Ageing Baby Boomers in Australia: Evidence Informing Actions for Better Retirement

The first Australian baby boomers are starting to retire. Consequently, it is essential to develop and apply a strong evidence base to facilitate their successful retirement and ongoing wellbeing. This review focuses on recent literature on pre‐retirement baby boomers to identify available research findings and gaps to be filled on retirement preparation. A notable shortage of empirical literature was found on pathways to retirement and financial plans. A trend emerged towards an intention to retire at an older age, and the main source of retirement income was expected to be superannuation. Over half of Australian boomers expect their savings to be sufficient; however, 30–50% anticipate a decline in their standard of living. The majority want the responsibility for funding retirement shared between the individual, government and employers. Further research is needed on the varying plans and expectations of men and women, of low‐skilled workers, and those from culturally diverse backgrounds.     

No Compelling Evidence That Newborns Imitate Oral Gestures

Newborns (N = 83) were presented with 3 conditions, each for 160 sec: tongue protrusion (TP), mouth opening (MO), and control (CO). In TP and MO, a female model alternated between demonstrating the gesture for 20 sec and presenting a passive, motionless face for 20 sec. In CO, she presented a passive face in both the “demonstration” and “passive” intervals. The participants' eyes were more widely open in the demonstration intervals of TP and MO than in the passive intervals, indicating that they were attending to the gestures. In TP, the participants produced more TP responses than MO responses, but in MO there was no effect, undermining the neonatal imitation hypothesis.     

Social Disorganization and Parochial Control: Religious Institutions and Their Communities

Set within the framework of social disorganization theory, this article explores the relationship between social disorganization and parochial control. Specifically, this study investigates whether more disorganized communities support fewer religious institutions than less disorganized areas. It also examines the relationship between religious institutions and another type of community association: multi-issue, neighborhood-based organizations. Data are drawn from 1990 Census data, the 1991 Chicago telephone directory and local community organization directories. Findings support the idea that residential mobility and ethnic heterogeneity are negatively related to the prevalence of religious institutions whereas there is a curvilinear relationship between poverty and religious organizations. Finally, a strong relationship between the prevalence of religious institutions and the prevalence of multi-issue organizations is established.     

Can institutional investors fix the corporate governance problem? Some Danish evidence

It has been advocated within corporate governance that institutional investors may discipline management in listed firms and thereby alleviate the free rider problem associated with dispersed ownership. This article tests this hypothesis using a sample of Danish listed firms during 1998–2001 determining, whether ownership by institutional investors impacts performance, measured by Tobin’s q. Using three stage least squares, it is shown that aggregate ownership by institutional investors does not influence firm performance. However, when decomposing the results, it is found that joint ownership by the largest two Danish institutional investors, has a significant negative impact firm performance. Ownership by banks and to a lesser extent insurance companies significantly influences firm performance positively. The results somehow challenge the conventional wisdom, arguing that the black box view of institutional investors should be abandon. Therefore it is suggested that a more careful analysis should be devoted to each institutional investors own legal environment.

Roadmap to recovery: Reporting on a research taskforce supporting Indigenous responses to COVID‐19 in Australia

In April 2020 a Group of Eight Taskforce was convened, consisting of over 100 researchers, to provide independent, research‐based recommendations to the Commonwealth Government on a “Roadmap to Recovery” from COVID‐19. The report covered issues ranging from pandemic control and relaxation of social distancing measures, to well‐being and special considerations for vulnerable populations. Our work focused on the critical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; this paper presents an overview of our recommendations to the Roadmap report. In addressing the global challenges posed by pandemics for citizens around the world, Indigenous people are recognised as highly vulnerable. At the time of writing Australia's First Nations Peoples have been largely spared from COVID‐19 in comparison to other Indigenous populations globally. Our recommendations emphasise self‐determination and equitable needs‐based funding to support Indigenous communities to recover from COVID‐19, addressing persistent overcrowded housing, and a focus on workforce, especially for regional and remote communities. These latter two issues have been highlighted as major issues of risk for Indigenous communities in Australia It remains to be seen how governments across Australia take up these recommendations to support Indigenous peoples' health and healing journey through yet another, potentially catastrophic, health crisis.     

Faith‐Based Social Service Organizations and Government Funding: Data from a National Survey*

Objective. The objective of the research reported in this article is to test four hypotheses concerning government funding among faith‐based social service coalitions: that it is positively related to size and organizational professionalism; positively related to attitudes toward government funding; positively related to social activism; and negatively related to organizational religiosity. Method. Our method is the application of OLS and probit analysis to data from a national survey of 656 such organizations. Results. Using three measures of government funding and 12 predictor variables, results are mixed in their support of the size and professionalization hypothesis and generally support the remaining hypotheses. These findings are replicated when we compare coalitions that had and had not applied for government funding. Conclusions. Our findings emphasize that greater religious expressiveness dissuades coalitions from both seeking and receiving government funding, but higher levels of social activism expedite both.     

Editorial comment

The special issue of theJournal of Gambling Behavior, dedicated to a discussion of compulsive gambling and the law, represents a first effort in addressing some of the many complicated issues on this topic. Articles by experts on compulsive gambling—written by legal authorities, a treatment provider, and victims of the disorder—are included to present the broadest possible forum to analyze the turmoil the idea of compulsive gambling is having on the American legal system. Included are an historical account of how changing laws affect compulsive gamblers, problems facing the expert witness, effects of civil service policies and military law, comparisons of U.S. and English legalization debates, lottery issues, concerns of a lawyer representing casinos, and personal accounts by those who are suffering from this disorder.I. Nelson Rose is an Associate Professor of Law at Whittier College School of Law as well as a licensed attorney. Professor Rose is recognized as the nation's leading authority on gambling and the law.Dr. Valerie C. Lorenz has specialized in research, education and treatment of compulsive gamblers since 1973. She has extensive experience in military, state and federal courts, having served as a qualified expert witness on compulsive gambling.     

Application of TQM principles to the utilization management process

Application of the philosophy and principles of TQM and CQI to utilization management within an institution necessitates an in-depth review of the systems and processes of the flow of inpatients throughout their stay. This encompasses a total systems perspective, beginning with the admitting process and going through the discharge process. TQM and CQI philosophies identify that the most significant and costly inefficiencies are due to faulty systems and processes, not individuals. Applying this management strategy to a health care institution requires a detailed review and analysis of processes by which service is delivered and requires evaluation of the outcomes of patient care and patient satisfaction.