Organizational processes and gender integration in operational military units: An Israel Defense Forces case study

This study examines collective action by men and women in operational military units deployed on Israel's borders. Gender integration is generally perceived by soldiers and commanders in these units as a trivial matter rather than an issue for discussion or a disadvantage. The integration results from organizational qualities, which include military leadership with accumulated experience in gender integration; division of labour between men and women that gradually develops during protracted training; screening processes within the units; and professional development of commanders. Our findings negate a large corpus of sociological literature on gender integration in military organizations. We discuss the micro‐social processes that enable or deter mixed‐gender integration in operational units. Our findings are presented as an alternative to arguments on the inevitable marginality of women in the military and that equality is neither a prerequisite of a cohesive mixed‐gender unit nor a barrier for the inclusion of women into combat units.     

Psychosocial aspects of vasectomy in Latin America

Abstract

This paper examines some of the reasons for the paucity of vasectomy programs in Latin America and some considerations which should be taken into account before such programs are implemented. Social constraints, the structure of the Latin American family, and the “machismo” cult are discussed. The authors conclude that if the processes of self‐selection, screening and counseling are employed, vasectomy programs can be just as successful in Latin America as in other parts of the world.     

Durkheim,Competitive Interaction,and the “Best”: Explaining the State-Origins of U.S. Olympians

Abstract

Durkheim's theory of the causes of specialization in society proposes that the best performers should come from places with the most competitive interaction. This paper tests this proposition in an arena where interaction is highly competitive and where performance can be objectively measured, organized athletics in the United States. Four state-level indicators of competitive interaction (population, population density, average school size, and racial diversity) are used to predict the number of Olympic athletes developing in each state for the Olympic years 1956, 1968, 1980, and 1992. Net of controls for opportunities in athletics, results show that the number of Olympians developing in states increases exponentially with population, average high school size, and racial homogeneity, as Durkheimian theory suggests. These findings are robust even with controls for unmeasured state differences. I conclude that holding constant opportunity, states with more interaction among athletes produce more of the “best.”     

Homework: Routine,social aesthetics and the ambiguity of everyday life

Routine is a central feature of everyday life, yet its peculiar rhythms, and the range of experiences associated with it, are often neglected within cultural studies and sociology. Simmel’s attempt to provide a sociological aesthetics is seen as a project that needs reanimating for the study of everyday life routines. This does not mean, however, that Simmel is the only, or the best, guide to the aesthetic dimensions of everyday routine life. In an attempt to provide some co-ordinates for instigating a socio-aesthetic approach to routine, this paper discusses a number of writers who couple aesthetics and the everyday, and who might provide frameworks for the study of experiential aspects of routine life. It also suggests that an inverted reading of John Dewey could provide socio-aesthetic study with the ‘formless’ forms required to bring everyday background routines into the foreground. The socio-aesthetic study of cooking undertaken by Luce Giard provides an example of the complexity of such an approach. Lastly the article looks briefly at new directions for ‘everyday life aesthetics’, more specifically at Henri Lefebvre’s unfinished project of rhythmanalysis.     

中国法治发展道路与中国法治实践学派

中国有自己的法治发展道路,这条道路是在对中国几千年历史文化的传承中走出来的,是从对新中国成立以来特别是改革开放三十多年的法治实践的探索中走出来的。中国法治实践是中国法治理论最重要的源泉,中国法治发展道路必将催生中国法治实践学派。中国法治实践学派旨在从学术流派的角度对中国法治发展道路和中国法治理论进行理论概括和学术阐述。它以中国特色社会主义为指导思想,梳理中国法律发展历史,总结当代中国法治发展实践,在国际视野下开拓创新中国法治发展道路,为人类法治建设走出一条新的具有普遍意义的成功之路。     

Efficiency Measure from Dynamic Stochastic Production Frontier: Application to Tunisian Textile, Clothing, and Leather Industries

This paper adresses the measurement of technical efficiency of textile, clothing, and leather (TCL) industries in Tunisia through a panel data estimation of a dynamic translog production frontier. It provides a perspective on productivity and efficiency that should be instructive to a developing economy which will face substantial competitive pressure along the gradual economic liberalisation process. The importance of TCL industries in Tunisian manufacturing sector is a reason for obtaining more knowledge of productivity and efficiency for this key industry. Dynamic is introduced to reflect the production consequences of the adjustment costs, which are associated with changes in factor inputs. Estimation of a dynamic error components model is considered using the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator suggested by Arellano and Bover (1995), Another look at the instrumental-variable estimation of error-components models, J. Econometrics68:29-51) and Blundell and Bond (Blundell, R., Bond, S. (1998a), Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models. J. Econometrics87:115-143; Blundell, R., Bond, S. (1998b), GMM estimation with persistent panel data: an application to production functions, Paper presented at the Eighth International Conference on Panel Data, Goteborg University). Our study evaluates the sensitivity of the results, particularly of the efficiency measures, to different specifications. Firm-specific time-invariant technical efficiency is obtained using the Schmidt and Sickles (Schmidt, P., Sickles, R. C. (1984). Production frontiers and panel data. J. Bus. Econ. Stat.2:367-374) approach after estimating the dynamic frontier. We stress the importance of allowing for lags in adjustment of output to inputs and of controlling for time-invariant variables when estimating firm-specific efficiency. The results suggest that the system GMM estimation of the dynamic specification produces the most accurate parameter estimates and technical efficiency measure. Mean efficiency scores is of 68%. Policy implications of the results are outlined.     

基于特性分类的矿区可持续发展模式研究

我国地域辽阔 ,矿区类型较多 ,表现出多样性、复杂性和发展道路的差异性。本文首先对矿区可持续发展的定义和具体内容进行了探讨 ,接着从两个维度对矿区进行了分类 ,并在此基础上对矿区作出了复合分类 ,对它的组合特性进行了研究 ,对它的发展道路选择问题作出了探讨     

Local asymptotic properties for Cox-Ingersoll-Ross process with discrete observations

In this paper, we consider a one-dimensional Cox-Ingersoll-Ross (CIR) process whose drift coefficient depends on unknown parameters. Considering the process discretely observed at high frequency, we prove the local asymptotic normality property in the subcritical case, the local asymptotic quadraticity in the critical case, and the local asymptotic mixed normality property in the supercritical case. To obtain these results, we use the Malliavin calculus techniques developed recently for CIR process together with the estimation for positive and negative polynomial moments of the CIR process. In this study, we require the same conditions of high frequency and infinite horizon as in the case of ergodic diffusions with globally Lipschitz coefficients studied earlier in the literature. However, in the non-ergodic cases, additional assumptions on the decreasing rate are required due to the fact that the square root diffusion coefficient of the CIR process is not regular enough.     

Governing inter-organisational R&D supplier collaborations: a study at Jaguar Land Rover

This article discusses the importance of collaboration with suppliers and partners during research and development (R&D) technology projects. It details how this can be accomplished using the collaborative enterprise governance (CEG) concept to manage a technology project. CEG is based on the premise that parts of companies work with parts of other companies, which are reconfigured on dynamic bases according to a variety of different internal and external factors. This article presents an overview of the founding literature, the CEG and its methodology, and examples based at Jaguar Land Rover in the UK. CEG has been used here to explain why some technology projects have succeeded while others have done less well. This article concludes by offering new propositions, inducted through grounded theory, relating to the successful management of R&D projects, which should be picked up by future research studies in the area.