Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Several studies in the field of applied linguistics have explored images held by language learners about a target language country. However, for the most part, these studies focused on learners of modern European languages, such as German, Spanish and French and they were conducted in Western educational contexts. Besides, none of the previous investigations attempted to conduct a systematic classification of the language learners' images. The present longitudinal study addressed these gaps in the research literature. It explored images about Russia held by Malaysian learners of the Russian language in a large university in East Malaysia. This article reports the findings of three questionnaire surveys conducted in 2004, 2007 and 2010. It was found that the images about Russia held by the participants were diverse and clustered around eight countryrelated aspects. Content of some categories of images was stable and changed little over time. Other categories were more fluid and more prone to change. The paper concludes with a discussion of pedagogical implications that can be derived from the findings.

Purpose– When knowledge is shared, it flows beyond individual level to add to organizational knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to seek an insight into the role of servant leadership in leveraging knowledge sharing among public employees, thereby enriching organizational knowledge in public organizations. The study also investigates the individual-level mediation effect of public service motivation (PSM), as well as organization-level moderating effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the relationship between servant leadership and knowledge sharing.Design/methodology/approach– The data on the research variables were collected from 562 employees and 197 department managers in public organizations of electricity, telephone, and water industries in Vietnam context.Findings– Research results provided evidence for the mediating effect of PSM for the servant leadership-knowledge sharing linkage. This linkage was also found to be positively moderated by CSR.Originality/value– This research extends PSM literature by shedding light on the mediating role of PSM for the effect of servant leadership on knowledge sharing, thereby demonstrating the convergence of servant leadership, knowledge sharing, and PSM research streams.

This study explores the role of taxes in explaining companies' financing decisions. We test whether the corporate tax shields explanation of capital structure is applicable to firms listed on the Spanish stock exchange over the period 2007-2013. Taxes are found to be economically and statistically significant determinants of capital structure. Our results suggest that marginal tax rates affect the debt policies of Spanish listed companies, and the existence of non-debt tax shields constitutes an alternative to the use of debt as a tax shelter. Consistent with theoretical expectations, there is a stronger relation between debt and taxation in less levered firms. Finally, we empirically estimate the impact of the new thin-capitalization rule put forth by the Spanish government in 2012 on the financing behaviour of Spanish listed companies. Our empirical evidence supports the existence of a tax reform effect, where companies affected by interest deductibility limitations reduce their leverage more than companies that are not affected.

The article refers to the innovative pedagogical technologies as a development tool of the rhetorical potential of the student's personality in the university; it is identified opportunities and ways to use them in the process of studying rhetoric. Nowadays rhetoric has actually become an integrated discipline that involves the assimilation of a whole range of human knowledge (the history of oratory, literature theory, and poetics) and it has a well-directed professional content so professional rhetoric is applied (academic, judicial, business, political, etc). It is proved that a modern pedagogical technology - is not only a consistent sequence of actions and specific simulation of the learning process, which allows you to organize lessons not familiar to the student's way (training, conference, presentation, game). We analyzed such innovative teaching technologies, such as: interactive technology, informational communication, business games, portfolios, and case studies. It was found that each of these technologies created positive motivation to assimilate the rhetorical knowledge and allowed you to generate effectively the appropriate skills, to develop personal and professional qualities.

The aim of this research project (ESRC RES-160-25-0031) was to assess whether and to what extent the Internet and the Web could be transforming access to sources of scientific expertise. There are competing theoretical perspectives, either for a concentration effect for the most heavily linked and accessed sites (driven by 'power laws' or a winner-takes-all effect) or for a greater diversification or 'democratization' of online resources. This led to a number of related questions, such as whether the Internet is associated with the use of more global versus local sources of expertise? Are there differences across disciplines? How central a role is the Internet playing in shaping access to information and expertise among scientists? In addition to these substantive questions, the project also sought to contribute to the development and application of Webmetric techniques, and their combination with in-depth interviews and focus groups. The project team found that this triangulation yielded greater insight into the role of the Internet in accessing different sources of expertise.

In October 2014 and June 2015, a team of scholars and students from the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw featuring the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, made an underwater survey in the unnamed lake (formerly Herrn-See) in the village of Lubanowo (formerly Liebenow) in Western Pomerania. During the underwater research, weapons, tools and horse harness parts (including chain reins) were found. They are dated mainly to the Roman Period, but also to the Middle Ages. Some items bear traces of ritual destruction. Parallels may be pointed out with weapons in Przeworsk culture, and to some extent also in Scandinavia. The site should be attributed to sacrificial military deposits. Its extraordinary character lies in the fact that so far it is the only site of its type which is still in its 'lake stage', i.e. not a marsh or bog. Most probably it was used by local inhabitants, the people of the Lubusz group.Key words: Herrn-See, Lubanowo village, underwater research, weapon deposit, Roman Period.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ab.v23i0.1296

"Going green" has become an important environmental issue in contemporary business practice worldwide. This study examined the influence of a number of factors on green innovation and the consequences in terms of performance. The stakeholder theory was adopted to observe the effects of each stakeholder on the green innovation practices of companies and to determine how green innovation practices influence environmental and business performance. A research model with eight hypotheses was proposed to determine the associations between the variables of interest. An empirical survey was conducted of 202 Taiwanese service and manufacturing companies. The survey found that pressure from competitors and the government, along with employee conduct, all had significant and positive effects on green innovation practices. Additionally, a moderating effect of innovation orientation existed only in the relationship between green product innovation practices and employee conduct. This study not only provides a systematic way to analyze the effects of green innovation practices but also suggests the best means for companies to adopt green innovation practices.

Abstract
Investigation of species composition, soil physical and chemical properties, as well as forest productivity of oligomesic dry pine forests (Vacciniosa and Myrtillosa forest types) was carried out in six dry land zones differing in age of the Lake Engure catchment area (sediment zones of the drained lakebed, Mia, Limnea, Litorina Sea, Baltic Ice Lake and glaciofluvial sediment zone in Northern Kursa Upland). Higher species diversity in the tree layer and a more typical podzolisation process was found in the older dry land zones (sediments of the Baltic Ice Lake, Northern Kursa Upland), while higher species diversity in the field layer (higher proportion of grasses and sword grasses), more intensive gleying process in soils, as well as considerably higher stand productivity was observed in the younger dry land zones (the drained lakebed, Mia, Limnea and Littorina Sea stages). Characteristic species of the Vaccinio-Piceetea class were dominant in the pine forests of older dry land zones, whereas species of the Pulsatillo-Pinetea class were typical in the sea coastal pine forests.

Recent research has shown that the degree to which people feel they are in control of their lives is an important correlate of individual happiness, where those that feel more in control are also found to be systematically happier. In turn, the economic sources of perceived life control are only insignificantly established in the relevant literature. The present paper employs individual data from the most recent version of the World Value Survey, covering the period from 1981 to 2013, to establish the macro-determinants of individual life control. We find that living in a country with high overall economic freedom is a major determinant of feeling in control of one's own life. The effect is very similar for individuals in high and low income countries, while the impact of democracy is negligible in both cases. Interacting relative income with economic freedom, we find that - contrary to conventional wisdom - it is by far the lower income groups that derive the biggest gain of perceived life control from living in a country with comparatively high economic freedom.

Part 1: Key Competencies for Educating ICT Professionals ; International audience ; Skilled and competent personnel are required in the use of information and communication technology (ICT), for organisations' competitiveness and sustainability. Many organisations rely on institutions of higher learning to produce ICT skilled personnel for them. However, many of the graduates are said to be incompetent in their roles and responsibilities. In an attempt to close that gap of incompetency, some organisations source for postgraduate candidates. Unfortunately, the gap of ICT skill shortage seems to remain, leading to this study. The study was carried out in South Africa, one of African countries to examine and understand the extent, as well as impact of ICT skills in the country. Different approaches and techniques of research methodology, such as qualitative and quantitative, and interpretivism were applied in the study. As found in the empirical study, the underlying factors in the challenges of ICT skill short in South Africa are the gap between the qualification and competency. Other influencing factors include government interference, organisational need, and curriculum development and transformative scheme.

According to the welfare magnet hypothesis, migrants with a high likelihood of claiming benefits cluster in the most generous welfare systems. After the introduction of the freedom of movement for Eastern European workers, EU-15 countries can thus be expected to reduce public benefits in order to avoid becoming welfare magnets. However, OECD data on benefits do not support the prediction of a race to the bottom in protection levels. Using data from the EU-LFS 2004 to 2011, I analyze the determinants of migration flows and find that, in contrast to theory, welfare state variables do not significantly affect migration flows when controlling for temporary political restrictions of the freedom of movement (2+3+2 rule). This explains why the pressure to modify national welfare spending is small. Furthermore, evidence is found that the restrictions completely offset the incentive effects of work-related pull factors and thereby hamper an efficient allocation of labor across national borders.

According to the "welfare magnet" hypothesis, migrants with a high likelihood of claiming benefits cluster in the most generous welfare systems. After the introduction of the freedom of movement for Eastern European workers, EU-15 countries can thus be expected to reduce public benefits in order to avoid becoming "welfare magnets". However, OECD data on benefits do not support the prediction of a race to the bottom in protection levels. Using data from the EU-LFS 2004 to 2011, I analyze the determinants of migration flows and find that, in contrast to theory, welfare state variables do not significantly affect migration flows when controlling for temporary political restrictions of the freedom of movement (2+3+2 rule). This explains why the pressure to modify national welfare spending is small. Furthermore, evidence is found that the restrictions completely offset the incentive effects of work-related pull factors and thereby hamper an efficient allocation of labor across national borders.

Using micro data from the Austrian Labor Force Survey, this paper explores how decreases in the gender differential in participation rates together with increasing differentials in the incidence of part-time jobs and stable or rising levels of occupational segregation by gender affect the gender division of labor. To so so, we propose an index for the gender division of labor based on the Mutual Information index. Our main results show that the gender division of labor is very stable along the 16-year period. This is so because although the rising female labor force participation reduces the gender division of labor, increases in gender differences in the incidence of part-time jobs and increases in occupational segregation result in greater division of labor across genders. These results are robust to alternative definitions of economic activity and labor market involvement and can also be found after controlling for educational levels and fields. ; Mora acknowledges financial help from the Spanish government through grant ECO2009-11165.

Heap J, Lennartsson C, Thorslund M. Coexisting disadvantages across the adult age span: a comparison of older and younger age groups in the Swedish welfare stateTo experience coexisting disadvantages – the simultaneous lack of several different welfare resources – implies a hampered ability to manage one's living conditions. Here, we study coexisting disadvantages in the oldest population compared with younger age groups in Sweden, by drawing on two linked, nationally representative surveys (n = 5,392). The measurement of coexisting disadvantages included physical health, psychological health, frequency of social contact, cash margin and political resources. The highest odds of coexisting disadvantages were found after age 75 – age groups that are frequently excluded from studies of coexisting disadvantages. This pattern persisted when controlling for socio‐demographic and socio‐economic characteristics. The age pattern was partly driven by the high prevalence of physical health problems in the older population. However, even when excluding physical health problems, the odds of coexisting disadvantages were highest among people older than 85 – the fastest‐growing segment of the population in many Western countries.

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2012.647844 ; Periodically, Afghanistan's Taliban leadership formally issues Layeha or 'codes of conduct' for their fighters and supporters. Layeha offer important insights into the Afghan Taliban's objectives, strategies and the psyche/perspective of Taliban leadership. This article presents an analysis of the Taliban's code of conduct and examines what Layeha tell us about Taliban objectives, strategy and organization. Such information would seem particularly important as the United States as well as its coalition allies assess their Afghan operational strategy as well as exit strategy from Afghanistan. This analysis of the Layeha suggests that the Taliban remain most concerned with: chain of command principles preventing the fragmentation of the various Taliban networks; obtaining and maintaining public support by winning 'hearts and minds' of local residents; ensuring enough fighters remain engaged in combat; and galvanizing the perception that the Taliban represent a capable, desirable and fair alternative to the current Afghan political establishment.