The Potential of Worker Co-operatives in Queensland

Australia's response to problems of unemployment, low productivity, industrial peace and individual and societal wellbeing, currently emphasises macro economic policy and the Accord. However, a small minority continue to call for the democratisation of business enterprises. The worker co-operative is one such mechanism. Following the location of several small groups attempting to work co-operatively and a survey of the attitudes of critical sectors of the community, this sympathetic and we hope, realistic analysis was undertaken of the potential of worker co- operatives in Queensland. Major issues of concern were economic viability, ideology, attitudes of unions and the involvement of the ‘disadvantaged’. We argue that worker co-operatives can be viable; can tap a broad central band of the political spectrum; can co-operate with unions; and can play a role in meeting the needs of disadvantaged groups, given a supportive environment While there are strong moral arguments for supporting such alternative approaches to economic organisation, the environment in Queensland is not sympathetic and the task is immense. Those wishing to take up this challenge should focus on education, research, lobbying, dialogue and enterprise development strategies and on the movement phase of co-operative development.     

THE DISSOCIATION OF OCCUPATION AND RESIDENCE: A STUDY OF MULTIPLE JOB-HOLDING AMONG CANADIAN FARM OPERATORS

Le haut degré d'articulation des intérêts des communatés rurales canadiennes et des intérêts agricoles ont diminuéà cause d'un taux de mobilité et de ‘va et vient’ de la main-d'ôeuvre agricole, et plus spécialernent à cause d'une très grande fréquence d'emplois multiples pani les producteurs agricoles recensés. Une mise en rapport des dossiers du recensement de la population de 1971 et du recensement agricole de la même année nous a été rendue disponible pour la première fois, ce qui nous permet d'analyser les relations entre les caractéristiques socio-économiques des producteurs et de leurs opérations agricoles. L'étude indique que 27 pour cent de tous les producteurs agricoles recensés détenaient au moment du recensement plusieurs emplois en même temps; un autre 19 pour cent détenait plusieurs emplois de façon consécutive. Seulement 34 pour cent du revenu total des producteurs recensés provenait de leurs activités agricoles. Cette étude montre comment de tels resultats sont reliés aux tendances d'organisation de la main-d'ôeuvre, de la mobilité occupationelle, et du processus d'urbanisation. This paper suggests that the traditionally high degree of integration of interest between Canadian rural farm communities and agricultural interests has become disrupted by the high rate of occupational turnover and mobility in agriculture and particularly by the continued high incidence of multiple job-holding among census farm operators. The study reports the results of linking the 1971 census of Population and the Census of Agriculture records enabling, for the first time an analysis of the relations between the socio-economic characteristics of farm operators and their farm operations. The study reports that 27 per cent of all Canadian census farm operators were concurrent multiple job-holders at the time of the 1971 census and another 19 per cent of all operators could be considered consecutive multiple job-holders. All census farmers derived only 34 per cent of their total incomes from agriculture. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to patterns of labour-force organization, occupational mobility, and urbanization.     

Advanced Placement Statistics: Expanding the Scope of Statistics Education

A list of consequential developments in the field of statistics for the past quarter-century must include the creation and implementation of the Advanced Placement (AP) program in Statistics. This program has introduced millions of high school students to our discipline over the past 18 years, contributing to the large increase in the number of undergraduate students pursuing statistics as their major in college. ASA members and leaders have played a substantial role in shaping this program and furthering its success.     

Equivalence Between Out‐of‐Sample Forecast Comparisons and Wald Statistics

We demonstrate the asymptotic equivalence between commonly used test statistics for out‐of‐sample forecasting performance and conventional Wald statistics. This equivalence greatly simplifies the computational burden of calculating recursive out‐of‐sample test statistics and their critical values. For the case with nested models, we show that the limit distribution, which has previously been expressed through stochastic integrals, has a simple representation in terms of χ²‐distributed random variables and we derive its density. We also generalize the limit theory to cover local alternatives and characterize the power properties of the test.     

Pseudo-likelihood estimation for a class of spatial Markov chains

We consider a class of finite state, two-dimensional Markov chains which can produce a rich variety of patterns and whose simulation is very fast. A parameterization is chosen to make the process nearly spatially homogeneous. We use a form of pseudo-likelihood estimation which results in quick determination of estimate. Parameters associated with boundary cells are estimated separately. We derive the asymptotic distribution of the maximum pseudo-likelihood estimates and show that the usual form of the variance matrix has to be modified to take account of local dependence. Standard error calculations based on the modified asymptotic variance are supported by a simulation study. The procedure is applied to an eight-state permeability pattern from a section of hydrocarbon reservoir rock.     

Line plots

You can see line plots or line graphs in any quality newspaper most days, presenting business data. Even the downmarket papers use them occasionally to illustrate trends. They are so common that we might assume that they are well understood. Most spreadsheets and statistical packages can produce them with ease. But all is not as it seems. R. Allan Reese explains the pitfalls.     

Review Essay: Of Two Minds and The Therapeutic Corporation: A Review

Sociological Forum -     

Infant Exposure Assessment for Breast Milk Dioxins and Furans Derived from Waste Incineration Emissions

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) have been detected in human milk samples obtained in several countries. Possible sources include emissions from incineration of municipal waste in resource recovery facilities. A formula is presented for calculating the infant daily dose of dioxin equivalents from breast milk on the basis of the maternal daily intake. Application of the formula suggests that an infant breast-fed for 12 months would receive around 10% of the cumulative exposure dose per body weight that would be received by an adult with 50 years of exposure. Further analysis indicated that the contribution of dioxin equivalents from breast milk to an infant's body concentration at the end of 12 months of breast feeding would amount to 1.7 times the concentration in the mother. However, dioxin and furan emissions from a source calculated to result in worst-case lifetime cancer risks of the order of 1 in 100,000 are only likely to increase breast milk concentrations by around 1%-10% of the levels that have been detected in several countries. This finding suggests that there are major sources of dioxins and furans other than from municipal solid waste incineration that need to be identified.