Firm Size and Wages

In this article the authors analyse the evidence found in several countries that large firms pay more than firms categorised as small. Firstly, this study discusses the factors which, according to previous theoretical research, explain the firm size-wage differential. Secondly, the different theoretical arguments are tested empirically. As a data base the authors use the individual and longitudinal data of the first four waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel. In the empirical investigation the instruments of variance, correlation and regression analysis, including the estimations of fixed-effects and random-effects odels are applied. The empirical analysis clearly demonstrates that positive effects of firm size on wages persist after controlling for

• — labour quality
• — differences in working conditions
• — employment tenure and rates of fluctuation
• — monetary fringe benefits of firms
• — heterogeneity of employese
• — monopoly power and ability to pay of firms.

The article concludes with some proposals for future research.     

Universitäre Umgangsweisen mit den Herausforderungen von Flucht und Migration. Eine FallanalyseResponding to the challenges arising from flight and migration: The case of an higher education institution

This paper presents an analytic framework for the organisational dynamics in educational institutions focusing on categories such as the historic and social context, potentials and resources as well as the scope of action. Adopting the perspective of higher education research and development, the framework introduces three levels of analysis: the macro-level of the higher education institution, the meso-level of the faculty with its study programmes, and the micro-level of the learning environment.     

‘Best of Both Worlds’? A Comparison of Third Sector Providers in Health Care and Welfare‐to‐Work Markets in Britain

This article compares the welfare markets in primary health care and ‘welfare‐to‐work’ in the UK since the late 1990s. A longitudinal comparison of two different policy areas enables us to study the context in which marketization and the resulting shift of welfare provision takes place. We outline the general background of the market‐based reforms and highlight in what way policymakers have ascribed third sector organizations (TSOs) a number of positive characteristics, particularly the ability to address concerns about well‐known market failures. While consecutive governments promoted these organizations as welfare providers, case studies of two illustrative provider organizations in each policy area reveal a number of problems regarding their distinctiveness in increasingly competitive welfare markets. We conclude that the crisp distinction made by policymakers between the third and other sectors as well as the alleged advantages of the former present a rather naïve picture of a complex reality and argue for a more critical view of third sector characteristics and performance. The third sector is not only characterized by a high degree of fuzziness at the boundaries to other sectors, but even within single organizations, which often undergo significant transformations over time. As a result, policy intentions and practical outcomes are contradictory with TSOs losing their alleged distinctiveness as players in increasingly competitive markets. Furthermore, we contend that detailed longitudinal studies of organizations are essential in the advancement of the discussion of the third sector concept as they provide conceptual insights into organizational change and behaviour.     

Switching labels: The role of Weberian ideas in market change. A case study of the German wine market

How do cultural ideas shape market construction? What do ideas ‘do’ to actors in markets? The paper presents an empirical case study of the reconstitution of the German wine market following an EU legislative intervention. I use Bourdieu's theory of fields to analyse the actors’ economic, social and cultural capitals and the impact of these capitals on the actors’ positioning in the political debate. Sensitised by recurring problems in the empirical data analysis, I then, however, argue that Weber's notion of ideas, as presented in his famous switchmen metaphor, is better suited than, or indeed should serve as a complement to, Bourdieu's frame of analysis. It is better suited, I argue, because it refers to a unique and irreducible source of culture while Bourdieu's capitals remain ‘tools' in a struggle for power and dominance in the field.     

Die Funktion qualitativer Vorstudien bei der Entwicklung standardisierter Erhebungsinstrumente

The article addresses the relevance and need for complex mixed methods designs when developing standardized measurement instruments for research in strictly hierarchical institutions. Using the evaluation of courses for officer’s training in the army service of the German Bundeswehr, we demonstrate how a suitable questionnaire can be constructed by conducting an extensive qualitative preliminary study and using mixed methods for an iterative validation process. In addition, the specific nature of both the research field and evaluation studies are considered when addressing the problems of compliance with quality criteria of empirical social research in terms of field access and sample production.     

Zur Effektivität des Gordon-Eltern-Trainings (PET) — eine Meta-Evaluation

The article shows how meta-evaluation leads to evidence about the differential effectiveness of the parent effectiveness training (PET) by Thomas Gordon. It shows that the training has a high general effectiveness. There are large effects for the directly trained communication skills, medium effects for the change of parental attitudes toward child-rearing and the parent-child-communication and small effects in parental behavior and the children’s self-concept. The training also shows long-term effects. Moreover, PET seems to be better suited for gender homogenous parent groups and for parents of older children.     

The Use of Tracking Technologies for the Analysis of Outdoor Mobility in the Face of Dementia: First Steps into a Project and Some Illustrative Findings From Germany

As people age in place, cognitive impairment is a major threat to maintaining out-of-home mobility. The SenTra project measures outdoor mobility by taking advantage of tracking technology in an interdisciplinary project involving researchers from geography, social work, gerontology, psychology, and medicine disciplines. The project assesses mobility patterns of urban-dwelling demented and mildly cognitively impaired elders and cognitively intact persons over a period of 3 years in Israel and Germany. The main objectives are to learn more about out-of-home mobility by means of global positioning system/geographical information system technology, to analyze the relationships between cognitive functioning, mobility behavior, and well-being, to examine the ethical implications of the use of advanced tracking technologies in this population, and to assess the potential of tracking technologies in the diagnosis of various types of cognitive impairment. The article presents preliminary findings to illustrate the potential of interdisciplinary data analyses to be performed later in the project. Pilot data were drawn from a combined psychiatric, psycho-social, and tracking data assessment of a group of 19 men and women between 63 and 80 years of age (7 who were healthy, 6 who were mildly cognitive impaired, 6 who were demented) living in Germany. The findings revealed that healthy participants have better health and higher levels of well-being and smaller networks compared to elders who are cognitively impaired. Examples of daily outdoor trips indicate meaningful mobility patterns and the need to combine psycho-social and geographical data to understand the relationships between outdoor mobility, socio-structural dimensions, behavior patterns, and well-being. By achieving its aims, the project will be able to make a substantial contribution to basic, applied, and clinical knowledge gaps in the area of mobility and cognitive impairment research.     

Improving the fatigue life of a vehicle knuckle with a reliability-based design optimization approach

A major issue in vehicle industry is the presence of variability in the physical properties and manufacturing processes. Deterministic approaches are unable to take into account these variabilities without leading to oversized structures. The necessity of assessing the robustness of a particular design requires a new methodology based on reliability analysis and design optimization through probabilistic models of design variables.     

The intra-firm gender wage gap: a new view on wage differentials based on linked employer–employee data

We provide a new view on the nature of the gender wage gap (GWG) by analyzing the wage differentials within establishments. Based on linked employer–employee data for Germany, we show that the GWGs vary tremendously across establishments, even if we assume that male and female employees have the same human capital characteristics within each establishment. This heterogeneity is linked to firm and institutional characteristics: For instance, firms with works council and those covered by collective wage agreements have smaller GWGs. Furthermore, we find some evidence that firms operating under strong product market competition behave in a more egalitarian way.     

Us,Them, and Others: Reflections on Canadian Multiculturalism and National Identity at the Turn of the Twenty‐First Century

La Conférence John Porter, effectuée lors de la rencontre annuelle de la Société canadienne de sociologie à Victoria en 2013, se base sur le livre Us, Them and Others : Pluralism and National Identity in Diverse Societies (Winter, 2011). En intégrant les résultats d'une analyse discursive des journaux canadiens en langue anglaise pendant les années 1990, et à travers un cadre théorique inspiré de la sociologie wébérienne, le livre propose d'envisager le pluralisme comme une série de relations triangulaires dynamiques, où le compromis entre des groupes inégaux – “us” et “other”‐ est amené à faire sens à cause de la confrontation avec l'autrui réel ou imaginé (“them”). La conférence débute par un résumé de la contribution théorique, puis explique comment le multiculturalisme a été consolidé en tant que discours dominant au Canada dans les années 1990. Par la suite, les changements subis par l'identité canadienne multiculturelle au début du 21^e siècle sont discutés. The John Porter Lecture at the annual meeting of the Canadian Sociological Association in Victoria 2013 draws upon my book Us, Them, and Others: Pluralism and National Identity in Diverse Societies. Incorporating the findings from an analysis of Canadian English‐language newspaper discourses during the 1990s into a theoretical framework inspired by Weberian sociology, the book argues that pluralism is best understood as a dynamic set of triangular relations where the compromise between unequal groups—“us” and “others”—is rendered meaningful through the confrontation with real or imagined outsiders (“them”). The lecture summarizes the theoretical contribution and explains how multiculturalism became consolidated in dominant Canadian discourses in the late 1990s. The lecture then discusses changes to Canadian multicultural identity at the beginning of the twenty‐first century.