THE EFFECT OF YOUTH ALCOHOL INITIATION ON HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION

The social environment inherent in schools impacts both alcohol consumption onset and high school completion. The results reported here, based on data from the 1979–96 NLSY panels, show that the social coincidences between alcohol consumption and education are important determinants of both education completion and alcohol onset. Ignoring the social nature of these simultaneous decisions underestimates the impact of alcohol onset on education. After correcting for the presence of an endogenous positive relationship between schooling and alcohol consumption, we find that alcohol initiation before age 14 significantly reduces the probability of timeously completing high school by between 7% and 22%. (JEL I18 , I21 )     

Eine neuer Weg zur Beschreibung beruflicher Leistung: Eigenverantwortung

Self-responsible behavior is introduced as a new part of work performance. It is defined as an organizational behavior, which should be well adapted to a difficult and extra-ordinary situation lacking a well-defined task. A decreasing frequency of clearly defined tasks and roles is observable because of changes due to general restructuring, cutting off hierarchy levels and out-sourcing of major organizational functions. Employees acting in a self-responsible manner face these situations by defining their tasks on their own risk. Other new theories of extra-role behavior (e.g. organizational citizenship behavior, contextual performance or whistle blowing) are classified as either self-responsible or as “carrying out one′s duty” regarding the criteria ‘usefulness for the organization’ and ‘gratuitousness of acts’.     

The iterative proportional fitting algorithm for adjusted agreement in a non‐inferiority diagnostic clinical trial

In this paper, we describe a method of comparing agreement between two diagnostic contingency tables after adjustment to more clinically relevant marginal distributions using the iterative proportional fitting algorithm. When the categories of a contingency table represent mild, moderate, and severe outcomes, the majority of patients often are in the mild category. Because it is often of more interest to evaluate agreement when patients are uniformly distributed among categories, we present the primary results of two clinical trials with adjustment to this structure. We also describe the relationship between the sponsor's pre‐specified agreement measure for the observed contingency table and kappa for the adjusted table; and by either criterion, we then show that the agreement of the new diagnostic tool with the standard diagnostic tool is comparably non‐inferior to the agreement of the standard diagnostic tool with itself. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The protestant ethic and the religious tattoo

This research illustrates how basic ideas from Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism are reflected in religious individuals’ choices in obtaining tattoos. Qualitative responses to survey questions show that, among 60 university students who indicated they have one, religious tattoos reflect asceticism in their lives, point them to service (calling) in the name of God, or provide a level of assurance (or anxiety) regarding life after death. We offer this work as an illustration of how the essence of Weber's work persists in the popular culture of the 21st century.     

The Equivalence of Parameter Estimates from Growth Curve Models and Seemingly Unrelated Regression Models

Seemingly unrelated regression models and growth curve models are examples of multivariate models that require special estimation techniques. Parameters in seemingly unrelated regression models can be estimated by using two-stage Aitken estimation based on unrestricted residuals; parameters in growth curve models can be estimated by using a Potthoff-Roy (1964) transformation based on an estimate of the dispersion. With proper choice of the seemingly unrelated regression model, the two multivariate models and corresponding parameter estimates are shown to be equivalent. Recognition of the equivalence simplifies the presentation of these more complicated multivariate models. The connection is also of interest for more flexible growth curve models.     

客户回报率：度量客户盈利性的指标

客户回报率是衡量公司通过客户创造价值能力的惟一现有指标由于越来越多的企业争夺有限的客户群,精明的企业逐渐将关注点转向客户——如何维系及培养高价值的客户。近来,客户管理专家唐·佩勃斯与玛莎·罗杰斯提出了一个新指标:客     

Reparenting in the therapeutic relationship with a birth parent: A case

This paper discusses work with a parent in a foster care situation. A case example is used to demonstrate the value of a model of a parentchild relationship for therapeutic work with seemingly unmotivated clients such as parents whose child is in foster care.     

Influences of Ethnic and Nonethnic Variables on the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy of College Students

This study examined differences in career decision-making self-efficacy, trait anxiety, and ethnic identity for 687 undergraduates (589 Whites, 98 racial and ethnic minorities). Significant differences by race and major (declared, undeclared) indicated that White students had higher career decision-making self-efficacy and lower trait anxiety, ethnic identity, and other-group orientation. Declared students had higher career decision-making self-efficacy and lower trait anxiety. Ethnic variables (ethnic identity, other-group orientation) were more significant predictors of career decision-making self-efficacy and trait anxiety for racial and ethnic minorities than for Whites. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.