This study examines how the corporate philanthropy decisions of group-affiliated firms in Korea are made. Based on the attention-based view, we argue that when corporate decision makers at group-affiliated firms focus their attention more on internal markets than external stakeholders because of the firm’s high reliance on intragroup transactions, the firm will decrease its level of corporate philanthropy. We further argue that the relationship will be stronger when governance mechanisms focus on the instrumental value of corporate philanthropy. Using a panel (...) sample of group-affiliated firms in Korea from 2011 to 2015, we find that as intragroup sales increase, the level of corporate philanthropy decreases, and such a negative relationship is stronger when outside director representation and foreign investor ownership are high. Our study suggests that internal dependence and corporate governance mechanisms jointly affect the level of corporate philanthropy at firms in a business group. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on corporate philanthropy, business group, and corporate governance. (shrink)

The primary purpose of this study is to link the effects of consumer personality traits on green buying intention via the mediating variable of consumer ethical beliefs so as to extend the context of green buying intentions with consumer ethics literatures. Based on a survey of 545 Taiwanese respondents, consumer personality traits were found to significantly affect consumer ethical beliefs. The results also indicate that some dimensions of consumer ethical beliefs significantly predict consumer intention to buy green products. Generally speaking, (...) this study enhances our knowledge of consumers’ ethical decision-making in the context of green consumption behaviors. Theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and future research are also provided. (shrink)

Computational modeling of sketch understanding is interesting both scientifically and for creating systems that interact with people more naturally. Scientifically, understanding sketches requires modeling aspects of visual processing, spatial representations, and conceptual knowledge in an integrated way. Software that can understand sketches is starting to be used in classrooms, and it could have a potentially revolutionary impact as the models and technologies become more advanced. This paper looks at one such effort, Sketch Worksheets, which have been used in multiple classroom (...) experiments already, with students ranging from elementary school to college. Sketch Worksheets are a software equivalent of pencil and paper worksheets commonly found in classrooms, but they provide on-the-spot feedback based on what students draw. They are built on the CogSketch platform, which provides qualitative visual and spatial representations and analogical processing based on computational models of human cognition. This paper explores three issues. First, we examine how research from cognitive science and artificial intelligence, combined with the constraints of creating new kinds of educational software, led to the representations and processing in CogSketch. Second, we examine how these capabilities have been used in Sketch Worksheets, drawing upon experiments with fifth-grade students in biology and college students in engineering design and in geoscience. Finally, we examine some open issues in sketch understanding that need to be addressed to better model high-level aspects of vision, and for sketch understanding systems to reach their full potential for supporting education. (shrink)

Facing an increasingly competitive market, enterprises need correct decisions to solve operational problems in a timely manner to maintain their competitive advantages. In this context, insufficient information may lead to an overfitting phenomenon in general mathematical modeling methods, making it difficult to ensure good analytical performance. Therefore, it is important for enterprises to be able to effectively analyze and make predictions using small data sets. Although various approaches have been developed to solve the problem of prediction, their application is often (...) limited by insufficient observations. To further enforce the effectiveness of data uncertainty processing, this study proposed an aggregating prediction model for management decision analysis using small data sets. Compared with six popular approaches, the results from the experiments show that the proposed method can effectively deal with the small data set prediction problem and is thus an appropriate decision analysis tool for managers. (shrink)

The Theodotian Susanna has been studied by various scholars in various ways. Each attempt to give some meaning to this narrative has a different emphasis from a text, context or receiver based angle. This paper presents a mixture of text and context based angles. It focuses on the different spaces in Theodotian Susanna, that is, the house, garden, court and finally heaven. Each of these spaces is contested, but there can only be one victor.

Product counterfeiting, a serious problem throughout the world, is particularly challenging for luxury brands, which often have simple designs and a value that depends largely on buyers' perceptions. This study incorporates the concept of customer value into an investigation of the anticounterfeiting strategies. Both hedonic and utilitarian values positively influence customer loyalty toward luxury brands. As a means to strengthen customer values, legal and product strategies positively influence customers' hedonic value, whereas communication and product strategies positively influence their utilitarian value. (...) The managerial implications of these findings and directions for further research are discussed. (shrink)

Compared to our understanding of positive prediction error signals occurring due to unexpected reward outcomes, less is known about the neural circuitry in humans that drives negative prediction errors during omission of expected rewards. While classical learning theories such as Rescorla–Wagner or temporal difference learning suggest that both types of prediction errors result from a simple subtraction, there has been recent evidence suggesting that different brain regions provide input to dopamine neurons which contributes to specific components of this prediction error (...) computation. Here, we focus on the brain regions responding to negative prediction error signals, which has been well-established in animal studies to involve a distinct pathway through the lateral habenula. We examine the activity of this pathway in humans, using a conditioned inhibition paradigm with high-resolution functional MRI. First, participants learned to associate a sensory stimulus with reward delivery. Then, reward delivery was omitted whenever this stimulus was presented simultaneously with a different sensory stimulus, the conditioned inhibitor. Both reward presentation and the reward-predictive cue activated midbrain dopamine regions, insula and orbitofrontal cortex. While we found significant activity at an uncorrected threshold for the CI in the habenula, consistent with our predictions, it did not survive correction for multiple comparisons and awaits further replication. Additionally, the pallidum and putamen regions of the basal ganglia showed modulations of activity for the inhibitor that did not survive the corrected threshold. (shrink)

It is well known that one of Poincaré’s most important contributions to mathematics is the creation of algebraic topology. In this paper, we examine carefully the stated motivations of Poincaré and potential applications he had in mind for developing topology. Besides being an interesting historical problem, this study will also shed some light on the broad interest of Poincaré in mathematics in a concrete way.

This paper examines how industrial buyers’ attributions of their suppliers’ actions of corporate social responsibility are related to both the brand advocacy and brand equity. Using a sample of 173 questionnaires gathered in Taiwan, we find that CSR perceptions of industrial buyers are more strongly and positively related to brand advocacy and brand equity when industrial buyers interpret CSR activities of their suppliers as driven more by intrinsic motives and less by extrinsic motives. Furthermore, brand advocacy mediates the interactive effects (...) of CSR and CSR attribution on industrial brand equity. (shrink)

This study empirically demonstrates significant regional peer effects due to tax avoidance. We used peer companies’ idiosyncratic stock returns as an instrumental variable to address potential endogeneity problems. The heterogeneity analysis indicates that for companies with a stronger intensity of regional tax collection and management, a higher degree of informatization, and companies with a low management shareholding ratio, the regional peer effects of enterprise tax avoidance are more significant. Finally, we determined that the managers’ information learning, reputation consideration, and information (...) communication are key mechanisms propagating peer effects. The conclusions of this paper enrich and expand the peer effect theory of corporate tax avoidance, thereby providing a theoretical basis and empirical evidence for tax authorities in supervising corporate tax avoidance. (shrink)

With a vaulting ambition to usurp Party power, the "Gang of Four" has audaciously opposed Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought. Lacking truth in their allegations, they have been compelled to invoke sophistry. Their sophistry runs counter to materialist dialectics and even formal logic. Alien class element Yao Wen-yuan used to accuse others of "violating even formal logic," but it is the "Gang of Four" that ignores the definiteness and distinctiveness of thinking, says black is white, and tramples on formal logic.

In the target article, Schilbach et al. defend a perspective that focuses on the neural basis of social cognition during live, ongoing interactions between individuals. We argue that a second-person neuroscience would benefit from formal approaches borrowed from economics and behavioral ecology and that it should be extended to social interactions in nonhuman animals.

This paper presents the results of the authors’ study of the philosophical heritage of the Ancient Chinese philosopher Pan Maoming, who played an essential role in the development of spiritual culture, as well as Philosophy and Science of Ancient Southern China. The authors carried out historiographical research of currently available ancient and modern sources, which contain data on the life and philosophical ideas of Pan Maoming; reconstructed the Pan Maoming’s intellectual biography; revealed the main features of his worldview. The authors (...) reconstructed the social, cultural, and philosophical context of the historical epoch in which Pan Maoming’s philosophical and scientific views arose and developed; clarified the philosopher’s historical role in the development of local culture in the Southern region of Ancient China.The article contains the author’s description and interpretation of the main philosophical ideas of Pan Maoming, the main amid which the authors consider the ethical concept of “peace and emptiness,” the concept of “clumsiness”; the idea of “monasticism for the happiness of the people.” The authors compared Pan Maoming’s philosophical ideas with Lao-tzu’s philosophical doctrine and came to the conclusion that Pan Maoming formed his own unique and original elaboration of Taoist philosophy, significantly developed its linguistic apparatus and worldview. The authors paid particular attention to the description and analysis of Pan Maoming’s cosmological views, which include the doctrine of “Inner alchemy”, the doctrine of “chaos, order and causality.” The authors concluded that Pan Maoming’s cosmological ideas significantly developed a way of understanding the Universe, the relationship between “inert” and “living” matter, the “world of nature” and the “world of human” in the Taoist philosophical culture. The authors also presented and substantiated their point of view that some philosophical and cosmological ideas of Pan Maoming have not only of historical value but can also be used for developing and enriching the local spiritual culture of Guangdong Province in the form of ethical and educational practices, as well as practices of strengthening cultural unity and identity. (shrink)

The reproduction of cultural systems in cases where cultural group selection may occur is typically incomplete, with only certain cultural traits being adopted by less successful cultural groups. Why a particular trait and not another is transmitted might not be explained by cultural group selection. We explore this issue through the case of religious syncretism.

We conduct an online survey experiment to determine the influence of multifunctionality recognition in agriculture on the price premiums of environmental-friendly agricultural products. We use the case of fish-friendly rice produced in Shiga prefecture, Japan, which contributes to the conservation of the water and ecosystem in rural areas around Lake Biwa by setting up fish ways and reducing the use of herbicides. We assume two conditions for consumers to pay premiums on environmental-friendly agricultural products. The first is that consumers recognize (...) multifunctionality in agriculture. The second condition is that consumers have a correct understanding of environment-friendly agricultural products. We thus examine the effects of respondents’ attributes on their responses to two types of visual stimuli: one associated with the multifunctionality of agriculture and information about environment-friendly agricultural products. In the analysis of the respondents; willingness to pay, the price premium of the group with both the stimulus and information is significantly higher than the price premium of the control group with no interventions. However, the price premium of the group with only the stimulus is not statistically different for the control group. The policy implication of this research is that consumers are more likely to support agri-environmental policies if they recognize both the multifunctionality of agriculture and the properties of environmental-friendly agricultural products. The two types of stimuli have complimentary effects on increasing price premiums. Promoting the recognition of multifunctionality is especially important for those who do not usually access information on agriculture. (shrink)

Dongchundang Songjoongil (1606-1672) was a scholar who represented Gihoyeahak and Sanlim (山林) influencing the society of Chosŏn dynasty since the middle of 17th century. This report focus on its contemporary purport and reconciliation spirit on the Kyoung (敬) of Dongchundang. The Kyoung is the core idea that elucidates Dongchundang's philosophy and its characteristic. Dongchundang tried to continue to live the life of 'according knowledge and action' (知行一致) and dreamed the world of 'harmonization but not same' (和而不同) which indicates the principle (...) of heaven, meaning the harmony never following suit without reflection and a just and great cause, going through with his original idea through the Kyoung. In addition, Dongchundang expanded the Kyoung from personal existential problems to social ethic practical ones in the viewpoint of more reason than vitality, and aimed to build the ethic kingdom that came the harmony andreconciliation of all the communities together, interacting his subjectivity and the universal. The Kyoung and reconciliation spirit of Dongchundang is the orthodoxy of Dohak(道學), and it made him live moral intention and through real life and summarized the manner and spirit pursuing the just and great cause beyond factions. In this sense, Dongchundang's philosophy is the concentration of the Kyoung and philosophical expression of reconciliation spirit. As the peculiarity of Dongchundang's philosophy is based on the Kyoung, it is the everlasting principle of what one should do and practice in human life. (shrink)

Transgender women experience serious psychiatric problems and high suicide rates. According to the interpersonal theory of suicide, thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness play major roles in suicidality and can be measured by the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire. However, no study has validated the use of the INQ in TGW. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the INQ among TGW. We recruited 198 TGW from Shenyang, China, using snowball sampling. The construct validity of the INQ was assessed through factor (...) analysis, and convergent and divergent validity were examined through a structural equation model with other psychosocial factors. The construct validation analysis supported a three-factor model with satisfactory fit indices: χ2/df = 1.54, RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.931, TLI = 0.916, SRMR = 0.053. The thwarted belongingness was significantly associated with self-esteem and social support, and the social exclusion was significantly associated with loneliness, depression, entrapment, and defeat, suggesting satisfactory convergent and divergent validity for the three-factor model. The present findings indicate that for TGW, high social exclusion is important in assessing perceived interpersonal needs, while the notable deviation from previous two-factor model warrants further study. (shrink)

Causal and counterfactual thoughts are bound together in Byrne's theory of human imagination. We think there are two issues in her theory that deserve clarification. First, Byrne describes which counterfactual possibilities we think of, but she leaves unexplained the mechanisms by which we generate these possibilities. Second, her exploration of and enablers gives two different predictions of which counterfactuals we think of in causal scenarios. On one account, we think of the counterfactuals which we have control over. On the other, (...) which counterfactuals we think of depends on whether something is a strong cause or an enabler. Although these two accounts sometimes give the same predictions, we present cases in which they differ, and we would like to see Byrne's theory provide a way of reconciling these differences. (shrink)

In the last decade, the Poincaré conjecture has probably been the most famous statement among all the contributions of Poincaré to the mathematics community. There have been many papers and books that describe various attempts and the final works of Perelman leading to a positive solution to the conjecture, but the evolution of Poincaré’s works leading to this conjecture has not been carefully discussed or described, and some other historical aspects about it have not been addressed either. For example, one (...) question is how it fits into the overall work of Poincaré in topology, and what are some other related questions that he had raised. Since Poincaré did not state the Poincaré conjecture as a conjecture but rather raised it as a question, one natural question is why he did this. In order to address these issues, in this paper, we examine Poincaré’s works in topology in the framework of classifying manifolds through numerical and algebraic invariants. Consequently, we also provide a full history of the formulation of the Poincaré conjecture which is richer than what is usually described and accepted and hence gain a better understanding of overall works of Poincaré in topology. In addition, this analysis clarifies a puzzling question on the relation between Poincaré’s stated motivations for topology and the Poincaré conjecture. (shrink)

We suggest that the linguistic characteristics of letters also need to be considered to fully understand how a reader processes printed words. For example, studies in Korean showed that unambiguity in the assignment of letters to their appropriate onset, vowel, or coda slot is one of the main sources of the letter-transposition effect. Indeed, the cognitive system that processes Korean is tuned to the structure of the Korean writing system.

To improve sustainable practices and attract investors, companies in emerging markets have increasingly embraced strategies for inclusion in rapidly expanding sustainability indices. However, most early studies on socially responsible investment or sustainability investment have only focused on exploring the relationship between corporate sustainability and firm value. Moreover, little has been done to explore the practices of emerging market companies for engaging with a sustainability index. To address this research gap, we employed the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method to identify (...) critical factors that influence the inclusion of emerging market companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Five critical factors and best practices were identified based on the analysis of seven Taiwanese electronics companies that have been listed in the DJSI for several consecutive years. Our results provide insights on the critical factors and best practices that reinforce the sustainable practices of emerging market companies for inclusion in the DJSI. This study also contributes to the literature by investigating the engagement of emerging market companies with the DJSI. (shrink)