Unemployment compensation and the use of social assistance among second-generation immigrants in Sweden

Previous studies have shown that the participation of first-generation immigrants in the Swedish income security system deviates from that of the native population. However, so far there has been no research that has focused on this issue where second-generation immigrants are concerned. This study shows that the rates of participation in different parts of the income security system vary considerably between different groups of second-generation immigrants. Second-generation immigrants whose parents come from Western Europe have low participa-tion rates in all the studied parts of the income security system. Their participation rates are even lower than for natives with both parents born in Sweden. Second-generation immigrants with parents from southern Europe and from outside Europe, on the other hand, have very high participation rates in especi-ally social assistance. The differences between the groups are of course to a great extent explained by differences in their labour market situation. According to the findings of the study, there are reasons to be concerned about the future labour market integration of second-generation immigrants with parents of non-European origin.     

Effect of Trajectories of Friends' and Parents' School Involvement on Adolescents' Engagement and Achievement

In a sample of 527 academically at‐risk youth, we investigated trajectories of friends' and parents' school involvement across ages 12–14 and the joint contributions of these trajectories to adolescents' age 15 school engagement and academic achievement. Girls reported higher levels of friends' and parents' school involvement than boys. Both parents' and friends' school involvement declined across ages 12–14. Combined latent growth models and structural equation models showed effects of the trajectories of friends' and parents' school involvement on adolescents' age 15 school engagement and academic achievement, over and above adolescents' prior performance. These effects were additive rather than interactive. Strategies for enhancing parent involvement in school and students' affiliation with peers who are positively engaged in school are discussed.     

Players and arenas: strategic interactionism in social movements studies

This ‘Authors Meet Critics’ symposium focuses on two books edited by Jan Willem Duyvendak and James M. Jasper, Players and Arenas: The Interactive Dynamics of Protest and Breaking Down the State: Protestors Engaged. Both books make bold attempts to develop and apply a strategic interactionist perspective in social movement studies by focusing on the interplay of micro and macro processes and decision-making in a range of protest movements. Critical interventions from Aidan McGarry, Robert J. Davidson and Guya Accornero raise a number of questions relating to the core arguments of the books, the key findings and the conceptual advances. Duyvendak and Jasper then address these challenges by drawing attention more acutely to the role of agency in social movements and highlighting significant critiques of the current state of the art in social movement scholarship.     

The power(lessness) of Czechoslovak Jews during the Second World War

The article evaluates the perceptions of Jewish power among the Czechoslovak exiles in Britain during the Second World War. The analysis documents the apparent persistence of prejudices against the Jewish minority among the Czechoslovak non-Jewish authorities that eventually formed the government-in-exile (1940–5), under the presidency of Edvard Bene? (1884–1948). The Czechoslovak exiles believed that the Jewish minority, in particular the Jewish nationalists (Zionists), had vehement supporters within Jewish circles in Western countries. Furthermore, they believed that the Jewish press played a significant role in the formation of public opinion in Britain and especially in the United States. In the early 1940s, the government-in-exile embarked on a policy of national homogenisation of post-war Czechoslovakia and was anxious to give concessions to the political representatives of the ethnic minority groups in exile, in particular the Germans, Hungarians and Jews. Yet the concerns about Jewish influence in liberal democracies granted several political concessions to the Jewish minority, in particular the appointment of a Zionist representative, Arno?t Frischer (1887–1954), to the exile parliament. This notwithstanding, by analysing the internal situation among the Czechoslovak Jewish groups in London, the article documents the internal weakness and disputes among the Jewish groups which gradually revealed the utter powerlessness of the Jewish exiles during their negotiations with the Czechoslovak authorities. The Jewish groups (the assimilationists, Orthodox and secular nationalists) were divided by mutual as well as internal disputes which were not concealed from outside observers and were utilised by the exile government. What emerges from the analysis is an impression of quarrelling groups that could not agree on any of the fundamental issues and whose only power was the ability to court the support of Western Jewish groups, which were perceived by the non-Jewish exiles as influential actors in US and British society.     

Horizontal plane sound source localization and auditory enhancement

Accurate sound source localization has advantages for the performance of work by humans. The ability to accurately localize sound sources contributes to perception, decision making and task performance. Two studies were conducted to investigate the prevalence of accurate sound source localization and the enhancement that spatially separated sound source locations can have on speech perception. The first study was conducted to characterize the ability to detect the location of horizontal plane sound sources. A sample of 117 participants with the hearing capacity within the normal limits participated in the study. The results indicated that sound sources located towards the front of the participant were identified more frequently than those sound sources located towards the rear positions. Based on the results found in the first study, a second study was conducted to assess performance within a listening task. Three different spatial configurations were used to assess if similar trends in performance translated to sound sources through headphones. Fifteen research participants performed a Coordinated Response Measure (CRM) task requiring the identification of a speech phrase and its associated information for a diotic configuration and two different spatial sound source configurations. Performance measured for the diotic configuration was significantly (p(0.05) less than for the two spatial configurations. The current studies indicate distinct advantages of utilizing localized sound sources to present auditory signal and speech to listeners.     

Strategic framing in the BP crisis: A semantic network analysis of associative frames

This paper contributes to the analysis of the interplay of public relations and news in crisis situations, and the conceptualization of strategic framing by introducing the idea of associative frames and the method of semantic network analysis to the PR research field. By building on a more advanced understanding of communication as process of social meaning construction that is embedded in networks of differential relations between different actors, it contributes to extend the perspective of first- and second-order agenda building towards a kind of “third order” or “network agenda building”. Via an automated content analysis of more than 3700 articles we examine agenda- and frame-differences between public relations, UK and US news in the BP crisis. The study documents that BP successfully applied a decoupling strategy: It dissociated itself from being responsible for the cause and at the same time presented itself as solvent of the crisis. It shows that in crises, associative frames in PR resonate partly to associative frames in news. Especially the US news followed BP and did not succeed in presenting political actors as solution providers.     

The living arrangements of older immigrants from the former Soviet Union: A comparison of Israel and the United States

With the unprecedented emigration from the former Soviet Union (FSU) during the 1990s as context, this study described the living arrangements of older FSU immigrants living in Israel and the US. Living arrangement choices represented an important strategy for coping with the migration process. Census data from Israel and the US were employed to examine the relationships among living arrangements (independent households, multigenerational households, and extended households) and personal characteristics, including duration of residence, Jewish identity, education, and home ownership. Results showed that the less time older immigrants lived in the host country, the more likely they lived in a multigenerational or extended household. The residency length and household relationship was stronger in Israel than in the US. Also, older FSU immigrants who owned their own home and who lived in a metropolitan area were more likely to live in a complex household than in an independent household. We discussed how the economic and social environments in each country contributed to the variability in living arrangement options among these older immigrants.     

IN‐SEASON HEAD‐COACH DISMISSALS AND THE PERFORMANCE OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAMS

This paper studies the causes and consequences of in‐season changes of the head‐coach of association football teams. We exploit data from the highest level of Dutch professional football during 14 successive seasons. An in‐season change of the head‐coach depends on recent match results and the difference between actual results and expectations as measured using bookmaker data. We find that, after the head‐coach has been replaced, teams perform better than before. However, the performance is also better than before for a control group of coach replacements that did not occur. From this we conclude that replacement of head‐coaches does not improve team performance. (JEL J44, L83)     

FISCAL FEDERALISM,DECENTRALIZATION, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A META‐ANALYSIS

The theoretical literature on fiscal federalism has identified several channels through which government decentralization could affect economic growth. Much of the literature focuses on the efficiency aspects of a decentralized provision of public services, but decentralization may also increase growth by raising the ability of the political system to innovate and carry out reforms. In contrast, some authors argue that decentralization increases corruption and government inefficiency, and thus may diminish growth. Given this theoretical ambiguity, several studies have attempted to identify the effect of decentralization on economic growth empirically over the last two decades. We review and conduct a meta‐analysis of this empirical literature. Based on our analysis, we point out open questions and discuss possible ways to answer them. (JEL H77, O43, C52)     

Ethnic Composition and School Performance in the Secondary Education of Turkish Migrant Students in Seven Countries and 19 European Educational Systems

This article examines the effect of the ethnic composition on school performances in secondary education for Turkish students, using both cross‐national and Swiss national PISA 2009 data. At the school level our results show no effect of the proportion of natives or the proportion of coethnics and a negative association between ethnic diversity (we employ a residualized score of diversity on the proportion of migrants) and math performances. Consequently, we find no evidence for social capital advantages and an indication of barriers. Finally, we find no association between social capital variables on national or educational system level and math performance.