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Books in Social sciences and humanities

  • Parmana

    Prehistoric Maize and Manioc Subsistence Along the Amazon and Orinoco
    • 1st Edition
    • Anna Curtenius Roosevelt
    • English
    Parmana: Prehistoric Maize and Manioc Subsistence along the Amazon and Orinoco argues for a reinterpretation of prehistoric subsistence in the Greater Amazonian region of South America. Based on the preliminary results of an archaeological fieldwork in Parmana of the Orinoco basin, Venezuela, the book re-evaluates some of the assumptions made by anthropologists about human adaptation and the development of aboriginal culture in Amazonia. Comprised of six chapters, this volume begins with a review of the theories of five scholars of aboriginal Amazonia in terms of logic and documentation: Julian Steward, Betty Meggers, Robert Carneiro, Donald Lathrap, and Daniel Gross. The next chapter presents an alternative theory, the hypothesis of technological change, and explains its theoretical framework. The demographic theory of cultural evolution is discussed, and its basis in general evolutionary theory is explained. Subsequent chapters focus on the empirical evidence for the hypothesis in studies of tropical resources, with emphasis on the productivity of tropical lowland soils and Amazonian faunal resources as well as the roles of maize and manioc in prehistoric Amazonian subsistence; the physical and biological characteristics of the Parmana region as an environment for prehistoric human adaptation; and the history of subsistence and population growth in prehistoric Parmana. The final chapter suggests possible directions for future research on the development of aboriginal culture in Amazonia. The book is illustrated with numerous maps, tables, and photographs, most of them never published before. This monograph should be of interest to archaeologists and anthropologists.

  • The Export—Import Bank

    An Economic Analysis
    • 1st Edition
    • David P. Baron
    • Karl Shell
    • English
    The Export—Import Bank: An Economic Analysis provides a critical analysis of the export financing issue and the Eximbank's performance in fulfilling its congressional mandate. The analysis is based on extensive interviews with Eximbank officials and on numerous internal documents in addition to published materials. This book is composed of 11 chapters that reflect the three perspectives on Eximbank’s performance. First, an analysis of the need for such financing is presented in conjunction with an assessment of the competitiveness of U.S. programs compared with those provided by other nations. Second, Eximbank performance is evaluated in terms of the cost of its programs, their potential welfare impacts, and the likely impact on U.S. exports. Third, an evaluation is provided of the Eximbank's decision making and its methodology for evaluating the impact of its direct credit program. Recommendations are made concerning U.S. export financing objectives, strategies for achieving those objectives, and Eximbank administrative procedures. This work also provides an economic analysis of Eximbank financing and includes a case study of Eximbank decision making in the granting of a $200 million aircraft credit to Ansett Airlines of Australia. This book will prove useful to those who are interested in international trade and finance, as well as those concerned more broadly with government intervention in markets.

  • Alpacas, Sheep, and Men

    The Wool Export Economy and Regional Society in Southern Peru
    • 1st Edition
    • Benjamin S. Orlove
    • E. A. Hammel
    • English
    Alpacas, Sheep, and Men: The Wool Export Economy and Regional Society in Southern Peru investigates the response of the Sicuani region in southern Peru to the wool export economy and its consequent integration into the nation-state in the late nineteenth century. The book traces the economic and political conflicts engendered by the export economy, such as those between landlords and peasants in the countryside and landlords versus traders in town. It also examines how these conflicts shaped the metamorphosis of a closed, isolated, localized society into an open one and its incorporation into national politics as well as global economics. Comprised of 11 chapters, this book begins with a review of the theories of modernization and dependency, followed by a discussion on the development of the world market for wool and the component elements of the wool economy of the entire southern Peru. Subsequent chapters focus on the regional society in more detail, with emphasis on the concept of region and the economic activities of different sectors; variation in forms of land tenure and labor relations in two provinces; the relations among herders, peasants, and artisans; and regional politics. The three major groups of artisans and workers in the region who use wool are considered, namely, urban furriers, textile mill workers, and rural weavers. The book concludes with an analysis of the fundamental importance of the wool export economy in the Sicuani region using the sectorial model. This monograph should be of interest to students and anthropologists.

  • Recent Trends in Social Learning Theory

    • 1st Edition
    • Ross D. Parke
    • English
    Recent Trends in Social Learning Theory offers a convenient overview of the state of social learning theory. This book is organized into six chapters. Chapter 1 provides a detailed discussion of the social learning theory, followed by an analysis of the theoretical views on the social reinforcement issue in Chapter 2. The contiguity theory of modeling and important role played by symbolic coding processes in imitation are described in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 elaborates the developmental analysis of imitation, while Chapter 5 outlines an empirical and theoretical overview of the status of punishment and its role in the development of self-control in children. The last chapter summarizes the contributions compiled in this text. This publication is recommended for students and professionals in child development and social and clinical psychology.

  • Analysis of Economic Time Series

    A Synthesis
    • 1st Edition
    • Marc Nerlove + 2 more
    • Karl Shell
    • English
    Analysis of Economic Time Series: A Synthesis integrates several topics in economic time-series analysis, including the formulation and estimation of distributed-lag models of dynamic economic behavior; the application of spectral analysis in the study of the behavior of economic time series; and unobserved-component... models for economic time series and the closely related problem of seasonal adjustment. Comprised of 14 chapters, this volume begins with a historical background on the use of unobserved components in the analysis of economic time series, followed by an Introduction to the theory of stationary time series. Subsequent chapters focus on the spectral representation and its estimation; formulation of distributed-lag models; elements of the theory of prediction and extraction; and formulation of unobserved-component... models and canonical forms. Seasonal adjustment techniques and multivariate mixed moving-average autoregressive time-series models are also considered. Finally, a time-series model of the U.S. cattle industry is presented. This monograph will be of value to mathematicians, economists, and those interested in economic theory, econometrics, and mathematical economics.

  • Life-Span and Change in a Gerontological Perspective

    • 1st Edition
    • Joep M. A. Munnichs + 2 more
    • English
    Life-Span and Change in a Gerontological Perspective provides a critical evaluation of different methodological and theoretical approaches to the study of behavioral development in a life-span perspective. This book addresses the need for more integrated knowledge in the field of gerontological and life-span psychology. Organized into three parts encompassing 12 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the most significant longitudinal studies in a life-span perspective. This text then examines the developmental research in adulthood and old age, which provide insights into processes specific to the later periods of the life span and theoretical conceptualizations of development and its determinants during the whole life-span. Other chapters consider the connection between the age of longitudinal studies and the theory used implicitly. This book discusses as well data on the intelligence of the elderly. The final chapter deals with the problems and processes involving family networks and aging. This book is a valuable resource for psychologists, social scientists, and gerontologists.

  • Economics and Human Welfare

    Essays in Honor of Tibor Scitovsky
    • 1st Edition
    • Michael J. Boskin
    • English
    Economic Theory, Econometrics, and Mathematical Economics: Economics and Human Welfare: Essays in Honor of Tibor Scitovsky focuses on the principles, influence, and contributions of Tibor Scitovsky on economics. The selection first elaborates on welfare economics and microeconomic theory, property rights doctrine and demand revelation under incomplete information, and experiments in the pricing of theater tickets. Discussions focus on the effect on audience composition, volume, and revenues, failure of bargaining under privacy, growing disenchantment with economic growth, and bargaining as a game of incomplete information. The text then takes a look at economics and the transformation of the idea of progress and changes in the size distribution of income. The text ponders on welfare criteria, distribution, and cost- benefit analysis; position of ethics in the theory of production; and rationing and price as methods of restricting demand for specific products. Topics include excise taxation with revenue distributed like rations; private and social returns to morality; effect of changes in the cost of organization and communication; and logical and historical foundation of the theory of the welfare state. The selection is highly recommended for economists and researchers interested in pursuing studies on the relationship of economics and human welfare.

  • The Regulatory Process and Labor Earnings

    • 1st Edition
    • Ronald G. Ehrenberg
    • Richard B. Freeman
    • English
    The Regulatory Process and Labor Earnings focuses on one form of government intervention in the marketplace—state regulation of public utilities. This book provides the most comprehensive study of labor costs in a regulated industry and includes a summary of a major econometric study. This text addresses a number of related issues, such as the effect of regulatory process to the structure of collective bargaining and labor earnings in regulated industries, legal rights of state utility commissions to deny proposed rate increases that are based on excessive upturns in labor cost, and incentive schemes that can be used to encourage public utilities to hold down labor and non-labor cost increases. This publication is a good reference for students and individuals involved in the regulatory process.

  • Tone

    A Linguistic Survey
    • 1st Edition
    • Victoria A. Fromkin
    • English
    Tone: A Linguistic Survey is a nine-chapter text that considers the phonetics and phonology of tone from both a synchronic and a diachronic point of view. The first chapters deal with the physiological and perceptual correlations of tone. These chapters also describe the interactions of tonal and nontonal features. The succeeding chapters provide the phonetic basis for phonological tonal phenomena. These topics are followed by discussions of the physical and physiological aspects of tone, the number of possible contrastive tones in a language, and a suprasegmental representation of tones based on linguistic evidence. This text also summarizes the kinds of tone rules found in languages and the important syntactic function played by tone in a number of the world’s languages, particularly those in Africa. The final chapters look into the general and specific principles that constrain historical tone change. This book will prove useful to students with phonology course.

  • Spatial Learning Strategies

    Techniques, Applications, and Related Issues
    • 1st Edition
    • Charles D. Holley + 1 more
    • English
    Spatial Learning Strategies: Techniques, Applications, and Related Issues reviews the state of the art in spatial learning strategies and suggests ways in which such strategies (for example, spatial and semantic-network representations) may be more powerfully instantiated in text design and technology applications. Some of the most promising work in the field of learning strategies is documented. Comprised of 15 chapters, this book begins with an introduction to some of the theoretical underpinnings of spatial learning strategies as well as selected theories of information processing. The next section contains reports on specific learner-oriented techniques that have been developed to improve the performances of students with respect to text processing. The discussion then turns to reports on specific techniques that have been developed and applied to other types of processing tasks (for example, test taking, problem solving) or to teacher-author communication, including text analysis and instructional strategies. The application of networking as a learning strategy to hearing-impaired students is also considered, along with schematizing, mapping, and concept structuring. The book concludes by assessing the implications of spatial strategies for education and applied research. This monograph will be of interest to behaviorists, cognitive and educational psychologists, teachers, school administrators, and policymakers.

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