A Graph-Based Semi-Supervised k Nearest-Neighbor Method for Nonlinear Manifold Distributed Data Classification

$k$ Nearest Neighbors ($k$NN) is one of the most widely used supervised learning algorithms to classify Gaussian distributed data, but it does not achieve good results when it is applied to nonlinear manifold distributed data, especially when a very limited amount of labeled samples are available. In this paper, we propose a new graph-based $k$NN algorithm which can effectively handle both Gaussian distributed data and nonlinear manifold distributed data. To achieve this goal, we first propose a constrained Tired Random Walk (TRW) by constructing an $R$-level nearest-neighbor strengthened tree over the graph, and then compute a TRW matrix for similarity measurement purposes. After this, the nearest neighbors are identified according to the TRW matrix and the class label of a query point is determined by the sum of all the TRW weights of its nearest neighbors. To deal with online situations, we also propose a new algorithm to handle sequential samples based a local neighborhood reconstruction. Comparison experiments are conducted on both synthetic data sets and real-world data sets to demonstrate the validity of the proposed new $k$NN algorithm and its improvements to other version of $k$NN algorithms. Given the widespread appearance of manifold structures in real-world problems and the popularity of the traditional $k$NN algorithm, the proposed manifold version $k$NN shows promising potential for classifying manifold-distributed data.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures, 7 table

Oceanus.

v. 26, no. 4 (1983

The BRICS and the Global Human Rights Regime: Is An Alternative Norms Regime in Our Future?

Since the end of World War II, the ‘West’ has enjoyed economic and ideological dominance in the international arena due to institutions built around favorable multilateral agreements. This position has allowed the ‘West’ to craft an international system rooted within the individualistic norms of democracy and capitalism. However, the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] – a global unit of states with increasing economic power – views this international system as unfair. Accordingly, these states have increased their cooperation to advocate for a developmental-multipolar world order. But what implications does this shared interest by the BRICS have on the existing global human rights regime? Will these countries’ strong emphasis on the “right to development” undermine prevailing human rights norms? Could the BRICS challenge the current norms regime with an alternative one focused on development? Concentrating on the existing labor regime, I will examine how China, the self-proclaimed leader of the developing states, employs the “right to development” as a means of circumventing fundamental labor rights in Chinese-owned companies in Africa. In the end, I seek to determine whether the BRICS’ newfound economic power and cooperation will allow these states to promote an alternative norms regime that exists concurrently with the prevailing one

Escape FDI and the dynamics of a cumulative process of institutional misalignment and contestation: stress, strain and failure

We argue that escape foreign direct investment (FDI) happens when unknown future “rules of the game” cause concern about the continued productive capacity of the economy. Adapting the stress-strain-fail model of materials failure, we argue that escape FDI is a process with three cumulative phases. Conditions for escape FDI (stress) are created by institutional deterioration and contained contestation. Limited escape FDI (strain) results from periods of societal instability and/or inadequate institutional reforms. Extensive escape FDI (failure) results from pervasive societal instability and/or fundamental changes in institutions. Using a historical approach, we develop these propositions for South Africa, 1956 to 2012

To what extent do financing constraints, herding behavior and ownership affect firms’ innovation activities? Evidence from China

Maintaining high economic growth rate is arguable the central challenge for China’s macroeconomic policy in the coming decade. The development of innovation, especially in business sectors, is critical for China to meet that challenge. Therefore, it is important to understand the innovation activities in Chinese enterprises. However, due to high adjustment costs and the high uncertainty of innovation activities, innovative firms generally suffer more from asymmetric information than their counterparts who do not engage in innovation activities, which cause lending bias and herding behavior in the market. In addition, because of “political pecking order” in China, firm with different ownership (state-owned, foreign-owned, private-owned, and collective-owned) will behave differently and their ownership level will also directly and indirectly affect firms’ innovation activities. This thesis, using the firm-level data from the NBS (National Bureau of Statistics of China) over the period 2000−2007, investigates the effects of financial constraints, herding behavior, and various ownerships on firms’ innovation activities form both macroeconomics and microeconomics perspectives. Specifically, the first empirical chapter of this thesis investigates the extent to which financing constraints affect the innovation activities. Based on a variety of specifications and estimation methods, we document that Chinese firms’ innovation activities are constrained by the availability of internal finance. Specifically, private firms suffer the most, followed by foreign firms, while state-owned and collective enterprises are the least constrained. Moreover, the availability of internal finance represents a particularly binding constraint on the innovation activities of small firms, located in the coastal provinces, with low political affiliation, and fewer state shares, as well as for sole proprietorship firms. Next, Chapter Four investigates the extent to which Chinese firms display herding behavior in their innovation activities, and then assess the impact of this behavior on corporate productivity. Based on a variety of different specifications, we find strong evidence in favor of herding in Chinese firms’ innovation activities. In particular, private, small firms, with no political affiliation are more likely to herd. We also find that innovation herding has a negative effect on productivity. The final empirical chapter of this thesis investigates the extent to which state and foreign ownership affect firms’ innovation activities. We firstly find a significant positive effect of joint ventures on innovation activity. Moreover, our results display an inverse U-shaped relationship between state ownership and product innovation. Foreign-affiliated firms, especially foreign-affiliated joint-venture firms, are more likely to innovate than domestic firms, but their innovation propensity and intensity both diminish as foreign ownership increases. We also report strong evidence that, conditional on absorptive capacity, the relationship between foreign ownership and product innovation becomes positive for foreign-affiliated joint-venture firms

Recommender Systems

The ongoing rapid expansion of the Internet greatly increases the necessity of effective recommender systems for filtering the abundant information. Extensive research for recommender systems is conducted by a broad range of communities including social and computer scientists, physicists, and interdisciplinary researchers. Despite substantial theoretical and practical achievements, unification and comparison of different approaches are lacking, which impedes further advances. In this article, we review recent developments in recommender systems and discuss the major challenges. We compare and evaluate available algorithms and examine their roles in the future developments. In addition to algorithms, physical aspects are described to illustrate macroscopic behavior of recommender systems. Potential impacts and future directions are discussed. We emphasize that recommendation has a great scientific depth and combines diverse research fields which makes it of interests for physicists as well as interdisciplinary researchers.Comment: 97 pages, 20 figures (To appear in Physics Reports

The Development of Environmental Governance Regimes: a Chinese-inspired Reconstruction

The challenge of protecting the biosphere has both salient academic and policy dimensions. On the academic side, persistent efforts have been made in the field of socio-legal studies to enhance the understanding of the complex processes involved, in the domestic arena and on the international front, in the formation and transformation of the elaborate institutional arrangements designed to contribute to this goal. The scholars engaged in those efforts have pursued divergent paths, but one school of thought has moved decisively to the forefront. China’s experience does not cast doubt on its relevance, or even prominence, yet it suggests that multi-pronged research strategies may prove more effective