Privatization and Foreign investments: The Case of Serbia and Montenegro

The paper analyzes the privatization process with the participation of foreign investments in countries in transition. Privatization is a necessity in transition countries as a prerequisite of the move to a market economy. Foreign investments are of great importance for the economies of the transition countries, not only to inject necessary capital but also to provide access to new technologies, new markets, and organizational and marketing expertise. For the successful initiation and implementation of these processes, some basic requirements are to be met; namely, to assure more adequate protection of property rights and upgrade legislation related to privatization and foreign investments.     

The Human Capital Model of Selection and Immigrant Economic Outcomes

This article examines the trends in the economic advantage that highly educated immigrants hold over less educated immigrants in Canada, focusing on the differences between short‐run and longer‐run outcomes. Using data from the Longitudinal Immigration Database covering the period from the 1980s to the 2000s, this study finds that the relative entry earnings advantage that higher education provides to new immigrants has decreased dramatically over the last 30 years. However, university‐educated immigrants had a much steeper earnings trajectory than immigrants with trades or a high school education. The earnings advantage among highly educated immigrants increases significantly with time spent in Canada. This pattern is observed for virtually all immigrant classes and arrival cohorts. The results suggest that short‐run economic outcomes of immigrants are not good predictors of longer‐run results, at least by educational attainment. The implications of these findings for immigration selection policy are discussed in the conclusion.     

Economic Hardship and Family-to-Work Conflict: The Importance of Gender and Work Conditions

Using data from a 2007 national survey of working Americans, we examine the association between economic hardship and family-to-work conflict (FWC). We also assess contingencies of this association, focusing particularly on gender and several work conditions. Findings indicate that economic hardship is associated with higher FWC; this pattern is stronger among men. Three work conditions also function as effect modifiers: The positive association between hardship and FWC is stronger for workers with less job authority and more creative work activities. Job pressures also modify this association, but overall, respondents with higher pressures report greater FWC. We discuss how our observations contribute to knowledge about the links between economic conditions and the family–work interface and the importance of status and work-related contingencies.     

The Importance of Household Management for the Business-Owning Family

The household managerial behavior of 673 business-owning families from the 1997 National Family Business Survey was examined using a scale adapted from Heck, Winter, and Stafford (1992). The scale was reliable and used to compare the managerial behavior of solo- and dual-role holders in the sample. Although t-tests revealed few significant differences between solo- and dual-role holders, factor analyses showed that the two groups differed noticeably in management style. The differences were not in the frequency of use of managerial activities but in which activities were viewed as related by the two groups.     

The Diversity Imperative: The Effects of Local Economic Structure and Social Capital on Local Philanthropy

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Philanthropic endeavors are a form of institutionalized collective action that enhances a community’s capacity to...     

Economic Cost of Human Capital Loss from Fiji: Implications for Sustainable Development1

Small island nations in the South Pacific are facing a serious problem of loss of human capital. The loss of skilled and qualified personnel from the small pool is causing a major setback in terms of providing the technical expertise to forge ahead with reform programs that these economies are undertaking. Fiji's policymakers are increasingly confronting this issue, because the nation has experienced a massive outflow of skilled labor following the political instability in 1987. While there is an outflow of skilled labor, the country is also losing a large amount of financial capital. The extent of the outflow has yet to be measured due to lack of a methodology. This study advances a methodology to measure the loss to the economy arising out of human capital loss in a small island economy.     

The Importance of Trust-Building in Transition: A Look at Social Capital and Democratic Action in Eastern Europe

This paper looks at various civic organizations in Poland during the period of transition from communism. It offers an analysis of representative groups of Civil society Organizations (CSOs), proving that they bear features of the socialist past. The paper demonstrates that the popularity of the re-legalized Solidarno ?? has been steadily declining since 1989. In fact, no former dissident movement plays an important role in contemporary Poland. Moreover, the revitalization of organizations dissolved during the communist period cannot be read as a success story. Administrative dissolution and repression turned out to be effective tools in dismantling CSOs. The renewal of Catholic organizations has also largely failed. However, organizations established during the communist period still play a leading role in civil society. The communist era, in short, was decisive in shaping contemporary CSOs. Associational life after 1989 displays considerable inertia and while it is difficult to determine whether it actually retards the process of systemic change, it surely is not the sphere of social life that can currently accelerate it.     

Social Capital and Local Economic Development: Implications for Community Social Work Practice

Summary

Although the concept of social capital has direct relevance to community practice, it is not widely known in social work. This paper defines the concept, traces the development of social capital theory, and examines ways in which community social workers can promote local economic development by enhancing social capital. It contends that community social workers can make a major contribution to local economic development by implementing projects that mobilize social capital and promote the material well-being of local people.     

The Importance of Authenticity for Self and Society

The transition from industrial to postindustrial society and from modern to postmodern culture has led to increased interest in authenticity. Such interest is widespread not only among those studying changes in social structure and culture but also among those who adhere to the social psychological tenet that self reflects society, and society, the self. In this article, I specify how issues of authenticity have become a pervasive part of our culture, our institutions, and our individual selves. Building on both Rosenberg and Turner, I conceptualize authenticity in terms of a commitment to self-values. The relevance of this conceptualization is illustrated, first by demonstrating its implications for identity theory and second through its implicit use by others writing about the contemporary experience of being oneself. I conclude with a discussion of how this approach to authenticity may be used by social scientists to better conceptualize self in a way that explicitly incorporates the cultural implications of today's postindustrial society.     

The Impact of Economic Shocks on Quality of Life and Social Capital in Small Towns*

Abstract Economic shocks are sudden events causing a significant impact on the local economy. Disaster community literature predicts that community outcomes from shocks will depend on the kind of shock. Consensus crisis shocks will be followed by increases in social capital and quality of life. Corrosive community shocks will result in declines in these factors. Using longitudinal data from small towns, we find that shocks are not associated with declines in quality of life or social capital, however, certain kinds of shocks are followed by increases. The strength of shocks and the net cumulative effects of multiple shocks are related to social capital and quality of life. This analysis advances conceptualizations by unpacking shock events and suggesting that strength and effect of multiple shocks are as important as shock type.     

The Importance of Fathers

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between self-esteem, sociodemographic factors, father-daughter relationships, and sexual risk-taking in an economically diverse group of late-adolescent African American girls. Participants were 100 African American adolescent girls from the Southeast region of the U.S. Regression analyses revealed that fathers' education was the most powerful predictor of sexual risk, with self-esteem emerging as a significant, yet less powerful predictor. A subset of the initial sample participated in a secondary, qualitative study explicitly examining father-daughter communication about sexuality. Thematic analysis revealed three distinct categories of father-daughter sexual communication. Participants associated directive and insightful communication styles with positive father-daughter relationships and less risky sexual behavior. Absent/avoidant communication was linked to rejection, regret, and more risky sexual behavior. Results suggest that impact of fathers on girls' sexual risk taking is powerful and distinctly different than the effect of the more traditionally explored correlates of risk.     

The Importance of Fathers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between self-esteem, socio-demographic factors, father-daughter relationships, and sexual risk-taking in an economically diverse group of late-adolescent African American girls. Participants were 100 African American adolescent girls from the Southeast region of the U.S. Regression analyses revealed that fathers' education was the most powerful predictor of sexual risk, with self-esteem emerging as a significant, yet less powerful predictor. A subset of the initial sample participated in a secondary, qualitative study explicitly examining father-daughter communication about sexuality. Thematic analysis revealed three distinct categories of father-daughter sexual communication. Participants associated directive and insightful communication styles with positive father-daughter relationships and less risky sexual behavior. Absent/ avoidant communication was linked to rejection, regret, and more risky sexual behavior. Results suggest that the impact of fathers on girls' sexual risk-taking is powerful and distinctly different than the effect of the more traditionally explored correlates of risk.     

The Importance of Learning Culture-loaded Words for College Students

Nowadays the whole world is closely related with the cross-cultural bond.A college student either majoring in the English language or not is supposed to acquire a basic knowledge of English lexicology,especially culture-loaded words,including both its theoretic principles,its influence on other branches of language and its currently social meaning.It has been proved that more and more linguists and students pay increasing attention to this field.     

The Making of the Capital of Slovakia

The paper concentrates on three aspects that played a role in shaping the capital of Slovakia: the importance of a name given to the territory illustrating how renaming came to play a crucial role in creating a capital of Slovakia, an successful example of how to nationalise a place and a past; the second part of the paper describes the barriers in acceptance of Bratislava as the capital city of Slovakia among its citizens; the final part deals with ideological incentives in demolition and construction the town and its monuments. The main argument says that the route of Bratislava to the position of the capital of Slovakia was atypical, the majority of its population did not want this status, the actors of the national revolution—the Slovaks did not regard it as their centre, and it did not even have a definitely fixed Slovak name. Nevertheless, Bratislava succeeded gradually made its own history of ‘all Slovakia’. The democratic revolution of 1989–1993 confirmed the functioning of Bratislava as the centre of Slovakia, both in the actual political revolution and in the creation of democratic institutions. As a matter of fact, Bratislava could not be considered a ‘big city’ especially in comparison to Vienna, Prague or Budapest—with nearly half of million inhabitants belongs to rather small cities in East Central Europe and sometimes is characterised as a ‘provincial large city’.     

The European Convention on Human Rights in the Constitutional System of Serbia and Montenegro

The paper explores the legal position of the European Convention on Human Rights in the constitutional system of Serbia and Montenegro. It casts some light on constitutional rules, international treaties and especially international treaties on human rights. The text exposes also constitutional rules on human rights. The issue of the European control over human rights in Kosovo and Metohija is raised. Attention is referred to the Resolution 1417 (2005) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on protection of human rights in Kosovo.