Distributive justice: an ordering of priorities. A comparative analysis of European opinions

As far as distributive justice is concerned, an important issue is to know whether the different principles by which a given distribution of goods is judged fair or unfair are exclusive or complementary. The European Values Survey carried out in 1999 shows clearly the priorities of Europeans in this matter. The first concerns the guarantee that ‘basic needs are met for all’, then comes ‘recognizing people on their merits’ and finally ‘eliminating big inequalities in income’. The consensus on this hierarchy is not altered by national, demographical, social, economic or political divisions. These different divisions do indeed influence opinions on each criterion, but, with very few exceptions, they are not sufficient to upset this order of priorities. Thus, the usual applied principles of distributive justice do not define competing spheres. Their nested (or ‘lexical’) order is compatible with the purely procedural condition of ‘equal liberty’.     

Distributive justice and the Nash bargaining solution

Suppes-Sen dominance or SS-proofness (SSP) is a commonly accepted criterion of impartiality in distributive justice. Mariotti (Review of Economic Studies, 66, 733–741, 1999) characterized the Nash bargaining solution using Nash’s (Econometrica, 18, 155–162, 1950) scale invariance (SI) axiom and SSP. In this article, we introduce equity dominance (E-dominance). Using the intersection of SS-dominance and E-dominance requirements, we obtain a weaker version of SSP (WSSP). In addition, we consider α ? SSP, where α measures the degree of minimum acceptable inequity aversion; α ? SSP is weaker than weak Pareto optimality (WPO) when α = 1. We then show that it is still possible to characterize the Nash solution using WSSP and SI only or using α -SSP, SI, and individual rationality (IR) only for any \({\alpha \in [0,1)}\). Using the union of SS-dominance and E-dominance requirements, we obtain a stronger version of SSP (SSSP). It turns out that there is no bargaining solution that satisfies SSSP and SI, but the Egalitarian solution turns out to be the unique solution satisfying SSSP.     

A reconceptualization of state transnationalism: South Korea as an illustrative case

Our reconceptualization of state transnationalism underlines the active role that states can play in generating and sustaining cross‐border flows between a nation's homeland and its diasporic communities. This represents a sort of ‘middle ground’ between formerly hegemonic state centric’ approaches to global processes (focusing heavily on the ‘international’) and more recent ones emphasizing ‘transnational’ dynamics (which primarily arise through the agency of cross‐border migrants). We discuss a typology of approaches and avoid the tendency to set nation‐states against global and transnational processes. In fact, we highlight the various ways in which states often initiate key transnational flows, such as migration and the integration of diasporic communities into the sending nation, as well as maintain and regulate various processes instigated by immigrants. As an iconic case, we present an illustrative study of the South Korean government and Korean diasporic communities in the USA. Finally, in a brief conclusion, we outline some challenges for future research.     

Migration and mental health: an empirical test of depression risk factors among immigrant Mexican women

Empirical research in the field of migration and mental health is rare and its recent appearance follows decades of inconsistent reports in the research literature about the risks posed by numerous precipitating and predisposing factors. This article has 2 goals: 1) to summarize critically selected issues and methodological problems regarding mental health implications of migration-adaptation, and, 2) to test empirically hypotheses derived from the Fabrega Migration Adaptation Model to determine whether they have predictive value for depressive symptomatology in a cross-sectional sample of Mexican immigrant women in San Diego county. Findings from bivariate analyses indicate most of the model's factors were significantly related to depressive symptoms. Multivariate analyses identified 1) demographic factors (education-income), 2) perceived economic opportunity, 3) perceived distance between the 2 centers involved in the migration, and 4) loss of interpersonal ties in Mexico as the most parsimonious subset of depression indicators within the model. Implications are discussed.     

Life stress, anger and anxiety, and delinquency: an empirical test of general strain theory

General strain theory (Agnew 1992) departs from traditional strain theories by emphasizing the role of the individual's affective responses to negative life experiences in fostering deviant behavior. In this analysis, we examine the central hypotheses of general strain theory using data from a three-wave panel study of high school youths in the Boston metropolitan area (N = 939). Covariance structure models reveal that anger and hostility in response to negative life events do play a causal role in fostering more aggressive forms of delinquency, but are not significantly related to either nonaggressive delinquency or marijuana use. Furthermore, the conditional effects predicted by general strain theory, in which the impact of strain on delinquency varies by youths' personal and social resources, are inconsistent. Discussion centers on the prospect of increasing the utility of general strain theory by further imbuing it with concepts and perspectives from the sociology of mental illness.     

税收、租金与治理:理论与检验

发展中国家和转型国家普遍面临着如何提高治理水平的难题。本文从财政社会学这一独特视角出发,研究了国家的财政收入汲取方式对治理水平的影响。作者首先梳理了财政社会学中存在的一个隐含的理论假设:只有税收国家才能实现好的国家治理。然后,运用非洲国家的面板数据,对这一假设进行了检验。研究发现,财政社会学的这一理论假设是成立的。一个国家税收国家的特征越强,其治理质量就越高;反之,税收国家的特征越弱,或者租金国家的特征越强,其治理质量就越低。这一发现对发展中国家包括中国的国家建设有着重要启示。     

Uncertainty and predictive accuracy: an empirical study

The purpose of this article was to explore the relation between uncertainty and predictive accuracy using data from a survey of inflationary expectations. Uncertainty was proxied alternatively by an interval estimate of expected inflation and a dummy variable capturing the respondents' perceived uncertainty. The relation between the former proxy and the predictive accuracy was negative, as expected, while that was not the case for the latter one. As a tentative explanation for this result we argue that the interval estimate may to some extent capture the access to information of the respondents, while the dummy may rather be conceived as a measure of the subjective feeling of uncertainty.     

Restorative justice: an alternative approach to juvenile crime

This paper examines “restorative justice,” a new approach to the problem of juvenile crime, from an economic point of view. Advocates assert that the personal, social, and economic harms inflicted by many juvenile crimes are more adequately repaired through mediated face-to-face conferences between victims and offenders than through the conventional disposition of juvenile cases. Parallels between this conception and key elements of the “economic model of crime” are reviewed, followed by an application of the concept of social capital to this process. We conclude with a brief review of early empirical evidence suggestive of the promise of this new approach.     

Autopoiesis and socialization: on Luhmann's reconceptualization of communication and socialization

In 1984, Niklas Luhmann published Soziale Systeme in which he applies the idea of autopoiesis (= self-production) to social systems. Abstracted from its biological connotations, the concept of autopoiesis leads to a sharp distinction between different kinds of autopoietic organization, i.e. between life, consciousness and communication. According to Luhmann, the relationship between social systems and human beings cannot be adequately analysed except by taking into account that they are environments for one another. If this theoretical background is accepted, the concepts and theory of socialization need to be revised. Luhmann takes issues with classical notions such as internalization, inculcation, or 'socialization to the grounds of consensus' (Talcott Parsons). After a historical overview of social systems research and general systems theory, it is indicated how communications trigger further communications and realize the autopoiesis of social systems. In the second part of the article, the distinction between social systems and psychic systems is used to discuss issues crucial to socialization theory. Both a revision of the concept of socialization, and lines for an empirical research programme are proposed in accordance with Luhmann's theory of social systems.     

Tax evasion and emotions: An empirical test of re-integrative shaming theory

Shaming can be either of two types, shaming that becomes stigmatization of the offender and favors his exclusion from the community, or shaming that is followed by forgiveness and reintegration of the deviant. Here we test experimentally these aspects of shaming theory with a repeated tax-payment game, in which the shaming “ritual” consisted of displaying the evader’s picture in addition to charging monetary sanctions. Results show that when cheating is made public and the contravener is not successively reintegrated, the total amount of cheating is significantly increased compared to when cheating is made public but publicity is immediately followed by reintegration. The former condition is associated with more intense negative emotions related to cheating. This suggests that the employment of a social shaming mechanism may be an effective, albeit very sensitive, tool in the hands of policy makers.     

Union loyalty antecedents: A justice perspective

Using a justice perspective, this study investigates the relationship between union instrumentality and union loyalty in terms of union ability to address both outcome-based and process-based membership concerns. The results of hierarchical regression analysis using a sample of 451 train crew members from four railroads showed that member satisfaction with outcome-based concerns (i.e., pay, time spent away from home, safety climate) did not significantly affect union loyalty, but that member satisfaction with process-based concerns (i.e., effectiveness of the grievance procedure and satisfaction with communication from national union leaders) was significantly related to union loyalty. Moreover, process-based concerns explained additional variance in union loyalty beyond that accounted for by outcome-based concerns. Results are discussed in light of the justice and human resource literatures.     

Family dissolution and precautionary savings: an empirical analysis

The main research question of this paper is whether or not the risk of family disruption has an impact on the consumption/saving decisions of households. Although little empirical work exists in this area, often presenting indirect evidence, the theory is divided over the effect of family risk over saving and wealth accumulation. By using data from the Italian Survey on Households Income and Wealth, we build a probabilistic model to assess the probability of marital splitting, and then we insert this probability as a distinct or interacted regressor, in a statistically consistent way, into a linear model of consumption. Furthermore, we study the differential behaviour, in terms of consumption/saving choices, of couples experiencing marital splitting over the subsequent 2?years. The main result of our analysis is that family disruption risk generates precautionary savings, reducing current consumption. In fact, according to our estimates, on average, the risk of divorce generates an amount of additional yearly precautionary savings of around 800 euros at constant prices of the year 2000, which represents 11% of overall household savings.     

Student-faculty sexual relationships: An empirical test of two explanatory models

Media reports, stereotypes in popular literature, and a limited number of research studies describe student-faculty sexual relationships as either an exchange of sex for grades (initiated either by a lascivious professor or a self-serving student) and/or as the result of the psychological process of transference. Results from in-depth interviews with 11 students and 14 faculty members who had had student-teacher sexual affairs show only minimal support for either the exchange or transference models. We present two case histories that are typical of the student-faculty sexual liaisons we studied; they illustrate that these relationships are in many ways like other sexual relationships insofar as they are based on mutual attraction, as well as sex-related, power-discrepant roles. Student-faculty relationships are problematic (i.e., unethical) not so much because of the power discrepancy between a (usually male) professor and a (usually female) student, but because there is a confounding of public and private roles. This study contributes to this largely unresearched subject area in that it seriously questions the validity of negative sex stereotypes explicit in the exchange model and examines student-faculty relationships in sociological terms.     

The stigmatization of smokers: an empirical investigation

This study examines the social stigmatization of tobacco smokers, i.e., the extent to which smokers are seen as discredited persons. A representative sample of residents of a major Canadian city was interviewed. Clear evidence of an unfavorable stereotype of smokers was found. The ex-smoker enjoys a positive image, but one which is slightly less favorable than that of someone who has never smoked. A majority of non-smoking respondents preferred non-smokers in roles in which the role incumbents were likely to be in close proximity. Friendship networks and marital relationships tended to be segregated along lines of smoking behavior. Sociodemographic and attitudinal correlates of anti-smoker attitudes are explored. The implications of stigmatization for changing smokers' behavior are examined.     

Performance-based management and quality of work: an empirical assessment

In France, in the private sector as in the public sector, performance-based management tends to become a norm. Performance-based management is supposed to improve service quality, productivity and efficiency, transparency of allotted means and achieved results, and to better focus the activity of employees and of the whole organization. This text reports a study conducted for the French Ministry of Budget by a team of researchers in ergonomics, sociology and management science, in order to assess the impact of performance-based management on employees, on teams and on work organization. About 100 interviews were conducted with employees of all categories and 6 working groups were set up in order to discuss and validate or amend our first analyses. Results concern several aspects: workload and work intensification, indicators and performance management and the transformation of jobs induced by performance management.