On the Relative Strengths of Altruism and Fairness

Some researchers have attributed deviations from selfish behavior to fairness. Violations of fairness theories, however, are observed in experimental dictator games with transfer rates greater than 1 (a transfer of x from the dictator yields an income of tx for the beneficiary, where x < tx): the dictator’s final income is less than the beneficiary’s. We theoretically propose that dictator giving also involves altruism, further supporting our claim with empirical evidence from four separate samples of dictator game experiments. Our nonlinear specification allows the relative measurement of the independent motives in dictator behavior.     

Can cities be held responsible for early school leaving? Evidence from the Netherlands

This paper examines if ‘naming and shaming’ is an effective tool to increase accountability in school dropout for cities with disadvantaged student populations. It argues that a comparison with other cities might be unfair if regional and population characteristics differ. It discusses the example of two Dutch new towns. The new town policy deliberately attracted low- and medium-income households in the past, such that today the population of those cities differs from other cities. We use a matching analysis to account for observed differences in population and regional characteristics. The results point out that ‘naming and shaming’ may be a dangerous policy to increase accountability: early school leaving differences are driven, to a large extent, by observed differences in population and regional characteristics.     

The prospects for higher domestic savings rates in Latin America

This paper analyzes the prospects for raising domestic saving rates to permit increased investment and/or reduced dependence on foreign-capital inflow in Latin America. We analyze the question of rising saving rates by applying a random-coefficients approach: treating the parameters estimated in time-series analysis for individual countries as observations drawn from an international cross-section of savings behavior. Correlation analysis is then applied to clarify the conditions associated with international differences in savings parameters across a sample of 21 Latin American countries.     

On the predictive efficiency of the core solution in side-payment games

This paper reports the first cross-study competitive test of thecore solution in side-payment games where the core is nonempty and nonunique (i.e., larger than a single point). The core was tested against five alternative theories including the Shapley value, the disruption nucleolus, the nucleolus, the 2-center, and the equality solution. A generalized Euclidean distance metric which indexes the average distance between an observed payoff vector and the entire set of predicted payoff vectors (Bonacich, 1979) was used as the measure of goodness-of-fit. Analysis of data assembled from six previously reported studies (encompassing a total of 1,464 observations over 56 3-person and 4-person side-payment games) showed the core to predict less accurately than the Shapley value, disruption nucleolus, and nucleolus solutions (p < 0.01). These findings are consistent with previous empirical results that show the core to have a low level of predictive accuracy in side-payment games.This research was supported by grants SOC-7726932 and SES-8015528 from the National Science Foundation. Data analysis was performed at the Madison Academic Computing Center.     

Skilled Labour Migration and Positive Externality: The Case of Turkish Engineers Working Abroad

This study aims at exploring potential positive externalities of skilled labour migration from Turkey and highlighting social policies targeting “brain drain to brain gain” strategies in the case of Turkish engineers living abroad. Based on case study and further investigations, the skilled labour migration among Turkish engineers can be defined as a “brain over‐flow.” The main structural reason of this situation is discrepancy between educational and employment policies. Data indicate that it can be obtain positive externalities from skilled labour migration under certain conditions. Ninety per cent of all participants intended to give support to development practices in Turkey, even if they were not returning (n‐130). Only 10 per cent of all participants didn’t intend to give any kind of support. Cooperative projects, establishment of networks, forums and consultancy services to Turkish companies, were the most mentioned support manners. To realize these proposals, it is essential to develop active public policies aiming at a “brain drain to brain gain” approach, for short‐ and long‐term periods.     

The family educator: a professional resource for families.

The family educator works with the client's family members to help in their understanding of their ill relative and to assist with managing the stress of the caregiver role. Families come to understand that they can join forces with the clinical team in helping their relative engage in a trial of treatment. Each treatment recommendation is explained to the family and decisions are arrived at by consensus through partnership meetings. Role modeling effective interaction approaches and providing assistance in generating alternative solutions to problematic situations are important functions of the family educator.