OPTIMAL EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP CONTRACTS UNDER AMBIGUITY AVERSION

The aim of this paper is to compute and describe the conditions of an optimal employee ownership contract between an employer and an ambiguity‐averse employee. We then introduce ambiguity aversion in the baseline model of Aubert et al. (2014) using the multiple prior preferences of Gilboa and Schmeidler (1989) and its extension proposed by Maccheroni et al. (2006). This model offers solutions that reconcile labor and financial economics and behavioral economics research findings on employee ownership. The paper focuses on the most common situation where employee ownership has a positive impact on corporate performance, but can also be used as an entrenchment mechanism. We determine the optimal company stock contribution, which corresponds to a perfect subgame Nash equilibrium in the ambiguity framework. Using the framework of Gilboa and Schmeidler (1989), we show that the optimal ownership contract is increasing with respect to the lower bound of the return expectation in the case of a high level of effort, and decreasing with respect to the upper bound of the return expectation in the case of a low level of effort. In the framework of Maccheroni et al. (2006), we prove that if aversion to ambiguity is sufficiently high, then we find the same behavior as in the case of no ambiguity. (JEL G11, G32, G34, J33)     

A note on inferences regarding network subgroups

The evidence presented in Bernard et al. (1980) does not warrant their conclusion. We comment on their lack of concern with the substance of social differentiation in the systems they use as evidence. The substance of social structure is argued to affect the scope, adequacy and power of conclusions drawn from a network analysis and is accordingly a factor to be explicitly considered in justifying those conclusions. With these ideas in mind, our reanaly sis of one system on which good data are available, ostensibly supporting the Bernard et al. conclusion, illustrates how their conclusion regarding network subgroups in that system is unwarranted     

A Reply to Theodori,Luloff, Brennan,and Bridger

Theodori et al. (2016) take issue with our presentation of the interactional field theory of community, asserting that, according to interactional field theory, (1) community does not equate with community field; (2) community does not emerge out of the community‐oriented actions of individuals; as well as making various other charges. In our reply, we refute their points, and demonstrate how Theodori et al., themselves, often provide the best evidence against their own arguments.     

Commentary on Walker,Brantley, and Rigsbee's (2004) “A Critical Analysis of Parental Alienation Syndrome and Its Admissibility in the Family Court”

Abstract

In this response to Walker et al. (2004), we explain our perspective, recent research, and recommendations in order to correct some misunderstandings of our work on alienated children. Then we address some important issues that Walker et al. have raised that deserve the attention of the field. These include whether a child necessarily needs a relationship with both parents; when we should give children their own voice and respect their self-determination, whether children who reject a parent are significantly emotionally troubled or at-risk for emotional or mental disorders in the future; and whether they need court-ordered intervention (despite the child's and aligned parent's resistance or objections). Finally, we address what are the nature, purpose, and prognosis for mandated treatment.     

The new genetics: professionals' discursive boundaries

In this paper we examine new genetics professionals’ accounts of the social context of their work. We analyse accounts given in interview by an ‘elite’ group of scientists and clinicians. Drawing on the work of Gilbert and Mulkay (1984), we consider interviewees’ discourse about knowledge, exploring the way in which they separate science from society through the use of what we have called the ‘micro/macro split’. We then go on to consider the reasons for such a discursive boundary, exploring the interviewees’ wider discourse about expertise and responsibility for the social implications of the new genetics. We argue that interviewees’ discursive boundaries allow them to appeal variously to their objectivity, to dismiss bad science and to characterize the public as ignorant. However, these discursive boundaries are permeable and flexible, and are employed to support the new genetics professionals’ role in guiding education and government policy, whilst at the same time deflecting ultimate responsibility for the use of knowledge on to an abstract and amorphous society. Responsibility is flexibly embraced and abrogated. These flexible discursive boundaries thus promote rather than challenge the cognitive authority of new genetics professionals as they engage in debates about the social implications of their work. We end by challenging the replication of these discursive boundaries, noting some of the implications of such a critique for evaluation of the new genetics.     

Problems in measuring role strains and social functioning in relation to psychological symptoms

The problems that people experience in social roles can be regarded as either causes or consequences of psychological symptoms. To reflect one of these possibilities, Pearlin et al. (1981) developed measures of "role strains" which are considered sources of psychopathology. To reflect the other position, Dohrenwend et al. (1981) constructed measures of "role functioning" which are seen as consequences of psychopathology. We show that the measures developed by these two teams of investigators are similar in content and show substantial empirical overlap despite the different meanings attributed to them. In an effort to understand whether these highly correlated measures assess, "role strain" or "role functioning," we conduct an exploratory analysis of marital and housework role problems, using a small panel sample of New York City residents. Specifically, we use instrumental variables to identify reciprocal effects between psychological distress and each role area. We find that the relationship between housework role problems and distress is more consistent with Pearlin et al.'s interpretation, whereas the relationship between marital problems and distress is more consistent with that of Dohrenwend et al. Investigators interested in measuring either role strain or role functioning must bear in mind the strong possibility of contamination from the other construct.     

The Fruits of Cultivation Analysis: A Reexamination of Some Effects of Television Watching

A set of items from the General Social Survey for 1975 and 1977measuring alienation and fear of walking near one's home atnight, which were claimed by Gerbner et al. (1978a) to be relatedto heavy television watching, are reanalyzed with simultaneouscontrols for age, sex, race, income, education, hours workedper week outside the home, church attendance, membership involuntary associations, and population size. The effects oftelevision watching on responses to these items which were claimedby Gerbner et al. are largely absent in this analysis. Itemsin the same data set used by Gerbner et al., but not includedin their analysis are analyzed using the technique above, withresults that fail to support the contention of Gerbner and hisassociates. The implications of these findings for a cultivationtheory of television effects are discussed.     

Separate But Not Alone: Separation-Individuation Issues in College Students with Eating Disorders

It sometimes seems that the college experience is tailor-made for the development of eating disorders. Overwhelmed and bombarded by their feelings, college students often turn to behavioral means, like eating disorders, to cope. Contemporary research (e.g., Christenson et al., 1994) has shown that good and bad emotions alike can be managed by starvation, bingeing, overeating, purging, and/or obsessive exercise. For college students, many of the overwhelming feelings that are titrated by eating disorders are directly linked to the separation process. Adolescence has been called a second individuation. While Mahler et al. (1975) viewed separation-individuation as both a developmental stage and a lifetime's work, contemporary therapists often concentrate on the importance of early separation experiences. A postmodern perspective, however, recognizes the importance of connection as well as separation. Our culture is so focused on independence that many parents of college students do not recognize the importance of maintaining active contact with their older adolescents. It can be very helpful to view an eating disorder as representing a college student's attempt to negotiate separation and connection, dependence and autonomy. This article examines some of these dynamics and the implications for therapy with this population.     

Estimating the effects of network covariates on subgroup insularity with a hierarchical mixed membership stochastic blockmodel

Social networks describe the relationships and interactions among a group of individuals. In many peer relationships, individuals tend to associate more often with some members than others, forming subgroups or clusters. Subgroup structure varies across networks; subgroups may be insular, appearing distinct and isolated from one another, or subgroups may be so integrated that subgroup structure is not visually apparent, and there are numerous ways of quantifying these types of structures. We propose a new model that relates the amount of subgroup integration to network attributes, building on the mixed membership stochastic blockmodel (Airoldi et al., 2008) and subsequent work by Sweet and Zheng (2017) and Sweet et al. (2014). We explore some of the operating characteristics of this model with simulated data and apply this model to determine the relationship between teachers’ instructional practices and their classrooms’ peer network subgroup structure.     

The Real Controversy About Child Sexual Abuse ResearchContradictory Findings and Critical Issues Not Addressed by Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman in Their 1998 Outcomes Meta-Analysis

This article presents a review of all types of child sexual abuse research ignored by Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman in their 1998 meta-analytic study. Eight major findings are addressed. Altogether, these findings demonstrate the narrow focus of the Rind et al. meta-analysis. By restricting a supposedly broad meta-analysis to only some of the research and population in question, the conclusions Rind et al. drew regarding this complex topic (primarily, that adult-child sex is not necessarily harmful to children) are invalid.     

Nature and Nurture in the Family

SUMMARY

Behavioral genetic research provides the best evidence we have for the importance of the environment. Heritabilities rarely exceed 50%, which means that, on average, half of the variance for behavioral dimensions and disorders is not genetic in origin. However, no one needed to be convinced that environmental factors contribute importantly to behavior. The two findings that stand out as the most important from behavioral genetics both involve nurture rather than nature. This volume reviews these findings and lays out the agenda for future research in this area. Some of the ideas described in these papers may be unfamiliar to marriage and family researchers, in part because they are so novel and revolutionary. Nonetheless this volume will reward careful reading as it represents an exciting glimpse of the future of research in this area.     

Effects of Race and Sex on Work Group Cooperation Vs. Competition

This study examines whether differences in individualism-collectivism by race and sex result in differences in cooperation vs. competition. Expanding upon the earlier work of Cox et al., individual and group-level comparisons are made by race and sex. Exclusively examining race-based effects, Cox et al. had suggested that blacks display greater cooperation than do whites. Our findings concur; however, we are able to demonstrate this using a more complete group-level comparison. Given literature suggesting sex to be as relevant as race when administering work force diversity, we further expanded upon the earlier study by testing for such effects. While some previous research has suggested a tendency for women to behave more cooperatively than do men, our findings show that this is not necessarily the case. Specifically, this study demonstrates that sex decreases in importance, when controlling for race. Applications and suggestions for future research are presented.     

The Real Controversy About Child Sexual Abuse Research: Contradictory Findings and Critical Issues Not Addressed by Rind,Tromovitch, and Bauserman in Their 1998 Outcomes Meta-Analysis

SUMMARY

This article presents a review of all types of child sexual abuse research ignored by Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman in their 1998 meta-analytic study. Eight major findings are addressed. Altogether, these findings demonstrate the narrow focus of the Rind et al. meta-analysis. By restricting a supposedly broad meta-analysis to only some of the research and population in question, the conclusions Rind et al. drew regarding this complex topic (primarily, that adult-child sex is not necessarily harmful to children) are invalid.     

Because of you I did not give up – Peer effects in perseverance

It has been shown that both perseverance as well as peer effects affect performance. In our experiment, we investigate the interplay between these two factors. Participants work on a wordplay task where we quantify perseverance as the decision to continue working hard in the face of challenges. We find that persevering on the task is significantly correlated with the psychological questionnaire measure of grit (Duckworth et al., 2007). In an additional treatment, we provide participants with information about a peer’s contemporaneous perseverance on the task. This significantly increases participants’ perseverance on the task independently of their perseverance as measured in the questionnaire, suggesting that it does not only depend on individuals’ inherent traits, but can also be increased by peers.     

Behavioral Determinants of Nonprofit Board Performance

There is an increased awareness that the performance of boards (good governance) is not only determined by structural determinants but by behavioral determinants as well. These behavioral determinants might be particularly important for public and nonprofit governance, where the role of the board is more diffuse and heterogeneous than in corporate governance. Here we investigate how social dynamics within boards in secondary education influence their performance. We follow a concise model that includes cognitive conflict, the use of expertise, effort norms, and social cohesion as determinants of board task performance. A survey among all secondary schools in the Netherlands serves as the empirical underpinning for this process‐oriented model of good governance. We show that the behavioral determinants have different effects on the control task and advice task of boards. Also, we find that cognitive conflicts in supervisory boards do not lead to less but rather to more social cohesion within boards. Building on these findings, we suggest a revised model of the behavioral determinants of nonprofit board performance.     

A Problematic Test of the Kin Selection Hypothesis Among the Urak-Lawoi of Ko Lipe,Thailand: Commentary on Camperio Ciani,Battaglia, and Liotta (2015)

Camperio Ciani et al. argued that the Urak-Lawoi people of Ko Lipe island live in a “traditional,” “subsistence primitive society” reminiscent of the “ancestral” human past and that their socio-cultural situation is “remarkably similar” to Samoa. On this basis, they asserted that the Ko Lipe Urak-Lawoi are an appropriate population for determining the role that kin selection played in the evolution of male androphilia. The purpose of this commentary is to outline some of our concerns with this characterization and with the statistical analyses conducted by Camperio Ciani et al. in their study of the Urak-Lawoi.     

Still more on the Tournament Equilibrium Set

Schwartz (Soc Choice Welfare 3:271–291, 1990) proposed a solution concept (the Tournament Equilibrium Set) for choosing from a tournament and stated some conjectures about this solution. Laffond et al. (Math Sci Hum 123:37–44, 1993) introduced further conjectures and showed the links between some of them. In this short note, we show that one of the conjectures stated by Schwartz (1990) is false. We also complete a result given in Laffond et al. (1993). I gratefully thank J.-F. Laslier for his remarks and for introducing me to this topic.     

Single-peakedness and strategy-proofness of generalized median voter schemes

We identify, in a continuous multidimensional framework, a maximal domain of preferences compatible with strategy-proofness for a given generalized median voter scheme. It turns out that these domains are a variation of single-peakedness. A similar but stronger result for the discrete case and single-peakedness has been already obtained by Barberà et al. (1999). However, both results are independent and their proofs involve different arguments. Received: 27 July 1998/Accepted: 11 September 2000