Prior Arguments Research Articles

New views on price-making markets and the capitalist impulse: beyond Polanyi

Anthropologists have persistently diminished the importance of the market and marketplace exchange in premodern, preindustrial times. This strident anti-market mentality, derived largely from the writings of Karl Polanyi, underpins an ideological and politicized argument that neither sets useful guideposts to advance anthropological research, nor does it yield the necessary insights or empirically valid foundations to comprehend the deep historical origins of modern economies or polities. In fact, by envisioning the past that is categorically caged from the modern, the school of thought crystalized through Polanyi's perspectives circumvents the role of diachronic processes that are at the heart of a truly historical social science. Although it is not our principal aim to relitigate the vast literature pertaining to the rise and fall of Polanyian thought, our approach expands on prior arguments about his project both by highlighting critical perspectives on capitalism that long predated Polanyian thought and by identifying a veritable bounty of new evidence and theory concerning premodern and contemporary marketplace economies that enable us to transcend these now-entrenched claims. The scheme we present that distinguishes between open and competitive marketplaces, on the one hand, and the capitalist impulse, on the other, we believe, adds depth and breadth to the analysis of price-making markets and their divergent social and economic outcomes across time and space.

Does R&D Stimulate Firm’s Efficiency in the Indonesian Manufacturing Sector?

The impact of research and development (R&D) spending has been shown significantly in promoting country’s economic growth and productivity. Hence, we examine the research question by employing Indonesian manufacturing firm-level dataset in the years of 2017–2019 and by using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to reveal whether heterogeneous firm’s R&D spending contributes to the efficiency performance of the company. The finding reveals the robust positive effect of R&D spending to the efficiency performance, which implies that firms allocating more R&D spending will perform better efficiency due to, for example, managerial expertise improvements. An interesting finding is shown by the interaction model for which larger R&D allocated by foreign firm will boost better efficiency than that allocated by domestic firms, supporting prior arguments that foreign firm can be the driver of innovation as they are more likely to be closer to the world technology frontier. Several policy implications are suggested such as in-house R&D program to encourage human capital development and tax incentive to avoid market rivalry with foreign firms.

Investigating the impact of representation features on decision model comprehension

ABSTRACT Decision models play an important role in various areas of information systems research, including system analysis and design, compliance management, and various application domains. Decision models must be effectively presented so that analysts can assure their correctness and completeness. So far, empirical research on the cognitive effectiveness of decision models has provided partially inconclusive results. Our paper provides novel insights into the drivers of decision model comprehension by moving from a classification based on representation archetypes to granular representation features. Using an experimental research design, we discover that the decision model type must be assessed in conjunction with other representational factors, such as representation structure (expanded vs. frugal) and representation design (monochromatic vs. colours). In this way, we extend prior arguments of cognitive fit theory by demonstrating that colour can be used to compensate for a misfit of decision model and task, and structural features can further increase model comprehension. We further studied the root causes of the observed effects by using eye-tracking. Our findings have implications for both cognitive information systems research and practice, as they can be used to guide decision model users and tool vendors.

Neuroscience literacy in educators’ training programs in Asia: A call to action

The center of learning is the brain and the disciplinary science that examines its structure and functioning, and the nervous system as a whole, is called neuroscience. The assimilation of essential neuroscience-related content by educational systems has gained global interest, given the relevance of learning to education. Recognizing the significance of frontline workers, several governmental agencies and educational institutions have launched initiatives to foster the inclusion of neuroscience literacy in educators’ training programs. Their success, however, has depended on collaborative efforts among educators, researchers, and other educational stakeholders, and the process has involved considerable debate. Here, we aim to articulate a rationale to promote neuroscience literacy for educators. In doing so, we revisit prior arguments on the importance of training educators and build up on other reasons to advocate for this kind of endeavor considering cutting-edge research. Following this, we discuss critical elements to advance neuroscience literacy for educators and examine the most important challenges to execute successful initiatives. Finally, we appraise the significance for Asia, reviewing the scholarly literature on educators’ prior experiences, and highlight the case of Singapore as an exemplar initiative that catalizes human capital, infrastructure, and strategies to advance neuroscience literacy. We conclude by arguing that governmental agencies and educational institutions should strengthen their efforts to accommodate their programmatic plans and agendas to embrace neuroscience literacy in educators’ training programs. This global trend has arrived to stay.

Upon the Roof of the Temple: Reconstructing Cognitive Aspects of Ancient Levantine Small-Scale Altar Usage

Abstract Among the ritual practices denigrated through explicit or implicit criticism levied by the biblical writers is the worship of a deity or deities on the rooftops – sometimes of royal architecture, and at other times on private houses. In the present study I interpret this practice using concepts derived from the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and cognitive linguistics. I summarize previous typologies of objects employed in the sacrificial cult of the ancient Southern Levant, confirming prior arguments for understanding shaft-type limestone altars as stylized models of architectural precursors. From a cognitive perspective, these stylized architectural models prompted offrants to run a conceptual blend that replaced the modest small-scale vegetable or incense offering of the offrant’s small-scale input space with the more sumptuous small-scale offering – or even large-scale animal sacrifice – of the monumental-scale input. This cognitive explanation provides explanation for Deuteronomistic and Priestly attempts to limit the practice, and occasions insight into the temporal aspects of “sacred space.”

Being Is Relating: Continuity-in-Change in the Sambandhasiddhi of Utpaladeva

Relation-theories—theories on the metaphysical status of relations—have for some time stood at the center of disputes between realism and idealism. To such disputes, this paper contributes insights from an understudied premodern source, the Sambandhasiddhi (Proof of Relation). Its author Utpaladeva (c. 925–975 C.E.) is the Śaiva philosopher of India best known as an innovator in the Pratyabhijñā (Doctrine of Recognition) school of Kashmiri Śaivism. This lesser-known late text shows Utpaladeva deploying an even more explicitly Bhartṛharian grammatical view of reality than he had previously. He argues against his chief rival and predecessor, the Buddhist epistemologist, Dharmakīrti (c. 6th or 7th C.E.), while modifying the latter’s epistemic idealism to an objective idealism. This text differs from Utpaladeva’s prior works in its sustained attack on Dharmakīrti’s nominalism and citation of the Buddhist’s own writings. The Sambandhasiddhi accordingly offers an interesting glimpse at a sustained treatment on relations, a topic that is important to Utpaladeva’s prior arguments, but that he considered perhaps not sufficiently developed, so as to warrant a separate treatment. A few brief comments are also offered on how Utpaladeva’s relation-theory might fit alongside Russell’s disputes with Bradley over relations, and Utpaladeva’s affinity with Peircean semiosis.

The Need for Speed: The Role of Employers in Immigrant Work Visa Acceleration and Approval

Why are some immigrant work visa applications processed and approved in a matter of days, while others languish for months before receiving a decision? We contend that the relative dissimilarity between a focal visa application and an employer’s past work visa filings is a key, yet unstudied, strategic value consideration affecting the sponsoring firm’s engagement with the regulatory bureaucracy. Using U.S. CIS administrative records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act detailing all H-1B visa applications from 2006 to 2015, we analyze employers’ acceleration of select applications through the “premium processing” program, which guarantees an initial visa decision in 15 days in exchange for a $1,225 per-application payment. We find that employers are more likely to use premium processing for immigrants whose countries of birth, prospective jobs, and educational experiences are dissimilar relative to the applications previously filed by that employer. Further, employers less frequently withdraw or abandon dissimilar applications, and request longer employment durations in these dissimilar applications. In contrast to prior arguments regarding immigrants’ regulatory and employment success, we argue that immigrants identical on observables and migration inclination may fare differently in the U.S. immigration system depending on their dissimilarity within the context of their sponsoring employer.

Delimiting Religion

Delimiting Religion

Engineering Trainee-Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Technology Use in Pedagogical Practices: Extending Computer Attitude Scale (CAS)

The current study examined the trainee teachers’ attitudes toward technology adoption and use in tertiary engineering education. The Computer Attitude Scale (CAS) was extended by including the social influence component, to examine whether social norms affect the acceptance of technology by teachers. Findings from 110 trainee-teachers revealed that their attitudes toward technology are positive. These attitudes constitute the way they like and intend to use technology, their perception of its usefulness in their daily tasks, and the control they perceived to have over technology while using it in engineering disciplines. The findings also confirm that social influence is an important predictor of trainee teachers’ attitudes toward using technology. Overall, the study provides a new influential factor (social) that could be merged with the other four major components (affect, perceived usefulness, perceived control, and behavioral intention) of CAS in conducting future research. The results of this study further provide useful knowledge that extends prior arguments concerning teachers’ attitudes toward using technology in teaching with respect to age, gender, and disciplines. More specifically, the study, theoretically, contributes to research practice in technology acceptance, by extending the computer attitude scale (CAS), with social influence as an additional important factor to be considered when conducting future research. Therefore, an extended CAS is established for exploring newer research in this domain. Policymakers and designers of teacher professional development will be informed of these findings that will accelerate initiatives of technology integration of engineering education in developing countries and other similar contexts.

Just a Series of Misunderstandings? Assyria and Bīt-Zamāni, Ḫadi-/Iḫtadi-libbušu, and Aramaic in the early Neo-Assyrian State

The region of the Upper Tigris serves as a key case study in understanding the early expansion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Nevertheless, various aspects of its incorporation within the Neo-Assyrian pale remain obscure, particularly the date and nature of the establishment of the province of Amēdu or Na’iri, previously the Aramean polity of Bīt-Zamāni. After a summary of prior arguments and an investigation of the polity’s Middle Assyrian past, two overlapping and complimentary histories are written, one of the political interactions between Assyria and Bīt-Zamāni, and another of Assyria’s provincialisation of the Upper Tigris. The former finds that Bīt-Zamāni was remarkably resilient in the face of Assyrian aggression, while the latter argues that an early Assyrian presence at Damdammusa was replaced in 879 BC by the provinces of Sinābu/Na’iri and Tušḫan. These two histories are then supplemented by a prosopographical investigation of the Assyrian eponym of 849 BC, the first attested governor of Na’iri, one Ḫadi-libbušu or Iḫtadi-libbušu. It is demonstrated that the two contemporaneous variants of his name within the Assyrian textual corpus may be explained as an ambiguity in translating the Aramaic personal name *ḥdhlbbh into Akkadian for use as an eponym date. It is hence likely that Ḫadi-/Iḫtadi-libbušu was an indigenous potentate made governor, and thus that the polity of Bīt-Zamāni serves as a previously unrecognised example of the Postgatian ‘transitional case’ within the Early Neo-Assyrian Empire analogously to Bīt-Baḫiāni/Gūzāna. Indeed, it is argued that a similar phenomenon of translating the transitional ruler/governor’s name into Akkadian for limmu dating may here be attested for Gūzāna’s two initial governors. In light of these findings, their broader implications for the use of Aramaic in correspondence or record-keeping within 9th century Assyria are considered, and it is suggested that Ḫadi-/Iḫtadi-libbušu’s correspondence was conducted in Aramaic, whence scribes must have had recourse in spelling this potentate’s name. This would mark the earliest use of Aramaic within the Neo-Assyrian bureaucracy presently known. It is then finally concluded that the threat of Urarṭu in the last years of Aššur-nāṣir-apli II’s reign may well have compelled him to enter in a manner of compact with Bīt-Zamāni, and that the indigenous rulers were thereafter made Assyrian governors, only to be unseated in favour of Ninurta-kibsī-uṣur, šāqiu rabiu to Salmānu-ašarēd III just prior to Amēdu’s rebellion in the succession war of 826-820 BC, after which it was conclusively incorporated. Some insufficiencies of present theories of Neo-Assyrian imperialism in explaining this complex historical scenario are finally highlighted.

The Impact of Monetary Policy on Bank Profitability and the Moderating Role of Funding Patterns in Vietnam

The study investigates the effect of monetary policy on bank profitability while also taking into account the moderating role of bank funding patterns. Uniquely, the study focuses on disaggregate components of bank profits in an environment containing various monetary policy tools. Using a dataset of commercial banks in Vietnam, the results show that monetary policy drives bank profitability asymmetrically. Concretely, interest rates (i.e., lending rates and policy rates) exert positive effects on net interest income, but negative impacts on non-interest income. For quantitative-based policy tools, including the central bank’s security purchases and foreign exchange reserves, monetary policy is positively correlated with non-interest income but negatively associated with net interest income. The reaction of banks’ net interest income to monetary policy adjustments is translated into overall bank profits. Further analysis indicates that the monetary policy/bank profitability nexus across different proxies is less pronounced at banks with more diversified funding patterns. This finding sheds light on prior arguments attributing financially weaker banks’ greater sensitivity in facing monetary shocks to the limited alternative funding.

Is this going to be on the test? Test expectancy moderates the disfluency effect with sans forgetica.

Presenting information in a perceptually disfluent format sometimes enhances memory. Recent work examining 1 type of perceptual disfluency manipulation, Sans Forgetica typeface, has yielded discrepant findings; some studies find support for the idea that the disfluent typeface improves memory whereas others do not. The current study examined a boundary condition that determines when disfluency is and is not beneficial to learning to explore this discrepancy. Specifically, we investigated whether knowledge about an upcoming test (high test expectancy) versus not (low test expectancy) helps clarify when mnemonic benefits arise for perceptually disfluent stimuli. In Experiment 1 (preregistered, N = 231), we found that Sans Forgetica is a memory-improving desirable difficulty, but only when there was no expectation of a final test. In Experiment 2 (preregistered, N = 232), we conceptually replicated the Sans Forgetica effect using a cued-recall test. In Experiment 3 (preregistered, N = 232), we ruled out a time-on-task explanation while replicating the results of Experiment 2. Though these data provide some evidence of San Forgetica's mnemonic benefits, caution should be taken in interpreting these results. Not only were the effect sizes moderate, but low test expectancy may not be realistically achievable in actual educational contexts. Though more research is warranted, we echo our prior arguments that students wanting to remember more and forget less should stick to other, more empirically supported desirable difficulties. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Banning Cassandra from the Market? An Empirical Analysis of Short-Selling Bans during the Covid-19 Crisis

During the recent COVID-19 pandemic crisis, stock markets around the world have witnessed an abrupt decline in security prices and an unprecedented increase in security volatility. In response to a week of financial turmoil on the main European stock markets, some market regulators in Europe, including France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Belgium, passed temporary short-selling bans in an attempt to stop downward speculative pressures on the equity market and stabilize and maintain investors’ confidence. This paper examines the effects of these short-selling bans on market quality during the recent pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19. Our results suggest that during the crisis, banned stocks had higher information asymmetry, lower liquidity, and lower abnormal returns compared with non-banned stocks. These findings confirm prior theoretical arguments and empirical evidence in other settings that short-selling bans are not effective in stabilizing financial markets during periods of heightened uncertainty. In contrast, they appear to undermine the policy goals market regulators intended to promote.

Banning Cassandra from the Market? An Empirical Analysis of Short-Selling Bans during the Covid 19 Crisis

During the recent COVID-19 pandemic crisis, stock markets around the world have witnessed an abrupt decline in security prices and an unprecedented increase in security volatility. In response to a week of financial turmoil on the main European stock markets, some market regulators in Europe, including France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Belgium, passed temporary short-selling bans in an attempt to stop downward speculative pressures on the equity market and stabilize and maintain investors’ confidence. This paper examines the effects of these short-selling bans on market quality during the recent pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19. Our results suggest that during the crisis, banned stocks had higher information asymmetry, lower liquidity, and lower abnormal returns compared with non-banned stocks. These findings confirm prior theoretical arguments and empirical evidence in other settings that short-selling bans are not effective in stabilizing financial markets during periods of heightened uncertainty. In contrast, they appear to undermine the policy goals market regulators intended to promote.

A Comparative Study of Sustainable Transition from Catch-up to Post Catch-up of South Korea and China

The essence of the experience of East Asia has been on technological capability building and dynamic industrial transitions from one stage to the next. While many studies for understanding the catch-up process and post catch-up agendas exist, empirical and comparative studies that consider the transition from catch-up to post catch-up are still rare. The significance of this research can be summarized in two ways. First, this study verifies the conformity of existing major catch-up to post catch-up transition studies with quantitative evidence. Second, by comparing commonalities and patterns from South Korea and China, this study examines the generality of the discourses and arguments about the transition from catch-up to post catch-up. The reflexive study of understanding transition from catch-up to post catch-up was conducted with a technology cycle time (TCT), self-citation ratio at a country level, and the basic research expenditure of Korea and China by using the US Patents and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) patent citation (for technology cycle time & self-citation ratio) and OECD’s database (basic research expenditure and gross domestic expenditure on basic research) for time period from 1998 to 2012. Empirical evidence of technology cycle time, self-citation ratio and gross domestic expenditure on basic research matched well with the prior transition arguments. First, Korea’s case shows a post catch-up trend with an increasing technology cycle time while China’s case presents catch-up trend (short-cycle period) and shifts to post catch-up trend (post catch-up trend). Self-citation ratios for both countries show increasing and converging pattern. In terms of basic research activities, both countries show increasing pattern. Korea exceeded the gross domestic expenditure on basic research of Japan and the US. Even though, China’s gross domestic expenditure on basic research has been tripled from 1998 to 2012, China’s gross domestic expenditure on basic research has still a long way to go to close the gap and to show a converging pattern. Many developing countries that once experienced a certain level of successful catch-up did not overcome the middle income trap have fallen behind. Understanding transition process of catch-up to post catch-up discussed in this paper may present a better understanding of long-term sequential development and economic sustainability of developing countries.

Attention, Gestalt Principles, and the Determinacy of Perceptual Content

Theories of phenomenal intentionality have been claimed to resolve certain worries about the indeterminacy of mental content that rival, externalist theories face. Thus far, however, such claims have been largely programmatic. This paper aims to improve on prior arguments in favor of phenomenal intentionality by using attention and Gestalt principles as specific examples of factors that influence the phenomenal character of perceptual experience in ways that thereby help determine perceptual content. Some reasons are then offered for rejecting an alternative interpretation of these examples, according to which the phenomenal effects of attention and Gestalt principles play no role in the determination of perceptual content.

The direct election of senators and the emergence of the modern presidency

AbstractResearch on presidential power delineates between a modern era of relative autonomy and an earlier period of congressional dominance. What drove this change? Unlike prior arguments about presidential entrepreneurship and the rise of the United States as a global power, we attribute the emergence of the modern presidency partially to an institutional change—the adoption of direct election of senators that culminated in the 17th Amendment. With direct election, senators were selected by individual voters rather than state legislators. These senators answered to a new principal—the general public—that was (in the aggregate) less informed and less interested in foreign policy. As a result, senators had less incentive to constrain presidential foreign policy preferences. We find evidence for this shift in the relationship between the piecemeal adoption of direct election and senate votes to delegate foreign policy authority to the executive. The implication is that the direct election of senators played an underappreciated role in the emergence of the modern presidency.

Chronic Pain, Functional Status, and Life Satisfaction Are Associated With Patients Living With HIV Discussing Advance Care Planning With Their Family or Friends

ContextIn the era of effective antiretroviral therapy, persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are living longer, transforming HIV from a universally fatal disease to a serious chronic illness, warranting discussions between patients and their loved ones about advance care planning (ACP). Evidence is needed on factors associated with patients' likelihood to discuss ACP with loved ones. ObjectivesTo further characterize factors associated with successful ACP in PLWHAs with their loved ones, we examined associations between patients having ACP discussions with the need for assistance with personal care, chronic pain, life satisfaction, prior family disagreements over health care decisions, sex, age, and interference in daily routines due to memory problems. MethodsData were from the Affirm Care study (N = 370), which examined social and environmental factors associated with health outcomes among PLWHAs and their informal caregivers. ResultsSlightly more than half of respondents discussed ACP with loved ones (57%). In adjusted analysis, higher levels of chronic pain (odds ratio [OR] = 2.09, P = 0.045), needing assistance with personal care (OR = 1.63, P = 0.023), greater life satisfaction (OR = 1.02, P = 0.002), prior family arguments over health care decisions (OR = 2.80, P < 0.001), and female sex (OR = 2.22, P = 0.001) were associated with higher odds of discussing ACP with loved ones, whereas age, drug use, education level, depression, and memory problems were nonsignificant. ConclusionThese results suggest that interventions to increase ACP among PLWHAs and their loved ones should target males. The findings also suggest PLWHAs with chronic pain, the need for assistance with personal care, and those with a history of prior family arguments over health care decisions may be primed for ACP.

How Investors Perceive Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation in Korea

Credible audit quality is a precondition for a firm’s sustainability. External auditors offer assurance with regard to the uncertain factors that can jeopardize a firm’s sustainability and provide audit opinions that help investors assess risk. After the global crisis and accounting scandals, mandatory audit firm rotation has been implemented globally. However, few studies have investigated either the cost or the benefit of mandatory audit firm rotation. Prior studies provide only indirect evidence on the effects of audit firm tenure on audit quality/perceived audit quality. By discussing prior arguments, we examine how investors perceive the implementation of mandatory audit firm rotation in Korea. Using a unique and direct setting to examine our research question, we analyze the relationship between firms with mandatorily switched audit firms and the cost of equity capital from 2006 to 2008. We find that the mandatory change in the auditors has a negative association with the cost of equity capital. The results are robust to using the arithmetic mean of the cost of equity capital, lagged control variables, and the manufacturing industry effect. The results indicate that investors perceive that mandatory audit firm rotation provides an environment for qualified audits by enhancing auditor independence and skepticism, and thus decreases the cost of equity capital. This study helps to improve our understanding of the impact of mandatory audit firm rotation the information risk evaluations and provides political implications for policy makers by showing the benefit of mandatory audit firm rotation.

Remote quantum clock synchronization without synchronized clocks

A major outstanding problem for many quantum clock synchronization protocols is the hidden assumption of a common phase reference between the parties to be synchronized. In general, the definition of the quantum states between two parties do not have consistent phase definitions, which can lead to an unknown systematic error. We show that despite prior arguments to the contrary, it is possible to remove this unknown phase via entanglement purification. This closes the loophole for entanglement based quantum clock synchronization protocols, which is a non-local approach to synchronize two clocks independent of the properties of the intervening medium. Starting with noisy Bell pairs, we show that the scheme produces a singlet state for any combination of (i) differing basis conventions for Alice and Bob; (ii) an overall time offset in the execution of the purification algorithm; and (iii) the presence of a noisy channel. Error estimates reveal that better performance than existing classical Einstein synchronization protocols should be achievable using current technology.