The recent development and performance of ethical investments

In this chapter, we assess the recent development and performance of ethical investments around the world. Ethical investments include both socially responsible investments (following Environmental, Social and Governance criteria) and faith-based investments (following religious principles). After presenting the development of each type of funds in a historical context, we analyse their ethical screening process, highlighting similarities and differences across funds and regions. This leads us to investigate their characteristics in terms of return and risk, and finally evaluate their historical performance using various risk-adjusted performance measures on a small sample of US funds. Hence we are able to not only compare the performance of each fund with each other and with traditional investments, but also assess their relative resilience to the 2007-08 financial crisis.

The Communicative Dimension and Security in Asia-Pacific: A communicative-viewing proposal for reform of the Japanese Intelligence Services

The postwar development of the Intelligence Services in Japan has been based on two contrasting models: the centralized model of the USA and the collegiality of UK, neither of which has been fully developed. This has led to clashes of institutional competencies and poor anticipation of threats towards national security. This problem of opposing models has been partially overcome through two dimensions: externally through the cooperation with the US Intelligence Service under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security; and internally though the pre-eminence in the national sphere of the Department of Public Safety. However, the emergence of a new global communicative dimension requires that a communicative-viewing remodeling of this dual model is necessary due to the increasing capacity of the individual actors to determine the dynamics of international events. This article examines these challenges for the Intelligence Services of Japan and proposes a reform based on this new global communicative dimension.

Deictic Demonstratives in Japanese, Finnish and Swedish : First and Third Language Perspectives

The goal of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, it investigates the actual, native use of spatial-deictic demonstratives in Japanese, Finnish and Swedish. Secondly, it investigates and elucidates the interlanguage of Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking learners of Japanese regarding their use of Japanese spatial-deictic demonstratives in the light of respective native use and, in comparison to the descriptions of demonstratives in the teaching materials used. Thus, the present study deals with analyses of two sets of empirical data: data produced by native-speaking informants (L1 data) and data produced by language learners (L2 data). These were elicited by Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs) designed, collected and analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods by the author. The results showed that the actual use of demonstratives by the native informants was not always in accordance with the way described in grammars. The typological similarities between Japanese and Finnish were in this study not reflected in the native use of demonstratives, and some uses were not solely based on the spatial relations between the referent, the speaker and the addressee, but rather on social-interactional factors. The main findings regarding the learner data revealed some differences in the usage rate of the demonstratives between the two Finnish-speaking groups and the one Swedish-speaking learner group studied. There were, however, no particular differences found between them regarding the type of demonstrative used. It is suggested that these differences are first and foremost connected both with the teaching materials used and the more or less heterogeneous linguistic environment in which the learners reside, and only thereafter with the typological similarities or differences between their respective native languages, Finnish and Swedish, and the target language, Japanese. It is further argued that the learners’ use of the different Japanese demonstratives, that is the type of demonstrative used, could be explained in terms of familiarity with the grammar. That is, when the situations used in the DCTs were exemplified in teaching materials and were familiar to them, the learners seemed to use Japanese demonstratives as they are described in the teaching materials and as the native Japanese speakers use them. When the situations used in the DCTs were not exemplified in the teaching materials, the learners seem to rely more on their native language. The results, thus, suggest that the learners’ interlanguage is influenced by the grammar of the target language known to the learners, but also by the number of languages (or varieties) that the learners have contact with at the time of learning. The results of the present study have implications for the teaching of Japanese in at least two ways. Firstly, the importance of grammar instruction must be emphasized since its effect on the learners’ language is apparent. Secondly, the contents of teaching materials should be revised on the basis of the native speakers’ actual use of the grammar.

Students' views on the learning of kanji : A study the views and experiences of students at the Swedish universities concerning the teaching and learning of Chinese characters as used in Japanese

Kanji, the Chinese characters adopted to write the Japanese language, is often mentioned as one of the most difficult aspects of mastering said language. This is especially said about people from outside the Sinosphere i.e. PRC, Taiwan, North and South Korea, Japan and Vietnam. In the following thesis 12 students studying the Japanese language at Swedish universities were interviewed about their experiences when it comes to learning and being taught about kanji. A chapter summarizing some of the research that is relevant to this thesis is also included. Topics touched upon in this and the result chapter include the desire for more structured approach to kanji learning based on breaking down the characters into elemental components, spaced repetition (SRS), mnemonics.

Growth and Public Transportation Investments: Growth Management Strategies to Reduce Transportation Capital Costs In and Near Midwestern Urban Areas, 1995

Transportation and land-use are independent, inter-active systems. Land-use patterns shape local transportation demand, but transportation systems in turn influence land-use patterns. In attempting to satisfy transportation demand created by existing land-use patterns, transportation planners directly, if not always consciously or intentionally, influence future land-use patterns. This study examines that complex relationship. The purpose of the study was threefold: to compile the body of knowledge already existing; to apply this body of knowledge to the context of midsize cities in the Midwest; and, to make the knowledge accessible both to transportation planners and to public officials who make key decisions about land use.

How do Small Players Deduce Beliefs about Uncertainty? A Look at Texas Shale Oil Investments

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Hoshin Kanri – the Japanese way of piloting : An exploratory study of a Japanese strategic management system

Strategy is a highly topical subject among managers and since the world is constantlychanging it is also an important subject for companies’ competitive advantage and survival.At the same time experts in the field of strategic management describe western techniques ascomplex and ineffective while the Japanese techniques have been seen as unambiguous andcharacterized by focus on quality, productivity and teamwork. This calls for greaterknowledge in the Japanese management systems. Hoshin Kanri is a collection of Japanesebest strategic management practices and therefore an interesting target for our study. Thus, onthe one hand this study investigates the theory of Hoshin Kanri in order to give structure to itand provide a way for practitioner into the management system. On the other hand this studyinvestigates Hoshin Kanri in order to reveal how Japanese subsidiaries based in Sweden haveimplemented this strategic management system. This is firstly done by reviewing the existingliterature on the subject and secondly by a collective case study with in-depth interviewsconducted with managers at Japanese owned subsidiaries based in Sweden. There are somelimitations in this study. One is that the results of the study do not include all Japanesesubsidiaries in Sweden as not all companies participated in the study. Moreover, the study islimited by one individuals’ knowledge and perception of Hoshin Kanri in each of the threecompanies. The study contributes to the existing literature on the topic of Hoshin Kanri by;(1) structuring the literature and the existing models under one of two categories, namelycyclical or sequential; (2) providing a model that aims at making it more understandable andattractive for practitioner to apply; (3) initiating the mapping of the spread of Hoshin Kanriamong Japanese subsidiaries in Sweden and (4) providing a Swedish model for theapplication of HK in Japanese subsidiaries.

Discount rates for seed capital investments

Hasta el momento la estimación de las tasas de descuento requeridos por los empresarios ha seguido siendo un misterio. Mongrut y Ramírez (2006) hicieron una contribución a esta zona por deducción del límite inferior tasa de descuento para un empresario no diversificada en un mercado emergente. Sin embargo, utilizaron una función de utilidad cuadrática, que no tiene supuestos deseables. Esta investigación extiende el trabajo previo mediante la derivación de las expresiones de las tasas de descuento utilizando un Hiperbólico Absoluto Aversión al Riesgo (HARA) función de utilidad que incluye la cuadrática y la formas logarítmicas como casos especiales. Por otra parte, también se asume el empresario con el bajo la aversión al riesgo que invierte casi todo su capital en su proyecto o empresa y cuyo nivel de la riqueza se acerca a cero. Uno encuentra que ambas expresiones dependen de riesgo del empresario, la aversión y una medida del riesgo total del proyecto. El mantenimiento constante de la tasa libre de riesgo, simular las expresiones de la tasa de descuento para la forma cuadrática y la forma logarítmica. Como era de esperar, los rendimientos requeridos del empresario (descuentos) son muy sensibles tanto especificaciones y todos los valores fueron inferiores a 50% y la mayoría de ellos fueron inferiores a 25%, pero más alta que la tasa libre de riesgo asumido.

Visitors' engagement and authenticity: Japanese heritage consumption

Understanding the sense of authenticity of heritage attractions is important for tourism management and marketing because presentation, interpretation and verification has a direct bearing on motivations to visit and engage with heritage tourism sites. This paper establishes relationships among the concepts of culturally specific motivation, perception of authenticity, engagement and attendant behavioral consequences based on domestic visitors' experiences at Japanese heritage sites. It further extends Kolar and Zabkar's (2010) model of authenticity by including concepts of serious leisure, heritage related behaviors, self-connection and their effects over engagement using Partial Least Square, whereby both formative and reflective scales are included. The structural model is tested with a sample of 768 visitors in a culturally specific setting of Japanese heritage sites. The empirical validation of the conceptual model supports the research hypotheses. These findings contribute to a better understanding of visitors' perceptions and valuation of authenticity in Japanese tourist attractions. Several implications can be drawn from the study findings and interesting directions for future research are provided.

Fukushima-derived radionuclides in sediments of the Japanese Pacific Ocean coast and various Japanese water samples (seawater, tap water, and coolant water of Fukushima Daiichi reactor unit 5)

We investigated Ocean sediments and seawater from inside the Fukushima exclusion zone and found radiocesium (134Cs and 137Cs) up to 800 Bq kg-1 as well as 90Sr up to 5.6 Bq kg-1. This is one of the first reports on radiostrontium in sea sediments from the Fukushima exclusion zone. Seawater exhibited contamination levels up to 5.3 Bq kg-1 radiocesium. Tap water from Tokyo from weeks after the accident exhibited detectable but harmless activities of radiocesium (well below the regulatory limit). Analysis of the Unit 5 reactor coolant (finding only 3H and even low 129I) leads to the conclusion that the purification techniques for reactor coolant employed at Fukushima Daiichi are very effective.

National evaluation of NHS genetics service investments: emerging issues from the cancer genetics pilots

In seeking to fulfil the ambition of the 2003 genetics white paper, Our Inheritance, Our Future, to ‘mainstream’ genetic knowledge and practices, the Department of Health provided start-up funding for pilot services in various clinical areas, including seven cancer genetics projects. To help to understand the challenges encountered by such an attempt at reconfiguring the organization and delivery of services in this field, a programme-level evaluation of the genetics projects was commissioned to consider the organizational issues faced. Using a qualitative approach, this research has involved comparative case-study work in 11 of the pilot sites, including four of the seven cancer genetics pilots. In this paper, the researchers present early findings from their work, focusing in particular on the cancer genetics pilots. They consider some of the factors that have influenced how the pilots have sought to address pre-existing sector, organizational and professional boundaries to these new ways of working. The article examines the relationship between these factors and the extent to which pilots have succeeded in setting up boundary-spanning services, dealing with human-resource issues and creating sustainable, ‘mainstreamed’ provision which attracts ongoing funding in a volatile NHS commissioning environment where funding priorities do not always favour preventive, risk-assessment services.

The symmetric syntax of Japanese complex verbs and Slavic prefixes

We report on a robust symmetry between the Polish and the Japanese sequence of syntactic projections in what superficially looks like different domains, namely verbal prefixes (Polish) and multiple verbs (Japanese). This paralellism strongly supports the thesis about the finegrained sequence of positions in syntax, namely that there exists the functional sequence of syntactic heads (fseq) which is invariantly ordered by UG (see e.g. Cinque (1999)) and the surface differences among particular langauges in the order of elements that instantiate this fseq result solely from movement (not from the variation in fseq itself).

Essays on Financial Constraints, R&D Investments, and Competition

This dissertation consists of two chapters of theoretical studies that investigate the effect of financial constraints and market competition on research and development (R&D) investments. In the first chapter, I explore the impact of financial constraints on two different types of R&D investments. In the second chapter, I examine the impact of market competition on the relationship between financial constraints and R&D investments. In the first chapter, I develop a dynamic monopoly model to study a firm’s R&D strategy. Contrary to intuition, I show that a financially constrained firm may invest more aggressively in R&D projects than an unconstrained firm. Financial constraints introduce a risk that a firm may run out of money before its project bears fruit, which leads to involuntary termination on an otherwise positive-NPV project. For a company that relies on cash flow from assets in place to keep its R&D project alive, early success can be relatively important. I find that when the discovery process can be expedited by heavier investment (“accelerable” projects), a financially constrained company may find it optimal to “over”-invest in order to raise the probability of project survival. The over-investment will not happen if the project is only “scalable” (investment scales up payoffs). The model generates several testable implications regarding over-investment and project values. In the second chapter, I study the effects of competition on R&D investments in a duopoly framework. Using a homogeneous duopoly model where two unconstrained firms compete head to head in an R&D race, I find that competition has no effect on R&D investment if the project is not accelerable, and the competing firms are not constrained. In a heterogeneous duopoly model where a financially constrained firm competes against an unconstrained firm, I discover interesting strategic interactions that lead to preemption by the constrained firm in equilibrium. The unconstrained competitor responds to its constrained rival’s investment in an inverted-U shape fashion. When the constrained competitor has high cash flow risk, it accelerates the innovation in equilibrium, while the unconstrained firm invests less aggressively and waits for its rival to quit the race due to shortage of funds.

Behavioral and neuroimaging research of reading: A case of Japanese

Behavioral studies showed that AS, an English-Japanese bilingual was a skilled reader in Japanese but was a phonological dyslexic in English. This behavioral dissociation was accounted for by the Hypothesis of Transparency and Granularity postulated by Wydell & Butterworth. However, a neuroimaging study using MEG (magnetoencephalography) revealed that AS has the same functional deficit in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG). This paper therefore offers an answer to this intriguing discrepancy between the behavioral dissociation and the neural unity in AS by reviewing existing behavioral and neuroimaging studies in alphabetic languages such as English, Finnish, French, and Italian, and nonalphabetic languages such as Japanese and Chinese.