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Corruption and the fight against its various forms have constantly been a concern of theorists and policymakers because corruption is one of the important obstacles to socio-economic development. Economists have issued warnings about the devastating consequences of financial corruption and have argued that financial corruption increases transaction costs, reduces investment incentives, and ultimately reduces economic growth. Political scientists have pointed out the political costs of corruption for societies and claimed that an increase in corruption leads to a decrease in public trust in the political system and the destruction of the government's legitimacy, and could have a negative impact on democracy and political development. The manner in which this phenomenon influences growth and development is that it typically leads to more inequality and loss of public trust in government. By reducing political accountability, it undermines democracy and good governance. The economic approach is useful to study the causes of financial corruption because the researchers will be able to pay close attention to the underlying motivations and rationality to explain this problem of corruption. The researchers will be able to explain and understand why some individuals make choices based on their preferences that results in financial corruption. Some individuals are more corruption-prone and willing to engage in corruption when the opportunity arises to maximize financial gains for their own personal use or act as agents of corruption in their institutional roles for collective gains. Equally important is the task of discussing the anti-corruption efforts to deter future corruption behaviors of individuals and to combat state-sponsored institutional corrupt practices. In order to formulate effective strategies and policies to win the fight against corruption, it is necessary to first identify and understand the causes of corruption. With a qualitative approach and within the framework of public choice theory, the authors analyze a collection of the most important empirical and theoretical work on the causes of corruption with the goal of finding suitable answers to the following research questions: 1. What are the prominent differences between economic and non-economic approaches to explain the causes of financial corruption? 2. Does the economic approach used to explain the causes of financial corruption have more explanatory power than the non-economic approaches? The research hypothesis assumes that the use of economic approaches (general choice theory) to study financial corruption is more effective in analyzing the financial corruption-development association. The essence of the general choice theory to explain the behaviors of individuals and political elites is that these individuals seek to maximize their own personal gains and/or the collective benefits of a particular group, party, class and family with no or little regard for the maximization of the accrued benefits for the society at large. A key question is, to what extent the corrupt individuals are rational actors, given that they make choices which are generally perceived as irrational by other individuals—who do not get involved in corrupt practices. A multitude of reasons might influence an individual to make a ‘rational’ decision to engage in financial corruption practices. Theoretically, he makes a rational choice, because his calculations indicate that the expected benefit of financial corruption exceeds the expected cost including the cost of being detected, arrested and punished for his illicit acts. The critics of the economic approach to explain financial corruption emphasize a score of economic and non-economic factors such as weak economic development, low levels of education, poor quality of the bureaucracy, reduced transparency in laws and tax regulations, misconduct of community leaders, and religious composition of the total population. The existence of ethnic-linguistic subgroups in a country, the low degree of democracy (indicated particularly by the lack of freedom of speech and the freedom of the press), and political instability have been emphasized in the non-economic approach to the study of financial corruption. However, the effects of the non-economic causes of financial corruption are indirectly through economic factors. The individuals generally base their decisionmaking on their cost-benefit analyses and if the gains exceed the cost, they get engage in corruption. In other words, the improved quality of bureaucracy and transparency do not necessarily prevent a person from committing acts of financial corruption, but the high quality of bureaucracy and the high degree of democracy (particularly freedom of the press and transparency) reduce financial corruption by increasing the cost of corruption behaviors. The results suggest that non-economic approaches have been useful in explaining causes and consequences of corruption to a certain degree, but economic approach is more effective for understanding the motivations of corruption and its consequences for economic and political development. These research findings are important for planning and implementing anti-corruption programs such as enforceable ethical code of conduct, and regulations to increase transparency and accountability for public officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of foreign exchange (Forex) market predictions, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) have been commonly employed. However, these models often exhibit instability due to vulnerability to data perturbations attributed to their monolithic architecture. Hence, this study proposes a novel neuroscience-informed modular network that harnesses closing prices and sentiments from Yahoo Finance and Twitter APIs. Compared to monolithic methods, the objective is to advance the effectiveness of predicting price fluctuations in Euro to British Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP). The proposed model offers a unique methodology based on a reinvigorated modular CNN, replacing pooling layers with orthogonal kernel initialisation RNNs coupled with Monte Carlo Dropout (MCoRNNMCD). It integrates two pivotal modules: a convolutional simple RNN and a convolutional Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU). These modules incorporate orthogonal kernel initialisation and Monte Carlo Dropout techniques to mitigate overfitting, assessing each module's uncertainty. The synthesis of these parallel feature extraction modules culminates in a three-layer Artificial Neural Network (ANN) decision-making module. Established on objective metrics like the Mean Square Error (MSE), rigorous evaluation underscores the proposed MCoRNNMCD–ANN's exceptional performance. MCoRNNMCD–ANN surpasses single CNNs, LSTMs, GRUs, and the state-of-the-art hybrid BiCuDNNLSTM, CLSTM, CNN–LSTM, and LSTM–GRU in predicting hourly EUR/GBP closing price fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectations play important roles in consumers' purchase decisions. Among many types of expectations, consumers often form expectations on future market conditions when purchasing goods or services. This study develops a multiple-selves intertemporal choice model for such expectation-based purchase decisions, incorporating behavioral factors such as present-biased preferences into the model. An analysis based on the model shows that consumers adopt a threshold perception-perfect strategy when making purchase decisions and the threshold depends on values of model parameters that capture expectations on key market conditions. Different consumers often have different parameter values, leading to heterogeneous behavior. The study further applies the model to explain observations from medical service consumption data during the COVID-19 pandemic, and shows that the expectation-based purchase model provides a sound explanation for the observed heterogeneous purchase decisions across individuals with different incomes and health insurance status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development policy of the cities is analyzed and studied mainly with the help of concepts typical of geography, spatial economy and sociology. The article proposes to look at this issue through the prism of political science. The epistemology of the concept of political subjectivity, the theory of rational choice, the new institutionalism and system analysis will be used. Based on the conclusions from the theoretical part, the authors distinguish four criteria for the political analysis of the position of cities in Poland. They are: the criterion of resources and interests, the criterion of efficiency, the criterion of relations, and the criterion of coordination. Those criteria relate to, i.a. activities of political authorities in relation to cities, the influence they have on implementation of functions assigned to them, as well as the way in which the role of cities in the state’s political system changes. Based on the analysis of the four criteria, it is possible to determine whether cities are to a greater extent subjects or objects of activities of the central center of political power in the state. Using a schematic matrix of city development models proposed by the author, it is then possible to determine whether, in political terms, we are dealing with a subjective development of cities in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance management remains a maturing and ever-evolving field of research and practice. This phenomenon is leading to the adoption of new performance management regimes in public administration and governance. In this regard, research has emphasized that implementing such innovative performance management regimes requires practicing "performance dialogue" through learning forums in boundary-crossing settings, also encompassing different organizations (Rajala et al., [44]; Bianchi, [10]). [Extracted from the article]

In this paper we provide the first estimate of the intertemporal substitution for leisure in Spain, accounting for the impact of human capital accumulation. This would allow uncovering whether the intertemporal labour supply of Spanish workers is affected by human capital. Our empirical strategy consists of estimating the equation for the intertemporal substitution of leisure with and without accounting for human capital, what allows to detect hypothetical estimation biases associated to omitting the impact of human capital. To that end, we build a pseudo-panel data set combining the Spanish Family Expenditure Survey and the Labour Survey over the period 1987–1997. While the model that ignores human capital accumulation provides an estimate of the intertemporal elasticity of substitution for leisure about 0.25, comparable to previously available estimates for Spain and other economies, the model with human capital provides an estimate about 0.5, what confirms the existence of a bias in the former estimates. Finally, this bias is larger for the younger cohorts than for the older ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a multivariate, dynamic, continuous-time optimal consumption and portfolio allocation problem when the investor faces recursive utilities. The economy we are considering is described through both diffusion and discontinuities in the dynamics. We derive an approximated closed-form solution to optimal rules by exploiting standard dynamic programming techniques. Our findings are manifold. First, we obtain dynamic optimal weights, inversely proportional to volatility. Second, we show that both co-jumps frequency and intensity play a crucial role, as they considerably limit potential losses in the investors' wealth. Third, we prove that jumps in precision reinforce the effect of jumps in price, further reducing optimal allocation. Finally, we highlight how co-jumps may influence investors' choices regarding intertemporal consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the use of orthodox rational choice theory in the context of moral contractarianism. The article’s goals are threefold. First, the article clarifies the nature of moral contractarianism and corrects a fundamental misconception. Second, it responds to criticism that follows from this misconception. It shows that the criticism either misconstrues the nature of moral contractarianism or does not apply. Third, the article clarifies the limited role that formalization can play in the context of moral contractarianism. At best, such formalization complements and, at worst, distracts from the true nature of the theory and, more generally, from the central role that the context of choice plays for the justification of moral principles in contractarian moral theory.

The article titled "Editors' introduction" in the journal Religion, State & Society discusses the challenges faced by academics studying religion, state, and society in today's world. The contributors to this issue explore various topics such as freedom of religion, women's rights, and the role of religion in political conflicts. They strive to achieve objectivity by reflecting on their own perspectives, providing evidence-based analysis, and advancing our collective understanding of the world. The article also includes a forum on studying Eastern Orthodoxy in the context of the war in Ukraine, which raises questions about academic neutrality and objectivity. Overall, this article offers valuable insights into the complex relationship between religion, state, and society. [Extracted from the article]

We derive the optimal underwriting method and the quantitative initial public offering (IPO) pricing rule that this method implies in a market with informational frictions consisting of fully rational banks, issuers, and investors. In an efficient IPO market, an issuer's expected initial return will be determined entirely by the combination of this pricing rule and issuer fundamentals. Applying this rule, we find that we can explain the quantitative magnitude of the principal aspects of the time-series and cross-sectional variation in IPO average initial returns. We conclude that the IPO market is efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the issue of democratic short-termism and its impact on intergenerational justice. The author argues that current representative democracies are biased towards the present, leading to unfair distribution of costs and benefits across generations. The study examines the role of institutions in producing intergenerationally just outcomes and finds that consensus democracies with executive power-sharing, proportional electoral systems, multi-party systems, and openness to societal participation are more likely to achieve intergenerational equity. However, Belgium, despite being a consensus democracy, had a medium score on substantive intergenerational justice. The study also investigates the representation of future generations in decision-making processes and finds that they are poorly represented in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives. Factors such as elections, media, coalition governments, and interest groups hinder long-term action. The author concludes that institutionalized and independent innovations are needed to voice the interests of future generations. [Extracted from the article]

This paper proposes a new framework to provide insights into the techniques launderers adopt to clean illicit funds, drawing on existing literature and theories including rational choice, public value, structural coupling, and stakeholder. The proposed APPT framework is named after four factors that explain the choice of techniques: the Actors involved, Predicate crime, the Purpose of laundering, and Technological innovations. While the current literature on money laundering primarily directs attention toward aspects such as regulatory frameworks, the stages of money laundering, and ways of detecting it, there is a lack of understanding about the reasons underlying a launderer’s choice of techniques. This paper endeavors to reduce this gap in the literature and contribute to understanding the motivation of money launderers for the benefit of investigations. The framework offers new insights for the money laundering literature and has implications for neophytes, practitioners, and institutions teaching financial crime.

Objectives: The aims to investigate the mediating effect of intertemporal decision- making on the association between personality traits and self-management among individuals with in Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM). Method: Patients with T2DM in the early stages of hospitalization at two tertiary hospitals in Shenyang and Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, May 2022 to January 2023. Questionnaires, including General Demographic, Self-Management, Big Five Personality, and Intertemporal Decision-Making, were administered. Pearson correlation analysis examined relationships between personality traits, intertemporal decision-making, and self-management. Hierarchical regression analysis identified self-management predictors. Mediation analysis used the PROCESS SPSS Macro version 3.3 model 4 to investigate intertemporal decision- making as mediator between personality traits and self-management. Results: Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant associations between self-management scores, personality traits, and intertemporal decision-making. Hierarchical regression revealed that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness accounted for 20.8% of the variance in self-management, while intertemporal decision-making explained 4.5% of the variance. Finally, using the Bootstrap method, the mediation analysis showed that intertemporal decision-making partially mediated the effect of personality traits on self-management. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the importance of intertemporal decision- making in improving self-management behaviors among patients with T2DM. Interventions targeted at modifying intertemporal decision-making preferences could be effective in enhancing self-management behaviors, leading to better health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2018, the second wave of #Metooindia resumed in India, opening up conversations on sexual assault. Surprisingly, this did not lead to the inclusion of sexual assault as a key campaign issue in the Indian parliamentary elections in early 2019. This study investigates the underlying role of news media and social media in building an anti-sexual assault agenda in the 2019 Indian Lok Sabha election campaign. It builds on past literature on rational choice decision-making theory, social media activism and rape as a political issue in campaigns. This mixed method study includes the analysis of political manifestos and Facebook posts during the campaign, news articles published in the two most circulated English newspapers in India and interviews with political journalists. The restrained mainstream media coverage of sexual assault and pan-Indian social media platforms helped to limit the issue from becoming a part of the campaign during the elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analytic narratives combine rational choice theory—often extensive-form, game-theoretic models—and qualitative evidence to understand historical and institutional questions in political economy. This article begins by characterizing the features of analytic narratives that distinguish this method from others in economics and political science. Analytic narratives gained prominence in the 1990s as the result of several factors, including the development of game theory, a turn away from general equilibrium theorizing, and the increasing interest in institutions and economic history. Based on the initial responses and subsequent methodological debates, four criticisms of analytic narratives are discussed: those based on claims to originality, the value of rational choice theory, case studies and external validity, and the merits of qualitative evidence. As the article argues, differing disciplinary approaches and perspectives generated many of these criticisms. Nevertheless, from a methodological perspective, analytic narratives remain an effective and distinctive method for analyzing the political economy of institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Understanding drivers of individuals' food choices is critical to be able to address the public health epidemic of obesity-related health problems. A robust literature documents relationships between intertemporal preferences and body mass index (BMI). However, work on cognition differentiates resource investment in decision-making, with processes frequently categorized as habitual (low investment) vs. model-based (high investment). Methods: We integrate variables related to cognition with intertemporal preferences to examine how discount rates and active consideration of health impacts of foods faced during choice relate to the nutritional quality of foods selected. Results: Our results showthat participants who actively consider health outcomes choose products with significantly higher nutritional quality compared to those who do not consider the health impacts of choices, even while controlling for discount rates. We also find that participants with lower discount rates selected foods with higher nutritional quality compared to high discount-rate participants, corroborating previous literature. Further, we find that participants who actively considered health during the choice process spent significantlymore timemaking choices, while discount rates did not predict differences in decision times, suggesting a role for habitual vs. model-based decisions. Discussion: These findings suggest that active consideration of the health consequences during food choice is an important predictor of the nutritional quality of choices even while accounting for intertemporal preferences, which may provide new opportunities to intervene in the decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in individuals' psychological and cognitive characteristics have been always found to play a significant role in influencing our behavior and preferences. While a number of studies have identified the impact of these characteristics on individuals' visual design preferences, understanding how emotional intelligence (EI) would influence this process is yet to be explored. This study investigated the link between individuals' EI dimensions (eg, emotionality, self-control, sociability, and well-being) and their eye movement behavior in an attempt to build a prediction model for visual design preferences. A total of 136 participants took part in this study. The feature selection and prediction of EI and eye movement data were performed using the genetic search method in conjunction with the bagging method. The results showed that participants high in self-control and emotionality exhibited different eye movement behaviors when performing five visual selection tasks. The prediction results (93.87% accuracy) revealed that specific eye parameters can predict the link between certain EI dimensions and preferences for visual design. This study adds new insights into human–computer interaction, EI, and rational choice theories. The findings also encourage researchers and designers to consider EI in the development of intelligent and adaptive systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private school leaders consider the potential benefits of private school choice program participation against costs associated with program regulations. Rational Choice Theory suggests leaders in states with conditions related to greater likelihood of program passage may be less willing to accept such regulations. To test this theory, we merge experimental data from a national study of private school choice program regulations with state-level data on political partisanship and union strength. We find limited evidence of heterogeneity by partisanship. We find leaders in states with weaker teachers' unions are more reluctant to accept standardized testing requirements and copay prohibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the prevalence and perception of the use of classic leadership strategy and power struggle in the Nigerian democratic system from 2009 to 2023. It analyzes the application of classic strategies by political leaders during this period. Additionally, the article explores the power struggles and competition for influence that have shaped the political landscape in Nigeria. Drawing on existing literature and relevant studies, the article discusses the complexities and dynamics of political leadership, highlighting the tensions inherent in Nigerian democracy. It also investigates the public perception of the use and potential misuse of classic strategies, and how power struggles have influenced the perceptions of citizens. The investigation was steered by a pair of theoretical frameworks, namely rational choice theory and powerstruggle theory. The research utilised an exploratory framework and employed a quantitative approach to investigate the prevalence and perspectives surrounding the traditional leadership strategy in Nigeria. A semi-structure questionnaire was administered to twenty-five (25) esteemed members of the academic faculty, carefully chosen from three tertiary institutions located within the Ijebu region of Ogun State, Nigeria. The data analysis utilising frequency tabulations, percentage distributions, and average scores. The findings showed that the political actors often employ a myriad of strategic manoeuvres, encompassing the utilisation of emotional appeals and the adoption of populist rhetoric, in order to amass public support and emerge victorious in electoral contests which yields a multitude of adverse outcomes. The article concludes by deepening our understanding of classic strategies and power struggles in Nigerian politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When do governments adopt ambitious climate policy? Charting the theoretical territory between climate change politics and long-term policymaking, this paper highlights the role of electoral competition in shaping how politicians respond to the intertemporal tradeoff of one important climate change mitigation policy: fossil fuel taxation. The more secure the government is in office, the more insulated it is from the vagaries of political competition, and the more likely it is to impose costs on constituents today to generate a future stable climate. By influencing governments' time preferences, competition structures the myopia of elected officials. I test the arguments using an original dataset of gasoline taxation across high-income democracies between 1988 and 2013. I find evidence that higher levels of electoral competition are associated with lower gasoline tax rates, and that the relationship is moderated by the level of costs imposed on voters, but not government partisanship. More generally, the analysis highlights when governments can increase consumer prices to address long-term challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tests the assumption that candidates' attack behavior is a result of their rational consideration of potential benefits and likely risks. Based on candidate surveys from three German state elections, we demonstrate that (i) attacks are an important strategy; (ii) on balance, candidates regard attacking opponents as a costly instead of a beneficial strategy; (iii) the differential between benefits and costs is positively associated with attack behavior; nevertheless, most candidates attack at least sometimes even when costs exceed benefits; (iv) candidate characteristics and the electoral context are rarely reflected in benefit-cost calculations; and (v) the theoretically assumed mediating role of the benefit-cost differential on attack behavior applies only to some explanatory factors. While the findings provide some evidence for rational choice explanations of negative campaigning, they also challenge some central assumptions. As such, they demonstrate the need for more comprehensive theoretical explanations and measurements of negative campaigning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several scholars have different opinions regarding the law of the Rabu Wekasan amulet that lives in the Javanese Muslim community. However, despite these differences, the East Javanese Muslim community still carries out and uses amulets to carry out these rituals. This research aims to determine amulet users' perspectives on life, mindset, and worldviews, especially in the Sempen, Sumbertengah, Mumbulsari, and Jember communities. Using data collection techniques such as interviews, observation, and documentation, researchers use a rational choice theory, where a person's actions are primarily determined by values or choices. The research results reveal three typologies of amulet users' mindsets: 1) Tabarrukan, using the Rabu Wekasan Amulet as a wasilah (intermediary) to ask for protection from Allah; 2) Economic aspect, using Rabu Wekasan amulets to protect their economic level from losses; and 3) Social aspect: using Rabu Wekasan amulets to maintain peace and public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the factors that influence Asian student mobility using a life planning model, which focuses on students' lifelong planning and restricting factors in decision-making. As a result of macro data analysis of student mobility from six Asian source countries to eight major destinations from 1999 to 2017, the income gap between source country and destination country shows a negative correlation with student mobility, which supports the hypothesis that a decrease in budgetary constraints promotes study abroad. This finding is contrary to the assumption of the traditional push-and-pull model. This may be explained by the expansion of a middle-class population who are eager to send their children abroad whenever the budgetary constraint is lifted. Bilateral trade shows a positive correlation, which supports the hypothesis that prospect of employment, associated with economic connectedness, promotes study abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational choice theory, including models of social preferences, is challenged by decades of robust data from public good games. Provision of public goods, funded by lump-sum taxation, does not crowd out private provision on a one-for-one basis. Provision games elicit more of a public good than payoff-equivalent appropriation games. This paper offers a morally monotonic choice theory that incorporates observable moral reference points and is consistent with the two empirical findings. The model has idiosyncratic features that motivate a new experimental design. Data from our new experiment and three previous experiments favor moral monotonicity over alternative models including rational choice theory, prominent belief-based models of kindness, and popular reference-dependent models with loss aversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused institutions of higher education to urgently seek appropriate methods of involving students in matters of learning and teaching. Whether by conscious decision or circumstantial necessity, the imperative to embrace and implement online instruction has proven to be a formidable challenge for some academics, Particularly those who are new to academia and are referred to as New Academics (NAs) or Newly Appointed University Educators (NUTs). Framed within the context of Glasser (1998)’s Choice Theory (CT) and Rational Choice Theory (RCT), and employing a qualitative research methodology, this paper draws upon data obtained from questionnaires focused on needs analysis (NAQs) that were distributed during the induction of new academics from 2020 to 2022. The primary aim was to comprehend the challenges and preferences faced by new academics (NAs) or new university teachers (NUTs) pertaining to student instruction. NAQs were sent to NAs/NUTs prior to the induction to understand the kind of support they need, and the NAQ responses were thematically analysed. The study’s findings reveal that NAs and NUTs faced challenges in online teaching due to inadequate resources and reduced student participation. Despite the pandemic’s push for online teaching, these NUTs still favored in-person interaction. The article’s conclusions suggest that there should be adjustments in how new academics or teachers are introduced to their roles, along with enhanced support to help them develop skills for engaging and instructing students effectively in various online settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the intricate web of South Asia's security dynamics, India and Pakistan's relationship holds the key to equilibrium. Geographical proximity demands swift responses, prompting India's strategic shift towards Counterforce targeting. Official declarations and military posturing attest to India's resolute commitment to recalibrate its deterrence doctrine. This study critically examines the origins of India's Counterforce targeting strategy, drawing from existing literature and employing theoretical frameworks, including posture optimization, escalation ladder, superiority-brinkmanship, mathematical game theory, rational choice theory, and nuclear deterrence. These models collectively contribute to understanding the implications of India's pursuit of nuclear superiority for coercive diplomacy with Pakistan. Beyond enriching the understanding of South Asia's security, this research unravels the interplay between evolving nuclear strategies, the fluid dynamics of deterrence, and nuanced geopolitical ambitions. By deciphering India's counterforce targeting approach, this study fosters a nuanced discourse on South Asian strategic stability, offering insight into the pivotal role of nuclear deterrence in shaping the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Child sexual abuse is typically studied using reports from the offender and in Western countries. The aim of the present study was to investigate pre- and post-abuse strategies of persons convicted of a sexual offense to children in Turkey using the statements made by the child victims and to frame the results using rational choice theory. A qualitative study was made for the themes in the police statements from 46 children who were victims of child sexual abuse. The content analysis revealed that persons convicted of a sexual offense to children differ in terms of their methods to approach children and in their pre- and post-abuse behaviors depending on their relationship with the victim. A total of 85% of the offenses were extra-familial and 15% within the family. Only 21% of the extra-familial offenses were opportunist; most involved bribes and introductions through friends or intermediaries. Two tactics unique to Turkey were promises of marriage and the use of children as intermediaries. The use of force and blackmail was more common in the intra-familial offenses. The results of the qualitative analysis were, on the whole, consistent with results from persons convicted of a sexual offense to children's statements, but some of the tactics used by offenders in Turkey were unique to Turkish culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study sought to integrate aspects of classic strain and institutional anomie theories with concepts from deterrence and rational choice theories for application in a large sample of European respondents. Participants were 52,458 individuals (55% female, average age = 48 years) from the fifth round of the 27-country European Social Survey. Each participant rated their involvement in three relatively minor offenses (false insurance claims, buying stolen property, and traffic offenses) over the past five years along with their perceived certainty of getting caught and punished should they commit one or more of these prohibited acts. Each country's total 2010 Index of Economic Freedom score was also included in the study as a level 2 variable in a two-level multilevel modeling analysis. Consistent with predictions, participants from countries with higher Index of Economic Freedom scores displayed a significantly stronger connection between certainty of punishment and involvement in minor offending than participants from lower Index of Economic Freedom countries. An additional individual-level variable, the marketized mentality, was also included in the analysis and while it correlated with minor offending, it failed to interact with the Index of Economic Freedom or alter free market cultural ethos moderation of the certainty-offending relationship. These findings suggest that individuals living in a country with a strong free market cultural ethos are more apt to incorporate rational choice principles like certainty into their crime-related decisions than individuals residing in a country with a weaker free market cultural ethos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To make good decisions, employees must manage their own intuitions and be able to anticipate decision-making in their work environment. How well this is accomplished has significant consequences for the workplace. A closer examination indicates that individuals utilize various types of intuition. People’s work context is frequently omitted from studies on the use of intuition, resulting in a literature that omits vital aspects of decision-making. To assist applicable research in the workplace, our contribution to the management literature is a comprehensive overview of intuitive decision-making types. Current psychological assessment scales constitute a mature discipline, but they frequently lack the professional applications needed in business administration and economics. Considering this, the primary objective of this article is to assemble and assess many types of intuition and combine them into a new lens for research in the theory and practice of business using a multidimensional approach. It is comprised of rational choice theory, classical intuitive decision making, emotional decisions (gut feelings), fast heuristic decisions, unconscious thought, and anticipation. The overview of several scientifically proven measuring scales produces a theoretical foundation for future empirical study in business administration and economics based on these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that Nash equilibrium can be interpreted as a conceptual tool for addressing comparative-statics issues on an aggregate level. Together with additional assumptions, Nash equilibrium helps generate testable predictions about changes or differences of behavior induced by changes or differences of exogenous variables. However, Nash-equilibrium behavior, as such, is not subject to empirical testing. Instead, widespread and persistent behavior is modeled as a Nash equilibrium by assumption. The paper argues that this interpretation is in line with the traditional use of an equilibrium concept in price theory. The suggested interpretation is illustrated with the model of public-goods provision. The paper compares this interpretation of Nash equilibrium with other interpretations and discusses its limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The participation of the European Union in the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict created favorable conditions for the implementation of the concept of "involvement without recognition" of the Transnistrian region in the legal field of the Republic of Moldova. The effectiveness of this approach largely depended on the effective functioning of the EU as an intermediary and the tools used to solve this problem. The purpose of the work is to consider the influence of the "post-military" stage on the effectiveness of the implementation of the mediation activities of the European Union, as well as to analyze the strategy of "Europeanization" from the point of view of rational choice theory, which affects the change in the behavior of the conflicting parties in the context of the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to frame and examine the structuring of labour struggles from the precarious subject position of theatre workers, without isolating these struggles into the occupational sector of the creative industries in the Zimbabwean context between 1980 and 1999. In this article, I frame theatre practitioners as 'art – workers' and collectives such as the NTO and ZACT as mobilising and organising agencies operating within the postcolonial Zimbabwean theatre industry. On the one hand, the NTO controlled and administered purpose-built theatres, provided funding as well as organised affiliates into a unity. On the other hand, ZACT organised multi-racial Zimbabwean theatre groups into a collective, providing and mobilising financial and organisational support towards the creation of a 'national theatre' narrative. Deploying resource mobilisation and rational choice theories, this paper submits that NTO and ZACT mobilized and coordinated their stakeholders towards addressing the precarious work conditions in the sector. This paper argues while attempts, through theatre associations, have been undertaken to organise the creative sector, this paper submits that the precarious nature of the work, employer-employee non-distinction, lack of legal rights knowledge and fierce inter-and intra-organisational competition complicates the process of re-mobilising and organising creatives in Zimbabwe [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using illustrations from research on inequality, this essay makes a case for 'behavioural synthesis', that is the reconciliation between neo‐classical and behavioural economics. Focusing on selected theories of absolute and relative inequality, we first give a brief critique of utilitarian models that emphasize self‐interested income maximization. Their assumptions are then compared to status‐seeking models of competition where income differences are maximized. These are then contrasted to altruism models that consider other‐regarding preferences that encourage less inequality. We emphasize the value of behavioural economic experiments in testing the competing predictions of these models. We conclude that consolidation among assumptions from neo‐classical and behavioural economics is necessary when it comes to understanding inequality and propose strategies on how it can be done. We specifically identify some empirical shortcomings of these key economic theories of inequality: context‐dependency in the Global South, specificity of reference groups and consistency of measurement. We propose several ways forward, including the relaxation of assumptions of rationality in theoretical models and further fieldwork in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of an increasingly political nature of the rationales behind the memberships of the UK and Germany in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This analysis is guided by rational-choice neo-institutionalism and is based on expert interviews with key stakeholders in both countries as well as their relevant official communications. This article serves as an important stepping-stone to the investigation of the link between EHEA memberships and its signatories' external politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A given spatial distance can be measured using either a length or a time unit. A spatial-choice problem with given distances represented in a space frame and in a time frame is logically equivalent. Different representations of the same choice problem should yield the same preferences according to the invariance principle. To test invariance in the context of spatial choice, we used a constant velocity to construct six spatial (intertemporal) choice problems with single-placed (single-dated) outcomes in a space (time) frame and investigated whether invariance-violating behaviour could be detected under the two frames (Studies 1–3). If such behaviour existed, we then aimed to determine whether two models—the attribute-comparison model, which predicts a framing effect occurs if framing shifts people's judgement of the inequality relationship between the differences of two options in time/space dimension and that in outcome dimension, and the utility comparison model, which predicts that a framing effect occurs if framing shifts people's judgement of the inequality relationship between two options' overall utility—could account for it, and which of these two models is better supported by the data (Studies 2–3). The results indicate that a time–space framing effect existed, as people's preference orders were significantly changed by the different descriptions of spatial-choice problems, and this new time–space framing effect could be satisfactorily explained by the attribute-comparison rather than the utility comparison model. Our findings could support the creation of new forms of choice architecture that improve decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One striking observation in the history of rational choice models is that those models have not only been used in economics but been spread widely across the social and behavioral sciences. How do such model transfers proceed? By closely studying the early efforts to transfer such models by William Riker—a major protagonist in pushing the adoption of game-theoretic models in political science—this article examines the transfer process as one of "translation" by which abstract and mathematical rational choice models were constructed and modified such that they applied to a specific target system in a new domain. In this article, the argument is that to overcome a set of challenges that hampered the straightforward transfer of game-theoretic models into political science, Riker complemented theoretical and conceptual modifications of von Neumann and Morgenstern's game schemes with the use of narratives to turn them into applicable and testable models. As such, those narratives played a crucial role in enabling their transfer and ultimately facilitated the applicability of game-theoretic models in political science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the literature on democratic transitions has focused on the transition from authoritarianism to democracy, but few studies have examined how democracies that re-emerged compare to those that existed in the past. Examining the Chilean case, this study explores the degree to which the "new" democracy has recovered its former strength, posing a similar question for other Latin American countries. It considers the conceptualization of quality of democracy that underpins this controversy and explores the methodological challenges of intertemporal comparison, which may be relevant for other cases that have experienced periods of authoritarian rule and process of re-democratization. We find that, overall, democracy in the contemporary period is more robust. Yet, to an important extent, indices' different understandings of the concept of the quality of democracy are relevant in terms of the degree to which they emphasize procedural aspects versus democratic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cheating in examinations across the globe is an issue of growing concern. This study argues that the culture of cheating in exams in Balochistan has reduced the efficiency of human resource and has resulted in producing students with high qualifications but less potential in the province. Therefore, it is very important to explore the factors contributing to cheating in exams and to suggest a course of action to mitigate the menace it poses. A quantitative research method was employed for this study. Similarly, statistical techniques such as correlation and logistic regression were conducted for statistical analysis and explanation of the study using SPSS. Theoretically, the study is inspired by rational choice theory. The findings of the study show a significant relationship between personal, institutional, and situational factors. Personal factors that contribute to cheating were found to be students’ desire to excel, low GPA, and slow learning. Institutional factors include the weak administrative role of institutions, poor academic policies, overload on students, and weak performance of the teachers. Situational factors such as the poor management strategy of the examiner, time pressure, and technological tools were found to be instigating students towards cheating. The study suggests that an appropriate exam hall setting, effective monitoring, concept-oriented exams, and a strong honor code can decrease cheating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the construction and transmission of memory in the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp, Belgium. The museum, which opened in 2013 in the historic buildings of the shipping company, presents itself as a unique lieu de mémoire, harbouring the stories of the many Europeans who migrated across the Atlantic in the early 20th century. We concentrate on a Translation Studies perspective to chart and interconnect the various levels of memory-work in this museum. Drawing on broader definitions of translation as cultural transfer and mnemonic mediation, and linking these to the narrow concept of translation 'proper', our analysis demonstrates how the museum functions as a local repository for transnational memories. Moreover, it shows how the museum becomes a catalyst for the further travelling of these memories. The focus lies on the museum's use of spatiality to translate personal memories of migration for a contemporary audience. It is the physical sensation of shared spaces - authentic or reconstructed - and the palimpsestic movement through those spaces that help visitors gain a tangible sense of what happened there. Interlingual translations of gallery texts are vital for the worldwide circulation of the stories, but occasionally cause shifts in the spatial-temporal framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]