TRUST,SOCIAL CAPITAL,AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Many argue that elements of a society's norms, culture, or social capital are central to understanding its development. However, these notions have been difficult to capture in economic models. Here we explore a possible role for “trustworthiness” as corresponding to social capital. Individuals are trustworthy when they perform in accordance with promises, even if this does not maximise their payoffs. The usual focus on incentive structures in motivating behaviour plays no role here. Instead, we emphasise more deep‐seated modes of behaviour and consider trustworthy agents being socialised to act as they do. To model this socialisation, we borrow from a process of preference evolution pioneered by Bisin and Verdier (2001). The model developed endogenously accounts for social capital and explores its role in the process of economic development. It captures in a simple, formal way the interaction between social capital and the economy's productive processes. The results obtained caution against rapid reform and provide an explanation for why late‐developing countries may not easily be able to transplant the modes of production that have proved useful in the West. (JEL: O1, O3, O4, Z1)     

Investigating the impact of violations of the “left and top means first” heuristic on response behavior and data quality

ABSTRACT

Web surveys are an established data collection mode that use written language to provide information. The written language is accompanied by visual elements, such as presentation formats and shapes. However, research has shown that visual elements influence response behavior because respondents sometimes use interpretive heuristics to make sense of the visual elements. One such heuristic is the ‘left and top means first’ (LTMF) heuristic, which suggests that respondents tend to believe that a response scale consistently runs from left to right or from top to bottom. We conducted a web survey experiment to investigate how violations of the LTMF heuristic affect response behavior and data quality. For this purpose, a random half of respondents received response options that followed a consistent order and the other half received response options that followed an inconsistent order. The results reveal significantly different response distributions between the two groups. We also found that inconsistently ordered response options significantly increase response times and decrease data quality in terms of criterion validity. We, therefore, recommend using options that follow the design strategies of the LTMF heuristic.     

An exploratory study of the relation between concrete and abstract product attributes

It is argued that the abstract product attributes that consumers mention in a research setting should not be interpreted as combinations of the more concrete attributes consumers mention. Results from a laddering study show that a majority of elicited abstract product attributes are unrelated to concrete attributes. Furthermore, these unrelated abstract attributes are about different product aspects than the related abstract attributes. These findings are discussed in the light of the problem of ‘actionability', and of models for new product development.     

How Integrated are Finns in the Swedish Labour Market? Outcomes of Free Labour Mobility

DANS QUELLE MESURE LES FINLANDAIS SONT-ILS INTÉGRÉS AU MARCHÉ DU TRAVAIL SUÉDOIS ? RÉSULTATS DE LA LIBRE MOBILITÉ DE LA MAIN-D'OEUVRE
En raison d'un accord instituant un marché commun nordique du travail, les Finlandais constituent, depuis des décennies, le plus grand groupe d'immigrés en Suède. Pourtant, rares sont les études qui ont spécifiquement tenté de déterminer dans quelle mesure ils sont intégrés au marché du travail. Cet article vise à combler en partie cette lacune en examinant comment les Finlandais ont réussi avant et après la crise économique des années 90. Les niveaux d'emploi et les salaires des immigrés finlandais dans la force de l'âge sont comparés à ceux des Suédois de souche à l'aide d'échantillons représentatifs de la population totale de 1990 et 2001. Nous cherchons à déterminer dans quelle mesure tout écart peut être attribuéà de simples facteurs de base tels que l'âge, le sexe, le niveau d'éducation et la région de résidence. D'après nos constatations, les salaires et niveaux d'emploi des Finlandais de sexe masculin sont environ 10% moins élevés que ceux des Suédois de souche et cet écart tend à devenir plus marqué au fil du temps. Il existe toutefois des variations considérables entre les cohortes d'immigrés, et les différences de niveaux d'éducation ne jouent un rôle significatif qu'en ce qui concerne les écarts de salaire. Les Finlandaises semblent en revanche mieux intégrées, leurs résultats sur le marché du travail étant très semblables à ceux des Suédoises de souche.     

A longitudinal analysis of household and nonhousehold living arrangements in later life

Most explanatory models of living arrangements in later life link the decision process surrounding choice of living arrangement to personal resources such as income and health. Applications of these models, however, are based for the most part on cross-sectional rather than longitudinal data. In this paper we examine living arrangements in later life among the nonmarried population aged 55 and over, using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. We observe individuals as they change living arrangements, die, or become institutionalized. Our results suggest that economic resources dominate the decision-making process in transitions across different household arrangements, whereas health is most important in explaining institutionalization.     

Psychiatric Non-institutionalisation: Whose Needs are Served?

This article outlines the social problems experienced by persons with a chronic psychiatric disability, and their families. The disabled person's lifestyle is characterised by poor social and vocational skills, poverty, inadequate accommodation and alienation. Many of these problems increase the dependence of the disabled person, emotionally and financially, on their family of origin. The author suggests that these social problems will only be ameliorated if family members are provided with active support and information, and if hospital and community services are integrated and complementary. The disabled person's quality of life can only be improved by accessible intensive social and vocational rehabilitation programs. As these issues are not being comprehensively addressed at the present time family self-help organisations such as the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Mentally III (ARAFMI) will need to politicise their plight.     

Gambling on casinos: A political economy of Australian developments

The proliferation of commercial casinos in Australia over the past decade has transfigured the face of Australian gambling. This paper examines the implications of the precarious relations that exist between casino operations and the regulatory structures established to control them. While Australian casinos share many of the general features and problems of casinos in the United States and Britain, the Australian approach to the selection and control of casinos and the types of corporate organizations licensed to operate casinos has been quite distinctive. The various State governments also have adopted distinctly regional responses based on different moral climates, political-economic calculations and market competition. However, in their haste to secure a share of the casino market, governments have welcomed the involvement of large corporations in Australian gambling. The power of these economic forces and changing environmental conditions present a challenge to the capacity of governments to determine gambling trends in the country.