Civil Society and Its Institutional Context in CEE

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Although civil societies in Central and Eastern Europe are often portrayed as similar, united by a shared communist past,...     

The Connections between Family Formation and First-time Home Ownership in the Context of West Germany and the Netherlands

Using data from retrospective life course surveys held in West Germany and the Netherlands in the 1980s and early 1990s, we investigate the interconnections between first partnership, first marriage, and first childbirth, on the one hand, and first-time home ownership, on the other. We consider the temporal connection between events in the family life course and home ownership from various angles, proceeding from survival analyses to analyses of the timing and ordering of the distinct events and a multivariate analysis of the transition to home ownership. We find marked differences between countries and cohorts in this temporal connection.     

Oral,systemic and socioeconomic factors associated with preterm birth

Background

The rates of preterm births have been increasing worldwide. Complications related to preterm births are associated with increased costs of care, and have a direct impact on the health system of the countries. Therefore, it is important to address factors associated with preterm birth in order to provide prevention strategies.

Investing with Prejudice: the Relationship Between Women's Presence on Company Boards and Objective and Subjective Measures of Company Performance

This paper presents a comprehensive archival examination of FTSE 100 companies in the period 2001–2005, focusing on the relationship between the presence of women on company boards and both accountancy‐based and stock‐based measures of company performance. Consistent with work by Adams, Gupta and Leeth this analysis reveals that there was no relationship between women's presence on boards and ‘objective’ accountancy‐based measures of performance (return on assets, return on equity). However, consistent with ‘glass cliff’ research there was a negative relationship between women's presence on boards and ‘subjective’ stock‐based measures of performance. Companies with male‐only boards enjoyed a valuation premium of 37% relative to firms with a woman on their board. Results support claims that women are found on the boards of companies that are perceived to be performing poorly and that their presence on boards can lead to the devaluation of companies by investors. Yet the findings also indicate that perceptions and investment are not aligned with the underlying realities of company performance.     

Spatial Mobility,Family Dynamics,and Housing Transitions

This paper summarizes theoretical approaches and empirical research on the links between partnership and family dynamics on the one hand and spatial mobility and housing transitions on the other. Spatial mobility includes residential relocations and commuting. We consider three types of partnerships—living apart together, unmarried and married co-residential unions—and the transitions between them. We also consider separations and the death of a partner. Moreover, we pay attention to childbirth and its consequences for relocation decisions and housing. We differentiate spatial mobility according to distance and direction; housing transitions are considered mainly with respect to changes in ownership status and housing quality (e.g. size of the accommodation). In line with the adjustment perspective on spatial mobility, this paper demonstrates that spatial mobility is a means for individuals and households to adjust their housing situation and their place of residence to requirements of a changing household size and composition as well as to demands of the labor market. At the same time, spatial mobility seems to be more than a mere adjustment process of individuals or households: it is also a determinant of life course changes.     

Inter-regional migration in Indonesia: a micro approach

We study the extent to which the likelihood of specific types of migration in Indonesia varies by the situation in the labour market and family life course. We distinguish migration types according to origin and destination (Jakarta, other metropolitan areas, and non-metropolitan areas). For migration from Jakarta, we also distinguish migration to other metropolitan areas within commuting distance. As expected, we find that young adults are the most mobile category. As an exception, migration from Jakarta to nearby metro areas was just as likely for ages 30–54 as for ages 23–29. Our findings suggest that migration to Jakarta and other metropolitan areas, in particular, is most likely undertaken for better education or jobs. Married people are more likely than others to leave Jakarta for nearby metropolitan areas.     

Crisis Rhetoric,Stigma Play: The Contested Status of Humanities Majors on an Elite University Campus

This article extends symbolic interactionist thought on authenticity and stigma allure into the context of higher education in the United States where the status of the humanities is contested. Our abductive analysis of twenty‐nine, semistructured interviews with undergraduates at an elite university reveals that selecting a humanities major has social costs. Yet the students who opt into these majors renegotiate ideologies, practices, and resources in ways that generate meaningful educational experiences. Navigating these problematic situations in which status is threatened enables the social production and personal aesthetic experience of authenticity. These findings add a new evidentiary basis to theory on stigma allure and, in doing so, demonstrate that when rhetorics of crisis collide with the late modern quest for authenticity voluntary stigma can become a powerful, if also unwieldy, resource.     

Solving the crisis: When agency is the preferred leadership for implementing change

Glass-cliff research shows that female leaders are preferentially selected in a crisis to signal change and not for their leadership qualifications. In parallel, the management literature urges for agentic “masculine” leadership to turn around organizations in crisis. We hypothesized that, regardless of their gender, agentic leaders should be preferred to communal leaders if leadership qualifications and actual change potential motivate leader selection. Three experimental studies demonstrated that agentic (vs. communal) candidates were perceived to match poorly-performing (vs. strongly-performing) companies. This effect was accounted for by perceptions of agentic candidates' higher suitability, higher task-orientation (versus person-orientation), and higher change potential. We discuss that women face ambiguity as to why they become leaders in crisis contexts: because they are perceived as signaling change, stereotypically linked to their gender, or for their perceived agentic qualities as leaders. In contrast, men become crisis leaders due to their perceived agentic change potential.     

Youth and social movements on the move: political engagement among young Spanish migrants in London

Since the beginning of the economic crisis in Spain young people have migrated abroad looking for job opportunities. In the meantime, after the 15-M movement in 2011, Spanish society created various social movements hoping to make change happen, as well as the pro-independence movement in Catalonia that gathered strength as a response to the Spanish economic and political crisis. This paper analyses how Spanish young people in London, as transmigrants rooted in two different countries, engage with the politics of their home country through two transnational social movements in London: ANC England and the Maroon Wave London. The article describes both local movements (comparing their goals, structure and activities), showing the reasons that young Spanish migrants get involved and their experiences within them. It also rethinks the nature and modalities of young diasporic identities and political engagement in the global age through the experiences of the young people interviewed.