Aggregation of individuals' preference intensities into social preference intensity

A result of John Harsanyi concerns the aggregation of individuals' preferences into social preferences. The result states that if the individuals in a society and the society as a whole have preference relations that compare probability distributions on a set of outcomes, and the preference relations satisfy expected-utility conditions and Pareto conditions, then a utility function for the social preference relation is a positive affine function of utility functions for the individuals' preference relations. This paper presents an analogous result for preference relations that denote intensity of preference, i.e., preference relations that compare exchanges of outcomes. This approach avoids the difficulties of requiring that the individuals in the society have common beliefs regarding uncertainty. Received: 14 October 1996 / Accepted: 4 September 1997     

The perception of occupational stress and its relation to research and teaching among academic staff

A sample of full-time teaching staff from a former polytechnic participated in a study to examine the relationships between their perception of occupational stress and their involvement in research. Information was obtained from 60% of staff approached. The mean scores on the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) for job satisfaction and stress-related measures of mental health and physical health did not differ significantly from data obtained in previous studies on university academic personnel. Scores on these variables were not significantly related to research activity. The degree of satisfaction and degree of stress emanating from participation in research, in teaching and in administration were separately assessed in structured interviews.     

Adoption of Vietnamese Children: An Australian Study

This paper briefly reports some of the findings from the first major adoption study involving transracial and transcultural transplantations of children into Australian families. The historical development of inter-country adodption; the world growth of orphan populations; and the controversy and oppostion to adoption across racial arid cultural lines is briefly reviewed. Australian involvement in the adoption of nearly 300 Vietnamese children, of whom 111 were placed in 101 New South Wales families; the outcome of these adoptions; the development and adjustment of the children; and implications of the research are discussed. Positive early outcomes, as well as favourable development and behavioural adjustments, appear to have overcome deprivation, malnutrition and other traumatic ‘early experience’.     

A quantitative model for manpower decision making

Today's society is continually influenced by various changes, requiring managers to plan for manpower requirements. An approach that can be used by firms to solve one of the most pressing of today's employment problems is examined. In effect, the problem becomes one of determining an optimal work force composition based on both sociological and skill components. The problem is viewed as one of establishing rank ordered priorities among multiple conflicting manpower objectives. This study discusses some of the internal and external constraints faced by the firm and suggests a particular technique, goal programming, to facilitate the manpower decision-making process. The technique is examined under two different circumstances to provide some indication of the model's flexibility.