A Delphi Method Expert Survey to Derive Standards for Flood Damage Data Collection

For the purpose of flood damage analyses reliable, comparable, comprehensive, consistent, and up-to-date data are an indispensable need. Like in many other countries a database with this kind of datasets does not exist in Germany. To establish it, standards have to be set for flood damage data collection. We approached this problem by questioning experts about their information needs for flood damage analysis. This survey is done by applying a Delphi survey approach. The aptitude of the Delphi approach to assess, structure, and standardize expert knowledge is evaluated in this article. In the survey a panel of 55 experts working in the field of flood damage analysis for insurances, engineering companies/consultancy, public water management, and universities and other scientific institutions helped to identify common information needs. The multi-step Delphi method proved to reduce the deviation of answers thereby enabling consensual results and also enhanced the quality by modifying group answers in the direction of experience based answers. There was also a high level of congruence in information needs between experts from different fields of employment that allowed the derivation of common standards.     

Interrupted aspirations: research and policy on Gitano education in a time of recession,in Spain

During the past decade, Gitano students’ school success and its cultural, social and emotional consequences have been largely unexplored, particularly in a new context: the deep economic crisis in Spain. This study reviews and analyses the evolution of the research production and the changing contexts of policy trends affecting the ‘Roma education issue’ as they have developed in Spain during the past decade (2004–2014). The authors take as a starting point the groundbreaking study published in 2004 that focused on trajectories of educational achievement and continuity among Gitano youth, and go on to reconstruct the approaches undertaken by qualitative, quantitative and evaluation research since then, in relation to their contributions to improve policy recommendations. The role played by Spanish and European social and educational strategies addressed to the Gitano/Roma population is critically explored to challenge the controversial notion of a ‘Spanish model of Roma integration’. Finally, the authors argue that the deterioration of public education and the virtual disappearance of social benefits in recent years, in addition to the worrying actions taken against Roma citizens in the EU, are to account for the interrupted aspirations of a whole generation of Gitano/Roma youth.     

Infants’ Style of Emotion Regulation with Their Mothers and Fathers: Concordance between Parents and the Contribution of Father–Infant Interaction Quality

The concordance between infants’ emotion regulation styles with different partners has not been consistently analysed nor have the relational correlates of such potential across‐partners similarities. We explored these issues by assessing 10‐month‐olds’ (59.6 percent boys) emotion regulation styles separately with mother and father and by evaluating mother–infant and father–infant interaction quality. The sample consisted of 50 low‐risk families. Two home visits were conducted and similar procedures were adopted for each visit. Parent–infant interaction quality was assessed during daily routines and during free play; both parents independently completed a temperament questionnaire. Infant emotion regulation was assessed in a semi‐structured problem‐solving task: adaptive vs. maladaptive (under and over‐regulation) styles. As predicted, infants’ emotion regulation with their mothers and fathers were related. However, only father–infant interaction quality predicted infants’ emotion regulation concordance: lower interaction quality was associated with maladaptive concordance compared with non‐concordance and higher interaction quality was associated with adaptive concordance compared with non‐concordance. Our results support the claim that by the end of the first year of life, infants use similar emotion regulation styles with mother and father and point to father–infant interaction as an important correlate of emotion regulation across‐parents.     

The impact of external,internal, and dual relational embeddedness on the innovation performance of foreign subsidiaries: Evidence from a developing country

As parts of a global network, foreign-owned subsidiaries enjoy privileged access to knowledge sources both internal (within their multinational group) and external (involving other organizations in the host location), and this has proven especially relevant in their assumption of greater creative responsibilities that increase the technological capabilities of their multinational group. This study investigates whether external and internal relational embeddedness are mutually reinforcing (complementary) or whether they act separately in explaining superior innovation performance of foreign-owned subsidiaries in terms of a greater propensity to obtain radical innovations. The empirical analysis uses both direct and indirect tests to evaluate the complementarity, as well as a rich firm-level panel data on foreign subsidiaries, extracted from a census of Colombian manufacturing firms for the period 2008–2014. Our findings reveal that external relational embeddedness in isolation (without internal embeddedness) has a positive impact on performance only in terms of incremental innovation, while internal embeddedness alone (without external embeddedness) has no effect on the innovation performance of subsidiaries. However, we find that a complementary and dynamic relationship exists between external and internal linkages to spur radical innovation outcomes, which in turn are related to the competence-creating roles in foreign subsidiaries as prior literature has shown.     

Remittances and labour market outcomes: Evidence from Mexico

The effects of remittances on labour market outcomes have been studied by many researchers, primarily using micro‐level data. While a few studies have also used macro‐level data, they suffer from endogeneity bias due to the inclusion of remittances in their estimations. The present study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by using a set of panel data of Mexican states and by addressing the endogeneity bias with a system GMM (generalized method of moments) estimator. The main conclusions are that remittances increase labour force participation rates and reduce median hours worked, critical employment and unemployment duration.     

Challenging the neoliberal view of education: the Center for Ecoliteracy as a transformative educational practice

The neoliberal rationality of recent decades has, as one of its maxims, that of extending market logic to the rest of social dimensions on the basis of competition. However, the spreading of this neoliberal ‘drug’ requires profound political reforms. It calls for a cultural engineering of the public sector which has been fostered by the New Public Management (NPM). This form of governmentality controls current power relations and gives a new meaning to the management of public services, including the educational sector. In this paper, we maintain that there are ‘spaces of resistance’ against the neoliberal educational rationality. We analyse the Center for Ecoliteracy (CFE) as a transformative experience which integrates a holistic perspective into educational practice. We compare the principles of the NPM with those of the CFE, showing that there are more humanistic approaches to education which aim to teach students the need to live in sustainable communities.     

La flexibilité, une arme contre le chômage? Analyse empirique du marché du travail espagnol

L'Espagne a connu en 2010 et 2012 deux réformes majeures du marché du travail. Celles-ci reposaient sur l'idée qu'il suffisait d'accroître la flexibilité du travail et de décentraliser la négociation collective pour faire baisser le chômage (thèse de la flexibilité). Les auteurs estiment pour leur part que le comportement du chômage dépend largement de la demande et de la structure sectorielle de l'économie (thèse structurelle). Ils évaluent l'apport de ces deux hypothèses dans une analyse reposant sur des données de panel de niveau infranational. Leurs résultats tendent à infirmer la thèse de la flexibilité et font ressortir le rôle primordial des facteurs cycliques et structurels.     

Overprotection in the lives of people with intellectual disability in Malta: knowing what is control and what is enabling support

A study of overprotection in the lives of persons with intellectual disability in Malta was carried out on the principles of inclusive research. Focus groups were held with people with intellectual disability, parents of people with intellectual disability, and those working with persons with intellectual disability. Overprotection is a disabling barrier. Its effects were identified in employment, leisure time, intimate relationships, and the use of public transport, money, and mobile phones. People with intellectual disability who experience overprotection live very structured lives. They cannot develop their skills, abilities, and potential. Furthermore, they cannot live their life on their own terms, but on terms determined by others. This creates a sustained dependence on others, especially the family. It is important that a balance is achieved between protection and enabling support. Persons with intellectual disability should be given the support they need to express their wishes and act on them.