Emergency stocks: A theoretical analysis and an illustration for Israel

The paper develops a methodology for designing and evaluating the performance of emergency stocks. The system is required to meet consumers' demands in all emergency situations at a given level of reliability and least possible costs. The model takes into account the various stochastic elements that determine the performance of the system, including the frequency of emergency situations and their expected duration, the pace of replenishing the stocks, the consumption rate in an emergency situation, and the opportunity for stock building prior to the occurance of an emergency on the basis of advance information about the severity of the strategic situation.     

Improving employees' work centrality improves organizational performance: work events and work centrality relationships

High work centrality is related to positive performance and behaviour of employees. This unique paper discusses a longitudinal study, comparing change in work centrality among individuals who experienced meaningful work events to individuals who did not experience these events, over the course of twelve years. The findings indicate that not experiencing expressive work events (which leads to an improvement in autonomy, interest, variety, and responsibility) reduces work centrality, whereas work events such as promotion, advancement (including to a managerial position) and qualifications, are effected by high work centrality. Work events, such as improvement in pay, working conditions, and interpersonal relations at work, had no effect on those who experienced them and those who did not. The theoretical and practical implications for Human Resources Development (HRD) are discussed.     

Making statements and approval voting

We assume that people have a need to make statements, and construct a model in which this need is the sole determinant of voting behavior. In this model, an individual selects a ballot that makes as close a statement as possible to her ideal point, where abstaining from voting is a possible (null) statement. We show that in such a model, a political system that adopts approval voting may be expected to enjoy a significantly higher rate of participation in elections than a comparable system with plurality rule.     

Social indicators for social planning: The case of Israel

Social planning (SP) is viewed as an organizing framework for guiding government intervention in social life. Social indicators (SI) can provide the informational basis for formulating policies, preparing social plans and evaluating the impact of government activities. Both SP and SI are only two links in a desired sequence of organized social action. But given the present state of the art, the urgency of social problems and the opportunity cost of waiting for further theoretical development-initial efforts should be directed at developing SI for SP. Israel's experience is presented as an example of:

1. The ideological and operational background to specific types of intervention of the state. Within this framework the question arises whether vagueness on the subject of SP can be regarded as the cause of casual and negligent treatment of social problems by government.
2. Specific areas that have been neglected, or that have not been given adequate attention, because of the lack of SI to assist in acquiring an overall understanding of societal changes.

These examples are used as a basis for suggesting some practical possibilities of developing SI and SP in Israel and elsewhere.     

Optimal aggregation of input-output coefficients - a decision theoretic approach

We oresent a criterion fnr the optimal aggreation of industries in input-output analysis, when the aggregation is wade prior to data collection. This criterion is based on a model assuming -hat the input-output coefficients are used in. some decision process, and that they are unknown (or random) prior to data collection. We show that our criterion, based on decision theoretic considerations, differs considerably from traditional criteria for good aggregation. Our model is also applide as an example, to the Netherlands economy.     

The predictive role of counterfactuals

We suggest a model that describes how counterfactuals are constructed and justified. The model can describe how counterfactual beliefs are updated given the unfolding of actual history. It also allows us to examine the use of counterfactuals in prediction, and to show that a logically omniscient reasoner gains nothing from using counterfactuals for prediction.     

What are axiomatizations good for?

Theory and Decision - Do axiomatic derivations advance positive economics? If economists are interested in predicting how people behave, without a pretense to change individual decision making, how...     

Using Family Attachment Narrative Therapy to Heal the Wounds of Twinship: A Case Study of an 11-Year-Old Boy

This paper describes the utilization of Family Attachment Narrative Therapy with an 11-year-old boy experiencing significant behavioral and developmental problems emerging from his experience of identical twinship and associated parental failure. This innovative treatment model is demonstrated to be a useful tool for changing the child’s faulty self narrative resulting in improved functioning. The critical element of the reworked schema is the perception of self as complete, adequate, worthy and cherished. Family Attachment Narrative Therapy is also shown to facilitate increased parental attunement to the child’s inner state and parent-child bonding. This study highlights the unique developmental challenges facing young twins and the related complexity of the parental role.     

History as a coordination device

Coordination games often have multiple equilibria. The selection of equilibrium raises the question of belief formation: how do players generate beliefs about the behavior of other players? This article takes the view that the answer lies in history, that is, in the outcomes of similar coordination games played in the past, possibly by other players. We analyze a simple model in which a large population plays a game that exhibits strategic complementarities. We assume a dynamic process that faces different populations with such games for randomly selected values of a parameter. We introduce a belief formation process that takes into account the history of similar games played in the past, not necessarily by the same population. We show that when history serves as a coordination device, the limit behavior depends on the way history unfolds, and cannot be determined from a-priori considerations.     

To work or not to work: Variables affecting non‐financial employment commitment over time

The most common indicator of non‐financial employment commitment (NFEC) is the “lottery question” – whether a person would continue working if they won a lottery. This cross‐sectional research seeks to identify the demographic variables and the “meaning of work” dimensions that could predict individual NFEC, presenting the main international findings over time, with particular reference to data collected in Israel in 1981, 1994 and 2006. The authors' findings point to a marked decrease in NFEC in the new millennium and a change in its predictors over time. The findings and their implications for work and employment are examined in the light of social and economic changes in Israel.