Business Startups: Cultural-Economic Controversy

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether national cultural differences and/or economic, macroeconomic indicators are dominant in explaining business startups in selected EU countries. Among Hofstede’s national cultural differences, we have used the individualismcollectiveness indexmeasuring preference behavior that promotes one’s self interest, while the power distance index measures tolerance of citizens in terms of social inequality in terms of superiors or subordinates; the uncertainty avoidance index reflects tolerance towards uncertainty and ambiguity among citizens, while the masculinity index measures whether the society is male centered (Hofstede 2003). The last variable in the model related to culture is the corruption index (Transparency International 2008), which reflects how sensitive the nation is towards corruption. Among the macroeconomic indicators we have looked at whether the firm birth rate in an economy is strongly influenced by the given average wage rate, overall productivity level among nations, index for profitability and real per capita GDP growth. Findings show that with some exclusion, cultural factors are as important as economic indicators in explaining national business startups. Towards this end we have used factor and principle component analysis towards explaining the strength of the relationship among the variables.business startups, Hoftstede’s model

Oil prices and emerging market exchange rates

This paper investigates the role of oil prices in explaining the dynamics of selected emerging countries exchange rates. Using daily data series, the study concludes that a rise in oil price is leading to a significant appreciation in emerging economies currencies against the US dollar. In our study, we divide daily returns from 03/01/2003 to 02/06/2010 into 3 subsamples and test the role of oil price changes on exchange rate movements. We employ generalized impulse response functions to trace out the dynamic response of each exchange rate in three different time periods. Our findings suggest that oil price dynamics are changing significantly in the sample period and the relation between oil prices and exchange rates becomes more relevant after the 2008 financial crisis.oil prices; emerging market exchange rates; international financial markets; financial crisis

Mediamania? Contemporary German Poetry in the Age of New Information Technologies: Thomas Kling and Durs Grünbein

The essay examines the preoccupation with information technologies as a dominant theme of German poetry in the 1980s and 1990s. Outlining the historical shift from a critique of mass media to the ironic affirmation of hi-tech media, the investigation seeks an understanding of its driving forces. The analysis of Enzensberger\u27s polemical essays on the culture industry shows the parallels and the difference in attitude between him and younger poets of the 1980s. A concise account of their publications illuminates the development of an aesthetically demanding poetry that kept aloof from the mass media. In their rejection of a common quotidian or sentimental tone, poets such as Thomas Kling and Durs Grunbein created new idioms and challenging forms while concentrating on hi-tech media as an epochal phenomenon. The sober reflection and technical terminology originate in a materialistic attitude, driven by the desire to regain the power of sophisticated aesthetic expression and to compensate for the loss of experience caused by the simulation of the past.The essay closes with a critical interpretation of the mediamania of the 1990s by giving heed to the fashionable remixing of poetic idioms that leaves the false impression of a new school of media poets

Just health (care): social justice, health and the common good

"Unsere Gesundheitswesen stehen vor großen Herausforderungen, die sich nicht zuletzt aus der wachsenden Lücke zwischen den Kosten und den zur Deckung dieser zur Verfügung stehenden Ressourcen ergeben. In der resultierenden Debatte über Priorisierung und/ oder Rationierung nimmt der Begriff der (sozialen) Gerechtigkeit eine Schlüsselrolle ein. Nicht zuletzt aus diesem Grunde lohnt sich eine vertiefte Auseinandersetzung mit der Frage, was unter (sozialer) Gerechtigkeit zu verstehen ist. Der vorliegende Artikel möchte einen Beitrag zu dieser Debatte leisten, indem er sich auf Basis der (im onto-teleologischen Sinne verstandenen) Tugendethik mit der Bedeutung und Rolle der (sozialen) Gerechtigkeit im Kontext von Gesundheit und dessen Implikationen auf das Gesundheitswesen auseinandersetzt. Wie argumentiert werden wird, hat (soziale) Gerechtigkeit aus einer solch onto-teleologischen Perspektive nicht primär mit Gleichheit, sondern vor allem mit Rechten und Pflichten sowie dem Gemeinwohl zu tun." (Autorenreferat)"The answer to the question of how to deal with the widening gap between the growing costs of health (care) and necessarily limited health (care) resources in a just fashion, heavily depends on what we take the term 'just', to signify. This article is meant to offer a perspective on the topic of just health (care) which takes the idea of justice as virtue seriously by embedding it in the context of its original explication, namely an onto-teleological philosophy which takes (social) justice to be about claim-rights (as well as their corresponding duties) and the common good. This article is, however, not meant to provide ready-made answers or a discussion of the arguments featuring in the contemporary debate about health (care) prioritisation and/ or rationing. It rather takes up the cudgels on behalf of the concept of the common good and reminds us of the fast that if we want to talk about (social) justice and just health (care) we cannot do so without also talking about the common good." (author's abstract

English language instructors’ beliefs about the role of L1 in English language development and formal instruction in Croatia: A survey

Current understanding of second language acquisition processes is based on the position that second language learners rely and depend on their L1 as well as on all of their language-related experience. This paper presents results of a questionnaire study aimed to explore Croatian EFL instructors’ beliefs about the role of L1 in English language development and formal instruction. Data was further analysed in order to explore variables most likely to impact instructors’ belief systems (participants’ age and academic degree, students’ language level, learning setting). The findings point to a lack of professional consensus with regard to L1 use which is discussed and followed by practical implications