Realistic Free-Spins Features Increase Preference for Slot Machines

Despite increasing research into how the structural characteristics of slot machines influence gambling behaviour there have been no experimental investigations into the effect of free-spins bonus features—a structural characteristic that is commonly central to the design of slot machines. This series of three experiments investigated the free-spins feature using slot machine simulations to determine whether participants allocate more wagers to a machine with free spins, and, which components of free-spins features drive this preference. In each experiment, participants were exposed to two computer-simulated slot machines—one with a free-spins feature or similar bonus feature and one without. Participants then completed a testing phase where they could freely switch between the two machines. In Experiment 1, participants did not prefer the machine with a simple free-spins feature. In Experiment 2 the free-spins feature incorporated additional elements such as sounds, animations, and an increased win frequency; participants preferred to gamble on this machine. The Experiment 3 “bonus feature” machine resembled the free spins machine in Experiment 2 except spins were not free; participants showed a clear preference for this machine also. These findings indicate that (1) free-spins features have a major influence over machine choice and (2) the “freeness” of the free-spins bonus features is not an important driver of preference, contrary to self-report and interview research with gamblers.     

The un/state of lesbian studies: an introduction to lesbian communities and contemporary legislation in Japan

Although it would be safe to say that Lesbian Studies has never seriously been placed on the Japanese academic agenda, women-loving-women in Japan continue to individually and collectively desist from and resist heteronormative gender discourses. This paper first gives a brief overview of 'rezubian' communities since the 1970s and then outlines the Basic Law for a Gender Equal Society and the Law Concerning Special Rules Regarding Sex Status of a Person with Gender Identity Disorder; two recent laws that demonstrate contemporary regulatory gender discourses. In closing, I stress that the paradox of contemporary Japanese 'lesbian studies,' being almost nonexistent in the academe and continuously in development in the community, is clear only if we look at academic discourses alongside writings in both commercial and community publications.     

Older women's fears of violence: the need for interventions that enable active ageing

Women's fear of violence can impact negatively on their active participation in life. An ageing survey conducted with 2,620 Australian respondents aged 50 to 90 years examined aspects of work, learning, social, spiritual and emotional status, health, vision, home, life events, demographics, and asked an open-ended question about what being actively engaged in life meant. Ordinal regression was carried out on two dependent variables: wanting and needing to learn to discourage violence. Analyses found that as women's age increased, those on lower incomes were more likely than others to say they needed to learn how to discourage violence against them. This paper investigates the variables associated with the findings-transport, finances, news media, home safety, and reduced social interactions. Results highlight the importance of understanding women's fear in the context of personal and social issues, and the need to provide learning opportunities to improve safety and social engagement.     

An Empirical Assessment of Households Livelihood Vulnerability: The Case of Rural Ghana

The recent years witnessed a sharp drop in China’s demographic dividend; therefore, some reform measures about China’s fertility policy have been adopted to optimize population structures and to maintain demographic dividend. However, our simulation results reveal that the new two-child fertility policy cannot effectively deal with population ageing, and that China’s fertility policy needs further adjustment. Specifically, we find that the new two-child fertility policy will deteriorate demographic dividend before 2050, through combination of simulation results and formula derivation. Aiming to stabilize demographic dividend at ideal range all the time, we build nonlinear integer programming model to propose an appropriate reforming path for China’s fertility policy. Then, we simulate and compare demographic developments under the proposed reforming path with those under three possible fertility policies: one-child, two-child and no fertility restriction, verifying that the proposed reforming path has better performance on stabilizing demographic dividend than these three fertility policies have. Finally, sensitivity analysis of upper bound of research interval is conducted to evaluate the effect of the upper bound on proposed reforming path. Based on these results, we suggest that China should continue to execute current strict fertility policy before 2032, then begin to relax it gradually especially during 2036–2041, and completely cancel fertility policy after 2065.     

Collecting feedback as a tool to reduce care paralysis: something for family group conferencing coordinators?

Family group conferencing (FGC) coordinators in public mental healthcare are confronted with clients who have little faith in professionals and organizations, who hold off decisions in their family life, who avoid care and who sometimes behave in a hostile manner. A lack of initiative to deal with their situation is not only reserved for clients – all bystanders, including professionals, can suffer from it. The multiplicity and severity of the client's problems lead to a situation wherein everyone involved waits for the initiative of the other. The independence of the FGC coordinator – a fellow citizen, who is free of organizational loyalties and comes to assist other citizens in establishing a plan – seems to work well with the client group of the public mental healthcare. However, the coordinator cannot always prevent deferral or failure of conferences. Drawing on empirical and theoretical findings, this paper considers the possibility of collecting feedback as a way to contribute positively to the alliance between FGC coordinators and those for whom a conference is deployed. We highlight findings from three case studies that centred on multiproblem families. The findings indicate the importance of feedback theory for FGC coordinators in enhancing trust and engagement.     

Shoplifting,monitoring and price determination

Shoplifting is a major crime problem costing American retailers more than $10 billion per year. Surprisingly, despite the evolvement of an extensive theoretical literature on the economics of some major economic crimes, shoplifting has failed to attract economists’ attention. The present paper applies the economic toolbox to this problem, developing a principal–agent type model of shoplifting and shoplifting control. The model examines the customer's decision of whether to shoplift or not as well as the store's profit-maximizing price and monitoring intensity. The paper challenges the conventional wisdom that the observed rise in shoplifting calls for intensified monitoring and higher prices, showing that a rational response to increased shoplifting involves a reduction in both monitoring and prices.     

Data Dependent Cells Chi‐Square Test With Recurrent Events

We consider a recurrent event wherein the inter‐event times are independent and identically distributed with a common absolutely continuous distribution function F. In this article, interest is in the problem of testing the null hypothesis that F belongs to some parametric family where the q‐dimensional parameter is unknown. We propose a general Chi‐squared test in which cell boundaries are data dependent. An estimator of the parameter obtained by minimizing a quadratic form resulting from a properly scaled vector of differences between Observed and Expected frequencies is used to construct the test. This estimator is known as the minimum chi‐square estimator. Large sample properties of the proposed test statistic are established using empirical processes tools. A simulation study is conducted to assess the performance of the test under parameter misspecification, and our procedures are applied to a fleet of Boeing 720 jet planes' air conditioning system failures.     

Factors Affecting Juvenile Court Decisions in Israel: A Multivariate Approach*

This paper investigates the factors influencing the disposition of cases in juvenile courts. The factors considered are the prior record of the offender, the nature of the offense, the recommendation of the probation officer, and the age of the offender. These four factors are essential components of the juvenile justice system and as such are perceived to be crucial for the understanding of the court's decision. A multivariate analysis of the data is undertaken using the method of log-linear analysis for hierarchical models. In contrast to other studies that have utilized the same method but with fewer variables, the model arrived at in the paper seems to be more accurate and suggests that while the offense and the prior criminal record are quite important factors, their influence on the disposition of cases is greatly bound by the age of the offender and the recommendation of the probation officer.     

Women’s economic capacity and children’s human capital accumulation

Programs that increase the economic capacity of poor women can have cascading effects on children’s participation in school and work that are theoretically undetermined. We present a simple model to describe the possible channels through which these programs may affect children’s activities. Based on a cluster-randomized trial, we examine how a program providing capital and training to women in poor rural communities in Nicaragua affected children. Children in beneficiary households are more likely to attend school 1 year after the end of the intervention. An increase in women’s influence on household decisions appears to contribute to the program’s beneficial effect on school attendance.