Squeezing minds from stones: Cognitive archaeology and the evolution of the human mind

Cognitive archaeology is a relatively new interdisciplinary science that uses cognitive and psychological models to explain archaeological artifacts like stone tools, figurines, and art. Edited by cognitive archaeologist Karenleigh A. Overmann and psychologist Frederick L. Coolidge, Squeezing Minds From Stones is a collection of essays, from both early pioneers and 'up and coming' newcomers in the field, that addresses a wide variety of cognitive archaeology topics, including the value of experimental archaeology, primate archaeology, the intent of ancient tool makers, and how they may have lived and thought

Survey of land and real estate transactions in the Russian Federation : statistical analysis of selected hypotheses

This paper analyzes land transactions between municipalities and private businesses based on official data and business surveys in 15 regions of the Russian Federation. Since the Russian Federation passed the new Land Code in 2001, land privatization has been officially encouraged by the federal government and in particular, land under previously privatized buildings was supposed to be privatized to the owner at a nominal price. The paper shows that many subnational authorities (which own or control the vast majority of land of interest to businesses) appear to use a combination of high statutory land buy-out prices and administrative barriers to deter land privatization and to offer"long-term leases"(which are not fully marketable) instead. On the other hand, regions that have established low buy-out prices and taken steps to remove unnecessary administrative barriers to land privatization appear to have higher rates of land ownership by businesses, and to face lower levels of corruption in the privatization process. The paper concludes that further reductions in the statutory prices for privatization of land under buildings and elimination of unnecessary administrative barriers should help to encourage further land privatization and the development of a competitive, secondary market in commercial land.Municipal Financial Management,Urban Housing,Common Property Resource Development,Municipal Housing and Land,Real Estate Development

High-level rent-seeking and corruption in African regimes : theory and cases

One explanation for Africa's failure to develop is the weakness of its public institutions. The authors consider one aspect of that weakness: rent-seeking and corruption at the top of government. Under the conditions of their model, and autocrat who seeks to maximize personal financial return favors an inefficiently large public sector and distorts other public sector priorities more than does an autocrat who seeks to maximize national income. However, if civil servants and public officials are also venal, the ruler will not favor so large a government. To show how African regimes operate, the authors present four cases illustrating issues raised by their theoretical model. Among their observations about the relationship between the motivations of top officials and policies to control corruption and other types of rent-seeking are these: A kleptocrat whose decision variable is the level of government intervention in the economy will select an excessive level of interventions, in which national income is less than optimal. Like all monopolies, the kleptocrat seeks productive efficiency except where inefficiency creates extra rents. Facing a kleptocrat, citizens prefer a smaller than optimal-sized government but get one that is too big. A kleptocrat may need to permit lower-level officials to share in corrupt gains thus introducing additional costs. He or she will then favor a smaller government than if subordinates could be perfectly controlled. Dropping the assumption of a single dimension of government intervention, the kleptocrat will favor a different mixture of tax, spending, and regulatory programs than will a benevolent autocrat. Dropping the assumption that rulers are writing on a clean slate, decisions to privatize or nationalize firms can differ across autocratic regimes. In particular, although kleptocrats will often be reluctant to privatize, they may in some cases support privatization that a benevolent ruler would oppose. Investment in countries with kleptocratic rules may have an overly short-run orientation. When rent-seeking at top levels is pervasive, both natural resources and foreign aid under state control may hamper, not encourage, growth.Decentralization,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Governance Indicators,Health Economics&Finance

Book review: why America needs a left: a historical argument

The United States today cries out for a robust, self–respecting, intellectually sophisticated left, yet the very idea of a left appears to have been discredited. In this recent book, Eli Zaretsky rethinks the idea by examining three key moments in American history: the Civil War, the New Deal and the range of New Left movements in the 1960s and after including the civil rights movement, the women′s movement and gay liberation. Emily Coolidge Toker recommends the book to anyone looking for a quick and convincing call to action

Tax compliance perceptions and formalization of small businesses in south Africa

This paper is based on large-scale surveys of formal and informal small businesses in South Africa, including questions about their experiences and perceptions about tax compliance, tax morale, and related variables. The survey findings suggest that formalization is more likely to take place in urban areas, involving relatively larger firms, and those who already use proper bookkeeping. Informal firms who said they were likely to register for tax in the near future were more likely than other informal firms to report higher satisfaction with government services, and to believe most businesses pay their taxes. The most-cited advantages of being registered for tax included better access to government services, better access to financing, and better opportunities for growth.Taxation&Subsidies,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,Tax Law,Fiscal Adjustment

Small businesses in south Africa : who outsources tax compliance work and why ?

The authors use firm-level survey data on 998 small and medium enterprises registered for tax in South Africa regarding tax compliance costs to investigate the use of outsourcing to complete tax compliance tasks. Overall, about 43 percent of the enterprises do all their tax compliance work in-house, 11 percent outsource all their tax compliance work, and the remaining 46 percent use a combination of both ("partial outsourcing"). The data display an inverted-U shape for outsourcing of tax compliance tasks: the smallest firms (those under R 300,000 turnover or well under US$50,000) tend not to outsource, due to a combination of relatively higher cost-burden and less complexity. Relatively larger firms (those with more than R 14 million turnover or about US$2 million) report that they have sufficient in-house capacity and therefore do not need to outsource. Those in the middle are most likely to outsource at least some of their tax compliance work, mostly because tax is a specialist field and they presumably lack sufficient capacity in-house. The survey data show that the costs of tax compliance are clearly the highest for those who engage in partial outsourcing, as it appears there is likely duplication of effort. Most such firms could reduce their tax compliance costs (and probably minimize the incidence of post-filing problems) by moving from partial to full outsourcing of all tax compliance work.Taxation&Subsidies,Emerging Markets,Debt Markets,E-Business,Tax Policy and Administration

The Alaska Marriage Amendment: The People’s Choice on the Last Frontier

I Sverige beräknas 17 % av befolkningen ha en hörselnedsättning, vilket innebär att det är den vanligaste sensoriska funktionsnedsättningen. Idag finns det en mängd studier som visar att hörselnedsättning är relaterat till sämre psykisk hälsa. Acceptans av sin hörselnedsättning har visat sig vara positivt för hörselnedsatta och samvarierar med hjälpsökande. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) är en transdiagnostisk behandling där psykopatologi antas bero på en hög grad av upplevelsemässigt undvikande och fusion med tankar. Målet i ACT är att öka psykologisk flexibilitet där acceptans är en betydande komponent. Denna explorativa studie undersökte förändringsprocesser i ACT för personer med hörselnedsättning där utfallet var känslomässig och social anpassning för hörselnedsättningen (HHIE-S). De förändringsprocesser som prövades var acceptans (HAQ), som tidigare visat på medierande effekt för ACT, samt två alternativa förändringsprocesser; self-efficacy (HSE-4) och upplevd stress (PSS-4). Behandlingen bestod av åtta internetadministrerade moduler givna med behandlarstöd där veckovisa mätningar av förändringsprocesser och utfall användes. Studiens resultat visar att behandlingsgruppen upplevde marginellt signifikant mindre problem med känslomässig och social anpassning för hörselnedsättningen (HHIE-S). Studiens resultat pekar på att hörselrelaterad acceptans (HAQ) och self- efficacy (HSE-4) medierar behandlingens effekt på deltagarnas känslomässiga och sociala anpassning för hörselnedsättning (HHIE-S). Således tillför denna studie ytterligare belägg för acceptans som förändringsprocess i ACT. Även self-efficacy kan vara en intressant mediator att beakta i fortsatt forskning.