This book discusses narrative as an adaptive cultural mechanism among Gypsies in Serbia. As a key traditional trait of Serbian Gypsies, storytelling, conveyed along kin generations, influences the behavior of all who listen. Since their appearance in the Balkans centuries ago, an insecure social environment has shaped their cultural traditions, including that of storytelling. Their traditional stories reaffirm the strong identity with their kinship group, yet, at the same time, plead loudly for recognition from outsiders. The success achieved by Gypsies in maintaining themselves and their...

The work establishes the relative and absolute chronology of Paul s life. It demonstrates that Paul went to Jerusalem only two times after his conversion. The second visit, which was planned in Rom and described retrospectively in Gal, ended up with the Antiochene conflict. The following Eucharistic schism within early Christianity has lasted for at least a century after Paul s death in AD 49. The so-called Pastoral Letters, which are in fact ethopoeic, confirm this state of matters. The history of the Pauline mission, as it was described in the Acts of the Apostles, is a result of sixfold...

The aim of this study is to better understand stable capital growth of German properties and to contribute to the explanation of stable fund returns. In the course of the investigation, evidence is found that both phenomena are interrelated. All analyses are based on publicly available data; therefore they are not limited by client interests. Results show three different pieces of evidence on return smoothing, namely the influence on valuation, the timing of valuations, and the influence on returns resulting in return differences by calendar months. Together with the notion of internationally...

This thesis empirically analyses three individual research questions around initial day returns, long-run performance and valuation of initial public offerings of European Property Companies. The first question examines whether IPO signals such as underpricing reveal proprietary information about the prospects of an issuing firm s underlying industry such as the performance of direct real estate investments. The results in fact show a positive relation between underpricing and average property yields of the issuing companies target investment area twelve months after the IPO. The second...

The papers in this collection discuss broadly understood cognitive turns in the philosophy of language, inspired by the Chomskyan revolution in linguistics, Langacker's and Lakoff's Cognitive Linguistics, but also phenomenology, Relevance Theory and Classical Indian Philosophy. The individual texts investigate, from different angles, the relations between philosophy of language and linguistics, and contribute to the development of theoretical frameworks for studying language. Most of the contributions were presented at the first International Conference on Philosophy of Language and...

The authors discuss low-input agricultural strategies known and practised by many subsistence and smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, which are efficient and intensify food production. Their proposed technologies are suitable options useable in response to concerns about the environmental impact made by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Therefore, new agricultural technologies should be used in order to avoid land degradation but rather improve soil through appropriate conservation practices. With the help of these new low-input strategies, the exploitation of land leading to...

In light of attempts to trace the philosophical and historical foundations of educational administration as an academic field of study that is concerned with the management and operation of educational organisations, this book aims at reviewing important epistemological developments in this field since the early 1960s. Specifically, the author poses several questions, such as what counts as the field of educational administration and what is this field in each decade since the early 1960s? What is the knowledge base of educational administration? What is its unique identity? And what are the...

The book focuses on the linkages between institutions, inequality and development. It analyzes formal political institutions, in particular the relationship between democracy and human development. It also centers on informal social institutions leading to the exclusion of population groups such as women and indigenous people. To measure these institutions in the case of gender inequality the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) and its five subindices are proposed and for the indigenous -disadvantage- the indigenous dummy is used. The dissertation shows that formal and informal...

The articles in this volume were originally presented in spring 2009 at an international conference hosted by the Institute of Germanic and Romance Languages and Cultures at Tallinn University in Estonia. The theme of -crossing boundaries- is reflected in the rich mix of genres, cultures, applications, and critical theories considered here. Indeed, these articles demonstrate that crossing boundaries can be a companionable journey as well an intellectually enriching experience."

Indirect and Direct Aggression consists of 24 chapters written by distinguished scholars within the field of aggression research, covering indirect aggression, bullying in schools, adult bullying, and societal and biological aspects of aggression. Indirect aggression is the most typical form of aggression used by women in most cultures. It is an aggressive strategy that is carried out by means of social manipulation that enables the perpetrator to go unnoticed and thereby escape retaliation. Knowledge about indirect aggression and its mechanisms is crucial for all anti-bullying...