Geographic distribution of suicide and railway suicide in Belgium, 2008–2013: a principal component analysis

This study investigated the geographic distribution of suicide and railway suicide in Belgium over 2008--2013 on local (i.e., district or arrondissement) level. There were differences in the regional distribution of suicide and railway suicides in Belgium over the study period. Principal component analysis identified three groups of correlations among population variables and socio-economic indicators, such as population density, unemployment, and age group distribution, on two components that helped explaining the variance of railway suicide at a local (arrondissement) level. This information is of particular importance to prevent suicides in high-risk areas on the Belgian railway network.     

An Exploratory Study of the Propensity for South Koreans to take Cruises: Investigating Koreans' Perceptions of Cruise Ship Travel

The purpose of the present study was to examine Koreans' perceptions of cruise ship travel to ascertain the potential for future development of that tourism segment. An understanding of Koreans' perceptions is essential for determining the potential of the Korean cruise market. Using survey data, the study investigated Koreans' knowledge level, willingness and desired travel patterns regarding cruise ship travel. Findings from the study can assist practitioners to enhance their comprehension of Koreans' perceptions and behaviors concerning cruise ship travel. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Car ownership as a mediating variable in car travel behaviour research using a structural equation modelling approach to identify its dual relationship

Car ownership is generally considered an important variable in car travel behaviour research, but its specific role is often not well understood. Certain empirical studies consider car ownership as the dependent variable explained by the built environment, whereas other studies deem it to be one of the independent variables explaining car travel behaviour. This paper takes note of the dual influence car ownership has in explaining car travel behaviour by assuming that car ownership mediates the relationship between the built environment and car use. The relationship is estimated using a structural equation model since it accounts for mediating variables. This approach confirms the intermediary nature of car ownership.     

Wages,government policy and unemployment

The argument of this article is easily stated if the propositions of historical materialism are true the feasibility of socialism is seriously in doubt. Section 1 outlines what is meant by historial materialism and Section II considers the work of Marx on the development of socialism. The following three sections analyse the work of socialist economists and their critics during the twentieth century. In the conclusion our overall argument is summarized.     

Fiscal deficits,monetary reform and inflation stabilization in romania

Developing countries have witnessed an increase in foreign bank participation during the last decade. Using bank level data for the period 1991–2001, we examine the influence of foreign banks on the financing of small firms in Tanzania. Despite dominating the banking sector, results suggest that the financing of small firms by foreign banks is insignificant compared to domestic banks. Clearly, there is a need for a new approach to policy that will encourage significant foreign bank lending to small firms.     

Monopoly Power and Stagflation

Post Keynesian economists have followed Joan Robinson's criticism of general equilibrium theory as abolishing history by allowing all contracts to be executed today for all future contingencies. This was the justification for the support of financial innovation to provide for the completeness of futures markets. The recent crisis has shown that force of history. Instead, many evolutionary and Keynesian economists have suggested the approach of cumulative causation as an approach that includes history and eschews equilibrium. This approach may provide a way to take history seriously in economic analysis.     

An efficient budget allocation policy for decentralisation of responsibility for site decontamination projects

Selection and execution of site decontamination projects is often best left to local authorities, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle, even though the budget for such projects is made available through a central authority. In this paper we suggest a practical budget allocation policy which a central authority can employ to allocate budgets to local authorities, while still optimising the central authority's environmental objective function. The procedure is fully consistent with the principle of decentralisation of responsibility for selection and execution of projects, and requires a minimum information exchange between local and central levels. Despite the information asymmetry between local and central levels, incentive compatibility problems can be (partially) prevented by choosing an appropriate evaluation mechanism. At the same time, the procedure is computationally effective and efficient, and can guarantee a fair budget allocation, making it easy to implement and politically acceptable.     

DOES GNP EXAGGERATE GROWTH IN “ACTUAL” OUTPUT? THE CASE OF THE UNITED STATES

Measures of national product can be misleading because there is nonmarket production. There are also distortions due to transactional activities, which are expenditures to support transactions, not actual output consumed. For 1950–89, this study recalculates output for the United States, adjusting for transactional activities and nonmarket production. Due to relatively rapid growth in transactional activities, GNP overstates output growth in the 1950s; because there was slow expansion of transactional activities in the early 1970s, GNP understates actual output. Since 1974, increases in transactional activities and shifts to market production lead GNP to exaggerate improvement of "actual" output per capita.