MDPI - Publisher of Open Access Journals

17 pages, 270 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rating Liberalization and Efficiency: Evidence from the Property-Liability Insurance Industry

by Ming-Kuo Chen and Chi-Hung Chang

J. Risk Financial Manag. 2025, 18(5), 274; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18050274 - 16 May 2025

Viewed by 348

The property-liability insurance market in Taiwan has implemented three-stage deregulation on rate-making since 2002. This research investigates whether the rating liberalization brought about improvements in efficiency and productivity of the property-liability insurance market. Using data on property-liability insurers in Taiwan over 2001 to [...] Read more.

The property-liability insurance market in Taiwan has implemented three-stage deregulation on rate-making since 2002. This research investigates whether the rating liberalization brought about improvements in efficiency and productivity of the property-liability insurance market. Using data on property-liability insurers in Taiwan over 2001 to 2019 and employing data envelopment analysis, we show that technical, cost, and revenue efficiencies have improved after rating liberalization. Post-liberalization productivity has improved as well, and the decomposition of productivity change demonstrates that change in technology contributes most to productivity improvement at the inception of liberalization, and the contribution of efficiency improvement follows when rating controls are further released. Further analyses reveal that technical and revenue efficiency rose in the third stage of liberalization and cost efficiency improved in the second and third stages. Our findings suggest that the removal of price controls creates an operating environment with less restrictions and thus favors progress in efficiency of the property-liability insurance market. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Financial Markets)

9 pages, 2391 KiB

Open AccessCase Report

Porcupettes Management at Wildlife Rescue Centers and Liberation into the Wild: Implications for Post-Liberation Success

by Francesca Coppola, Chiara Dari, Giuseppe Vecchio, Marco Aloisi, Giorgia Romeo, Claudia Biliotti and Antonio Felicioli

Animals 2023, 13(9), 1546; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091546 - 5 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2194

Abstract

The crested porcupine is a frequent host species in wildlife rescue centers and no guidelines for its management, liberation and post-liberation monitoring are yet available. Here, captive-grown porcupines’ behavior and survival in the wild after liberation were investigated and described for the first [...] Read more.

The crested porcupine is a frequent host species in wildlife rescue centers and no guidelines for its management, liberation and post-liberation monitoring are yet available. Here, captive-grown porcupines’ behavior and survival in the wild after liberation were investigated and described for the first time. Management strategies adopted at the centers could affect porcupine adaptation to the natural environment. The detention of porcupettes in single cages and fed only human-supplied food may not ensure ethological welfare, nor a suitable behavioral development compatible with wildlife. The liberation of captive-grown porcupines should also be carefully planned to promote and increase the possibility of post-liberation success. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Importance of Sanctuaries and Rehabilitation Centres for Wildlife)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 272 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Openness, Commitment, and Confidence in Interreligious Dialogue: A Cultural Analysis of a Western Debate

by Benno van den Toren

Religions 2023, 14(4), 439; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040439 - 24 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2575

Abstract

In Western theological reflection, the relationship between openness and commitment in interreligious dialogue is often construed as a relationship between two ends of a seesaw or two arms of a balance; raising one end lowers the other, and one cannot therefore be simultaneously [...] Read more.

In Western theological reflection, the relationship between openness and commitment in interreligious dialogue is often construed as a relationship between two ends of a seesaw or two arms of a balance; raising one end lowers the other, and one cannot therefore be simultaneously fully committed and open. In critical conversation with the work of Catherine Cornille and Marianne Moyaert, this paper argues that this perspective is related to a specific understanding of the “subject position” of the religious subject in late-modernity which is characterized by the subject–object divide. This divide characterizes many modern and postmodern epistemologies of religion, so that both commitment and openness are primarily rooted in the capacities of the religious subject. However, the Christian faith understands faith as a response to the divine initiative of God in Christ, and therefore understands commitment as grounded in confidence in this decisive divine salvific event. From this standpoint, both full confidence and openness are reconcilable and can even strengthen each other rather than being considered incompatible and in competition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Churches in Europe and the Challenge of Cultural Witness)

21 pages, 1000 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Four Approaches to Daodejing Translations and Their Characteristics in Korean after Liberation from Japan

by Heejung Seo-Reich

Religions 2022, 13(10), 998; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100998 - 20 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4430

Abstract

This article gathered and analyzed the Daodejing (DDJ) translations in Korean that appeared after the liberation from Japan and classified them into four perspectives: the perspective continuing Gyeonghak 經學 (Traditional Confucian exegetics), the literary and linguistic perspective, the religious perspective, and the philosophical [...] Read more.

This article gathered and analyzed the Daodejing (DDJ) translations in Korean that appeared after the liberation from Japan and classified them into four perspectives: the perspective continuing Gyeonghak 經學 (Traditional Confucian exegetics), the literary and linguistic perspective, the religious perspective, and the philosophical perspective according to the academic perspective and methodology of translation. Simultaneously, this paper clarified the translation characteristics by comprehensively examining the formation process of each perspective in their historical contexts. Although Daoism had been excluded from the academic curriculum during the pre-liberation era along with Buddhism as heresy, it was later hastily embraced within the category of Oriental Studies to build a cultural consensus when the modern and contemporary educational system was established. In the post-liberation era, the formation of each DDJ translation perspective is directly related to the academic status of Daoism during the modernization of the Korean educational system—a process in which the years 1990 and 2015 stand out as essential turning points. The characteristics of DDJ translations in Korean can be analyzed from five perspectives depending on the Ur-text, ideological perspective, linguistic methodology, national characteristics, and relation to Christianity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Laozegetics: Engaging the Multiplicity of Laozi Interpretations and Translations)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 413 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biopolitical Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Russia, France, Germany, and the UK: The “Post-Truth” Coverage by RT

by Alexandra Yatsyk

Soc. Sci. 2022, 11(3), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11030139 - 18 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3650

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the COVID-19 crisis in Russia, France, Germany, and the UK, as covered by the Russian state media outlet RT (formerly Russia Today). I view the RT coverage through the prism of biopolitics and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to [...] Read more.

This paper seeks to examine the COVID-19 crisis in Russia, France, Germany, and the UK, as covered by the Russian state media outlet RT (formerly Russia Today). I view the RT coverage through the prism of biopolitics and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to demonstrate multiple discrepancies in its “post-truth” knowledge production strategies. I argue that these strategies aim to expose the hybrid and controversial nature of biopolitical governance in Western democracies during the COVID-19 pandemic as they struggle to strike a balance between imposing social restrictions and safeguarding public health. I also show how the (post)liberal biopolitical debate on personal responsibility and state resilience in times of emergency could be applied by authoritarian regimes for self-description. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The COVID-19 Pandemic and New Dimensions of Geo- and Biopolitics in the Global East)

16 pages, 971 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling Post-Liberalized European Gas Market Concentration—A Game Theory Perspective

by Hassan Hamie, Anis Hoayek and Hans Auer

Forecasting 2021, 3(1), 1-16; https://doi.org/10.3390/forecast3010001 - 28 Dec 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3678

Abstract

The question of whether the liberalization of the gas industry has led to less concentrated markets has attracted much interest among the scientific community. Classical mathematical regression tools, statistical tests, and optimization equilibrium problems, more precisely non-linear complementarity problems, were used to model [...] Read more.

The question of whether the liberalization of the gas industry has led to less concentrated markets has attracted much interest among the scientific community. Classical mathematical regression tools, statistical tests, and optimization equilibrium problems, more precisely non-linear complementarity problems, were used to model European gas markets and their effect on prices. In this research, the parametric and nonparametric game theory methods are employed to study the effect of the market concentration on gas prices. The parametric method takes into account the classical Cournot equilibrium test, with assumptions on cost and demand functions. However, the non-parametric method does not make any prior assumptions, a factor that allows greater freedom in modeling. The results of the parametric method demonstrate that the gas suppliers’ behavior in Austria and The Netherlands gas markets follows the Nash–Cournot equilibrium, where companies act rationally to maximize their payoffs. The non-parametric approach validates the fact that suppliers in both markets follow the same behavior even though one market is more liquid than the other. Interestingly, our findings also suggest that some of the gas suppliers maximize their ‘utility function’ not by only relying on profit, but also on some type of non-profit objective, and possibly collusive behavior. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forecasting Commodity Markets)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 286 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Theology of Religions and Intertextuality: A Case Study of Christian–Confucian and Islamic–Confucian Dialogue in the Early 20th-Century China

by Wai Luen Kwok

Religions 2019, 10(7), 417; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10070417 - 3 Jul 2019

Viewed by 5942

Abstract

In this paper, I will propose an intertextual theology of religions from a non-Western cultural perspective through the works in The True Light Review, an official magazine of Chinese Baptist churches, and Yue Hua, a prominent and long-lived Muslim magazine. My aim [...] Read more.

In this paper, I will propose an intertextual theology of religions from a non-Western cultural perspective through the works in The True Light Review, an official magazine of Chinese Baptist churches, and Yue Hua, a prominent and long-lived Muslim magazine. My aim is to show that the religious discourses in these Chinese religious periodicals inform us of an alternative understanding of literary construction of religious plurality and challenge the current versions of theology of religions. With the concept of intertextuality, the differentiation and integration of religious identities indicates that language-constituted realities are multi-dimensional and multi-directional. In some respects, religious believers would like to differentiate themselves in the search for an authentic and meaningful life, but, they are nonetheless already interconnected and interrelated. In some other respects, they approach and embrace each other for integration to assert a common identity among religions in that area, but that could transform their religions with new meaning. Our case study will also further theological reflection of the nature of Christian life in predominantly non-Christian societies as an intertextual religious reality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christian Literature in Chinese Contexts)

14 pages, 242 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Theology and Scriptural Reasoning: A Muslim’s Approach to Interreligious Learning

by Betül Avcı

Religions 2018, 9(10), 297; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9100297 - 2 Oct 2018

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6246

Abstract

In this paper, I examine Comparative Theology (CT) and Scriptural Reasoning (SR), two distinctive interreligious learning practices, in relation to each other. I propose that these practices, with respect to their dialogical features and transformative power, represent two of the most noteworthy current [...] Read more.

In this paper, I examine Comparative Theology (CT) and Scriptural Reasoning (SR), two distinctive interreligious learning practices, in relation to each other. I propose that these practices, with respect to their dialogical features and transformative power, represent two of the most noteworthy current modes of interreligious dialogue. They achieve this by their ability to explicitly understand the “other.” This is also because they serve not only as tools in service of understanding in academic circles, but also as existentially/spiritually transformative journeys in the exotic/familiar land of the “other.” In respect to religious particularity and (un)translatability, I argue that both CT and SR have certain liberal and postliberal features, as neither of them yields to such standard taxonomies. Finally, I deal with Muslim engagement with CT and SR and present some initial results of my current comparative questioning/learning project. Consequently, I plan for this descriptive work to stand as a preliminary to, first, an SR session that focuses on some Qur’anic verses and biblical accounts with a probable progressivist view of history and, second, an in-depth study of the Islamic tradition in that light. Full article

10 pages, 172 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Theology as Liberal and Confessional Theology

by Klaus von Stosch

Religions 2012, 3(4), 983-992; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel3040983 - 22 Oct 2012

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 8349

Abstract

For most European scholars, the scope of Comparative Theology is not very clear. They see big differences between the notion of Comparative Theology among its protagonists, e.g., between Keith Ward or Robert Neville and Francis Clooney or James Fredericks. That is why I [...] Read more.

For most European scholars, the scope of Comparative Theology is not very clear. They see big differences between the notion of Comparative Theology among its protagonists, e.g., between Keith Ward or Robert Neville and Francis Clooney or James Fredericks. That is why I will try to define a certain understanding of Comparative Theology which can be defended in accordance with strong European theological traditions. I want to show that Comparative Theology can be understood as one of the best fruits of liberal theology and of a Wittgensteinian interpretation of transcendental philosophy—and that it opens new perspectives for confessional theology. The current development of Islamic theology in Germany is especially challenging for Comparative Theology and the best opportunity to develop it into a project undertaken by scholars of different religions and different intellectual traditions. I will argue that Comparative Theology is not a new discipline within the old disciplines of theology, but that it can give new perspectives to all theological disciplines and thoroughly change their character. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue European Perspectives on the New Comparative Theology)

Search Results (9)

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI

Saved Queries

Search Filter Reset All

Years

Feature Papers

Subjects

Journals

Article Types

Countries / Regions

Search Results (9)

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI