Dutch tax simplification: Unique in an international setting?

The Dutch reformed individual income tax was implemented on January 1, 1990. The rationale of the tax reform is described, and the major changes are discussed and compared to developments abroad. As far as rate reduction and base-broadening are concerned, the Netherlands has followed the trend in international tax reforms. The Dutch tax reform process, however, focussed more on simplification than in other Western countries.     

Benefits of preventive dentistry in children: Cost factors and public policy

Dental caries in children is now recognized as a preventable disease. The use of fluoride and sealants has produced a major reduction in caries prevalence among school aged children in the United States and other countries. A portion of the child population who are educationally and socioeconomically disadvantaged are not fully receiving these benefits. Public policy, insurance and medicaid groups must be made aware of these preventative measures and strategies developed to implement them.     

Undercover Drug-Use Evasion Tactics: Excuses and Neutralization

Although research has examined the corruptive influences of undercover drug operations on agents (Girodo 1991 b; Manning and Reddlinger 1977, 1978), it has not examined the processes by which these influences can be neutralized. In this paper, I address these neutralization processes through a typology of routine and non-routine drug-use evasion tactics. Routine tactics involve excuses based on greed, business constraints, and role obligations (occupational, legal, and interpersonal). Nonroutine tactics involve two components: reverse accusation and simulation. Discussion focuses on excuses where I provide a dramaturgical interpretation that accentuates their deceptive and fraudulent nature, unlike traditional interpretations (e.g., Scott and Lyman 1968) which highlight their role as a reparative technique and aligning action (Margolin 1990). Data were drawn from ethnographic interviews with 35 light undercover narcotics agents located in a moderate-sized midwestern municipality.     

ACCOUNTING PRACTICES AND ORGANIZATIONAL DECISION MAKING

In this paper we argue for the importance of a sociologically informed study of organizational accounting practices. By making the nexus between accounting and decision making problematic, instead of given, we move issues of interpretation and hierarchical control to the center stage of understanding the social construction of accounting practices. We suggest that inductive case studies of the organizational setting is a promising methodological strategy for identifying how accounting operates as an organizational control system. We focus on debates and proceedings of the board of directors as an overlooked source of data on decision making and organizational practices. We show how accounting practices are part of the strategic control system that functions to interpret the environment and direct the adaptation of the organization in a manner particular to the substantive rationality of corporate decision makers. We illustrate these contentions with a case study of accounting practice changes over a six year period.     

Gender-specific changes in students' sexual behaviors and attitudes at a southeastern university between 1973 and 1988.

This study investigated the gender-specific, self-reported sexual behaviors and attitudes of never-married college students attending a southeastern university in 1973 and 1988. Data were collected by means of a mailed questionnaire that remained essentially unchanged for both years. The authors found that both men and women reported an increase in heterosexual relationships that included sexual intercourse and a decrease in nonsexual relationships with the other gender. The majority of the students perceived themselves as adequately informed about sexuality and satisfied with their relationships, although the proportion of men who reported being satisfied with their relationships declined over the 15 years. The students indicated that sexuality education should focus primarily on information about AIDS and on preparation for marriage.     

Cognitive and interpersonal abilities related to the primary activities of R&D managers

This study attempted to identify the primary activities performed by R&D managers at different supervisory levels, and the cognitive and interpersonal ability requirements that underlie these activities. A task inventory containing 244 managerial tasks was completed by 117 R&D managers in nine organizations. The 48 tasks which managers rated as having spent the most time were factor analyzed, resulting in the identification of three primary activities: project management, personnel supervision, and strategic planning. Furthermore, these activities varied with supervisory level, with R&D managers performing a wider range of these activities with the progression from first-line to upper-level management.Thirty R&D managers later rated the degree to which 19 cognitive and interpersonal abilities were required for performing these primary activities. Strategic planning was rated as requiring significantly higher levels of oral expression, logical reasoning, originality, fluency of ideas, oral defense, and resistance to premature judgement than was required for the other two primary activities. Personnel supervision required a higher level of social sensitivity than was required for the other two activities. Project management required high levels of information ordering, oral fact- finding ability, problem sensitivity, and oral and written comprehension. Implications of the findings for understanding R&D managerial performance and personnel staffing functions are discussed.     

Was there a “golden past” for the introductory sociology textbook? A citation analysis of leading journals

Much debate over the years has centered around whether there was ever a “golden past” for the introductory sociology textbook, when high quality books influenced the development of scholarship and thinking. Some empirical evidence is added to this debate through an analysis of the citations to introductory sociology textbooks in all the articles and research notes appearing in theAmerican Journal of Sociology, theAmerican Sociological Review, andSocial Forces from 1960 to 1969 and from 1984 to 1993. The data show that, although seldom cited in recent journals, introductory sociology textbooks were often cited in the earlier period. The article concludes with some thoughts about why introductory sociology textbooks have had a declining influence on scholarship.