Heritage complexity and tourism: the case of Lumbini,Nepal

Differences in values, interests, expectations and priorities among stakeholders, a major source of dissonance, may create conflict in heritage and can be a challenge for its preservation and management. This study uses Lumbini, Nepal, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, to examine heritage complexity and tourism. Lumbini, one of the most important Buddhist sites for the world's 500 million Buddhists, is surrounded by a population of different faiths, mainly Hindus and Muslims. Locals, who are predominantly non-Buddhist, see the local patrimony more as an economic resource than spiritual one, whereas the government uses the site for building national pride, garnering international support and promoting tourism. Furthermore, despite its potential for attracting Western, regional and domestic tourists and a growing trend in arrivals, the community and the region have not benefited well from tourism. Although Lumbini is currently experiencing “latent dissonance,” this can be reduced through communication, cooperation and collaboration among various stakeholders.     

Central bank transparency and financial market expectations: The case of emerging markets

In this paper, we study how central bank transparency influences the formation of money market expectations in emerging markets. The sample covers 25 countries for the period from January 1998 to December 2009. We find, first, that transparency reduces the bias (the difference between the money market rate and the weighted expected target rate over the contract period) in money market expectations. The effect is larger for countries with no exchange rate peg and countries with low income. Second, an intermediate level of transparency is found to have the most favorable influence on money market expectations: neither complete secrecy nor complete transparency is optimal. Finally, all subcategories of the Eijffinger and Geraats (2006) index lead to a smaller bias in expectations, with political transparency having the largest effect.     

化干戈为玉帛

本文通过对职业学校师生冲突现状的调查,从不同角度分析师生冲突的成因,并努力探求解决冲突和预防冲突的策略,以期使教师明确如何正确面对冲突,采取科学策略预防冲突,采取有效策略解决冲突,从而化干戈为玉帛,建立民主和谐的师生关系,构建和谐文明的校园。     

基于贝塞尔曲线的中、美、日利率期限结构静态研究

利率期限结构曲线的静态拟合是指,使用不同类型的数学函数近似地描述整条利率期限结构曲线。当前最流行的静态拟合方法是利用B样条曲线来拟合利率曲线。然而,该方法往往受制于阶数的限制,而仅仅停留在3阶。本文通过利用B样条曲线的特殊形式——Bezier曲线拟合了中国、美国、日本国债利率的期限结构曲线,获得了一种可以升阶的拟合方法。同时,将复杂的曲线拟合计算,简化为对散点的聚类分析,取得了中国利率期限结构的模型。     

Marketing by CPAs

Abstract

Until the late 1970s, the AICPA discouraged commercial advertising and some other marketing tactics by practicing accountants. This study contacted 600 CPAs in the U.S. in an attempt to discover what kinds of marketing they employ, how useful they think it is, and how appropriate do they feel the AICPA's rules and regulations are in regard to marketing an individual CPA's services. Most thought the AICPA was fair. Accountants doing the most marketing tend to be younger males. “Conflict of Interest” was the area of most current concern in light of the ongoing problems of public accounting firms doing both auditing and consulting for the same client. “Newspaper” was the preferred advertising medium. Most of those surveyed were pleased the AICPA relaxed its restrictions on marketing and advertising, even though many CPAs still do not market their services to any great extent. This may change as younger accountants fill leadership positions in U.S. accounting firms.     

罗纳德·麦金农的利率理论述评

利率作为资本的价格,是资本市场的重要货币金融工具和衡量指标。罗纳德·麦金农关注的是欠发达经济体的分割经济,而传统的新古典理论认为资本市场在本质上是完美的,通过与分割的资本市场的比较,原本的新古典中的假定将会取消。在被修改的资本市场的假设下,分割经济以及资本市场的参与者的特征得以推出,由此可以阐明政府干预造成的低效率和压抑的影响。     

Development of the ‘Travelcard’ Concept in Urban Public Transport

Traditionally, urban bus operators have collected fares in cash for each trip. Some limited mechanisation has occurred in ticket issue at stations. Partly for reasons of operating convenience, there has recently been a shift to simpler fares and prepayment, notably through the introduction of ‘Travelcards', that is, tickets or passes permitting unlimited use of the network (or zones thereof) for a defined period. These cover both all-bus systems, and bus/rail networks (such as the West Midlands PTE system). They are now used in all main British conurbations, following introduction of the London Transport bus/rail Travelcard in May 1983. The Travelcard in effect redefines the ‘product’ being sold. Instead of the public transport service being perceived as a series of separate journeys, payment is made periodically for use of the network as a whole. Cost perception is thus put on a similar basis to that for the private car. The marginal money cost for each trip becomes zero. Interchange penalties associated with re-booking are eliminated. Payment may be made by cheque or credit card, rather than cash, further changing the perception of costs. Product quality is also enhanced through speeding up of services (one-person- operated buses), and enabling the user to select the quickest and/or most convenient route in a network by removing the interchange penalty.     

现代化进程中女性的职业角色与家庭角色的调适

在现代化进程中，职业妇女扮演着社会与家庭诸多方面多重的角色，在时间、精力、能力和资源分配上具有丰富多彩的特点，同时又容易发生冲突。究其原因，主要有社会生产力、职业女性双重角色评价标准、男女价值观以及传统文化的影响等。基于这样的原因，从职业与家庭之间寻求新的角色平衡、家务劳动社会化、实现夫妻角色互补、形成社会支持系统、塑造职业妇女的良好形象等方面入手来达到女性的职业角色与家庭角色的调适显得尤为重要。     

Strategic behavior in financial markets

We describe a financial market as a noncooperative game in strategic form. Agents may borrow or deposit money at a central bank and use the cash available to them in order to purchase a commodity for immediate consumption. They derive positive utility from consumption and from having cash reserves at the end of the day, whereas being bankrupt entails negative utility. The bank fixes interest rates. The existence of Nash equilibria (both mixed and pure) of the ensuing game is proved under various assumptions. In particular, no agent is bankrupt at equilibrium. Asymptotic behavior of replica markets is discussed, and it is shown that given appropriate assumptions, the difference between a strategic player and a price taker is negligible in a large economy.     

Mundane heroines: Conflict,Ethnicity, Gender,and Female Headship in Eastern Sri Lanka

For the last twenty years, eastern Sri Lanka has witnessed a bitter and bloody civil conflict. This paper explores the experience of female-headed households in the region. Only partially the product of war, such households cannot be bundled together as a social problem with a single solution. Our study endorses the feminist suspicion of falsely homogenizing accounts of women's lives and suggests instead an alternative emphasis on the many ways in which gendered relations of dominance and subordination are maintained. With its co-existing Muslim, Tamil, and Sinhala groups, eastern Sri Lanka facilitates the exploration of ethnicity as a source of variation. The households included in this study share a common structure and face the same economic problems, yet ethnic differences divide them. The paper charts the problems, strategies, and partial triumphs of these lone mothers and proposes policies to help them in their mundane but heroic struggle.