The linkage effects of raw material processing in economic development: A survey of modeling and other approaches

Processing of primary raw materials has become an important and widely recommended strategy for economic development. Yet, even as the councils of many LDCs call for primary commodity producers to gain greater participation in downstream activities, there remain doubts on fundamental questions:What comparative advantage and what disadvantages do processing activities have in the LDCs?What linkages do processing activities offer?What is the potential contribution of processing to economic goal attainment in the LDCs?In this article we survey the material on processing, particularly with respect to modeling direct and indirect linkages between processing and the LDC economies. The article examines the following topics: (1) the literature on processing in economic development; (2) modeling processing linkages; and (3) outstanding questions regarding processing linkages.We focus on quantifiable linkages between the processing industry and the rest of the economy. There is also the possibility of other linkages, such as the development of entrepreneurship and management talent and technology, that are more difficult to quantify. It is important to distinguish between micro linkages, which refer to the direct impact on supplier and user sectors, and macro linkages, which include indirect general economic effects transmitted through government revenue and expenditures, the money supply, and foreign exchange availabilities.     

The regulation of family involvement in deinstitutionalization

Conflicting legal, administrative, and professional policies surround family involvement in the deinstitutionalization process. This article addresses these discrepancies and makes recommendations for developing effective and consistent channels of policy among social workers and other helping professionals.     

Defining attributes for scorecard construction in credit scoring

In many domains, simple forms of classification rules are needed because of requirements such as ease of use. A particularly simple form splits each variable into just a few categories, assigns weights to the categories, sums the weights for a new object to be classified, and produces a classification by comparing the score with a threshold. Such instruments are often called scorecards. We describe a way to find the best partition of each variable using a simulated annealing strategy. We present theoretical and empirical comparisons of two such additive models, one based on weights of evidence and another based on logistic regression.     

Consumer Deception or Unwarranted Product Disparagement? The Case of Lean,Finely Textured Beef

When celebrity chef Jamie Oliver used his television presence to denounce the inclusion of lean, finely textured beef (LFTB) in ground beef products sold to consumers and present in school lunches, a firestorm of protests ensued. Ultimately, processing plants were closed, employees laid off, school lunch programs were changed to exclude LFTB from their menus, and large retailers such as Costco and Walmart refused to sell products containing LFTB. Calls for mandatory labeling were proposed in Congress, the argument being that consumers had a right to know what was in the beef they were purchasing and feeding their families. Dubbed “pink slime” by its critics, LFTB is treated, processed beef renderings that are derived from trimmings that would otherwise be discarded or used for some inferior purpose such as animal food. This article chronicles the events surrounding the LFTB controversy, briefly reviews scientific evidence pertaining to its safety, and reviews public policy initiatives in the wake of public protests.     

Risk Assessment for Invasive Species

Although estimates vary, there is a broad agreement that invasive species impose major costs on the U.S. economy, as well as posing risks to nonmarket environmental goods and services and to public health. The domestic effort to manage risks associated with invasive species is coordinated by the National Invasive Species Council (NISC), which is charged with developing a science-based process to evaluate risks associated with the introduction and spread of invasive species. Various international agreements have also elevated invasive species issues onto the international policy agenda. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement establishes rights and obligations to adhere to the discipline of scientific risk assessment to ensure that SPS measures are applied only to the extent required to protect human, animal, and plant health, and do not constitute arbitrary or unjustifiable technical barriers to trade. Currently, however, the field of risk assessment for invasive species is in its infancy. Therefore, there is a pressing need to formulate scientifically sound methods and approaches in this emerging field, while acknowledging that the demand for situation-specific empirical evidence is likely to persistently outstrip supply. To begin addressing this need, the Society for Risk Analysis Ecological Risk Assessment Specialty Group and the Ecological Society of America Theoretical Ecology Section convened a joint workshop to provide independent scientific input into the formulation of methods and processes for risk assessment of invasive species to ensure that the analytic processes used domestically and internationally will be firmly rooted in sound scientific principles.     

The development and construct validation of a consumer satisfaction questionnaire for psychiatric inpatients.

A consumer satisfaction scale was developed for psychiatric inpatients. The scale was administered to a state-wide sample of (n = 366) patients discharged from acute psychiatric units throughout Missouri. The scale was factor analyzed and given to another sample of (n = 390) discharges. Three out of five factors that were found in the first sample were replicated in a factor analysis of data from the second sample. Acceptable coefficient alphas were obtained on all three factors, demonstrating internal reliability. The three factors were labeled Treatment Effectiveness, Trust of Staff, and Hospital Environment. Comparable levels of satisfaction with prior studies were found on the first general satisfaction factor of Treatment Effectiveness. Subjects discriminated areas of satisfaction by expressing higher levels of dissatisfaction on the factors of Trust of Staff and Hospital Environment.     

INTERPROFESSIONAL RELATIONS AND THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW PROFESSION: Software Engineering in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada

This article explores the conditions under which interprofessional relations may be characterized by conflict and/or cooperation through a case study of the rise of a software engineering (SWE) profession in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Analysis of professional journal publications produced by the primary computing organizations in all three countries reveals that the development of a SWE profession in the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent, the United States, has been a collaborative project pursued by engineering and computing organizations. In contrast, the development of SWE in Canada has been characterized by intense interprofessional conflict. The investigation suggests that interprofessional conflict may be mitigated when professionalizing groups seeking to lay claim to the same jurisdiction are similar in terms of their organizational size, outlook, and regulatory status.