Cooperation governance mode: an extended transaction cost approach

This paper analyses the cooperation governance mode and possible factors affecting the choice between an equity joint venture and a contractual agreement. Although transaction cost economics (TCE) provides a workable and well-used framework within which to analyse this choice, it only captures the static transaction costs related to the two modes. This has lead to a discussion about dynamic governance costs and possible benefits related to the governance mode. The objective of this paper is to show how this extended framework differs from TCE when determining the appropriate governance mode. We use four factors related to nature of cooperation to contrast these two approaches. We collected empirical data about cooperation in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in order to find support for these arguments. Estimates based on logistic regression analysis suggest that our dynamic governance cost and benefit perspective really provides valuable complementary insights into the traditional static transaction-cost framework when it is a question of the choice of alliance form.     

Internet Use and Well-Being in Adolescence

Previous research suggests that Internet use may be associated with decreases in well-being among adolescents. However, there has been little investigation of the relationship between well-being and social aspects of Internet use. In the present study, 130 7th graders from a middle-class public school in California completed dispositional measures of well-being, and on three subsequent evenings they responded to questions regarding their Internet use (including detailed logs of instant messages) and daily well-being. Time spent on-line was not associated with dispositional or daily well-being. However, as suggested by intimacy theory, the closeness of instant message communication partners was associated with daily social anxiety and loneliness in school, above and beyond the contribution of dispositional measures.     

The Effects of Middle School Weight Climate on Youth With Higher Body Weight

This study examines whether social‐emotional difficulties associated with higher body weight vary across schools as a function of the school's weight climate. Weight climate, characterized by weight‐policing, was assessed indirectly by examining how strongly self‐reported weight predicts victim reputation within 26 ethnically diverse middle schools. Social‐emotional indicators included self‐reported loneliness, school belonging, and self‐esteem. In schools with stronger weight‐policing at seventh grade, loneliness was intensified by eighth grade among both girls (n = 2,101) and boys (n = 1,985) with higher weight. Similar effects were found for low self‐esteem among girls. Additionally, boys—regardless of their weight—reported lower sense of belonging in schools with stronger weight‐policing. The study offers a new method to estimate school weight climate, and the findings provide insights for interventions.     

Spatial Practises and Preferences of Older and Younger People: Findings from the Finnish Studies

There are strong tendencies in urban segregation, not only according to social class, gender and ethnic lines but also according to age. This paper draws on the findings of three studies conducted in Lahti, Finland, to examine the intergenerational aspects of spatial practise. It is argued that people look at their environment through a generational gaze, such that different generations have different spatial preferences and practises. In this article, an age-friendly living environment refers to one that appeals not only to older people but to people of all ages. Age-friendly environments have no segregating borderlines, but rather enable the meeting and communication of different aged people and sustain age integration. As older and young people are most dependent on their living environments, the paper concentrates on their use of space and attachment to place. Our special focus is on recreational activities and places: How and where older and young people spend leisure time? What are their favourite places? What is the importance of nature and different kind of urban spots for them? On the basis of the differences and similarities found out in their spatial practises and preferences, our aim is to discuss age-friendly environments that appeal to different aged people. The study is based on qualitative and quantitative data and draws out implications for future age-diverse communities.     

School and Cybervictimization Across High School: Normative Developmental Trajectories and Bidirectional Links with Loneliness

The current study examines normative developmental trajectories of school and cybervictimization across 3 years of high school and tests whether school and cybervictimization experiences predict increases in loneliness at school or whether loneliness at school increases the risk of victimization. Gender differences are also explored. Data were drawn from a longitudinal sample of 4,339 ethnically diverse U.S. adolescents (M_age = 15.02) who completed surveys in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Whereas school victimization decreased, cybervictimization increased across high school. School‐based victimization and loneliness were bidirectionally related across time (controlling for cybervictimization), but cybervictimization and loneliness were not related (controlling for school victimization). The findings provide a nuanced account of the associations between school and cybervictimization with feelings of isolation at school.     

Extracurricular Activities in Multiethnic Middle Schools: Ideal Context for Positive Intergroup Attitudes?

This study examined processes by which extracurricular participation is linked with positive ethnic intergroup attitudes in multiethnic middle schools in California. Specifically, the mediating roles of activity‐related cross‐ethnic friendships and social identities including alliances with multiple groups were examined in a sample including African American or Black, East or South‐East Asian, White, and Latino youth (N = 1,446; M_age = 11.60 in sixth grade). Results of multilevel modeling suggested that in addition to activity‐related cross‐ethnic friendships, complex social identities mediated the association between availability of cross‐ethnic peers in activities and ethnic intergroup attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of how activities can be structured to promote cross‐ethnic relationships and complex social identities, as well as positive ethnic intergroup attitudes.     

Practitioners’ Experiences of Social Media in Career Services

This article reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into career practitioners’ ways of experiencing social media in career services. Focus‐group interviews were conducted with 16 Danish and Finnish career practitioners with experience using social media in career services. Four qualitatively different ways of experiencing social media in career services were identified. Social media in career services was experienced as (a) a means for delivering information, (b) a medium for 1‐to‐1 communication, (c) an interactive working space, and (d) an impetus for paradigm change and reform. The results suggest that models of career intervention and ways of experiencing social media appear to be intertwined. The hierarchical structure of the findings may serve as a tool that enables career practitioners to deepen their ways of experiencing and understanding social media in career services by using the critical aspects that were identified.     

The Influence of Classroom Ethnic Composition on Same- and Other-ethnicity Peer Nominations in Middle School

The study of peer group status typically involves examination of peer nominations received. In this study, the focus was on nominations given and received. We examined the degree to which middle school students from different ethnic groups demonstrate same‐ethnicity preferences in their peer nominations, the effects of the classroom ethnic composition on these preferences, and the association between same‐ethnicity preferences and social standing. Latina/o, Asian, and White students demonstrated a positive same‐ethnicity bias (i.e., greater acceptance and less rejection of same‐ethnicity peers) whereas African‐American students demonstrated a global same‐ethnicity bias (i.e., they were more likely to nominate African‐American students in general). All students made more nominations to same‐ethnicity peers when there were larger numbers of same‐ethnicity peers in the classroom. Students who made more acceptance nominations to same‐ethnicity peers were more accepted among same‐ethnicity peers and less accepted among other‐ethnicity peers. The significance of the ethnic context to understanding students' peer status and the benefits and costs of same‐ethnicity biases are discussed.