The Decent Work Questionnaire: Development and validation in two samples of knowledge workers

This research develops a Decent Work Questionnaire (DWQ) to measure workers’ perceptions of decent work. Current measurements of decent work are almost completely lacking at the individual worker level of analysis, and this study contributes to filling the gap. The authors designed their DWQ based on the substantive elements used by the ILO in its Decent Work Agenda, with the final 31‐item version of the DWQ yielding seven factors related to decent work. Showing good reliability coefficient values and good convergent and discriminant validity, this DWQ could open up new avenues for empirical studies on the concept of decent work.     

Service vs. manufacturing: how to address more effectively eco-innovation public policies by disentangling the different characteristics of industries

Eco-innovation is actually a fashionable topic, and several researchers are working on understanding the defining characteristics of firms that consider the environment as a priority when innovating. To date most of these studies have been carried out on manufacturing industries. This article investigates the similarities and differences among service and manufacturing firms. An empirical analysis of a sample of 5509 Spanish companies shows that the variables affecting the eco-innovative orientation of firms are quite similar. Results reveal that manufacturing firms have higher orientation toward the environment than service firms. Furthermore, highly polarized positions in environmental aspects can be found. Despite the limitations of the study, conclusions may help public policy to encourage environmental proactivity in service industry and innovation.     

Morphosyntactic development and educational style of parents in neglected children

This research analyses the morpho-syntactical competence of children in care and the educational style of their parents. The studies from the literature give no specific data concerning how the morphological and syntactic components are affected in children suffering from neglect. These studies point to important deficiencies in language development, but do not specify what such difficulties actually are. This research is carried out within the framework of the residential care children's homes in the region of Extremadura (Spain). The morpho-syntactic competence of the children and the parental educational style of a total of 74 children in residential care are analysed. The subjects are 41 males and 33 females, between 6 and 18 years of age. We apply the ‘Objective Language Criteria Test’ (BLOCScreening) to evaluate their linguistic development and the ‘Autoevaluative Multifactorial Child Adaptation Test’ (TAMAI) to determine educational style. The presence of difficulties in morphosyntaxis is evident. The children with a low dominion of morphology and syntax perceive a more punitive style in the parents. The difficulties in morphosyntax are manifested both expressive and receptive. Use short sentences to frequent omission of morphological markers. Comprehension problems are lower than those of expression, but it shows a erroneous understanding of some grammatical structures, and grammatical errors in spontaneous speech. Use fewer morphologically complex words in their narratives. Have difficulty in organising the content of the speech and the use of cohesive devices (using the precision and accuracy of the conjunctions used in compound sentences). We must stress the need to carry out early prevention and intervention programmes in order to promote an increase in both the quantity and the quality of language stimulation. From there, the need to set up intervention programmes that influence the linguistic competence of children who have suffered abuse.     

Violent behaviour,victimization, self-esteem and physical activity of Spanish adolescents according to place of residence: a structural equation model / Conducta violenta,victimización,autoestima y actividad física de adolescentes españoles en función del lugar de residencia: un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales

This study aims to establish and verify an explanatory model for aggressive behaviour, self-esteem, victimization and physical activity in adolescents, and to use this explanatory model to analyse the association of place of residence with these variables. This research analysed 2,273 adolescents from the province of Granada (Spain) using the questionnaires Violent Behaviour at Schools, School Victimization Scale and Global Self-Esteem Scale. An analysis was carried out using structural equations. Results showed that relational and overt aggressiveness are related to self-esteem, victimization and physical activity. Furthermore, relational aggressiveness showed a stronger association with victimization and low self-esteem in adolescents who live in residential care. In addition, overt aggressiveness showed a stronger association with self-esteem in adolescents who live in family homes. Thus, exclusion and social rejection among peers have a greater impact on the victimization of young people who live outside of the family context.     

The role of intercultural,scientific and technological openness on innovation in European regions

This paper analyses the importance of openness for innovation in European regions. Openness is understood from a double angle: intercultural and scientific & technological. Our hypothesis is that each type of openness brings different kinds of knowledge into the regions and results on a different innovation output. S&T openness brings analytical forms of knowledge whilst intercultural openness brings tacit ones. Our results confirm this relationship as S&T openness shows a significant impact on patent activity, but not when a broader innovation indicator is used. Intercultural openness is highly significant when measuring innovation by a broader index and much less when measured by patents.     

Big sister is watching you! Gender interaction and the unwritten rules of the Amsterdam red-light district

It is generally accepted that in sexual interaction men are the hunters and women the gatherers. An expressly sexual environment such as a red-light district would be expected to only reinforce this image. Strikingly enough, however, it is precisely prostitutes who seem able to break with these established gender roles. This ethnographic study uses participant observation to demonstrate how assumptions about sexual interaction may be specious: female prostitutes are frequently not the passive victims and male clients not the active sex-hunters they are taken for. Both the communicative function and protection of privacy play an important role in these processes in a red-light district. In the red-light district, gender interaction is bound by social regulation and unwritten rules that greatly exceed the influence of formal institutions. In this paper, the case of the red-light district "De Wallen" in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is discussed in the context of several disciplines including urban anthropology, social psychology, geography, gender studies, and urban sociology.     

Commitment vs. Flexibility

We study the optimal trade‐off between commitment and flexibility in a consump‐ tion–savings model. Individuals expect to receive relevant information regarding tastes and thus they value the flexibility provided by larger choice sets. On the other hand, they also expect to suffer from temptation, with or without self‐control, and thus they value the commitment afforded by smaller choice sets. The optimal commitment problem we study is to find the best subset of the individual's budget set. This problem leads to a principal–agent formulation. We find that imposing a minimum level of savings is always a feature of the solution. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for minimum‐savings policies to completely characterize the solution. We also discuss other applications, such as the design of fiscal constitutions, the problem faced by a paternalist, and externalities.     

Observing Tacting Increases Uninstructed Tacts in Children with Autism

The effects of observing an adult emitting tacts on children’s rate of uninstructed (i.e., “spontaneous”) tacts were examined in three children diagnosed with autism. Each participant was exposed to two conditions in four settings each: in condition 1, participants received 20 trials of teacher-initiated interactions in which the child was asked to tact 20 objects during 5 min. Condition 2 was identical to condition 1 except that the teacher also tacted 20 objects interspersed with the 20 tact trials. The number of uninstructed tacts was recorded in both conditions. Children emitted between 1.58 and 2.68 times more uninstructed tacts in condition 2 than in condition 1. These results indicate that teachers’ emission of tacts increases the emission of uninstructed tacts in children with autism.