International and Area Studies Commons^™

What Makes Small Firms Grow? Finance, Human Capital, Technical Assistance, And The Business Environment In Romania, J. David Brown, John S. Earle, Dana Lup

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Although the development of a new private sector is generally considered crucial to economic transition, there has been relatively little empirical research on the determinants of startup firm growth. This paper uses panel data techniques to analyze a survey of 297 new small enterprises in Romania containing detailed information from the startup date through 2001. We find strong evidence that access to external credit increases the growth of both employment and sales. Taxes appear to constrain growth. The data suggest that entrepreneurial skills have little independent effect on growth, once demand conditions are taken into account. The evidence for the …

Orthodoxy In A New Europe: Problems And Perspectives, Bishop Hilarion

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Overcoming The Totalitarian Past, Sergey Averintsev

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Orthodoxy In America: Diaspora Or Church?, Reverend Leonid Kishkovsky

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Slovak Lutheran Social Ethics, Past And Present, Vasil Gluchman

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Kathleen J. Hancock On Human Rights: International Protection, Monitoring, Enforcement By Janusz Symonides. Burlington, Vt: Ashgate Publishing, 2004. 416pp., Kathleen J. Hancock

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights: International Protection, Monitoring, Enforcement by Janusz Symonides. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2004. 416pp.

Integrating Business Opportunities In An Emerging Asian Economy: Perspectives From Singapore's Gambit In Vietnam, Ai Lin Leong, David David, Caroline Yeoh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

To date, Singapore’s regionalization strategy has been applied in China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam through the establishment of industrial parks. The nexus between these ‘clones’ is the implantation of Singapore’s positive business ethos amidst more uncertain host environments. Leveraging on world-class infrastructure, efficiency and location-specific advantages, these industrial parks present themselves as low-cost investment enclaves. This paper focuses on the regional industrial development project assembled, administered and promoted by the sovereign national governments of Singapore and Vietnam. Using in-depth case studies, it examines the push-pull factors for firms with different structures. It finds that progress in this privileged foreign investment …

Islam And Democracy: An Empirical Examiniation Of Muslims' Political Culture, Moataz Bellah Mohamed Abdel Fattah

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the following empirical puzzle: do the attitudes of ordinary educated Muslims stand as an obstacle toward the adoption of democracy? This research question calls for empirical/behavioral methodological tools that bring into focus contemporary Muslims' attitudes rather than ancient jurists' contributions. In other words, the dissertation shifts attention from ancient Islamic texts to contemporary Muslims' mindsets through written and web-bases surveys in 32 Muslim societies.

At the aggregate level, Muslim societies perplex with two types of sub-cultures: the culture of "dictator, but..." and the culture of "democracy-as-a-must." The former is the sub-couture of two groups of Muslims: …

The Politics Of Hiv/Aids And Implications For Democracy In Kenya, Wambuii Henry Kiragu

Dissertations

Democratic consolidation in newly transitioned democracies has traditionally been attributed to widely accepted political and legal mechanisms, like elections and constitutions. Existing literature on democratization in sub-Saharan Africa is preoccupied with these mechanisms as prime indicators for democratic takeoff in specific countries. Hardly any attention has been paid to other less openly political mechanisms, such as the response to external shocks, as potential sources of institutional development that could advance democratic practices.

Yet national response to any external shock can entail a host of actions with potentially far ranging political implications, including transformation of the form and means of political …

Information Technology, Organizational Form, And Transition To The Market, John S. Earle, Ugo Pagano, Maria Lesi

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The paper reviews theories of information technology adoption and organizational form and applies them to an empirical analysis of firm choices and characteristics in four transition economies: Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. We argue that these economies have gone through two major structural changes – one concerning technology and another concerning ownership and boundaries of firms – and we consider if and how each of the two structural changes has affected the other. We test the impact of firm size, integration, and ownership on the extent of new information technology adoption (measured by growth in the fraction of employees …

Expectations Formation And Forecasting Of Vehicle Demand: An Empirical Study Of The Vehicle Quota Auctions In Singapore, Sing-Fat Chu, Winston T. H. Koh, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper studies the expectations formation and forecasting of vehicle demand in Singapore under the vehicle quota system. Under the system, a car buyer must first bid for a vehicle license in monthly auctions in order to purchase a new car. We construct an econometric model to test the hypothesis that past bid distributions of the license auctions contain information that car buyers can use to update their expectations about the intensity of market demand, forecast the license premiums and formulate their bidding strategies in future auctions. Our empirical analysis indicates that past bid distributions have a good degree of …

The Singapore "Advantage" In India: A Perception Or A Premium?, Alexandra Si-Lan Wee, Ai Lin Leong, Caroline Yeoh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Singapore’s regionalisation strategy has been applied in various countries, such as China, Vietnam and India, through the establishment of industrial parks. The parks are marketed as a winning combination of the host country’s unique location advantages and Singapore style efficiency and management know-how. Singapore’s foray into India was marked by the setting up of the ITPL in Bangalore, and furthered by its venture into a future phase of HITEC City, based on her success in Bangalore. However, with global businesses shifting interests towards India, and competing industrial parks emerging to meet the increasing demand, ITPL is faced with stiff competition …

Expectations Formation And Forecasting Of Vehicle Demand: An Empirical Study Of The Vehicle Quota Auctions In Singapore, Sing-Fat Chu, Winston T. H. Koh, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper studies expectations formation and forecasting of vehicle demand in Singapore under the vehicle quota system. Under the system, a car buyer must first bid for a vehicle license in monthly auctions in order to purchase a new car. We construct an econometric model to test the hypothesis that past bid distributions of the license auctions contain information that car buyers can use to update their expectations about the intensity of market demand, forecast license premiums and formulate their bidding strategies in future auctions. Our empirical analysis indicates that past bid distributions have a good degree of predictive power …

Letter From The Editor, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

There I was, happily enjoying retirement, getting to read what I wanted, and come to the office when I wanted. Then in late February 2004, the Director of the Center for Great Plains Studies (CGPS) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dr. Jim Stubbendieck, called me and asked if I would consider accepting the job of editor of Great Plains Research. I considered the offer and quickly accepted.

In the brief time that I have been on the job I have gotten to know some of the staff at the CGPS and have found them to be easy to work …

Brown-Headed Cowbirds In Grasslands: Their Habitats, Hosts, And Response To Management, Jill Shaffer, Christopher Goldade, Meghan Dinkins, Douglas Johnson, Lawrence Igl, Betty Euliss

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is an obligate brood parasite whose numbers have increased in recent decades to the potential detriment of the species that they parasitize. Thus, most management efforts focus on discouraging brown-headed cowbird parasitism or controlling brown-headed cowbird populations. Keys to discouraging cowbird parasitism or controlling populations of brown-headed cowbirds in the Great Plains are maintaining large expanses of grassland, eliminating foraging areas (e.g., feedlots) and perch sites, and reducing the extent of overgrazed pastures.

Exporting Expertise: The Singapore Experience In Vietnam, Caroline Yeoh, Siang Yeung Wong, Amrit Vaidyanath

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Infrastructure can be unreliable and administration subject to corruption in Asia’s rapidly emerging economies. This context presented Singapore with unique opportunities to export its ‘positive reputation’ to locations where these attributes are less certain. The strategic initiative is premised on the perception that Singapore’s good relations with multinationals, as well as ‘guanxi’, or connections, with Asian business networks, will give the industrial-township projects a marketing advantage. To complement the extensive literature on Singapore’s flagship projects in Indonesia and China, this paper takes a closer look at Singapore’s lesser-known project in Vietnam. Evidence from on-site surveys is presented. It finds that …

Institutional Change And Persistence: The Evolution Of Poland's Electoral System, 1989-2001, Kenneth Benoit, Jacqueline Hayden

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Electoral systems are uniquely distributive political institutions that shape political outcomes, yet are themselves endogenously shaped outcomes of political choices. In Poland, party system development has involved not only parties adapting to electoral institutions in each election, but also parties modifying these institutions prior to every election. We model electoral system change as driven by partisan self-interest in maximizing seat share and test it in five episodes of electoral system change in Poland from 1989 to 2001, comparing parties’ support for electoral law alternatives to their expectations of seat shares from those alternatives. Data consists of opinion polls, roll-call votes, …

From Efficiency-Driven To Innovation-Driven Economic Growth: Perspectives From Singapore, Kim Song Tan, Sock-Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

The Singapore economy is going through a period of major restructuring. Economic stagnation since the 1997 Asia financial crisis (except for a brief recovery in 1999) has called into question the continued relevance of many fundamental policies that had worked well in the past. In 2002, a high-level Economic Review Committee (ERC) was convened by the government to chart new directions for the economy. A common thread that ran through the committee’s various reports was a call to enhance the economy’s innovative capacity, with the aim of making Singapore an innovation hub in the region. The call reflects an increased …

Integrating Business Opportunities In Contiguous Economies: Perspectives From Singapore's Gambit In Indonesia, Caroline Yeoh, Sang M Lee, W. Ra Jang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

A Cross-Cultural Study Of Children’S Development As Reflected In Their Artwork: An Investigation Of Children’S Drawings From The African Country Of Benin, Elizabeth Anna Smead

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

This research adds to the body of knowledge related to the human figure drawing as a useful tool in assessment and to art therapists’ understanding of children who depict the human figure in cross-cultural settings. This researcher obtained a sample collection of 148 human figure drawings from African children in rural Benin, West Africa to study in comparison to a set of human figure drawings collected under similar conditions in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

In this quantitative study, five of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scales (FEATS) were modified and used to tally the formal elements of each of the 148 …

Indonesian Economic Development: Miracle Or Mirage?, John Malcolm Dowling, Chin Fang Yap

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper focuses on a few major developments that took place during the three decades from the late 1960s to the Asian financial crisis. The study finds, in retrospect, that many of the Indonesian economy's weaknesses--now so glaringly apparent--were there all the time. The paper concludes that the Indonesian banking crisis was primarily domestic in nature, more so than the crises in Korea and Thailand. The extent of the failure was much more widespread and probably resulted from a chain of bank runs and bank closings, reinforced by uncertainty and lack of faith in the government's commitment to the IMF …

A Thematic Content Analysis Of National Anthems: Europe Vs. Members Of The Arab League, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The authors conduct a political psychological analysis of national anthems from European, African, and Middle Eastern nations. Their results focus on the difference between anthems of European nations and members of the Arab League, and potential reasons behind those differences.

Intelligence And Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the ramifications of the lack of epistemological underpinnings from which the rightness or wrongness regarding WMD in Iraq can be constructed and adjudicated.

A 15th C. Archaeofauna From Akurvík, An Early Fishing Station In Nw Iceland, Colin Amundsen, Sophia Perdikaris, Matthew Brown, Yekaterina Krivogorskaya, Salena Modugno, Konrad Smiarowski, Shaye Storm, Malgorzata Frik, Monica Koczela, Thomas H. Mcgovern

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

This is a report of analysis of 15th c bone materials from the site of Akurvík in NW Iceland excavated in 1990. A small international project in Árneshreppur district recovered a series of stratified midden deposits associated with small turf structures on an eroding beachfront. Radiocarbon dates identify at least two major phases of occupation and use, one extending into the mid 13th century, and the other dating to the mid 15th century. This report documents the animal bone collection from the later 15th c occupation. Dominated by cod fish, these deposits appear to be the product of seasonal fishery …

Review Of Texas Natural History: A Century Of Change By David J. Schmidly, Brian Barnette

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

As the nineteenth century drew to a close, a team of naturalists ventured out across the state of Texas to capture, identify, and record as many species of wildlife as they could find. Under the direction of Vernon Bailey, they spent more than 2,100 days in Texas between 1889 and 1906 sampling each of the state's ten ecological regions. Their efforts were part of a nation-wide survey sponsored by the Department of Agriculture.

Bailey's 1905 summary of the team's findings, North American Fauna No. 25: Biological Survey of Texas, has served as a standard reference on Texas mammals for …

Mapping Changes In Denominational Membership In The Great Plains, 1952-2000, Holly Barcus, Stanley Brunn

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The religious heritage of the Great Plains is illustrated in distinct denominational regions. Mapping county-level data on major denominations reveals that Catholics and Lutherans are strongest in the Northern Plain, Methodists in the Central Plains, and Baptists in the Southern Plains. Counties that are increasing in population and closest to metropolitan and interstate areas experience the most diversity. During the last fifty years, Lutherans and Methodists have lost members, while Catholics and Baptists gained. The Central Plains is experiencing the most dynamism.

Social Capital, Wealth, And Nebraska Towns, John Anderson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The relationship between political theory and economic development is often overlooked. In this research, political theorizing about what makes democracies work is linked to the production of wealth in rural Nebraska towns. Evidence shows that social capital in rural settings actually can help with economic development. The evidence also shows that suburban towns may actually inhibit the development of social capital.

Review Of Agricultural Policy, Agribusiness, And Rent-Seeking Behavior By Andrew Schmitz, Hartley Furtan, And Katherine Baylis, Brian Oleson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This excellent text is suitable for senior undergraduate students and graduate students in agricultural economics and agribusiness. Its underlying premise is that the formation of agricultural policy is driven by rent-seeking behavior and that agribusiness is an important participant in the policy process. The book goes on to contrast agricultural policies in Canada and the United States through this rent-seeking lens.

Although its title's emphasis on rent-seeking and agribusiness is somewhat misleading, the volume offers an excellent economic analysis of agricultural policy. Rent-seeking is a dominant theme but certainly not the book's focus, unless policy and rent-seeking are simply seen …

Review Of Changing Precipitation Regimes And Terrestrial Ecosystems: A North American Perspective Edited By Jake F. Weltzin And Guy R. Mcpherson, Luke Marzen

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This volume, the result of a 1998 symposium organized by the Ecological Society of America, bring together a number of leading experts to answer important questions about global change, precipitation regimes, and terrestrial ecosystems in several biomes of temperate North America. It is becoming increasingly apparent that anthropogenic activities combined with many other factors are substantially affecting terrestrial ecosystems and vegetation response patterns at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. Concern over global changes is leading to an increasing number of investigations into the impacts human activity may be having on climate patterns and what the potential consequences may …

Review Of Trails And Trials: Markets And Land Use In The Alberta Beef Cattle Industry, 1881-1948 By Max Foran, Ian Maclachlan

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Max Foran's Trails and Trials does a superb job of filling a conspicuous gap in Alberta's agricultural history. By covering the period 1881-1948, the book extends the standard accounts of Alberta's ranching history well into the twentieth century. And it expands on traditional ranch history themes with its clear and consistent focus on the importance of cattle exports in relation to Canada's small domestic market and on the importance of markets in understanding land use change. Foran periodizes and organizes his story clearly. Each chapter follows a similar structure with sections and subsections describing major market and policy developments and …