A FINITE AUTOMATON MODEL OF BEHAVIOR AND LEARNING

This paper builds some bridges between economics, psychology and cybernetics by showing how a theory of learning when put into finite automaton terms yields insights about how learning is related to doing in a market enviornment.     

County government resources associated with dependent-adult abuse investigations in Iowa

This study evaluated on a county level the association of Iowa's domestic dependent-adult abuse investigations with the location of adult protective services (APS) offices, rurality, government resources, felony charges and prosecutions, child abuse reports, and census demographics. In 2003, the rate of dependent-adult abuse investigations for Iowa was 0.70 per 1,000 population age 18 and older. Higher rates of child abuse investigations, felony prosecutions, sheriff's annual salary, and lower rates of child abuse substantiations are associated with higher rates of dependent-adult abuse investigations and substantiations.     

From the enclave to hierarchy – and on to tyranny: the micro‐political organisation of a consultant’s group

No question now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

George Orwell, the concluding lines of Animal farm.     

Asian migrants in Australia: A socio‐economic study

This paper presents a socio‐economic profile of Asian migrants in Australia, using data from the 1981 Census of Population. It shows that Asian migrants are highly educated (large proportions are university graduates and are in professional occupations), English‐speaking (many are bi‐lingual) and mostly Christian. The paper then goes on to estimate the economic benefits Asian migrants bring when they migrate to Australia, as well as the costs they might impose on the economy. Benefits were estimated by measuring the costs of education and training that Australia avoided by allowing skilled migrants to enter the country. In addition, migrants brought in financial capital when they came to Australia. They also contributed to the supply of goods and services by participating in productive employment. The costs that migrants might impose on the economy relate to the possibility of taking jobs and other resources (such as education, health and other public services) which might otherwise have gone to other Australians. Careful estimates of these factors indicate that, far from imposing a burden, Asian migrants make a substantial net contribution to the economy. In addition, the findings do not lend support to the view that they may be a cause of societal dissention, or a threat to Australian democratic institutions. On the contrary, the social attributes they possess indicate that they are well placed to settle successfully, and to make a substantial contribution to the development of Australian society.     

Editorial: Addressing psychopolitical trauma: The complex relationship between healing individuals and rehabilitating nations

Abstract

This paper, the first in a two‐part series, focuses on a single, genetic constellation important to the choice of becoming a professional helper: False Self compliance within a prolonged merger with a caretaker. The main characteristic of this merger is that the professional helper, during early childhood, accurately perceives that he or she is needed to help to maintain parental narcissistic equilibrium. Clinical evidence is provided to support this formulation and some implications for the education, the professional functioning, and the treatment of the professional helper are explored.     

A Comparison of Nonparametric Tests of Weak Separability for Annual and Quarterly Data on Consumption,Leisure, and Money

Among the most fundamental assumptions made in economics are utility maximization and the separability of the arguments in the representative consumer's utility function. These assumptions are important for theoretical and empirical applications of economics. In this article, we present results from nonparametric tests of these assumptions of consumer behavior. We find that utility maximization generally obtains with either annual or quarterly per capita data on consumption goods, leisure, and relatively liquid monetary assets. Annual data on consumption goods, leisure, and all monetary assets are consistent with utility maximization. There is some evidence in support of using partial adjustment models when estimating quarterly data models of the demand for monetary assets. Further, annual data on consumption goods and leisure and on liquid monetary assets meet the necessary and sufficient conditions for weak separability. These results support the notion of a monetary aggregate more broadly based than currency plus demand deposits. Separability of monetary assets does not obtain for quarterly data.     

Student Selection and Incentives

The paper discusses the impact of performance based selection in secondary education on student incentives. The theoretical approach combines human capital theory with signaling theory. The consideration of signaling offers an explanation for observed performance of educational systems with a standard peer effect argument. More specifically it can be optimal to select students according to ability even if selective systems do not outperform comprehensive systems in tests. Selection achieves the same output with lower private costs for the students. The paper questions the strong focus on educational tests to measure the efficiency of selective systems as long as these tests provide no information about a student’s incentives and private costs.

Test of a model of organizational contributors to product development team effectiveness

This study tests a model of product development team effectiveness which was developed by Susman and Dean [Susman, G.I., Dean, J.W., 1992. Development of a model for predicting design for manufacturability effectiveness. In: Susman, G.I. (Ed.), Integrating Design and Manufacturing for Competitive Advantage. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, pp. 207–227.]. The model addresses two interrelated managerial issues. One concerns the use of integrative mechanisms to counterbalance the potentially negative effects of function-based differentiation, directly or indirectly through group process. The other concerns group process vs. codification/computerization as alternative means to process information as risk increases. This study addresses the first issue by testing the effect of a subset of integrative mechanisms on project outcomes, i.e., project focus, and the role of group process as partial mediator of this relationship. The second issue is addressed by testing for risk as positive moderator of the relationship between group process and project outcomes and as negative moderator of the relationship between codification/computerization and project outcomes. The results suggest that project focus is directly related to project outcomes, but group process does not mediate this relationship. Codification/computerization is not related to project outcomes. Risk does not positively moderate the group process–project outcomes relationship, but does negatively moderate the codification/computerization–project outcomes relationship.