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The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the novel approach in treating multiply connected problems in magnetostatic.

The new double layer approach (DLA) to be proposed is based on the use of the exciting double layer on the cut-surface. Applying Ampere’s circuital law to the circuital path along a toroidal core of M–C model, this paper derives unified exciting potential (UEP) from the common exciting potential. The UEP is applicable to the simply or M–C analysis. To check the effectiveness of the UEP, this paper analyze typical M–C problems and compares the results with those of other benchmark problems and also those obtained by surface charge method (SCM). Because the SCM encounters a cancellation error, this paper overcomes this problem by using the concept of direct boundary element method (BEM).

Using the improved DLA, this paper analyzed a typical multiply connected model and compared the results with those of the SCM, which has been improved to overcome cancellation errors. This paper has confirmed that the results obtained by the improved DLA are the same as those obtained by the improved SCM and Steklov–Poincaré operator formulation, tested at the well-known benchmark problems given in Andjelic et al. (2010). From these results, this paper concluded that the Improved DLA works well and that the improved SCM becomes available for analyzing both the simply and multiply connected problems.

Expanding a concept of the exciting double layer on the cut-surface, this paper improve the DLA to analyze the M–C problems. Applying Ampere’s circuital law to the full circuital path along the toroidal core of M–C problem, this paper derive UEP from the original exciting potential to get the governing BIE. The BIE is applicable to either simply or multiply connected analysis.

Socialism has institutionalised equality, guaranteeing women legal protection against abuse and discrimination. It has opened doors to women to enter public life, where in many far more developed countries women still lag behind. Nevertheless, in the domain of male‐female interaction and attitudes there has been little real change.

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.

A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balance economics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary to man′s finding the good life and society enduring as a civilized instrumentality. Looks for authority to great men of the past and to today′s moral philosopher: man is an ethical animal. The 13 essays are: 1. Evolutionary Economics: The End of It All? which challenges the view that Darwinism destroyed belief in a universe of purpose and design; 2. Schmoller′s Political Economy: Its Psychic, Moral and Legal Foundations, which centres on the belief that time‐honoured ethical values prevail in an economy formed by ties of common sentiment, ideas, customs and laws; 3. Adam Smith by Gustav von Schmoller – Schmoller rejects Smith′s natural law and sees him as simply spreading the message of Calvinism; 4. Pierre‐Joseph Proudhon, Socialist – Karl Marx, Communist: A Comparison; 5. Marxism and the Instauration of Man, which raises the question for Marx: is the flowering of the new man in Communist society the ultimate end to the dialectical movement of history?; 6. Ethical Progress and Economic Growth in Western Civilization; 7. Ethical Principles in American Society: An Appraisal; 8. The Ugent Need for a Consensus on Moral Values, which focuses on the real dangers inherent in there being no consensus on moral values; 9. Human Resources and the Good Society – man is not to be treated as an economic resource; man′s moral and material wellbeing is the goal; 10. The Social Economist on the Modern Dilemma: Ethical Dwarfs and Nuclear Giants, which argues that it is imperative to distinguish good from evil and to act accordingly: existentialism, situation ethics and evolutionary ethics savour of nihilism; 11. Ethical Principles: The Economist′s Quandary, which is the difficulty of balancing the claims of disinterested science and of the urge to better the human condition; 12. The Role of Government in the Advancement of Cultural Values, which discusses censorship and the funding of art against the background of the US Helms Amendment; 13. Man at the Crossroads draws earlier themes together; the author makes the case for rejecting determinism and the “operant conditioning” of the Skinner school in favour of the moral progress of autonomous man through adherence to traditional ethical values.

Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, the main purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of cognitive factors on the intention of a small and medium size enterprise (SME) manager to pursue the expansion of their firm’s export activities.

The authors created a research model and collected empirical data among owners and top managers of 127 Costa Rican SMEs. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques to reveal the relative significance and strength of the effects of every hypothesized relationship.

The results suggest that the perception of benefits and self-efficacy influence managers’ intentions to expand export activity. Managers’ intention to expand export activity, in turn, is associated with the levels of export commitment exhibited by the SMEs. None of the control variables seem to impact managers’ intentions.

The findings of this study underline that the export development of a SME is to a large extent only possible if the manager’s perception of control over the export achievements is perceived to be high. SME managers need maximize their perceived level of controllability over firm’s export operations and achievements. This study relied on self-report data. Self-reports are the conventional method for assessing constructs regarding beliefs, and motivations of an individual. Its use in entrepreneurship research is proved to be reliable. However, the authors have to acknowledge that using self-report data carries the risk of common methods bias.

SMEs managers might benefit from strengthening the sense of self-efficacy regarding international business based on the results of this study.

This study provides empirical evidence suggesting that a manager’s cognitive characteristics play a crucial role in understanding export expansion of a SME. The results encourage future research to incorporate cognitive theoretical frameworks to examine factors determining international entrepreneurial intentions.

Autonomous technologies represent an increasingly important, but at the same time controversial technological field with enormous potential. From a consumer perspective, however, the growing autonomy of technologies might result in a perceived loss of control, which can lead to consumer resistance. Given the practical and theoretical relevance, this research examines antecedents to consumer adoption of autonomous technologies in the context of self-driving cars.

This article looks through the lens of the technology acceptance model and conducts structural equation modeling.

The study validates the positive effect of perceived usefulness on behavioral intention to adopt self-driving cars. The results further suggest that individuals with a generally negative attitude toward technologies are afraid that they might not be capable of handling the new technology. Moreover, further mediation analyses reveal that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness help us to explain the indirect effects of novelty seeking and technology anxiety on adoption intention.

The results imply that users' perceptions of an autonomous technology's usefulness are an important determinant of technology adoption. Adoption barriers could be overcome by emphasizing the usability of the new technology. On the other hand, individuals who enjoy using the old technology may be persuaded by arguments that focus on the usefulness of the new technology rather than its ease of use.

Self-driving automobiles will change our perception of mobility. It is important to understand the mechanisms that drive the adoption of such innovations.

The article is a summarised version of a prospective study for the Swiss tourism region of Valais by the Institute for Public Management and Tourism (ITD) of the University of St. Gallen which has been achieved in April 2000. The Transformation Model has served as theoretical background. The Swiss Ski area industry was for a long time a driver of the tourism development in the Alpine regions. The transformation of this sector has a direct impact on the transformation of destinations and other sectors. The necessary changes, the business models and the problems of financing investments explain the transformation process. The analysis is based on two major scenarios. If the status quo — scenario is followed, it would not be possible to change the structures. In this case, the public sector has to support the sector with payments of about 1,5 billions of sfr for the next decade. In the other case of a more managed development, the strategies and the structure of the sector's enterprises have to guarantee a sustainable development. The authors are in favour of a vertical integration of a destination which can create economies of scope rather than for a horizontal integration and economies of scale.

Widening access to higher education with the aim of creating more social equality (or at least equal opportunities for everyone) is a long-term goal in the higher education policy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Several reforms starting in the 1960s have tried to achieve this aim by establishing new universities and funding regimes, for example introducing a student loan system (‘BAföG’) for students from families with low income or the abolition of tuition fees. As a result, we can speak about a ‘Bildungsexpansion’ (education expansion), because there are more young people in higher education in Germany than ever before. The number of the graduates has also reached record highs. Despite these achievements, access to higher education still reflects social inequalities: There are still 3.3 times more students in higher education who are children of academics than students from a non-academic background (BMBF, 2013). This chapter asks whether German widening access policies have led to greater social equality? The answer: The education expansion has mainly benefited socially advantaged groups from a middle-class background, especially women. Therefore, especially for young men from disadvantaged migrant families with a low income, access to higher education is still very difficult to attain. The experiences of the German reforms clearly show that widening access to higher education has the potential to increase social mobility and to create more social equality, but to achieve this goal there are far more policy measures needed especially policies for direct support (like ‘BAföG’) and encouragement of socially disadvantaged groups.