Taxpayers worldwide make use of tax practitioners to handle their tax matters for them. In South Africa, taxpayers also use tax practitioners to handle their tax matters. The use of tax practitioners and their services in South Africa is on the rise due to various factors. The resulting relationship between taxpayers and tax practitioners was the subject of this study. The taxpayer has certain expectations when using the services of a tax practitioner. These expectations can be linked to various factors identified in numerous studies of taxpayer-tax practitioner relations. The factors identified in this study were client motivation, client advocacy, tax minimisation as well as changes in legislation. Taxpayer expectations regarding these factors were examined. The perceptions of tax practitioners about these taxpayer expectations were also examined. The possibility of a gap between the expectations of the taxpayer and the perceptions of the tax practitioner of these expectations has been identified in other studies around the world. The possibility of such a gap exists in a South African context. This study aimed to determine whether there was an expectation gap between taxpayers and tax practitioners in rural South Africa. A questionnaire with pre-set questions was used and combined with semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data to analyse the expectations and perceptions of both parties. The responses from the parties were analysed and compared to determine whether there was an expectation gap in rural South Africa. The study concluded that there was indeed an expectation gap between taxpayers and tax practitioners. The relationships for rural South Africa were analysed and it was evident that similar studies conducted with the same objectives in other parts of the world had the same results. There was indeed a gap between taxpayer expectations and tax practitioner perceptions of these expectations. Belastingbetalers wêreldwyd maak gebruik van belastingpraktisyns om hul belastingsake te hanteer. In Suid-Afrika maak belastingbetalers ook gebruik maak van belastingpraktisyns om hul belastingsake te hanteer. Die gebruik van belastingpraktisyns en hul dienste in Suid-Afrika is aan die toeneem weens van verskeie faktore. Die gevolglike verhouding tussen belastingbetalers en belastingpraktisyns was die onderwerp van hierdie studie. Die belastingbetaler het sekere verwagtings wanneer hulle die dienste van 'n belastingpraktisyn gebruik. Hierdie verwagtings kan gekoppel word aan verskeie faktore wat geïdentifiseer is in talle studies van die verhouding tussen belastingbetalers en belastingpraktisyns. Die faktore wat geïdentifiseer is vir hierdie studie is kliëntmotivering, kliëntvoorspraak, belastingminimalisering sowel as veranderings in wetgewing. Die belastingbetaler se verwagtings rakende hierdie faktore is ondersoek. Die persepsie van die belastingpraktisyn van hierdie belastingbetalerverwagtings is ook ondersoek. Die moontlikheid van 'n gaping tussen die verwagtings van die belastingbetaler en die persepsie van die belastingpraktisyn van hierdie verwagtings is geïdentifiseer in ander studies regoor die wêreld. Die moontlikheid van so 'n gaping in 'n Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is in hierdie studie ondersoek. Die doel van die studie was om te bepaal of daar ’n verwagtingsgaping tussen belastingbetalers en belastingpraktisyns in landelike Suid-Afrika is. 'n Vraelys is gebruik en gekombineer met semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude om kwalitatiewe data in te samel om die verwagting en persepsies van albei partye te ontleed. Die antwoorde van die partye is ontleed en vergelyk om te bepaal of daar ’n verwagtingsgaping in landelike Suid Afrika is. Die studie het bevind dat daar wel 'n verwagtingsgaping tussen belastingbetalers en belastingpraktisyns is. Die verhoudings vir landelike Suid-Afrika is ontleed en dit is duidelik dat soortgelyke studies met dieselfde doel in ander dele van die wêreld dieselfde resultate verkry. Daar is inderdaad 'n gaping tussen die belastingbetaler se verwagtings en die belastingpraktisyn se persepsie van hierdie verwagtings in landelike Suid-Afrika. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / am2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

Central Bank communication has become, in the last period, a topic of increased interest both in academia, as well as in the process of conducting the monetary policy. This thesis addresses the communication of central banking and compares the Czech National Bank's (CNB) communication practices with the ones of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) for the period of 2005 - 2010. Communication of both central banks is analyzed by compyling a Transparency Index, based on a detailed analysis of actual information disclosure by the two banks. In order to analyze how surprising are the monetary policy decisions in the two countries, an investigation about how much the short-term money market rates change after the monetary policy decision's announcement has been made. The results of the analyses show that the CNB has achieved almost full transparency in 2010 in conducting the monetary policy, while the NBM, even though registered a gradual increase in its transparency since 2005, still needs to put more effort into improving its communication practices. The research also reveals that the CNB manages to lower the pace of market surprises related to its monetary policy decisions, while in the case of NBM, the money market rates respond little to the policy rate changes. Also, in order to show the importance...

The purpose of this study was to determine whether similarities exist in the perceptions of the roles of academic deans in community colleges. This study attempted to determine whether role expectations and perceptions reflected separate and distinct relationships, or if administrative patterns reflected an overlapping of responsibilities.

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was conducted to determine the psychological and behavioural effects of adopting the roles of prisoners or prison guards. In various published research articles Zimbardo reported that he instructed the prison guards to maintain law and order (Haney, Banks, & Zimbardo, 1973). However, in the Quiet Rage video (Zimbardo, 1989), Zimbardo gave the prison guards additional detailed instructions. To examine the effects of these different instructions on expected prison guard role behaviour, first year Psychology students were requested to predict expected prison guard role behaviour under two different conditions. In the order condition, participants received the instructions used in published research articles. While in the fear condition, participants received the instructions from the Quiet Rage video (Zimbardo, 1989). Participants estimated the likelihood of 50 guard behaviours. Participants in the order condition predicted more pleasant behaviour, while participants in the fear condition predicted more unpleasant behaviours. This indicates that the different instructions influenced their intent to perform the different behaviours. There was no significant difference between the fear and order conditions, and the control behaviours. Participants in both the fear and order conditions rated the control items as expected prison guard role behaviour. Participants in both conditions indicated that they would behave in this manner. Gender had no significant influence on expected prison guard role behavior.

Background. While the provision of respite care is a well-known strategy for supporting caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD), it is still unclear what influences its use by caregivers. Objective. To explore respite care use through the lens of a hopes and expectations framework. Methods. Six caregivers of PWD took part in one semi-structured interview. A phenomenological approach to data collection and analysis was employed. Results. The data showed that caregivers still felt burdened despite utilizing respite care. Hopes and expectations for the PWD tended to converge for all caregivers, yet diverged depending whether they were considering impact on themselves or the PWD, and whether they had used respite care or not. Conclusion. Preliminary data suggests that respite care services may need to focus more on helping caregivers. The framework of hopes and expectations is useful for exploring the use or non-use of respite.

The literature on bounded rationality and learning in macroeconomics has often used recursive algorithms to depict the evolution of agents' beliefs over time. In this thesis we assess this practice from an applied perspective, focusing on the use of such algorithms for the computation of forecasts of macroeconomic variables. Our analysis develops around three issues we find to have been previously neglected in the literature: (i) the initialization of the learning algorithms; (ii) the determination and calibration of the learning gains, which are key parameters of the algorithms' specifications; and, (iii) the choice of a representative learning mechanism. In order to approach these issues we establish an estimation framework under which we unify the two main algorithms considered in this literature, namely the least squares and the stochastic gradient algorithms. We then propose an evaluation framework that mimics the real-time process of expectation formation through learning-to-forecast exercises. To analyze the quality of the forecasts associated to the learning approach, we evaluate their forecasting accuracy and resemblance to surveys, these latter taken as proxy for agents' expectations. In spite of taking these two criteria as mutually desirable, it is not clear whether they are compatible with each other: whilst forecasting accuracy represents the goal of optimizing agents, resemblance to surveys is indicative of actual agents behavior. We carry out these exercises using real-time quarterly data on US inflation and output growth covering a broad post-WWII period of time. Our main contribution is to show that a proper assessment of the adaptive learning approach requires going beyond the previous views in the literature about these issues. For the initialization of the learning algorithms we argue that such initial estimates need to be coherent with the ongoing learning process that was already in place at the beginning of our sample of data. We find that the previous initialization methods in the literature are vulnerable to this requirement, and propose a new smoothing-based method that is not prone to this critic. Regarding the learning gains, we distinguish between two possible rationales to its determination: as a choice of agents; or, as a primitive parameter of agents learning-to-forecast behavior. Our results provide strong evidence in favor of the gain as a primitive approach, hence favoring the use of surveys data for their calibration. In the third issue, about the choice of a representative algorithm, we challenge the view that learning should be represented by only one of the above algorithms; on the basis of our two evaluation criteria, our results suggest that using a single algorithm represents a misspecification. That motivate us to propose the use of hybrid forms of the LS and SG algorithms, for which we find favorable evidence as representatives of how agents learn. Finally, our analysis concludes with an optimistic assessment on the plausibility of adaptive learning, though conditioned to an appropriate treatment of the above issues. We hope our results provide some guidance on that respect.

No / Over the past two decades, protecting contractual parties’ reasonable expectations has incrementally gained judicial recognition in English contract law. In contrast, however, the similar ‘doctrine’ of ‘policyholder’s reasonable expectations’ has been largely rejected in English insurance law. This is injurious, firstly, to both the consumer and business policyholder’s reasonable expectations of coverage of particular risks, and, secondly, to consumer policyholder’s reasonable expectations of bonuses in with-profits life insurance. To remedy these problems, this book argues for an incremental but definite acceptance of the conception of policyholder’s reasonable expectations in English insurance law. It firstly discusses the homogeneity between insurance law and contract law, as well as the role of (reasonable) expectations and their relevance to the emerging duty of good faith in contract law. Secondly, following a review and re-characterisation of the American insurance law ‘doctrine’ of reasonable expectations, the book addresses the conventional English objections to the reasonable expectations approach in insurance law. In passing, it also rethinks the approach to the protection of policyholder’s reasonable expectations of bonuses in with-profits life insurance through a revisit to the (in)famous case Equitable Life Assurance Society v Hyman [2000] UKHL 39, particularly to its relevant business and regulatory background.

AD/HD medications are shown to be significantly more successful at enhancing attention/concentration performance in individuals with AD/HD than placebo treatments. Few studies, however, have investigated the possibility of a placebo reaction in both medication and placebo groups by comparing placebo treatments to no treatment at all. Using an undergraduate population, I evaluated the effect of expectations about a treatment's efficacy on performance in an attention/concentration task. In addition to cognitive performance outcome measures, I included several physiological measures, such as heart rate variability (HRV) through respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Contrary to expectations, no differences were observed in performance on attention tasks or physiological measurements as a result of the believed efficacy of an orally administered placebo treatment.

Participants in the agricultural marketing system include commodity producers, grain elevators, feed processors, flour millers, bakers, exporters, and retail outlets. Every firm in the marketing system is concerned with creating expectations regarding supply, demand, quality, and price in the physical market. The role of market information plays in the agricultural marketing system is considered in the three chapters of this thesis. Chapters 1 and 2 were completed with financial support from the Virginia Small Grains Board and the Virginia Agricultural Council. The futures market is used by a number of firms, private and public, to create price expectations. Firms rely on the futures market to provide market signals and manage risk. Chapter 1 examines what might happen in the soft red winter wheat marketing system if the price signals from the futures market become less accurate because Federal grades fail to account for all of the grain characteristics desired by millers and bakers. Expected returns from competing crops are a factor in a producer's decision-making process. Chapter 2 examines the role first-level handlers play in expanding the market share of grain sorghum and barley in Virginia. The objective of the first-level handler survey was to determine if factors, such as limited market information, prevented the expansion of the grain sorghum and barley markets. Contrary to a priori expectations that price risk would be the limiting factor, results showed that inconsistent local supply was the main barrier to the expansion of grain sorghum and barley. Chapter 3 is an example of a pricing guide written for Virginia cotton producers. It uses a balance sheet approach, which illustrates how information regarding the cotton crop can be translated into price expectations. / Master of Science

Burnout due to work-related stress is increasing in the society. Many studies concern the causes and effects of burnout, but rarely concern the experiences of those who are living with burnout. The aim of this study was to examine the experience of living with burnout. The concepts of health, suffering, burnout, stress and coping are briefly described in the background. The method that was used is a literature-based study with the analysis of qualitative research. This study is based on eight qualitative articles. Six themes emerged; Physical experiences, Psychological experiences and Existential experiences, Work experiences, Experiences of relations in private life and Experiences of demands and expectations. The results shows that burnout affects a person on many different levels. Dealing with burnout involves a range of varieties of symtoms, physical as well as psychological and social. Physical symtoms that appeared among the participants were for instance fatigue, brain fog, headache and palpitations. Social and relational problems as bad conscience, low self- esteem and feelings of inadequacy were experienced. Emotional disturbances and existential reflections were common amongst those who were suffering from burnout.