of a female patient in Venezuela who was undergoing mesotherapy. By random amplified polymorphic DNA electrophoresis and PFGE of large restriction fragments, the three isolates from the nail salon were shown to be the same strain but different from the strain from the patient in Venezuela. Polymorphisms in regions of therpoB,hsp65and 16S rRNA genes that were shown to be useful for species identification matched for the two strains but were different from those of otherMycobacteriumspecies. The 16S rRNA gene sequence placed the strains in a taxonomic group along withMycobacterium frederiksbergense,Mycobacterium hodleri,Mycobacterium diernhoferiandMycobacterium neoaurum. The strains produced a pale-yellow pigment when grown in the dark at the optimal temperature of 35 °C. Biochemical testing showed that the strains were positive for iron uptake, nitrate reduction and utilization ofd-mannitol,d-xylose, iso-myo-inositol,l-arabinose, citrate andd-trehalose. The strains were negative ford-sorbitol utilization and production of niacin and 3-day arylsulfatase, although arylsulfatase activity was observed after 14 days. The isolates grew on MacConkey agar without crystal violet but not on media containing 5 % (w/v) NaCl or at 45 °C. They were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, amikacin, tobramycin, cefoxitin, clarithromycin, doxycycline, sulfamethoxazole and imipenem. The nameMycobacterium cosmeticumsp. nov. is proposed for this novel species; two strains, LTA-388T(=ATCC BAA-878T=CIP 108170T) (the type strain) and 2003-11-06 (=ATCC BAA-879=CIP 108169) have been designated, respectively, for the strains of the patient in Venezuela and from the nail salon in Atlanta, GA, USA.
Candida leandrae sp. nov., an asexual ascomycetous yeast species isolated from tropical plants
Authors: Ruivo Carla C. C. , Lachance Marc-André , Bacci Maurício , Carreiro Solange C. , Rosa Carlos A. , Pagnocca Fernando C.
Published: November 2004

The novel yeast species Candida leandrae is described based on eight isolates from decaying fruits of Leandra reversa Cogn. (Melastomataceae) in an Atlantic rainforest site in Brazil, one from a Convolvulaceae flower in Costa Rica and one from a drosophilid in Hawai'i. The strains differed in their colony morphology, one being butyrous and smooth and the other being filamentous and rugose. Sequences of the D1/D2 domains of the large-subunit rRNA gene from both morphotypes were identical. C. leandrae belongs to the Kodamaea clade and is closely related to Candida restingae. The two species can be separated on the basis of growth at 37 °C and the assimilation of melezitose, negative in the novel species. The type culture of C. leandrae is strain UNESP 00-64RT (=CBS 9735T=NRRL Y-27757T).
Thiomicrospira thermophila sp. nov., a novel microaerobic, thermotolerant, sulfur-oxidizing chemolithomixotroph isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal fumarole in the TOTO caldera, Mariana Arc, Western Pacific
Authors: Takai Ken , Hirayama Hisako , Nakagawa Tatsunori , Suzuki Yohey , Nealson Kenneth H. , Horikoshi Koki
Published: November 2004

A novel thermotolerant bacterium, designated strain I78T, was isolated from a self-temperature-recordingin situcolonization system deployed in a hydrothermal diffusing flow (maximal temperature 78 °C) at the TOTO caldera in the Mariana Arc, Western Pacific. Cells were highly motile curved rods with a single polar flagellum. Growth was observed at 15–55 °C (optimum 35–40 °C; 60 min doubling time) and pH 5·0–8·0 (optimum pH 6·0). The isolate was a microaerobic chemolithomixotroph capable of using thiosulfate, elemental sulfur or sulfide as the sole energy source, and molecular oxygen as the sole electron acceptor. The isolate was able to grow chemolithoautotrophically with carbon dioxide. Various organic substrates such as complex proteinaceous compounds, carbohydrates, organic acids, amino acids and sugars could also support growth as the carbon source instead of carbon dioxide with sulfur oxidation. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 43·8 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate belonged to the genusThiomicrospiraand was most closely related toThiomicrospira crunogenastrain TH-55TandThiomicrospirasp. strain L-12, while DNA–DNA hybridization demonstrated that the novel isolate could be genetically differentiated from previously described strains ofThiomicrospira. On the basis of its physiological and molecular properties the isolate is representative of a novelThiomicrospiraspecies, for which the nameThiomicrospira thermophilasp. nov. is proposed (type strain, I78T=JCM 12397T=DSM 16397T).
WNT signaling, in synergy with T/TBX6, controls Notch signaling by regulating Dll1 expression in the presomitic mesoderm of mouse embryos
Authors: Hofmann Michael , Schuster-Gossler Karin , Watabe-Rudolph Masami , Aulehla Alexander , Herrmann Bernhard G. , Gossler Achim
Published: November 2004

Notch signaling in the presomitic mesoderm (psm) is critical for somite formation and patterning. Here, we show that WNT signals regulate transcription of the Notch ligand Dll1 in the tailbud and psm. LEF/TCF factors cooperate with TBX6 to activate transcription from the Dll1 promoter in vitro. Mutating either T or LEF/TCF sites in the Dll1 promoter abolishes reporter gene expression in vitro as well as in the tail bud and psm of transgenic embryos. Our results indicate that WNT activity, in synergy with TBX6, regulates Dll1 transcription and thereby controls Notch activity, somite formation, and patterning.
Pattern Databases
Authors: Culberson Joseph C. , Schaeffer Jonathan
Published: November 2004

The efficiency of A* searching depends on the quality of the lower bound estimates of the solution cost. Pattern databases enumerate all possible subgoals required by any solution, subject to constraints on the subgoal size. Each subgoal in the database provides a tight lower bound on the cost of achieving it. For a given state in the search space, all possible subgoals are looked up in the pattern database, with the maximum cost over all lookups being the lower bound. For sliding tile puzzles, the database enumerates all possible patterns containing N tiles and, for each one, contains a lower bound on the distance to correctly move all N tiles into their correct final location. For the 15‐Puzzle, iterative‐deepening A* with pattern databases(N ="8) reduces the total number of nodes searched on a standard problem set of 100 positions by over 1000‐fold.
X‐Inefficiency, Competition and Market Information
Authors: Bertoletti Paolo , Poletti Clara
Published: November 2004

Whether competition forces firms toward efficient behaviour is an open question. We consider a duopoly with firms run by managers and affected by adverse selection on costs. In contrast to recent literature, we point out that, to have a genuine effect on firm X‐inefficiency, competition must change managerial incentives. By introducing the availability of some signal on the rivals' behaviour we show that, if costs are correlated, the contractual use of that signal can render private managerial information uninfluential. This result stresses the informational role of the market and suggests scope for future work.
Government‐Assisted Oligopoly Coordination? A Concrete Case
Authors: Albæk Svend , Møllgaard Peter , Overgaard Per B.
Published: November 2004

In 1993 the Danish antitrust authority decided to gather and publish firm‐specific transactions prices for two grades of ready‐mixed concrete in three regions of Denmark. Following initial publication, average prices of reported grades increased by 15–20 percent within one year. We investigate whether this was due to a business upturn and/or capacity constraints, but argue that these seem to have little explanatory power. We conclude that a better explanation is that publication of prices allowed firms to reduce the intensity of oligopoly price competition and, hence, led to increased prices contrary to the aim of the authority.
Centralized and Decentralized Contracts in a Moral Hazard Environment
Authors: Macho‐Stadler Inés , Pérez‐Castrillo J. David
Published: November 2004

We study the optimal allocation of the contracting capacity in a moral hazard environment. Centralizing is superior when the principal is able to establish all the contracts with the agents simultaneously and she is able to monitor side contracting between the agents. Otherwise, decentralizing can be a superior strategy. We apply our results to a firm’s decision on which outlets to franchise. They suggest that franchising is more likely to occur the further the store is from headquarters, the more isolated it is and in those activities where the risk is low. This conclusion is consistent with empirical studies.
An Econometric Analysis of Telecom Competition, Privatization, and Regulation in Africa and Latin America
Authors: Wallsten Scott J.
Published: November 2004

This paper explores the effects of privatization, competition, and regulation on telecommunications performance in 30 African and Latin American countries from 1984 through 1997. Fixed‐effects regressions reveal that competition??measured by mobile operators not owned by the incumbent??is correlated with increases in the per capita number of mainlines, payphones, and connection capacity, and with decreases in the price of local calls. Privatization combined with an independent regulator is positively correlated with telecom performance measures. Privatization alone, however, is associated with few benefits, and is negatively correlated with connection capacity.
Why Do Suppliers Charge Larger Buyers Lower Prices?
Authors: Tyagi Rajeev K.
Published: November 2004

The phenomenon of input suppliers charging larger buyer firms, relative to smaller buyer firms, lower prices is commonly explained in terms of supplier economies of scale, supplier competition for larger buyers, and the larger bargaining power of larger buyers. This paper provides an alternative explanation, and shows that the observed direction of differential pricing can benefit the supplier by lowering the level of tacit collusion its buyers can sustain in their output market. This result also provides a new mechanism through which a ban on price discrimination by input suppliers may lower consumer welfare.
The Competitive Effects of Not‐for‐Profit Hospital Mergers: A Case Study
Authors: Vita Michael G. , Sacher Seth
Published: November 2004

Applying conventional horizontal merger enforcement rules to nonprofit hospitals is controversial. Critics contend that the different objective function of not‐for‐profits entities should mitigate competitive concerns about mergers involving nonprofit hospitals. We analyze a merger that reduced the number of competitors (both nonprofit) in the alleged relevant market from three to two. We find that the transaction was followed by significant price increases; we reject the hypothesis that these price increases reflect higher post‐merger quality. This study should help policymakers assess the validity of current merger enforcement rules, especially as they apply to not‐for‐profit enterprises.
On the Desirability of Compatibility with Product Selection
Authors: Boom Anette
Published: November 2004

The paper analyses a three‐stage game where two integrated system suppliers first decide whether to provide compatible system components, then choose the product specifications of their two offered components, and finally set prices. Contrary to results with exogenous product characteristics, the achievement of compatibility does not improve social welfare here. Given the assumed distribution of the consumers’ preferences on the product space, consumers’ losses from the changed product designs under compatibility outweigh the gains from these changes and from the availability of two additional system goods. Nevertheless, one firm ensures compatibility, if compatibility costs do not exceed a certain threshold.
Evidence of Qualitative Learning‐by‐Doing from the Advent of the ‘Talkie’
Authors: Moul Charles
Published: November 2004

Empirical work on learning‐by‐doing has largely been limited to examinations of production costs. In this paper I present anecdotal and statistical evidence of qualitative learning (the idea that product quality improves as producers gain experience with the relevant technology). Using U.S. motion picture industry data from 1925 to 1941, I reject that the transition to sound pictures resulted in a fixed increase in film‐quality in favor of my hypothesis that this quality differential increased with the producing studio’s sound‐experience. These results are robust to several different specifications.
Do R&D Subsidies Stimulate or Displace Private R&D? Evidence from Israel
Authors: Lach Saul
Published: November 2004

In evaluating the effect of an R&D subsidy we need to know what the subsidized firm would have spent on R&D had it not received the subsidy. Using data on Israeli manufacturing firms in the 1990s we find evidence suggesting that the R&D subsidies granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade greatly stimulated company financed R&D expenditures for small firms but had a negative effect on the R&D of large firms, although not statistically significant. One subsidized New Israeli Shekel (NIS) induces 11 additional NIS of own R&D for the small firms. However, because most subsidies go to the large firms a subsidy of one NIS generates, on average, a statistically insignificant 0.23 additional NIS of company financed R&D.
Revising ideas about environmental determinism: Human–environment relations in the Pacific Islands
Authors: Nunn Patrick D.
Published: November 2004

Rapid cooling and sea–level fall around AD 1300, perhaps accompanied by increased storminess, had major impacts on Pacific Island environments including water–table fall, reef–surface death, increased lagoonal turbidity, and the conversion of seawater embayments to brackish–water wetlands. These environmental changes had severe and lasting impacts on Pacific Island societies, largely associated with a massive (perhaps 80 per cent) reduction in the food resource base on some islands. Conflict ensued, coastal villages were abandoned on high islands in favour of fortified inland sites, settlements on large atoll islands were dispersed. It is clear that environmental change a the major cause of last–millennium cultural transformation in the Pacific Islands, a conclusion which is likely to apply elsewhere.
Rural resettlement and land compensation in flooded areas: The case of the Three Gorges Project, China
Authors: Tan Yan , Wang Yi Qian
Published: November 2004

This paper provides an evaluation of current arrangements made for compensation and resettlement to farmers who will be displaced by the construction of the Three Gorges Project (TGP) on the Yangtze River. Kaixian County is used as a case study. Under present regulations the specific value of peri–urban land is underestimated, neither cash–in–hand arrangements nor land–for–land swaps are adequate. There are other problems. The availability of suitable land for resettlement is scarce and rarely of equivalent quality. The inflexibility of the ‘household responsibility system’ contributes to the problem. It is suggested that some of those facing displacement should be encouraged to accept resettlement in places at considerable distance from their current homes and that a more creative approach should be taken to the issue of compensation to enable people to develop their trade and business skills.
A Voice Cursing in the Wilderness
Authors: Webb Stephen H.
Published: November 2004

Book reviewed in this article:

John Berkman and Michael Cartwright (eds), The Hauerwas Reader
Polarization, Political Instability and Active Learning*
Authors: Ossokina Ioulia V. , Swank Otto H.
Published: November 2004

In a multiperiod setting, decision‐makers can learn about the consequences of their decisions through experimentation. We examine how polarization and political instability affect learning through experimentation. We distinguish two cases: (i) the decision to be made is not salient and does not affect the outcome of subsequent elections (exogenous elections) and (ii) the decision is salient and the election outcome depends on it (endogenous elections). It is shown that while the possibility of learning increases activism, the existence of political instability distorts learning. Furthermore, we demonstrate that, when elections are exogenous, polarization between political parties does not always decrease active learning.
The Location of Firms in Unionized Countries*
Authors: Munch Jakob Roland
Published: November 2004

This paper develops a two‐country economic geography model with Cournot competition, where the labor markets are unionized so that trade unions bargain efficiently with each firm over wages and employment. Agglomeration forces are present due to wage premia obtained by the trade unions. It is shown that if the bargaining power of unions differs across countries then, as trade costs are reduced, the country with relatively weak unions gradually acquires all firms. However, for a range of trade costs, it is also a locally stable equilibrium for all firms to locate in the country with strong unions.
R&D and Absorptive Capacity: Theory and Empirical Evidence*
Authors: Griffith Rachel , Redding Stephen , Van Reenen John
Published: November 2004

This paper presents a single unified framework that integrates the theoretical literature on Schumpeterian endogenous growth and major strands of the empirical literature on R&D, productivity growth and productivity convergence. Starting from a structural model of endogenous growth following Aghion and Howitt (1992, 1998), we provide microeconomic foundations for the reduced‐form equations for total factor productivity (TFP) growth frequently estimated empirically using industry‐level data. R&D affects both innovation and the assimilation of others’ discoveries (“absorptive capacity”). Long‐run cross‐country differences in productivity emerge endogenously, and the analysis implies that many existing studies underestimate R&D's social rate of return by neglecting absorptive capacity.
The Managers versus the Consultants*
Authors: Grifell‐Tatjé Emili , Knox Lovell C. A.
Published: November 2004

Since engineering information is rarely available, standard practice is to benchmark managerial performance against best observed practice. We exploit a rare opportunity to benchmark managerial performance against engineering standards. Our managerial performance describes the activities of Spanish electricity distributors, and our engineering standards are obtained from an engineering grid created by an international consultancy. We find the consultancy's network to be much less costly to operate. When we decompose the cost differential, we find that the superior network design, combined with lower input prices, accounts for more than all of the predicted cost savings. However we also find that the managers are more cost efficient than the consultancy, presumably because they exploit their incentive to be cost efficient under a revenue cap regulatory regime.
Horwitz’s Rule, Transforming Both Sides and the Design of Experiments for Mechanistic Models
Authors: Atkinson Anthony C.
Published: November 2004

The paper develops methods for the design of experiments for mechanistic models when the response must be transformed to achieve symmetry and constant variance. The power transformation that is used is partially justified by a rule in analytical chemistry. Because of the nature of the relationship between the response and the mechanistic model, it is necessary to transform both sides of the model. Expressions are given for the parameter sensitivities in the transformed model and examples are given of optimum designs, not only for single-response models, but also for experiments in which multivariate responses are measured and for experiments in which the model is defined by a set of differential equations which cannot be solved analytically. The extension to designs for checking models is discussed.
A Bounded Influence Regression Estimator Based on the Statistics of the Hat Matrix
Authors: Chave Alan D. , Thomson David J.
Published: November 2004

Many geophysical regression problems require the analysis of large (more than 104 values) data sets, and, because the data may represent mixtures of concurrent natural processes with widely varying statistical properties, contamination of both response and predictor variables is common. Existing bounded influence or high breakdown point estimators frequently lack the ability to eliminate extremely influential data and/or the computational efficiency to handle large data sets. A new bounded influence estimator is proposed that combines high asymptotic efficiency for normal data, high breakdown point behaviour with contaminated data and computational simplicity for large data sets. The algorithm combines a standard M-estimator to downweight data corresponding to extreme regression residuals and removal of overly influential predictor values (leverage points) on the basis of the statistics of the hat matrix diagonal elements. For this, the exact distribution of the hat matrix diagonal elements pii for complex multivariate Gaussian predictor data is shown to be β(pii, m, N−m), where N is the number of data and m is the number of parameters. Real geophysical data from an auroral zone magnetotelluric study which exhibit severe outlier and leverage point contamination are used to illustrate the estimator’s performance. The examples also demonstrate the utility of looking at both the residual and the hat matrix distributions through quantile–quantile plots to diagnose robust regression problems.
An Extreme Value Analysis for the Investigation into the Sinking of the M. V. Derbyshire
Authors: Heffernan Janet E. , Tawn Jonathan A.
Published: November 2004

The paper describes our involvement in the high court reopened formal investigation into the sinking of the bulk carrier M. V. Derbyshire. The statistical problem that we addressed concerned the estimation of the probability that the ship had sunk from a particular form of structural failure, resulting from large wave impacts on the ship, for each of a range of possible sea-state and vessel conditions. We considered several statistical models for the wave impacts on the ship with the generalized Pareto distribution, motivated by extreme value theory, providing an excellent description and aiding the investigation to draw clear conclusions about the cause of the sinking.
Randomization Tests for Small Samples: An Application for Genetic Expression Data
Authors: Gadbury Gary L. , Page Grier P. , Heo Moonseong , Mountz John D. , Allison David B.
Published: November 2004

An advantage of randomization tests for small samples is that an exact P-value can be computed under an additive model. A disadvantage with very small sample sizes is that the resulting discrete distribution for P-values can make it mathematically impossible for a P-value to attain a particular degree of significance. We investigate a distribution of P-values that arises when several thousand randomization tests are conducted simultaneously using small samples, a situation that arises with microarray gene expression data. We show that the distribution yields valuable information regarding groups of genes that are differentially expressed between two groups: a treatment group and a control group. This distribution helps to categorize genes with varying degrees of overlap of genetic expression values between the two groups, and it helps to quantify the degree of overlap by using the P-value from a randomization test. Moreover, a statistical test is available that compares the actual distribution of P-values with an expected distribution if there are no genes that are differentially expressed. We demonstrate the method and illustrate the results by using a microarray data set involving a cell line for rheumatoid arthritis. A small simulation study evaluates the effect that correlated gene expression levels could have on results from the analysis.
Growth and Welfare Effects of Monetary Volatility
Authors: Evans Lynne , Kenc Turalay
Published: November 2004

In this paper we use a continuous‐time, stochastic, dynamic general equilibrium model to provide estimates of the growth and welfare effects of monetary volatility. Our primary concern is to highlight the long‐run consequences of different monetary environments in a small open economy. Using UK‐relevant data to set key parameter values in the model, we carry out three policy experiments. We find that (i) eliminating monetary growth shocks and (ii) reducing the inflation rate can each generate positive growth and welfare effects, while (iii) reducing the interest rate depresses growth and is welfare deteriorating. However, these results are sensitive to the values set for the risk aversion and intertemporal substitution parameters. Most notably, in some cases, high degrees of risk aversion are sufficient to change the direction of the influence of volatility on growth and welfare—an issue currently challenging the profession.
Business Cycle Volatility, Uncertainty and Long‐run Growth
Authors: Kneller Richard , Young Garry
Published: November 2004

Using data for 24 OECD economies from 1961 to 1997 we investigate whether the empirical relationship between business cycle volatility and long‐run growth is positive, as Blackburn (Economic Journal, Vol. 109, No. 1 (1999), pp. 67–77) suggests, or negative, the view of the UK and other governments. The existing empirical literature is ambiguous on this issue. Here we account for the disparate results and find a significant negative relationship. This relationship is found to depend crucially on the time dimension of the data. We also find that oil price volatility and inflation uncertainty, as indicators of world and general shocks, are robustly correlated with growth.
World Oil Reserves: Problems In Definition And Estimation
Authors: Haider Ghazi M.
Published: November 2004

Various controversial issues relating to the definition and interpretation of the term ‘proven reserves’ are cited and discussed. Furthermore, reserve figures published in oil industry periodicals and trade journals are reviewed and analyzed. ‘Original reserves’ (reserves plus cumulative production) of non‐OPEC countries seem to increase almost linearly with time, especially since the early 1980s, with an average rate of rise of 15 billion barrels per annum. The OPEC trend, however, is rather ‘distorted’ by irregular revisions, and the rate of additions to reserves in non‐OPEC countries seems to have surpassed OPEC countries during the 1990s. Nevertheless, OPEC, with its easily accessible low‐cost oil, will very likely continue to be the paramount source of world oil for many decades.
St Darerca and Her Sister Scholars: Women and Education in Medieval Ireland
Authors: Callan Maeve B.
Published: November 2004

This article examines largely neglected evidence for women's education in Irish saints’ Lives and integrates it with findings from other medieval Irish texts, such as chronicles, devotional works and poetry. The sources attest that education was available to at least some girls and women under male and female teachers in mixed and single–sex schools from the earliest days of the Irish church until the mid–fifteenth century. Their history points to the power, agency and authority open to medieval Irish women and the respect, affection, and admiration their brothers felt for them.
Sexual Misconduct and Church Power on Scottish Mission Stations in Xhosaland, South Africa, in the 1840s
Authors: Erlank Natasha
Published: November 2004

Tensions over the control of improper sexuality were a key concern of African converts and Scottish missionaries in Xhosaland, South Africa, in the first part of the nineteenth century. Missionary preoccupations with sexual behaviour meant that sexual acts became key sites for the negotiation of status and identity. Reading the case of Jan Beck, which is represented in unusually rich detail in the mission archive, allows us to see how converts used European understandings of sexual morality to gain access to mission resources as well as to exclude other converts from them. In the process, male converts were mediating between Xhosa and missionary evangelical sexual mores and identities. Their ability to do so reveals both the power of local figures to influence colonial outcomes, and the relative fragility of missionary authority in these contexts.
Women at Sea: An Other Category
Authors: Stanley Jo
Published: November 2004

Books reviewed in this article:

David Cordingly, Women Sailors and Sailors’ Women: An Untold Maritime History

Joan Druett, She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea

Lizabeth Paravisini–Gebert and Ivette Romero–Cesareo (eds), Women at Sea: Travel Writing and the Margins of Caribbean Discourse

Sena Jeter Naslund, Ahab's Wife or The Star–Gazer

Nancy Pagh, At Home Afloat: Women on the waters of the Pacific North–West

Dee Pigneguy, Saltwater in Her Hair: Stories of women in the New Zealand maritime industry
An Applied Econometricians' View of Empirical Corporate Governance Studies
Authors: Börsch-Supan Axel , Köke Jens
Published: November 2004

The economic analysis of corporate governance is in vogue. In addition to a host of theoretical papers, an increasing number of empirical studies analyze how ownership structure, capital structure, board structure, and the market for corporate control influence firm performance. This is not an easy task, and indeed, for reasons explained in this survey, empirical studies on corporate governance have more than the usual share of econometric problems. This paper is a critical survey of the recent empirical literature on corporate governance - to show which methodological lessons can be learned for future empirical research in the field of corporate governance, paying particular attention to German institutions and data availability.
Changing a Culture: Evaluation of a Leadership Development Program at Mellon Financial Services
Authors: Sirianni Patricia M. , Frey Barbara A.
Published: November 2004

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an internally developed and delivered Leadership Development program conducted at Mellon Financial Services. The 9‐month program integrated action learning/action science strategies into 13 modules. Program effectiveness was measured using instruments and statistics that already existed in the organisation—employee satisfaction surveys, annual employee turnover statistics, and regional scorecard results. In addition, the training participants completed midpoint and end‐of‐training feedback forms. Results of the evaluation showed that the impact of the training transferred to the participants’ job performance through increased job satisfaction, decreased turnover, and improved scorecard statistics.
Contrarian Investment and Macroeconomic Risk
Authors: Gregory Alan , Harris Richard D.F. , Michou Maria
Published: November 2004

It is now widely accepted that contrarian, or value investment strategies deliver superior returns. Gregory, Harris and Michou (2001) examine the performance of contrarian investment strategies in the UK and find that value strategies formed on the basis of a wide range of measures of value have delivered excess returns that are both statistically and economically significant. However, while value strategies appear to be profitable, the reason for their superior perform‐ ance is far from clear. Under the contrarian model, value strategies are profitable because they are contrarian to naïve strategies such as those that erroneously extrapolate past performance, while under the rational pricing model, value strategies are profitable because they are fundamentally riskier in some sense. In this paper, we discriminate between these two possibilities by undertaking a comprehensive investigation of the relationship between the returns to value investment strategies and various macroeconomic state variables that in a multi‐factor asset pricing model could reasonably be taken as proxies for risk. Moreover, we examine whether the returns to value strategies predict future GDP, consumption and investment growth over and above the contribution of the Fama and French (1993 and 1996) SMB, HML and market factors. While the SMB and HML factors behave in a manner consistent with the rational pricing model, we show that some value strategies in the UK are able to generate excess returns that do not seem to be related to known risk factors.
Positive (Zero) NPV Projects and the Behavior of Residual Earnings
Authors: Ohlson James A.
Published: November 2004

This paper analyzes the time‐series behavior of residual earnings as it relates to the existence of positive NPV opportunities (or ‘rents’). The issue is of interest because many recent papers (e.g., Lo and Lys, 1999; and Holthausen and Watts, 2001) have commented on it in the context of the Ohlson (1995) model. The analysis shows that the Ohlson (1995) model allows for positive NPV opportunities, contrary to the frequently made claims.
Is Korean Enterprise Bargaining a Bona Fide Tool for Employee Representation?
Authors: Jeong Jooyeon
Published: November 2004

I n the 1990s, Korean enterprise unions have faced radical changes in personnel and work organisation policies in the wave of employer-led enterprise restructuring, accelerated in particular after the national economic crisis of 1997. This study empirically and theoretically examines whether isolated enterprise bargainings exclusively occurring at enterprise levels are inferior to coordinated bargainings beyond enterprise levels in defending employment security in this context.
Privacy as a Social Issue and Behavioral Concept
Authors: Margulis Stephen T.
Published: November 2004

This introduction, to an issue on privacy as a social issue and behavioral concept, discusses what privacy is, by examining definitions and theories of privacy, and what privacy does, by reviewing the benefits of obtaining privacy and the costs of failing to achieve and of losing privacy. It provides a possible bridge between social psychological and social issues approaches to privacy and examines privacy as a social issue for Americans as citizens, health‐care recipients, consumers, and employees. It then briefly explores behavioral aspects of privacy, including indicators of privacy's importance and the generally overlooked status of privacy in psychology.
Safe Harbors or Free Frontiers? Privacy and Transborder Data Flows
Authors: Regan Priscilla M.
Published: November 2004

This article explores the issues surrounding the harmonization of privacy or data protection during the last 30 years. It begins with a history of the conflict over transborder data flows and then proceeds to analyze current national and regional policy debates about the feasibility of policy solutions to address problems that are integral to global communications and economic networks. Ongoing discussions between the European Union and the United States over Safe Harbor Principles provide data for exploring these issues. The article concludes with an analysis of whether harmonization of privacy and data protection policies is likely to evolve through existing processes and institutions.
Public Opinion Surveys and the Formation of Privacy Policy
Authors: Gandy Oscar H.
Published: November 2004

The laws that condition the boundaries that separate the public from the private spheres shape our expectations of privacy. Public opinion helps to shape the development and implementation of those laws. Commercial firms in the information‐intensive industries have been the primary sponsors of public opinion surveys introduced into testimony as assessments of the public's will. Representatives of business and consumer organizations have relied upon the same industry‐sponsored surveys to frame their arguments in support of or in opposition to specific privacy policies. In the past 25 years, references to public opinion have been used to frame the public as concerned, differentiated and, most recently, as willing to negotiate their privacy demands.
On the Status and Contribution of Westin's and Altman's Theories of Privacy
Authors: Margulis Stephen T.
Published: November 2004

This article reviews the status and contribution of Alan Westin's and Irwin Altman's theories of privacy. It summarizes, compares, contrasts, and critiques their theories of privacy and summarizes the theory and research that have been a consequence of their theories. It discusses the relationship between privacy and secrecy, an issue raised by Westin, and between privacy and the environment, an issue raised by Altman. Finally, the article considers possible contributions of social‐psychological, cultural, and social‐development factors to a more complete account of privacy.
Book Reviews
Authors: Ikenberry David L. , Barber Brad M.
Published: November 2004

Zvi Bodie and Robert C. Merton, Finance.

David G. Luenberger, Investment Science
What and How of North American Lutheran Preaching
Authors: Rogers Thomas G.
Published: November 2004

Abstract:  This article suggests that an emphasis on how to preach, evidenced in the New Homiletic, can assist preachers in struggling with questions of what to preach. The narrative model of “problem”→“solution”→“what now?” has potential homiletical ties to Law (2nd use)→ Gospel→ Law (3rd use) theology. Since preaching 3rd use of the Law can lead to a kind of works righteousness for hearers of such sermons, strategies are offered for dealing with preaching challenge. Preachers can put challenge before their hearers as a noun rather than as a verb; they can preach challenge as identification or questioning rather than as something hearers must do of their own accord.
Exomissiology: The Launching of Exotheology
Authors: Hoffmann Thomas
Published: November 2004

Abstract:  The world's technologically advanced societies are actively engaged in space exploration. This includes locating possible planets supporting life and advancing earth's colonizing presence beyond the earth's atmosphere. Speculative (philosophical) theology has begun to engage the possibility of extra‐terrestrial life through the study of exotheology. This article argues that exomissiology must inform and shape exotheology. Exomissiology affirms a “pluriverse”, rejects the privatization and reductionism of faith, adopts a systems worldview, commits to an expansive and relational community based on a radical understanding of both creation and the Trinity, clarifies a vision of hope, and, embraces the church as the “plausibility structure” of the gospel.
A cultural‐political approach to reinventing the political
Authors: Osterweil Michal
Published: November 2004

This paper argues that the World Social Forum and larger Global Justice and Solidarity Movement of which it is a part are important sites for the elaboration of a new form of cultural politics. Although culture is often considered secondary or subservient to supposedly more serious political issues, various actors and practices, as well as the events of the Forum, demonstrate that culture is a key site for transformative political action. The paper argues that in order for concerned actors to both understand and develop the potential of the new political tools presented by the World Social Forum, and other actors critical of neo‐liberal globalisation, we must dispel common misconceptions about the nature of culture and politics. We must recognise the centrality of culture to all political action. The paper considers both the way the Forum has been written about and particular struggles within the social forum processes that demonstrate the salience of these cultural politics.
Trio*
Authors: Khan Taran N.
Published: November 2004

The article is concerned with issues of identity and the resonance that layers of being find across cultural/geographical contexts. It uses conversations between an Indian Muslim woman (the author), an indigenous Brazilian filmmaker, and a French Muslim activist across two meetings of the WSF as a thread of enquiry into the many layers of identity. The article attempts to examine how open the Forum is to the expression of various expressions of identity – some being more comfortably received than others. Through the juxtaposition of images and experiences, the article hopes to offer an insight into the very nature of the networking sought to be achieved by the Forum. It seeks to demonstrate how three individuals whose only connection is the WSF move from being three points on a fragmented triangle to a trio, indicating how relationships can move from the ephemerality of the Forum to an enduring connection.
Opposing fetishism by reclaiming our powers: The Social Forum movement, capitalist markets and the politics of alternatives
Authors: De Angelis Massimo
Published: November 2004

In this paper, I want to engage with the concept of “open spaces”, such as the World and other Social Forums (SFs), as an organisational form and discuss its relevance within the framework of a discourse on the politics of alternatives and the overcoming of capitalism. I suggest that we have to understand the organisational form of open spaces to contain elements that are alternative to the organisational forms of power that arise from capitalist disciplinary markets and other exploitative and oppressive relations. This emerges out of the SF's Charter of Principles, which proclaims the SF to be a space, a process, and a framework, within which not only resistance to neo‐liberalism is strengthened and struggles circulate, but alternatives are actively promoted. I suggest that the question of how struggles circulate, organise, and are able to coordinate alternatives is the key question around which an alternative to capitalism as a mode of organising social production can emerge. In other words, the alternative to capitalism is an alternative mode of relating, and hence also requires and must manifest alternative processes of social production.
Families and family study in international perspective
Authors: Adams Bert N.
Published: November 2004

Many changes are occurring in the world's families. Some observers feel that the changes are destructive, whereas others see them as leading to new opportunities and understanding. Issues in international family studies include regional limitations and the various aspects of doing research cross‐culturally. Knowledge regarding certain categories of families, inheritance, and the social psychology of families is incomplete. There are, however, some universals and universal or worldwide changes, including movement toward individual partner choice, more divorces, lower fertility, and greater opportunities for women.
Ethnic conflict, group polarization, and gender attitudes in Croatia
Authors: Kunovich Robert M. , Deitelbaum Catherine
Published: November 2004

We examine the sources of traditional gender attitudes during a period of social conflict and change. Using survey data from Croatia (Center for the Investigation of Transition and Civil Society, 1996; N= 2,030) we explore the relationships between war‐related experiences, in‐group and out‐group polarization, and two dimensions of gender attitudes: policy attitudes (e.g., attitudes toward divorce and abortion) and gendered family roles (e.g., attitudes toward the division of household labor). We argue that ethnic conflict promotes in‐group polarization (i.e., attachment to the Croatian nation) and out‐group polarization (i.e., distrust of “others”), which lead to a resurgence of traditional values, including traditional gender attitudes. We also examine the effects of childhood socialization, individual resources, and interpersonal familial ties on gender attitudes. Results support the conflict‐group polarization model and indicate that out‐group polarization has the most powerful effect on both gendered family role attitudes and policy attitudes for men and women. In‐group polarization does not affect gender attitudes, however.
The dowry system in Northern India: Women's attitudes and social change
Authors: Srinivasan Padma , Lee Gary R.
Published: November 2004

In spite of modernization and women's increasing role in the market economy, the practice of the dowry in India is becoming more widespread, and the value of dowries is increasing. There are many well‐documented adverse consequences of the dowry system, particularly for women. This is a study of attitudes toward the dowry system among married women in the northern province of Bihar (N= 4,603), in which the dowry has strong roots in tradition. Hypotheses regarding antecedents involving attachment to tradition, exposure to modernizing influences, and self‐interest were developed. Each set of factors has some effects, and nearly two thirds of the women in the survey disapprove of the dowry. The practice may be quite resistant to change, however, because its social and economic consequences carry tangible benefits in an increasingly materialistic culture.
The role of cohabitation in family formation: The United States in comparative perspective
Authors: Heuveline Patrick , Timberlake Jeffrey M.
Published: November 2004

The prevalence of nonmarital cohabitation is steadily increasing in the United States. In evaluating the contribution of this new living arrangement to family formation, analysts have relied primarily on comparisons between individuals who cohabit and those who do not. We complement this line of inquiry by comparing the United States and 16 industrialized nations. We first identify six conceptually distinct ideal types of cohabitation with respect to family formation. We then propose empirical indicators to distinguish between the different ideal types, and estimate the values of these indicators for each of the 17 nations. Our findings indicate that although a number of countries fit an empirical pattern corresponding to one ideal type, cohabitation in the United States is more difficult to characterize.
Economic transition and new patterns of parent‐adult child coresidence in Urban China
Authors: Forrest Zhang Qian
Published: November 2004

This study uses national data from the 1996 Life History and Social Change in Contemporary China survey (N= 3,087) to gauge the effect of the economic transition on parent‐adult child coresidence in urban China. Previous studies find that, thanks to state actions, traditional patterns in coresidence persisted in post‐Mao urban China. This study still finds high levels of coresidence. China's aging population, coupled with an underdeveloped social security system, means that the traditional role of family will remain strong. It also uncovers three new patterns, however, best explained as caused by changes in the economic realm. First, the coresidence pattern changes over parents’ life course, shifting from child‐centered to parent‐centered as parents age. Second, class differentials begin to emerge, most notably seen in the unique patterns of the entrepreneurial class. Last, gender differentials remain significant, but the tilt toward sons has strengthened.