Multidimensional Comparison of Personality Characteristics of the Big Five Model, Impulsiveness, and Affect in Pathological Gambling and Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

The phenomenological resemblance between pathological gambling (PG) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has led to suggestions that PG be categorized as an obsessive-compulsive-spectrum disorder (OCSD). This study aimed to explore whether PG resembles OCD in terms of personality and temperament. Fifteen patients with PG, 18 patients with OCD, and 33 healthy control subjects were included in the study. The study subjects were all male and drug na?ve. We analyzed data obtained from three self-report questionnaires assessing personality, impulsiveness, and affect: the short version of the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Participants with PG and OCD demonstrated less conscientiousness (F = 7.089, P = .002) and less openness to experience (F = 6.268, P = .003) and less positive affect (F = 15.816, P < .001) than did healthy controls. The two diagnostic groups did not differ from each other with respect total BIS-11 scores, but those with OCD showed more neuroticism than did those with PG and healthy controls ( F = 9.556, P < .001), and those with PG obtained higher scores on the non-planning impulsiveness factor of BIS-11 than did those with OCD or healthy controls ( F = 9,835, P < .001). PG and OCD share similar profiles in terms of personality and temperament. This study provides phenomenological evidence supporting the conceptualization of PG as an OCSD.     

A characterization of the nucleolus without homogeneity in airport problems

We consider the problem of sharing the cost of a public facility among agents who have different needs for the facility. We show that the nucleolus is the only rule satisfying equal treatment of equals, last-agent cost additivity, and consistency.     

A simple test on the convergence of social security transfer in OECD countries

The growing trend toward globalization not only has aggravated international competition but also has increased interdependence among countries, inducing the need for harmonization and convergence of socioeconomic policies across countries. This paper examines whether the convergence phenomenon holds for social security transfers as a percentage of GDP in OECD countries, applying the traditional methodology of σ- and β-convergence.     

Cultural System vs. Pan‐cultural Dimensions: Philosophical Reflection on Approaches for Indigenous Psychology

The three approaches for conducting psychological research across cultures proposed by Berry (1989), namely, the imported etic, emic and derived etic approach are critically examined for developing culture‐inclusive theories in psychology, in order to deal with the enigma left by Wilhelm Wundt. Those three approaches have been restricted to a certain extent by the pan‐cultural dimensional approach which may result in the Orientalism of psychology in understanding people of non‐Western cultures. This article is designated to provide the philosophical ground for an alternative cultural system approach to construct culture‐inclusive theories in psychology. Following the principle of cultural psychology: “one mind, many mentalities” (Shweder et al., 1998), the alternative strategy contains two steps: First, based on Bhaskar's (1975, 1978) critical realism, all universal mechanisms should seek to represent the operation of the human mind. Second, based on Archer's (1995) analytical dualism, the mechanisms of the universal mind may be used as frameworks for analyzing any cultural tradition. The culture‐inclusive theories thus obtained represent the synchronic morphostasis of a cultural system, which may be used as theoretical frameworks for conducting either qualitative or quantitative empirical research in studying the diachronic morphogenesis of socio‐cultural interaction in a particular culture.     

The influence of governance on public sector efficiency: A cross-country analysis

This paper examines whether governance quality affects public sector efficiency in the policy areas of administration, education, infrastructure, and stability. Using cross-country evidence, we find that a country's measures of governance quality are positively and significantly associated with public sector efficiency in the policy areas of administration, infrastructure, and stability. However, regression results suggest that a country's governance quality cannot affect efficiency in the policy area of education, even after controlling for some explanatory variables.     

A two-phase approach to estimating time-varying parameters in the capital asset pricing model

Following the development of the economy and the diversification of investment, mutual funds are a popular investment tool nowadays. Choosing excellent targets from hundreds of mutual funds has become more and more crucial to investors. The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) has been widely used in the capital cost estimation and performance evaluation of mutual funds. In this study, we propose a new two-phase approach to estimating the time-varying parameters of CAPM. We implemented a simulation study to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed method and compared it with the commonly used state space and rolling regression methods. The results showed that the new method is more efficient in most scenarios. Meanwhile, the proposed approach is very practical and it is unnecessary to judge and adjust the estimating process for different situations. Finally, we applied the proposed method to equity mutual funds in the Taiwan stock market and reported the performances of two funds for demonstration.     

Operator performance and subjective response in control of flexible manufacturing systems

Abstract

In this study, allocation of functions and system size (number of machines) were manipulated to test their effects on operator performance and subjective response in a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). An experiment was conducted using a cross-over design with three independent variables: number of machines, task allocation, and sequence of task presentation. Operator performance was measured by response time, and subjective response assessed using two questionnaires. Physiological measures were also taken (EKG and respiratory rate). The results revealed that the number of machines in the system did not affect performance or subjective or physiological response while the effect of allocation level was significant for both performance and subjective response.     

The Diversity Imperative: The Effects of Local Economic Structure and Social Capital on Local Philanthropy

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Philanthropic endeavors are a form of institutionalized collective action that enhances a community’s capacity to...     

How fair are unemployment benefits? The experience of East Asia

Despite an increasing emphasis on active labour market measures, unemployment benefits still remain a focal point of employment protection. This article takes the cases of four East Asian economies – China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China) –, which are often characterized as having welfare states with a strong developmental and productivist orientation, to investigate whether, as is sometimes argued, unemployment benefits are restrictive and exclusionary. In doing so, it examines the logic behind the design of unemployment benefits and argues that they are in fact progressive in design and fair when they pay out. Nonetheless, low effective coverage and low benefit rates weaken their redistribution and compensation objectives.