The Insurance Industry in the ASEAN5 Economies: Tapping Its Potential

Has the insurance industry in the five ASEAN economies been fully tapped to help in fostering the development of capital markets in the region? This Policy Notes concludes that the industry is still relatively underdeveloped and untapped, and argues that the government regulatory framework plays a big role in engendering its growth and development. Read more.insurance industry, insurance regulation, ASEAN-5

Deregulation of Bank Entry and Branching: Impact on Competition

Does deregulation of entry and branching restrictions in the country's commercial banking sector foster a more competitive atmosphere? What are the effects of the regulatory restrictions on bank entry and branching on the structure, conduct and performance of the Philippines' commercial banking sector? This Notes reviews the impact of such restrictions and argues for a continuing easing of the rules on entry and branching.competition, deregulation, entry barriers, bank entry and branching, commercial banking sector

The effects of team-skills training on transactive memory and performance

The existence of effective Transactive Memory Systems (TMS) in teams has been found to enhance task performance. Methods of developing Transactive Memory (TM) are therefore an important focus of research. This study aimed to explore one such method, the use of a generic team-skills training programme to develop TM and subsequent task performance. Sixteen three-member teams were all trained to complete a complex collaborative task, prior to which half the teams (n=8), completed a team-skills training programme. Results confirmed that those teams who had been trained to develop a range of team skills such as problem-solving, interpersonal relationships, goal setting and role allocation, evidenced significantly higher team skill, TM and performance than those who were not trained in such skills. Results are discussed with reference to the wider TM literature and the mechanisms through which team-skills training could facilitate the more rapid development of TM

Architectural Urbanism: Melbourne/Seoul

Architectural Urbanism is an ambition and sensibility for propositions that address the context of the city within the operative scale of the small architectural project. Architectural urbanism represents a tailoring of projects to the local; to the materiality and specificity of the everyday; and to the grain and substance of the location above all else. Architectural urbanism is less about erasure and more about insertion; infill; the weaving of old and new and the dynamics that evolve from subtle and careful manipulation of the city in detail. The exhibition explores commonality in the apparently different contexts of both cities – speculating on these as forms of ‘architectural urbanism' in the contemporary city of the Asia-Pacific at its northern and southern extremes. Architectural projects from five Melbourne architectural practitioners have been selected to exhibit in Seoul. The practices are: Muir Mendes, Baracco + Wright, Iredale Pederson Hook, NMBW Architecture Studio and Kerstin Thompson Architects - all of whom have strong links to the RMIT Architecture design research and teaching community. Melanie Dodd co-curated the exhibition

Measuring Bank Competitiveness: Has Financial Liberalization Increased Competition?

The financial liberalization in the 1990s appears to have aided the increase in competition among Philippine banks despite the increasing trend in concentration from bank mergers. The finding that Philippine banking industry is close to being perfectly competitive means that further consolidation in the banking sector would not severely undermine market competition.competition, banking sector, bank liberalization

Letter from the Editors

The Gettysburg Historical Journal embodies the History Department’s dedication to diverse learning and excellence in academics. Each year, the Journal publishes the top student work in a range of topics across the spectrum of academic disciplines with different methodological approaches to the study of history. In the words of Marc Bloch, author of The Historian’s Craft, “history is neither watchmaking nor cabinet construction. It is an endeavor toward better understanding.” In the spirit of this maxim, our authors strive to elucidate the many facets of human societies and cultures. Whether these young scholars’ research is focused on politics, religion, economics, environmental history, or women gender and sexuality studies, the editorial staff is consistently proud of the diverse subject matter we select for publication. [excerpt

Is Less Better? Greater Efficiency With Fewer Resources Expended

Summarizes an analysis of Medicare spending to assess the relative efficiency of healthcare providers in managing patients with severe chronic illnesses in California. Highlights the need to redesign the payment system to improve healthcare efficiency

Bounds analysis of competing risks : a nonparametric evaluation of the effect of unemployment benefits on migration in Germany

"In this paper we derive nonparametric bounds for the cumulative incidence curve within a competing risks model with partly identified interval data. As an advantage over earlier attempts our approach also gives valid results in case of dependent competing risks. We apply our framework to empirically evaluate the effect of unemployment benefits on observed migration of unemployed workers in Germany. Our findings weakly indicate that reducing the entitlement length for unemployment benefits increases migration among high-skilled individuals." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Arbeitslosenunterstützung, Leistungsanspruch - Dauer, Binnenwanderung, regionale Mobilität, Wanderungsmotivation, Mobilitätsbereitschaft, Arbeitslose, Hochqualifizierte, IAB-Beschäftigtenstichprobe

Bounds Analysis of Competing Risks: A Nonparametric Evaluation of the Effect of Unemployment Benefits on Imigration in Germany

In this paper we derive nonparametric bounds for the cumulative incidence curve within a competing risks model with partly identified interval data. As an advantage over earlier attempts our approach also gives valid results in case of dependent competing risks. We apply our framework to empirically evaluate the effect of unemployment benefits on observed migration of unemployed workers in Germany. Our findings weakly indicate that reducing the entitlement length for unemployment benefits increases migration among high-skilled individuals. --cumulative incidence curve,partially missing data,bounds analysis,difference-in-differences