In the decade following the ten-plus percent stockmarket collapse of 2000, regulators enacted a myriad of regulations in response to increasing angst experienced by U.S. capital market retail investors. Systemic asymmetric disclosures have fractured investor confidence prompting many commentators to characterize the relationship between Wall Street and the investment community on main street as dire. Though copious works exist on the phenomenon of corporate behaviors, especially matters of shareholder welfare, weak boards, pervious governance mechanisms, and managerial excess, current literature has revealed a dearth in corporate governance praxis specific to the question and effects of asymmetric disseminations and its principal impact on the retail/noninstitutional accredited investor's (NIAI) confidence and decision-making propensities. This phenomenological study is purposed to bridging the gap between the effects of governance disclosure and the confidence and decision-making inclinations of NIAIs. Conceptual frameworks of Akerlof's information theory and Verstegen Ryan and Buchholtz's trust/risk decision making model undergirded the study. A nonrandom purposive sampling method was used to select 21 NIAI informants. Analysis of interview data revealed epistemological patterns/themes confirming the deleterious effects of asymmetrical disseminations on participants' investment decision-making and trust behaviors. Findings may help academicians, investors, policy makers, and practitioners better comprehend the phenomenon and possibly contribute to operating efficiencies in the capital markets. Proaction and greater assertiveness in the investor/activist community may provide an impetus for continued regulatory reforms, improved transparency, and a revitalization of public trust as positive social change outcomes.

Thesis (LLM. (Development and Management Law)) University of Limpopo, 2013

<p>This thesis will examine the effects of divorce on the benefit payable to a member of a retirement fund, where divorce has occurred before the member has reached retirement age. In&nbsp / particular, parametric (that is, piecemeal) amendments to the relevant legislation will be analysed in order to outline the development of the legislation relating to divorce and the consequent distribution of&nbsp / assets (including retirement savings). The previous and current legal position in South Africa relating to divorce and retirement savings will be set out and critically analysed to determine whether the current position can be regarded as an improvement upon the previous legal position, or whether other and/or new problems in this area have been created. Parametric amendments to&nbsp / relevant legislation have thus far been the subject of many cases in our courts and adjudicative tribunals. A systemic overhaul of a particular area of law is a useful tool in providing legal certainty&nbsp / and clarifying the laws applicable to that area. This thesis will therefore argue in favour of a systemic overhaul of the legislation applicable to the allocation of retirement benefits at divorce, as opposed to the ineffectual parametric (i.e. piecemeal) amendments that have been implemented thus far. An essential aspect of this study is a comparative study of South African legal principles&nbsp / relating to retirement benefits and divorce with the legal principles of this subject in the United Kingdom (UK).</p>

This study aims to expand studies on ESL/EFL teachers’ beliefs by investigating the relationship among Korean teachers’ beliefs about English language education in Korea, sources of their beliefs, their perceptions of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MOE)-initiated reforms in English language education, and the degree of implementation of the reforms in their classroom teaching. Toward that end, the study employed both quantitative and qualitative research instruments: a survey with a questionnaire, interviews, and observations. The study surveyed 158 in-service teachers. Among these 158 teachers, 10 were selected for interviews and observations. Each of the 10 teachers was interviewed three times and his/her classroom teaching observed twice. The findings of the study indicate: a) the beliefs held by the majority of the participants were based on the communication-oriented approaches (COA) to English language teaching, which has been recommended by the MOE in its efforts to reform English language education in Korea; b) major sources of the participants’ beliefs seemed to be their experiences as learners in overseas English programs and domestic in-service teacher education programs with practical curricula; c) the teacher participants’ perceptions of the reforms’ general direction were largely consistent with their COA-based beliefs, but their perceptions of specific reform policies and measures were dictated by their concerns with realities of EFL education and their positions; and d) not the participants’ beliefs but their negative perceptions of reform policies and measures AND the constraints they cited were the main obstacles to the implementation of the reform policies and measures in their classroom teaching. The findings reveal gaps and mismatches among the participants’ beliefs, perceptions, and practices. The study interprets such gaps and mismatches not as inconsistencies but as symptoms of a transitional stage through which English language education in Korea has been going. The study discusses the implications of the findings for Korean EFL teachers, EFL/ESL teacher education programs, and reform agents. The study ends with four suggestions for future research.

This paper will employ unit root tests for finding structural breaks endogenously among India’s key macroeconomic aggregate series, as well as their components and subcomponents. The same analysis will be repeated, wherever data are available, for states. The results from these unit root tests will then be used in regression models for national and state level data to understand the causes behind structural breaks. We find that breakpoints cluster around 1982 and 2003 for most series at the national and state level. The services component appears to be a promising candidate for explaining the 2003 structural break in some of the series.

En 1876 se funda la Institución Libre de Enseñanza (ILE), un centro privado de instrucción que introduce iniciativas pioneras en el campo educativo de España. Si bien hay una disponibilidad buena de literatura especializada sobre el instituto, la descripción de sus planteamientos pedagógicos suele ser pasada por alto. A través de un análisis textual cualitativo del pensamiento educativo de Francisco Giner de los Ríos – el fundador principal y el líder ideológico del instituto – el estudio actual se propone contribuir a una mayor comprensión de las reformas pedagógicas de la ILE. Mediante el análisis de dichas reformas y su enlace con el entorno de España a fines del siglo XIX, la investigación muestra los aspectos activos, creativos e integrales de la enseñanza institucionista y cómo el instituto pretendía realizar una modernización del país a través de la educación.

The purpose of this bachelor's thesis in social work has been to examine whether society's perception of poverty and poor people has changed over the more than 160 years have passed since the first national Poor regulation was enacted in Sweden. With a social constructionist approach and inspired by the critical discourse analysis we have conducted two studies to find answers to what differences and similarities between the concepts of scanty care (1847) and standards of living (2002). A study based on previous research was conducted to examine how society's perception of poverty has changed and designed in a historical perspective. We also conducted a textual analysis of relevant legal texts and legislative history to show how these texts reflect the society's official view of poverty based interventions targeted to poor people. The two sub-studies show that the concepts at different times in history has been crucial for the community support poor people were entitled to. Our overall conclusion is that despite today's advanced social policy there are many obvious similarities between the concepts of scanty care and standards of living. For example, there are similarities in the conjecture-driven individuals for warranted to support and which counterclaims society put on the individuals who are in need of society's ultimate financial safety net.

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία έχει ως στόχο τη μελέτη του περιεχομένου της Ευρωενωσιακής Κοινής Αγροτικής Πολιτικής από τη δημιουργία της ως τη σύγχρονη μορφή της, μέσα από τις πολλές και ποικίλες μεταρρυθμίσεις και αναθεωρήσεις που υπέστη. Επίσης, επιχειρείται προσπάθεια διερεύνησης του τρόπου εφαρμογής της στην Ελλάδα, καθώς και των συνεπειών που αυτή έχει σε διάφορες πλευρές της αγροτικής οικονομίας της χώρας μας. Για την εκτίμηση των επιπτώσεων αυτών μελετήθηκαν πρωτογενή δεδομένα που αφορούν στα εξής: • Μέγεθος και διάρθρωση των αγροτικών και κτηνοτροφικών εκμεταλλεύσεων • Απασχόληση και ταξική διάρθρωση του αγροτικού τομέα • Εξέλιξη όγκου παραγωγής βασικών αγροτικών προϊόντων-Αυτάρκεια διατροφικών αγροτικών προϊόντων • Εξέλιξη όγκου εισαγωγών και εξαγωγών αγροτικών προϊόντων-Εμπορικό ισοζύγιο αγροτικών προϊόντων Μέσα από τη διερεύνηση αυτή προκύπτει η διαπίστωση ότι επιβιώνει και διατηρείται η πολύ μικρή αγροτική εκμετάλλευση οικογενειακού κυρίως χαρακτήρα, από τη μία πλευρά, ενώ η συγκέντρωση της γεωργικής γης σε μεγάλες ως προς την έκταση εκμεταλλεύσεις καθυστερεί, αλλά εξελίσσεται με αργό αλλά σταθερό ρυθμό, από την άλλη. Παρατηρείται ακόμη, μείωση της συνολικής απασχόλησης στον αγροτικό τομέα της Ελληνικής οικονομίας, ενώ αύξηση παρουσιάζει η μισθωτή εργασία στην αγροτική παραγωγή. Τέλος, η επιβολή ποσοστώσεων στην παραγωγή προϊόντων και η καταβολή Ενιαίας Αποδεσμευμένης Ενίσχυσης ανεξάρτητα από το είδος και την παραγωγή, που καθιερώθηκαν με την ΚΑΠ, επέφεραν συρρίκνωση στην παραγωγή αυτών. Αποτέλεσμα της σημαντικής συρρίκνωσης των αγροτικών προϊόντων είναι η επιδείνωση του ήδη ελλειμματικού εμπορικού ισοζυγίου. / This thesis aims to study the content of European CAP since its creation as a modern form, through the many and varied reforms and revisions suffered. Also, attempts to investigate how implementation in Greece, and the impact it has on different aspects of the rural economy of our country. To estimate these effects were studied primary data relating to: • Size and structure of agricultural and livestock farms • Employment and class structure of the agricultural sector • Evolution of the production volume of basic agricultural products-sufficiency food agricultural products • import volume evolution and agricultural exports-trade balance of agricultural products Through this investigation it was clear to state that survives and is kept very small farm family character mainly, on the one hand, while the concentration of agricultural land in large on the extent holdings delayed, but growing slowly but steadily, from the other. There is still a reduction of total employment in the agricultural sector of Greek economy, while growth presents the wage labor in agricultural production. Finally, the imposition of quotas in the production of goods and the payment of single decoupled aid regardless of type and production, introduced by the CAP, led to shrinkage in the production thereof. Result of the significant decline of agricultural products is the deterioration of already deficient trade balance.

The aim of work – evaluate the Effect of the CAP Reforms on the Development of Multifunctional Agriculture. Seeking the aim, the tasks are: 1) analyze the objective presumptions and essence of the formation of the concept of multifunctional agriculture; 2) analyze the reforms of the CAP and evaluate their effect on the development of multifunctional agriculture; 3) reveal the possibilities of the development of multifunctional agriculture in Tauragė region; 4) analyze the measures of the CAP support, stimulating multifunctional agriculture in Tauragė region and evaluate their practice; 5) evaluate the ways and perspectives of the development of multifunctional agriculture in Lithuania. Methods of research – the analysis and synthesis of scientific literature and the EU and Lithuanian agricultural and rural development documents, comparable analysis, induction, deduction, questionnaire survey, correlation, statistical analysis, graphical depiction methods. On the bases of positive and normative concept of multifunctional agriculture, the analysis of the EU regulations of the CAP and their reforms, analyzed the main stages of the CAP reforms, designated their effect on the development of multifunctional agriculture. Thereby, designated the main CAP measures stimulating multifunctional agriculture and evaluated their practice in Tauragė region and revealed the possibilities of the development of multifunctional agriculture in this region.

<p>This thesis will examine the effects of divorce on the benefit payable to a member of a retirement fund, where divorce has occurred before the member has reached retirement age. In&nbsp / particular, parametric (that is, piecemeal) amendments to the relevant legislation will be analysed in order to outline the development of the legislation relating to divorce and the consequent distribution of&nbsp / assets (including retirement savings). The previous and current legal position in South Africa relating to divorce and retirement savings will be set out and critically analysed to determine whether the current position can be regarded as an improvement upon the previous legal position, or whether other and/or new problems in this area have been created. Parametric amendments to&nbsp / relevant legislation have thus far been the subject of many cases in our courts and adjudicative tribunals. A systemic overhaul of a particular area of law is a useful tool in providing legal certainty&nbsp / and clarifying the laws applicable to that area. This thesis will therefore argue in favour of a systemic overhaul of the legislation applicable to the allocation of retirement benefits at divorce, as opposed to the ineffectual parametric (i.e. piecemeal) amendments that have been implemented thus far. An essential aspect of this study is a comparative study of South African legal principles&nbsp / relating to retirement benefits and divorce with the legal principles of this subject in the United Kingdom (UK).</p>