The Movements of Working Children and the International Labour Organization. A Lesson on Enforced Silence

Relations between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and grassroots movements of working children are characterised by tensions. Working children's claim to participate in conceptualising child labour policy is increasingly rejected. Most recently, in November 2017, the Latin American Movement of Working Children and Adolescents (MOLACNATs) lodged a complaint with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child over violations of rights enshrined in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article reconstructs the history of working children's movements and their communication with ILO since the 1990s.     

Being NEET in Europe Before and After the Economic Crisis: An Analysis of the Micro and Macro Determinants

The right to adequate minimum income protection is one of the key principles included in the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). The EPSR takes a right-based and normative approach, aiming specifically at fulfilling people’s essential needs, not only by guaranteeing sufficiently high income levels, but also by promoting labour market inclusion and access to affordable goods and services of good quality. This paper takes the EPSR as a starting point to propose a needs-based indicator that assesses the adequacy of minimum income protection including these three dimensions in a comprehensive way. We argue that Reference Budgets (RBs), priced baskets of goods and services that represent an adequate living standard, are well-suited to construct such an indicator. To illustrate this empirically, we use RBs for adequate social participation in Belgium which have been constructed for the first time in 2008 and have been regularly updated since then. Through a combination of hypothetical household simulations of essential out-of-pocket costs and designated tax-benefits for families living on different minimum income schemes, we are able to assess the adequacy of minimum income protection for a range of household types over the period 2008–2017. The paper shows that, the proposed indicator is a useful policy tool for both ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of the adequacy of social policy measures in light of the social protection and inclusion rights included in the Pillar.

     

Portfolios of learning in entrepreneurial internationalisation

By adopting a process approach to entrepreneurial internationalisation, we longitudinally study eleven case firms, discussing entrepreneurial learning as a portfolio of different sources of learning underpinning the exploration and exploitation of international opportunities. First, we identify the most recurring combinations of learning sources: (i) customer-centred learning with either learning by doing/trial and error or market-specific learning; (ii) imitative learning with relational learning and/or learning by doing; (iii) searching with networking learning and/or customer-centred learning. Second, we uncover instances of opportunity exploitation “looping back” to novel exploration via customer-centred, imitative, and grafting learning. Empirical results are systematised within a set of Propositions to be tested in future research.     

Does Institutional Quality Matter for Multidimensional Well-Being Inequalities? Insights from Italy

Social Indicators Research - Our paper aims to shed light on regional multidimensional well-being inequalities in Italy. We first decompose the Theil index in its “within” and...     

Accounting for the permanent vs temporary wage gaps among young adults: Three European countries in perspective

This article analyses wage differentials between permanent and temporary workers in the 25–40 age bracket using the 2010 European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU‐SILC) wave data for France, Germany and Italy. Applying a Recentered Influence Function (RIF) regression and a reweighting estimation technique, we investigate the contribution of personal and job characteristics to wage differentials across the wage distribution. Results point to a large unexplained component of the wage gap across the whole distribution in Italy, while this component is weaker in France among highly paid employees and insignificant in Germany. These findings highlight potential policy considerations and areas for future research.     

Identifying Environmental and Social Factors Predisposing to Pathological Gambling Combining Standard Logistic Regression and Logic Learning Machine

Identifying potential risk factors for problem gambling (PG) is of primary importance for planning preventive and therapeutic interventions. We illustrate a new approach based on the combination of standard logistic regression and an innovative method of supervised data mining (Logic Learning Machine or LLM). Data were taken from a pilot cross-sectional study to identify subjects with PG behaviour, assessed by two internationally validated scales (SOGS and Lie/Bet). Information was obtained from 251 gamblers recruited in six betting establishments. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and cognitive-related factors, and type, place and frequency of preferred gambling were obtained by a self-administered questionnaire. The following variables associated with PG were identified: instant gratification games, alcohol abuse, cognitive distortion, illegal behaviours and having started gambling with a relative or a friend. Furthermore, the combination of LLM and LR indicated the presence of two different types of PG, namely: (a) daily gamblers, more prone to illegal behaviour, with poor money management skills and who started gambling at an early age, and (b) non-daily gamblers, characterised by superstitious beliefs and a higher preference for immediate reward games. Finally, instant gratification games were strongly associated with the number of games usually played. Studies on gamblers habitually frequently betting shops are rare. The finding of different types of PG by habitual gamblers deserves further analysis in larger studies. Advanced data mining algorithms, like LLM, are powerful tools and potentially useful in identifying risk factors for PG.     

Sustainable storage assignment and dwell-point policies for automated storage and retrieval systems

Picking time reduction has been the traditional perspective for warehouse optimisation. When sustainability is considered, optimisation of warehouse operations should be read in terms of energy efficiency other than response time. Each location in the rack of an automated storage and retrieval system is associated with the value of energy consumed by the crane to reach it. Since picking performance strictly depends on storage location assignments, the time-based full turnover strategy is compared to the energy-based one. Three models of energy consumption are considered for traditional and new-generation cranes. Assignments are then compared in terms of dedicated zone shapes, time and energy performances within a given time horizon. Different shapes of the rack and product ABC curves are analysed. Dwell-point policies are also analysed from the new sustainable perspective, adding energy-saving performance to the traditional picking time reduction.     

First-Aid Activities and Well-Being: The Experience of Professional and Volunteer Rescuers

ABSTRACT

While several studies have highlighted the negative consequences of trauma exposure on rescuers’ health, the psychological factors promoting rescuers’ well-being have rarely been investigated. The present study aimed at analyzing the quality of rescuing experience among professionals and volunteers of the Italian Red Cross. The experiences of 14 professional and 11 volunteer ambulance rescuers were examined through the repeated assessment of their subjective evaluations of daily activities and contexts in real time. Their experience fluctuation pattern was analyzed based on the levels of environmental challenges and personal skills perceived during daily activities. Both professionals and volunteers reported frequent exposure to highly challenging situations while rescuing and associated this activity with high concentration, involvement, and control. Perceptions of anxiety were significantly more frequent among volunteers. For both groups, first-aid activities were reported to provide optimal experience, a complex and rewarding condition characterized by the perception of high challenges matched with adequate skills. Results suggested that working as rescuers can promote well-being through optimal experiences. The potential for skill refinement and individual development embedded in rescuing activities, together with individual characteristics, should be taken into account in designing training programs for professionals and volunteers.     

Afghanistan – The End of the Bonn Process

The Afghanistan of the new millennium represents a significant test of the latest attempts to allow the coexistence of Western law principles and Islamic law – an issue that has been accompanying the East–West relations since the first colonial relations. The meaning of the path followed by Afghanistan is fully and clearly outlined when we consider that from 1996 to 2001 the Talibans turned this country into an emblem of the strict enforcement of the shari'a and of a radical contrast to Western countries. The presence of Osama bin Laden turned Afghanistan into the base of a global network of Islamic extremism, which interpreted religion as a motive and a justification for the most heinous actions, aiming at countering global powers. After 11 September 2001, and the subsequent rapid repulse of the Talibans, the international community undertook to support the reconstruction of a country devastated by 23 years of war, immediately giving back the country sovereignty to the representatives of the Afghan people. The still undergoing process of reconstruction of democratic state structures was not therefore entirely ``imposed' from outside of Afghanistan; it was rather mediated by a national political class that is acquiring increasing legitimacy through the carrying out of democratic elections. A reconstruction process of Afghanistan on a sound basis cannot but take into consideration the history of a population that always and successfully opposed foreign rules, and that twice in the 20th century, in 1929 and in 1973, rejected the state visions inspired to the experiences of other countries. The history of Afghanistan is strewn with moments of confrontation and fight against ``modernity', in which ethnic and tribal dynamics always prevailed. These dynamics, although fragmented, were marked by a strong national identity, also based on the religious bond. However, it must be recalled that the constitution passed on January 2004, in compliance with the guidelines provided for in the Bonn Agreement of December 2001, represents the seventh constitutional charter Afghanistan has adopted over the last 80 years (1923, 1931, 1964, 1977, 1987 and 1990). The country therefore owns a remarkable judicial inheritance that also includes a significant tradition of protection of rights.     

Afghanistan: A Change of Course?

The situation in Afghanistan today is not what the international community was planning it to be, 7 years ago when the Bonn Agreement was signed. Deterioration of security, weak governance, corruption, high narcotic production and trade, slow reconstruction process and consequent people’s disappointment are some of the features of that situation. Kabul and its international partners had a very little success in restoring peace and security, and a new phase of strategic re-thinking is in process. This article analyzes the different aspects of Afghan reconstruction and military intervention, their strengths and weaknesses, and outlines some urgent actions to be taken by all concerned actors.