Predictors of Prejudice Against Lesbians and Gay Men in Jamaica

Jamaica has acquired an international reputation for strong antigay prejudice, incidents of antigay violence, and outspoken, antigay public figures. In recent years, national and international gay rights groups have attempted to improve this situation. However, these efforts have not been based on an empirical analysis of the factors underlying Jamaican antigay bias, which is essential for developing effective prejudice-reducing strategies. Using data collected in two large-scale national surveys in 2011 and 2012 (N ₂₀₁₁ = 997, N ₂₀₁₂ = 945), we investigated predictors of Jamaican antigay prejudice, including age, gender, religious affiliation, education, income, and a preference for dancehall music. We also examined changes in reported antigay bias between 2011 and 2012 after accounting for other predictors. All proposed variables predicted some aspect of antigay prejudice, though sometimes in unexpected ways. Male gender emerged as a particularly important predictor. We discuss the strengths and limitations of our design and the implications of our findings for prejudice-reduction strategies in Jamaica.     

Bidirectional, unidirectional, and nonviolence: a comparison of the predictors among partnered young adults

In order to more fully understand the context and impact of intimate partner violence (IPV), it is important to make distinctions between different types of relationship aggression. As such, the current study longitudinally examines the differential effects of childhood, adolescent, and demographic factors on three different partner violence groups: those who experience bidirectional IPV, those who experience unidirectional IPV, and those who do not experience either form of IPV. Multinomial logistic regression results reveal that depressive symptoms and lower partner education predict bidirectional when compared to unidirectional IPV and nonviolence. In contrast, other risk factors such as illicit drug use are found to be predictors of unidirectional violence only, which reveals that the correlates of violence vary depending upon the type of IPV examined.     

Likes,dislikes, supports and barriers: the experience of students with disabilities in university in Ireland

There are more students with disabilities going to college than ever before. It is important that colleges understand the experiences of students with disabilities when in university. This research project was carried out by 12 students with intellectual disabilities who are enrolled in an Irish university, under the guidance of their lecturers. The project looked at four research questions: (1) what do we like about going to college; (2) what do we dislike about going to college; (3) what supports do students with disabilities experience to participation in college; and (4) what barriers do students with disabilities experience to participation in college? The results show many interesting findings about what students with disabilities experience in college and this information can be used to help colleges better support students with disabilities.     

Assessing Service Level Targets in Production and Inventory Planning*

In production and stock planning, the relationship between customer service, defined as the ability to meet demand for finished goods from in-stock inventory, and expected profits or expected costs can be represented by a simple reliability curve. The shape of this curve depends upon the parameters of the demand process, specifically the expected level of demand, standard deviation and correlation structure, as well as upon the capacities and initial state of the production and inventory system. A model is presented which explicitly determines this trade-off curve for a firm. The model is intended both as an operational model to aid managers in setting revenue and service targets which are compatible with the capacities and resources of the firm, and as a tool for exploring relationships between the parameters of the demand process and the constraints of the physical production and inventory system. The results illustrate that the level of risk depends strongly on the variability of the demand process, the cost structure, the capacities and initial state of the system and, to a lesser extent, the correlation in demand between succeeding periods. Results suggest that establishing service level targets consistent with the firm's strategic orientation must be done in consideration of both the characteristics of the demand process and the capacities of the production and inventory system. The model provides a tool for estimating the premium above unit cost which must be paid to provide a designated service level.     

The Market for Non‐Executive Directors: Does Acquisition Performance Influence Future Board Seats?

This paper investigates whether non‐executive directors associated with good (bad) board decisions are subsequently rewarded (penalized) in the market for directors. This question is addressed by assessing whether the post‐acquisition performance of acquiring companies influences the number of non‐executive directorships that non‐executives involved in these acquisitions hold subsequent to the acquisition. We find that non‐executives on the boards of acquirers that increase (omit or cut) their dividend subsequently hold more (fewer) non‐executive directorships in listed companies. Our findings suggest that the non‐executive labour market is efficient and rewards (penalizes) non‐executives for good (bad) acquisitions.     

Two-scale spatial models for binary data

A spatial lattice model for binary data is constructed from two spatial scales linked through conditional probabilities. A coarse grid of lattice locations is specified, and all remaining locations (which we call the background) capture fine-scale spatial dependence. Binary data on the coarse grid are modelled with an autologistic distribution, conditional on the binary process on the background. The background behaviour is captured through a hidden Gaussian process after a logit transformation on its Bernoulli success probabilities. The likelihood is then the product of the (conditional) autologistic probability distribution and the hidden Gaussian–Bernoulli process. The parameters of the new model come from both spatial scales. A series of simulations illustrates the spatial-dependence properties of the model and likelihood-based methods are used to estimate its parameters. Presence–absence data of corn borers in the roots of corn plants are used to illustrate how the model is fitted.     

Endogeneity: How Failure to Correct for it can Cause Wrong Inferences and Some Remedies

Although researchers in business and management are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of endogeneity affecting regression analysis, they frequently do not have the right methodological toolkit to adjust for this issue. In this paper we discuss such a toolkit. There are also areas in business and management research which to date seem to be mostly oblivious about the endogeneity issue. We highlight such an area, which studies the question of whether firms that are cross‐listed on a foreign stock exchange are charged premium fees by their auditors. When the same methodology (pooled ordinary least squares) as in the existing literature is used, the existence of an audit fee premium for cross‐listed firms seems to be confirmed. However, once methodologies are used which adjust for the various types of endogeneity (i.e. omitted variable bias, simultaneous and dynamic endogeneity) there is no longer support for the existence of such a generalized premium. Hence, not only do we illustrate that failure to adjust for endogeneity has severe consequences such as drawing the wrong inferences, but we also review various ways to control for the different types of endogeneity.     

The Symmetry Rule: A Seven‐Year Study of Symptoms and Explanatory Labels Among Gulf War Veterans

Noticing medical symptoms can cause one to search for explanatory labels such as “ate bad food” or even “exposed to anthrax,” and perhaps these labels may cause new symptom reports. The present study examined whether there is empirical support for this symptom‐label “symmetry rule.” We interviewed veterans (N= 362) from the Gulf War Registry in 1995 and 2002 about their medical symptoms and about their exposure to war‐related hazards and stressors. Health symptom reports were strongly correlated between the two time periods and showed relatively stable mean levels, whereas recall of war‐related exposures was notably unstable. Veterans starting with fewer medical symptoms recalled fewer war‐related exposures seven years later. Initial recollection of chemical and biological warfare exposure (but not other exposures) longitudinally predicted novel medical symptoms. The findings generally support the symmetry rule hypotheses, although the evidence for the label to symptom link was less strong. The findings account for some variability in symptoms and exposure recall over time, but they do not, on their own, account for the Gulf War veterans' elevated number of unexplained medical symptoms.