The value of administrative data for longitudinal social research: a case study investigating income support receipt and relationship separation in Australia

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the Australian government has encouraged open access to administrative data, providing new opportunities for examining life course pathways and evaluating social policies. This paper demonstrates the importance of establishing partnerships in the use of administrative data for social research. In collaboration with the data custodian, we used administrative welfare data to investigate a policy-relevant topic: the association between income support receipt and relationship separation. Our results provided greater statistical power for detecting associations for minority groups than is possible with panel survey data, highlighting the benefits of administrative data for understanding the outcomes of population groups that are not well represented in surveys. The collaboration between university researchers and data custodians was critical to enable appropriate sharing of data for research and for accurate interpretation of the data and outcomes for relevance to policy.     

System of Systems Engineering and Risk Management of Extreme Events: Concepts and Case Study

The domain of risk analysis is expanded to consider strategic interactions among multiple participants in the management of extreme risk in a system of systems. These risks are fraught with complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty, which pose challenges in how participants perceive, understand, and manage risk of extreme events. In the case of extreme events affecting a system of systems, cause‐and‐effect relationships among initiating events and losses may be difficult to ascertain due to interactions of multiple systems and participants (complexity). Moreover, selection of threats, hazards, and consequences on which to focus may be unclear or contentious to participants within multiple interacting systems (ambiguity). Finally, all types of risk, by definition, involve potential losses due to uncertain events (uncertainty). Therefore, risk analysis of extreme events affecting a system of systems should address complex, ambiguous, and uncertain aspects of extreme risk. To accomplish this, a system of systems engineering methodology for risk analysis is proposed as a general approach to address extreme risk in a system of systems. Our contribution is an integrative and adaptive systems methodology to analyze risk such that strategic interactions among multiple participants are considered. A practical application of the system of systems engineering methodology is demonstrated in part by a case study of a maritime infrastructure system of systems interface, namely, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.     

Failures of the reduction principle in an Ellsberg-type problem

Segal (1987) suggested that the Ellsberg paradox might be explained in terms of individuals mentally representing the decision problem as a two-stage lottery which they evaluated according to a non-expected utility model. This paper describes an experiment involving an explicitly two-stage analogue to an Ellsberg-type problem. This design substantially reduces the frequency of classic Ellsberg behaviour, but reveals other systematic violations of conventional theory. The paper discusses the particular patterns of choice and raises the more general problem of modelling individual decisions when the reduction principle does not hold.     

Probing infants’ sensitivity to pupil size when viewing eyes

Sensitive responding to eye cues plays a key role in human social interactions. Pupil size provides subtle cues regarding a social interaction partner's arousal states. The current study assessed infants’ sensitivity to and preference for differences in pupil size. Specifically, we examined White 14-month-old infants’ pupillary responses when viewing own-race and other-race (Asian) eyes with dilating, constricting, and static medium-sized pupils. Our results show that, independent of race, infants’ pupils dilated more when viewing eyes with dynamically changing (dilating and constricting) pupils than when viewing eyes with non-changing, static, and medium-sized pupils. We also measured infants’ looking preferences, showing that, independent of race, infants preferentially attended to eyes with dilated pupils. Moreover, our results show that infants orient more quickly to pupillary changes in own-race eyes than in other-race eyes. These findings demonstrate that infants detect, but do not mimic, changes in pupil size in others and show a preference for eyes with dilated pupils.     

Related party transactions under a contingency perspective

Related party transactions (RPTs) are transfers of resources, services or obligations between a reporting entity and a related party (IASB 2009); criteria for a related party definition may significantly differ among the various accounting and governance academic studies and regulatory principles, but they usually depend upon the ability to influ-ence contractual terms and conditions. The topic has been neglected for a long time. In the literature two theories prevail: (a) conflict of interests, considering these dealings as potentially harmful and carried out in the interest of directors; (b) efficient transaction hypothesis, describing them as sound economic exchanges. The paper examines both theories critically through a deductive approach, and also on the basis of their economic rationale. Then, a contingency perspective is suggested, underling how the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposed solutions are strictly correlated to organizational contexts, institutional environments and governance practices. The study is largely based on a literature review and has different purposes: (a) to shed light on a topic, that, despite its potential impact, has not yet deserved great attention in governance studies; (b) to stress possible inconsistencies in the above mentioned theories, both, to some extent, ideologically biased and unable to offer a proper picture of these heterogeneous dealings; (c) to suggest a more balanced and pragmatic approach, less influ-enced by a suspicious attitude (typical of the conflict of interests theory), possibly more consistent with their economic rationale (as suggested by the efficient transactions hypothesis) as well as social fac-tors and governance practices.     

Depression and Missed Work among Informal Caregivers of Older Individuals with Dementia

Although providing informal care can negatively affect caregiver emotional health and lead to depression, the association between caregiver depression and missed work is unknown. We use data from the National Longitudinal Caregiver Survey to examine the relationship between caregiver depression and missed work among informal caregivers for older veterans with Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia. Two-part models are used to estimate the expected hours of work missed among working caregivers. Caregiver depression is statistically significantly associated with the likelihood and amount of time missed at work, resulting in an average of an extra half-day of work missed per month. While the effect of caregiver depression on work missed is modest, it represents another possible benefit from interventions to support caregivers.     

How accommodations affect the duration of post-injury employment spells

I examine the effects of accommodations on the duration of employment spells using a sample of workers reentering the work force after an occupational injury. Unlike previous research, I analyze the post-injury employment history, i.e., more than one employment spell. The results indicate that accommodations have a smaller effect on employment duration than previous studies for workers who have not left their jobs. In addition, only certain types of accommodations, flexible work schedules and modified workplaces, are associated with significant increases in employment duration. The implications of these estimates for disability policy are also briefly discussed.     

Lower-Status Participation and Influence:Task Structure Matters

Status hierarchies readily form in groups and , once established , limit lower-status group members' opportunities for contributing to and influencing group decisions . Recent findings , however , suggest that the type of task on which a group works may allow lower-status individuals to break through power and prestige orders in a cooperative way while conflicting with ideas of their higher-status group members . In this article , we review a research program that investigates how task structure relates to status and influence in small groups . In one experiment, using groups of three female students as participants , we found that open-structured tasks allow lower-status group members to participate , receive positive evaluations , and improve their status more than closed-structured tasks . In a second experiment, using groups of two female students and a female experimenter as participants , we found that open-structured tasks and lower-status confederates foster more divergent thinking and indirect influence than closed-structured tasks and higher-status sources . Our findings contribute to the understanding of how immediate problem-solving environments contribute to status change and influence in small groups.