Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka personlighet och dess eventuella kausala samband med konstnärlig kreativitet. Femfaktormodellen användes för att undersöka personlighetsdragen öppenhet, extroversion och neuroticism. Begreppet kreativitet beskrivs genom tidigare forskning och konstnärlig kreativitet utgör grunden för studien. En kortare pilotstudie genomfördes för att testa förståelsen av mätinstrumentet för kreativitet, som tidigare översatts från engelska till svenska. I undersökningen ingick 89 respondenter som besvarade en online-enkät utlagd i facebookgruppen “studenter vid högskolan i Skövde”. Resultatet visade att personlighetsdraget öppenhet predicerar konstnärlig kreativitet. Resultaten för personlighetsdragen extroversion och neuroticism visade inte på någon predicering av konstnärlig kreativitet. Dock visade resultatet att facetten sällskaplighet för personlighetsdraget extroversion predicerar den konstnärligt kreativa domänen dans, medan personlighetsdraget neuroticism och facetten depression predicerar den konstnärligt kreativa domänen kreativt skrivande. Därigenom kunde följande slutsats dras: ett flertal av studiens respondenter uttrycker sig på ett konstnärligt kreativt sätt och vilken typ av konstnärligt kreativt uttryckssätt som individen föredrar beror på individens personlighet. / The purpose of this study was to investigate personality and it’s potential causality with artistic creativity. The five-factor model was used to investigate the personality traits openness, extraversion and neuroticism. Creativity is described by earlier research and artistic creativity creates the basic of this study. A short pilot-study was performed to evaluate the understanding of the instrument for creativity, that had been translated earlier from english to swedish. The sample used consisted of 89 respondents, who participated in an online-survey posted at a facebook-group named “studenter vid högskolan i Skövde”. The results showed that the personality trait openness predicts artistic creativity. The results of the personality traits extraversion and neuroticism did not show any predictability of artistic creativity. However, the results showed that the facet gregariousness from the personality trait extraversion predicts the artistic creative domain of dance, while the personality trait neuroticism and the facet depression predicts the artistic creative domain creative writing. Thereby the following conclusion could be made: several respondents of this study are expressing themselves in an artistic creative way and what kind of artistic creative expressions they use is defined by the personality of the person.

This paper studies the home-country determinants of outward FDI with a focus on nine empirically recognized host-country determinants of inward FDI, namely market size, labor cost, exchange rate, inflation, interest rate, political risks, corruption, openness, and technology. Based on a panel with 183 observations from BRICS and five developed countries (Australia, Germany, Japan, UK, US), evidence is found that market size, inflation, interest rate, political risks, and openness have significant influence on FDI outflows. Moreover, the results of this study show that there are striking differences between developing and developed countries regarding to the drivers for outward FDI.

Denna studie undersökte huruvida nyfikenhet som generell egenskap eller personlighetsdrag uttrycker sig i nyfiket beteende i specifika områden. Med nyfiket beteende i specifika områden menas i denna studie att man uppoffrar tid eller pengar för mer information om svaret eller utfallet i en specifik uppgift, utan att svaret eller utfallet har något annat direkt värde än som information. Ett exempel är att uppoffra pengar mot att få information om vilka svarsalternativ som är felaktiga i ett logikproblem som man försöker lösa. De data som användes i denna studie härrör från tre tidigare studier som har utfört experiment med inslag av de avvägningar som nämnts. Samtliga 90 deltagare var rekryterade i anknytning till Umeå Universitet. Deltagarna har efter experimenten besvarat instrumentet Big Five Inventory (BFI-44) som mäter generella personlighetsdrag, samt instrumentet Curiosity and Exploration Inventory II (CEI-II) som mäter nyfikenhet som egenskap. Resultatet replikerade tidigare samband mellan personlighetsdrag och nyfikenhet som egenskap. Däremot predicerade varken nyfikenhet som generell egenskap eller personlighetsdrag nyfiket beteende i specifika områden. En tolkning gällande det icke-existerande sambandet är att människor har specifika intressen, huruvida de blir och upprätthåller nyfikenhet har inte med grundläggande drag att göra utan med andra orsaker. Möjligen bör konstruktvaliditeten för nyfikenhet som generell egenskap ifrågasättas. / This study examined whether curiosity as a general trait or personality trait expresses itself in curious behavior in specific areas. With curious behavior in specific areas, this study means that you sacrifice time or money for more information about the answer or outcome of a specific task, without the answer or outcome having any other direct value than as information. One example is to sacrifice money to get information about which answer alternatives are incorrect in a logic problem that one tries to solve. The data used in this study derives from three previous studies that performed experiments with elements of the trade-offs mentioned. The 90 participants were recruited in connection with Umeå University. After the experiments the participants answered the instrument Big Five Inventory (BFI-44) that measures general personality traits, and the instrument Curiosity and Exploration Inventory II (CEI-II) that measures trait curiosity. The result replicated previous relationships between personality traits and trait curiosity. However, neither curiosity as a general trait or personality traits predicted curious behavior in specific areas. An interpretation of this non-existing relationship is that people have specific interests, whether they become and maintain curiosity does not have to do with fundamental traits but with other reasons. Possibly the construct validity of curiosity as a general trait should be questioned.

O Brasil apresentou nas décadas de 80 e 90 taxas de crescimento econômico substancialmente inferiores às de outras economias emergentes. Apesar das taxas brasileiras terem se elevado a partir de 2004, tal mudança é, em parte, atribuída a uma conjuntura favorável, de altos preços das commodities. As novas teorias de crescimento econômico ressaltam a relevância do investimento em tecnologia para se alcançar um crescimento sustentável no longo prazo. No entanto, o desempenho brasileiro em investimento em P&D é relativamente baixo quando comparado ao de outros países. Teorias Schumpeterianas de crescimento e trabalhos sobre comércio internacional ressaltam a importância da criação de um ambiente favorável ao investimento em P&D, através do estimulo à competição industrial e empresarial que é criada com a abertura comercial. Sendo assim, o presente estudo pretende avaliar empiricamente o impacto da competição internacional sofrida pelas firmas brasileiras sobre suas decisões de investimento em P&D. Para isso, será construído um modelo relacionando as variáveis relevantes, e serão utilizadas técnicas econométricas, a partir de dados da PINTEC, PIA e outras bases de dados industriais. / Brazilian growth rates in the 80\'s and 90\'s were lower than in other emerging economies. The new theories of economic growth emphasize the relevance of investment in technology to achieve sustainable growth in the long term. However, Brazilian performance in R&D expenditures is relatively low compared to other countries. Schumpeterian growth theories and some studies on international trade emphasize the importance of creating an environment conducive to investment in R&D, through the stimulus to competition, which can be increased by trade openness. Therefore, this study aims to empirically assess the impact of international competition suffered by Brazilian firms on their R&D decisions. In order to achieve that, econometric techniques relating relevant variables will be used, with data from PINTEC, PIA and other industrial database.

O principal objetivo deste trabalho é entender como coalizões de países em desenvolvimento são bem-sucedidas nas negociações do GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) e da Organização Mundial de Comércio (OMC). Normalmente, sustenta-se que coalizões temáticas são mais bem-sucedidas do que grupos abrangentes (Higgot e Cooper, 1990; Cooper, Higgot e Nossal, 1990); e que coalizões com maiores recursos de poder são mais bem-sucedidas do que grupos fracos (Narlikar, 2003). Como hipótese alternativa, sugerimos que quanto maior for o grau de abertura comercial da coalizão - ((exportações+importações)/PIB) - maior será a chance de elas serem bemsucedidas nas negociações do GATT/OMC. Utilizaremos uma abordagem multimétodos (qualitativa e quantitativa) para realizar nossa pesquisa. Analisaremos um número (N) médio (entre 28 a 39 casos) de coalizões internacionais para descobrir quais as principais causas dos sucessos e fracassos destes grupos de países. Codificaremos a variável dependente (sucesso versus fracasso) conforme as descrições de casos particulares conduzidos por pesquisadores independentes. A variável independente categórica (coalizões temáticas versus abrangentes) será mensurada segundo procedimento semelhante. Por fim, o PIB agregado das coalizões (nossa medida de poder) e a abertura comercial agregada e abertura comercial média das coalizões (nossas medidas de abertura comercial) foram coletadas na base de dados Penn World Table 6.2. Os trabalhos que conhecemos sobre o tema utilizam a abordagem qualitativa de maneira pura, especialmente estudos de casso. Assim, até onde sabemos, este trabalho realizará a primeira análise estatística sobre o tema. / The main goal of this study is to understand how developing country coalitions obtain benefits in the GATT/WTO negotiations. Usually it is argued that issue-based coalitions are more successful than broad-based groups (Higgot and Cooper, 1990; Cooper, Higgot and Nossal, 1990), and that powerful coalitions are more successful than weaker ones (Narlikar, 2003). Alternatively, we suggest that the greater the degree of trade openness - ((exports+imports)/GDP) - the greater the chance that they will succeed in the GATT/WTO negotiations. We use a mix-method approach (qualitative and quantitative) to conduct our research. We will analyze a medium-N (from 28 to 39) cases of international coalitions to find out the main causes of coalitions\' successes and failures. We will code our dependent variable (success versus failure) according to cases studies conducted by independent researchers. Our categorical independent variable (issue-based versus broad-based coalitions) will be measured adopting the same procedure. Finally, aggregate GDP - our measure of power -, aggregate trade openness and mean aggregate trade openness of the coalitions - our measures of trade openness - were collected in the Penn World Table 6.2. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first statistical analysis on the subject.

This paper relates openness to the decline in inflation by using panel data for six OECD (the USA, Japan, Canada, Portugal, Finland, and Australia) countries over the period from 1980 to 2006. I obtain industrial level data for twenty industries in each of the six countries in the timeframe and estimate the effects of increases in openness, through its effect on productivity and markups on inflation. The methods used to construct the variables in this paper follow methods introduced in Chen, Imbs and Scott (2004), and the estimations follow Chen, Imbs and Scott (2007). The results suggest openness reduces the rate of inflation in the short run. Furthermore, it also reduces short run productivity and markups. The long run results are ambiguous, however. The evidence that openness leads to anti-competitive effects in the long run is weak. JEL Classification: E31, F12, F14, F15, L16 Keywords: Openness, Prices, Productivity, Markups

<p>This thesis consists of an introduction and three stand-alone essays. In the introduction I discuss the commonalities between the three essays. Essay I charts the the main political cleavages among 59 Swedish unions and business organizations. The main conclusion is that there appear to exist two economic sources of political cleavage: The traded versus the nontraded divide and the labor versus capital divide. Essay II suggests a political rationale for why strikes have been more common in those OECD countries where the legislature is elected in single member districts (e.g. France, Great Britain) than where it was elected by proportional representation (e.g. Sweden, Netherlands). In Essay III I present a theoretical model of political support for different types of labor market regulations. From it I recover two implications: Support for industrial relations legislation that enables unions to bid up wages should be inversely related to the economy's openness, while support for employment protection legislation should be positively related to the size of the unionized sector. Empirical evidence from a cross-section of 70 countries match my theoretical priors.</p>

This study examined how multicultural readings included in the introduction to psychology curriculum were linked to an increase in students’ multicultural interest and sensitivity. Specifically, this study investigated the impact of reading and discussing multicultural articles on students’ ethnocultural empathy, universality-diverse orientation, and openness to diversity. Second purpose of the study was to examine possible individual differences associated with response to the intervention. Participants in the current study were undergraduate students enrolled in five sections of the introduction to psychology class, which were randomly assigned as control and experimental groups. The multicultural readings are four original research articles that examine topics in psychology from a cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspective. Measures of dependent variables used in the study were: Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang et al., 2003), Personality Style Inventory for Adolescents (Lounsbury et al., 2003), Experiences in Close Relationships Short Form (Wei, Russell, Mallinckrodt, & Vogel, 2007), Miville–Guzman Universality– Diversity Scale-Short form (Fuertes, Miville, Mohr, Sedlacek,& Gretchen, 2000), Openness to Diversity Scale (Pascarella, Edison, Nora, Hagedon, & Terenzini, 1996), and Balanced Inventory of Desired Responding (Paulhus, 1984). A one-way Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis that the experimental group, after being exposed to the multicultural readings would show a greater increase in multicultural variables. The study’s main hypothesis was not supported, because the group X time treatment interaction was not significant. Exploratory analyses of personality traits as covariates suggested that only one variable, Attachment Avoidance, was associated with one multicultural outcome, namely, extent of change in SEE-Acceptance of Cultural Differences.

This thesis consists of an introduction and three stand-alone essays. In the introduction I discuss the commonalities between the three essays. Essay I charts the the main political cleavages among 59 Swedish unions and business organizations. The main conclusion is that there appear to exist two economic sources of political cleavage: The traded versus the nontraded divide and the labor versus capital divide. Essay II suggests a political rationale for why strikes have been more common in those OECD countries where the legislature is elected in single member districts (e.g. France, Great Britain) than where it was elected by proportional representation (e.g. Sweden, Netherlands). In Essay III I present a theoretical model of political support for different types of labor market regulations. From it I recover two implications: Support for industrial relations legislation that enables unions to bid up wages should be inversely related to the economy's openness, while support for employment protection legislation should be positively related to the size of the unionized sector. Empirical evidence from a cross-section of 70 countries match my theoretical priors.

This paper investigates the automatic stabilizer and the underlying factors behind its function. The paper includes both a literature review and an empirical analysis. The literature review discusses the IS-LM and Mundell-Fleming models and different ways to quantify the automatic stabilizer. Based on the theory, the relationship between volatility in GDP and the size of the automatic stabilizers is then analyzed with the help of regressions. Our main result shows a negative relation between these two variables. This effect seems to be decreasing over time, which may be explained by an increased openness. However, it is hard to tell if the decreasing effect is a long-term development or just a result of the most recent financial crisis.