I review recent efforts by political scientists and economists to explain crossnational variation in corruption using subjective ratings, and examine the robustness of reported findings. Quite strong evidence suggests that highly developed, long-established liberal democracies, with a free and widely read press, a high share of women in government, and a history of openness to trade are perceiv...

This piece synthesizes the development strategies of Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and draws some relevant lessons. Using a complex adaptive systems approach, strategic openness, a set of heterodox macroeconomic policies, creation of institutions for productive investment in both agriculture and industry, avoidance of severe inequalities and political conflict, special initial condition...

This piece synthesizes the development strategies of Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and draws some relevant lessons. Using a complex adaptive systems approach, strategic openness, a set of heterodox macroeconomic policies, creation of institutions for productive investment in both agriculture and industry, avoidance of severe inequalities and political conflict, special initial condition...

whereby each system design is closely related to the kind of tasks it should support. The focus in designing the Shiftplanassistant, a system for the design of shift rotas as described in (Gärtner 1995), was on developing tools that support professional shift rota designers in accomplishing their task. The system eases the construction of rotas and allows at the same time for high flexibility i...

Military experience is an important turning point in a person’s life and, consequently, is associated with important life outcomes. Using a large longitudinal sample of German males, we examined whether personality traits played a role during this period. Results indicated that personality traits prospectively predicted the decision to enter the military. People lower in agreeableness, neurotic...

As America’s population becomes increasingly more diverse ethnically and culturally, the opportunities for individuals of differing racial backgrounds and ethnic groups to mix interracially when engaging in romantic relationships increase also. The purpose of this study was to compare college students’ perceptions of couples engaged in interracial romantic relationships compared to college stud...

A survey of 1,606 currently registered U. S. boat owners was conducted to determine their likelihood of purchasing a major durable (boat) in an online format along with the various factors and preferences to be considered in consummating such a purchase. Data from each respondent was gathered for the purpose of assessing their perceived personal risk in making such a purchase and to determine t...

MOOCs are particular learning environments due to their massiveness and openness. Creating learning environments for masses is extremely complex and raises a lot of design questions because of the large variety of participants in terms of background, skills, and experiences. This paper aims to give an overview of the current trends in MOOCs design and to present a draft of the conceptual catego...

Characters are considered central to works of fiction and essential to our enjoyment of them. We conducted an exploratory study to examine whether the ability to sketch engaging fictional characters is influenced by a writer’s attributes. Samples of 93 Creative Writers and 114 Non-Writers generated character descriptions based on a portrait photograph. We measured Participants' experiences with...

Qualitative studies from a range of nations suggest that students studying in their own country exhibit a range of responses towards the international students with whom they share social and academic spaces, although the tendency is towards passive avoidance. Little work has yet been focused on understanding why students in similar situations react differently to the cultural diversity of the ...