Living Healthy and Living Long: Valuing the Nonpecuniary Loss from Disability and Death

This analysis uses three valuation approaches—risk–risk tradeoff, paired risk–dollar comparison, and utility function estimation—to estimate the nonpecuniary cost associated with disability in late life. In addition, we obtain an estimate of the value of life using a paired risk–dollar comparison. The data were obtained from interviews with 548 persons using an iterative computerized questionnaire. Respondents reported a median value of life of $12 million. They were willing-to-pay .7–1.4 million to avoid disability in late life or approximately $47–$95 thousand for each year of disability over age 62. The results were robust to the valuation technique employed.     

Distributive justice of bargaining and risk sensitivity

In this paper we will point out some possibilities and limitations of the discussion of distributive justice by bargaining in the classical bargaining models.We start by considering a kind of bargaining situation where two persons with different risk aversions have to distribute a given quantity of a certain good. Then we define a model in which two bargaining situations are compared. In both situations two persons divide a quantity of a certain good; in the second situation one of the persons, say person 2, is replaced by a more risk averse person. From a well-known theorem of Kihlstrom, Roth and Schmeidler it follows that in the Nash solution, the Kalai-Smorodinsky solution and the Maschler-Perles solution person 1 prefers the situation with the more risk averse opponent.In both classes of problems the judgement of distributive justice is impossible because of an informational poverty of the classical bargaining model. We propose to integrate changes in the economic situation of the persons into the model.Therefore, in a third step, we compare two distributive situations, where differences in the situations are implied by changes in the initial endowments of the persons. Under the assumption that each person has a decreasing local risk aversion, we show that every reallocation of the initial endowments is enlarged or at least preserved by risk sensitive bargaining solutions. This fact has some significance for the discussion of distributive justice in social decision making by bargaining.     

The Favorite-Longshot Bias in Sequential Parimutuel Betting with Non-Expected Utility Players

This paper analyzes a model of sequential parimutuel betting described as a two-horse race with a finite number of noise bettors and a finite number of strategic and symmetrically informed bettors. For generic objective probabilities that the favorite wins the race, a unique subgame perfect equilibrium is characterized. Additionally, two explanations for the favorite–longshot bias—according to which favorites win more often than the market's estimate of their winning chances imply—are offered. It is shown that this robust anomalous empirical regularity might be due to the presence of transaction costs and/or to strategic bettors' subjective attitude to probabilities.     

Partnership and core groups in the risk society

In this paper, partnerships between parents/carers, children and professionals within child protection social work are critically assessed in relation to Beck's (1992 ) concept of the 'risk society'. Partnerships within core groups provide the specific focus for this paper, as in the authors' view these groups provide particular opportunities for the development of partnerships between professionals, parents/carers and children. In the risk society new dangers and risks are constantly being created and (re)discovered, the status of professional and lay expertise is questioned and professional judgement is often mediated through discourses of risk. In this environment reflexivity becomes an essential element of professional practice. Two case studies of child protection are used to link theory and practice, and to raise questions for professional practice in core groups.     

Understanding child,family, environmental and agency risk factors: findings from an analysis of significant case reviews in Scotland

This paper presents the findings from an analysis of 56 significant case reviews (SCRs) in Scotland. In contrast to England and Wales where national analyses have been undertaken for many years, until this study was undertaken, the findings from SCRs had not previously been collated nationally. The paper discusses child, parent, environmental and agency factors that were identified in the SCRs and, whilst noting that the pathways to death or harm will be unique in individual cases, tries to further our understanding of the ways in which these different factors may interact to result in death or harm. A significant finding was the high number of SCRs that relate to the care and protection of children living in families whose lives are dominated by drug use and the associated issues this brings, including criminality and neighbourhood problems. Another challenging finding was the lack of suitable resources for the placement and support of troubled teenagers. Finally, a number of SCRs involved long‐term neglect and/or sexual abuse of school or nursery age children who had been known to statutory services for many years.     

Liability risk in the pharmaceutical industry: Tort law in the US and UK

This paper examines the extent to which product liability risk contributes to the high costs of pharmaceuticals in the United States relative to prices in the United Kingdom. Research on pharmaceutical prices rarely accounts for the impact of liability risk, and none that we are aware of compares the United States and United Kingdom. Drawing on a dataset of 77 brand name drugs sold in both the U.S. and the U.K., we analyze relative manufacturers’ factory prices in each nation. We utilize several proxies for liability risk including drug litigation history, the percentage of plaintiff wins, and controlled substance classification. Importantly, under U.S. law there are no caps on the amount that can be awarded to a plaintiff claiming economic losses in the U.S. However, payouts in the U.K. are limited. Accounting for market differences and regulatory environments, we find liability risk can account for a portion of the price differential that exists between the U.S. and U.K., warranting further investigation.     

Toward integrating research on parent–child emotion talk and linguistic theory: A spotlight on parents’ (in)direct communication

Parent–child discussions about emotion are a key socialization influence on children’s socio‐emotional development. Extant research on parent–child discussions about emotion largely focuses on three main types of discourse content: parental elaboration, parental use of emotion labels and explanations, and parental emotion coaching. A new direction involves distinguishing between parents’ direct and indirect communication of discourse content. This distinction may be vital when considering the role of children’s communicative competence in their developing socio‐emotional competence. We integrate literature on (in)direct communication, a concept prominent in linguistics, and emotion socialization. We argue that parental indirect communication can teach children communicative competence in the context of emotion talk. We discuss literature from the developmental and linguistic fields on parents’ teaching of communicative skills, as well as potential cognitive, relational, and emotional functions of indirectness, with communication and its socialization embedded within cultural context. Finally, we suggest new research directions examining the role of parental indirect communication in children’s socio‐emotional development. By integrating developmental and linguistic literatures, we provide a novel approach to the study of parental emotion socialization through parent–child discourse.     

The development of interindividual differences in sympathy: The role of child personality and adults’ responsiveness to distress

In a three‐wave longitudinal study of 85 children (43 girls) at 5, 6, and 7 years of age, the role played by child personality (inhibition, aggressiveness) and adults’ responsiveness to distress in children's sympathy was examined. At all three times, sympathy was measured via standardized observations as well as children's self‐reports. Child inhibition and aggressiveness were assessed with reports by teachers at T1 and T2. Parents’ and teachers’ responsiveness to distress were inferred from interviews with the children at T1 and T2. Longitudinal analyses via latent regression using structural equation models showed that earlier sympathy explained most of the variance in later sympathy. Additionally, higher inhibition at T1 predicted less sympathy at T2. Higher sympathy at T1 predicted more adult responsiveness at T2. Higher aggressiveness at T2 predicted less sympathy at T3. Within time, at T1, sympathy was positively related to adults’ responsiveness. At T2, inhibition and sympathy were negatively related. The discussion focuses on the question of how child personality as well as parental and non‐parental socialization experiences work in concert to explain interindividual differences in sympathy.     

The day fostering scheme: a service for children in need and their parents

This paper summarizes a new scheme, set up initially as a pilot project, which has now become Children and Families Social Services provision, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The pilot project ran for a 6‐month period, in order to establish whether a day fostering service would be a useful and effective way of working in partnership with birth families. The paper discusses the philosophy behind the Children Act 1989 (England and Wales), and some research findings on the consequences of poor parenting for children, to examine the need for a day fostering scheme. Finally, the scheme itself is described, with an evaluation of the referrals for the 6‐month pilot period, and a discussion of the future of the project.     

Enhancing the resilience of children and young people in public care by mentoring their talents and interests

It is argued that the progress and resilience of young people in public care can be greatly enhanced by attention to the value of cultural, sporting and other activities in their lives. Sensitive mentoring of the young person in these activities by concerned adults – members of the child's social network or volunteers – can foster the potential of the young person, build self-esteem, strengthen mental health and open new social relationships beyond the care system. A series of case illustrations are used to demonstrate how such involvement in activities can greatly improve the prospects for a more successful transition out of care. It is suggested that the potential of this neglected dimension of care can only be fully realized through alert professional practice, imaginative engagement with potential 'natural' mentors, supportive agency policy, effective care planning systems, and relevant training and professional supervision for social workers.     

Job‐related stress,social support,and work–family conflict among Mexican workers in a multinational company: A case study of a Korean‐owned,US‐branded former “sweatshop” in Mexico

Due to globalization and outsourcing of commodity production, an estimated 60 million workers are employed in the garment industry by multinational corporations, yet relatively little is known about the work–family tensions experienced by these workers. Building on role stress and job demands–resources theories, this study employed mixed methods to examine job stressors, support, and work–family conflict (WFC) in a sample of 168 Mexican workers in a multinational factory, a rarely studied and underserved population. As hypothesized, results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that workers experienced high job stress and WFC. Social support from spouses, family, and friends increased the positive association between job stress and WFC, suggesting that culturally relevant obligations increased WFC. This study highlights the need for multinational corporations to implement culturally adaptive, family‐friendly policies. Implications for social workers in multinational work organizations and for future research are discussed.     

Medical school guidelines for investigating misconduct and fraud in science

Institutional review boards (IRBs) are legally required to determine whether the balance between the risks and benefits (the risk-benefit ratio or RBR) of a proposed study is “reasonable” or “proportional”. This obligation flows from their duty to protect the interests of research subjects. It has been argued that it is difficult, perhaps even impossible for IRBs to determine the RBR of studies, because the risks and benefits are not only heterogeneous, but also incommensurable. After arguing that the relevant meaning of incommensurability is incomparability, we discuss whether the risks of participating in a trial and the benefits are comparable. We conclude that at least the risks and the benefits to participants are comparable. In the last section we show that the main problem of RBR analyses is that of interpersonal incompensability. IRBs have to assume that risks to research subjects be compensated by benefits to others. The question is: To what extent? When does it become unreasonable to ask that patients accept the risks of participating in a trial for the benefit of science and/or future patients?