Female migration in Chile: Types of moves and socioeconomic characteristics

This paper examines inter-provincial female migration in Chile for the 1965--1970 period, with a view to describing socioeconomic characteristics of migrant women and to determining differences and similarities in age, educational level, occupation, and type of move (first, return, or repeat) between movers to the capital and to other urban areas. Data are from a five percent sample of the 1970 Chilean census. Findings reveal that non-return migrants to other urban areas are differentiated from those to Santiago by an older age structure, higher educational levels, higher status occupations, and are more likely to be making a second (or higher-order) move. Moreover, educational measures suggest that recent female migration to urban Chile is more prevalent among the upper than the lower strata of the society.     

Family developmental task assessment: A prerequisite to family treatment

This paper presents a developmental framework for assessing family function. It integrates family systems theory and ego psychological knowledge of growth. The framework organizes family information along four developmental lines, and a socio-biological stressor scale. Although this paper is only a beginning conceptualization and outline, it is hoped that with further study it can lead to family diagnosis and more definitive family treatment.     

Manpower planning at national and company level

Discussions of manpower planning take place in the context either of national plans or of company plans. From time to time the view has been expressed that the coverage and the time scale of these two types of planning are so different that there is nothing in common between them. This paper considers whether, in practice, ‘manpower’ is really so different from ‘personnel’. After all, the individuals regarding whom both plans are made are the same people; in both cases the planners are concerned with the posts they are to fill, with their salaries and with their mobility.     

Gender Mainstreaming: The Answer to the Gender Pay Gap?

This article examines the argument that gender mainstreaming offers the way forward for closing the gender pay gap. It juxtaposes research on the process of gender mainstreaming with our account of the processes involved in Australian state government Inquiries into the gender pay gap since the late 1990s. We indicate that the continuous process of analysis and response that gender mainstreaming can offer demands political will, intensive links between research and action, and adequate resources — which means that gender mainstreaming is seldom delivered in practice. We use our account of the Australian Inquiries to argue that, provided adequate political and financial resources are in place, the gender pay gap can be narrowed through the institutional mechanisms of an industrial relations system but that the regulatory approach is limited by its vulnerability to changes in industrial relations policy. The article concludes that, whatever strategy is used to narrow the gender pay gap, it must be able to show those who use and observe it that gender itself is a continuous, effortful and political process.     

Characterizing the Risk of Infection from Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Commercial Passenger Aircraft Using Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment

Quantitative microbial risk assessment was used to predict the likelihood and spatial organization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ) transmission in a commercial aircraft. Passenger exposure was predicted via a multizone Markov model in four scenarios: seated or moving infectious passengers and with or without filtration of recirculated cabin air. The traditional exponential ( k  = 1) and a new exponential ( k  = 0.0218) dose-response function were used to compute infection risk. Emission variability was included by Monte Carlo simulation. Infection risks were higher nearer and aft of the source; steady state airborne concentration levels were not attained. Expected incidence was low to moderate, with the central 95% ranging from 10⁻⁶ to 10⁻¹ per 169 passengers in the four scenarios. Emission rates used were low compared to measurements from active TB patients in wards, thus a "superspreader" emitting 44 quanta/h could produce 6.2 cases or more under these scenarios. Use of respiratory protection by the infectious source and/or susceptible passengers reduced infection incidence up to one order of magnitude.     

Support for state opting out and stateless national identity in the Basque Country

Preferences for state opting out are thought of as being the expression of underpinning conflicts of states national identity, empirical evidence on its underlying behavioural processes is scarce. This paper draws upon evidence form the Basque Country to examine the support for a hypothetical opting out from the Spanish State in the light of a reformulation of [Ackerlof, G.A., Kranton, R.E., 2000. Economics and Identity. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115, 715–753]. We use representative survey data from the Spanish Institute of Sociological Research for the Basque Country. To adjust our empirical specification to the prevalent hypothesis we employ a recursive seemingly unrelated probit approach. Our results suggest evidence for a simultaneous and endogenous influence of national identity on political preferences for the opting out of the Basque Country from Spain. We find evidence consistent with an instrumental conception of identity as motivating preferences for nation-state opting out, and status quo bias.     

What (a) Difference a Degree Makes: The Evaluation of the New Social Work Degree in England

After many years of debate in the UK about the need for a degree-levelqualification in social work, the arguments for a minimum degree-levelqualification were accepted. The requirements for the degreein England were developed drawing on work from a number of sources,including a benchmark statement for undergraduate degrees insocial work and focus groups with stakeholders. The new degreein England, launched in 2003, involves one extra year’sstudy; improvements in the qualifying standard for social work;and specific curriculum and entrance requirements. At the timeof launching the degree, the government department responsiblefor funding (Department of Health) commissioned a three-yearevaluation of the implementation of the new degree to establishwhether the new qualifying level leads to improvements in thequalified workforce. The aim of the evaluation is to describethe experiences of those undertaking the degree, collect theviews of the various stakeholders about the effectiveness ofthe degree and measure the impact of a degree-level qualificationon those entering the workforce. This article, written by theteam undertaking the evaluation of the England degree, exploresthe reasons for the methodological approach adopted and theissues that have arisen in setting up the research.     

Balancing assembly line with skilled and unskilled workers

In this paper, we present the process of rebalancing the line at motorcycle-assembly plant. The company found it necessary to rebalance its line, since it needs to increase production in the spring and summer months. The main characteristics of the problem are as follows: (i) the company hires temporary staff, who need more time to carry out their tasks than permanent workers; (ii) there must always be at least one skilled employee working alongside an unskilled one; and (iii) different task groups are incompatible with each other (clean-hands tasks and dirty-hands tasks). The goal is to minimise the number of temporary workers required, given a cycle time and the team of workers on staff. The problem is modelled as a binary linear program (BLP) and solved optimally by means of the ILOG CPLEX 9.0 optimiser. The solution provided, namely 12 permanent workers (skilled) and two temporary workers (unskilled), is an improvement on the solution implemented by the business, which involved 12 permanent workers and four temporary workers.