追求新亚洲安全:文化视角中的地区合作

21世纪各个国家特别是亚洲各国进入了发展的新阶段。亚洲在经济发展中实现了建设性的双边伙伴关系。但是亚洲国家形成“与西方传统不同的亚洲国际关系模式”仍然任重道远。作者认为,亚洲共同的文化认同可以发挥重要作用,理应把亚洲国家特别是两个人口最多的国家中国和印度团结起来,全面实现“亚洲共同体”的战略目标。     

Joint Attention,Self‐Recognition,and Neurocognitive Function in Toddlers

Recent studies have attempted to understand the processes involved in joint attention because of its relevance to both atypical and normal development. Data from a recent study of young children with autism suggests that performance on a delay nonmatch to sample (DNMS) task associated with ventromedial prefrontal functions, but not an A‐not‐B/delayed response task associated with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, was related to joint attention skills (Dawson et al., 2002). Recent research also suggests that joint attention is associated with dorsalmedial brain systems linked to self‐monitoring (Mundy, 2003). This study investigated the relations among joint attention, DNMS, and self‐recognition performance in a longitudinal study of 39 normally developing toddlers from 14 to 18 months. The results indicated that development on the DNMS and self‐recognition tasks, but not a means end task, predicted joint attention at 18 months. Further analysis showed that the model was only significant for initiating joint attention (IJA). The implications of these results for the neuro‐development of IJA are discussed.     

Married women's resource position and household food expenditures in Cebu,Philippines

This study analyzes how married women use their access to and control over economic resources to increase household spending on food. Using data from Cebu, Philippines, where child malnutrition is high, this study finds that the more income women earn and control, the more households spend on food. Women's control over their income is particularly important for increasing food expenditures in the poorest households. In richer households, women who earn little of their own income also use spouse income transfers to increase food expenditures. The findings from this study suggest that in a developing country setting, improving women's economic status so that they earn and control more household resources can increase household spending on goods that benefit children.     

Improving on truncated linear estimates of exponential and gamma scale parameters

We consider the problem of estimating the scale parameter of an exponential or a gamma distribution under squared error loss when the scale parameter θ is known to be greater than some fixed value θ₀. Natural estimators in this setting include truncated linear functions of the sufficient statistic. Such estimators are typically inadmissible, but explicit improvements seem difficult to find. Some are presented here. A particularly interesting finding is that estimators which are admissible in the untruncated problem which take values only in the interior of the truncated parameter space are found to be inadmissible for the truncated problem.     

Exploring structure-effectiveness relationships in nonprofit arts organizations

The authors examined nineteen nonprofit performing arts organizations, investigating the distribution of influence among organizational members, the grouping of volunteers and staff in organizational structures, and the effectiveness of the organizations. The organizations' effectiveness was assessed using multiple performance indicators. The analysis revealed five groupings or configurations of influence, which correlated to the organizations exhibiting the highest and lowest levels of organizational effectiveness. The authors conclude that a variety of structures are associated with good performance but structural dysfunctions are associated with organizational failure, and that members' commitment to an organization's structure is an important element of success.     

India: ‘Brain Drain’ or the Migration of Talent?

2 views on "brain drain" exist: 1) LDCs lose their enormous investments on higher education when skilled people migrate to other countries and 2) LDCs are exaggerating the problem and only a few skilled people migrate at 1 time. India does not completely lose its investment in education when professionals migrate, since the migrants still contribute to knowledge and also send remittances to relatives in India. Unemployed educated people would cause a greater drain on India's resources than educated migrants. The author prefers the phrase migration of talent to brain drain, since the former indicates a 2-way movement. Most migrants from LDCs are students. About 11,000 university graduates leave India every year for advanced study and/or work. A conservative estimate is that 2500 will remain abroad permanently. Most professionals who migrate go to the US and Canada. Factors promoting migration include 1) unemployment, 2) immigration rules, 3) colonial links, 4) financial incentives and material benefits, 5) pursuit of higher education, 6) improvement of working conditions and facilities, 7) avoidance of excessive bureaucratic procedures, and 8) compensation for the mismatch between Indian education and employment. Reasons for returning to India include 1) deference to wives who were unable to adjust to a foreign way of life, 2) contributing to Indian development, and 3) racial discrimination. It will probably not be possible to lure back migrants who left for material reasons. Attractive job offers could entice back those who left for advanced training. To encourage the return of those who left to pursue high quality research, India must 1) increase expenditure on research and development, possibly through the private industrial sector, 2) promote travel to other countries for professional enrichment, and 3) improve conditions of research work. The article concludes with an analysis of migration of talent from 3 perspectives: 1) the individual, 2) the nation-state, and 3) the world as a whole.     

Individual irrationality and social welfare

Individual preferences inconsistent with personal welfare caused neither by ignorance nor by a positive consideration for the welfare of others are defined as (welfare) irrational. Sources of irrationality (rigid adherence to moral principles, excessive fear of danger, excessive tempetation of pleasure, revenge, inertia, faulty telescopic faculty, the fallacy of diminishing marginal utility of utility, etc.) are discussed. An evolutionary explanation of irrationality is suggested and some implications for individual decision and social policy indicated.I am grateful to two anonymous referees for comments.     

Selecting a family therapy model: the role of personality attributes in eclectic practice*

The expanding knowledge and skill bases within the interdisciplinary family therapy profession pose a significant challenge for evolving practitioners, at whatever stage along the professional development process they find themselves. This challenge raises a basic question regarding whether there are any constraining forces to the level of eclecticism in practice towards which one can aspire. This paper empirically explores the role played by the personality attributes of the family therapist in facilitating and/or inhibiting one's adherence to a variety of approaches to family practice.