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AbstractDrawing on studies from across the social sciences, this study explores a possibility that brokers affect vote choices via a psychological channel. Given that the information a broker utilizes for the efficient delivery of private transfers affects voters' expectations of receiving those transfers, neglected voters may defect from voting for the broker's boss out of anger resulting from frustrated expectations, and this is likely to be the case particularly in a competitive election and among indifferent voters. Results from a lab experiment are consistent with the proposed possibility.

Abstract
This essay serves several critical and metacritical functions in discussing the semiotic implications of the Chinese writing fa. First of all, it examines critically various conceptualizations of " image" in the current disciplines of " imagologies", and then it comments on a contemporary French legal theoretician's image/mirage of ancient Chinese civil law. After these surveys, the essay introduces a highly specialized topic in legal semiotics by tracing the development of the written sign of fa (law) in ancient China before the second century BCE. The written word was interpreted to represent a mythical animal, whose images have recurred in Chinese writing and art history. Focusing on the scriptural representations of fa, this essay analyzes the process of conceptualization of law in ancient China, and its transformations and mutations across the borders of semiotic systems, from the basic verbal and visual levels, to the higher levels of ideology and legal theory and practice.

A quantitative analysis is made herein of the Taiwanese farmhousehold economy in 1931, 1937, 1941, and 1950. The results reveal (1) farm expenditure and income for all types of farmers in 1950 were less than in 1931, the only year for which comparable figures are available; (2) in 1950 both the consumption expenses for most farmers and Engel's Coefficient for all types of farmers showed inferior conditions for that year as compared to the earlier periods; (3) secondary living expenses in 1950 only amounted to two‐thirds of those in the previous periods; (4) the poor situation in 1950 was caused by the decline of the rice price ratio and of cultivated area, which combined to offset the benefits derived from rent reduction for tenants, and (5) food expenses for all the periods, however, maintained a per capita annual level of 48–49 yen at the 1937 value.

AbstractSocieties divided along ethnic or religious lines suffer from persistent conflict and underprovision of public goods. Scholarly understanding of how to strengthen intergroup cooperation remains limited. In this study, we set out to test the effectiveness of two interventions on intergroup cooperation: cross‐group expert appeal and participation in a cross‐group discussion. The laboratory‐in‐the‐field experiment is set in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, and involves interactions between 180 Shia and 180 Sunni Muslim participants. We find that the expert appeal increases intersectarian cooperation in settings that do not entail reciprocal exchange. On average, cross‐sectarian discussions do not improve cooperation, but those discussions in which participants delve deeply into the conflict's causes and possible remedies are associated with greater cooperation. Neither intervention diminishes the effectiveness of sectarian clientelistic appeals. The policy implication of our study is that intergroup cooperation can be strengthened even in regions as bitterly divided as the Middle East.