Measuring disproportionality,volatility and malapportionment: axiomatization and solutions

The measurement of disproportionality, volatility and malapportionment often employ similar indices. Yet the debate on the issue of adequate measurement has remained open. We offer a formal and rigorous list of properties that roughly subsume those of Taagepera and Grofman (Party Polit 9(6):659–677, 2003). One of these properties, Dalton’s principle of transfers, is formalized in a manner that resolves the ambiguity associated with it in previous studies. We show that the cosine measure satisfies all the properties. We also show how the Gallagher index can be modified to satisfy all the properties. The cosine measure and the modified Gallagher measure are co-monotone.     

Die Rolle von Vertrag, Macht und Sozialer Einbettung für wirtschaftliche Transaktionen

This paper focuses on the conditions that enhance punctual payments of clients in economic transactions. Within such exchange relations the actors face a problem of trust: the contractor delivers goods or services ex ante and has to trust the client that he will pay punctually. Three possible solutions are discussed: institutional mechanisms like enforceable contracts, market mechanisms, and mechanisms based on the social embeddedness of the transaction. It can be shown, that the trust problem concerning proper payment behavior cannot be solved by the market or bilateral contracts. Due to this fact, the embeddedness of economic transactions in social networks and long-term relationships becomes an important mechanism to reduce problems of trust between client and contractor. Based on a general theoretical framework, hypotheses are tested using regional restricted data of handicraft enterprises. It can be shown, that due to unbalanced power relations and insufficient institutional regulations the actors are not able to solve the problem of trust. Although the social embeddedness fosters cooperative behavior, opportunism by the client cannot be avoided completely.     

The Turkish minority in Germany and Berlin

The Turkish minority in West Germany numbers today some 1.6 million, a large portion of whom live in what was formerly West Berlin. The Turks and the Germans are two societies with different social values, which are tied to their national ethos. The Turkish minority is not viewed as a group which can be assimilated into German society. The present article examines the problems posed by this minority and its insecurity in the face of German unification.     

Simultaneous one-sided tolerance intervals for sets of contrasts from normal populations

This paper considers the problem of constructing simultaneous prediction and tolerance intervals for sets of contrasts of normal variables in situations where simultaneous intervals are available. Tables are given with critical values used in simultaneous tolerance bounds for two classes of contrasts: pairwise many-one and profile type.     

Gender differences and anti-school boys

This paper explores and contrasts the gender value systems of two groups of anti-school boys. It suggests that cultural differences in specifically gender values can lead to (i) polarisation between anti-school boys and (ii) confrontation with school authorities in ways not explained by the traditional theory of culture clash between the working class pupil and the middle class school. It is also noted that the label ‘counter-school’used by Willis to convey the culture of some working class boys (‘the lads’) may need to be refined if the culture is reassessed in a way which acknowledges the commonality between the gender value systems of ‘the lads’and those of the school. In fact, the research reported in this paper found that another group of anti-school boys (not working class) was much more counter the gender value system of the school than ‘the lads’and did not uphold traditional masculine values.     

The impact of density in a juvenile correctional institution: Research,recommendations, and policy implications

In accordance with the goal of bridging research and practice, we (a) review recent literature on correctional crowding, (b) report a recent study on density and the recommendations made to the institution on the basis of the study, and (c) discuss implications for policy involving this type of research.     

Linking leader inclusiveness to work unit performance: The importance of psychological safety and learning from failures

Despite burgeoning interest in how groups and organizations learn from failures, little is known about how leader behavior influences these learning processes. We analyzed longitudinal data collected at a large hospital and found that leader inclusiveness was positively associated with members' perceptions of psychological safety at Time 1, and that this relationship was stronger for members in low-performing units. Unit psychological safety climate appeared to facilitate learning from failures within the work unit (Time 2), which was positively associated with subsequent unit performance (Time 3).     

Referee Recognition

In most instances referees are indicated at the end of each paper which they referee. The help of the following individuals who have refereed papers for this journal is hereby acknowledged. Individuals who refereed papers which were handled during the period covered by Issues 1 through 4 of this volume are included in this list. The Editors wish to express their thanks to all of these.     

Forecast efficiency of systematically sampled time series

In this paper we consider the effect of the sampling interval in systematically sampled time series on the forecast efficiency. We find that for sufficientlv long sampled series the loss in forecasting accuracy by using the sampled instead of the original series is small