The life cycle distributional consequence of pay-as-you-go and funded pension systems

Using a dynamic cohort microsimulation model (LIFEMOD), the authors examine the life-cycle distributional consequences of a variety of pay-as-you-go (PAYG) and funded pension systems. This technique allows them to investigate both the socioeconomic characteristics and the number of people affected by a change in contribution or eligibility rules in any pension system. LIFEMOD uses 1985 parameters for the United Kingdom so specific results are not valid for other countries. But winners and losers are likely to be similar across countries. They find the following: Women benefit much more than men in a flat-rate PAYG system. In simulations, 84 percent of surviving women but only 33 percent of surviving men are net beneficiaries, because women have higher life expectancy and lower lifetime earnings. Imposing minimum contributions substantially reduces the number of women who qualify for a pension. Imposing a joint contribution rule on the earnings of married couples significantly increases the number of women qualifying without significantly reducing the proportion of qualifying men. In funded pension systems, on average men accumulate much more pension capital than women do because of men's higher earnings and more continuous paid work. Different rates of real interest and earnings growth affect individuals'fund accumulation differently. Women benefit more from high rates of return and low earnings growth because they tend to receive a higher proportion of their lifetime earnings when young. But some men and many women fail to achieve minimum pension levels. If the pension shortfall is compensated for by lump-sum capital top-ups, women receive 93 percent of top-ups (70 percent if joint contributions are used). In hybrid pension systems that combine both PAYG and funded elements, the higher the proportion of PAYG payments, the greater the replacement rate for people in the bottom 40 percent of the lifetime earnings distribution (the majority of whom are women). But replacement rates for people in the middle of income distribution are insensitive to any variant of the PAYG-funded combination. In short, flat-rate pay-as-you-go pension plans and funded pensions produce very different distributional outcomes, the single most important determinant of which is the different lifetime employment and earnings records of men and women.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Population&Development,Information Technology,Demographics

Understanding consumer responses to special event entertainment (SEE) in shopping centres

This paper reviews the literature on the use of entertainment in shopping centres and outlines the constructs believed to impact upon consumer’s responses to special event entertainment. Special event entertainment (SEE) refers to entertainment events or activities that are offered on an occasional, temporary or discontinued basis in shopping centres. Examples of SEE include school holiday entertainment and fashion shows (Parsons, 2003; Sit, Merrilees, & Birch, 2003). Using SEE, shopping centre management seeks to entice consumer patronage, increase patron traffic or promote the shopping centre brand. Despite the popularity of SEE in shopping centres, very little academic research (e.g. Parsons, 2003; Sit, Merrilees, & Birch, 2003) has either conceptually or empirically examined how consumers perceive or respond to SEE. This research presents a conceptual model that examines the determinants and outcomes of consumer responses to SEE, In particular, consumer responses to SEE are represented by SEE proneness and overall appreciation of SEE. These SEE responses are proposed to be determined by sensation-seeking tendencies and perceived value of SEE. Eight propositions are presented to explain the relationships of SEE responses with their determinants and outcomes. These relationships will be empirically tested in future research. Research implications of the conceptual model are also presented

Sports consumption behaviour among generation Y in mainland China

The Chinese Government has relaxed its tight control over sport (Stensholt 2004), the country is set to host the 2008 Olympic Games and every major sport franchise in the world is making plans for a full assault on the Chinese market. The game is on in mainland China, however despite the excitement about the market there is little understanding of sport consumption in China or the attitudes and behaviours of potential sport consumers. The bulk of the literature in consumer behaviour within sports relates specifically to developed industrialised nations, specifically USA, Canada, Europe and Australia. Of particular interest to academics and practitioners alike should be the potential of the huge generation Y market in China. Generation Y (those born after 1978) represent not only a current lucrative market but also represent the future development of sport and sport consumption in China. This exploratory study has revealed that generation Y consumers in China exhibit sports consumption behaviours which differ in numerous respects from their counterparts in the USA and deserve deeper study

Your Hidden Face

I stand and watch you fade behind the robe of white sheets. In your limp declining form I see fond memories of how we spend the days, just filling them with thoughts of you and me..

Father

Sunday: I sit and watch him go to praise the Lord in truth. His simple clothes are torn from toil; the brimmed old hat has yearly borne the sweat of summer planting and harvest days..

Induction and repression of mammalian achaete-scute homologue (MASH) gene expression during neuronal differentiation of P19 embryonal carcinoma cells

MASH1 and MASH2, mammalian homologues of the Drosophila neural determination genes achaete-scute, are members of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family of transcription factors. We show here that murine P19 embryonal carcinoma cells can be used as a model system to study the regulation and function of these genes. MASH1 and MASH2 display complementary patterns of expression during the retinoic-acid-induced neuronal differentiation of P19 cells. MASH1 mRNA is undetectable in undifferentiated P19 cells but is induced to high levels by retinoic acid coincident with neuronal differentiation. In contrast, MASH2 mRNA is expressed in undifferentiated P19 cells and is repressed by retinoic acid treatment. These complementary expression patterns suggest distinct functions for MASH1 and MASH2 in development, despite their sequence homology. In retinoic-acid-treated P19 cells, MASH1 protein expression precedes and then overlaps expression of neuronal markers. However, MASH1 is expressed by a smaller proportion of cells than expresses such markers. MASH1 immunoreactivity is not detected in differentiated cells displaying a neuronal morphology, suggesting that its expression is transient. These features of MASH1 expression are similar to those observed in vivo, and suggest that P19 cells represent a good model system in which to study the regulation of this gene. Forced expression of MASH1 was achieved in undifferentiated P19 cells by transfection of a cDNA expression construct. The transfected cells expressing exogenous MASH1 protein contained E-box-binding activity that could be super-shifted by an anti-MASH1 antibody, but exhibited no detectable phenotypic changes. Thus, unlike myogenic bHLH genes, such as MyoD, which are sufficient to induce muscle differentiation, expression of MASH1 appears insufficient to promote neurogenesis

Towards an identification of the authorial style of Grazia Deledda. A corpus-assisted study

Nell’ambito della linguistica dei corpora, diversi studiosi si sono concentrati sull’importanza di sequenze di parole piuttosto che sull’osservazione di parole singole nell’analisi di elementi stilistici di opere letterarie (Starcke, 2007; Stubbs, 2005; Mahlberg, 2007°, ecc.), in seguito alla ricerca di Hoover (2002). Secondo il linguista, infatti, “[…] le analisi delle frequenze di sequenze di parole frequenti hanno maggior successo rispetto alle analisi delle frequenze di parole frequenti nella corretta attribuzione di testi ai loro autori” (2002: 158). Criteri simili sono stati applicati anche alle traduzioni di opere letterarie (Mahlberg, 2007b). Facendo riferimento ad un corpus appositamente creato e composto di 16 romanzi di Grazia Deledda, questo articolo presenta i risultati di un’analisi stilistica dell’autrice sarda. Con lo scopo di evidenziare elementi di stile autoriale, le sequenze di parole più frequenti sono state estratte tramite il confronto del corpus Deledda con un corpus di riferimento. Con riferimento costante alle concordances nel co-testo, le varie sequenze sono state raggruppate secondo il campo semantico. Una prima analisi quantitativa ha dimostrato una particolare frequenza di frasi contenenti Processi mentali (Halliday 1984, 1995), congiuntivi, riferimenti a parti del corpo e al paesaggio. L’autrice poi sottopone ad un’analisi qualitativa diverse frasi chiave che si sono rivelate particolarmente frequenti (Leech e Short 1981), passando così dal testo e dalla stilistica dei corpora al romanzo ed al significato letterario. Data la scarsità di linee guida pratiche per traduttori letterari, la metodologia applicata in questo articolo potrebbe rivelarsi utile anche in un’ottica di preparazione alla traduzione di un testo letterario

Corpus stylistics and translation

In questo articolo, Jane Helen Johnson fornisce un panorama generale sui metodi della Linguistica dei Corpora applicati anche allo studio della stilistica letteraria, con l'obiettivo di verificare la loro utilità anche nella traduzione letteraria. A questo scopo fa riferimento a numerose ricerche già svolte nell'ambito di stilometria e stilistica dei corpora, dagli studi di Stubbs (2005) sul lessico 'vago' di Heart of Darkness di Conrad a quello di Semino e Short (2004), che utilizzano un approccio 'corpus-based' per valutare l'applicabilità del modello di rappresentazione del discorso parlato e del pensiero (Leech e Short, 1981), concepito con riferimento al genere 'narrativa', ad altri generi di discorso scritto. In particolare, descrive lo studio di Mahlberg (2007), che utilizza un approccio di stilistica dei corpora per esaminare le funzioni testuali locali come elementi stilistici nella narrativa di Charles Dickens ed in Bleak House in particolare, partendo dall'alta frequenza di certi 'clusters' di parole. Anche a questo studio si è ispirata l'autrice per la sua ricerca sulla narrativa di Grazia Deledda, dove l'importanza di figure retoriche come la similitudine viene evidenziata tramite un approccio 'corpus-based', come documentato dalle 'concordances' qui presentate. Riprendendo un altro studio di Mahlberg e facendo riferimento al lavoro dell'autrice su Deledda e le traduzioni delle sue opere, Johnson accenna ai possibili risvolti pratici della stilistica dei corpora come metodo per cimentarsi con la traduzione letteraria, utile soprattutto per gli studenti di traduzione ma anche per traduttori affermati e non, che cercano uno strumento concreto per prepararsi ad affrontare un testo letterario