Corporate planning in developing economies

The critical factor in industrial planning in developing economies is the effective implementation of national or regional plans at the individual industrial enterprise level. This article focuses upon the ‘state of the art’ of corporate planning in developing countries and, having considered the difficulties and opportunities for improvement, suggests guidelines for a constructive assistance programme based on the development of planning in terms of progressive modular steps which may be introduced one at a time depending upon individual needs and other local circumstances.     

Postmodernity and Welfare: When Worlds Collide

Social policy is just about the last social science subject to take the postmodern challenge, though we have seen a rash of contributions in recent months. These have proved catalytic but may have been presented in a manner that is careless as to the nature of welfare as a boundaried academic realm. These offerings have also illustrated the difficulties involved in splicing poststructural analysis with a historically structural subject. Equally, definitions of social policy generated within the welfare community may also act as a de facto barrier to the postmodern. Consequently we seem to have the makings of a non-debate of incompatible analyses, making even the possibility of a "third position" a remote one. However, a sideways glance at the chronologically more advanced postmodernism–feminism debate offers some hope that a welfare-adapted postmodernity may emerge in the future.     

Are Subsidies to be Blamed? A Reexamination of U.S. Countervailing Duty on Hog Imports From Canada

A dramatic increase in U.S. hog imports from Canada triggered a successful countervail action against Canada in 1985, and resulted in an import tariff. This paper finds Canadian subsidies were not a major factor explaining increased hog exports, rather, the depreciation of the Canadian dollar played a larger role. More importantly, we find that hog imports from Canada did not “injure” the U.S. industry. These results imply the U.S. hog countervail duty was the outcome of rent-seeking activities rather than due to economic factors.     

Two Graphical Techniques Useful in Detecting Correlation Structure in Repeated Measures Data

Analysis of repeated measures data using a mixed model includes specifying a form for the covariance matrix of the within-subject observations. This reduction in the number of estimated parameters from the unspecified structure may improve the efficiency of inferences made. An implementation of this technique has been incorporated in the MIXED procedure of the SAS® statistical package, and includes a wide range of options for the structure of the covariance matrix. It is demonstrated that draftman's display plots and/or plots in a coordinate system with parallel axes can aid in visualizing the dispersion structure.     

Typology of Gay Consumers’ Interaction Styles on Complaining Propensity

The purpose of this study is to develop a typology of gay male consumers based on self-concept variables related to social interactions. Openness about sexual orientation, collective self-esteem, stigma-consciousness, and negative evaluation were used to identify clusters of gay male consumers. An initial test sample (n = 125) suggested a three-cluster solution, and a validation sample (n = 247) established reproducibility of the proposed typology. Three clusters with distinct interaction styles emerged: “confident gay,” “diffident gay,” and “guarded gay.” Additionally, the usefulness of the typology is demonstrated by comparing the clusters on the basis of complaining propensity. Typologies of each cluster and implications for research and practice are discussed.     

The satisfied poor

Positive life satisfaction in poverty represents in well-being research the so called satisfaction-paradox. In poverty studies the state of being satisfied with a life in poverty has been explained by either shiftlessness of the people expressing it or by conscious decision of the individual for a poverty life. This article in contrast develops a constructive explanation to the problem in order to create the possibility for intervention and thus reduction of the social and material costs for society and strain to the poverty stricken individual. A theoretical framework is developed that integrates the theory of learned helplessness (Seligman, 1978), the theory of cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1975) and the subjective quality of life models (Campbell, Converse and Rodgers, 1976). The interpretation shows new ways how to avoid the existence of the satisfaction paradox at least in a part of the concerned individuals and hence opens the possibility to increase overall well-being in the society.     

Hispanic charitable giving: An opportunity for nonprofit development

In 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau indicated that Hispanics had become the largest U.S. minority group. Representing 14 percent of the population, more than forty million Hispanics currently live in the United States and are a growing source of charitable giving. This study uses a national probability sample (n = 3,261) to examine variables that may influence Hispanic charitable giving in the United States to private nonprofit organizations. Logistic regression analyses indicated that Hispanics were eight times more likely to donate to human service organizations when using payroll deduction. In addition, Hispanics who were solicited for a donation by telephone were twice as likely to make a donation to educational organizations as Hispanic donors not solicited by phone. Volunteerism was also a predictor of Hispanic charitable giving. U.S. demographic trends and this study's findings suggest that nonprofit leaders, including those responsible for fundraising in private nonprofit organizations, need to be aware of the opportunities for Hispanic charitable support.     

MEASURING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: PERSPECTIVES FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Local government in Australia has become an important site for discussions about community development and community well being, as increasing numbers of community services are being devolved to this level. Pressures towards greater accountability and demonstration of competitiveness, stemming from the implementation of National Competition Policy have led to attempts to better measure community development activities. In this paper we report on research conducted among management, elected members and community workers at five Western Australian Local Government Authorities which explored the nature and appropriateness of community development measurement. We found workers at all levels of employment struggling, not simply with notions of measurement, but also with fundamental understandings of community development.     

An Analysis of the Game of Tennis

The American Statistical Association conducted a pilot study to develop methodology to conduct a nationwide evaluation of survey practices and the quality of survey data. This article is a report on the objectives and principal findings of that pilot study. In addition, the objectives of the nationwide study are presented.