How Satisfied are Spouses with their Leisure Time? Evidence from Europe

This paper first identifies the determinants of spouses’ satisfaction levels within the household with respect to their leisure time and, secondly, characterizes whether their preferences have some degree of altruistic or egoistic character in regard to this particular satisfaction. To that end, it formulates a theoretical framework from the collective family model whose stochastic formulations are estimated for 14 EU countries. The general empirical results first reveal that the presence of children has a significantly negative impact on the leisure satisfaction of both spouses. Then, increases in individual incomes lead to lower own leisure satisfaction levels. Both husbands and wives show egoistic behavior with respect to the labor and non-labor incomes (wage rate) of their respective spouses’ satisfaction levels.

Four criteria to evaluate providers' service-delivery response to new contraceptive introduction

This article presents an evaluation framework developed to assess the first-level effects of introducing the Standard Days Method (SDM) in Peru Ministry of Health clinics. Four questions are asked: 1) To what extent do providers routinely achieve SDM service delivery standards? 2) Is the time invested in SDM delivery consistent with program norms? 3) How does SDM delivery compare with delivery of established methods? and 4) How does SDM introduction affect delivery of established methods? A study at 62 clinics demonstrated the framework's usefulness. The Standard Days Method introduction had positive overall effects on the quality of care but provider training needed adjustments.     

The multinational transfer of competency-based foster parent assessment, selection, and training: a nine-country case study.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child mandates (Articles 19 and 20) that alternative care be available to protect children from maltreatment by parents and caregivers. Increasingly, countries around the world have recognized the benefits to child well-being of family-based care as an alternative to institutional care. The special if not extraordinary needs of children separated from parents because of abuse, neglect, and maltreatment and placed with foster families requires a commensurate effort to develop foster families who have special if not extraordinary skills. Methods that are effective and replicable across countries offer significant advantages, reducing investments in policies and practices that otherwise would have to be developed independently, country by country. This case study describes the factors that contributed to the transfer of knowledge in the assessment, selection, and training of foster parents and the impact to date.     

Récession,austérité et genre: étude comparative sur huit marchés du travail européens

Si l'effondrement du PIB consécutif à la crise économique mondiale de 2008 a nui avant tout à l'emploi des hommes, les politiques d'austérité auraient davantage affecté celui des femmes. L'auteure cherche à vérifier ce scénario dans huit pays européens, en décomposant la variation trimestrielle du taux d'activité et du taux d'emploi des femmes et des hommes à l'échelon sectoriel. Elle montre que l'association entre he‐cession et she‐austerity ne se confirme pas toujours, mais que les politiques d'austérité peuvent nuire à l'égalité des sexes et aux droits de la femme par d'autres mécanismes d'action, qu'elle répertorie et commente.     

The multicriteria selection of products in technological diversification strategies: an application to the Spanish automotive industry based on AHP

The economic recession, the dynamism and complexity of the markets and the generalised globalisation of the world economy have forced many companies to rethink and reorganise their industrial strategies. Through identifying and taking advantage of the key technologies of a company, this work presents a new and original methodology for dealing with a general technological diversification process. The methodology, which includes an innovative cognitive perspective and its corresponding decisional tool (decision support system) has been used to select the best product in a process of technological diversification that, along with the key technologies, identifies the sub-levels consonant to the sub-technologies and applications to sectors and products. The multicriteria selection tool employed in the proposed methodology, based on the analytic hierarchy process, allows the integration of multiple scenarios, actors and criteria, both tangible and intangible. The methodology has been applied to a case study in the Spanish automotive auxiliary sector.     

Dyadic Cross-Sectional Associations Between Depressive Mood,Relationship Satisfaction,and Common Dyadic Coping

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the mediational role of common dyadic coping in the links between depressive mood and relationship satisfaction. We estimated two competing Actor–Partner Mediator Models, in which the dyad is the highest unit of analysis. The first model specified dyadic coping as a mediator in the association between relationship satisfaction and depression, whereas the second model specified dyadic coping as a mediator between depression and relationship satisfaction. Analyzing data from 198 couples, our findings provided a plausible approximation of the second model, representing the interactional model of depression. They showed that common dyadic coping mediates the link between depression and relationship satisfaction for men only.     

Accuracy of approximate progressively censored reliability sampling plans for exponential models

Reliability sampling plans provide an efficient method to determine the acceptability of a product based upon the lifelengths of some test units. Usually, they depend on the producer and consumer’s quality requirements and do not admit closed form solutions. Acceptance sampling plans for one- and two-parameter exponential lifetime models, derived by approximating the operating characteristic curve, are presented in this paper. The accuracy of these approximate plans, which are explicitly expressible and valid for failure and progressive censoring, is assessed. The approximation proposed in the one-parameter case is found to be practically exact. Explicit lower and upper bounds on the smallest sample size are given in the two-parameter case. Some additional advantages are also pointed out.     

Homicide Rates in a Cross‐Section of Countries: Evidence and Interpretations

This study uses a regression analysis to explore the cross‐country variation in homicide rates for a large sample of countries. It starts by identifying seven significant regional variables, to which traditional socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional variables are added and tested. The importance of institutions, culture, and other factors affecting homicide rates is discussed. One unexpected finding is a curious relationship between the level of education and homicide rates: while an increase in male education tends to reduce homicide rates, an increase in female education tends to increase homicides. Several possible interpretations for this phenomenon are proposed. The study points to relatively unexplored areas of research in order to better understand homicide variation around the world.