The distribution problem and Rawlsian reasoning

The difference principle of Rawls has been wrongly translated in the formal literature on welfare economics and social choice theory. The difference principle is concerned with the welfare of the members of the least advantaged segment, and, thus, does not – as frequently argued – assign dictatorial power to the person in the worst off position in society. This distinction is important, and the focus on a leximingroup rule makes the Rawlsian position more plausible than it is in the `disguise' of the conventional leximin rule. However, there is a difficulty with this approach, to wit how to understand the least advantaged segment in society. Various definitions are considered in the paper, but it turns out that in most cases these definitions imply that we have to accept the leximin rule. We suggest one line of reasoning that makes the Rawlsian leximingroup rule a genuine alternative to the leximin rule. In this approach, an independent norm level is imposed on the analysis (i.e. a cut off line that is independent of the distribution of welfare under consideration), and the least advantaged segment is identified as those who have less than this minimum stipend. Received: 21 December 1994/Accepted: 15 June 1998     

Putting schools as socio/economic institutions back into educational evaluation: A response to Kean and McNamara

A number of individuals have proposed the gradual refinement of existing programs, rather than their continual closing down, as a safeguard against educational fads and political pressures. The gradual refinement thesis is extended, refined, and criticized in this article. A different unit of analysis is proposed, one which takes into account the role of educational institutions in assisting in the reproduction of both cultural and economic inequality. It is argued that decisions about the gradual refinement of programs and institutions are not only technical but ideological and politico/economic in nature. Criteria for deciding on gradual refinement, based on a strategy of nonreformist reforms, are suggested.     

Institutional foundations for a just society

The author distinguishes between fundamental justice and incremental justice and argues that the Harsanyian/Rawlsian, ex ante, concept of justice is the only concept of justice relevant to the design and evaluation of institutions. Unlike incremental justice for which a concensus as to what constitutes justice is generally not possible the conditions that satisfy the Harsanyian/Rawlsian concept of justice are derived from the assumptions of rationality and aversion to large risks, and the postulate of fairness. A concensus occurs not fortuitously but inevitably. The paper develops eight principles of institutional design that contribute towards a just society and that follow logically from these assumptions and postulates. The paper argues that these principles are by and large needed for social welfare maximization, so that justice is generally consistent with efficiency. The paper applies the theory to the concept of exploitation, crime and punishment, as well as labour market and social security, to illustrate the working of the principles developed.     

Associations Between Marital Meaning and Reasons to Delay Marriage for Young Adults in Romantic Relationships

Using symbolic interactionism we developed an open-ended question to examine marital meaning for young adults (N = 111). Themes to emerge were love and commitment. Participants were placed into clusters: contractual (low love, high commitment), optimistic-realistic (high love, high commitment), romanticizing (high love, low commitment), and casual (low love, low commitment). We examined marital meaning and associations with reasons to delay marriage, conceptualized as relational doubts and financial concerns. Optimistic-realistic and casual individuals reported fewer relational doubts than contractual individuals. Longer relationship length was associated with fewer financial concerns for optimistic-realistic individuals when compared with all others. We conclude that although love and commitment are central to marital meaning, for some, specific pairings of these themes have implications in understanding reasons young adults delay marrying.     

A model of deliberation based on Rawls��s political liberalism

In this article, we present a model of deliberation based on Rawls’s political liberalism. Our formalization gives a new perspective on his political theory. Moreover, we obtain quantitative results on political deliberation under Rawlsian rules. Finally, we elaborate two arguments in favor of Rawlsian deliberation: first, deliberation is epistemically valuable when, all other things being equal, it tends to favor the better view, because in this case, deliberators settle on the better view with high probability. Second, results suggest that when citizens deliberate within the limits of Rawlsian public reason, they can reach unanimity faster than when they deliberate outside these limits.     

STICKY WAGES AND IMPLICIT CONTRACTS: A TRANSACTIONAL APPROACH

Sticky wages have been explained in the recent implicit contracts literature as a risk shifting device. Risk averse employees purchase insurance via an implicit contract from risk neutral firms. This paper offers an alternative explanation of the phenomenon. Various alternative organizational forms for labor markets are analyzed from a transactions cost viewpoint. Observed labor market institutions (including sticky wages) are seen as ways to economize on transactions costs. In fact, it is argued that sticky wages would be observed even if workers were risk neutral. Thus the emphasis on risk shifting in the implicit contracts literature seems misplaced.
A fall (in price) arising from temporary distress will be attended probably with no correspondent fall in the rate of wages: for the fall in price, and the distress, will be understood to be temporary, and the rate of wages, we know, is not so variable as the price of goods.     

The De/Repoliticization of Cooperation and the Discourse of Conversion1

Abstract In recent years, several agricultural cooperatives have undergone significant restructuring. Some have been taken through a conversion process and have been reorganized as “investor-oriented firms” (IOFs). This phenomenon has attracted the interest of agricultural economists, but it has not been analyzed by sociologists. This article examines the discourse with which agricultural economists have approached the conversion issue. Drawing upon Fraser's discussion of “needs talk,” and inspired by Kloppenburg's analysis of the agricultural scientific complex, an argument is made that a reprivatization discourse of neoclassical economics has effectively depoliticized discussion about the future of cooperative enterprise. It is further argued that a repoliticization of cooperation is necessary in order to assure the protection of extra-economic values and oppositional discourse that is embedded in the historical development of cooperative practices and institutions. We focus here on the role of expert discourse as it relates to the reinvention of cooperative institutions in the agricultural economy. It is argued that this discourse would be improved by greater attention to historical and sociological forces, rather than remaining narrowly focused on economism.     

Anti-Sex Trafficking Institutions

Many anti-sex trafficking analyses use the term institution in a narrow meaning, comprising mainly formal-legal political structures (public laws and governmental organizations). However, by bringing in the new institutionalism approach, it is argued that an anti-sex trafficking institution should refer to a relatively enduring collection of rules – including also informal rules such as norms and routines – and organized practices that prescribe appropriate behaviour for any actor, public or private, combating sex trafficking. Based on a review of current research it is concluded that anti-sex trafficking institutions in the early 21st century tend to focus on behaviour that aims at detection, prevention, protection, crisis management, consequence management, and response. Finally, reflecting different strands of the new institutionalism approach, it is argued that the design of anti-sex trafficking institutions depends on path-dependencies, social constructions, international institutions, and domestic politics.     

The resilience of migrant money: how gender,generation and class shape family remittances in Peruvian migration

Scholars and policy makers have argued that because altruism drives remittance sending, migrant money is more resilient to uncertainty than other capital flows. In this article, I question this assumption through ethnographic examination of remittance sending by Peruvian migrant families. When in their lives do Peruvian migrants start to remit? Who are the recipients? What is the purpose of their remittances? How long do they last and why do they stop? I argue that, to answer these questions, we need to investigate how migrants make remittance commitments to different household members, how these attribute value to the remittances and how this value becomes the object of negotiation and contestation. The findings indicate that remittances reinforce existing relations of gender, generation and class in Peruvian society and suggest that while short‐lived remittances are based on contractual commitments and driven by altruism, long‐term remittances are based on emotional commitments and driven by both non‐utilitarian and utilitarian motives.     

EMPLOYMENT FLUCTUATIONS AND THE MITIGATION OF RISK

The main ideas discussed in this paper can be briefly summarized as follows: First, although risk-mitigating arrangements — specifically, risk shifting in labor markets and risk pooling in product markets — suggest an explanation for certain specified features of macroeconomic fluctuations, risk-mitigating contractual arrangements are neither necessary nor sufficient to cause any particular disturbance to produce output and employment fluctuations. Second, given that a stochastic disturbance is going to affect output and employment, risk-mitigating arrangements can affect the amplitude of these fluctuations. Specifically, risk-mitigating arrangements reduce and reallocate the risks associated with stochastic disturbances. This process produces at least three effects on the variation in aggregate employment. These effects are changes in worker tolerance of employment fluctuations, increased variation in spot product prices, and relatively greater income variation for agents who probably have relatively high marginal spending propensities. In addition to these effects the existence of contractual markets has a potential effect on the form of the inference problem that agents face in determining the nature of disturbances in a context of incomplete information. Third, despite some similarities, a macroeconomic model that encompasses risk-mitigating arrangements differs in important ways from models that utilize the non-market-clearing approach to analysis of the determination of income and employment.     

Barriers to Training for Disabled Social Work Students

Disabled people wishing to enter Higher Education are confronted with a number of barriers, yet relatively little research has been carried out to identify the level and nature of such obstacles. The short study reported here was designed to examine policy and practice within a number of social work training institutions in Scotland. Interviews were held with disabled students and ex-students, course tutors and practice teachers. Barriers to training are identified in five main areas: first, the disabling physical environment; secondly, problems of typification (whereby global assumptions of impairment are made about individuals); thirdly, failure of equal opportunities policies; fourthly, the practice of treating all students in the same way, resulting in discrimination against a few; and, finally, self-censorship on the part of students. It is argued that the reluctance of some students to 'declare' an impairment is a rational response to the disabling policies pursued, albeit inadvertently, by institutions. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.     

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.     

Formation of land market institutions and their impacts on agricultural activity

The process of transformation of Bulgarian agriculture from a centrally controlled economy to a market-oriented economy is resulting in land reform, which will necessitate the immediate development and operation of land markets. On the one hand, the land reform is restoring land to those who owned it in the year 1947, or their heirs, who not only have very small and scattered holdings, but who often live in urban areas far from the claimed land and do not practice farming. On the other hand, farming is being changed by the liquidation of the former collective farms and the emergence of privately managed farms and new forms of co-operatives. These new operating units may or may not have their own land claims, but in most cases, do not have immediate access to sufficient land for adequately sized operations. Without land market institutions for information, contracting land use, and enforcement of contractual rights, the transaction costs of bringing the suppliers of land together with those demanding land will result in unused land and distorted agricultural activity. The paper explores both the formation of institutions and the evidence of transactions, as well as the possible impacts on farming.     

Fifty Years of Refugee Studies: From Theory to Policy

This article reviews the growth of the field of refugee studies, focusing on its links with, and impact on, refugee policy. The last fifty years, and especially the last two decades, have witnessed both a dramatic increase in academic work on refugees and significant institutional development in the field. It is argued that these institutions have developed strong links with policymakers, although this has often failed to translate into significant policy impacts. Areas in which future policy‐orientated work might be developed are considered.     

‘Freedom Narratives’ of Transatlantic Slavery

It is argued that what have usually been called ‘slave narratives’ sometimes more accurately describe ‘freedom narratives’, especially when individuals who had regained their freedom wrote or dictated such accounts. Most stories that are associated with slavery often focus on the quest for and achievement of freedom through escape, self-purchase or other means. Moreover, it is argued here that there is a distinction between narratives composed by individuals who had once been free in Africa and those who were born into slavery in the Americas. By focusing on the lives of four individuals, Venture Smith, Gustavus Vassa (Olaudah Equiano), Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, and Muhammad Kaba Saghanughu, this article assesses the importance of regaining lost freedom as a motive in compiling the narratives and life histories of these individuals. Smith, Vassa and Baquaqua left autobiographical accounts of their lives, while Kaba left a significant paper trail that allows a study of his life, moving from freedom in Africa to slavery and then emancipation in Jamaica. Mediated by the ‘Middle Passage’, these texts demonstrate a consciousness of lost freedom and the importance of re-achieving that status, however contested and understood.     

Processes of Institutionalization and Differentiation in the Italian Third Sector

The article describes the recent evolution of the Italian third sector, focusing particularly on its changing role in relation to welfare policies and on its contribution to the development of the provision of social services. In contrast with those considering the emergence and development of the sector solely, or mainly, as a consequence of decisions made by external actors, especially public institutions, the article shows a more complex and dynamic picture. The article demonstrates that the Italian third sector, although at the present time largely engaged in contractual services with the public sector, has maintained a level of autonomy that allows for continuous innovation both within and external to the social service sector. The Italian case supports the need for further debate on the role of the third sector in modern society.     

Biomedical and bioethical issues in Parliamentary TA and in Health Technology Assessment

HTA and TA institutions at national parliaments (PTA) both share the same origin and of course have objectives and some of their methods in common. Nevertheless both TA branches developed in some distance during the 1970s and 1980s. Drawing on the case of biomedicine this paper outlines the differences between HTA and PTA, highlighting the “clinical perspective” of HTA and the “societal perspective” of PTA. It is shown that biomedicine which has developed rapidly during the last decade has hardly been dealt with by HTA, whereas it ranked quite prominent on the agendas of PTA institutions. Biomedical technologies became a subject of policy making beyond the boundaries of health care politics since biomedicine is perceived as an ethical challenge to society and not only as a medical innovation that has to be assessed by clinical experts. It is argued that there may however be good reasons to integrate the HTA and the PTA perspective in future TA on biomedical technologies.     

Frame attunement and footing in the organisation of talk radio openings

Conversation analysts have argued that institutions do not define the kind of talk produced within them; rather participants' ways of designing their talk actually constructs the 'institutionality' of such settings. Previous research has focused mainly on sequential considerations. This article extends that research by drawing on Goffmanian ideas of frame attunement and footing. Focusing on opening sequences on a talk radio show, I trace the incremental process by which mutually ratified participation in an institutional encounter is accomplished as a temporally unfolding, conjoint activity. The first three seconds of each call see the participants embodying a series of footings as they come to establish their relevant institutional identities.     

Dangerous and severe parenting disorder? Personality disorder,parenting and new legal proposals

The Government has proposed new legal measures for the management of people with personality disorders who are dangerous to others. In this paper, it is argued that there is no reason why these proposed measures should not apply to those individuals with personality disorders who are parents and present a severe risk of harm to their own children. New measures that provided a legal and clinical framework for the provision of assessment and possible therapy for personality disordered parents who pose a risk to their children would ful?l a real need which is not being met. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shall we keep the highly skilled at home? The optimal income tax perspective

We examine how allowing individuals to emigrate to pay lower taxes abroad changes the optimal non-linear income tax scheme in a Mirrleesian economy. An individual emigrates if his domestic utility is less than his utility abroad net of migration costs, utilities and costs both depending on productivity. Three average social criteria are distinguished—national, citizen and resident—according to the agents whose welfare matters. A curse of the middle-skilled occurs in the first-best, and it may be optimal to let some highly skilled leave the country under the resident criterion. In the second-best, under the Citizen and Resident criteria, preventing emigration of the highly skilled is not necessarily optimal because the interaction between the incentive-compatibility and participations constraints may cause countervailing incentives. In important cases, a Rawlsian policymaker should decrease top marginal tax rates to keep everyone at home.