Socioeconomic Risk in Development of Energy Systems

A soft mathematical model, taking stock of the stochastic and cooperative features of the economy of thinking in the decision making, is aggregated to unveil hidden connections between energy policy and the energy technology choices of an establishment. Starting from several assumptions on the nature of the collective decisional behavior, one obtains a probabilistic interpretation of the mechanism of penetration of energy technologies. The probability that the establishment bets on a certain technological profile is given as a solution to a Fokker-Planck equation accounting for the decision game. It provides a topological variety that accomodates possible states of the system and their trajectories, and indicates ways in which different attractors drive the technology choice in the space of the energy policy.
In this framework, a series of concepts (i.e., logistic evolution, resilience, stability, risks of disruption or crisis, energy security) can find in a natural way strikingly intuitive interpretations. Strategic games are possible on this ground, confirming facts of life and also showing predictive power. The complex and difficult to manage interdependence between energy policy and technology appears as a challenge to the long-term planning of alternative energy systems. To meet the challenge, preparedness for changes through a large freedom of choice on the technological options appears as a necessary complement to the faithful observance of the market drives, which stresses the importance of having available perceptive, coherent, reliable, and responsible mechanisms of decision making.     

Hong Kong Chinese explanations for wealth

This study set out to replicate and extend studies done on attributions for affluence in Western, industrialized countries to a country famous for its wealth and economic growth. Over 100 subjects in Hong Kong rated explanations for wealth according to importance. Results showed that overall the subjects tended to endorse individualistic explanations for wealth while negating the relative importance of societal or fatalistic factors. There were few sex or income effects no doubt due to the sample tested. A factor analysis revealed two clear factors: internal-external (individualistic-collectivistic). The results are discussed in terms of the unique position of Hong Kong.     

Inflation and the estimated sizes of notes

Thirty adults were asked in 1982 to estimate the size of various British notes (£1.00, £5.00, £10.00, £20.00) at a time when the inflation rate was approximately 15%. Although there were no differences in their estimation as function of their age, sex, income or use of credit cards they consistentlyunder-estimated the size of all notes. Furthermore they overestimated the size of the old pound note (withdrawn in 1979) and underestimated the size of the new pound note. These findings are attributable to the effects of inflation.     

Organizational discourse as a creative space for play: the potential of postmodernist and surrealist forms of play

In recent times there have been a number of calls in the organizational discourse to consider entertaining the notion of ‘play’. Not overt physical play such as having a game of golf among work mates or team building through rock climbing, but intellectual play. These calls have generally arisen in the work of those scholars championing a postmodernist or post-structuralist perspective. These calls, however, are seldom accompanied by a coherent appraisal of why and how play is productive of something that non-play cannot or has difficulty in producing. In particular, what has been left out of much of this discourse is an appraisal of the underlying psychodynamics that are involved. This paper argues that play takes place in a space created to enhance illusion and that space, and the illusion itself, need careful handling at a variety of levels. Just as the space for play is created for the child to exercise their imagination and as a learning environment, it can equally be the space occupied by the neurotic - indeed, some postmodernists, intent upon play, have been charged with aiding, abetting and creating individuals who become delusional, have fragmented identity and may become schizophrenic. While this latter critique may seem somewhat harsh, it should prompt us to consider the idea of the attributes of a ‘safe’ space in which to play. Much of the organizational discourse on play has also asked us to take play ‘seriously’ as way of enhancing our theory development. This paper does not accept the ‘serious’- ‘non-serious’ dichotomy, but instead argues that play is a differentiated level of reality. This differentiated level of reality is inhabited by much in the way of paradox and irony that are essential for play to occur. These paradoxes and ironies are identified in an effort to enhance the outcome of play. In identifying some of the underlying psychodynamics of play, what emerges is an appreciation of how play is an activity that has the potential to help in our theory development of organizations. In the context of discussing the emergence of a new postmodern theory movement in the organizational discourse, various forms of postmodernist play are identified. In this discussion it will also be noted that these postmodernist forms of play have parallels in other fields. In the realm of art, for example, surrealism engages in similar forms of play. These forms of play are identified in the quest to better understand the dynamics of intellectual play and how we might better draw upon such dynamics to enhance the theoretical grounding of our own field. It is also intended, by examining the notion of intellectual play in a manner outlined in this paper, that basic aspects of postmodernist theorizing might also be better understood.     

Assessing the Imprint of the Long-gone Hapsburg Empire's Border on the Romanian Students' Migration Intentions

This article aims to identify if belonging to one side or another of the former Hapsburg Empire's border matters in relation to migration intentions. Based on a survey of 3,051 students enrolled at three Romanian universities, and using geo-referencing, data mining tools, logistic regressions and prediction nomograms, we found that students who have their homes in different parts, depending on this historical border, manifest different sensitivity levels towards recognition of their own value and the poor quality of public institutions and services, as they have different perceptions concerning the role of individual freedom, parental role models, the work ethic and interpersonal trust. These differences further generate opposite migration intentions for the two sub-samples. Therefore, students who have their homes in the former Empire's area have lower migration intentions than those outside it, despite their proximity to the western borders. The results suggest various economic and non-economic determinants as important predictors of migration intentions.     

Galaxy cutsets in graphs

Given a network G=(V,E), we say that a subset of vertices S⊆V has radius r if it is spanned by a tree of depth at most r. We are interested in determining whether G has a cutset that can be written as the union of k sets of radius r. This generalizes the notion of k-vertex connectivity, since in the special case r=0, a set spanned by a tree of depth at most r is a single vertex.     

Enhancing Critical Reflection amongst Social Work Students: The Contribution of an Experiential Learning Group in Care Homes for Older People

As part of a Practice Learning Centre, representing a partnership between an English University social work department and a non-governmental organisation, 12 students were placed in care homes for older people for their first period of assessed practice. The aims of this initiative were to facilitate: development of critical reflection; deployment of social work skills in a care home setting; and opportunities for social work students to work with care home residents. The learning was captured via four Experiential Groups facilitated by the Practice Educator with responsibility for assessing the students' practice. On-site supervisors also participated. Key learning included understanding of: the importance of critical reflection as a key social work skill; the influence of organisational norms and care home culture on the quality of care practice; the complexity and emotion-rich nature of person-centred care; and the pivotal role of relationships in work with people with dementia. Links made in the Groups—between the experiential and theoretical, the emotional and cognitive, and the structural and personal—demonstrate their value as learning platforms. Placements in care homes have considerable potential to enrich practice education; this is especially important in the context of an ageing population.