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Based on a review of the diverse practices of how armed groups tax, we highlight that a full account of why armed groups tax needs to go beyond revenue motivations, to also engage with explanations related to ideology, legitimacy, institution building, legibility and control of populations, and the performance of public authority. This article builds on two distinct literatures, on armed groups and on taxation, to provide the first systematic exploration of the motivations of armed group taxation. We problematize common approaches toward armed group taxation and state-building, and outline key questions of a new research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducts a thorough analysis of Abi Al-Tayyib Al-Mutanabbi's poem 'My Heart Is a Flame' through the philosophical lens of German thinker Friedrich Nietzsche. It emphasizes Nietzsche's concept that superior humans are distinguished by their might. The research seeks to challenge the prevailing belief, supported by writers like Taha Husein, Blachere, and Abdulla Al-Ghuthami, that Al-Mutanabbi was a hypocritical, exploitative, and excessively arrogant poet who degraded others while asserting his individuality. The study explores two pivotal axes: the first focuses on Saif al - Dawla, emphasizing the elevation of the model and spaces of undermining; the second centers on Al-Mutanabbi, highlighting themes of superior ego and the fallacy of equity. In conclusion, the study presents the researcher's findings, offering justifications that underscore Al-Mutanabbi's egoism. By delving into Al-Mutanabbi's individuality, including poetic prowess, the pursuit of supremacy, engagement in war, courage, and boldness, the study contends that such characteristics fueled his distinct egoism. Furthermore, the research addresses Al-Mutanabbi's rejection of humiliation and arrogance, as elucidated through his disassociation from Saif al - Dawla, the Emir, and his court, following a dramatic ideological shift and an attempted assault on the poet's capabilities. This emancipation from flattery and avarice for Saif al - Dawla 's gifts is posited as a significant aspect of Al-Mutanabbi's resilience and selfhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems of chameleon swarm algorithm (CSA), such as slow convergence speed, poor robustness, and ease of falling into the local optimum, a multi-strategy improved chameleon optimization algorithm (ICSA) is herein proposed. Firstly, logistic mapping was introduced to initialize the chameleon population to improve the diversity of the initial population. Secondly, in the prey-search stage, the sub-population spiral search strategy was introduced to improve the global search ability and optimization accuracy of the algorithm. Then, considering the blindness of chameleon's eye turning to find prey, the Lévy flight strategy with cosine adaptive weight was combined with greed strategy to enhance the guidance of random exploration in the eyes' rotation stage. Finally, a nonlinear varying weight was introduced to update the chameleon position in the prey-capture stage, and the refraction reverse-learning strategy was used to improve the population activity in the later stage so as to improve the ability of the algorithm to jump out of the local optimum. Eighteen functions in the CEC2005 benchmark test set were selected as an experimental test set, and the performance of ICSA was tested and compared with five other swarm intelligent optimization algorithms. The analysis of the experimental results of 30 independent runs showed that ICSA has stronger convergence performance and optimization ability. Finally, ICSA was applied to the UAV path-planning problem. The simulation results showed that compared with other algorithms, the paths generated by ICSA in different terrain scenarios are shorter and more stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-performance sparse model is very important for processing high-dimensional data. Therefore, based on the quadratic approximate greed pursuit (QAGP) method, we can make full use of the information of the quadratic lower bound of its approximate function to get the relaxation quadratic approximate greed pursuit (RQAGP) method. The calculation process of the RQAGP method is to construct two inexact quadratic approximation functions by using the m-strongly convex and L-smooth characteristics of the objective function and then solve the approximation function iteratively by using the Iterative Hard Thresholding (IHT) method to get the solution of the problem. The convergence analysis is given, and the performance of the method in the sparse logistic regression model is verified on synthetic data and real data sets. The results show that the RQAGP method is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greed combines dissatisfaction with one's current state of affairs with an unsatisfiable desire for more. It motivates people to acquire more and has many societal implications. Various scholars have argued that greed is associated with, or even equated to the motive of self-interest. And hence, they have also argued that greed is associated negatively with other-interest (some definitions even suggest that greed produces negative externalities and harm-to-others). To date, however, these ideas have not been scrutinized empirically. In this article we report three survey studies (N1 = 145, N2 = 302, and N3 = 346) that adopted an individual differences perspective to investigate how dispositional greed, self-interest, and other-interest are related to each other. The results from correlational analyses and confirmatory factor analyses indicate that greed is distinct from self-interest, and from other-interest. The results also reveal that greed and self-interest are differentially related to various distinct behavioral inclinations. The current findings corroborate recent research on greed and adds to the understanding of this motivational construct and the potential harm it can inflict on others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gambling is common in the US, yet nearly one in three players experience gambling-related problems. Using Self-Determination Theory, this study explores how three causality orientations—autonomous, controlled, and impersonal—affect the severity of problem gambling. The study further investigates the mediating roles of nonattachment, dispositional greed, and anhedonia to illuminate how these orientations relate to problem gambling. The data from 675 participants (59% male; Mean age = 40.4 years, SD = 12.9) via Amazon's Mechanical Turk were collected following a screening procedure to identify at-risk players. Findings showed that dispositional greed mediated the impact of a controlled orientation on problem gambling severity, while anhedonia mediated the effect of impersonal orientation. Unexpectedly, nonattachment did not explain the effect of autonomous orientation on problem gambling, though a negative association was still observed. This research enhances understanding of how individual differences and causality orientations contribute to problem gambling behavior. The implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The factors contributing to corruption within the construction sector have yet to be associated with the phenomenon of greed—the pursuit of self-interest and a widely recognized and extensively studied primary catalyst for corrupt practices. The mechanisms by which self-centeredness culminates in corruption within the construction industry, the prevalence of greed among the various stakeholders involved in the construction industry, and the potential impact of greed and its diverse manifestations on corruption within the construction industry remain elusive. Thus, this study analyses the diverse impacts of different manifestations of greed and self-interest on the various forms of corruption observed among construction stakeholders. The individuals involved in this study are contractors who are actively involved in the execution of building and construction projects within the geographical boundaries of Nigeria. A factor structure validity, construct validity, convergent validity, and hypothesis test using structural equation modeling were performed on the items assessed in the questionnaire. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between greed and self-interest in five specific pathways. The study found that the manifestations of corruption among contractors are subject to varying degrees of strength, contingent upon the influence of greed and self-interest. It was evident in the findings that the coexistence of biological, psychological, and social disorders contributes to an increased susceptibility to partake in corruption. The study contributes to knowledge by revealing that corruption is a sequential phenomenon initiated by greed, intensified by insatiable desires, and ultimately manifested through self-interested associations. These associations create an intricate web of influences and a complex network that enable corrupt practices within the construction industry. Practical Applications: Practical applications of this study's findings are in terms of understanding the multifaceted nature of corruption and designing effective interventions aimed at addressing greed and self-interest-related issues within the construction sector. The study enables an understanding of the drivers behind insatiable needs by explaining that the types and severity of corruption are inherent in the different levels of greed and the different ways in which self-interest drives individuals to engage in corrupt activities. The study's practical application in developing corruption interventions or prevention strategies is the need to promote transparency, accountability, and integrity in both the public and private sectors by exploring the relationship between socioeconomic disparities, cultural norms, political systems, international cooperation, technology, and economic consequences. The interventions should focus on education, raising awareness about the negative consequences of greed, and promoting empathy and altruism as a means to counter excessive self-interest, and laying emphasis on the benefits of cooperation and collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volatile cryptocurrency market offers investors the chance for substantial capital gains. In this research, we examine the role of dispositional greed and need for cognition (NFC) on judgments about crypto and stocks. Drawing on the dualistic model of passion, we examine two potential mediators of the effects: harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(4), 756–767. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000031, we examine two potential mediators of the effects: harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP). Following a preregistered survey (N = 258), we found that the effect of greed on crypto judgments was mediated by HP rather than OP. This result was replicated for stocks. The effect of NFC on attitudes was mediated by HP. The findings show that (1) dispositional greed and NFC offer insights into consumer judgments of crypto and stocks, (2) HP rather than OP mediates the effects of greed and NFC on crypto and share judgments, and (3) that the effects of dispositional greed and NFC on judgments is similar for crypto and stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyze whether disvalues—that is, undesirable traits and emotions that have a negative impact on the individual and are reflected in the Seven Deadly Sins (anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, and sloth) and the Dark Triad traits (narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy)—have a predictive power for pathological and uncontrollable shopping behavior (compulsive shopping). Two studies were conducted on as many consumer samples to examine the relationship between disvalues and compulsive shopping behavior and the influence of personality traits on this relationship. The results of Study 1 confirmed that anger, envy, gluttony, and pride, as well as psychopathy directly influence compulsive shopping behavior. In addition, two types of consumers were identified: those who are guided by values (Sober and Light consumers) and those who are guided by disvalues (Vicious and Dark consumers). Only the latter exhibit a high levels of compulsive shopping behavior. Study 2 found that personality traits (in terms of the Big Five factors) moderate the relationship between disvalues and compulsive shopping behavior. More specifically, this relationship is negatively moderated by conscientiousness and agreeableness, and positively moderated by neuroticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Humanitas: International Journal of Social Sciences / Uluslararasi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Humanitas: International Journal of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article delves into how Rabindranath Tagore examined the theme of freedom in his works, influenced by his experiences under foreign rule, including issues like racism, language barriers, living conditions, and the freedom to voice opinions. Tagore criticizes narrow nationalism, which he views as fueled by selfish ambition and greed. His plays--Dakghar (The Post Office), Achalayatan (The Immovable), Muktadhara (The Waterfall), and Raktakarabi (Red Oleanders)--each reveal different dimensions of his expansive concept of freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of eHumanista is the property of Professor Antonio Cortijo-Ocana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The renaissance of Aristotelian virtue ethics has produced an extensive philosophical literature that criticizes markets for a lack of virtues. Drawing on Michael Sandel's virtue-ethical critique of price gouging during natural disasters, we (1) identify and clarify serious misunderstandings in recurring price-gouging debates between virtue-ethical critics and economists. Subsequently, (2) we respond to Sandel's call for interdisciplinary dialogue. However, instead of solely calling on economics to embrace insights from virtue ethics, we prefer a two-sided version of interdisciplinary dialogue and argue that virtue ethics should embrace economic insights. In particular, we argue that if virtue ethics is to preserve its social relevance under modern conditions, it should re-conceptualize its notion of virtue and re-evaluate the self-interested but effective—and in this sense solidary—help among strangers via markets as virtuous rather than devaluate it as greed, that is, as vicious price gouging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on in-depth interviews with 29 active drug robbers (25 male, 4 female) from St. Louis, MO (USA), we explore restraint among people and in circumstances where there should be none. Focusing on greed restraint at the crime's payoff point (i.e., not taking everything one could when rewards are seized), we identify the decision-making constructs and conceptual pathways by which this happens and discuss their implications for improved specification of the relationship between criminal propensity, self-regulation, and risk sensitivity. We contend that self-centeredness is the one dimension of criminal propensity that is sufficiently receptive to risk sensitivity to make self-regulation possible, and that individuals with low trait self-control can show state self-control when ambiguity aversion and reference point expectations align to sate anomic greed. This refinement offers novel pathways for future study of dual-influence models of crime, and suggests that offender decision-making is best conceptualized as a process that unfolds during crimes rather than a discrete event that precedes them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, a connection exists between ignorance, poverty, greed, and corruption. A key aspect to understand this connection is by defining corruption and looking into its types, reasons, and trends; and the instances of fraud and corruption scandals tied to 'politically linked' people compared to the legal and procedural systems for fighting corruption in South Africa. Corruption and corruption scandals in South Africa not only erode the progress made since the 1990s democratic dispensation, but also hinder the country's efforts to address its key issues of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. Corruption and unethical behaviour by individuals with political connections pose an added risk to the well-being of the citizens. This is because dishonest behaviour hinders the provision of services, weakens economic development, and undermines the validity and operation of government entities. As long as the connection between ignorance, poverty, greed, and corruption is not tackled, addressing fraud and corruption will remain difficult. This study examines how ignorance, poverty, greed, and corruption are interconnected in South Africa. It adopted a qualitative research approach to examine that interconnectedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the significance of public perceptions of the wealthy and its potential impact on economic growth. It provides examples from China and Vietnam, where positive views of the rich have correlated with increased GDP per capita. The author conducted surveys in 13 countries, revealing varying attitudes towards the wealthy, with Vietnam having the most positive views. The article also delves into the topic of social envy towards the rich and how personal relationships with wealthy individuals can shape perceptions. It concludes by advocating for additional research on the influence of attitudes towards the rich on society and politics. [Extracted from the article]

We examine greed and grievance mechanisms that connect illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and piracy. We use several cases (e.g. Somalia, Nigeria) to illustrate these mechanisms and empirically examine the relationship between IUU fishing and state-year piracy events from 1990 to 2015. We find that countries experiencing significant levels of IUU fishing face much greater risks for piracy. We also evaluate several mediating conditions of our theory with interaction terms (state capacity, state fragility, and legal fishing incentives) and find that the relationship between IUU fishing and piracy is strongest for moderately developed states with greater state fragility and higher fish catch values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evangelicals living in a democracy are faced with the pressures of constitutionalism and the influence of secularism. These two forces unsettle God from the public spaces and enhance decadent culture. This article addresses the current challenges Evangelicals face in the decadent culture of democracy in South Africa. The essence of the proposal is how South African Evangelicals should maintain their confession, while surrounded by unethical practices of corruption and greed. An interdisciplinary approach is followed, so literature from the disciplines of Church History, Systematic Theology, Ethics, Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, and Political Studies are reviewed to address the problem. The history of the Evangelical faith and the rationale behind Evangelical awakenings open the discussion into the presentation. The Evangelical dogma is highlighted, followed by the definition of democracy with its entrenched decadent culture. Church, government, and the family are identified as places of contestation, where Evangelicals sense the threat to their doctrinal tenets. The challenge faced by Evangelicals can be addressed by remaining evangelically rooted and by holding unswervingly to three major doctrinal tenets, which are the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of human depravity, and in the belief that the Bible is the measure of faith and conduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psychologists define greed as a desire to acquire more and the dissatisfaction of never having enough, but studies have not examined the psychological processes that underlie and sustain this disposition. We propose that a desire to attain pride might be one emotional mechanism that promotes greedy acquisition. In this account, greedy people experience a boost of pride from acquisition but these feelings are short‐lived, potentially leading to the perpetual acquisitiveness characteristic of dispositional greed. Method: Four studies (including one reported in the SOM due to space limitations) using correlational, longitudinal, and daily‐diary methods (N = 1778) test hypotheses about how individuals high in dispositional greed respond emotionally to new acquisitions, both when they occur and several weeks later. Results: Greedy people experience heightened feelings of authentic pride in response to new acquisitions, but these feelings quickly fade. This pattern is distinct to authentic pride and not attributable to shared variance with positive affect. Greedy people also feel elevated hubristic pride in response to acquisitions, but this seems to be part of a dispositional tendency observed in response to a range of events. Conclusions: These studies provide a new understanding of a psychological process that is associated with, and could partially explain, greedy acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares attitudes toward magic in two very different works: the mid fourteenth-century Ayenbite of Inwit and the early fifteenth-century Dives and Pauper. Both works touch upon witchcraft and sorcery to a substantial degree. However, they take very different tacks. Dives and Pauper provides a detailed argument against magic, the first written in English, and has an unusually wide definition of witchcraft. As a community problem, witchcraft is matched to criminality, simony, and usury. Citations of civil and canon law advocate for a strong legalistic response to reverse England's moral and spiritual decline. The earlier Ayenbite of Inwit , a close translation of the 1279 Somme le Roi by Frere Laurent, is less clear. Its range of concerns about magic is narrower, concentrated upon pride and avarice, and it matches witchcraft to heresy. Yet, the text's attitude is opaque, allowing for the possibility that the magician's intentionality matters. Ayenbite calls for strong faith; Dives and Pauper demands law. Historically, and unfortunately, Dives and Pauper 's approach won out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary times, the theory and practice of cosmopolitanism have assumed several dimensions--cultural, ethical, political and economic. Ironically, the cultural and ethical dimensions of cosmopolitanism have been dominated by its political and economic dimensions, leading to capitalist imperialism, corporate globalization, ecological crisis as well as varied forms of cross-border dictatorship and terrorism. Therefore, there exists a quest to go beyond the traditional nation-state based on unjust political and economic dimensions and formulate alternative systems uniting peoples across the world, in order to combat capitalist greed, ecological destruction and the imperialism of superpowers. Mahatma Gandhi's seminal book Hind Swaraj (1909), the only work he himself translated from Gujarati into English, carries in it the seeds of such alternative systems. This paper aims to closely critique Hind Swaraj as a literary manifestation of the immense relevance, possibilities and limitations of cosmopolitanism in contemporary times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to develop a model connecting perceptions of restaurants' motives for applying sustainable practices with feelings of warmth, thus resulting in perceived value and willingness to pay premium prices (WTPP). Using two‐step covariance‐based structural equation modeling (CB‐SEM), data from 429 Thai customers revealed that positive images and warm glow result when customers perceive operators' motives as altruistic, impacting perceived sustainability value and WTPP. Generation analysis showed its moderating effect on the relationship between perceptions of egoism motive and warm glow feelings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge sabotage is alarmingly widespread in the workplace, resulting in detrimental consequences for the victim, organization, and other stakeholders. However, there is a dearth of empirical research on this phenomenon's predisposing and inhibiting factors. Against this backdrop, the current study developed and tested a model in which dispositional greed and cutting corners at work were considered predisposing factors. At the same time, ethical leadership was regarded as an inhibitor. Data were collected in three waves, with a time lag of three weeks intervals, from 322 full-time employees in various organizations spanning different sectors in Nigeria. The measurement and structural models of the study were analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that dispositional greed was positively related to cutting corners at work but not knowledge sabotage. Cutting corners at work and ethical leadership had positive and negative relationships with knowledge sabotage, respectively. Whereas cutting corners at work mediated the positive relationship between dispositional greed and knowledge sabotage, ethical leadership did not moderate the relationship between cutting corners at work and knowledge sabotage. Regarding implications of the findings, management can ensure that unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks that drastically slowdown work processes and stringent deadlines that make employees want to take shortcuts to save time are reduced if not completely eradicated. Organizations should also devise specific strategies to ensure that leaders adopt ethical leadership by, for example, making ethical leadership the reference criterion for selecting and evaluating leaders' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Present Paper introduces Kino as a man with responsibilities towards his family and values learnt from life. In this article, we bring out the true essence of life not being materialistic but by relinguishing a lavish life style . Kino is described as a self-learner with personal ideas, thoughts about his actions and place in his town. Kino’s acquisition of The Pearlfrom sea tests his character which has been already complicated by his ‘Pride, idealism, greed, strength, despair and honor’ which guides all men of those times. Kino wants to sell the pearl in order to send his son to school and prosper ; so he demands a fair price to buyers but the greedy towns men decides to rob him instead showcasing ‘The World’ corrupted values of the society. Steinbeck implicates Social Realism to the extent the society is exacting on the psyche of Kino’s small family and the subsequent realization of not being moral amidst the greed and corruption in making money for oneself. The irony is of implicating morality of men and is the crux of the novel. It tries to differentiate selfrespecting idealism of few to all men to greed. Kino wantins to live in reality, decides to throw the pearlaway. He flung it, to disassociate with the ‘sense of possession and insanity’, that drew him to greedy buyers. His act of decadence vanishes as he relinquishes his final rare asset ‘the pearl’. This renunciation helps him to regain peace for his soul.Hence,The Pearlis a ‘parable’wheresalvation is relevant to the current age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to clarify the inaccuracies in A.A. Navis's short fiction. The study utilizes a descriptive qualitative methodology, employing a mimetic approach and critical reading of the short tale "Tamu Yang Datang Di Hari Lebaran" by A.A. Navis to gather data. The narrative is a reflection of reality in Indonesian culture. Using a mimetic technique, the researcher analyzed the short tale "Tamu Yang Datang Di Hari Lebaran" by A.A. Navis and concluded that there are two types of mimesis. First, A.A. Navis' short narrative "Tamu Yang Datang Di Hari Lebaran" highlights several societal aspects, such as (1) the custom of returning home for Eid, (2) the halal bihalal customs, (3) the avarice of the powerful. Second, the social phenomena in A.A. Navis's short novel "Tamu Yang Datang Di Hari Lebaran" are distorted; they include the interpretation of Eid customs and the moral and social standards of officials who take advantage of their positions. Mimetic theory may, therefore, be used to study the short tale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Latin American & Latinx Visual Culture is the property of University of California Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper analyzes the effects of the revolving door, concentrating not only on the dynamics between regulators and firms but also on whether regulating the revolving door is optimal from the point of view of society. The study explores the trade-off between two interconnected aspects related to the revolving door: the 'lack of competence' and 'greed' of regulators. On the one hand, the revolving door facilitates the recruitment of highly qualified regulators by the government, drawn by the prospect of lucrative future compensation packages. On the other hand, it allows regulators to succumb to greed, enabling them to receive revenues after their term in office. This paper emphasizes that this propensity toward greed can manifest through two distinct channels: 'regulatory capture', which is illegal, and 'abuse of power', which, while legal, is unethical. This paper highlights that distinguishing whether the behavior of the regulator is either unlawful or unethical is of utmost importance for analyzing the optimal policy concerning regulators. On one end, the capture models advocate for regulated oversight of the revolving door to prevent corruption. On the other end, models of abuse of power, characterized by regulators generating 'bureaucratic capital', contribute to the acceptance of the revolving door practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire explained by greed or grievance? This study aimed to analyze the most important causes of the rebellion in Côte d'Ivoire. Specifically, it examines the effects of ethnicity on participation in a rebellion and checks the link between education, health and participation in a rebellion. To achieve this goal, a two- step approach is adopted. The first step was the establishment of the basics of an econometric model developed by Ballo and Rocco (2008) to analyze the causes of the civil war in Côte d'Ivoire. The second step was the description of data of 2.214 individuals used in the study, in order to test the hypotheses. By applying logit model, we obtained many significant results. We find that: educated people are less likely to join a rebellion; People from the North of Ivory Coast have more chance to join the rebellion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates whether companies with a higher payout ratio make fewer investments, to evaluate how firms make their decisions about corporate value creation. Furthermore, it examines how this yearning for dividends and the corresponding earning distribution affect the value creation for the shareholders in the long term. The findings show that companies with a higher level of dividends make fewer investments and deliver a lower return for shareholders. Higher levels of dividends generally imply a lower amount of resources to reinvest, negatively affecting long-term growth investing. Overall, the main insight is that the investor's "greed" and appetite for short-term results (in forms of dividends), drove a lower performance and creation of value for the same shareholders. The companies more oriented to the long term, in terms of investments and growth, reached a superior value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term polycrisis, coined by Edgar Morin at the turn of the millennium (Morin and Kern 1999), has been picked up by a handful of commentators recently, and it was also recently the topic of a special issue of Anthropology Today (Henig and Knight 2023, see also Kalb 2023). Ranging from biodiversity loss and climate change to mounting inequalities both globally and domestically, a widespread sense of powerlessness spreads even in countries considered democratic, often feeding conspirators, ethnonationalists, right-wing populists and others who promise simple answers to complex questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a general belief that when a person undertakes any business enterprise, he calculates profit as his ultimate aim. Profit is defined as the monetary gain made by a person by selling something for more than it costs him. As per the norms of the economic concept of medieval Europe, moral scruples such as greed and avarice were associated with the notion of profit. This in turn acted as a hindrance to pursue profit while undertaking the profession of business. In the sixteenth century, due to Calvinism, the life of business was given a new sanctity. In the context of India, we can anchor the fact that the calculation of profit was an integral aspect of the existence of the community of bania. This can be established with the help of a study of the Ardhakathanaka —an autobiographical memoir. It was written by Banarasidas in A.D. 1641 (V.S. 1698) when he was living at Agra. Banarasidas was a middle-class Jain merchant. While understanding the notion of profit, the present article looks into the aspect of whether religion acts as a restraint or promotes business as a profession. It enables us to seek an insight into the mercantile world of the early sixteenth and late seventeenth centuries. This was also the time when the Mughal Empire was in its heyday. The Ardhakathanaka is an invaluable contemporary source; hence, it has great historical value. Profit being an integral aspect of mercantile life, this feature is explicitly highlighted in the Ardhakathanaka. We get to know about the motives and methods employed by the bania community to earn profit. Despite providing immense, crucial information associated with mercantile life, historians have not highlighted this aspect of the Ardhakathanaka. The article is an attempt to draw the gaze of historians to a primary source providing vital first-hand information regarding the motives and methods in the pursuit of profit during the medieval period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial titled "Enduring Legacies of Greed and Corruption for the Modern African State" published in the Journal of Public Administration & Development Alternatives. The editorial discusses the global struggles of environmental justice and the interlocking forms of oppression that privilege a few while inflicting misery on many. It highlights the complexities and contradictions of globalization and the existence of modern-day empires. The editorial also focuses on the enduring legacies of colonial greed and corruption in the modern African state, using case studies from Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, post-apartheid South Africa, and state-owned enterprises in South Africa. The article recommends various measures to address corruption and challenges in public procurement, higher education funding, and risk management. [Extracted from the article]

Dr. Harold Black has made a career of investigating the effects of different rules and institutional arrangements on the extent to which market participants in finance can exercise a taste for discrimination. This paper considers the nature of Black's contributions, and reviews some particulars of his voluminous published research, focusing especially on his work on the number of "overages" charged by banks, and the differences in the effects of the race of bank owners, as explained by the race of customers. The paper concludes by connecting Dr. Black's work to his "origin story," which helps explain his consistent focus on careful empirical distinctions rather than preconceptions and biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumption is the function of disposable income. Consumption contributes a lot to the investment of any country. Consumption in a country depends on the marginal propensity to consume (MPC), Veblen effect, Snob effect, Bandwagon effect, Short sight of the consumer, etc. Keeping this in mind, producers produce those goods and services which can provide satisfaction to the consumers. Advertisement and marketing has become the lifeline of today's market structure which psychologically attracts the consumer so much that the consumer purchases goods and services without wanting them. Due to this ecological and social problems start in the society. This is where consumerism begins. America's great economist Professor Thorstein Veblen first spoke on the subject of consumerism which was based on conspicuous consumption. The problem of rising consumerism today is resulting in the reckless use of limited resources bestowed to us by mother nature. Since resources are limited, the excessive use of resources will lead to the exhaustion of non-renewable resources very quickly. Even it will be difficult, if not impossible, to compensate for the loss of renewable resources so fast. Today our greed and irresponsible behavior is the basic reason for all environmental issues and problems be it global warming, deforestation, pollution, or the issue of sustainability. This paper will highlight in detail how rising consumerism has led to many environmental issues and how simple living and high thinking can be the answer to sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As knowledge hiding is prevalent and often leaves severe detrimental consequences in its wake, it is imperative to place strategies on the front burner to identify its potential antecedents forthwith if there is going to be any headway to curtail the incidence of this phenomenon in organizations. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between dispositional greed and knowledge hiding with the perceived loss of knowledge power as an underlying mechanism. Design/methodology/approach: A multi-wave, three weeks apart strategy was used for data collection. A sample of 262 employees working full-time in various organizations operating across different industries in Nigeria participated in this study. Data were analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings: The results showed that dispositional greed related positively to a perceived loss of knowledge power but insignificantly to any of the three dimensions of knowledge hiding (i.e. playing dumb, evasive hiding and rationalized hiding). On the other hand, the relationship between perceived loss of knowledge power and the three dimensions of knowledge hiding was positive. Finally, dispositional greed had an indirect positive relationship with the three dimensions of knowledge hiding through perceived loss of knowledge power. Research limitations/implications: All the variables were self-reported, which may lead to the same source bias. Practical implications: Human resources managers can subject employees to cognitive restructuring training to help them identify thinking patterns that contribute to the perception of losing their power in the organization if they share knowledge and help reshape their perceptions regarding knowledge sharing. Management can use rewards to encourage employees to adopt knowledge sharing and refrain from knowledge hiding as a desired organizational norm. Originality/value: This study offers novel insights that identify an underlying mechanism that encourages greedy employees to enact knowledge hiding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how employees' deference to leader authority may induce their unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) and whether this translation is more likely to materialize in the presence of two personal factors (dispositional greed and proactive personality) and two organizational factors (workplace status and job rotation). Design/methodology/approach: The empirical assessment of the research hypotheses relies on quantitative survey data collected among 350 Canadian-based employees who work in the healthcare sector. The statistical analyses include hierarchical moderated regression. Findings: The role of deference to leader authority in stimulating UPB is greater when employees (1) have a natural disposition to always want more, (2) enjoy initiative taking, (3) believe that they have a great deal of prestige in the organization and (4) operate in an organizational environment in which job rotation across different departments is encouraged. Practical implications: The results inform managers about the risk that employees' willingness to obey organizational authorities unconditionally might escalate into negative behaviors that can cause harm to both the organization and employees in the long run, as well as the personal and organizational circumstances in which this escalation is more likely to occur. Originality/value: This study extends extant research by investigating the conditional effects of an unexplored determinant of UPB, namely, a personal desire to defer to organizational leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After combining the CPT1, SARF2, and greed and grievances dynamical systems, and the overreactions models, we conducted a questionnaire survey with a sample of 921 investors from North Kivu in the DRC, of which 879 (95%) were in the service sector. The evaluation of the risk taken by investors is carried out at two levels. At the first level, it is assessed according to an informational asymmetry focused on estimating probabilities describing the outlook for results over three years (from 2014 to 2016). At the second level, the analysis describes the investors' attitude regarding their level of profit expectation as an endogenous variable of heuristic optimization, cognitive bias, and self-expressive bias. The results show that the anomalies described in the interactive behavior of N-K investors during wartime uncertainty stem from a plurality of attitudes reflecting an ambiguity of choices dominated by a sub-reaction at the base of reluctance and a loss of opportunity in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces GREEDS as a new measure of optimistic sentiment in the market. We measure the optimistic component of investor sentiment by constructing the Geographically Revealed Economic Expectations disclosed by Search (GREEDS) index from households' search behavior on Google for a sample of 38 countries. Our results reveal that the GREEDS index positively correlates with global stock returns. We show the asymmetric effect of GREEDS, which is more prevalent in developed countries than emerging markets. Our findings also highlight the role of global sentiment in financial markets through the sentiment commonality effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk proneness and the lack of loss aversion are two different reasons to show varying degrees of risk-taking in decision situations. So far, little is known about the extent to which these two processes underly the influence of trait greed, trait anxiety, and age. The present study investigated risk- taking in decision making in these trait contexts using two variants of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) in an online study: A gain only and a mixed gambling BART. This was done to separate risk proneness from loss aversion. Individuals with high trait greed showed an increased risk decision-making behavior due to an increased risk proneness and not due to a reduced loss aversion. This is partly in contrast with previous findings in other tasks assessing risk proneness and loss aversion. These differences may be caused by the changes of perception during the gain only task. No significant effects were found for trait anxiety or age concerning risk-taking in decision-making behavior. Possible explanations for the lack of influence of these constructs are skewed distributions, omitting pathologically anxious subjects in anxiety and a restricted age range. The findings suggest that a lack of loss aversion is not a driving factor to explain elevated risk-taking in decision-making behavior in persons with high trait greed, but a higher reaction to reward in predominantly rewarding contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]