The uses and abuses of time: globalization and time arbitrage in India's outsourcing industries

Globalization has undoubtedly altered our conceptions and experience of time. It has sped up the pace of life and some scholars even suggest that a new temporal order is supplanting ‘natural’ and pre‐existing cycles and rhythms. Yet time is not dissolved in the global circuits of capital. Rather, globalization has brought about a complex mixture of temporal orientations; the workplaces of ‘new economy’, for example, are traversed by novel and retrograde modes of work pace, rhythm and time‐discipline. In this article, I explore the temporal implications of the outsourcing of information technology‐based service work to India. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews with workers, managers and executives in the Indian IT and Business Processing Outsourcing industries, I address the following questions: (1) How are corporations using time arbitrage to reap the full benefits of a globally dispersed labour pool? (2) What impacts are these temporal changes having on the health and social lives of Indian workers? For corporations, time arbitrage means increased efficiency and cost‐savings. But for workers, it results in long hours, an intense work pace, and temporal displacement. Night‐shift employees, such as call centre workers, are particularly vulnerable to such displacement, as manifested in health and safety problems and social alienation. Globalization therefore does not entail the loosening of temporal chains, but their reconfiguration: a combination both rigid and flexible that binds even as it liberates.     

Using Difference Scores to Inform Therapy Practice: Differences in Perceptions of Attachment Behaviors between Partners in a Clinical Sample

Using clinically relevant research methodology, this study focuses on differences (cross‐partner difference scores) in perceptions of attachment behaviors (emotional accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement) between partners in couples therapy. In general, findings suggest that higher levels of self‐enhancement attachment behaviors (participant perceives self as demonstrating more attachment behaviors than the partner's ratings of the participant) are associated with lower relationship satisfaction and greater relationship instability. The association between attachment behavior difference scores and measures of relationship health is mediated through partner perceived positive communication. These results suggest that differences in perceptions between partners’ level of attachment behaviors are an important clinical construct for therapy. As such, clinical recommendations for addressing self‐enhancing attachment behaviors, and the mediating role of positive communication, are discussed with recommendations for researchers.     

“What Happens at Home Does Not Necessarily Stay at Home”: The Relationship of Observed Negative Couple Interaction With Physical Health,Mental Health,and Work Satisfaction

Using data from a sample of 281 couples (the Flourishing Families data set), the authors tested a systemic theoretical model that examined the relationship among observed marital interaction, physical and mental health, and work satisfaction. The results showed that negative marital interaction was associated with significantly lower work satisfaction and poorer health for men. Higher negative marital interaction scores were significantly related to elevated depression scores for both women and men. For both men and women, negative couple interaction was associated with work satisfaction through depression and health. Overall, 34% of the variance in work satisfaction for men and 24% for the women was explained by the model. The results suggest that marriage‐to‐work spillover can be costly for families, organizations, and governments.     

The Invisible Unattended: Low‐wage Chinese Immigrant Workers,Health Care,and Social Capital in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley*

This study investigates the factors affecting the availability of health insurance, the accessibility of health care, and the dissemination of the relevant information among low‐wage Chinese immigrants in Southern California by relying on the concepts of social and cultural capital. Using community‐based research and in‐depth interviews, our study suggests that a severe shortage in health care coverage among low‐wage Chinese immigrants is influenced by the lack of employment with employer‐provided health insurance within the Chinese “ethnoburb” community. Although the valuable social capital generated by Chinese immigrant networks seems to be sufficient enough to provide them with certain practical resources, the lack of cultural capital renders the social network rather ineffective in providing critical health care information from mainstream American society.     

Adolescent Health and Well‐Being in the Twenty‐First Century: A Global Perspective

Adolescence is a critical developmental period with long‐term implications for the health and well‐being of the individual and for society as a whole. The most significant factors to adolescents' health are found in their environments, and in the choices and opportunities for health‐enhancing or health‐compromising behaviors that these contexts present (e.g., exposure to violence, supportive families). Inadequate contexts represent a failure to invest in and protect adolescents, a choice to alienate rather than integrate them into society. This article describes a number of societal trends, including growing poverty and income disparities, government instability, the changing health‐care system, the spread of HIV/AIDS, increased migration and urbanization, changing family and cultural contexts, and new information technology. The health implications of these trends for the well‐being of adolescents in the 21st century are contemplated.     

Millennium Development Goal Achievements and Policies in Education and Health: What Has Been Learnt?

This article reviews the effectiveness and efficiency of key policy instruments for MDG (Millennium Development Goals) achievement, focusing on the role of demand‐ and supply‐side factors in education and health‐service utilisation. It comes to the following conclusions. First, specific policy interventions can have a considerable impact on social‐service utilisation. Second, demand‐side policies have proved extremely effective in the education sector, but may need more consideration in the health sector. Third, policy effectiveness and efficiency are highly dependent on initial conditions and the specificities of the respective policy. Fourth, complementarities between MDG targets are likely to be very important.     

Workers’ Remittances to India: An Examination of Transfer Cost and Efficiency

Regarding the time efficiency of remittance transfer channels to India, the evidence suggests that traditional banking instruments are relatively inefficient as compared to the new information technology‐enabled products. Transfer arrangement of the Indian banks with overseas exchange houses has reduced the settlement cycle and the cost. Both the banks and money transfer operators (MTOs) are able to keep the transaction cycle low through the use of information technology‐enabled formats. Given that the average cost curve of the banks is located to the right of the average cost curve of the MTOs, greater potential exists for the improvement in overall efficiency of the two entities, particularly through the sharing of messaging and the access and disbursement networks to reduce the overhead cost. The estimates of error correction model reveal that the transaction fee and payment infrastructure are significant determinants of remittance flows, underscoring the scope of policy measures in influencing remittance inflows. The estimates indicate that over the medium to long‐term horizon, transaction cost emerges as the most dominant variable explaining the variation in remittances. The payments infrastructure also explains about 10 per cent variation in remittances over the medium‐term. The impulse response analysis further reveals that the favourable shocks to transaction fees and the payments infrastructure cause steady improvement in remittance inflows over the medium‐term horizon, thus underlining the importance of cost and efficiency in affecting the workers’ remittances.     

Inter‐State Disparities in Health Outcomes in Rural India: An Analysis Using a Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

In an era of reforms in the health sector and with the role of government in health provision diminishing, emphasis is shifting to making the sector efficient. This article analyses the performance of the rural public health systems of 16 major States in India, using stochastic production frontier techniques and panel data for the period 1986‐97. The results show that States differ not only in capacity‐building in terms of health infrastructure created, but also in efficiency in using these inputs. There is scope for health systems to re‐orient their strategies in order to provide the best health in the most efficient way or at the lowest possible cost.     

Identifying Gaps in Health Research among Refugees Resettled in Canada

While the global number of resettled refugees rises annually, the summaries of research on refugee health needs in countries of asylum remain sparse. We conducted a systematic review of published research on refugee health in Canada in order to: (i) identify studies addressing health outcomes among refugees recently resettled in Canada; (ii) identify general trends in health research conducted in Canada among refugee populations; (iii) identify significant gaps in current knowledge of health‐related issues among refugees recently resettled in Canada; (iv) evaluate the quality and consistency of available information; (v) develop a summary of available research results; and (vi) identify priorities for future research. A search of several major citation indices resulted in the analysis of 196 research reports after reviewing more than 5,000 articles. This review is timely, systematic and inclusive; furthermore, potential biases in methodology are clearly assessed. The results indicate an immediate need to address specific gaps in health knowledge for refugee populations and lead us to draw five primary conclusions. First, mental health outcomes dominate the research landscape. Second, cross‐sectional studies are most commonly the study design of choice. Third, studies examining some aspect of health among refugees from Asia dominate the literature. Fourth, there is a notable lack of information on cardiovascular diseases and its antecedents. Fifth, indications show that screenings for pre‐existing conditions are biased towards communicable diseases. These findings have implications for health monitoring, evaluation and policy affecting the health of refugees resettled in Canada and elsewhere.     

Attitudes of parents towards the pre‐marital sex behavior of their children and themselves

The purpose of the experiment was to examine the acquisition of information about sexuality by 182 ninth‐grade students enrolled in a sex education course. An additional 197 ninth‐grade students in the same school served as a control group. Approximately half the subjects in each group were pretested. Following completion of the course, all subjects were posttested. The major results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that the experimental group scored higher on the posttest than the control group both for the total set of items (N = 24) and for several subscores measuring learning of sex education material. The pretest and posttest scores did not differ for control group subjects. The results indicated: (a) sex education courses can provide important information about sexuality which is not gained in other ways by ninth‐graders; (b) peers may not be important sources of sexual information when alternatives (sex education courses) to peer information are available.     

Predicting Well‐Being and Internalizing Symptoms in Late Adolescence From Trajectories of Externalizing Behavior Starting in Infancy

This study aimed to examine the long‐term prediction of well‐being and internalizing symptoms from trajectories of externalizing behavior problems in 921 children from a population‐based sample. We found that a high stable trajectory of externalizing behavior from infancy (age 1.5) to mid‐adolescence (age 14.5) predicted lower scores on life satisfaction and flourishing for both girls and boys (age 18.5). The high stable trajectory also predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms in boys and anxiety symptoms in girls (age 18.5). The findings are noteworthy as they document how a person‐oriented study of externalizing behavior problems starting in infancy can predict well‐being and internalizing in late adolescence. The findings underline the importance of early health promotion and problem intervention efforts.     

Quality of Web-based Information on Pathological Gambling

The present study aims to evaluate the quality of web-based information on gambling and to investigate potential content quality indicators. The following key words: gambling, pathological gambling, excessive gambling, gambling problem and gambling addiction were entered into two popular search engines: Google and Yahoo. Websites were assessed with a standardized proforma designed to rate sites on the basis of “accountability”, “presentation”, “interactivity”, “readability” and “content quality”. “Health on the Net” (HON) quality label, and DISCERN scale scores aiding people without content expertise to assess quality of written health publication were used to verify their efficiency as quality indicators. Of the 200 links identified, 75 websites were included. The results of the study indicate low scores on each of the measures. A composite global score appeared as a good content quality indicator. While gambling-related education websites for patients are common, their global quality is poor. There is a need for useful evidence-based information about gambling on the web. As the phenomenon has greatly increased, it could be relevant for Internet sites to improve their content by using global score as a quality indicator.     

Informational and documentational needs for education and training for health and family welfare--"para-professional and auxiliary"

In this paper, the author stressed the needs for a central arrangement for acquisition, exchange and dissemination of scientific information in the field of health and family welfare so as to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of planning, administration and evaluation of health and family planning programmes and also to carry out research when needed. The proposed arrangement in the form of a documentation centre must collect information on health care systems as their main functions so that the information and documentational needs for the education and training of health personnel are rationally developed in the context of present and future health needs and demands.     

Bullying victimization in non-heterosexual university students

In this study the prevalence, impact on mental health, and coping of bullying victimization in university students identifying as non-heterosexual was compared with their heterosexual peers. University students were surveyed on bullying experiences within the past 12 months, their mental health, and use of coping strategies. Demographic information identified gender, age, and sexual orientation. Results indicated that 14.3% of students reported victimization, and that students ages 24 to 35, and those who identified as non-heterosexual, reported higher rates of victimization. No gender differences were found. Bullied students scored significantly higher on depression, anxiety, and stress scores than non-bullied students. Comparisons of mental health scores and coping strategies of non-heterosexual and heterosexual bullied students found no significant differences, indicating both groups are equally impacted, and equally utilize adaptive and maladaptive strategies to manage the victimization. Implications for tertiary institutions include identification of effective coping resources for diverse university student populations. Limitations and recommendations for future research are considered.     

Family Dynamics and Self‐Injury Behaviors: A Correlation Analysis

This study tested the relationship between family dynamics and self‐injury. A total of 189 participants responded to a web‐based survey collecting information related to previous self‐injury behaviors and family dynamics. Participants were over 18 years old who had used self‐injury (intentionally harming themselves physically to relieve painful emotions without suicidal intent), but who had not used self‐injury for over a year. Results indicated that healthy family dynamics were negatively correlated and associated with higher scores of self‐injury behaviors. This study offers some evidence that family dynamics influence self‐injury behaviors. The implications for family therapy are discussed.     

Erotophobia‐erotophilia as a dimension of personality

This review discusses the measurement, antecedents, and consequents of erotophobia‐erotophilia—the disposition to respond to sexual cues along a negative‐positive dimension of affect and evaluation. Test construction procedures which resulted in a 21‐item measure of this personality construct are reported. Evidence indicates that the measure is internally consistent, shows acceptable degrees of convergent and discriminant validity, and is correlated as expected with related constructs such as authoritarianism, adherence to traditional sex roles, indices of value orthodoxy, and various measures of sex‐related evaluations. Retrospective surveys and group contrasts suggest that erotophobia‐erotophilia is a learned disposition based on one's exposure to sex‐related restrictiveness and punishment during socialization. Consequents of erotophobia‐erotophilia involve avoidance versus approach responses to sexuality in a wide range of situations; scores on this test predict differential sexual experience, responses to erotica, likelihood of engaging in sexual fantasy behavior, the tendency to learn about or teach others about sex, engaging in sex‐related health care, the probability of utilizing contraception, and behaving sexually during pregnancy and postpartum. Cross‐cultural research provides evidence for the generality of this construct beyond North America.     

Testing the Clinical Implications of Planned Missing Data Designs

Assessment is a core element of evidence‐based practice, but thorough formal assessment can place a significant burden on clients. We evaluated the clinical viability of using planned missing data designs to reduce client burden. Data come from an archival dataset with 1342 participants. Although significant differences were found in scores with planned missing data versus real scores, the effect sizes for the differences were generally small. Scores with missing data had sensitivity and specificity scores generally above .90 when predicting real scores over clinical cutoffs and improvement in real scores. These findings offer useful information to agencies and researchers looking for ways to collect more data without losing its immediate clinical utility.     

The Role of Progress Factors Explaining Inefficiencies in Transition Countries

This paper examines whether progress in transition has a significant effect on the economic efficiency for 24 transition countries from 1990 to 2006. It uses nine progress factors to analyze the role of the progress factors to explain inefficiencies. It also questions the effect of the transition countries that recently joined the European Union on efficiency. The results suggest that the average efficiency scores for EU-N10 are much higher than the average efficiency scores for SEE/CIS. The scores increase over time for both groups of transition countries. Reforms also contribute to efficiency in general.     

Audience success or art for art's sake? Efficiency evaluation of dance companies in the United States

Our aim is to evaluate the performance of American dance companies, considering that the production process may be subdivided into consecutive stages consisting of fundraising, artistic production, and social impact. A three‐stage network‐Data Envelopment Analysis model is applied which takes account of the links between stages in the form of intermediate inputs/outputs and provides an overall indicator of efficiency together with partial performance indicators in the stages. Given the lack of information for some variables, we previously undertook a process to impute missing values following MICE (multiple imputation by chained equations) procedures. Results show that the highest levels of efficiency are achieved during the cultural creation stage, whereas the lowest correspond to social impact, indicating that dance companies pursue artistic excellence in their cultural programming, irrespective of their activity's commercial outcomes. Moreover, public and private funds are seen to be channeled following this guideline, thereby justifying the non‐profit status of these entities.