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Articles 7231 - 7260 of 8024

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Democracy And Oversight, Riccardo Pelizzo, Rick Stapenhurst Jan 2006

Democracy And Oversight, Riccardo Pelizzo, Rick Stapenhurst

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In the course of the past decade, political science has started paying increasing attention to the study of legislative oversight, which had been previously been described as an important but inadequately researched area of legislative activity (Lees, 1977). Lees’ comment is particularly true with regard to comparative analyses of oversight tools and practices. Some studies have recently discussed the instruments of legislative oversight (Maffio, 2002), other studies have instead investigated how legislative oversight relates to both political variables (Pennings, 2000; Damgaard, 2000; Pelizzo and Stapenhurst, 2004a) and socio-economic conditions (Pelizzo and Stapenhurst, 2004b). In spite of this renewed interest in …


A Code Of Conduct For Indonesia: Problems And Perspectives, Riccardo Pelizzo, Bernice Ang Jan 2006

A Code Of Conduct For Indonesia: Problems And Perspectives, Riccardo Pelizzo, Bernice Ang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The purpose of the present paper is fairly straightforward. We want to show that institutional reforms, such as the adoption of a conduct code, represent a necessary albeit insufficient condition to curb corruption and promote good governance. As several scholars have pointed out the success of institutional reform in general and the success of codes of conduct in particular depends, among other things, on ideational conditions. With regard to codes of conduct, parliamentary ethics experts believe in fact that the success of a code of conduct depends on whether the individuals who are supposed to be regulated by the disposition …


Culture And Counterfactuals: On The Importance Of Life Domains, Jing Chen, Chi-Yue Chiu, Neal J. Roese, Kim-Pong Tam, Ivy Yee-Man Lau Jan 2006

Culture And Counterfactuals: On The Importance Of Life Domains, Jing Chen, Chi-Yue Chiu, Neal J. Roese, Kim-Pong Tam, Ivy Yee-Man Lau

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Past research, with its emphasis on affective regulatory processes, has failed to find cross-cultural differences in counterfactual thoughts. In the current study, the authors examine the tendency to generate additive counterfactuals (those that focus on the addition of new aspects that were not in fact present) and subtractive counterfactuals (those that focus on subtraction of factual aspects) among Mainland Chinese and European American university students in five life domains: schoolwork, romantic relationships, family relationships, friendships, and life in general. As in previous studies, the authors find an overall main effect, in which additive counterfactuals predominate over subtractive counterfactuals within both …


The Roles Of Digital Libraries In Teaching And Learning Geography, Chew-Hung Chang, John Hedberg, Tiong-Sa Teh, Ee Peng Lim Jan 2006

The Roles Of Digital Libraries In Teaching And Learning Geography, Chew-Hung Chang, John Hedberg, Tiong-Sa Teh, Ee Peng Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Adopting a problem-centred approach helps students to learn Geography more effectively as they are able to identify and generalize about where different resources or activities are spatially located and they learn to associate certain patterns and processes with geographical changes. In an era where web-based student-centred inquiry is gaining popularity as a mode of learning Geography, the role of digital libraries as delivery trucks (in Clark’s terminology, 1983) needs to be better understood. An obvious affordance of the digital library is that it organizes information around themes for problems to be solved. This paper describes a developmental project to build …


Coalition Formation Theories Revisited: An Empirical Investigation Of Aumann's Hypothesis, Vincent Chua, Dan S. Felsenthal Jan 2006

Coalition Formation Theories Revisited: An Empirical Investigation Of Aumann's Hypothesis, Vincent Chua, Dan S. Felsenthal

Research Collection School Of Economics

In one of the earliest attempts to examine the effect of a priori voting power on actual political phenomena, Riker (1959) looked at changes in party affiliation in the French National Assembly in 1953–54, and used these data to test the hypothesis that deputies who switched parties were seeking thereby to increase their a priori voting power. His findings were negative, or at best inconclusive.


Contract Law, Chee Ho Tham, Pearlie Koh, Pey Woan Lee Jan 2006

Contract Law, Chee Ho Tham, Pearlie Koh, Pey Woan Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The issue of contract formation arose in the unusual context of civil procedure in Wellmix Organics (International) Pte Ltd v Lau Yu Man [2006] 2 SLR 117 (see also para 10.60 on “Mistake”). The plaintiff in this case unsuccessfully sought to enforce a consent unless order against the defendant. Andrew Phang Boon Leong J (as he then was) emphasised that, keeping in view its very drastic consequence of depriving a party of his cause of action, such an order will only be established where the terms of the agreement are clear and unambiguous. It was clear on the facts that …


Singapore: Intimations Of A Budding Global City, Kheng Boon, Eugene Tan Jan 2006

Singapore: Intimations Of A Budding Global City, Kheng Boon, Eugene Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.


Singapore: The Missing Babies Problem, Kheng Boon, Eugene Tan Jan 2006

Singapore: The Missing Babies Problem, Kheng Boon, Eugene Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.


Singapore: A Tax Compact For The Future?, Eugene Kheng Boon Tan Jan 2006

Singapore: A Tax Compact For The Future?, Eugene Kheng Boon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.


The Paradox Of Corruption As Antithesis To Economic Development: Does Corruption Undermine Economic Development In Indonesia And China, And Why Are The Experiences Different In Each Country?, Andrew White Jan 2006

The Paradox Of Corruption As Antithesis To Economic Development: Does Corruption Undermine Economic Development In Indonesia And China, And Why Are The Experiences Different In Each Country?, Andrew White

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The question of whether corruption is antithetical to economic development has been extensively researched and debated since the 1960s. While nearly all participants in the debate appear to agree that corruption ultimately is antithetical to long-term economic development, the extent to which it positively or negatively affects economic development in the short term depends upon highly contextual factors. In different countries and regions of the world, factors of local culture and history, the nature of the state, the type of corruption and actors involved, and the political responses and motivations to curtail corruption all inform the answer to this question. …


Regulating Directors' Duties With Civil Penalties: Taking A Leaf From Australia's Book, Pey Woan Lee Jan 2006

Regulating Directors' Duties With Civil Penalties: Taking A Leaf From Australia's Book, Pey Woan Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article examines whether the use of the criminal penalty as a 'default' sanction for regulating directors' core duties in Singapore is excessive, and if so, whether civil pecuniary penalties ought to be introduced in the reform of the existing sanctions regime. These questions are addressed principally by reference to the Australian experience.


Ideological Orientation: Does It Still Make A Difference?, Riccardo Pelizzo Jan 2006

Ideological Orientation: Does It Still Make A Difference?, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Cartel Parties And Cartel Party Systems: The Italian Case, Riccardo Pelizzo Jan 2006

Cartel Parties And Cartel Party Systems: The Italian Case, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In spite of the fact that Katz and Mair’s cartel party article has been one of the most widely cited, read, discussed, criticized scholarly works of the past decade, Italian politics experts have been somewhat reluctant to apply the cartel party framework to analyze the Italian party system.1 This reluctance was probably motivated by an improper understanding of what the cartel party hypothesis actually entails. Italian politics scholars seemed to think that the cartel is a specific type of oligopolistic market in which the supply of goods is distorted by the collusion of the oligopolistic firms which, by colluding, form …


Defining (Multiple) Selves: Reflections On Fieldwork In Jakarta, Chang Yau Hoon Jan 2006

Defining (Multiple) Selves: Reflections On Fieldwork In Jakarta, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The 'Self' in late-modernity is never singular but multiplies across different discourses, practices and positions. It is constructed through difference. It is only through a relation to the 'Other' that the 'Self' can be defined. This paper endeavours to map the endless negotiations of my 'Self' as male Australian academic of Chinese descent, a Malaysian citizen, a Bruneian resident, and an Indonesian specialist, over a period of fieldwork in Jakarta in 2004. It discusses how I defined my multiple 'Selves' to different individuals and communities, how they in turn defined me, and how these constructions were always shifting. Depending on …


The Mirage Of Global Justice, Chandran Kukathas Jan 2006

The Mirage Of Global Justice, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The political pursuit of global justice is not a worthy goal, and our aims in establishing international legal and political institutions should be more modest. The pursuit of justice in the international order is dangerous to the extent that it requires the establishment of powerful supranational agencies, or legitimizes greater and more frequent exercise of political, economic, and military power by strong states or coalitions. The primary concern in the establishment and design of all legal and political institutions should be not to secure justice but to limit power. It is a mistake to think that a distinction can be …


Hayek And Liberalism, Chandran Kukathas Jan 2006

Hayek And Liberalism, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

F. A. Hayek occupies a peculiar place in the history of twentiethcentury liberalism. His influence has, in many respects, been enormous. The Road to Serfdom, his first political work, not onlyattracted popular attention in the west but also circulated widely(in samizdat form) in the intellectual underground of Eastern Europeduring the years between the end of the war and the revolutions of1989. His critique of central planning has been thoroughly vindicated, if not by the demise of communist economic systems, thenat least by the recognition by socialists of many stripes of theimportance of market processes.1 Books and articles on his thoughtcontinue …


Hungary: Protection Of Ethnic Minorities And Institutional Balance, Anna Gwiazda, Kenneth Benoit Jan 2006

Hungary: Protection Of Ethnic Minorities And Institutional Balance, Anna Gwiazda, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

United in support for the EU constitution, the Hungarians none the less remember the past dismemberment of their country, as a result of which a significant number of Hungarian minorities live in neighboring countries. Hence, it was not surprising that the Hungarian government’s position at the IGC 2003–4 focused on the protection of minority rights, although institutional balance was also important. The only “exclusive” Hungarian proposal of the “protection of ethnic and national minorities” was supported by both the socialists and the opposition Fidesz–Hungarian Civic Party. Hungary joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. EU membership had been a …


E-Government Capabilities And Crisis Management: Lessons From Combating Sars In Singapore, Shan Ling Pan, Gary Pan, Paul R. Devadoss Dec 2005

E-Government Capabilities And Crisis Management: Lessons From Combating Sars In Singapore, Shan Ling Pan, Gary Pan, Paul R. Devadoss

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The city-state of Singapore has been highly ranked for its e-government services. Over the past two decades, it has leveraged its IT infrastructure for economic development and transformed its public services. The SARS outbreak in 2004 turned into a national health crisis because it spread rapidly and the medical community had little knowledge of how to treat the new mutation of the corona virus. Yet, several Singaporean government agencies utilized the e-Government infrastructure and related resources to quickly bring the outbreak under control. In particular, the government?s IT infrastructure streamlined communications, information exchange, and data flow, and significantly eased collaboration …


Fostering Total Wellness Through Peer Helping: Reflections On The Smu Experiences, Gilbert Tan, Timothy Hsi Dec 2005

Fostering Total Wellness Through Peer Helping: Reflections On The Smu Experiences, Gilbert Tan, Timothy Hsi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Peer Helping is widely implemented in Colleges and Universities in the United States and Canada. Despite the popularity of these programs, very little has been researched on peer helping in the Asian context. This paper traces the theoretical foundations of peer helping and the nascent development of a peer helping program in the Singapore Management University and how this program has developed since the beginning of 2004. The initial focus of the program was based on the model of paraprofessional student counselors assisting their fellow peers through difficult moments in their lives. Over time, the program was fine-tuned to embrace …


Using Community Service Projects To Teach Leadership And Team-Building: Theoretical Foundations, Students' Reactions And Practical Considerations, Gilbert Tan Dec 2005

Using Community Service Projects To Teach Leadership And Team-Building: Theoretical Foundations, Students' Reactions And Practical Considerations, Gilbert Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper discusses the theoretical foundations of utilizing Community Service Project (CSP) or service-learning to teach Leadership and Team-Building. It examines the students’ reactions to this innovative method of instruction. This is done through conducting a content analysis of students’ learning journals, in which students reflect on their CSP learning experiences. Two themes emerged from the data: (a) variety of learning experiences, and (b) impact of CSP experience. The data suggested that students derived a variety of learning experiences from the CSP. In addition, there were attitudinal and learning impacts associated with the CSP experiences. The paper also outlines some …


The Internet And Civil Society: Environmental And Labour Organizations In Hong Kong, Yin-Wah Chu, James T. H. Tang Dec 2005

The Internet And Civil Society: Environmental And Labour Organizations In Hong Kong, Yin-Wah Chu, James T. H. Tang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To what extent has the Internet strengthened civil society? In which ways have civil society organizations (CSOs) used the internet to communicate their missions, enhance the discussion of public issues, extend networks and mobilize collective actions? This article seeks to answer these and related questions by reporting on an empirical study in Hong Kong. The study involves an analysis of the web pages launched by 14 environmental groups and 22 labour organizations on the one hand, and in-depth interviews with representatives of five of these organizations on the other. Due to the lack of resources and low level of e-readiness …


Natural Forum And The Elusive Significance Of Jurisdiction Agreements, Tiong Min Yeo Dec 2005

Natural Forum And The Elusive Significance Of Jurisdiction Agreements, Tiong Min Yeo

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Singapore court's power to stay its proceedings by reason of its not being the appropriate forum the proceedings ought not to be continued is underpinned by the common law principle enunciated in The Spiliada that generally a trial should be heard in its natural forum. The Rainbow Joy adds significantly to Singapore law on forum non conveniens on two important points. First, it establishes that it is not necessary to show that the alternative forum abroad is constituted as a court of law. Secondly, the case establishes that whether there is a defense claim on the merits is an …


China's Changing Economic Structures And Its Implications For Regional Patterns Of Trade Production And Integration, Kim Song Tan, Hoe Ee Khor Nov 2005

China's Changing Economic Structures And Its Implications For Regional Patterns Of Trade Production And Integration, Kim Song Tan, Hoe Ee Khor

Research Collection School Of Economics

There is tremendous momentum for economic and financial integration in East Asia today. Partly inspired by the formation of the European Union and partly as a response to the 1997/98 Asia financial crisis, many East Asian countries are showing greater commitment to regional economic cooperation. A number of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) have either been concluded or are being negotiated.1 At a less formal level, the ASEAN+3 grouping has brought the whole region together in regular consultations over trade, investment, as well as monetary and exchange rate policy matters.


A Spatial Analysis Of The Xiii Italian Legislature, Massimiliano Landi, Riccardo Pelizzo Nov 2005

A Spatial Analysis Of The Xiii Italian Legislature, Massimiliano Landi, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We present a spatial map of the Italian House of Deputies during the XIII Legislature obtained by applying the Poole and Rosenthal methodology to roll call data. We estimate coordinates for almost all the 650 Deputies that were on the House’s floor at the time, and we aggregate them according to parties. We find that voting patters generate basically a two dimensional political space. The first dimension represents loyalty to either the ruling coalition or the opposing one. The second dimension is represented by the European Union. These findings are consistent with the exceptional case of the party Northern League, …


Multiracialism Engineered: The Limits Of Electoral And Spatial Integration In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan Nov 2005

Multiracialism Engineered: The Limits Of Electoral And Spatial Integration In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines Singapore's innovations in electoral and spatial integration. In examining the Group Representation Constituency and the Ethnic Integration Policy, a critique is made of the official discourse that multiracialism is internalized and entrenched in Singapore's political psyche and electoral process. While the electoral and spatial integration policies are driven by the objective of enhancing multiracialism, their actual workings do not adequately advance the development of norms and values that would be truly supportive of the need for a multiracial legislature and an abiding commitment to multiracialism. The layering of the electoral system with other political objectives, such as …


Bloggers Beware: The Five Commandments For Bloggers, Warren B. Chik Nov 2005

Bloggers Beware: The Five Commandments For Bloggers, Warren B. Chik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

There is a need for Singapore bloggers to be aware of legal issues arising from their online diaries, particularly in the light of the recent cases involving seditious remarks made online by bloggers that resulted in jail terms and fines; and earlier in the year, a dispute arose over allegedly defamatory speeches made by a blogger about A*STAR’s Chairman, Philip Yeo, which was resolved amicably, but not without an apology. The threats of legal repercussions in the form of civil lawsuits and criminal charges serve as reminders of the potential legal problems that can arise from blogging, and indeed from …


Globalisation And Urban Crime: Mean Streets Or Lost Suburbs, Mark Findlay Nov 2005

Globalisation And Urban Crime: Mean Streets Or Lost Suburbs, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This parer introduces notions of contemporary globalisation and the manner in which crime and glotalisation interrelate. In particular, the importance of analysing crime and control at both local and global levels is emphasised. Issues of crime and space are addressed in the context of urbanisation. The tendencies of the city to marginalise, and the consequential criminal outcomes from this environment of modernisation (and the modem city) are discussed. Urban planning has had a crucial part to play in humanising and at the same time distinguishing the global push towards urbanisation, and crime prevention is now a recognised feature of globalised …


Institutions, Wages, And Inequality: The Case Of Europe And Its Periphery (1500-1899), Davin Chor Oct 2005

Institutions, Wages, And Inequality: The Case Of Europe And Its Periphery (1500-1899), Davin Chor

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper explores the long-run relationship between institutions and wage outcomes in Europe and its periphery. I find that cities that exercised stronger institutional protection of private property experienced: (i) higher levels of both skilled and unskilled real wages, as well as (ii) lower levels of inequality as measured by the skilled-unskilled wage ratio. While the first result corroborates existing work on the positive growth effects of better institutions, the second finding is more novel to the literature. Some explanations are proposed for how stronger institutions can cause an increase in the relative supply of skilled workers, thus lowering wage …


Cross-Validation In Nonparametric Regression With Outliers, Denis H. Y. Leung Oct 2005

Cross-Validation In Nonparametric Regression With Outliers, Denis H. Y. Leung

Research Collection School Of Economics

A popular data-driven method for choosing the bandwidth in standard kernel regression is cross-validation. Even when there are outliers ill the data, robust kernel regression can be used to estimate the unknown regression curve [Robust and Nonlinear Time Series Analysis. Lecture Notes in Statist. (1984) 26 163-184]. However, Under these Circumstances Standard cross-validation is no longer a satisfactory bandwidth selector because it is unduly influenced by extreme prediction errors caused by the existence of these Outliers. A more robust method proposed here is a cross-validation method that discounts the extreme prediction errors. In large samples the robust method chooses consistent …


The Risk Of Adverse Impact In Selections Based On A Test With Known Effect Size, Wilfried De Corte, Filip Lievens Oct 2005

The Risk Of Adverse Impact In Selections Based On A Test With Known Effect Size, Wilfried De Corte, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The authors derive the exact sampling distribution function of the adverse impact (AI) ratio for single-stage, top-down selections using tests with known effect sizes. Subsequently, it is shown how this distribution function can be used to determine the risk that a future selection decision on the basis of such tests will result in an outcome that reflects the presence of AI. The article therefore provides test and selection practitioners with a valuable tool to decide between alternative selection predictors.