Education and human capital development in the giants of Asia

Educational development has proceeded at a different pace and under different planning regimes in India, China, and Indonesia. This paper provides an overview of the role of education in their recent development—in particular their ability to capitalise on favourable trends in dependency ratios—and presents some key issues facing education planners and policy hurdles to overcome in further improving their level and quality of human capital. Common findings and useful strategies are highlighted in the conclusion, as well as the importance of seizing the opportunity of low dependency ratios to effect policies that will help develop human capital.     

‘Fourth World’ Cities in the Global Economy: The Case of Phnom Penh,Cambodia

While globalization is often perceived to present opportunities for developing countries as a result of the relocation of industry and the development of a new international division of labor, the least developed countries (LDCs) have for the most part experienced declining shares of global trade and investment. This has led some to characterize such ‘fourth world’ countries as ‘structurally irrelevant’ to global capital accumulation, and to infer that patterns of urbanization in LDCs are largely unaffected by globalization. Yet a number of aspects of the global economy have important implications for cities in LDCs, including increased international economic interaction, rapid technological change, changes in regional economies, and the increased influence of transnational organizations. This paper explores the impact of these phenomena in the context of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a city in an LDC that has experienced major socio-economic and spatial change as a result of increased interaction with the global economy. Bien qu’il soit souvent présumé que la globalisation offre aux pays en voie de développement des opportunités provenant d’un transfer de l’industrie et du développement d’une nouvelle division internationale du travail, le commerce et l’investissement globaux sont en déclin dans la plupart des pays les moins développés. Certains analystes en ont déduit que de tels pays du ‘Quatrième Monde’ n’ont ‘structurellement aucun rapport’ avec l’accumulation globale du capital, et que les modèles d’urbanisation de ces pays sont peu touchés par la globalisation. Néanmoins certains aspects de cette globalisation ont des implications importantes pour les villes dans les pays les moins développés, y compris une interaction économique internationale accrue, des changements technologiques rapides, des changements dans les économies régionales, et l’influence grandissante des organisations transnationales. Cet article discute l’effet de ces phénomènes dans le contexte de Pnom Penh au Cambodge, une ville d’un pays les moins développés qui a éprouvé des changements sociaux et économiques majeurs produits par une interaction croissante avec l’économie globale.     

The Third Policeman: ‘The true and fair view’, language and the habitus of accounting

This paper explores the role and context of the ‘true and fair view’ (‘TFV’) in accounting and auditing. Utilising the work of Bourdieu as a lens, the paper argues that the world of the TFV is a subjective world with which we think we are objectively familiar. Bourdieu's ‘practical theory’ of habitus suggests that the TFV is shaped by the practice of ‘native virtuosos’ who have a ‘feel for the game’. The paper argues that the conceptualisation of the TFV privileges practice and authenticates the accounting habitus. Hence, whilst language maintains and reinforces social structures, it is in turn created by the routines of practice. By dominating the declaration of the TFV, the auditor effectively reinforces the status quo and the constitution of hierarchy and inequity that exists in the accounting field: the TFV, in Bourdieu's terms, ‘becomes what they are’.     

The Role of Attitudes and Objectives in Farmer Decision Making: Business and Environmentally-Oriented Behaviour in Scotland

Despite considerable effort to understand and represent decision making by farmers, there has been little attempt to integrate socio-economic, psychological and farming variables within a comprehensive framework. This paper attempts to do this in the context of two types of farming behaviour - business and environmental -for a sample of over 200 Scottish farmers. Using variables covering their attitudes, objectives and behaviours relevant to many aspects of farming, we proposed mediating variables models of business-oriented and environmentally-oriented farming behaviours. Structural equation modelling was used to test the adequacy of the proposed models. The results of the study emphasise the importance of psychological factors in the decision making of farmers.     

The Expansion of High School Education in Poor Regions: The Case of East Nusa Tenggara,Indonesia

This paper explores the continuing labour market dilemmas resulting from the expansion of upper secondary and higher education in Indonesia. The situation is more acute in the poorer provinces such as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) with their limited demand for high school graduates. The findings presented here are based on a sample of 800 high school students in the West Timor region of NTT. The authors point to the problems inherent in the Indonesian government's goal of nine years' compulsory education by the year 2004, and suggest policy measures to avoid the wastage of talent in provinces such as East Nusa Tenggara.     

Integrated models of capital adequacy – Why banks are undercapitalised

With the majority of large UK and many US banks collapsing or being forced to raise capital over the 2007–9 period, blaming bankers may be satisfying but is patently insufficient; Basel II and Federal oversight frameworks also deserve criticism. We propose that the current methodological void at the heart of Basel II, Pillar 2 is filled with the recommendation that banks develop fully-integrated models for economic capital that relate asset values to fundamental drivers of risk in the economy to capture systematic effects and inter-asset dependencies in a way that crude correlation assumptions do not. We implement a fully-integrated risk analysis based on the balance sheet of a composite European bank using an economic-scenario generation model calibrated to conditions at the end of 2007. Our results suggest that the more modular, correlation-based approaches to economic capital that currently dominate practice could have led to an undercapitalisation of banks, a result that is clearly of interest given subsequent events. The introduction of integrated economic-scenario-based models in future can improve capital adequacy, enhance Pillar 2’s application and rejuvenate the relevance of the Basel regulatory framework.     

Defence: Markets and Bureaucracy

How can defence fit into the market economy? Gavin Kennedy, of Heriot Watt University, outlines the tension between markets and bureaucracy in national defence.     

A structural look at consumer innovativeness and self‐congruence in new product purchases

Consumer innovativeness and new product purchasing literatures are replete with solid yet unrelated theories that have not been considered simultaneously as part of a larger psychological framework. This oversight limits the ability of practitioners to effectively target the valuable consumer innovators market segment. In this study, an approach/avoidance framework of new product purchase intentions is discussed and empirically tested via structural equation modeling. Consumer innovativeness, self‐congruence, and satisfaction play the role of approach mechanisms, while perceived risk acts as an avoidance mechanism. The authors combine a set of related yet disconnected theories, while suggesting a means of appealing to consumer innovators through a specific form of self‐congruence. A sample of 741 students is employed to examine these issues. Several notable findings are highlighted, including verification of indirect relationships between the independent variables and behavioral intent. Model fit is excellent and results are consistent across the handheld devices, home entertainment, and music industries. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.