Transitional Victimisation: Collaborators’ Offspring as Children at Risk

Using transition theory from political science, this paper analyses how the lives of children of Norwegians punished for collaboration with the German occupant were adversely influenced by transitional justice after the return to democracy in 1945. The paper highlights how the complexity and hectic character of such regime changes are associated with a high risk for unintended social outcomes, a risk that has received little attention in the study of transition processes. Findings indicate that in order to avoid harmful consequences for children, careful and long‐term thinking is essential when new democracies select a transitional justice strategy.     

Negative Mood States or Dysfunctional Cognitions: Their Independent and Interactional Effects in Influencing Severity of Gambling Among Chinese Problem Gamblers in Hong Kong

Gambling-related cognitions and negative psychological states have been proposed as major factors in the initiation and maintenance of problem gambling (PG). While there are a substantial number of studies supporting the role of cognitive dysfunctions in the initiation and maintenance of PG, very few empirical studies have explored the specific role of negative psychological states in influencing PG behaviours. In addition, very few studies have examined the interaction effects of cognitive dysfunctions and negative psychological states in exerting influence on PG behaviours. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the main and interaction effects of gambling-related cognitions and psychological states on the gambling severity among a group of problem gamblers in Hong Kong. A cross-sectional research design was adopted. A purposive sample of 177 problem gamblers who sought treatment from a social service organization in Hong Kong completed a battery of standardised questionnaires. While gambling-related cognitions were found to exert significant effects on gambling severity, negative psychological states (i.e. stress) significantly moderated the relationship between gambling cognitions and gambling severity. In essence, those participants who reported a higher level of stress had more stable and serious gambling problems than those who reported a lower level of stress irrespective of the level of gambling-related cognitions. The findings of the moderating role of negative emotions in the relationship between cognitive distortions and severity of gambling provide insight towards developing an integrated intervention model which includes both cognitive-behavioural and emotion regulation strategies in helping people with PG.     

Guanxi influence and talent management in Chinese organisations; evidence from the real estate sector

The Chinese context has been characterised as one where guanxi influence is significant, shaping the choices, considerations, challenges, and consequences of talent management (TM). There is though little empirical research which shows that this is what is experienced, and that guanxi influence does feature prominently. The purpose of our research is to explore experiences of TM in China, and the extent to which the guanxi influence affects TM.

Case study research to identify and explore guanxi influence on TM was undertaken in three real estate companies in China. Interviews with managers and employees on how talent is defined, attracted, developed, and retained were analysed for guanxi influence. These show that guanxi influence is clearly present in the experience of TM, though this is not the sole or always dominant influence on choices, considerations, challenges, and consequences. This paper contributes to the TM literature by showing that guanxi influences play important roles in defining, attracting, developing, and retaining talent in the Chinese context and also highlighting both advantages and potential disadvantages of guanxi influence in TM activities.

Evidence suggests that guanxi influence is a relevant focus for understanding TM and for framing further research on TM in China. Guanxi influence in this TM context will continue, and by extension in contexts where Chinese organisations develop their presence globally, and adapt to the wider international context of organisation development and change in which best practice TM is a stronger influence.     

Donor Reactions to Commercial Activities of Nonprofit Organizations: An American Case Study

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This paper raises two questions. Do donors to nonprofit organizations care about whether nonprofit organizations pursue...     

Specification of household engel curves by nonparametric regression

This paper demonstrates the usefulness of nonparametric regression analysis for functional specfication of houshold Engel curves.

After a brief review in section 2 of the literature on demand functions and equivalence scales and the functional specifications used, we first discuss in section 3 the issues of using income versus total expenditure, the origin and nature of the error terms in the light of utility theroy, and the interpretation of empirical demand functions. we shall reach the unorthodox view that household demand functions should be interpreted as conditional expectations relative to prices, household composition and either income or the conditional expectation of total expenditure (rather that total expenditure itself), where the latter conditional expectation is taken relative to income, prices and household composition. these two forms appear to be equivalent. this result also solves the simultaneity problem: the error variance matrix is no longer singular. Moreover, the errors are in general heteroskedastic.

In section 4 we discuss the model and the data, and in section 5 we review the nonparametric kernal regression approach.

In section 6 we derive the functional form of our household engel curves from nonparametric regression results, using the 1980 budget survey for the netherlands, in order to avoid model misspecification. thus the modl is derived directly from the data, without restricting its functional form. the nonparametric regression results are then translated to suitable parametric functional specifications, i.e., we choose parametric functional forms in accordance with the nanparametric regression results. these parametric specification are estimated by least squares, and various parameter restrictions are tested in order to simplify the models. this yields very simple final specifications of the household engel curves involved, namely linear functions of income and the number of children in two age groups.     

Are universities left-wing bastions? The political orientation of professors,professionals, and managers in Europe

Universities are accused of being left-wing bastions, unwelcoming to conservative and right-wing professors. However, we know little about the political orientation of professors in comparison to other professionals, which would be the right comparison group if we want to know whether universities are potentially hostile environments to conservatives. Examining culturally and economically oriented political orientations in Europe, it is demonstrated that professors are more liberal and left-leaning than other professionals. However, there is no greater homogeneity of political orientations among the professoriate relative to other specific professions, suggesting that there is a diversity of opinions which is similar to what professionals would find in other occupations. One exception concerns attitudes towards immigration, on which professors have more liberal orientations and comparatively low residual variance around that more liberal mean. Importantly, the difference between professors and other professionals is not so clear within graduates from the social sciences, but emerges more clearly among graduates with a medical, STEM, economics or law degree. An important political cleavage exists between professionals and managers, a group of similar social standing.     

Urban dominance,ecology and community well-being in a Philippine region

There is a strong difference of opinion concerning whether the effects of urban centers are generally beneficial or deleterious to outlying communities. Based on a sample of seventy-three barrios in Cavite Province, this paper examines several basic features of community organization to determine what effects Manila's dominance exerts. The Manila-Cavite metropolitan region is further complicated by a pronounced highland—lowland division. Land tenure, occupational structure, political activity, indebtedness, and measures of community well-being give evidence of both positive and negative effects. However, Manila's dominance does not correspond to uniform gradient patterns. Due to sharp ecological differences, the impact of the city varies between highland and lowland barrios. The fairest conclusion able to be drawn from the evidence is that contact with the city is indispensible and in many ways beneficial, but these benefits are often counterbalanced by economic and social costs for certain communities.     

The challenge of introducing low-carbon industrial practices: Institutional entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector

Contemporary agricultural practices account for a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions. Inspired by the emergent literature on institutional entrepreneurship, we seek to explore mechanisms that affect an actor’s propensity to act in ways that imply suggesting and promoting emission-reducing practice changes. As influences originating outside the organizational field are assumed to constitute such mechanisms, the paper explores their role through a case study of a project run by a public agency. Unlike extant theory, results show that the agency’s propensity to act is not necessarily enhanced by extra-field influences but that such influences also limit the scope for suggesting change that challenges existing industrial practices.