Numerous Empirical Findings Research Articles

Da li su preduzetništvo i ljudski kapital pokretači regionalnog rasta? - empirijsko istraživanje na nivou NUTS 3 subregiona u Republici Srbiji

The paper presents different concepts of regional economic growth, according to which the educational structure of the working age population and entrepreneurial activity significantly contribute to the improvement of economic performance. It also analyzes the role of the entrepreneurial activity and the quality of human capital in regional economic growth in Serbia in the period from 2011 to 2020 using a sample of 25 NUTS 3 level sub-regions. The results of the evaluation of the three selected panel models indicate that entrepreneurial activities play a vital role in the growth of gross added value at the level of the sub-region. Given the fact that the main theoretical and numerous empirical findings suggest that bearers of regional development should be entrepreneurs who possess the appropriate knowledge, abilities, creativity and skills, the recommendation for the creators of public policies is to continuously work on improving the business climate and building a stimulating entrepreneurial environment. Such an environment can encourage highly educated individuals to become the key bearers of entrepreneurial activities.

Cannabis policy reform in Germany: Political and constitutional discourses on decriminalisation and regulation strategies


 There is relentless discussion in Germany about the right manner to deal with cannabis and its users. In 1994 and 2004, the Federal Constitutional Court reaffirmed the legal appropriateness of prohibition. However, since then, studies and data about the dangers and effects of cannabis use have quieted alarm, and Europe, alongside the once-prohibitive United States, has had its initial experiences with liberalised use of cannabis. Since the founding of the Schildower Kreis, a network of experts from science and practice, 122 German criminal law professors have petitioned the Bundestag for an Enquête Commission. The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to provide insight into German narcotics law. On the other hand, the political arguments for sticking to prohibition are contrasted with the numerous empirical findings that are now available. The results of the empirical studies now challenge the Federal Constitutional Court and the legislature to review their previous course and possibly break new ground in drug policy. The basis of the Federal Constitutional Court’s decisions no longer exists. The Narcotics Act and constitutional discourse on cannabis prohibition need to be reviewed, as do political arguments about resources and high costs. Indications of a paradigm shift in drug policy, as required by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, are hesitantly appearing in Germany.

La socialità mediata: Strategie e modalità comunicative degli adolescenti tra online e offline

This article analyses the online consumption styles and social relations of adolescents based on the integration of online and offline contexts, accounting for age and gender differences. With respect to this theme, the more recent national and international literature has considered the distinction between ‘real world’ and ‘virtual world’ anachronistic. Current studies consider online and offline spaces not as exclusive worlds to choose from but as two absolutely ‘real’ sides of the same experience. The use and consumption styles of digital media represent high-tech bricolage forms for young people, and communication and online socializing among peers seem to play a positive role in the development of social skills and the sense of identity for adolescents. Moreover, numerous empirical findings highlight an overlap between offline and network-mediated relationships, which tend to integrate traditional social behaviour rather than increase or decrease it. Starting from this theoretical framework, the quantitative research project “Young people and digital media within and outside the school: practices, relationships and sociality” – carried out in collaboration between the universities of Genova, Milano Bicocca, Padova and Salerno – involved a sample of 771 second and fourth grade high school students. The survey was carried out through the administration of a questionnaire in the urban and extra-urban contexts of Como, Genoa, Padua and Salerno. Schools and classes were selected via purposive sampling involving the following upper secondary schools: lyceums, technical institutes and vocational institutes. The results presented in this article focus specifically on the network’s use types and on online and offline relational modes. The findings show how the network is perceived in a multidimensional way by the young respondents, declined as an extension of face-to-face relations, a way to discover new things about known people, a recreational digital space, an expansion of knowledge opportunities and, finally, a place for social experimentation. As for the specific theme of the mediated sociality, in line with what emerges in previous studies, the results seem to confirm that the relations mediated by the network are not a substitute for face-to-face relationships. Rather, they represent an extension for getting in touch with friends and the peer group in order to share different activities and interests.

Amending the Law of Contagion: A General Theory of Property Transference

AbstractPrevious research has demonstrated two key ways in which the original conceptualization of the law of contagion fails to account for numerous empirical findings: (1) contact is not the only...

The electoral strategies of a populist candidate: Does charisma discourage experience and encourage extremism?

I model an election between a populist candidate with little government experience and high charisma and a mainstream candidate with much government experience and low charisma. Taking a step back in time, I also model the career choices of this populist candidate: he must consider how much governing experience to acquire before running for high office, and then he must decide how extremist his campaign platform should be. The model finds two major trade-offs that are unfortunate for the median voter: candidates who are attractive in terms of their high charisma will be unattractive in terms of their low experience and high extremism. The model also finds that popular discontent, coming from an economic or political crisis, makes an inexperienced outsider more likely to win an election with an extremist agenda; this helps explain the recent ‘rise of populism’ identified by several authors around the world. This theory is also able to explain numerous empirical findings: I connect the model to the literature from different academic approaches (behavioral, comparative, and institutional) and different geographical regions (the United States, Latin America, and Europe). Special reference is made to four prominent outsiders: Donald Trump, Hugo Chávez, Alberto Fujimori, and Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Weinqualität in unterschiedlichen Organisationsformen

Zusammenfassung In der ökonomischen Literatur wird geäußert, dass die Organisationsform einen maßgeblichen Einfluss auf die Produktqualität ausübt. Zahlreiche empirische Befunde geben Hinweise darauf, dass dies auch in der Weinwirtschaft zutreffen kann. Genossenschaften schneiden oft schlechter ab. Theoretische Ergebnisse fehlen jedoch. Wir zeigen, wie ein theoretisches Modell zur Erklärung des negativen Organisationseffekts auf die Qualität von Genossenschaftswein aussehen kann.

Language may indeed influence thought.

We discuss four interconnected issues that we believe have hindered investigations into how language may affect thinking. These have had a tendency to reappear in the debate concerning linguistic relativity over the past decades, despite numerous empirical findings. The first is the claim that it is impossible to disentangle language from thought, making the question concerning “influence” pointless. The second is the argument that it is impossible to disentangle language from culture in general, and from social interaction in particular, so it is impossible to attribute any differences in the thought patterns of the members of different cultures to language per se. The third issue is the objection that methodological and empirical problems defeat all but the most trivial version of the thesis of linguistic influence: that language gives new factual information. The fourth is the assumption that since language can potentially influence thought from “not at all” to “completely,” the possible forms of linguistic influence can be placed on a cline, and competing theories can be seen as debating the actual position on this cline. We analyze these claims and show that the first three do not constitute in-principle objections against the validity of the project of investigating linguistic influence on thought, and that the last one is not the best way to frame the empirical challenges at hand. While we do not argue for any specific theory or mechanism for linguistic influence on thought, our discussion and the reviewed literature show that such influence is clearly possible, and hence in need of further investigations.

A Person-Centered Approach to Moral Judgment

Both normative theories of ethics in philosophy and contemporary models of moral judgment in psychology have focused almost exclusively on the permissibility of acts, in particular whether acts should be judged on the basis of their material outcomes (consequentialist ethics) or on the basis of rules, duties, and obligations (deontological ethics). However, a longstanding third perspective on morality, virtue ethics, may offer a richer descriptive account of a wide range of lay moral judgments. Building on this ethical tradition, we offer a person-centered account of moral judgment, which focuses on individuals as the unit of analysis for moral evaluations rather than on acts. Because social perceivers are fundamentally motivated to acquire information about the moral character of others, features of an act that seem most informative of character often hold more weight than either the consequences of the act or whether a moral rule has been broken. This approach, we argue, can account for numerous empirical findings that are either not predicted by current theories of moral psychology or are simply categorized as biases or irrational quirks in the way individuals make moral judgments.

Анксиозност поврзана со смртта кај млади возрасни: полови разлики и емоционални корелати

Death anxiety is defined as an emotional response to awareness of death, including fear of personal mortality, which is not caused by an imminent threat to life. Numerous empirical findings suggest that the period of early adulthood is marked by a higtened fear or anxiety associated with death and dying, and that this type of anxiety is usually more prominent in females. According to the Terror Management Theory, adult attachment represents a distant defense from mortality salience and the transience of life. The study presented in this paper was conducted in order to examine sex differences in death anxiety in young adults, to analyze the relationship between death anxiety and certain emotional correlates (aging anxiety, empathy and adult attachment),as well as to assess the contribution of each emotional correlate in the prediction of death anxiety. The participants in the study were 435 undergraduate students from two universities in Macedonia. The data was gathered with Templer/McMordie Death Anxiety Scale, Anxiety about Aging Scale, Interpersonal Reactivity Index and Adult Attachment Scale. The assessment of sex differences showed that females feel significantly more anxious and fearful than males when thinking about death. Nearly all tested correlates were significantly associated with anxiety as a response to awareness of death, but the highest correlation exists between death anxiety and aging anxiety, personal distress and emphatic concern as affective components of empathy, and anxious attachment.The first three correlates are significant predictors of death anxiety, that explain over a third in its variance. The findings are aligned with developmental aspects of death anxiety and terror management theory. Keywords: death anxiety, aging anxiety, empathy, adult attachment, terror management theory

Musical Objects, Cross-Domain Correspondences, and Cultural Choice: Commentary on “Cross-Cultural Representations of Musical Shape” by George Athanasopoulos and Nikki Moran

The target article illustrates deep cross-cultural gaps, involving not only the representation of musical shape but also the notion of a musical object itself. Yet, numerous empirical findings suggest that important cross-modal correspondences involving music and visual dimensions are inborn or learned at infancy, prior to the acquisition of language and most culture-specific behavior. Drawing on recent empirical work, the commentary attempts to reconcile this apparent disparity.

Heidelberger Musiktherapie bei Tinnitus

Ringing in the ears is a common symptom that leads to a high level of discomfort. There are few satisfactory therapeutic options when tinnitus has become chronic, for which reason the Viktor Dulger Research Center at the German Center for Music Therapy Research has developed a music therapy manual. Numerous empirical findings document a highly effective, efficient and long-term robust concept. Neuro-imaging displayed a curative reorganization of tinnitus-related networks in the brain. An extra-occupational offering of advanced training will be extended.

Does natural selection favour the Rescorla–Wagner rule?

A fundamental question relating to animal behaviour is how animals learn; in particular, how they come to associate stimuli with rewards. Numerous empirical findings can be explained by assuming that animals use some mechanism similar to the Rescorla–Wagner learning rule, which is a relatively simple and highly general method of updating the associative strength between different stimuli. However, the Rescorla–Wagner rule is often not optimal, which raises the question of why a rule with such properties should have evolved. We consider the evolution of learning rules in a simple environment where there exists an optimal rule of similar complexity to the Rescorla–Wagner rule. We show that because the Rescorla–Wagner rule is less sensitive to changes in its parameters than the optimal rule, there is a wider range of parameter values over which the rule structure is initially viable. Consequently, the Rescorla–Wagner rule can be favoured by natural selection, ahead of other rules which are more accurate.

Third‐Person Effect and Social Networking: Implications for Online Marketing and Word‐of‐Mouth Communication

Few studies have explored the direct influence of social networking websites (SNWs), and to the best of our knowledge, none have examined the indirect influence of SNWs on users and how that indirect influence leads to word‐of‐mouth related behaviors in SNWs. This study employs the theoretical framework of the third‐person effect theory, which is grounded in psychology, to examine the indirect influence of SNWs and how that indirect influence may potentially contribute to marketing research and practice. Davison’s (1983) third‐person effect (TPE) theory proposes that individuals tend to expect mass media to have a greater effect on others than on themselves. After the analysis of survey data, the current research first explores whether a third‐person effect exists in the SNW context and if it does, how it differs from that in traditional media context. Based on theory and numerous empirical findings, the current research also investigates how the thirdperson effect varies with different referent “others”. Finally, based on the theoretical propositions of previous studies, this study links third‐person effect to behavioral consequences related to word‐of‐mouth communication via SNWs. The results support all hypotheses. This work contributes to consumer psychology and word‐of‐mouth communication research, and generates implications for marketers targeting young consumers and/or those interested in stimulating word‐of‐mouth communication in the SNW context. Limitations are also addressed.

The Social Network Map as an Instrument for Identifying Social Relations in Deaf Research and Practice

Social support has shown itself to be an important factor in many areas in regard to mental health development and conservation. Numerous empirical findings also document its significance in various areas of research into deafness. Questionnaires are only one means of gathering information when we are trying to gain access to the social networks of deaf and hard of hearing people, their families, and relatives. The social network map is an approach that provides qualitative access to insights into social relationships and has proven, in conjunction with a qualitative interview, to be a useful tool in allowing a more detailed description and in-depth understanding of the processes of both social support and stress. The special strength of the social network map lies in the combination of visualizing social relationships and reflecting them in an interpersonal dialogue. This article describes how to go about creating a network map and illustrates this with an example of a mother of a multi-handicapped, deaf child. It concludes with a discussion of the opportunities that the use of a social network map offers as well as its potential limitations.

Configuration of innovation and performance in the service industry: evidence from the Taiwanese hotel industry

This study attempts to state some facts about the importance of innovation in the service economy, and especially the hotel industry by classifying the configurations of innovation in Taiwanese hotels, as well as considering the types of innovation configuration that will maximise performance. Technological innovation, organisational innovation, and human capital innovation may be key sources of innovation. This study classified the configurations of innovation based on several innovation activities with two-step cluster analysis. Numerous empirical findings facilitate improved understanding of the relationship between the configurations of innovation and firm performance in the Taiwanese hotel industry.

Advertising to children in China

Advertising to Children in China. Kara Chan and James U. McNeal. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2004. 218 pp. $33.00 hbk. Since advertising came back to life in the Chinese mainland in 1979, it has received enormous interest from scholars in various disciplines. Numerous conference papers have been presented and many journal articles published, but bookvolume studies on Chinese advertising are of still great rarity. The first of its kind, Advertising to Children in China is a major milestone in the study of Chinese advertising and a fine addition to children's advertising research. As a milestone, Chan and McNeal's book indicates that research on Chinese advertising has stepped into a stage of focused and in-depth studies. This work is clearly devoted to advertising targeted at the 100 million children in the urban areas of mainland China, the largest urban children population in the world. This book significantly enriches decades-long scholarly inquiry into the relationship between advertising and children. It tests existing theories and concepts on advertising and children in an entirely new market and sociocultural context. Mainly based on the authors' recent primary studies on the Chinese mainland, this book comprises ten chapters. With the initial chapter laying down the foundation and the ending chapter summing up the essence of research findings, the other eight chapters can roughly be put into four sections. Chapters 2 through 5 investigate advertising in China from the perspectives of children aged four to fifteen, including socialization with mass media, especially television; their understanding of television advertising; their trust in television advertising; and their attention to and liking of television advertising. In chapters 6 and 7, the authors focus their attention on parents, examining their communication with their children about consumption and advertising and parents' attitudes toward television advertising in general and children's advertising in particular. To put earlier chapters in perspective, chapter 8 is devoted to a content analysis of television commercials targeted at children on the Chinese mainland, while chapter 9 is a close examination of how advertising to children in China is regulated and self-regulated. When I read through these chapters, several features caught my attention. First, the numerous empirical findings, mainly obtained through surveys and a content analysis, are the biggest asset of this book. These firsthand data portray a vivid picture of advertising to children in China and provide valuable consumer insights for advertisers and marketers interested in this market. …

”The principles of rational agriculture” by Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1752–1828). An approach to the sustainability of cropping systems at the beginning of the 19th century

AbstractThe identification of quantitative fertility indicators for evaluating the sustainability of cropping and farming systems has become a major issue. This question has been extensively studied by the German agronomist Albrecht Daniel Thaer at the beginning of the 19h century. In this paper Thaer's work is set in its historical background, from the end of the 16th century (Palissy, 1580) to the middle of the 19th century (Liebig, 1840). Then the paper focuses on Thaer's quantitative and complex fertility scale (expressed in “fertility degrees”), which was based on soil properties, on the requirement of nutrients by plants, and on the cropping system (including crop rotation). Thaer expressed soil fertility and economic results as a function of rye production in “scheffel of rye per journal” (ca. 200 kg per hectare). He also proposed a scale to describe the intrinsic fertility of soil. Thaer used this approach to assess the effect of major German cropping systems on soil fertility. He applied it to eight theoretical systems and nine existing systems in a true modeling approach. Thaer completed the fertility evaluation for the nine existing systems with a detailed economical analysis commenting the limits and potentialities of each system. Thaer's approach was used with success during half a century as it combined numerous empirical findings on soils and fertilization with organic substances in a sophisticated model. Unfortunately and despite effective practical applications, the scientific foundations of Thaer's “Humus Theory” proved definitively false as soon as 1840 when Sprengel and Liebig published on mineral nutrition of plants. Thaer's work deserves to be rediscovered since it approaches the modern issue of the sustainability of cropping and farming systems.

Goals and learning in microworlds

We explored the consequences for learning through interaction with an educational microworld called Electric Field Hockey (EFH). Like many microworlds, EFH is intended to help students develop a qualitative understanding of the target domain, in this case, the physics of electrical interactions. Through the development and use of a computer model that learns to play EFH, we analyzed the knowledge the model acquired as it applied the game-oriented strategies we observed physics students using. Through learning-by-doing on the standard sequence of tasks, the model substantially improved its EFH playing ability; however, it did so without acquiring any new qualitative physics knowledge. This surprising result led to an experiment that compared students’ use of EFH with standard-goal tasks against two alternative instructional conditions, specific-path and no-goal , each justified from a different learning theory. Students in the standard-goal condition learned less qualitative physics than did those in the two alternative conditions, which was consistent with the model. The implication for instructional practice is that careful selection and analysis of the tasks that frame microworld use is essential if these programs are to lead to the learning outcomes imagined for them. Theoretically, these results suggest a new interpretation for numerous empirical findings on the effectiveness of no-goal instructional tasks. The standing “reduced cognitive load” interpretation is contradicted by the success of the specific-path condition, and we offer an alternative knowledge-dependent interpretation.

Goals and Learning in Microworlds

We explored the consequences for learning through interaction with an educational microworld called Electric Field Hockey (EFH). Like many microworlds, EFH is intended to help students develop a qualitative understanding of the target domain, in this case, the physics of electrical interactions. Through the development and use of a computer model that learns to play EFH, we analyzed the knowledge the model acquired as it applied the game‐oriented strategies we observed physics students using. Through learning‐by‐doing on the standard sequence of tasks, the model substantially improved its EFH playing ability; however, it did so without acquiring any new qualitative physics knowledge. This surprising result led to an experiment that compared students' use of EFH with standard‐goal tasks against two alternative instructional conditions, specific‐path and no‐goal, each justified from a different learning theory. Students in the standard‐goal condition learned less qualitative physics than did those in the two alternative conditions, which was consistent with the model. The implication for instructional practice is that careful selection and analysis of the tasks that frame microworld use is essential if these programs are to lead to the learning outcomes imagined for them. Theoretically, these results suggest a new interpretation for numerous empirical findings on the effectiveness of no‐goal instructional tasks. The standing “reduced cognitive load” interpretation is contradicted by the success of the specific‐path condition, and we offer an alternative knowledge‐dependent interpretation.

The Market for Physicians' Services: Theoretical Implications and an Empirical Test of the Target Income Hypothesis

Over the period 1965 to 1977, expenditure for health care in the United States increased from $181 per capita to $697 per capita.' The share of GNP composed of health care expenditures grew from 5.9% in 1965 to 8.8% in 1977. Over this same period, the number of physicians in the U.S. increased from 153 physicians per 100,000 population to 194 physicians per 100,000. Such startling figures have generated much interest in the economics of health care, with special concern about physician behavior and its effects upon health care costs. The frequent empirical finding of a positive partial correlation between physicians' fees or earnings and the number of physicians per capita have led many observers to eschew standard supply and demand models in favor of models that allow physicians themselves to significantly affect the demand for their services. An assumption that physicians influence demand can not by itself differentiate a model from standard microeconomic models. A profit maximizing doctor possessing (costless) demand shifting powers would shift demand to the greatest possible extent, and then choose price and quantity to maximize profits subject to that shifted demand function. A demand shifting model can yield results which are qualitatively different from those predicted by a standard model only with a behavioral assumption other than profit maximization. The assumption of satisficing behavior on the part of physicians is a common substitute. Numerous empirical findings have been cited as evidence of the validity of the satisficing-with-demand-shifting models. Much of this evidence, however, has been obtained as a by-product of estimates of the demand for physician services, rather than as the result of the estimation of a supply-induced-demand-with-satisficing model. This lack