Playing with class: Middle‐class intensive mothering and the consumption of children's toys in Vietnam

This article explores the way in which Vietnamese mothers purchase, gift and share toys with their children. The study utilises a qualitative design comprising semi‐structured interviews with 10 Vietnamese middle‐class professional working mothers of children aged between 5 and 9. This research highlights the way in which toys defined as “good” by mothers need to fulfil a number of important practical and social functions: they act as an investment in the child's future, as a reward, and as a means for mothers to buy time for themselves. The findings illustrate how these functions are influenced by Confucian and Western discourses of intensive mothering, generating a localized style of middle‐class intensive mothering, characterized by what we have called the ideal of the triple excellent and intensive mother.     

A local maximum likelihood model of crop yield distributions

In this note, we propose a local maximum likelihood estimator for spatially-dependent distributions. Our estimator adopts the Poisson regression approach for density ratio models and incorporates spatial smoothing via local regression. We also present a method of smoothing parameter selection. We illustrate this easy-to-implement estimator with an application to the estimation of corn yield distributions of Iowa counties. The usefulness of the approach is further demonstrated via an application to the estimation of crop insurance premium.     

The role of visa exemption in Chinese tourists’ decision-making: a model of goal-directed behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of visa exemption in tourist decision-making using the extended model of goal-directed behavior (EMGB). Surveys were administered to Chinese tourists interested in traveling to South Korea. The structural equation model indicates that the inclusion of the expectation of tourist visa exemption enhanced Chinese tourists’ behavioral intention. Specifically, positive and negative anticipated emotions, perceived behavioral control, and the notion of a subjective norm were important antecedents of travel intention. Desire was the only significant factor affecting Chinese tourists’ travel intention. This study enhances our understanding of Chinese tourists’ intention to travel to South Korea.     

Integrating enterprise resource planning (SAP) in the accounting curriculum: a systematic literature review and case study

This study investigates how an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package SAP was integrated into the curriculum of an accounting information systems (AIS) course in an Australian university. Furthermore, the paper provides a systematic literature review of articles published between 1990 and 2013 to understand how ERP systems were integrated into curriculums of other institutions, and to inform the curriculum designers on approaches for adopting SAP, the benefits and potential limitations. The experiences of integrating SAP into an AIS course from both the students and teaching staff perspectives are described and evaluated. The main finding was the importance of resourcing the instructors with technical and pedagogical support to achieve the learning outcomes. The paper concludes by proposing critical success factors for integrating ERP effectively into an AIS course.     

The Importance of Board Quality in the Event of a CEO Death

We examine board quality and executive replacement decisions around deaths of senior executives. Stock price reactions to executive deaths are positively related to board independence. Controlling for such factors as the deceased's stockholdings, outside blockholdings, board size, and whether the deceased was a founder, board independence is the most significant factor explaining abnormal returns. Board independence is particularly important when there is no apparent successor and firm performance is poor. The results are consistent with independent boards being reluctant to discipline poorly performing incumbent managers, but nevertheless using the opportunity of an executive death to improve the quality of management.     

Barycentric algorithm for computing D-optimal size- and cost-constrained designs of experiments

In this paper, we study the problem of D-optimal experimental design under two linear constraints, which can be interpreted as simultaneous restrictions on the size and on the cost of the experiment. For computing a size- and cost-constrained approximate D-optimal design, we propose a specification of the “barycentric” multiplicative algorithm with sequential removal of redundant design points. We analytically prove convergence results for the proposed algorithm and numerically demonstrate its favorable properties compared to competing methods.     

The human dimensions of wildlife tourism in a developing country: watching spinner dolphins at Lovina,Bali, Indonesia

The number of cetacean watching tourism operations in developing countries has doubled in the past decade. Practices are typically unregulated and not informed by research, especially research into the human dimensions of the tourist experience. Dolphin watching tourism at Lovina, Bali, started in the late 1980s when local fishers formed self-regulating cooperatives. Up to 180 dedicated operators use small fishing vessels to carry passengers to watch dolphins close to shore. Most tourists come from western countries, although the industry also attracts Asian visitors. Most visitors are tertiary-educated. Tourist satisfaction ranges from low to medium. While there was no significant difference between the average satisfaction of western and Asian tourists, the associated variables were different. The satisfaction of western tourists was associated with encounter management, preferred number of boats and the number of dolphins seen. Encounter management was the only variable associated with the satisfaction of Asian tourists. Satisfaction was positively associated with willingness to recommend the tour: western respondents who felt neutral to very comfortable with their dolphin encounters were more likely to promote the tour. Better understanding of the tourist experience is crucial in designing sustainable marine wildlife tourism in developing countries; such research appears to be rare.     

Colour the future green?: The uncertain significance of global green politics

A major value shift in industrialized countries in the same direction as the core values of the Greens movements suggests that there is a cultural phenomenon involving far more people than the overt political manifestation of it. This article links such a value shift with something more fundamental, namely a movement away from confident scientific positivism towards some kind of ill-defined transcendentalism. Related cultural and social movements in the industrialized countries and global attitudes in the developing world are examined. It appears that even if the Greens movements weaken or disappear in their present form, they are political manifestations of a broader cultural thrust that seems unlikely to diminish.     

Nonlinear duration dependence in stock market cycles

We reexamine duration dependence in stock market cycles using a generalized Weibull model. Recent empirical work by Cochran and DeFina [Cochran, S. J., & DeFina, R. H. (1995). Duration dependence in the U.S. stock market cycle: A parametric approach. Applied Financial Economics, 5, 309-318.], who use a chronology of stock market cycles to estimate a Weibull hazard model, shows duration dependence in stock prices. They find evidence of duration dependence in prewar market expansions and postwar market contractions. We update their postwar sample, then use a more flexible model that finds evidence of duration dependence for all prewar and postwar samples. The generalized Weibull model is shown to be statistically superior to the conventional Weibull model for all samples except prewar expansions.