Demographic and Economic Correlates of Development as Measured by Energy Consumption

Per capita consumption of energy in 112 world areas was related to a series of economic and demographic variables. Linear associations were found for four economic variables, and a curvilinear association in the form of a J curve for four demographic variables. It was found that the exponential distribution y = e(-X) for the curves for the demographic variables (crude birth rate, infant mortality rate, percent of deaths from contagious and infectious diseases, and life expectancy). By using a table of exponential functions, one can determine values for the distribution of these variables and the crude death rate for any desired level of energy consumption.     

Kindergarten oral language skill: A key variable in the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status

In this paper we test whether oral language development during the preschool years helps explain the positive relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children's elementary school performance. In particular, we test for the portion of the SES effect on 2nd to 4th grade reading, 3rd to 4th grade mathematics, and overall teacher-rated performance that is explained by oral language ability measured when kindergarten begins. We analyze a unique data set containing unusually comprehensive measures of kindergarten oral language ability. The data are for white Midwestern children and their families. Estimation via structural equation modeling shows that oral language skill at kindergarten entry explains most of the effect of SES on elementary school performance. Since other studies have shown that elementary school performance strongly determines later educational attainment, much of the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status occurs when the child is very young.     

Urban gentrification: Evaluating alternative indicators

The study seeks to ascertain whether the operational definition of “gentrification” has an impact on the apparent extent, location and causal factors associated with the phenomenon. Four alternative definitional criteria are specified, based on areal changes in: proportion black, proportion college-educated, real incomes and real property values. The stringency of the given change needed to qualify as gentrification is also varied. Census tract changes from 1970–80 in Philadelphia are analyzed. Results indicate great sensitivity in the number and location of “gentrified” tracts to the definition chosen and stringency applied. Even more importantly, the 1970 characteristics of tracts which statistically explain their subsequent gentrication vary dramatically across these definitions.     

Combining pheromone-baited and food-baited traps for insect pest control: Effects of developmental period

Summary An age-structured population dynamics model is presented that incorporates pheromone-trapping and food-trapping as control methods for an insect pest. The model yields the following results. Low rates of pest survivorship allow lower trapping rates for control. Species with long developmental periods are easier to control than those with shorter developmental periods (other factors being equal) due to lower net survival. The rates of pheromone trapping alone for effective control are usually very high. The combination of pheromone and food trapping allows control with much lower trapping rates than either method alone. Even small amounts of immigration of adult pests into the control area renders pheromone control ineffective, whereas food traps suppress both the immigrants and the resident population. Food- (or odor-) baited traps which attract both males and females are only somewhat more efficient than those which attract females alone. The existence of density-dependent population regulation assists the control program substantially, but this assistance declines as food trapping becomes a more important part of the control program. Larval competition strongly affects the required trapping rates for eradication; species in which all larvae exert strong competition are much easier to control than those in whic the younger larvae contribute little to the total competitive depression.     

The origins of agriculture: Population growth during a period of declining health

The increase in the Neolithic human population following the development of agriculture has been assumed to result from improvements in health and nutrition. Recent research demonstrates that this assumption is incorrect. With the development of sedentism and the intensification of agriculture, there is an increase in infectious disease and nutritional deficiencies particularly affecting infants and children.Declining health probably increased mortality among infants, children and oldest adults. However, the productive and reproductive core would have been able to respond to this increase in mortality by reducing birth spacing. That is, agricultural populations increased in size, despite higher mortality, because intervals between births became shorter.     

E-leadership: Implications for theory, research, and practice

In this article we review literature to build a broad understanding of what constitutes e-leadership in organizations. We propose a framework based on Adaptive Structuration Theory that could be used to study how Advanced Information Technology could influence and is influenced by leadership. According to our framework, the effects of Advanced Information Technology emerge from their interaction with organizational structures of which leadership is a part. Furthermore, organizational structures, including leadership, may themselves be transformed as a result of interactions with Advanced Information Technology. We use our Adaptive Structuration Theory–based framework to pool relevant results and suggestions from a diverse array of literature to provide recommendations for developing a research agenda on e-leadership.     

Book reviews

Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, Paul Gilroy, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, October 1993.     

Caring for Children From the Same Culture: Challenges for Foster Parents

Foster parents licensed in a central Canadian province were contacted by telephone and invited to participate in a survey that included the question “What are the challenges of fostering a child with the same values, beliefs, and traditions as you?” Participants sorted all responses to the question into concepts that were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis in accordance with the concept mapping method. The final concept map included five clusters that were labeled rebuild confidence, different expectations, resistance, restore connections, and acceptance. Results were compared to the literature. Similarities and differences are presented.