Public investment and growth: Lessons learned from 60-years experience in Southern Italy

This article analyses the contribution of public investment to economic growth in Southern Italy in the second half of the twentieth century (1951–2011). The Bai–Perron tests suggest that economic growth followed three distinct regimes: accelerated growth in the years 1951–1973 (average growth rate 5.3%); low growth in the period 1974–1995 (average growth rate 1.6%); zero growth on average after 1995. Using cointegration analysis, we find a positive effect of public investment on per unit of labour output of the Mezzogiorno in the whole period, 1951–2011. However, the estimates of the model show statistically significant parameters of public investment in the first regime, but not in the second regime, when economic growth is sustained by business investment and technical change. The last phase of growth sees the negative influence of the social and institutional environment on the functioning of the economy. The different impact of public investment on growth over time is ascribed to changes in the quality of institutions.     

Do Caregivers’ Health Conditions Impact Children’s Externalizing Behavior? The Roles of Caregivers’ Parenting Frustration and Family Cohesion

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - The present study aimed to explore whether caregivers’ parental frustration mediates the relationship between parental health and children’s...     

Improving the causal treatment effect estimation with propensity scores by the bootstrap

AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis - When observational studies are used to establish the causal effects of treatments, the estimated effect is affected by treatment selection bias. The inverse...     

MULTIPLE STORIES

This article discusses the dynamics of ‘crossings’ across the Green Line in Cyprus from a social–psychological and reconciliation perspective. I will present individual stories of crossing the divide and meeting the Other after 30 years of mutual isolation in order to illustrate the Cypriot experience. In ethno-national conflicts and in divided societies, maintaining contact across ethnic, religious or geographical barriers is important because it helps soften stereotypes and misperceptions and gradually complicates the ‘enemy image’; however, without institutional support these contacts can reconfirm old stereotypes or misperceptions. The opportunity to cross the Green Line and establish contacts between the two communities has been given to Cypriots since April 2003 and has been welcomed by the European Union and the international community. In this article I argue that, whereas these contacts form part of the public reconciliation process and constitute an element of informal peace education and narrative, they will not suffice to bring about sustainable peace and reconciliation unless supported by the political level—symbolically as well as institutionally. I define reconciliation as the capacity to reach to the Other, feel empathy for the Other's suffering and, by engaging in shared social activities, challenge the bipolarity of ‘us and them’. The challenge remains of how to incorporate these ‘new realities and stories’ in the information that makes up the master narrative. To do this it would entail official engagement in a new dialogue about history making.     

Berufliches Handeln in Dilemmasituationen — Führungskräfte zwischen Pflichterfüllung und Eigenverantwortung

Taking decisions and acting in non-standard situations — which are not described in company guidelines and procedures — is part of a manager′s role and responsibilities. As part of an empirical study 158 managers as well as potential management candidates have been put into dilemma situations in which they have to choose between strictly following company policies or alternatively taking own initiative and choosing a self-responsible action path with more risks and conflict potential. To explain the decisions taken different background information is used such as the organizational culture, the manager′s personal goals and a scale describing self-responsibility as a part of the individual′s self-concept. The preference of organizations is described in relation to the organization′s culture: Following guidelines and ′doing one′s duty′ was the most favored solution from the organization′s point of view. Managers and management candidates choose self-responsible acting with low conflict potential when they feel in harmony with their organization. Managers only choose self-responsible acting with high conflict potential if they have a strong tendency for taking own initiative and are ready to take responsibility for their actions. The results are discussed focusing on self-responsibility levels and on consequences for organizations.     

Continuity and change in the southern European social model

Over the past 20 years or so, the southern European model has undergone substantial change in every way. The changes in industrial relations, wage‐setting and employment protection legislation have tended to increase wage and labour flexibility and restrict labour market segmentation. Changes within the welfare state have sought to improve labour force skills, fill gaps in social protection, reduce inequalities in social security and contain social expenditure growth. Yet institutional change has not eliminated the main features of this model: pronounced labour market segmentation and familialism; however, extremely low fertility rates are indicative of the limits of familialism in the near future.     

Nonprofit association CEOs how their context shapes what,how, and why they learn

This qualitative study explored the learning experiences of twelve national nonprofit membership association CEOs using a phenomenological research design. While the professional context of an organization's chief executive is considered unique from other executive positions, the impact of this context on what and how CEOs learned was unclear. The findings describe association CEO learning as being affected in significant ways by the politically charged context in which the nonprofit association CEO operates with his or her board of directors. Power imbalances with staff and the board make learning through traditional organizational dialogue a less useful learning process for the CEOs. Furthermore, the feelings of isolation and vulnerability that are generated from the nonprofit association CEO context often cause CEOs to use private reflection and dialogue with their spouse as primary learning mechanisms. The study concludes that the association CEO context uniquely and profoundly shapes what, how, and why CEOs learn. Perhaps lacking the financial security of lucrative severance payments, which are often specified in employment contracts of for‐profit CEOs, the nonprofit association CEO will often temper his or her actions to avoid personal vulnerability with a politically charged board of directors.     

Old Dreams,New Means: an Exploration of Visions and Situated Knowledge in Information Technology

The aim of this article is to explore the tensions and ambivalences of new and old technology and political visions of keeping viable, quality care and services for elderly citizens through the use of new information technologies. The visions of politicians and social service managers of keeping alive the welfare state and retaining its ability to offer quality care and services for elderly citizens are compared with the experiences of female care assistants and their expectations of technology. A feminist figure — the cyborg — will be used in this exploration. We consider how care assistants are integrated in networks of socio‐technical relations between humans and non‐humans, and the extent to which gender or asymmetrical power relations between women and men intervene in their stories.     

Schengen's Soft Underbelly? Irregular Migration and Human Smuggling across Land and Sea Borders to Italy

La migration illégale à destination de l'Italie ou passant par ce pays est généralement associée dans l'esprit des gens à l'image de centaines, voire de milliers de migrants traversant la Méditerranée entassés dans de vieux rafiots se maintenant tout juste à flot. On considère souvent que les traversées de ce type sont la preuve de l'existence de cartels criminels qui seraient structurés hiérarchiquement, centralisés, extrêmement bien organisés et actifs au niveau mondial. Le seul problème avec de telles idées reçues est qu'elles ne concordent absolument pas avec les faits dont on dispose et n'ont pas grand chose à voir avec la réalité concrète des systèmes de migration illégale. Cette étude passe en revue un certain nombre de dossiers de tribunaux italiens concernant diverses organisations qui opèrent aussi bien au travers des frontières terrestres que maritimes. Elle montre comment de telles organisations opèrent en tenant compte de diverses spécificités locales et contraintes structurelles.