Showing papers on "Czech published in 1998"

Lingua Franca of Personality Taxonomies and Structures Based on the Psycholexical Approach

Abstract: Data sets from seven original trait taxonomies from different languages, American English, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Italian, Czech, and Polish, are used for a cross-cultural study. The taxonomic procedures, involving culling trait terms from the various lexicons and the construction of representative samples of trait terms, are briefly discussed. Factor structures, presumably Big Five structures, within these languages, based on ratings from an average of about 640 subjects on an average of approximately 430 trait variables per language, are used for comparison. Congruence coefficients are calculated for the corresponding factors in the different languages, based on their independent positions and on their positions after rotations, using the American English solution as target. In a relative sense, the congruences show replicability of the first four American English, Big Five factors in the other languages.

Markets for Communist Human Capital: Returns to Education and Experience in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Abstract: This research examines how the earnings structure in the Czech Republic and Slovakia changed after the collapse of those countries' Communist governments. Tests of four similar micro-data sets show that returns to education rose significantly with the transition to non-Communist governments. For example, returns to education rose from 2.4% to 5.2% for Czech men between 1984 and 1993. Though women had, in general, higher returns to education than men did, returns for men increased more with the regime change. Among both sexes, those with academic secondary education experienced particularly large earnings increases. Returns to experience, on the other hand, fell. Earnings structure changes appear to have been larger in the Czech Republic than in Slovakia, probably because transition occurred more rapidly and deeply in the former.

Multext-East: Parallel and Comparable Corpora and Lexicons for Six Central and Eastern European Languages

Abstract: The EU Copernicus project Multext-East has created a multi-lingual corpus of text and speech data, covering the six languages of the project: Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Romanian, and Slovene. In addition, wordform lexicons for each of the languages were developed. The corpus includes a parallel component consisting of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, with versions in all six languages tagged for part-of-speech and aligned to English (also tagged for POS). We describe the encoding format and data architecture designed especially for this corpus, which is generally usable for encoding linguistic corpora. We also describe the methodology for the development of a harmonized set of morphosyntactic descriptions (MSDs), which builds upon the scheme for western European languages developed within the EAGLES project. We discuss the special concerns for handling the six project languages, which cover three distinct language families.

An Explanation of the Dissolution of the Czechoslovak State

Abstract: Why did Czechoslovakia break up peacefully into the Czech and Slovak republics on January 1, 1993? Despite the fact that clear ma jorities of both ethnic populations favored living in some kind of common state, Czech and Slovak political elites ignored such preferences and reached a mutual decision to split the state in two. A number of factors interacted during the postcommunist period to bring about a sharp decline in Czech and Slovak elite commitment to a shared state, thus making com promise on constitutional and other important issues virtually impossible to achieve. Divergent values, perceived interests, and self-identities contrib uted to interethnic elite disunity that, in turn, was compounded by the simultaneous political and economic transformations initiated after the fall of the communist regime. Furthermore, electoral and governmental ar rangements that, theoretically, should have facilitated compromise between ethnic elites actually contributed to the deadlock that accelerated the deci sion to dissolve the state.

Managing Radical Organizational Change

Abstract: Karen L. Newman and Stanley D. Nollen, in their book ‘Managing Radical Organizational Change,’ examine the transformation of six companies in the Czech Republic as they adapted to the economic transitions of the 1990s. The book presents detailed case analyses of each of the firms, and the authors interpret these cases in terms of a set of research questions about organizational change derived from a comprehensive review of contemporary organization theory. The authors, both of Georgetown University, have had extensive experience as teachers, researchers, and consultants with a number of firms in the Czech Republic.

The Party Systems

Abstract: The party systems in the four Visegrad states are still young, fragile and unstable. They are still developing, though they have reached different stages of development. Some, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, show sign of stabilisation. This is less obvious in Poland and the Slovak Republic. There has been only one normal election (excluding the first transition elections in 1989–90) in Hungary (1994), three in Poland (1991, 1993 and 1997) and one each in the independent Czech Republic (1996) and Slovakia (1994). This is still a very narrow basis for party systems to develop to maturity and stability. This will take time. However, the transformation of the former communist parties is virtually complete in Hungary and Poland, is far advanced in Slovakia, where the new post-communist parties have been returned to power, but has not started in the Czech Republic, where the KSCM remains unreconstructed and actually lost support in 1996. The centre-right part of the political spectrum remains chaotic in Hungary and above all in Poland and Slovakia, but not in the Czech Republic. Even here, the battle for domination of the centre-right between conservatives and christian democrats is not fully over, though it now seems that christian democracy cannot become the major political force on the right there.

Lessons from Privatization: Labour Issues in Developing and Transitional Countries

Abstract: This study assesses the labour market consequences of privatization in developing countries (the Republic of Korea, India and Mexico), and transition economies (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Eastern Germany and Hungary) during the first half of the 1990s. Based on over 20 case studies in seven countries, the book considers the effect of privatization on productivity and on the level and structure of employment. The evolving patterns of industrial relations in privatized firms and the subsequent changes in wages, remuneration systems and non-wage benefits are also examined. This detailed and analyzed overview of the labour market consequences of privatization should improve an understanding of the circumstances under which it should be successful. It should also clarify some of the difficult choices to be made in order to prevent privatization becoming a zero-sum game, with some winners and many losers.

Managers' Perceptions of their Identity: A Comparative Study between the Czech Republic and Britain

Abstract: After a period of more that 40 years of Communism, the Czech Republic is in the midst of an economic transformation. One aspect of this transformation is the development of a new managerial ethos, important to manage the current infrastructural changes and ensure that Czech organizations are able to compete in international markets. This paper reports research that examines what Czech managers think about themselves and their roles, and contrasts these perceptions with those of their British counterparts. Many of the concepts and development approaches being applied in the Czech Republic are closely related to concepts and development approaches in the West and have often been accepted unchallenged even though they are being applied in very different circumstances. The focus of this research was to understand how Czech and British managers view their jobs; how their different views relate to the techniques and approaches they adopt. The method chosen was discourse analysis applied to responses from a questionnaire, interviews and repertory grid technique. Using this approach a very different kind of understanding was gained in the way Czech managers think about management than has hitherto been assumed. The research takes a matched group of Czech and British managers and contrasts their respective views. Our findings give important new insights for management and management development practice for both the Czech Republic and Great Britain.

Consolidation and Stabilization of the Party System in the Czech Republic

Abstract: The current Czech party system is the result of a process of gradual transformation which has been taking place since the breakdown of the communist regime, or, in the case of the Czech Republic as such, since the split of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992. The Constitution of the Czech Republic, as adopted in December 1992, established a parliamentary form of government. In other words, political parties became the major instruments of government. This means that the Czech parliamentary system of government is also one of party government. Parliament is now conceived of as a moderate arena in which political parties compete. Parties have the responsibility to stand for particular policy programmes and to attempt to implement those programmes if elected. The transformation of the political and economic systems was not a straightforward and simple process. The aim of this paper is to give a definition and brief description of the main periods of development of the party system: from a one-party state system to a more mature and stabilized party pluralism. The latter stages of this development have seen a considerably fragmented party system transformed via a process of concentration into a system of moderate pluralism. The level of the individual political parties will be examined from an evolutionary viewpoint. Parties will also be scaled along a left-right axis. The internal organizational structure of the parties is analysed as well as the role of the parliamentary party (oAcially referred to as the deputy club) in the organization and functioning of the Czech Parliament. Other important factors to be analysed in this paper are the influence of parliamentary electoral systems on the formation of the party system, and, last but not least, the phenomenon of cartelization which is currently manifesting itself in the Czech party system.

On the Emergence of Political Identity in the Czech Mass Media: The Case of the Democratic Party of Sudetenland

Abstract: Six days after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 6th January 1993, an article appeared in the Czech national daily Rude pravo. It reported two events – a meeting of the preparatory committee of the Democratic Party of Sudetenland (Cz. Demokraticka strana Sudety) and a subsequent news conference given by its chairman, Jaroslav Bluhmel. The party and its chairman were previously almost unknown to the public. The two events, however, turned out to be politically significant. What Bluhmel had said was reported in most of the Czech mass media, and elicited public reactions from major Czech politicians. The materials we use in this paper include most of the articles in Czech national newspapers during the period which dealt with J. Bluhmel and the Democratic Party of Sudetenland (DPS), together with a relevant TV programme. We focus on how the political identity of the DPS was established and contested in the Czech mass media. The category ‘DPS’ was to begin with almost inter-subjectively empty. We demonstrate how this was fleshed out by binding to it the views, intentions and actions of its incumbents and its opponents. We find that in the case of the DPS the ‘fleshing out’ was by no means a consensual matter; Bluhmel and his political opponents never converged on a common definition of the DPS. Czech Sociological Review, 1998, Vol. 6 (No. 1: 43-58)

The development of the role of the audit in the Czech Republic

Abstract: As the economies in Central Europe have commenced their transformation from centrally planned to market-led economies, each country has implemented a new legal framework for accounting and auditing. This provides a unique opportunity to research the implementation of aspects of accounting and auditing well known to Western market economies into different economic contexts. In particular, it provides an opportunity to revisit the role of the independent audit. This paper contributes to the research on the developing of auditing in Central Europe by analysing the role of the audit in the Czech Republic. It covers aspects of both regulation and practice and, in order to gain more understanding of how the audit role is developing in the Czech Republic, focuses on three areas: influences on the Czech audit legislation; the position of the audit report and perceptions of the objectives of the audit in the Czech Republic. After a brief review of the published literature on accounting and audit in the Czech Repub...

Inflation Targeting in the Czech Republic: Old Wine in New Bottles

Abstract: (1998). Inflation Targeting in the Czech Republic. Eastern European Economics: Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 49-67.

Employment and wage structures in the czech republic

Abstract: for computing and technical assistance. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Czech National Bank.

Women, work, and family in the Czech Republic—and comparisons with the West

Abstract: What are the work-family experiences of Czech women, and to what extent are there similarities and differences with women in the West? Drawing on a cross-national survey and other findings, this paper points out that unlike the extensive part-time employment of many Western European women, most Czech women in the post-Communist era have continued to combine full-time employment with family roles. Maternity and parental leaves, kindergartens, and other policies have been important supports. It is argued that employment and economic independence remain important to Czech women, and although gender differentiation in women's domestic activities and men's preponderance in upper-level jobs in the economy and government is recognized, Western attributions of patriarchy have been resisted. Since family life is highly valued, many have seen women as advantaged in their greater family involvement and integration of both family and employment roles. Rather than opposition between men and women, Czechs gene...

Markets for Communist Human Capital: Returns to Education and ExperienceIn the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Abstract: This research examines how the earnings structure in the Czech Republic and Slovakia changed after the collapse of those countries' Communist governments. Tests of four similar micro-data sets show that returns to education rose significantly with the transition to non-Communist governments. For example, returns to education rose from 2.4% to 5.2% for Czech men between 1984 and 1993. Though women had, in general, higher returns to education than men did, returns for men increased more with the regime change. Among both sexes, those with academic secondary education experienced particularly large earnings increases. Returns to experience fell. Earnings structure changes appear to have been larger in the Czech Republic than in Slovakia, probably because transition occurred more rapidly and deeply in the former.

Returns to the Market: Valuing Human Capital in the Post-Transition Czech and Slovak Republics

Abstract: An employer-based sample of over 660,000 Czech and 260,000 Slovak workers is used to estimate the benefits of education in 1995 to 1997. By 1997 education of all types had become substantially more highly rewarded in both countries than it was either under communism or in the early years of the transition. Education’s value began increasing earlier and reached a higher level in the Czech Republic than in Slovakia. Findings suggest that returns to unmeasured human capital or productive characteristics have also increased. Only eight years after the fall of communism, returns to human capital were on average as large or larger than in comparable, developed market economies.

New records of spiders from pond littorals in the Czech Republic

Abstract: New records of spiders from pond littorals in the Czech Republic. Tmeticus affinis (BLACKWALL, 1855), Tetragnatha shoshone LEVI, 1981, Clubionajuvenis SIMON, 1878, Marpissa Canestrinii NINNI, 1868, and Theridiosoma gemmosum (L. KOCH, 1877) are new records for the Czech Republic. New data aboutEnoplognatha caricis (FICKERT, 1876), Theridion hemerobium SIMON, 1914, Rugathodes instabilis (O. P. CAMBRIDGE, 1871), Tetragnatha striata L. KOCH, 1862, and Dolomedes plantarius (CLERCK, 1757) are given. The validity of the name Enoplognatha caricis (FICKERT, 1876) is supported.