Correcting for Scale Perception Bias in Measuring Corruption: an Application to Chile and Spain

Corruption perceptions are commonly utilized as essential information to measure corruption across countries and regions. In this paper we consider the hypothesis that respondents to corruption perception questions utilize different response scales in their answers, i.e. for identical levels of corruption practices, subjects from one country could answer a different level of corruption perception than subjects from another country, based on socioeconomic characteristics. This hypothesis is investigated by utilizing the technique of anchoring vignettes with a sample of citizens in Spain and Chile. The results show that response scales are used differently across individuals in both countries, suggesting that the use of uncorrected measures of corruption perceptions could mislead some conclusions about the comparisons of the corruption levels between countries.     

Alternative definitions of bivariate equilibrium distributions

The concept of equilibrium distribution plays an important role in survival analysis, reliability and insurance studies. If we consider the problem of extending this concept to higher dimensions, we do not have a unique solution. In this paper, alternative definitions of bivariate equilibrium distributions are studied and proposed. The Navarro et al. (2006) proposal is considered and some new results are given. We continue with the Gupta and Sankaran's (1998) definition. Necessary and sufficient conditions for its existence are stated and a characterization theorem is given. As a third alternative, a new definition based on conditional specification is introduced and several results are obtained. Reliability properties of the different versions are studied.     

School memories of young people with disabilities: an analysis of barriers and aids to inclusion

This article presents a selection of the results gleaned from research analyzing the way social exclusion processes are constructed among young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. The paper focuses on a subset of the population studied: young people with disabilities. Likewise, we limit our study to the dimension of school‐related experiences. Our research methodology – based on individual personal narratives and first hand accounts – allows a dynamic, participative and integrated approach to the study of exclusion. Participants in the study were asked to reflect on their experiences and, thus, were given a voice. Our specific objective in this article was to identify and explain the barriers and aids to inclusion encountered in a variety of educational environments as expressed by interviewees who had experienced them personally.     

What gives? Cross-national differences in students’ giving behavior

This study is targeted to understanding the giving of time and money among a specific cohort - university students across 13 countries. It explores predictors of different combinations of giving behaviors: only volunteering, only donating, neither, as compared to doing both. Among the predictors of these four types of giving behavior, we also account for cross-national differences across models of civil society. The findings show that students predominantly prefer to give money than to volunteer time. In addition, differences in civil society regimes provide insights into which type of giving behavior might dominate. As expected, in the Statist and Traditional models of civil society, students consistently were more likely to be disengaged in giving behaviors (neither volunteering nor giving money) in comparison to students in the Liberal model who were more likely to report doing ‘both’ giving behaviors. An important implication of our findings is that while individual characteristics and values influence giving of time and money, these factors are played out in the context of civil society regimes, whose effects cannot be ignored. Our analysis has made a start in a new area of inquiry attempting to explain different giving behaviors using micro and macro level factors and raises several implications for future research.     

L'insécurité de l'emploi et ses conséquences pour les salariés: l'effet modérateur de la dépendance envers l'emploi

La mondialisation et l'intensification de la concurrence internationale ont provoqué l'apparition de formes d'emploi flexibles et une précarisation de l'emploi. Le sentiment d'insécurité chez les salariés produit des effets sur leurs attitudes et leurs intentions que les auteurs se proposent d'examiner. Après un tour d'horizon des travaux de recherche sur la théorie du stress et la relation existant entre insécurité de l'emploi et ses conséquences, ils testent, sur un échantillon de 942 salariés d'Espagne, deux hypothèses. La première est que l'insécurité de l'emploi présente, d'une part, une corrélation négative avec la satisfaction au travail et l'engagement envers l'organisation et, d'autre part, une corrélation positive avec l'intention de quitter l'organisation; et la seconde, qu'il existe une interaction entre l'insécurité de l'emploi, le besoin économique et l'employabilité qui influe sur la prédiction de ces résultats.     

Characteristics of Formulas and Data Used in the Allocation of Federal Funds

The formulas and data used for 13 federal programs that allocate funds to state and local areas are described. Suggestions for types of formulas and data appropriate for allocation of funds are made. Some recommendations in the Report on Statistics for Allocation of Funds published by the Office of Federal Statistical Policy and Standards are discussed. The possible effects of the formulas and data used in the allocation of funds for federal programs are examined in the light of the recommendations given in the report.     

Middle class identities in a neoliberal age: tensions between contested authenticities

This paper explores in‐depth interviews on aspects of middle class identity in a neoliberal age, taking the case of Chile's rapid and stark transition to a neoliberal economic model which was imposed by a dictatorship but later reproduced during democracy. ¹ The paper reveals that there are no challenges to middle class identities (eg from the working class, or peasants). In this respect, these are neo‐liberal middle class identities in that their way of thinking is preconditioned by market dominance. Informed by Bourdieu's views on class identities, this article emphasises the horizontal, non‐hierarchical nature of contemporary class taste, and contributes to debates on stratification and culture, settling accounts with older class theory which perceives contests between the popular and middle classes. Notwithstanding this, however, I argue that processes of horizontal differentiation do involve tensions between cultural and moral boundaries. This article therefore also offers an alternative approach for exploring how middle class identities experience processes of individualization. It is argued that individualization processes should be placed in social and ethical registers as they could be in tension with various ways of understanding authenticity: being true to oneself or to one's origins.     

Análisis de la contextualización del comportamiento adaptativo en el retraso mental: Comparación entre contexto familiar e institucional

Resumen

Este estudio se dirige a contrastar las diferencias en el comportamiento adaptativo de los sujetos retrasados que son producto de los diferentes contextos en los que éste es emitido. En este caso, el contexto se entiende como los aspectos físicos y sociales del lugar en el que inmediatamente se produce la conducta. Esta perspectiva molecular del contexto ha permitido detectar diferencias en el comportamiento adaptativo en términos de lenguaje receptivo y lenguaje expresivo. La muestra utilizada fueron 71 sujetos evaluados a través del West Virginia assessment and tracking system.