A CONCEPTUAL DESCRIPTION OF A FINANCIAL PLANNING MODEL FOR COMMERCIAL BANKS

This paper describes a conceptually sound and powerful model to aid bank managers in short and long range decision making for the management of the financial performance of the bank. The planning model is a key element in an integrated computer-based planning system which includes a forecast of economic, monetary, and loan market conditions, an analysis of internal relationships, and a system of reports which provide management with access to historical data and planning summaries. The planning model at the heart of the system, contains an imbedded linear programming algorithm to optimize “balance sheet management” decisions within liquidity and capital adequacy constraints. The model recognizes the interaction between assets and liabilities, it recognizes the time value of money, and it accommodates the difference between the net marginal yield for decision making, and the gross average yield used for determining revenue. Finally, the model recognizes the crucial role of liquidity with an important treatment of gross cash flows from normal asset turnover as a major source of liquidity, and the liquidity aspects of liabilities, as well as the more traditional concept of asset marketability.     

Cultural Connection Predicts Perceptions of Financial Security for Māori

This paper examines the impact of relative income on income satisfaction with given absolute income. We conducted an experiment in China where participants earned three different levels of income according to their relative performance in a task. While the treatment group was informed about their relative income, the control group only knew their own absolute income. We found that while controlling for absolute income and other factors, information about relative income increases the satisfaction of the high-income group and reduces the satisfaction of the low-income group. Relative income may interact with individual characteristics, such as gender, to affect income satisfaction. We also found that relative income treatment significantly increases income satisfaction inequality, primarily by causing social comparisons among different income groups, which has some welfare implications.     

中国农村最低生活保障标准研究

随着经济的发展,国家扶贫力度的加大,中国贫困人口分布呈现出分散分布的格局。新时期扶贫的思路转变为将农村贫困人口纳入最低生活保障制度范畴。东部沿海经济发展较好的城市已逐步在建立农村最低生活保障制度。农村最低生活保障制度的建立为缓解农村贫困提供了美好的蓝图,但有许多问题需要解决。其中,最低生活保障的标准怎么制定是一个关键问题,也是国际社会比较关注的焦点。本文拟就在新世纪提高农村扶贫标准政策下制定农村最低生活保障标准的相关问题进行探讨。     

Mental health citizen surveys: a comparison of two within household telephone sampling techniques.

Two within household telephone sampling techniques for collecting citizen survey data for community mental health center's needs assessments were compared on the basis of respondent demographic characteristics; response, completion, and refusal rates; and, administrative costs. Initially, all households were chosen via random digit dialing. Then, one technique allowed the surveyor to interview any adult member of a household who answered the phone. The other technique used was developed by Troldahl and Carter and required the use of a reference table procedure to determine the appropriate respondent. While more expensive, the Troldahl-Carter method produced significantly better representativeness of the population for a rural county. Factors relating to a decision regarding which technique to employ are discussed.     

Multicriterion linear programming problems : (Analytical survey)

An analytical survey of man-machine interactive procedures is presented. A decision maker's capabilities to carry out some information processing operations are discussed. A list of a decision maker's elementary operations used in different interactive procedures is given and their estimations from a psychological point of view are suggested. Three main criteria for estimation of man-machine procedures are proposed: reliability of information elicitation from decision maker, insignificant sensitivity to random decision maker's errors, and good speed of convergence to solution. Some procedures are evaluated in terms of these criteria.     

The evidence base for social support interventions in child and family practice: Emerging issues for research and practice

This paper examines the evidence base for interventions which seek to enhance social support resources for families with children at risk of adverse developmental outcomes. Substantive and methodological issues related to the implementation of social support interventions are discussed and a research agenda for the development, testing and evaluation of such interventions is presented.     

Promoting Empowerment Among LGBTQ Youth: A Social Justice Youth Development Approach

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-identified (LGBTQ) youth are a population with a unique set of service needs. Existing research on effective service methods with LGBTQ youth is limited. Youth empowerment holds potential as an approach that can impact well-being among youth who face discrimination. The current study explores the relationship between the social justice youth development framework (Ginwright and James, New Directions Youth Dev 96:27–46, 2002) and youth empowerment in a sample of LGBTQ youth. Multiple regression analysis of data collected through a community-based youth program identified critical consciousness and community engagement as significant predictors of empowerment. Findings suggest that programs that promote these factors among LGBTQ youth using the social justice youth development framework may enhance empowerment thereby increasing other aspects of well-being.     

Methods for spatial and temporal land use and land cover assessment for urban ecosystems and application in the greater Baltimore-Chesapeake region

Understanding contemporary urban landscapes requires multiple sets of spatially and temporally compatible data that can integrate historical land use patterns and disturbances to land cover. This paper presents three principal methods: (1) core analysis; (2) historic mapping; and (3) gradient analysis, to link spatial and temporal data for urban ecosystems and applies their use in the Baltimore-Chesapeake region. Paleoecological evidence derived from the geochronology of sediment cores provides data on long-term as well as recent changes in vegetative land cover. This information, combined with contemporary vegetation maps, provides a baseline for conducting trend analyses to evaluate urbanization of the landscape. A 200-year historical land use database created from historical maps, census data, and remotely sensed data provides a spatial framework for investigating human impacts on the region. A geographic information system (GIS) integrates core analyses with historic data on land use change to yield a comprehensive land use and land cover framework and rates of change. These data resources establish the regional foundation for investigating the ecological components of an urban ecosystem. Urban-rural gradient analyses and patch analyses are proposed as the most appropriate methods for studying the urban ecosystem as they link ecological and social patterns and processes for varying degrees of urbanization.