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Symmetric elliptical distributions have been intensively used in data modeling and robustness studies. The area of applications was considerably widened after transforming elliptical distributions into the skew elliptical ones that preserve several good properties of the corresponding symmetric distributions and increase possibilities of data modeling. We consider three-parameter p-variate skew t-distribution where p-vector μ is the location parameter, Σ:p×p is the positive definite scale parameter, p-vector α is the skewness or shape parameter, and the number of degrees of freedom ν is fixed. Special attention is paid to the two-parameter distribution when μ=0 that is useful for construction of the skew t-copula. Expressions of the parameters are presented through the moments and parameter estimates are found by the method of moments. Asymptotic normality is established for the estimators of Σ and α. Convergence to the asymptotic distributions is examined in simulation experiments.

The PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX GBG) is a behavior management strategy that has demonstrated positive effects on children's behavior and well-being in trials conducted mainly in the USA. This study assessed the impact of the PAX GBG on students' mental health and behavior 7 and 19 months post-baseline in Estonia. This matched-pair, cluster-randomized, waitlist-controlled, open-label trial included 42 Estonian elementary schools with 708 first-grade students. The primary outcome was children's overall mental health rated by teachers, while secondary objectives were to examine whether the effects of the intervention extended to the home context. Teachers also rated their self-efficacy and overall classroom behavior. Intervention adherence and children's exposure to the intervention were also measured. Modified intention to treat analysis involved 696 students on first post-baseline and 647 on second post-baseline. Intervention had positive effects on children's mental health at the end of the first academic year, which lasted and strengthened during the second academic year. Moderation analysis demonstrated positive effects on mental health and prosocial behavior for high-risk students during the first year. A few positive effects extended to the home environment during the second academic year. Implementation fidelity was satisfactory. The intervention also had a positive lasting effect on teacher's self-efficacy and overall classroom behavior. This study shows the positive effects of the PAX GBG in Estonian schools and supports broader implementation of the intervention in Estonian elementary schools. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov No. NCT02865603.

The Russo-Japanese war (1905-1904) had a great impact on the Estonian society as it instigated the discontent in the society that in the end lead to the turbulent events of the Russian revolution in 1905 and pursue of political independence that was achieved in 1918. It also changed the content of the Estonian printed media as these two years escalated a Japanese boom that was never seen before or after: almost in every single newspaper issue there were articles written about Japan (war news, foreign news, opinion stories, fiction, travelogues, etc). As a new genre, newspapers started to publish the letters of the soldiers who were sent to the battlefield in the Far East. On the whole about 10.000 Estonian men were mobilized that was a considerable proportion of the nation of 1 million and the Estonians back at home were eager to know every piece of information how their men are doing in the distant warfare. Consequently the war created a genre in newspapers that was providing war news without the mediation of foreign languages or journalists. In the context of the research of the Estonian printed media history, the soldiers’ letters have not been researched as a type of journalistic genre in the newspapers. The aim of the current paper is to study how did the Estonian soldiers construct in their letters the Japanese as an enemy and which topics and comparisons did they use while writing about the war. The thematic analysis was used as a research method to study the letters published in three main Estonian newspapers from spring 1904 up to spring 1905. Main topics in the letters have been divided into directly war related issues or descriptions of the surrounding environment. In both categories the positive or negative images of Japanese have been analysed.

A major aim of the present study was to investigate effects of sensitivity-to-framing (Witkin’s EFT test) on rational and intuitive thinking. A booklet of relevant tests was distributed to university students who served as participants. It was found that field independent participants scored higher on rational thinking tasks than field-dependent participants did. Sensitivity-to-framing was also found to be a better predictor of rational thinking than was analytical intelligence. The results are discussed and related to the more general issue how cognitive style may impact upon rational and intuitive thinking.

Firm leaders’ inclination to adapt their business model is sensitive to how risk is framed (as an external threat or an opportunity) in the macro-economic environment. We apply threat-rigidity theory to examine the relationship between risk framing and business model adaptation. We also investigate if emotionality has explanatory value for how managers adapt to business models. We test our hypotheses in a field experiment involving 134 Scandinavian managers. Here, we relate managers’ inclinations to adapt to different business models to different risk scenarios. The results reveal that, in general, managers are more risk seeking in gain scenarios than in loss scenarios. This finding is in line with the threat-rigidity theory. Emotionality was found to relate more to risk aversion than to risk seeking in the domain of potential gain. We argue that emotionality has explanatory value for how managers adapt to business models, because emotions are key influences on risk perception.

The ‘making of’ medieval Livonia in the thirteenth century occurred not only in the course of ‘external’ wars against pagans, but also involved numerous internal territorial conflicts among the Christians participating in the process. The crusading conquest indeed resulted in major changes of property and legal relations. However, generally even in the case of Muslims in the Frankish Holy Land the previous legal and ownership relationships remained in force, insofar as they were not changed during or immediately after the course of the war or surrender as a result of massacres and confiscations. Vsevolod (Wiscewolodus) of Jersika, an Orthodox prince who ruled the middle run of the Daugava River, donated his territory to the Church of Riga in 1209, after being militarily defeated, and received the land back as a fief from Bishop Albert.

A major aim of the present study was to investigate effects of cognitive style (Witkin’s EFT test) on analytical and intuitive decision processes. A booklet of relevant tests was distributed to university students who served as participants. It was found that field independent participants scored higher on analytical decision making tasks than field-dependent participants did. Field dependence-independence was also found to be a better predictor of reasoning performance than was analytical intelligence. The results are discussed and related to the more general issue how cognitive style may impact upon analytical and intuitive reasoning.

In this paper, we uncover the relationships among social trust, corruption and the duration of economic crises. Our theoretical foundation is based on a collection of studies from different academic fields, especially political science, sociology and economics. We corroborate our arguments with both descriptive analysis and regression analysis of secondary data. Our dataset includes 11,364 observations distributed across 211 countries. The quantitative findings show that social trust is correlated with the duration of economic crises. Connecting our theoretical stance with the empirical evidence, we propose several possible explanations for the findings and provide both theoretical and practical implications.

Firm leaders’ inclination to adapt their business model is sensitive to how risk is framed (as an external threat or an opportunity) in the macro-economic environment. We apply threat-rigidity theory to examine the relationship between risk framing and business model adaptation. We also investigate if emotionality has explanatory value for how managers adapt to business models. We test our hypotheses in a field experiment involving 134 Scandinavian managers. Here, we relate managers’ inclinations to adapt to different business models to different risk scenarios. The results reveal that, in general, managers are more risk seeking in gain scenarios than in loss scenarios. This finding is in line with the threat-rigidity theory. Emotionality was found to relate more to risk aversion than to risk seeking in the domain of potential gain. We argue that emotionality has explanatory value for how managers adapt to business models, because emotions are key influences on risk perception.

In this paper, we uncover the relationships among social trust, corruption and the duration of economic crises. Our theoretical foundation is based on a collection of studies from different academic fields, especially political science, sociology and economics. We corroborate our arguments with both descriptive analysis and regression analysis of secondary data. Our dataset includes 11,364 observations distributed across 211 countries. The quantitative findings show that social trust is correlated with the duration of economic crises. Connecting our theoretical stance with the empirical evidence, we propose several possible explanations for the findings and provide both theoretical and practical implications.

The contribution discusses the knowledge of languages by members and officials of the Teutonic Order in Livonia. The topics of this paper are the presence and role of the (Old) Russian, and Livonian native languages in the Order. Russian was needed for diplomatic contacts with the Rus’ and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There were individual knights of the Order who were able to communicate in Russian. However, the Order mostly used hired interpreters and translators. They were of urban descent and had learned the language as young merchants. Some of them served the Order (the Master of the Order) for decades and received small holdings (a couple of peasant farms) as payment. In several cases the translators acted independently as diplomats and envoys. The Livonian Teutonic Order also needed special staff for communication with the natives. As indicated in the sixteenth-century sources, the Teutonic manors had interpreters among their staff. The intermediators could be members of Livonian local German nobility, and of the native (“undeutsch”) descent as well. The interpreters at a Teutonic castle belonged to the lower group of functionaries and became remunerated, for example, with a tavern or mill. The quality of the translations can be traced in the case of the communication with the Rus’, and it is in many cases remarkably low. All in all, the practical multilingual communication of the Teutonic Order in Livonia functioned seemingly quite well.

Mindfulness has recently attracted a great deal of interest in the field of management. However, even though mindfulness – broadly viewed as a state of active awareness – has been described mainly at the individual level, it may also have important effects at aggregated levels. In this article, we adopt a team-based conceptualization of mindfulness, and develop a framework that represents the powerful effect of team mindfulness on facilitating effective decision-making. We further discuss how a conceptualization of team mindfulness may mitigate the process of false consensus by interacting positively with the following five central team processes: open-mindedness, participation, empowerment, conflict management, and value and ambiguity tolerance. A false consensus constitutes a cognitive bias, leading to the perception of a consensus that does not exist. In essence, we argue that, although a conceptualization of team mindfulness does not guarantee effective decision-making in itself, it may successfully reduce false consensus when coupled with these five team processes. Accordingly, this article contributes to the theory and practice of team decision-making by demonstrating how a conceptualization of team mindfulness can be helpful in the increasingly complex and ambiguous situations faced by contemporary teams.

A major aim of the present study was to investigate effects of sensitivity-to-framing (Witkin’s EFT test) on rational and intuitive thinking. A booklet of relevant tests was distributed to university students who served as participants. It was found that field independent participants scored higher on rational thinking tasks than field-dependent participants did. Sensitivity-to-framing was also found to be a better predictor of rational thinking than was analytical intelligence. The results are discussed and related to the more general issue how cognitive style may impact upon rational and intuitive thinking.

The effect of leadership behavior on work performance is highly context sensitive. We address this notion by investigating leadership behavior in one important but understudied organizational context—namely, professional service firms (PSFs). We examine how partners’ leadership behavior in a PSF relates to employee self-leadership, creative climate, and work performance (N = 442). The results show that partners’ consideration leadership behavior is positively related to employees’ perceived work performance. Moreover, partners’ consideration and intellectual stimulation leadership behavior are especially important drivers of self-leadership and creative climate in a PSF, which in turn are positively related to employees’ work performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.