254 research outputs found
Whom Should We Imitate? Imitation Strategy and the Efficacy of Boundary-Crossing Exploration
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Whom Should We Imitate? Imitation Strategy and the Efficacy of Boundary-Crossing Exploration
No full textThe euro at ten: the next global currency?
Full text linkOver the first ten years of its existence, the euro has proved to be more than a powerful symbol of collective identity. It has provided price stability to previously inflation-prone countries; it has offered a shelter against currency crises; and it has by and large been conducive to budgetary discipline. The eurozone has attracted five new members in addition to the initial eleven, and many countries in Europe wish to adopt it. The euro has also been successful internationally. Even though research presented in this volume confirms that it has not rivaled the dollar's world currency status, it has certainly become a strong regional currency in Europe and the Mediterranean region. Some countries in the region have de facto adopted it, several peg to it, and many have become at least partially euroized.
However, the euro's impressive first decade is likely to be followed by a much more difficult period. The present financial crisis is posing at least two important challenges: real economic adjustment within the euro area and maintenance of fiscal and financial stability without a central government authority capable of taking appropriate financial and fiscal decisions in difficult times.
This book is the product of a joint conference held in 2008 by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Bruegel. It is edited by Bruegel Director Jean Pisani-Ferry and then-PIEE Deputy Director and current Bruegel board member Adam Posen. The papers and remarks in this volume demonstrate that the euro has proved to be attractive as a fair weather currency for countries and investors well beyond its borders. But it remains to be seen whether it is equipped to also succeed as a stormy weather currency.
Contributors: JoaquÃn Almunia, Maria Celina Arraes, Leszek Balcerowicz, C. Fred Bergsten, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, Kristin J. Forbes, Linda S. Goldberg, C. Randall Henning, Mohsin S. Khan, Antonio de Lecea, Erkki Liikanen, Philippe Martin, Thomas Mayer, André Sapir, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Lawrence H. Summers, and György Szapáry.
Restoring Japan's Economic Growth
No full textWill the Japanese government take the decisive but manageable policy actions needed to bring about economic recovery? Despite claims to the contrary, macroeconomic expansion has yet to be seriously tried in Japan. Criticism of current Japanese macroeconomic and financial policies is so widespread that the reasons for it are assumed to be self-evident. In this volume, Adam Posen explains in depth why a shift in Japanese fiscal and monetary policies, as well as financial reform, would be in Japan's own self-interest. He demonstrates that Japanese economic stagnation in the 1990s is the result of mistaken fiscal austerity and financial laissez-faire rather than any supposed structural failures of the "Japan Model." The author outlines a program for putting the country back on the path to solid economic growth--primarily through permanent tax cuts and monetary stabilization--and draws broader lessons to be learned from the recent Japanese policy actions that led to the country's continuing stagnation. The book will be a useful supplementary text for both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in macroeconomics, comparative political economy, Japan or East Asian studies, public finance, and international relations.
Relative and Absolute Reliabilities of the Conners' Continuous Performance Test II in Schizophrenia
No full textObjective: The Conners' Continuous Performance Test II (CCPT-II) is one of the most commonly used tests of sustained attention in schizophrenia. To manage and monitor sustained attention deficits in schizophrenia, clinicians have to reliably assess the degree of attention impairment. The purpose of our study was to determine the relative and absolute reliability of the CCPT-II in schizophrenia. ;Method: The final sample was a total of 108 patients with schizophrenia. The primary measures in this study were the CCPT-II and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S). The CCPT-II was administered twice, 1 month apart, by a specially trained occupational therapist. We assessed two types of reliability: relative and absolute reliability. Relative reliability was determined with the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Absolute reliability was quantified with standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change (MDC), and Bland-Altman's 95% limits of agreement (LOA). ;Results: The ICCs for the five CCPT-II indexes (Omissions, Commissions, Hit RT, Hit RT Std Error, and Variability) ranged from 0.66 to 0.79. The MDCs (MDC%) of the five indices were 13.53 (156.78), 10.67 (47.85), 122.10 (34.16), 8.15 (106.82), and 25.81 (162.63), respectively. ;Conclusions: According to the results, the CCPT-II has limited reliability in monitoring the sustained attention function of patients with schizophrenia. Our results can be used as a reference for the measurement error of CCPT-II to help clinicians and researchers determine the true change between successive assessments of patients with schizophrenia
My Memoirs.
No full textDeath of younger sister; childhood memories; brief history of Posen; recollection of celebration parade for birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm II; nationality conflict in Posen; recollections of primary school; experiences during World War I; Polish takeover of Posen after WWI; move to Berlin with husband; family history; immigration to USA.Ted & Lee Samuel, 1998Elsa Steinitz was born in Posen in 1898, immigrated to the USA and died in 1997.Synopsis in fileEducation; Jewish; 1871-1918Education; primary and secondary; 1871-1918JanowitzOppel
die Kunsthistorischen Institute an den (Reichs-) Universitäten Breslau und Posen und ihre Protagonisten im Spannungsfeld von Wissenschaft und Politik
Full text linkAm Beispiel der Kunsthistorischen Institute Breslau und Posen sowie der dort tätigen Kunsthistoriker und Kunsthistorikerinnen wird dargelegt, wie sich in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus die Disziplin Kunstgeschichte an der sog. Ostforschung beteiligte. Die "Ostforschung" zielte nicht auf eine Erforschung von Kunst und Kultur der osteuropäischen Nachbarländer ab, sondern auf die Ermittlung des "deutschen" Anteils an deren Herausbildung. Mit Breslau und seinem Direktor Dagobert Frey stehen einerseits ein Institut und ein Protagonist an der Ostgrenze des Deutschen Reiches und mit Posen andererseits ein im besetzten Polen an der Reichsuniversität gegründetes Institut und sein Leiter Otto Kletzl im Fokus. Der Schwerpunkt wird auf deren Forschungen zum Nachbarland Polen gelegt. Die Autorin zeigt auf, wie politische Prämissen Eingang in die Lehre und in die Publikationen fanden und wie diese Positionen durch Vorträge und Ausstellungsmitarbeit auch im außeruniversitären Bereich vermittelt und verbreitet wurden. Die Direktoren beider Institute waren zudem in weiteren außeruniversitären Forschungsprojekten, Vereinen sowie Institutionen der Ostforschung aktiv. Sowohl Dagobert Frey (Breslau) als auch Otto Kletzl (Posen) beteiligten sich zudem für eine begrenzte Zeit als Kunstgutachter am Kunstraub im besetzten Polen. Neben diesen beiden Hauptprotagonisten werden die Karriereverläufe von Nachwuchswissenschaftlern und Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen dargelegt, eröffnete der Krieg doch für eine begrenzte Zeit auch Frauen die Möglichkeit, in akademische Positionen zu gelangen. Die Arbeit kombiniert auf der Basis einer umfassenden Quellenrecherche institutionengeschichtliche, biographische und handlungstheoretische Ansätze, um die Handlungsspielräume im Spannungsfeld von Wissenschaft und Politik herauszuarbeiten. Die Autorin kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass sich die untersuchten Kunsthistoriker an der Legitimierung und Unterstützung der deutschen Okkupationspolitik in Osteuropa beteiligten.Focussing the institutes of art history in Breslau und Posen as well as male and female arthistorians working there the author shows how the discipline arthistory participated in the so-called Ostforschung (Eastern research) in the time of nationalsocialism. "Eastern research" was not interested in the research of art and culture of the Easteuropean neighbourcontries, but in the "German" role in their development. Two places, persons and institutes are the center (focus): Breslau and its director Dagobert Frey and his institute, a protagonist from the Eastern border of the German Reich on the one hand and Otto Kletzl - leader of an institute in Posen at the so-called ReichsuniversitŠt (Reichs-University) on the other hand. The main focus lies on their research concerning Poland. The author shows how political topics found their way in the teaching: in lectures as well as in the publications. She also makes clear how their positions were spread in the field beyond universiy by lectures and their participation in exhibitions. Both directors have further been very active in non-university research projects, associations and institutes of the Eastern research. Dagobert Frey (Breslau) and also Otto Kletzl (Posen) participated for a certain time as experts in the art robbery in occupied Poland. Next to these main protagonists the career of young researchers, men and women, are presented. For a short time the war opens women the opportunity to get into academic positions. Based on a broad archival research the author combines institutional, biographical and action theory approaches to show the scope of activities in the tension zone between science and politics. She comes to the result that the art historians participated in the legitimization and support of the German occupation politics in Eastern Europe
The test-retest reliability and the minimal detectable change of the Purdue pegboard test in schizophrenia
No full textBackground/Purpose: The Purdue pegboard test is widely used in measuring the hand dexterity of patients with schizophrenia. In patients with schizophrenia, the test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) of this test remain largely unknown, limiting the interpretability of this popular measure. The purpose of this study was to estimate the test-retest reliability and the MDC of the Purdue pegboard test for patients with schizophrenia. ;Methods: A total of 147 patients with schizophrenia participated in this study. The participants were administrated the five subtests of the Purdue pegboard test, three trials in a row at both of the two sessions 1 week apart. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to examine the test-retest reliability and the MDC was calculated on the basis of standard error of measurement. ;Results: The test-retest reliabilities of the five subtests were moderate to good (ICC = 0.73-0.88). The MDC (MDC%) was 3.0 (22.9%) for the dominant hand subtest, 3.1 (26.1%) for the nondominant hand subtest, 3.0 (31.7%) for the both hands subtest, 6.1 (17.7%) for the dominant + nondominant + both hands subtest, and 8.5 (35.3%) for the assembly subtest. ;Conclusion: Our results reveal that the Purdue pegboard test has moderate-to-good test-retest reliability but substantial random measurement error. These findings should enable clinicians and researchers to monitor and interpret the changes in the hand dexterity of patients with schizophrenia more accurately and confidently. Copyright (C) 2012, Elsevier Taiwan LLC & Formosan Medical Association. All rights reserved
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