WHY FIRMS SEEK ISO 9000 CERTIFICATION: REGULATORY COMPLIANCE OR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

Proponents of iso 9000 certification claim that it is a low-cost signal of a firm's commitment to quality and a meaningful component of total quality management (TQM). Critics claim that it has little relation to TQM and is a tariff on international trade. We test the hypothesis that firms obtain ISO 9000 certification to comply with government and customer demands by estimating a probit model of the certification decision. The results support the view of proponents of ISO 9000. After controlling for regulatory and customer pressures to obtain ISO 9000, other factors related to quality management and quality-based competition explain the adoption decision.     

COMPARATIVE PRODUCT TESTS IN THE CONSUMER DECISION PROCESS: CORRELATES OF USE AND IMPACT ON SATISFACTION *

Information inputs are an important determinant of the quality of outcomes in the consumer decision process. This paper reports on an exploratory study that examines the perceived use of Consumer Reports product tests in a specific durable-product purchase in a nationwide sample of Consumer Reports subscribers. Perceived use of Consumer Reports is found to be related to performance-oriented shopping, but other situation-related variables are less likely to be associated with use than the shopper's general confidence in the test reports as an information source. Perceived use of the test reports in this study is associated with higher satisfaction with the products purchased.     

Better to Complicate, Rather than Homogenize, Urban Nightlife: A Response to Grazian

Grazian (2009) challenges a prominent narrative that claims urban nightlife is a democratized and social-capital-enriching "third space" of social life. For Grazian, urban nightlife is, instead, characterized by (1) race and class divisions, (2) gender inequities and the exploitation of women, and (3) exclusivity rather than inclusiveness or solidarity. Grazian makes a brief and compelling case. It is one I agree with to a certain point. However, in this essay, I present two major concerns with his argument.     

Relationships between Borda voting and Zermelo ranking

There are many situations wherein a group of individuals (e.g., voters, experts, sports writers) must produce an ordered list of ‘best’ alternatives selected from a given group of alternatives (e.g., candidates, proposals, sports teams). Two long established mechanisms that have been used for this task are ‘Zermelo’s Ranking Method’ (1929) and ‘Borda’s Voting Scheme’ (1781). The main purpose of this paper is to point out that they are, under certain common circumstances, identical. We then show that Zermelo’s Method can be used in situations that Borda’s Method is not designed to handle.     

FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND LIFESTYLE: ADOLESCENT VICTIMIZATION IN HELSINKI

The proximate correlates of adolescent victimization are well documented in the literature. The purpose of our research is to examine the more fundamental sources of this outcome. Focusing on two basic social contexts—the family and the residential community—we develop a theoretical model and test it empirically against a multilevel data set on juveniles living in Helsinki. Consistent with our hypothesis, we find that the family context is an important determinant of violent victimization. Much of this effect is mediated by involvement in delinquent lifestyles. We also find support for the assumption that community context matters to the risk of victimization independently of the family context and individual-level risk factors. Our research underscores the need for a multilevel approach in explanations of violent victimization.     

Human Capital, Physical Health, and Mental Health of Welfare Recipients: Co-occurrence and Correlates

Drawing on a large random sample of welfare recipients in the post–welfare reform era, this article examines the prevalence of mental health disorders, substance dependence, and physical health or disability, their co-occurrence with human capital problems, and their relation to employment. Half of the participants have none of these potential barriers to employment. Mental health and human capital problems, when present, tend to occur in isolation about half the time. Women with co-occurring human-capital, mental-health, and physical-health problems have the poorest work outcomes. The findings suggest the need to design and implement more assessment, referrals, and service provision to support women in meeting the challenges in the transition from welfare to work.     

Low Fertility,Socioeconomic Development,and Gender Equity

While new empirical findings and theoretical frameworks provide insight into the interrelations between socioeconomic development, gender equity, and low fertility, puzzling exceptions and outliers in these findings call for a more all‐encompassing framework to understand the interplay between these processes. We argue that the pace and onset of development are two important factors to be considered when analyzing gender equity and fertility. Within the developed world, “first‐wave developers”—or countries that began socioeconomic development in the nineteenth/early twentieth century—currently have much higher fertility levels than “late developers.” We lay out a novel theoretical approach to explain why this is the case and provide empirical evidence to support our argument. Our approach not only explains historical periods of low fertility but also sheds light on why there exists such large variance in fertility rates among today's developed countries.