Statistical consulting

The paper and the special issue focus on the activity of statistical consulting and its varieties. This includes academic consulting, consulting to and in industry as well as statistics in public media.     

Sektion Jugendsoziologie Tätigkeitsbericht 2004

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

现代突厥语的内部分类及其历史意义(一)

本文旨在建立一种现代突厥语的语言内部分类模式.该模式基于共时资料,但像以前的模式,它试图整合历时资料.除语音资料外,这一模式还利用了形态学、词汇学和句法学方面的资料.根据历时和地理因素,对这些特征的分布模式进行了相互比较.由此,我们可以划分出突厥语不同层级的内部语组.而且,这些子语组可以有不同的来源.其中的一些语组是由共同的语言特征维系在一起的,在这个群的语言内部它们似乎具有可从一个时间层面传递到另一个时间层面,并构成他们共同的发生学遗传的语言特征.笔者将这类群称为发生学的(子)分支,如乌古斯语支、克普恰克语语支、布尔加尔突厥语支等.显然,其他突厥语的子语群是由不同分支的语言组成,它们已经形成了新的区域单位,进入区域互动.诸如此类的区域群有西伯利亚突厥语.在文中第二部分,笔者从历史事实和发展的时序关系方面,对发生学分支进入子分支的内部分类过程和区域群的形成及分解过程进行了阐述.     

Effects of parental absence on child labor and school attendance in the Philippines

This paper uses longitudinal data from the Philippines to analyze determinants of children’s time allocation. The estimation method takes into account both the simultaneity of time use decisions, by allowing for correlation of residuals across time uses, and unobservable family heterogeneity, through the inclusion of household fixed effects. Importantly, this improved estimation method leads to different results than when applying the methods previously used in the literature. Girls suffer significantly from the absence of their mother with a reduction in time spent in school that is equivalent to dropping out completely. This effect is substantially larger when controlling for household unobservables than when not. Boys increase time spent working on market related activities in response to an absent father, although this time appears to come out of leisure rather than school or doing household chores. Land ownership substantially increase the time boys spend on school activities, whereas renting land reduces the time girls spend on school. Finally, there does not appear to be a substantial trade-off between time spent on school and work, either in the market or at home.     

Systemisch – was denn sonst!

This essay deals critically with the use of the term “systemic”. Initially three basic system-theoretical concepts used in consulting and counseling are introduced: the problem of complexity, the construction of realities and the paradigm of functionality. Subsequently, the author demonstrates, that these principles have always been integral components of the most early pedagogical/psychological consulting practices. The addition of the term “systemic” is thus often superfluous and misleading.     

Balancing Control and Coaching in CSO Governance. A Paradox Perspective on Board Behavior

How can the internal governance of civil society organizations be conceptualized more adequately by accounting for the dual and simultaneous requirements of controlling and coaching in board behavior? Empirically, we seem to agree that effective governance of a civil society organization is crucial to its sustained viability. Conceptually, however, we observe a lack of consensus on how to best understand CSO governance. By critically juxtaposing two major theoretical lenses to conceptualize governance, namely, agency and stewardship theory, we identify a number of challenges when dealing with board–management relations that deserve our attention. While agency theory privileges controlling behavior, stewardship theory emphasizes the coaching behavior of boards. The purpose of this article is to offer a concept of governance that is informed by a paradox perspective advancing a subtler, more adequate conceptualization of board governance that accounts for these often conflicting demands on CSO governance. Drawing on illustrations from a longitudinal interpretive case study, we exemplify our propositions empirically. The article concludes with discussing the implications of our argument for CSO governance research and practice.     

Personnel selection criteria in IT ventures: A policy-capturing analysis

Growing ventures need to hire new employees and thus enhance their human capital stock. Selecting the right employees is crucial for the firms’ success. This paper looks at the criteria used in the selection process, especially at applicant fit, competencies, and social capital. Using a policy-capturing approach on a sample of managers in the German informationtechnology industry, the paper provides empirical evidence of the relationship between firm age and person-organization fit in the selection process. Furthermore, it demonstrates the interaction between two sets of selection criteria: applicant competencies and applicant fit with the formal job-requirements.     

A note on pensions and firm performance: First evidence from german micro data

Using a large new data set we present results from the first econometric study of the effects of pensions on firm performance in Germany. We find evidence for positive effects on wages, reduction of labor turnover, training, and profits. We use data from the Hannover Firm Panel Study which was financially supported by the Volkswagen Foundation.     

Welfarist evaluations of decision rules for boards of representatives

We consider a decision board with representatives who vote on proposals on behalf of their constituencies. We look for decision rules that realize utilitarian and (welfarist) egalitarian ideals. We set up a simple model and obtain roughly the following results. If the interests of people from the same constituency are uncorrelated, then a weighted rule with square root weights does best in terms of both ideals. If there are perfect correlations, then the utilitarian ideal requires proportional weights, whereas the egalitarian ideal requires equal weights. We investigate correlations that are in between these extremes and provide analytic arguments to connect our results to Barberà and Jackson (J Polit Econ 114(2):317–339, 2006) and to Banzhaf voting power.