Objective measures of well-being and the cooperative production problem

 The concern for measuring well-being objectively (as opposed to subjectively, that is, relying only on preferences) is found in modern political philosophy, especially in J. Rawls’s, A. Sen’s and G. Cohen’s writings. This paper explains the implications of using an objective well-being index as equalisandum or, close to the so-called “safety net preoccupation”, to guarantee a well-being lower bound. In the simple production model studied here, five characterization results and two related theorems prove the convergence of both approaches. We come to the conclusion that the Proportional Solution is the dominant solution according to “objectivist” axioms. Received: 5 September 1994/Accepted: 29 June 1996     

Acyclic sets of linear orders via the Bruhat orders

We describe Abello’s acyclic sets of linear orders [SIAM J Discr Math 4(1):1–16, 1991] as the permutations visited by commuting equivalence classes of maximal reduced decompositions. This allows us to strengthen Abello’s structural result: we show that acyclic sets arising from this construction are distributive sublattices of the weak Bruhat order. This, in turn, shows that Abello’s acyclic sets are, in fact, the same as Chameni-Nembua’s distributive covering sublattices (S.T.D.C s). Fishburn’s alternating scheme is shown to be a special case of the Abello/Chameni-Nembua acyclic sets. Any acyclic set that arises in this way can be represented by an arrangement of pseudolines, and we use this representation to derive a simple closed form for the cardinality of the alternating scheme. The higher Bruhat orders prove to be a natural mathematical framework for this approach to the acyclic sets problem. We would like to thank the Editor, Professor Bernard Monjardet, and two anonymous referees for their comments and additional references.     

Variable-population extensions of social aggregation theorems

This paper examines principles for social evaluation under uncertainty in environments with a variable population. In contrast to most of the literature, we employ a model that is formulated in terms of prospects rather than lotteries. Starting from a fixed-population result, a multi-profile variant of Harsanyi’s social aggregation theorem is extended to a variable-population environment. Two nested classes of population principles under uncertainty are characterized. Each is a variable-population extension of ex-ante utilitarianism. The results continue to apply if the probability distribution may vary, as long as probabilities are objectively known or agreed upon by all individuals and society.     

State dependence in sequential equity judgements

We report the results from a questionnaire-type experiment designed to elicit whether individuals decide in accordance with the equity axiom constituent for Rawls’s second principle. The experiment is sequential in nature. Hence it generates panel data. We use recently developed panel data methods for studying the role that state dependence and unobservable individual-specific effects play for the observed equity judgements. The results indicate that a dominant share of our probants initially adhere to Hammond’s equity axiom, but that many of these leave the Rawlsian position at later stages of the experiment. Although state dependence plays a significant role it cannot alone explain the observed decision behavior. Individual-specific effects are also important.     

A piece of lost history: Max Weber and Lowell L. Bennion

This article discussesMax Weber’s Methodology, Lowell L. Bennion’s (1933) published doctoral dissertation from the University of Strasbourg, France. This book is important because it is the first systematic English language treatment of Weber’s work. It also suggests an early link between Weberian and Durkheimian scholarship and foreshadows later debates regarding Talcott Parsons’ interpretation of Weber. Additionally the book provides a unique contribution by applying Weber’s “Calvinism-Capitalism” thesis to the development of Mormonism. We explore the academic context in which the book was written and its reception by American sociologists at the time. After summarizing the text, we examine its perspective on the issues later raised about Parsons’ account of Weber. We conclude by looking at Lowell Bennion as a sociologist and a devout Mormon, and the unique connection that he forged between his religion and Max Weber’s ideas. Her field is organizational behavior and theory; her primary area of research is the relationship between organizational hierarchy and managerial leadership. He is currently investigating the modes of white collar resistance in public bureaucracies.     

The Ross-Dunlop debate revisited

An alternative interpretation of the Ross-Dunlop debate of the 1940s is provided, which reveals little difference in the opinions of these two theorists on the role of optimizing behavior and of economic factors in explaining trade union behavior. Importantly, both saw theories of union activity based on simple economic maximands as unable to incorporate some “political” features of those unions. The recent wave of economic analyses of trade unions however seems to have answered such criticism to a large extent. A survey of this work is provided to show how many of Ross’s “unanswered questions” can be explained by models where rational trade unions maximize relatively straightforward objective functions. This work is based on chapter 1 of the author’s M.A. thesis at the University of Melbourne. Many thanks are due to Ian McDonald for his generous help, and to Greg Whitwell for his comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The author is presently a graduate student at Yale University.     

Robert E. Park reconsidered: The early writings

Despite Robert E. Park’s prominence in American sociology, his early writings (before 1913) have been neglected. This article argues that Park’s early writings illustrate an important transitional phase in twentieth-century sociological thought. As sociology moved out of German romantic philosophy and toward rationalism and positivism, it had to come to terms with the existence of evil in the world. Park’s essays on the Congo formulated a more complex perspective on modernity’s modes of evil. Along with the Congo essays, Park’s Black Belt studies form a comprehensive portrait of the double-sided moral character and socioeconomic effects of the Reformation. Park’s early writings adumbrate a Gothic sociology of horror, in which the civilizational process erodes the many folk cultures that it draws into its basic forms—civil society and urban life. This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, August 1990. Adapted from Stanford M. Lyman,Militarism, Imperialism, and Racial Accommodation: An Analysis and Interpretation of the Early Writings of Robert E. Park (Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 1991).     

Why do larger families reduce parental investments in child quality, but not child quality per se?

Becker’s Quantity–Quality model (Becker in Demographic and economic change in developed countries, Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 209–240, 1960; Becker and Lewis in J Polit Econ 81(2): S279–S288, 1973; Becker and Tomes in J Polit Econ 84(4): S143–S162, 1976) suggests a trade-off between family size and parental investments in children. To date, only Cáceras-Delpiano (J Hum Resour 41(4): 738–754, 2006) tests this theory by considering private school enrolment. This study extends this work by using a unique data set containing a broader range of parental investments that are arguably linked to parental intentions for producing higher quality children, such as overall and non-sectarian private school enrolment, the number of computers in the home per child, and saving for the child’s education. Both studies find that fertility reduces parental investments. However, the literature generally finds that fertility has no impact on child outcomes. The study offers three potential explanations for this ‘puzzle’.     

Fair Groves mechanisms

We study allocation problems in which a costly task is to be assigned and money transfers are used to achieve fairness among agents. We consider a series of fairness notions (k-fairness for where n is the number of agents) of decreasing restrictiveness that are based on Rawls’ maximin equity criterion and impose welfare lower bounds. These fairness notions were introduced by Porter et al. (J Econ Theory 118:209–228, 2004) who also introduced two classes of Groves mechanisms that are 1-fair and 3-fair, respectively, and generate deficits that are bounded above. We show that these classes are the largest such classes of Groves mechanisms. We generalize these mechanisms for each and show that the corresponding mechanisms generate the smallest deficit for each economy among all k-fair Groves mechanisms. The first draft of this paper was written while we were Ph.D. students at the University of Rochester. We are grateful to William Thomson for his guidance and advice. We also thank two referees and the associate editor for their comments.     

The representation of women in top ranked sociology departments

This paper compares the status of women in highly ranked sociology departments with their status in departments nationwide. The top ranked departments influence the profession markedly through their disproportionate share of the nation’s graduate students and faculty, and their production of more than half of the faculty in graduate departments. Women on top ranked faculties are more often at advanced ranks with tenure than their national peers, but there are proportionally fewer of them than in departments across the nation. Gender gaps in rank and tenure are also narrower in top ranked departments. Although women graduate students are less common in top ranked than in national departments, the former have financial assistance more often. Recent hiring practices have merely maintained women’s current level of representation, but men are disproportionately vacating faculty positions. With most departments growing slowly, if at all, this will result in a small increase over time in women’s fraction of faculty positions. where he is developing, with colleagues, a longitudinal model of the institutional factors that promote and impede progress in affirmative action in academia, and is completing a study of “double jeopardy” for minority women sociologists. This study was funded, in part, by the American Sociological Association, the Pacific Sociological Association, the University of Oregon Center for Women in Society, and an Arizona State University support grant. However, these organizations are not responsible for the views expressed in the paper.     

Challenging Endings: First Year MSW Interns’ Experiences with Forced Termination and Discussion Points for Supervisory Guidance

Every year, students prematurely end their work with some clients due to the completion of their internship, rather than the client’s achievement of goals and thus a more natural endpoint of treatment. It is important to understand students’ experiences with forced termination to provide them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and support to optimally manage this complex phenomenon. This paper reviews the social work literature on forced termination arising from the ending of students’ internships and presents, in their own words, the experiences of four first-year MSW interns with forced termination. Finally, based on the literature and as borne out by these students’ experiences, some areas for discussion and reflection between interns and their supervisors in handling forced termination are offered. Caroline Rosenthal Gelman, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at New York University’s School of Social Work. She received her M.S.W. in 1991 from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Ph.D. in 1998 from the Smith College School for Social Work. Phyllis Fernandez, Nathalie Hausman, Sarah Miller and Michael Weiner received their MSW in 2004 from New York University’s School of Social Work.     

Collective bargaining,teachers, and student achievement

Approximately two-thirds of the nation’s elementary and secondary schoolteachers are represented by the American Federation of Teachers or the National Education Association. Surprisingly, however, relatively little is known of the impact of teachers’ unions on student achievement. The authors offer evidence on this point by estimating “college entrance exam production functions” for a national sample of 2,360 students. Of particular importance, the estimation includes a correction for the selectivity bias inherent if the analysis considers only the performance of test-takers. Results indicate that students in a unionized environment score about 4.7 percent higher on their college entrance exams (SAT and ACT) than their counterparts from a nonunion environment. This study was partially supported by the Joint Council on Economic Education through funding provided by the J. Howard Pew Freedom Trust. Additional support was provided by the Dean’s Office and the Division of Business Research, College of Business and Industry, Mississippi State University. The authors thank Margaret Ray for her assistance.     

Measuring autonomy freedom

In the measurement of autonomy freedom, the admissible potential preference relations are elicited by means of the concept of ‘reasonableness’. In this paper we argue for an alternative criterion based on information about the decision maker’s ‘awareness’ of his available opportunities. We argue that such an interpretation of autonomy fares better than that based on reasonableness. We then introduce some axioms that capture this intuition and study their logical implications. In the process, a new measure of autonomy freedom is characterized, which generalizes some of the measures so far constructed in the literature.We thank Martin van Hees, Robert Sugden, Prasanta Pattanaik, the participants at workshops at the CPNSS, London School of Economics, and at the University of Caen and an anonymous referee for their suggestions. The support of the CPNSS is gratefully acknowledged. This paper is part of a research project on “The Analysis and Measurement of Freedom” funded by the Ministero dell’Istruzione, Università e Ricerca (Italy). Its financial support is gratefully acknowledged.     

Surviving and thriving: Bringing back sociology at the University of San Francisco

This article provides a case study of successful departmental revitalization at the University of San Francisco. We examine the current crisis in the field of sociology and others’ recommendations for addressing it. Reforms are outlined that transformed USF Sociology from a nearly extinct program to a model department on campus. Jennifer Turpin’s research focuses on violence, militarism, gender, and war; Mike Webber’s research examines the relationship between business and politics; Anne Roschelle’s research concentrates on racial, ethnic, and underclass family networks; William Edwards studies urban development, globalization, and social inequality; and Joseph Angilella’s interests include religion and society and complex organizations.     

Contested canon: Simmel scholarship at Columbia and the new school

The history of sociology exhibits what might be called, after Gallie (1956), an “essentially contested “ canon. The key figures, sacred texts, and central ideas that constitute the sociological tradition are inherently in dispute. This essay examines the “contested canon “ within a historical framework to provide at least a partial explanation for the restricted interpretation of Georg Simmel as a structuralist sociologist. The sites of this contest are two New York City institutions, Columbia University and the New School for Social Research, both of which offered mid-century readings of Simmel’s works. At Columbia in the mid-1950s, Robert K. Merton advanced a structural reading of Simmel’s work. During the same broad period, the New School’s Albert Salomon championed a phenomenological reading of Simmel in his classes and seminars. Despite penetrating insights into Simmel’s links to the phenomenological tradition, Salomon’s interpretation has had less salience than the approach advanced by Merton. The differential success of these competing interpretations is explained in large measure by the institutionalization and dominance of Merton’s research tradition relative to Salomon’s.     

Marital Stability in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do Women’s Autonomy and Socioeconomic Situation Matter?

One key hypothesis that has received considerable attention in recent family discourse is the notion that improvements in women’s socioeconomic circumstances (also called female autonomy) has a positive effect on familial processes and outcomes such as marital instability. Absent from this debate are cross-cultural research that test the applicability of these findings with non-U.S. data. We use representative data from Ghana to explore whether dimensions of women’s autonomy have the hypothesized positive effect on divorce processes in Africa. Consistent with findings from the United States, results from our African data demonstrate that women’s autonomy has a positive effect on divorce. This observation is true not only with the use of conventional autonomy measures such as work and education, but also with regard to institutional measures of autonomy such as matrilineal kinship ties.Baffour K. Takyi, Department of Sociology, Olin 266, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-1905; e- mail: btakyi@uakron.edu.Christopher L. Broughton, Department of Sociology, Olin 266, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-1905; e-mail: Christopher.L.Broughton@cmsdnet.net.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the North Central Sociological Society, April 13–16, 2000, Pittsburgh, PA. We are grateful to several anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Democratic Governance and Actors’ Conceptualization of “Civil Society” in Africa: State–Civil Society Relations in Ghana from 1982–2000

Despite civil society’s ambiguity, many scholars tend to focus on the economic reasons for the apparent conflict between state and civil society, with little or no attention to the conceptual differences that may be influencing the behavior of public and civil society actors. Using Ghana under J. J. Rawlings as a backdrop, this article argues that state–civil society relations are partly shaped by the divergent conceptualizations of “civil society” held by state and civil society actors. It suggests that the issue is not just the African state’s limited understanding of the multiple roles that civil society organizations can legitimately play in the polity; it is also civil society’s lack of recognition and acknowledgment of the legitimate functions of the African state.     

Unions and private wage supplements

Private wage supplements are an important part of total compensation. A model of workers’ supplement expenditures is developed which shows that, although the expenditure determinants sometimes differ between broad industry/occupation subsamples, earnings, price effects of preferential tax treatment and economies of group purchase, unionization, the product market power of the firm, and worker age are usually significant determinants of supplement expenditures. The firm’s goal of reducing turnover costs as well as demographic, locational, and industry variables also systematically affect supplement expenditures. Supplements usually increase progressively with wages, indicating that often made proportionality assumptions are invalid. This work is based on a portion of my doctoral dissertation “An Economic Analysis of the Determinants of Private Wage Supplements.” An anonymous referee made many useful suggestions and criticisms. The Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University provided some of the computer funding. The remaining errors are my responsibility.     

Agency costs,property rights,and the evolution of labor unions

Collective bargaining requires that an agent represent workers. This paper examines the implications for the trade union movement of the resulting agency costs. Without transferable rights in the union, union members lack the means and incentive to bring forth the innovative agent controls common to the modern corporation. Considerations of the bargaining strengths of employers and employees, each represented by an agent, provide an explanation of the simultaneous decline of private sector union membership (corporate share holders have been more successful at lowering agency costs) and growth of public sector union representation (where the union official, a “double agent,” serves the interest of both employee and bureaucratic employer). The authors acknowledge the helpful remarks Donald L. Martin whose earlier research on property rights in unions inspired this effort. Don Bellante’s work was supported by a grant from the Research Committee of the College of Business Administration, University of South Florida.     

The many faces of sociology: Ambivalence and conflict in graduate education

This article addresses how the ambivalence of the discipline of sociology affects students’ understanding of it. We consider this ambivalence as multi-layered. The first level embodies the usefulness of sociology as a discipline and sociologists’ ambivalence toward their profession. The second involves applying a sociological perspective to our everyday lives. We discuss the administrative organization of our department, the examination structure, and the structure of asymetric power relations. We conclude that one possible solution toward resolving ambivalences both in our everyday lives and within the profession is to take our critical theoretical training seriously. with special interests in social psychology and qualitative research. She is planning a dissertation on how ideology affects the structure of battered women’s shelters. Barbara G. Brents is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Missouri with special interests in political economy and aging. She currently is working on a dissertation entitled “The Class Politics of Age: The Social Security Act of 1935.”