Ethnic Business in der Leiharbeit – Einblicke in einen wenig bekannten Arbeitsmarkt in Deutschland

Since the Agenda 2010 temporary work is even economically and politically a success story in Germany. Inside that branch you also find Ethnic Business, id est that the director of the conferrer and the employees are belonging to the same ethnic group. The recruiting strategies are most informal within the ethnic group and working for an “ethnic conferrer” oftentimes means the last chance for migrants who get no other job on the formal job market. But the temporary work-business in Germany has a bad reputation and a lot of questions are going along with Ethnic Business in that particular branch: What are the migrant’s motives for working to an ethnic conferrer? What are the attractive aspects of founding an ethnic model of temporary employment agency? Have ethnic conferrers the ability to create new stability for the migrants inside a highly unstable branch?     

Urbanization does not affect green space bird species richness in a mid-sized city

Urban Ecosystems - Urbanization is one of the most intensive forms of landscape and habitat transformation, resulting in species loss, and taxonomic and functional homogenization of different...     

Voluntary work in the Norwegian long-term care sector: complementing or substituting formal services?

ABSTRACT

Across Europe, governments call for increased involvement of volunteers to shoulder some of the welfare burden. Nevertheless, there is little research into what kind of work and how much volunteers currently contribute in the long-term care services and whether this has the potential to substitute formal services. Drawing on findings from a survey of employees in Norwegian nursing homes and home care districts, we examine the nature and volume of voluntary, unpaid work in the long-term care services in Norway. Our data suggest that volunteers to a very limited degree carry out work that has traditionally been considered the formal system’s domain: personal care and practical help. Nearly all the voluntary, unpaid contributions in our data takes place within cultural, social and other activities aimed at promoting mental stimulation and well-being, indicating a classic specialisation of tasks between volunteers and professionals. However, there has been an expansion of the formal care system to include activities aimed at promoting well-being in recent decades. This may indicate that there is a certain level of task sharing between voluntary and formal care. Thus, social workers need to consider voluntary service provision when assessing the needs of clients.     

Precautionary Bidding in Auctions

We analyze bidding behavior in auctions when risk‐averse buyers bid for a good whose value is risky. We show that when the risk in the valuations increases, DARA bidders will reduce their bids by more than the appropriate increase in the risk premium. Ceteris paribus, buyers will be better off bidding for a more risky object in first price, second price, and English auctions with affiliated common (interdependent) values. This “precautionary bidding” effect arises because the expected marginal utility of income increases with risk, so buyers are reluctant to bid so highly. We also show that precautionary bidding behavior can make DARA bidders prefer bidding in a common values setting to bidding in a private values one when risk‐neutral or CARA bidders would be indifferent. Thus the potential for a “winner's curse” can be a blessing for rational DARA bidders.     

Knowledge Spillovers and Wage Inequality: An Empirical Analysis of Dutch Manufacturing

The introduction of new technologies and technical change is associated mainly with high‐skilled and high‐wage workers. In addition, many studies have found a positive correlation between the introduction of new technologies and technical change and skill upgrading. In these studies no attention has been paid to spillovers from one sector to the other. In this paper we not only use measures of technical change but also knowledge spillovers to explain wage inequality in Dutch manufacturing in the period 1986–95. Using this more elaborate measure of technical change, our findings are twofold. First, we confirm that workers employed in knowledge‐intensive manufacturing sectors receive a higher wage than workers in less knowledge‐intensive sectors. Secondly, the wages paid to high‐skilled workers relative to low‐skilled workers in knowledge‐intensive sectors are higher than those in less knowledge‐intensive sectors. However, the coefficients using the elaborate measure of technological advancement are much lower and sometimes even insignificant. This suggests a premium for high‐skilled labour in sectors both applying and developing technology. But the wage premium is highest in technology‐developing sectors, as suggested by the measures used in previous studies.     

Adult Foreign Adoptees: Reactive Attachment Disorder May Grow into Psychic Homelessness

The heterogeneity of the group of adopted children does not allow to draw general conclusions about the nature and quantity of behavioral problems with adopted children. This nature and quantity depend on the chosen comparison group. Older foreign adoptees at placement often show complex physical and psychological problems. Many suffer from some kind of behavioral disturbances. Empirical data show that reactive attachment disorder (RAD) can often be diagnosed. The continuation of this disorder in adulthood will result infeelings of psychic homelessness. Examples are described to make clear what kind of behavioral problem it concerns. Research to select appropriate treatments for RAD and psychic homelessness is still lacking.     

THE EFFECT OF FINANCIAL REWARDS ON STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT: EVIDENCE FROM A RANDOMIZED EXPERIMENT4

This paper reports on a randomized field experiment in which first‐year university students could earn financial rewards for passing all first‐year requirements within one year. Financial incentives turn out to have positive effects on achievement of high‐ability students, whereas they have a negative impact on achievement of low‐ability students. After three years these effects have increased, suggesting dynamic spillovers. The negative effects for less‐able students are consistent with results from psychology and behavioral economics showing that external rewards may be detrimental for intrinsic motivation. (JEL: I21, I22, J24)     

From where do legislators draw scientific knowledge? Organizations as scientific authorities in four countries' parliamentary debates

Organizations far beyond traditional academic institutions have become prolific science producers, with many now providing evidence-based advice for national governments and policy-makers. Neo-institutional sociology explains organizations' growing investment in research activities and research-based policy advice by the all-embracing scientization and the expansion of the educated population, phenomena observable throughout the world. There is, however, considerably less knowledge about how the organizations' increased knowledge production and the supply of science-based policy advice are reflected in national policy-making, including the legislative work of parliaments, and to what extent distinct organizations are deemed authoritative in different countries. In this paper, we examine how different organizations are used as scientific authorities in parliamentary debates over new legislation. Drawing on analyses of 576 parliamentary debates from Australia, Finland, Kenya, and the United Kingdom, we study what organizations are acknowledged as scientific authorities and the relative weight of different organization types in the context of political debates over new legislation. The results reveal that while organizations in general are frequently evoked as scientific authorities in all four countries, there is remarkable variation in the types of organizations considered authoritative in different national contexts. We elaborate these findings by analysing ways in which politicians evaluate organizations as sources of scientific authority. While the same set of evaluative schemas are used in all four countries, each is typically applied to certain types of organization. The results suggest that both the supply of scientific policy advice and political culture shape legislators' rhetorical practices when drawing on organizations' scientific authority.     

Education After Early-Life Deprivation: Teachers’ Experiences With a Clinical Group of Deprived Romanian Adopted Children

Little is known about the experiences of teachers working with deprived adopted children. In this qualitative study, teachers and parents of 17 deprived Romanian adopted children showing behavioral problems (10 years 8 months old at time of study, 2 years 11 months old at adoption) were interviewed. Most children (76%) visited schools for special education. Behavioral problems reported by the teachers were hyperactive behavior, social problems, aggression, and a high sensitivity to the influence of others. Teachers attributed these problems mainly to the period of deprivation before adoption. Teachers applied a highly structured, warm, and accepting approach. In general, parents were satisfied with the teachers. Almost all teachers needed the advice of colleagues or other experts about the children.