Market Rationality Inside Voluntary Sector: An Analysis of Five Organizations in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

What we now understand as rational and logical in today’s world provides a mental scheme to take action, based on a framework of premises and values. These rules aim to maximize the utility of consequences, despite of any subjective value. Weber (Economy and Society, 1978) classified this scheme as an “instrumental rationality”, characterized by being guided by the goals, means, and consequence of the action. On the other hand, he also defined “substantive rationality”, postulated on the values of the subject, and not guided by any consequences of action. This study acknowledges that NGOs (non-governmental organizations) must belong to a field other than that of economic businesses, because they are based on different rationalities, especially when they encompass the observation in organizations that work for social transformation. A field study was made with five nonprofit organizations whose stated goals were social transformation, seeking to identify influences that the adoption of instrumental rationality imposes on accomplishing the expected objectives for these organizations. Contingencies were found that benefit from using instrumentality in such organizations, such as the need for self-subsistence, the area where they work, size of the organization, influence of the leader and so on. The conclusion is that the lack of consciousness of the market’s influence on them very often causes them to uncritically and bluntly absorb the typical organizational dynamics of economic business, which has strong potential to corrupt their conceptual motivations, when guiding them strategically through the consequences of actions.     

On micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities: A multi-level perspective based on CEO personality and knowledge-based capital

In recent years, researchers have asked why some firms are better than others at developing dynamic capabilities. The existing literature assesses micro-foundations separately, either on the managerial or on the organizational level. This study aims to provide a more holistic picture on the antecedents of dynamic capabilities by integrating managerial and organizational micro-foundations. Specifically, we posit that the personality of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), manifested through their core self-evaluation (CSE), represents an individual-level micro-foundation which influences three types of a firm's knowledge-based capital—human, social, and organizational capital. We also argue that these three, in turn, are organization-level micro-foundations that ultimately enable the development of a firm's dynamic capabilities. We test our multi-level framework using data from 307 German CEOs, and confirm that CEO CSE is positively related with all three forms of knowledge-based capital. We further find that human capital and organizational capital mediate the relationship between a CEO's CSE and a firm's dynamic capabilities. Our research contributes by extending a central framework of the micro-foundations project (the bathtub model) that integrates the upper echelons perspective into a multi-level analysis. We empirically validate this model and advance the understanding of how firm leaders indirectly influence firm dynamic capabilities by shaping individual learning conditions.     

Estimation of cost allocation coefficients at the farm level using an entropy approach

This paper aims to estimate the farm cost allocation coefficients from whole-farm input costs. An entropy approach was developed under a Tobit formulation and was applied to a sample of farms from the 2004 Farm Accountancy Data Network data base for Alentejo region, Southern Portugal. A Generalized Maximum Entropy model and Cross Generalized Entropy model were developed to the sample conditions and were tested. Model results were assessed in terms of their precision and estimation power and were compared with the observed data. The entropy approach showed to be a flexible and valid tool to estimate incomplete information, namely regarding farm costs.     

Nonparametric Mixtures Based on Skew-normal Distributions: An Application to Density Estimation

This article addresses the density estimation problem using nonparametric Bayesian approach. It is considered hierarchical mixture models where the uncertainty about the mixing measure is modeled using the Dirichlet process. The main goal is to build more flexible models for density estimation. Extensions of the normal mixture model via Dirichlet process previously introduced in the literature are twofold. First, Dirichlet mixtures of skew-normal distributions are considered, say, in the first stage of the hierarchical model, the normal distribution is replaced by the skew-normal one. We also assume a skew-normal distribution as the center measure in the Dirichlet mixture of normal distributions. Some important results related to Bayesian inference in the location-scale skew-normal family are introduced. In particular, we obtain the stochastic representations for the full conditional distributions of the location and skewness parameters. The algorithm introduced by MacEachern and Müller in 1998 MacEachern, S.N., Müller, P. (1998). Estimating mixture of Dirichlet Process models. J. Computat. Graph. Statist. 7(2):223–238.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] is used to sample from the posterior distributions. The models are compared considering simulated data sets. Finally, the well-known Old Faithful Geyser data set is analyzed using the proposed models and the Dirichlet mixture of normal distributions. The model based on Dirichlet mixture of skew-normal distributions captured the data bimodality and skewness shown in the empirical distribution.     

Cut-points to prevent low back injury due to force exertion at work

Force exertion is related to low back injuries (LBI). This paper critically reviews the literature concerning cut-points for back force exertion, presents available guidelines in a concise manner, and identifies areas that need further research. The studies reviewed were grouped according to the criteria used to set the cut-point values. Most often cut-points differ than concur. The approach considering physiological, psychophysical, epidemiological, and biomechanical aspects of back force exertion meets the most known criteria and presents the lowest common denominator of instantaneous load for lifting tasks. Further experimental and epidemiological studies in peak load and cumulative exposure are necessary. Compound indices should also be developed for pushing, pulling, and carrying. Future indices should consider electromyographically determined fatigue, differential viscoelastic properties of tissues, aging, and the cross sectional area of back muscles. We hope that this paper contributes to a more systematic appraisal of back force exertion at work.     

Using remote sensing and census tract data to improve representation of population spatial distribution: case studies in the Brazilian Amazon

This work proposes a methodological approach to redistribute population data obtained from polygonal census tracts into population density surfaces (grids) based on a cell space database. The methodology was first developed for the municipality of Marabá, Pará state, in the Brazilian Amazon. We used a dasymetric method to eliminate areas of environmental restriction to human presence; then integrated environmental data indicative of human presence to generate a potential surface of population occurrence; and finally, census population count data were redistributed into cells. The methodology was subsequently adapted for 13 municipalities of the Sustainable Forests District (SFD) of BR-163, generating population distribution surfaces for 2000 and 2007. The evolution of the resident population over the SFD-BR163 showed spatial patterns compatible with the occupation process described in the literature and verified by fieldwork. To be applied over other areas, the proposed methodology must be adapted with local parameters but in this way, population density surfaces can be useful as an additional data source to study population and environment relationships.     

Testing the Personal Wellbeing Index on 12–16?Year-Old Adolescents in 3 Different Countries with 2 New Items

The 7-item adult version of the Personal Wellbeing scale (Cummins et al. Social Indic Res 64:159?C190, 2003) was administered to two samples of adolescents aged 12?C16 in Brazil (N?=?1,588) and Spain (N?=?2,900), and to a sample of adolescents aged 14?C16 in Chile (N?=?843). The results obtained were analyzed to determine its psychometric characteristics when used with adolescents in the three different countries and to check whether two additional items would improve its qualities. Results reveal that the new PWI-9 version worked well with the adolescents in the three countries, improving some of the qualities of the PWI-7. One of the added items, satisfaction with oneself, appears to be a major contributor to unique explained variance when regressed on the single-item of overall life satisfaction (OLS). The model we present using structural equations shows good fit statistics for the factor structure, with both 7 and 9 items. Separate in-country analyses demonstrate that cultural context has a strong influence on correlations and saturations between the studied variables and also on the explained variance. Probably related to this fact, the Model fit structure is good in Brazil (with a low PWI variance accounted for by its predictors) and Spain (medium), but rather modest in Chile, where data show a high proportion of the PWI variance accounted for by its predictors. However, a multi-group factor analysis among the three countries restricting saturations to 1 in each country in order to make data comparable across countries still show a good fit of the proposed model for both PWI-7 and PWI-9.     

论原始儒家的"圣人" 理想

“圣人”是儒家思想中一个重要范畴。儒家的“圣人”观念与巫文化时期的“巫”存在着渊源关系 :圣人由巫演化而来 ;先秦儒家诸子的政治实践 ,直接促成了这一转变演化 ,也就是说 ,儒家诸子的政治实践过程也就是他们对“圣人”政治理想的构建过程 ;巫之所以能演化为“圣”和“圣人” ,有深刻的理论根源、社会历史原因和独特的社会经济根源     

Contextual movement models based on normalizing flows

AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis - Movement models predict positions of players (or objects in general) over time and are thus key to analyzing spatiotemporal data as it is often used in...     

Native and exotic species in the urban landscape of the city of Rio de Janeiro,Brazil: density,richness, and arboreal deficit

Shaped by European influences, the Brazilian urban landscape was marked by the predominant use of exotic species in planted areas. In the 19th century along the city streets of Rio de Janeiro, trees were planted at a standard distance from each other. With time, native species began to be used in the urban landscape. Our purpose was to evaluate the utilization of exotic plant species in the urban landscape of Rio de Janeiro, evaluate the city’s arboreal deficit, and relate its neighborhood arboreal density to its economic index. Arboreal deficit represents the negative difference between the total number of expected trees and the observed number in the streets based in the standard distance used in the past. Twenty native and 40 exotic species were found in the 1701 streets sampled. A high percent of streets did not have any planted trees and the number of trees was greater in wealthier neighborhoods. The strong prevalence of exotic species is indicative of the negative impact of human activity on the biota. Since the municipality of Rio de Janeiro harbors forested areas, the risk for dissemination of exotic species is high.