Time Series Evidence of Unemployment Flows: The Sample Period Matters

Worker flows to and from unemployment occur at all stages of the U.S. business cycle. The flows' dynamics affect the dynamics of the unemployment rate. This article studies the dynamics of unemployment flows and the unemployment rate and explores and documents changes over time. Rigorous diagnostic tests are used to investigate the structural stability of projectional relationships involving flows and the unemployment rate.     

Von Multiple Modernities zu Multiple Secularities: kulturelle Diversität, Säkularismus und Toleranz als Leitidee in Indien

This article addresses the place of secularity within the “multiple modernities” program. We argue that against the backdrop of different “civilizations” modernity creates various forms of distinction between the religious and the secular and engenders multiple secularities. These secularities emerge as specific “local” responses to particular reference problems as well as to Western modernity. By analysing debates on Indian secularism, however, we argue that the outcome is neither determined by religiously impregnated traditions—like the tradition of Hinduism—nor by the mere adoption of Western secularity. Instead, we find a genuinely Indian variation of secularity, which emerges from a specific history of balancing religious and cultural diversity but also from religious conflict.     

Within‐rhythm Class Native Language Discrimination Abilities of Basque‐Spanish Monolingual and Bilingual Infants at 3.5 Months of Age

Language rhythm determines young infants' language discrimination abilities. However, it is unclear whether young bilingual infants exposed to rhythmically similar languages develop sensitivities to cross‐linguistic rhythm cues to discriminate their dual language input. To address this question, 3.5‐month‐old monolingual Basque, monolingual Spanish and bilingual Basque‐Spanish infants' language discrimination abilities (across low‐pass filtered speech samples of Basque and Spanish) have been tested using the visual habituation procedure. Although falling within the same rhythmic class, Basque and Spanish exhibit significant differences in their distributions of vocalic intervals (within‐rhythmic class variation). All infant groups in our study successfully discriminated between the languages, although each group exhibited a different pattern. Monolingual Spanish infants succeeded only when they heard Basque during habituation, suggesting that they were influenced by native language recognition. The bilingual and the Basque monolingual infants showed no such asymmetries and succeeded irrespective of the language of habituation. Additionally, bilingual infants exhibited longer looking times in the test phase as compared with monolinguals, reflecting that bilingual infants attend to their native languages differently than monolinguals. Overall, results suggest that bilingual infants are sensitive to within‐rhythm acoustic regularities of their native language(s) facilitating language discrimination and hence supporting early bilingual acquisition.     

Flexible arrangements with the highly qualified workforce: antecedents and effects of different contract policies in knowledge-intensive firms

It is the aim of this paper to emphasize the antecedents leading to flexible contract arrangements in comparison to standard employment, and the effects of different contract policies especially for flexible contracting with the highly qualified workforce in knowledge-intensive firms. So far, there are contradictory findings as to what contract arrangement can be considered as advantageous in this field. Our analysis is based on qualitative fieldwork in Germany, including ten company cases. We reveal three organizational types of contract policy: One type relies on permanent employment, another on independent contracting with freelancers and a third pursues a combination of both. We identified the way of generating and protecting knowledge as an antecedent of different contract policies of organizations in knowledge-intensive fields. Another finding is that the question of gaining positive or negative effects—for both standard and flexible contracting—especially depends on the embeddedness of the contract policy in a broader set of HR practices. Our analysis adds to former studies, as it specifies that flexible contracting with an independent workforce in knowledge-intensive work environments can be pursued if there is an efficient substitution for internal control mechanisms in terms of controlling knowledge channels.     

“Classic ageism” or “brutal economy”? Old age and older people in the Polish media

This article explores media discourse of ageing, taking the example of Poland and relating it to a broader discussion of ageing policy. The discourse in news magazines appears both to reflect and create attitudes towards older people, which in turn has implications for ageing policy. To reveal the nature of these attitudes, we use a method of attitudinal positioning. The study analyzes articles that appeared in the four largest Polish weekly opinion news magazines, in the 2004–2007 period. Various domains in the discourse of ageing are identified, yet only the family and market domains seem to be described in exclusively positive terms: the authors discuss the implications of this for ageing policy.     

Comparing the Pension Promises of 30 OECD Countries

This paper takes a microeconomic approach to compare prospective pension benefits in the 30 OECD countries. It shows entitlements gross and net of taxes and social security contributions for male and female single workers based on 2002 pension rules and parameters. The models cover all public and private mandatory sources of retirement income for full‐career private‐sector workers across a broad earnings range. The paper shows that average earners in OECD countries can expect a post‐tax pension of about 70 per cent of their earnings after tax. The average minimum retirement benefit is just under 29 per cent of national average earnings.     

The Economic Integration of Ukrainian and Vietnamese Migrant Women in the Polish Labour Market

Through an analysis of Ukrainian and Vietnamese migrant women in Poland, we study the extent to which their economic integration is influenced by the legal framework—for example, the visa regime—and migrants' possession of, or access to, different forms of capital. The article is based on interviews conducted between 2005 and 2008 with female migrant workers from Ukraine and Vietnam. The women faced administrative obstacles in accessing the formal labour market; their overall initial poor financial status and family situation pressured them to accept work in the informal labour market. Another barrier was the limited ability to convert their cultural capital into economic capital. To overcome these barriers, the women adopted two distinct strategies of economic integration. The Ukrainian women used networks built on strong ties from country of origin and on weak ties in Poland, while the Vietnamese women used strong ties within their own ethnic niche.     

“We are on air now”: the emotionality of video-recording in the institutional setting

Abstract

This article engages with the practice of video recording in social research. We draw on our research of institutional talk to explore the emotionality of video recording in the context of the studied situations. Drawing on insights from Collins’ theory of interaction rituals, we demonstrate a variety of situational moments in which different participants negotiate the presence of a video camera. Our analysis reveals the emotional aspects of negotiating and appropriating the presence of such technologies by all parties involved in the research process. We contribute to and extend the growing body of literature that discusses the meaning of technology for social research by emphasizing the emotionality of using video cameras in social and research practices.