A reproductive plan is a type of adaptive procedure devised by Holland which embodies many principles found in the adaptation of natural systems through evolution. This study…
Abstract
A reproductive plan is a type of adaptive procedure devised by Holland which embodies many principles found in the adaptation of natural systems through evolution. This study develops a reproductive meta‐plan, an adaptive procedure that controls the modification of parameter values in a reproductive plan. After a brief review of Holland's formalization of reproductive plans, a non‐reproductive meta‐plan devised by Cavicchio is discussed. In response to some of the limitations of Cavicchio's approach, a reproductive meta‐plan is developed. Experiments with computer implementations of both meta‐plans show improvement in a reproductive plan's utility gain when the reproductive meta‐plan is used.
This chapter examines changes in US monetary policy uncertainty (ΔMPU) and fiscal policy uncertainty (ΔFPU) on stock returns while controlling for downside risk, lagged dividend…
Abstract
This chapter examines changes in US monetary policy uncertainty (ΔMPU) and fiscal policy uncertainty (ΔFPU) on stock returns while controlling for downside risk, lagged dividend yield, and time series patterns. Testing G7 markets consistently shows that both ΔMPU and ΔFPU have significant negative impacts on stock returns. Evidence shows that any downside risk, ΔMPU or ΔFPU in US market will soon be transmitted to G6 industrial markets and the impacts are extended to two months. These risk and uncertainty premiums should be priced in the stocks of the major industrial markets.
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Sara E. Green, Rosalyn Benjamin Darling and Loren Wilbers
This chapter reviews qualitative research on parenting children with disabilities published over the last 50 years to explore whether shifts in academic discourse and changes in…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter reviews qualitative research on parenting children with disabilities published over the last 50 years to explore whether shifts in academic discourse and changes in professional training have affected research on parenting and/or the experiences of parents who are the subject of such research.
Methodology/approach
An extensive literature search was conducted, and 78 peer-reviewed, qualitative studies on the experience of parenting a child with a disability were included in the sample. Themes were extracted from the reviewed literature and compared across decades.
Findings
The findings of the present review suggest that some aspects of the parenting experience have changed very little. In particular, parents continue to experience negative reactions such as stress and anomie, especially early in their children’s lives, and socially imposed barriers such as unhelpful professionals, and a lack of needed services continue to create problems and inspire an entrepreneurial response. In addition, stigmatizing encounters with others continue to be a common occurrence. In contrast to earlier decades, studies conducted in more recent years have begun to use the social model of disability as an analytic frame and also increasingly report that parents are questioning and challenging the concept of “normal” itself.
Social/practical implications
Additional improvements are needed in professional education and services to reduce the negative reactions experienced by parents of children with disabilities.
Originality/value of chapter
The findings of this meta-analysis can serve as a guide to future research on parenting children with disabilities.
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This paper was written to show that what has come to be called the social model of disability appeared as the primary analytical framework in research published by sociologists in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper was written to show that what has come to be called the social model of disability appeared as the primary analytical framework in research published by sociologists in the 1960s and 1970s. Although the name and constructs of the model have changed over the years, its roots are clearly present in the earlier sociological literature. The author looked for evidence of these roots.
Methodology/approach
The paper’s findings are based on a literature review and synthesis. For illustrative purposes, four publications were selected as case examples.
Findings
All of the components of the social model – locus of the problem in society, activism as a solution, and consumer control – appeared in the earlier literature. In addition, these studies conducted in the 1970s and earlier distinguished between the individual and social model, although they used different terminology.
Research implications
Researchers need to go beyond simple electronic literature searches in order to find books and articles written prior to 1980. Otherwise, they may be “reinventing the wheel.”
Originality/value
Most recent literature in disability studies acknowledges a debt to the social model theorists of the 1990s. This paper suggests that their debt extends back much further and that the social model is part of a long tradition of sociological thinking.
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This study finds evidence that a stock return is inversely correlated with downside risk, confirming a pattern of risk-aversion behavior. Evidence from testing a stock return's…
Abstract
This study finds evidence that a stock return is inversely correlated with downside risk, confirming a pattern of risk-aversion behavior. Evidence from testing a stock return's response to a change in economic policy uncertainty indicates a significantly negative effect in the Chinese stock market; this conclusion holds true for testing the impacts of changes in fiscal and monetary policy uncertainties. However, the data produce a mixed effect for the change in fiscal policy uncertainty. The evidence produced from examining the geopolitical effect on the stock market strongly supports the presence of an adverse effect on stock market performance.
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Rose O’Driscoll and Jenny Mercer
Discourses on ageing and childlessness coalesce around the notion that childless women will experience regret and loneliness in old age. In the United Kingdom, the idea that…
Abstract
Discourses on ageing and childlessness coalesce around the notion that childless women will experience regret and loneliness in old age. In the United Kingdom, the idea that children (mostly women) will provide care in old age tends to be normalised and underpins social care provision. In recent times, media coverage of childless women has also tended to sustain and promote this. This discourse occurs within a context where childlessness is on the rise and where there is little academic interest in the topic.
Our chapter will report on a constructivist grounded theory study with women who choose not to have children. A key aim of the study was to explore the consequences of participants’ choices on their lives. Twenty-one women aged between 45 and 75, from across England, Scotland and Wales participated. The age criteria were chosen to reflect the category that is used by the Office of National Statistics to denote that women’s reproduction ends at 45. This also helps to construct a social norm that women aged 45 and over are seen as older women. Findings reveal that most participants experience no regrets following their choice not to have children. Some express ‘half regrets’ while all challenge the societal expectation that without children there will be no one to care for them when they are older.
This supports the limited, mainly autobiographical literature, on loss and regret. It also refutes the unquestioned and widely believed assumption that women who choose not have children will live to regret it. For participants, the choice for motherhood was but one choice from a menu of many others. Their choice was for something more meaningful for them rather than a choice against motherhood. Consequently, participants had no reason to experience loss or regret. These findings also question the discourse, which implies that children will ensure care in older age. It presents a challenge to the myth that the family is a haven of happiness and support in an ever-changing world. Crucially, it supports calls for more inclusive policy making to address the care needs of all older people.
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Suk-Joong Kim, Linda Lee and Eliza Wu
This chapter investigates the impact of policy interest rate news from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) on stock returns and volatilities of U.S…
Abstract
This chapter investigates the impact of policy interest rate news from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) on stock returns and volatilities of U.S. NYSE and German DAX listed commercial banks. We find that Fed news has the most influence on both U.S. and German listed bank stocks and an unexpected policy rate increase (decrease) lowers (raises) returns and raises volatility in the majority of cases. On the other hand, ECB news generally increases bank stock volatility in the United States but has little impact within its own domestic banking industry. While our results for the U.S. listed banks confirm that their stock prices are more responsive in bad economic times and also during periods of monetary tightening, we find disparities for German banks suggesting that U.S. and European banking industries respond heterogeneously to monetary policy news but the Global Financial Crisis increased the sensitivity of all banks to monetary policy news.
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Rupert Fisher and Melvyn Hirst
Makes a timely assessment of the specifically British contribution in the field of marketing models, which provides a useful basis for further development. Reviews UK writing on…
Abstract
Makes a timely assessment of the specifically British contribution in the field of marketing models, which provides a useful basis for further development. Reviews UK writing on models of market behaviour, advertising models, distribution models, pricing models and new‐product models. Makes a distinction between macro‐ and micro‐models: a macro‐model does not require information about individual units in the market, such as households: micro‐models need data about individual units, therefore require much more information. Concludes that the findings give valuable insight into consumer purchasing patterns – providing early prediction of future success or failure.
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ELEVEN years ago a small group, of whom the writer was one, met in Oud Poelgeest Castle in Holland to consider forming a European body concerned with Work Study. They share a…
Abstract
ELEVEN years ago a small group, of whom the writer was one, met in Oud Poelgeest Castle in Holland to consider forming a European body concerned with Work Study. They share a sense of pride that the Federation which emerged will celebrate its decennary next month. Sadly, of the four British members of that group only two survive to greet the event.
This chapter examines the relative absence of critique in inclusive education research, policy and practice, and in education more generally – and consider the consequences of…
Abstract
This chapter examines the relative absence of critique in inclusive education research, policy and practice, and in education more generally – and consider the consequences of doing without critique. It responds to Bruno Latour's (2004, p. 243) urgent call for progress towards “a fair position” and for the development of “new critical tools” to work positively and constructively towards social change. The potential for criticality is explored in relation to disability studies, disability arts and children's perspectives. Each of these sources is evaluated in terms of their affordance of criticality and for their potential to mobilise political action. They are also considered in relation to the epistemological shifts and altered power relations that are necessary to create an inclusive educational environment.