Cognitive style related to the design process

This paper describes the development of a new version of Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) and two further tests of a similar type using words and letters. The new form of the Group Embedded Figures Test Consists of a number of original two dimensional figures (complex and simple). Variations of the basic two dimensional figures were obtained by establishing a geometrical progression (from following a set of simple rules) to produce increasing degrees of complexity of the complex figures. This in turn generated more simple figures within them which were used in the test items.By using words and lettersas a means of generating embedded complex/simple shapes, not only are very different types of (overall) shape possible, but also the notion of field dependence/independence can (possibly) be applied to non-spatial (in the usual sense) modes of operating within the curriculum, i.e. the humanities as opposed to design and technology subject areas.     

Reactions to ethical dilemmas: A study pertaining to certified public accountants

This study discusses how perceptions of ethics are formed by certified public accountants (CPAs). Theologians are used as a point of comparison. When considering CPA ethical dilemmas, both subject groups in this research project viewed confidentiality and independence as more important than recipient of responsibility and seriousness of breach. Neither group, however, was insensitive to any of the factors presented for its consideration. CPA reactions to ethical dilemmas were governed primarily by provisions of the CPA ethics code; conformity to that code may well be evidence of higher stage moral reasoning.Gregory A. Claypool is Associate Professor of Accounting and Finance at Youngstown State University.David F. Fetyko is Professor of Accounting at Kent State University. Michael A. Pearson is Professor of Accounting at Kent State University. He is the author of Enhancing Perceptions of Auditor Independence, Journal of Business Ethics 4 (1985), 53–6, and Auditor Independence Deficiencies and Alleged Audit Failures, Journal of Business Ethics 6 (1987), 281–7.     

Growth, crisis and change in the insurance industry: a retrospect

The insurance industry currently finds itself in a revolutionary situation characterized, in part, by the impact of new direct marketing techniques, facilitated by new technologies; by corporate restructuring and the creation of international mega-corporations; and by the accelerating globalization of the industry. This article surveys recent research on insurance history with the aim of placing these developments in their long-run context. Three areas are examined for evidence of continuities and discontinuities with the past: namely, the impact of technology, the interaction between markets and organizational change, and the globalization of insurance and its relationship to economic growth.     

Decision parameters in global R&D management

This paper addresses the question of which variables have what kind of impact on the decision to locate new R&D facilities in countries different from the home country of a corporation. In the first section of the paper we demonstrate the complexity of this question by referring to empirical research, managerial statements and literature. We then develop a conceptual model for the location decision of international R&D activities. This is based on Porter's (1990) framework of the factors constituting the competitive advantage of nations. In the final section of this paper we show how such a model helps us to understand and also to explain a number of management issues related to global R&D activities.     

Data Aggregation Issues for Crop Yield Risk Analysis

With increased emphasis on risk management in agriculture and a lack of disaggregated or farm‐level yield time series, decision makers are often faced with having to make adjustments to temporal yield risk measures obtained from readily available but aggregated yield data. This paper provides some empirical evidence on what type of aggregation bias to expect when measuring temporal yield risk using yield observations averaged across a region relative to yield risk estimated from quarter‐section yield time series in wheat. This study highlights some of the challenges faced when estimating aggregation distortions in measuring yield risk defined by temporal variance, especially given the nature of the empirical data set used. Cluster analysis, visual examination of relative frequency distributions and mapping of yield risk clusters suggest that using a readily available, aggregate temporal yield risk measure has the tendency to underestimate yield risk observed at the quarter‐section level and that clear, geographic yield risk boundaries do not exist in municipalities or across larger areas in this study. Further research on crops more risky than wheat appears promising. Avec un plus grand intéret sur la gestion du risk dans l'agriculture et un manque de données détaillees ou bien de collections de séries temporelles sur les rendements, les décideurs sont souvent tenus d'apporter des correctifs aux measures du risk obtenues a partir des données de rendements qui sont disponibles. Cet artcle apporte une preuve empirique du type de biais lie a l'agrégation qui peut être présent dans le calcul du risk de rendement temporel obtenu a partir de rendements moyens de blé observés au niveau régional en comparaison du risk de rendement qui est estimé a partir de données basées sur des quart‐de‐sections. Cette étude met en exergue quelques uns des obstacles qui se présentent dans l'estimation de distosions liées a l'aggrégation dans le calcul du risk de rendement défini par la variance temporelle, speciallement étant donne la charactère empirique des données utilisées. L'analyse de groupe, l'examen visual de la distribution des fréquences relatives, et la cartographie de classes de risk de rendement suggèrent que l'utilisation de la measure du risk de rendement basée sur des données disponibles de risk aggrège temporel a tendence a sousestimer le risk de rendement observe au niveau des quart‐de‐sections et qu'il n'y a pas de frontières de risk de rendement certaines, géographiques qui existent entre les municipalités ou bien a travers les zones plus larges examinées dans cette etude.     

Using proxies for the short rate: when are three months like an instant?

The dynamics of the unobservable short rate are frequently estimateddirectly using a proxy. We examine the biases resulting fromthis practice (the 'proxy problem'). Analytic results show thatthe proxy problem is not economically significant for single-factoraffine models. In the two-factor affine model of Longstaff andSchwartz (1992), the proxy problem is only economically significantfor pricing discount bonds with maturities of more than fiveyears. We also describe two different numerical procedures forassessing the magnitude of the proxy problem in a general interestrate model. When applied to a nonlinear single-factor model,they suggest that the proxy problem can be economically significant.