The Impact of Leaving Camps on Well-being of Internally Displaced Persons in Northern Uganda

The armed conflict in Northern Uganda led to a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). After the government announced the declaration of free movement on 30 October 2006, a large number of IDPs left camps. Transition from camp life to post-camp life has important implications for population well-being. This paper uses the Ugandan National Household Survey conducted in 2005-2006 and 2009-2010 and a difference-in-differences method to estimate changes in IDPs' well-being measured by self-reported heath as well as household food consumption. We do not find a significant effect of leaving camps on self-reported illness and household food consumption but we find a significant effect on the choice of healthcare providers utilised. The postcamp effect was estimated to increase the use of non-free health providers, an effect composed of more visits to informal providers and greater choice of formal private providers, when formal providers are utilised. Those findings shed light on policy-relevant issues in the areas of land rights, recovery of public health systems and gender inequalities in well-being.     

Learning to be Sociable: The Evolution of Homo Economicus

A bstract .   This article studies the evolution of the economic man ( Homo economicus ) from its original conception until the current day. By analyzing the discourse of economic articles, we provide a chronological account of the economic man's intellectual and philosophical development as it evolved from what we term the philosophical age to the neoclassical age and finally to the strategic age. The article then shows how the economic man in the strategic age is slowly finding convergence with the sociological man ( Homo sociologicus ). A reconciliation of the two sapiens is difficult. However, recent papers on behavioral and experimental economics provide insights into a possible reconciliation. Our study argues that the purpose of the sociological man is to identify who he is, how he interacts with people within a society, and the antecedents to such behaviors. Homo economicus, however, has no overarching philosophical assumptions on what he values. The objectives of each discipline are different and, once one is mapped onto the other, it is unclear if there is truly any tension between them.     

The role of Chinese stock market in global stock markets: A safe haven or a hedge?

The contribution of the study is threefold. First, the paper proposes a new empirically testable definition for a safe haven and a hedge from the viewpoint of extreme and regular dependences measured by a modern statistical tool of copulas. Second, this paper investigates the extreme and regular dependences between the Chinese and the G7 stock markets, using a mixture copula specification, and the results reveal that the Chinese stock market has been not only a hedge but also a safe haven for the G7 stock markets all these years. Finally, this study suggests that the Chinese stock market is the target market for global stock fund managers and international investors, who are seeking a hedge or a safe haven for their portfolios, under turbulence.     

The Impact of Tour Guides’ Physical Attractiveness,Sense of Humor,and Seniority on Guide Attention and Efficiency

In this study, we investigated whether tourists view attractive tour guides as more competent, humorous tour guides as more approachable, and experienced tour guides as more professional, and whether these three factors influence the effectiveness of tour guide interpretation. The results indicated that physical attractiveness and humor had additive effects on interpretation effectiveness when combined. Although some tour guides were not physically attractive, experience provided an additive effect on interpretation effectiveness. Thus, we recommend discarding stereotypes regarding physical attractiveness and improving education and training in humor for tour guides. Experienced tour guides wearing appropriate attire also increases interpretation effectiveness.     

Potential for collaboration among agricultural food festivals in Korea for cross-retention of visitors

Abstract

This study examines visitor intentions to attend different agricultural food festivals within the same region to explore whether they can collaborate to promote cross-visits. Building upon the literature on co-branding and satisfaction, this study proposes the direct effect as well as the mediating roles of involvement and variety seeking between visitor satisfaction with a current festival and behavioral intentions to visit similar festivals. The results found that all relationships appeared to be positive and significant as conceptualized and visitor intentions to attend similar festivals were as high as those to visit the festival that had been attended again. Furthermore, comparison of three models suggested that the partial mediation model (PMM) is a significant improvement over the direct effect (DEM) and full mediation (FMM) models. This study seeks to make both theoretical and practical contributions to agricultural food festivals and rural tourism, specifically to the cross-retention potential of visitors to relevant festivals.     

Mimetic isomorphism and its effect on merger and acquisition activities in Taiwanese financial industries

This paper adopts an institutional theory and explores the impact of institutional pressures on mimetic isomorphism in merger and acquisition (M&A) activities. It uses 117 M&A announcements and adopts a logistic regression model to construct a probability model for mimetic isomorphism. This study finds that a firm's own M&A experiences and the frequency of M&A deals are positively correlated with the likelihood that a firm will complete its M&A deal. This paper also utilizes an event study methodology to estimate the excess return around M&A announcements as a proxy for the M&A performance and adopts the OLS regression model to analyse the relation between the imitation and M&A performances. There is a positive relation between the frequency of M&A activities and M&A performances, and a negative relation between a firm's own M&A experiences and M&A performances.     

Does ‘Work for the Dole’ work?: an Australian perspective on work experience programmes

This study examines the effect of Work for the Dole (WfD), a community-based work experience programme, on transitions out of unemployment in Australia. To evaluate the WfD programme, a quasi-experimental exact matching approach is applied. Participation in the WfD programme is found to be associated with a large and significant adverse effect on the likelihood of exiting unemployment payments. The main potential explanation is the existence of a ‘lock-in’ effect whereby programme participants reduce job search activity.     

Using creative problem solving to promote students’ performance of concept mapping

The purpose of the study was to explore that using creative problem solving can promote students’ performance of concept mapping (CMPING). Students were encouraged to use creative problem solving (CPS) in constructing nanometer knowledge structure, and then to promote the performance of CMPING. The knowledge structure was visualized through CMPING which helps students to improve their performance. The participants were 42 college juniors who selected the course “Nano-environmental Engineering Technology”. Four instruments were used to classify student learning performance (meaningful learning, rote learning and non-learning). This study included three main issues: (1) Student learning quality was determined by the change in concept map construction. (2) In-depth interviews were applied to understand student’s CPS process. (3) Student interaction quality in a discussion board on a web-platform was evaluated. The results showed that meaningful high-level learners successfully applied CPS in constructing concept maps and they presented better performance of CMPING. Rote learners’ results were in the second place, and non-learners achieved the worse outcomes. It is suggested that a future teaching study can use creative problem solving to promote students’ performance of CMPING in other courses.     

Comparison Between First‐timers and Repeaters for Relationship Marketing Implications

This research note examines how different relationships affect visitors' tourism experiences at agritourism encounters, recognizing the differences between repeaters and first‐timers from a relationship marketing perspective. Results from a survey of 431 visitors to farms in Texas found that most of relationships with service providers, other customers and companions were important but differently related to satisfaction. By examining the differences and similarities between first‐timers and repeaters, this study suggests that visitors' relationships not only with service providers but also with other customers and companions should be embraced into the components of relationship marketing models in tourism. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An empirical investigation of monetary interaction in the Korean economy

This paper conducts an econometric investigation of monetary interaction in the Korean economy over the past two decades. The study pays close attention to a critical role played by broad money and an interest rate term spread in the economy. A vector autoregression reveals two cointegrating relationships, both of which are consistent with macroeconomic theory: the first relationship corresponds to a broad money demand function, while the second represents a monetary policy rule function. The cointegrated system is then reduced to a vector equilibrium correction system, which characterizes the interaction between money demand and monetary policy rule. It is also demonstrated that the preferred model is a reliable forecasting device, suggesting that the broad money contains information about the real economy in the future.