A comparison of motivations of American and Japanese volunteers in ladies professional golf association tournaments

This exploratory study examined and compared primary motives influencing American and Japanese volunteers of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Data were collected from 281 volunteers who participated in LPGA tournament events in America and Japan. Japanese volunteers were found to be more involved in volunteer service due to “Social/Leisure” and “Material” reasons, while American volunteers were found to be associated with “Egoistic” and “Purposive” motivations. There was no significant difference in the “External Influences” factor. The study contributes to personnel and administration research and provides insight on the ways in which the LPGA event volunteers are managed in America and Japan...

The halloween effect and Japanese equity prices : myth or exploitable anomaly

Bouman and Jacobsen (American Economic Review 92(5), 1618–1635, 2002) examine monthly stock returns for major world stock markets and conclude that returns are significantly lower during the May–October periods versus the November–April periods in 36 of 37 markets examined. They argue that, in general, the Halloween strategy outperforms the buy and hold strategy thereby casting doubt on the validity of the efficient market paradigm. More recently, Maberly and Pierce (Econ Journal Watch 1(1), 29–46, 2004) re-examine the evidence for U.S. equity prices and conclude that Bouman and Jacobsen’s results are not robust to alternative model specifications. Extending prior research, this paper examines the robustness of the Halloween strategy to alternative model specifications for Japanese equity prices. The Halloween effect is concentrated in the period prior to the introduction of Nikkei 225 index futures in September 1986. After the internationalization of Japanese financial markets in the mid-1980s, the Halloween effect disappears.

Brutalism, metabolism and its American parallel : encounters in Skopje and in the architecture of Georgi Konstantinovski

Abstract Massive, raw concrete structures – the likes of the Telecommunications Building (1972–81) by Janko Konstantinov; the campus of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University (1974) by Marko Musˇicˇ; the National Hydraulic Institute (1972) by Krsto Todorovski; and the Bank Complex (1970) by R. Lalovik and O. Papesˇ – have led to the production of an enduring monumental presence and helped inspire Skopje’s title as the “Brutalist capital of the world”. These works followed Kenzo Tange’s introduction of Japanese Metabolism to Skopje through his role in the 1965 United Nations sponsored reconstruction competition. The unique position of a Non-Aligned Yugoslavia staged and facilitated architectural and professional exchange during the Cold War. Each trajectory and manifestation illustrates the complex picture of international architectural exchange and local production. Skopje and its numerous Brutalist edifices is an elucidative story, because it represents a meeting point between Brutalism, Metabolism and its American parallel. This article discusses, in particular, the Skopje Archive Building (1966) and the “Goce Delcˇev” Student Dormitory (1969) – two buildings designed by the architect Georgi Konstantinovski, realised on his return from a Masters program at Yale University and employment within I. M. Pei’s New York office. Their architecture illustrates the simultaneous preoccupations of leading architects at the time in regaining a conceptual ground made explicit through a complete and apprehensible image. From this particular position, the article explores the question of ethics and aesthetics central to Banham’s outline of the “New Brutalism”.