Paths towards Family‐friendly Working Time Arrangements: Comparing Workplaces in Different Countries and Industries

Although studies have examined the distribution and conditions of employer‐provided work–family arrangements, we still lack a systematic investigation of how these vary for different countries and industries. Based on the European Working Conditions Survey 2010, this study examines the conditions under which firms provide family‐friendly working time arrangements and what the differences are across four countries (Austria, Denmark, Italy and the UK) and four industries. The impact of employee representatives, employee involvement, manager support and female managers varies across countries and industries because of the institutional environment (prevailing family model, industrial relations) and workforce composition (gender). The impact of employee representatives depends on their co‐determination rights, and the direction of their effect on the prevailing family model (e.g. negative in conservative countries such as Austria) and the gender composition of the workforce (negative in male‐dominated production, but positive in services). Employee involvement in the work organization is significantly positive in Austria and Denmark (both with co‐operative industrial relations), while manager support has the strongest effect in the UK (liberal regime). At the industry level, female supervisors are positively associated with family‐friendly working time arrangements only in the male‐dominated production industry. These findings suggest that the effects of agency variables and their direction vary depending on the institutional context.     

In memoriam Gerburg Treusch-Dieter (1939–2006)

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Relative squared error prediction in the generalized linear regression model

In linear regression models, predictors based on least squares or on generalized least squares estimators are usually applied which, however, fail in case of multicollinearity. As an alternative biased estimators like ridge estimators, Kuks-Olman estimators, Bayes or minimax estimators are sometimes suggested. In our analysis the relative instead of the generally used absolute squared error enters the objective function. An explicit minimax solution is derived which, in an important special case, can be viewed as a predictor based on a Kuks-Olman estimator.     

用先进文化引领新时期高校校园文化建设

用先进文化引领新时期高校校园文化建设具有战略性的重要意义。面对新时期高校校园文化所呈现的新特点,应该创新校园文化建设的原则、策略和途径,以期达到培养“四有”新人的目标。     

Die Gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz der Sozialhilfe

This article examines on which grounds the German population is willing to support a social policy program targeted towards minorities such as social assistance. Using our own survey data and applying linear regression analysis, we test several hypotheses concerning the influence of self-interest, justice- orientations, and victim-blaming attitudes towards welfare recipients on two indicators of support for social assistance. A central finding is that the effects can be interpreted in line with the concept of a “moral economy”, in that the justice orientations of the respondents as well as their attitudes towards welfare recipients correspond with the norms incorporated in the institutional architecture of social assistance.