Modelling Russian outward FDI

Among emerging economies, the Russian Federation is the second largest outward investor, surpassed only by Hong Kong (China) but ahead of Brazil, China and India. This article analyses the main patterns of Russian outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), including its dynamics and geographical destinations. It also highlights the changing strategies of outward investing Russian firms: in the early 1990s, they were mostly privately-owned transnational corporations (TNCs), seeking ‘safety nests’ abroad to protect themselves from domestic uncertainty; these days, state-owned or -influenced TNCs dominate Russian capital exports, motivated by a desire to control the value chain of their products. There are, however, characteristics common to both periods, such as the predominance of natural resource-based firms among the largest Russian TNCs. Using those characteristics as a basis, the paper attempts to model formally Russian outward FDI. It tests the extent to which the mainstream theory (ownership and locational advantages) is applicable to the Russian context, as well as the role played by specific factors such as state ownership. Home-country factors seem to play a particularly important role in shaping Russian outward FDI. As for the motivations of FDI, in the CIS and developing countries, Russian TNCs seem to aim at controlling upstream natural resources, while in high-income countries they aim at controlling downstream markets.     

Regulation of interaction through architecture,travel, and telecommunication: A distance-equilibrium approach to environmental planning

The present paper applies the distance equilibrium model in analysis of environmental planning in the areas of architecture, travel, and telecommunication. Travel is viewed as essential for therestoration of face-to-face contact lost through decentralized (sociofugal) architecture. Telecommunication is seen as a substitute for travel. While telecommunication cannot restore face-to-face interaction in its entirety, it can through compensation along available modalities (i.e., proxemic, kinesic, paralinguistic, and/or linguistic) allow functionally equivalent interaction distances. Finally, we define crowding across multiple modalities and multiple dyad terms. Contrary to convention, we argue that one can be crowded by Picturephone^®, telephone, or letter as well as by face-to-face interaction, and is by one other person as well as by many.A portion of this paper was presented at the American Psychological Association meetings in Chicago, Illinois, August, 1975.     

Why does zeno the stoic hold his breath? "Zenoism" as a new variable for studying suicide

A single misfortune may be seen as just that, or may be interpreted as Zeno the Stoic did, as a "sign" of cosmic proportion (zenoizing), which paradoxically provides a missing meaning structure. This article presents two studies testing out this new variable (zenoism): in Study One (n = 233), we explore the moderating effects of religiosity and gender on zenoism, depression, demoralization, and suicidality. In Study Two (n = 137), we explore these same moderating effects on zenoism, fear of dependency, value of life, and favorability toward physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Results indicate: 1) men and non-religious respondents (especially men) zenoize more than women and religious respondents; 2) non-religious respondents, (especially men) are more generally favorable to PAS and more suicidal; 3) Zenoism is negatively related to depression, demoralization, and value of life for non-religious respondents, and for men; 4) Zenoism is positively related to favorability toward PAS toward one's self and overall suicidality; and finally 5) general and self-specific favorability toward PAS are distinct, but both relate to overall suicidality.     

We can do something about multicollinearity

The problem of multicollinearity is discussed from the point of view of the FRISCH scheme. The theoretical machinery is applied to a reanalysis of macro-economic data for the French and US economies