International-Domestic Student Differences in Learning: Use of Classroom Response Systems in China Versus in Canada

ABSTRACT

This study compares the impact of audience response systems (clickers) on the learning experience and classroom behavior of Chinese and Canadian students. Based on differences in student learning styles, which are rooted in the differences in national cultures, we predict that clicker technology will result in a more positive learning experience, and have more impact on classroom behavior in Chinese students than in Canadian students. Our survey results show that, consistent with the findings of prior studies, both groups of students report a positive experience and improved classroom behavior with the use of clickers. Chinese students report a more positive learning experience, but no difference in classroom behavior changes than Canadian students. This study extends the research on clickers by considering the impact of cultural background and shows classroom technology such as clickers can potentially help mitigate the cultural barriers in international business education.     

The risk management of nothing

This essay challenges core elements of enterprise risk management (ERM) and suggests that an impoverished conception of ‘risk appetite’ is part of the ‘intellectual failure’ at the heart of the financial crisis. Regulators, senior management and boards must understand risk appetite more as the consequence of a dynamic organizational process involving values as much as metrics. In addition, ERM has operated as a boundary preserving model of risk management subject to the ‘logic of the audit trail’, rather than a boundary challenging practice which confronts and addresses the complex realities of interconnectedness. The security provided by ERM is at best limited to certain states of the world and at worst it is illusory – the risk management of nothing. In contrast, Business continuity management (BCM) may provide clues about how risk management might be reconstructed.     

成本有用度模型及应用

从价值工程(VE)的基本原理出发,阐述成本有用度的基本概念、基本原理和主要内容,介绍该理论方法在以可靠性为中心的维修技术方法和工程系统评价中的具体应用.     

日本地震及核灾难对全球LNG市场的影响

2011年3月11日,日本地震海啸等自然灾害及引起的核事故直接影响了日本的供电能力,预计2011年日本将增加1000万吨的LNG现货采购来弥补电力需求缺口。受此影响,亚太地区LNG现货市场价格明显上升。未来日本将调整核电政策,提高天然气在一次能源中的比例,从而将签署更多的LNG长期合同。因此,在长期资源采购方面,随着日本LNG需求的上升,国际LNG市场格局也将进行调整,长期合同价格将坚挺,更多的长期LNG需求也将对新建LNG项目起到推动作用。     

大手笔绘就平度电网版图

鸟瞰平度大地，一座座铁塔巍然屹立，一基基电杆翻山越岭，一条条电线贯穿山河，把光明和繁荣传递到四面八方……沐浴着改革开放的春风，一代代平度电业人。跋山涉水、风雨兼程，共同熔铸出“努力超越、追求卓越”的信念和追求。他们踏着时代激越的鼓点，薪火相传，谱写光明。     

Evaluating the Performance of Ethical and Non‐ethical Funds: A Matched Pair Analysis

Abstract:   This paper studies the performance of 60 European funds from four countries. The paper extends the UK matched pair approach for fund evaluation developed by Mallin et al. (1995) to a European setting. The findings suggest that there is no difference between ethical and non‐ethical funds according to the performance measures employed. Neither type of fund displayed any ability to time the market. Finally, the results indicate that the management fee is a significant explanatory variable for the Jensen measure as Chen et al. (1992) and Grinblatt and Titman (1994) suggested.     

A Comparative Analysis of Financial Professionals’ Perception of the Level of Graduating Business Student Retirement Planning Familiarity,Motivation, and Preparedness

Academic, government, employer, and individual interest in personal financial literacy have mushroomed as financial decision making has become more complex, costly, and less paternalistic. Financial illiteracy in America manifests in many ways, including low levels of personal saving, high levels of personal debt, negative financial wealth, a decline in standard of living, and increased demand on social safety networks. For college students, of particular concern is the high level of public and private debt accrued while working toward a degree. It is important to understand how prepared households are for retirement planning decisions and which factors can improve their preparedness. We show that financial education is impactful in reducing financial illiteracy, and provides evidence that taking a personal risk management and insurance course helps to prepare college students to make retirement decisions. Second, we provide evidence that life stage explains differences (similarities) in how professionals self‐rate the importance, familiarity, and motivation to plan and save for retirement versus their opinion on how vital the questions should be to students. Finally, additional evidence is provided showing that demographic characteristics explain differences in the importance and motivation to plan and save for retirement and in the familiarity that respondents have with retirement planning and saving products.     

AN APPLICATION OF MARKOV CHAINS TO FARM TYPE STRUCTURAL DATA IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Markov Chain methods of projection are applied to farm type structural data derived from the returns in the Annual June Agricultural Census in England and Wales. Three sets of projections, using different assumptions, are made of the numbers of holdings by farm type in 1969 and of the movement of holdings between farm type during 1968/69. These are compared with the actual Census returns for 1969. Use of a four-year average transition probability matrix gives the best overall results on the basis of that comparison and this matirx was then used to project farm type structure in England and Wales for 1971 and 1973. These projections indicate that between June 1969 and June 1973 the number of all holdings with 275 or more standard man days (SMD) will decline; those classified as Mixed, Livestock, and Pigs and Poultry are likely to show the largest proportional declines. Some 50 per cent of holdings are likely to be below the 275 SMD limit. Since the assumptions made may not be fulfilled in every respect, it is unlikely that the outcome in 1971 and 1973 will be precisely as predicted, but the pattern and direction of the projections are likely to hold.