The compliance challenge: Implications for social security in the People's Republic of China

Abstract   Discussion of social security compliance in developing societies has mainly focused on systemic administrative and operational issues. The article argues that analysis of compliance calls also for frameworks which draw lessons from nation-specific policy circumstances and comparisons of social protection regime types. Using such an approach, it also examines social security compliance in the context of China. Four considerations are found to be central to improved compliance: the sustainability of economic growth; trust in social institutions and regulations; the differing social values inherent in regime types; and institutional inertia accumulated in China's existing policy path.     

Guidelines for Facilitating Parental Prevention Discussions about the Choking Game

The Choking Game (TCG), practiced by adolescents, involves forced asphyxiation to obtain a ‘high’, occasionally causing seizures or death. Few parents report discussing TCG with their child despite their critical role in injury‐prevention. This paper examined parental knowledge of TCG and perceptions of TCG‐related discussions with their child. From parent responses, eight thematic elements were identified: Risks; Awareness; Peer Context; External Resources; Basic Information; Prevention Strategy; Participation; and Told Not To. We propose a guide for parents planning a TCG prevention discussion is offered based on naturally occurring parental conversations.     

The politics of counting and reporting conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence: the case of Myanmar

ABSTRACT

Scholars, states and international organizations have begun to systematically count, document and compare sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in conflict-affected countries. Qualitative and quantitative studies point to a “tip of the iceberg” phenomenon, where there is a high prevalence but low level of actual reporting of SGBV. We investigate the conditions in which SGBV is reported or, more significantly, is not reported to discover the trends of reporting in politically oppressive environments where SGBV is thought to be occurring. We ask how the power to report in local conflict-affected areas is affected by national political tensions and pervasive gender discrimination. Reporting of SGBV in Myanmar, a country that has experienced multiple, protracted conflicts since independence, is examined. Analysis of open-access reports over a fifteen-year period reveals a pattern of silence that we argue is rooted in pervasive discriminatory civil and physical practices against women. Engaging with the deeply politicized and gender discriminatory context of conflict-affected societies enables us to see the anomalies of SGBV data and to highlight significant gaps in our knowledge about SGBV.     

Dimensions of Market Attractiveness: Competitively Interactive Spatial Models*

This paper presents a normative, multidisciplinary approach for evaluating market entry strategies with concern for the effects of spatial assumptions on performance expectations. An assessment framework is linked to a series of models that show the value of adding spatial and competitive perspectives to typical baseline conceptualizations of market opportunity. Criteria for assessing market attractiveness are discussed with special concern for the problems of field service firms whose market boundaries are not limited by fixed facility locations. The problem is conceptualized as the managerial decision to locate a new brokerage office in a highly competitive regional market area. Realistic constraints are established by focusing the market entry decision through aggregate data from secondary sources that are readily available to an outsider who had not been active in the geographic markets considered. A simple model based on market potential is progressively enhanced with spatially adjusted measures of market attractiveness and competitive resistance. Empirical tests highlight the impact of alternative model formulations and choice criteria on the decision-making process.     

Class dismissed? Student opposition in Ontario

Dans cette communication sur les origines de classe et diverses formes de résistance chez les élèves des écoles secondaires en Ontario, l'auteur met en doute la tendance chez de nombreux chercheurs à généraliser certaines méthodes qui les font conclure que l'origine de classe est un des principaux facteurs déterminants de la participation aux sous-cultures 'anti-école'. Alors que ces chercheurs donnent à entendre que les taux de participation sont proportionnels aux différences entre classes sur le plan de la réussite scolaire, l'auteur applique diverses mesures de la résistance à un important échantillon d'éleves sans trouver de rapport de proportionnalité entre les résultats scolaires et la resistance selon la classe sociale. La presentation des données s'accompagne d'une analyse des facteurs structured et culturels qui pourraient contribuer à obscurcir les liens entre les origines de classe et la résistance chez les éliéves ontariens.     

Stochastic EM algorithm for generalized exponential cure rate model and an empirical study

In this paper, we consider two well-known parametric long-term survival models, namely, the Bernoulli cure rate model and the promotion time (or Poisson) cure rate model. Assuming the long-term survival probability to depend on a set of risk factors, the main contribution is in the development of the stochastic expectation maximization (SEM) algorithm to determine the maximum likelihood estimates of the model parameters. We carry out a detailed simulation study to demonstrate the performance of the proposed SEM algorithm. For this purpose, we assume the lifetimes due to each competing cause to follow a two-parameter generalized exponential distribution. We also compare the results obtained from the SEM algorithm with those obtained from the well-known expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. Furthermore, we investigate a simplified estimation procedure for both SEM and EM algorithms that allow the objective function to be maximized to split into simpler functions with lower dimensions with respect to model parameters. Moreover, we present examples where the EM algorithm fails to converge but the SEM algorithm still works. For illustrative purposes, we analyze a breast cancer survival data. Finally, we use a graphical method to assess the goodness-of-fit of the model with generalized exponential lifetimes.     

Midnight regulations and the Cinderella effect

Recent studies have shown preliminary evidence of a tendency for outgoing administrations to generate a flurry of last-minute regulatory activity. This so-called Cinderella effect is described as resulting from the combination of an administration being in power yet, because it is out-going, not being subject to political ramifications from its actions. In this paper, we look at monthly regulatory activity over the past 30 years and compare the baseline growth in regulations (measured using the proxy of pages in the Federal Register) to the growth immediately following a Presidential election when the sitting President is re-elected, not re-elected, and when the party in control of the White House changes. We find significant evidence supporting the existence of a Cinderella effect.     

The Failure of Calendar Reform (1992–1931): Religious Minorities, Businessmen, Scientists, and Bureaucrats

The standardization of measurements of length, mass, temperature, etc is a central part of the process of modernization and rationalization described by Weber. However, attempts by businessmen, scientists and bureaucrats to reform the calendar, as a rationalizing measure and to improve economic efficiency, have been thwarted by religious minorities. Curiously, the religious opposition is rooted in material interests, in contrast to the ideal interests of the calendar reformers. The argument that calendar reform is contrary to religious liberty is shown to be confused. Durkheim's concepts of mechanical and organic solidarity are then used to clarify the nature of the issues involved.     

Shildrick’s monster: exploring a new approach to difference/disability through collective biography

Working with memories generated in a collective biography workshop on difference/disability and drawing in particular on Shildrick’s analysis of monstrosity, this article analyses the ambivalent processes through which difference is othered and abjected. The article argues that through the process of abjection we disown for ourselves whatever qualities are being categorised as monstrous, with negative effects not just on the other, but also on the self. We look at the ambivalence of ‘reclaiming the monster’. This article opens up an alternative of expanding the possibilities of being by focusing not on difference as categorical otherness, but rather difference as movement, as differenciation, or becoming.