Showing papers by "Georgia State University published in 2006"

What are Ecosystem Services? The Need for Standardized Environmental Accounting Units

Abstract: This paper advocates consistently defined units of account to measure the contributions of nature to human welfare. We argue that such units have to date not been defined by environmental accounting advocates and that the term "ecosystem services" is too ad hoc to be of practical use in welfare accounting. We propose a definition, rooted in economic principles, of ecosystem service units. A goal of these units is comparability with the definition of conventional goods and services found in GDP and the other national accounts. We illustrate our definition of ecological units of account with concrete examples. We also argue that these same units of account provide an architecture for environmental performance measurement by governments, conservancies, and environmental markets.

Building Corporate Associations: Consumer Attributions for Corporate Socially Responsible Programs

Abstract: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often used as a key criterion in gauging corporate reputation. This research examined the influence of consumers’ attributions on corporate outcomes in response to CSR. Researchers and managers have considered consumers’ beliefs about CSR initiatives to be simplistic, serving either economic ends or reflecting sincere social concerns. The results of two studies established that consumers’ attributions were more complex than traditionally viewed, mirroring many of the motives ascribed to companies by managers and researchers. Rather than viewing corporate efforts along a self- or other-centered continuum, consumers differentiated four types of motives: self-centered motives that are strategic and egoistic and other-centered motives that are values driven and stakeholder driven. Consumers responded most positively to CSR efforts they judged as values driven and strategic while responding negatively to efforts perceived as stakeholder driven or egoistic. Attributions were shown to affect purchase intent as well as mediate the structure of an offer.

Money for nothing? A call for empirical evaluation of biodiversity conservation investments.

Abstract: The field of conservation policy must adopt state-of-the-art program evaluation methods to determine what works, and when, if we are to stem the global decline of biodiversity and improve the effectiveness of conservation investments.

Integrating economic costs into conservation planning.

Abstract: Recent studies that incorporate the spatial distributions of biological benefits and economic costs in conservation planning have shown that limited budgets can achieve substantially larger biological gains than when planning ignores costs. Despite concern from donors about the effectiveness of conservation interventions, these increases in efficiency from incorporating costs into planning have not yet been widely recognized. Here, we focus on what these costs are, why they are important to consider, how they can be quantified and the benefits of their inclusion in priority setting. The most recent work in the field has examined the degree to which dynamics and threat affect the outcomes of conservation planning. We assess how costs fit into this new framework and consider prospects for integrating them into conservation planning.

Collaboration and Leadership for Effective Emergency Management

Abstract: Collaboration is a necessary foundation for dealing with both natural and technological hazards and disasters and the consequences of terrorism. This analysis describes the structure of the American emergency management system, the charts development of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and identifies conflicts arising from the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the attempt to impose a command and control system on a very collaborative organizational culture in a very collaborative sociopolitical and legal context. The importance of collaboration is stressed, and recommendations are offered on how to improve the amount and value of collaborative activities. New leadership strategies are recommended that derive their power from effective strategies and the transformational power of a compelling vision, rather than from hierarchy, rank, or standard operating procedures.

Social Enterprise in the United States and Europe: Understanding and Learning from the Differences

Abstract: Since the 1980s both the United States and Europe have experienced a simultaneous expansion in social enterprise. However, little has been written comparing and contrasting American and European conceptions of social enterprise resulting in difficulty communicating on the topic and missed opportunities to learn and build on foreign experience. To address this need, this paper compares and contrasts American and European social enterprise through an extensive review of literature from the two regions and discussions with social enterprise researchers on both sides of the Atlantic. It outlines the definitions of social enterprise used by American and European academics and practitioners, identifies historical factors promoting and shaping different conceptions of social enterprise, and highlights the differing institutional and legal environments in which it operates. It concludes by identifying what Americans and Europeans can learn from each others’ experience with social enterprise.

Culture differences and tax morale in the United States and in Europe

Abstract: Much recent research has investigated whether values, social norms, and attitudes differ across countries and whether these differences have measurable effects on economic behavior. One area in which such studies are particularly relevant is tax compliance, given both the noted differences across countries in their levels of tax compliance and the marked inability of standard economic models of taxpayer compliance to explain these differences. In this paper we estimate the determinants of an individual’s intrinsic willingness to pay taxes – what is sometimes termed “tax morale” – using information from the World Values Survey for a wide range of countries over several years of data. We first analyze a cross-section of individuals in Spain and the United States. In line with previous experimental results, our findings indicate a significantly higher tax morale in the United States than in Spain, controlling in a multivariate analysis for additional variables. We then extend our multivariate analysis to include an additional 14 European countries. Our results again indicate that individuals in the United States have the highest tax morale across all countries, followed by Austria and Switzerland. We also find a strong negative correlation between the size of shadow economy and the degree of tax morale in those countries.

Procedural injustice, victim precipitation, and abusive supervision

Abstract: We used data collected from a field survey of 334 supervisor‐subordinate dyads to test a model of the antecedents of abusive supervision. Path analytic tests of moderated mediation provided support for our prediction that supervisors’ depression mediates the relationship between supervisors’ procedural justice and subordinates’ perceptions of their supervisors’ abusiveness and that the mediation framework is stronger when subordinates are higher in negative affectivity. We discuss the study’s implications for theory, research, and practice.

Role of Managerial Incentives and Discretion in Hedge Fund Performance

Abstract: Using a comprehensive hedge fund database, we examine the role of managerial incentives and discretion in hedge fund performance. Hedge funds with greater managerial incentives, proxied by the delta of the option-like incentive fee contracts, higher levels of managerial ownership, and the inclusion of high-water mark provisions in the incentive contracts, are associated with superior performance. The incentive fee percentage rate by itself does not explain performance. We also find that funds with a higher degree of managerial discretion, proxied by longer lockup, notice, and redemption periods, deliver superior performance. These results are robust to using alternative performance measures and controlling for different data-related biases.

The Solar Neighborhood. XVII. Parallax Results from the CTIOPI 0.9 m Program: 20 New Members of the RECONS 10 Parsec Sample

Abstract: Astrometric measurements for 25 red dwarf systems are presented, including the first definitive trigonometric parallaxes for 20 systems within 10 pc of the Sun, the horizon of the RECONS sample. The three nearest systems that had no previous trigonometric parallaxes (other than perhaps rough preliminary efforts) are SO 0253+1652 (3.84 ± 0.04 pc, the 23rd nearest system), SCR 1845-6357 AB (3.85 ± 0.02 pc, 24th nearest), and LHS 1723 (5.32 ± 0.04 pc, 56th nearest). In total, seven of the systems reported here rank among the nearest 100 stellar systems. Supporting photometric and spectroscopic observations have been made to provide full characterization of the systems, including complete VRIJHKs photometry and spectral types. A study of the variability of 27 targets reveals six obvious variable stars, including GJ 1207, for which we observed a flare event in the V band that caused it to brighten by 1.7 mag. Improved parallaxes for GJ 54 AB and GJ 1061, both important members of the 10 pc sample, are also reported. Definitive parallaxes for GJ 1001 A, GJ 633, and GJ 2130 ABC, all of which have been reported to be within 10 pc, indicate that they are beyond 10 pc. From the analysis of systems with (previously) high trigonometric parallax errors, we conclude that parallaxes with errors in excess of 10 mas are insufficiently reliable for inclusion in the RECONS sample. The cumulative total of new additions to the 10 pc sample since 2000 is now 34 systems: 28 by the RECONS team and six by other groups. This total represents a net increase of 16% in the number of stellar systems reliably known to be nearer than 10 pc.

The Role Of Organizational Controls In Managing Knowledge

Abstract: We present a model demonstrating the role of organizational controls in managing organizational knowledge characterized by different combinations of knowledge attributes. Specifically, we show how particular controls (outcome, process, and clan) differ in their ability to acquire, transfer, interpret, and, finally, use knowledge. We argue that the use of different controls therefore creates distinguishably different knowledge management processes within the firm.

Corporate Governance and Firm Operating Performance

Abstract: Using a unique dataset provided by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), we relate 51 governance provisions to firm operating performance as proxied by return on assets and return on equity. We show that seven (six) governance provisions are significantly and positively related to return on assets (equity) using at least two of three econometric approaches. We identify 10 corporate governance provisions that are positively linked to return on assets, return on equity or both using at least two of our three econometric approaches. Nine of the corporate governance provisions we examine have recently been mandated by the three major U.S. stock exchanges but only one of them, nominating committee is comprised solely of independent outside directors, is significantly and positively related to firm operating performance. Our results reveal that the corporate governance reforms recently mandated by the three major U.S. stock exchanges are not more closely linked to firm operating performance than are those not so mandated.

Motor Signs Distinguish Children with High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome from Controls

Abstract: While many studies of motor control in autism have focused on specific motor signs, there has been a lack of research examining the complete range of subtle neuromotor signs. This study compared performance on a neurologic examination standardized for children (PANESS, Physical and Neurological Exam for Subtle Signs, Denckla [1974 Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 16(6), 729-741]) between a group of 40 boys aged 6-17 with autism and average range IQs and a group of 55 typically developing boys. The Autism group was shown to have significant impairment on several measures of motor control compared to the Control group. Regression analyses revealed that a model including four PANESS variables offered a high level of discrimination in distinguishing boys with high-functioning autism from controls.

The theoretical foundations of knowledge management

Abstract: Knowledge management has emerged as an important field for practice and research in information systems. This field is building on theoretical foundations from information economics, strategic management, organizational culture, organizational behavior, organizational structure, artificial intelligence, quality management, and organizational performance measurement. These theories are being used as foundations for new concepts that provide a rationale for managing knowledge, define the process of managing knowledge, and enable us to evaluate the results of this process. Based on articles published between 1995 and 2005, new concepts are emerging, including knowledge economy, knowledge alliance, knowledge culture, knowledge organization, knowledge infrastructure, and knowledge equity. An analysis of the theoretical foundations of knowledge management reveals a healthy arena with a strong foundation and clear directions for future work.

English for Specific Purposes: Teaching to Perceived Needs and Imagined Futures in Worlds of Work, Study, and Everyday Life

Abstract: This overview of the current state of English for specific purposes (ESP) begins by surveying ongoing debates on key topics: needs assessment and its goals, specificity in instructional methods, and the role of subject knowledge in instructor expertise. Two strands of current theory and research are next surveyed, namely, genre theory and corpus-enhanced genre studies, and critical pedagogy and ethnographies, followed by examples of research and theory-informed pedagogical strategies for literacy and spoken discourse. Topics in need of further inquiry are suggested.

A View from the Top: International Politics, Norms and the Worldwide Growth of NGOs

Abstract: This article provides a “top-down” explanation for the rapid growth of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the postwar period, focusing on two aspects of political globalization. First, I argue that international political opportunities in the form of funding and political access have expanded enormously in the postwar period and provided a structural environment highly conducive to NGO growth. Secondly, I present a norm-based argument and trace the rise of a pro-NGO norm in the 1980s and 1990s among donor states and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), which has actively promoted the spread of NGOs to non-Western countries. The article ends with a brief discussion of the symbiotic relationship among NGOs, IGOs, and states promoting international cooperation.

EcoScale, a semi-quantitative tool to select an organic preparation based on economical and ecological parameters

Abstract: A novel post-synthesis analysis tool is presented which evaluates quality of the organic preparation based on yield, cost, safety, conditions and ease of workup/purification. The proposed approach is based on assigning a range of penalty points to these parameters. This semi-quantitative analysis can easily be modified by other synthetic chemists who may feel that some parameters should be assigned different relative penalty points. It is a powerful tool to compare several preparations of the same product based on safety, economical and ecological features.

Can distributed software development be agile

Abstract: Three organizations studied here suggest the answer is "yes," when the unique characteristics of both environments are successfully blended.

An empirical study of machine learning techniques for affect recognition in human–robot interaction

Abstract: Given the importance of implicit communication in human interactions, it would be valuable to have this capability in robotic systems wherein a robot can detect the motivations and emotions of the person it is working with. Recognizing affective states from physiological cues is an effective way of implementing implicit human–robot interaction. Several machine learning techniques have been successfully employed in affect-recognition to predict the affective state of an individual given a set of physiological features. However, a systematic comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of these methods has not yet been done. In this paper, we present a comparative study of four machine learning methods—K-Nearest Neighbor, Regression Tree (RT), Bayesian Network and Support Vector Machine (SVM) as applied to the domain of affect recognition using physiological signals. The results showed that SVM gave the best classification accuracy even though all the methods performed competitively. RT gave the next best classification accuracy and was the most space and time efficient.

A Tractable Model of Reciprocity and Fairness

Abstract: We introduce a parametric model of other-regarding preferences in which my emotional state determines the marginal rate of substitution between my own and others' payoffs, and thus my subsequent choices. In turn, my emotional state responds to relative status and to the kindness or unkindness of others' choices. Structural estimations of this model with six existing data sets demonstrate that other-regarding preferences depend on status, reciprocity, and perceived property rights.

Schools, parents, and youth violence: a multilevel, ecological analysis.

Abstract: Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), this study utilized an ecological approach to investigate the joint contribution of parents and schools on changes in violent behavior over time among a sample of 6,397 students (54% female) from 125 schools. This study examined the main and interactive effects of parent and school connectedness as buffers of violent behavior within a hierarchical linear model, focusing on both students and schools as the unit of analysis. Results show that students who feel more connected to their schools demonstrate reductions in violent behavior over time. On the school level, our findings suggest that school climate serves as a protective factor for student violent behavior. Finally, parent and school connectedness appear to work together to buffer adolescents from the effects of violence exposure on subsequent violent behavior.

Limbic Hyperactivation During Processing of Neutral Facial Expressions in Children with Bipolar Disorder

Abstract: Reflecting a paradigm shift in clinical neuroscience, many chronic psychiatric illnesses are now hypothesized to result from perturbed neural development. However, most work in this area focuses on schizophrenia. Here, we extend this paradigm to pediatric bipolar disorder (BD), thus demonstrating traction in the developmental psychobiology perspective. To study amygdala dysfunction, we examined neural mechanisms mediating face processing in 22 youths (mean age 14.21 ± 3.11 yr) with BD and 21 controls of comparable age, gender, and IQ. Event-related functional MRI compared neural activation when attention was directed to emotional aspects of faces (hostility, subjects’ fearfulness) vs. nonemotional aspects (nose width). Compared with controls, patients perceived greater hostility in neutral faces and reported more fear when viewing them. Also, compared with controls, patients had greater activation in the left amygdala, accumbens, putamen, and ventral prefrontal cortex when rating face hostility, and greater activation in the left amygdala and bilateral accumbens when rating their fear of the face. There were no between-group behavioral or neural differences in the nonemotional conditions. Results implicate deficient emotion–attention interactions in the pathophysiology of BD in youth and suggest that developmental psychobiology approaches to chronic mental illness have broad applicability.

Coming-out across the life course: implications of age and historical context.

Abstract: Effects of age and the calendar year when individuals first self-identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual on their sexual orientation identity development were examined in a large community sample (N=767, 47% female, 18-74-years-old). These 2 variables were used to examine the timing and sequencing of 7 coming-out experiences: first awareness of same-sex attraction; first sexual experiences with opposite-sex partners; first sexual experiences with same-sex partners; self-identification as gay, lesbian, or bisexual; disclosure to someone other than a parent; disclosure to mother; and disclosure to father. The significant effects of age revealed that self-identification in adolescence as opposed to adulthood was associated with an overall young coming-out trajectory for all milestone experiences, which occurred in both earlier and recent historical contexts. Adolescents as opposed to adult self-identifiers were also more likely to demonstrate identity-centered sequences in which self-identification preceded same-sex sexual experiences, and fewer of these individuals had any heterosexual experience. Significant historical context effects indicated recent trends toward younger disclosure of orientation to others and to parents, greater likelihood of an identity-centered sequence, and younger ages for first heterosexual but not same-sex, sexual experiences. Among women, there was a recent trend toward greater likelihood of having a bisexual identity milestone. In general, the maturational effects were independent of historical context, with the exception that only adolescent self-identifiers who came out recently disclosed to others and to parents at an average age younger than 18 years. These developmental and historical trends expand on the stage-sequential framework to show how the process of sexual orientation identity development is driven by maturational factors as well as social changes.

Nuclear modification of electron spectra and implications for heavy quark energy loss in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200GeV

Abstract: The PHENIX experiment has measured midrapidity ([FORMULA: SEE TEXT]) transverse momentum spectra ([FORMULA: SEE TEXT]) of electrons as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at [FORMULA: SEE TEXT]. Contributions from photon conversions and from light hadron decays, mainly Dalitz decays of pi0 and eta mesons, were removed. The resulting nonphotonic electron spectra are primarily due to the semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy quarks. Nuclear modification factors were determined by comparison to nonphotonic electrons in p+p collisions. A significant suppression of electrons at high pT is observed in central Au+Au collisions, indicating substantial energy loss of heavy quarks.