The safety costs of contingent work: Evidence from Minnesota

We find that workers’ compensation costs for leased/staff agency workers are about three times higher than for regular full-time workers. This differential grows even wider when controlling for worker characteristics. Authors give a number of reasons for this result, including claimsreporting moral hazard on the part of contingent work-ers. We also present results on claim denials by work status, which seems to support the cost model. The authors gratefully acknowledge research support from the grants for research program of International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP). Comments from Rich Derrig, Larry Aarhus, members of the Industrial Relations Center workshop, and an anonymous referee are greatly appreciated. The authors also appreciate Brian Zaidman for his helpful comments and assistance with the data for this study.     

The Impact of the 1-Year-Residency Requirement on Students Preferring Part-Time Study

This article examines the effect of a 1-year-residency requirement on master of social work students’ psychophysical health, general well-being, perceived workload, and grade point average. The study contributes to the existing research in two ways. First, the sample size was sufficiently large to detect important differences between part-time and full-time students. Second, the study addressed the previously neglected issue of whether students who prefer to attend school on a part-time basis are negatively affected by a 1-year-residency policy. The study found no difference in outcome between part-time and full-time students who were enrolled in first-year courses. But when part-time students were obliged to complete their second-year courses on a full-time basis, their academic performance suffered compared with that of 2-year students.     

Is “Generic Utility Theory” a Suitable Theory of Choice Behavior for Gambles with Mixed Gains and Losses?

Miyamoto's (1988, 1992) generic utility theory (GUT) subsumes a broad class of bilinear utility models. Chechile and Cooke (1997) tested the GUT class of models and found model failure due to the systematic variation of a parameter that should be a positive constant across a range of contexts. In the current study, an improved experimental design is employed to evaluate utility theory. The current study provides further evidence against the GUT class of models for mixed gambles. Moreover, evidence is also provided to demonstrate individual behavior that is incompatible with a coherent bilinear utility theory of choice behavior in the context of mixed gambles with gains and losses.     

Working the circuit: An explanation of employee turnover in the restaurant industry

This study examines the relationship between frequency of viewing television news and crime dramas, and adherence to an ideology of individualism. Attitudes toward women, blacks, and the poor were examined among members of these groups and among white males. Among women and blacks, exposure to television news increases group consciousness, while viewing crime dramas decreases personal efficacy. Among white males, we find an association between exposure to crime drama and endorsement of individual rather than structural causes of inequality. Television news, by contrast, fosters a belief that women's unequal status is due to structural sources.     

Accidental exposures to blood and other body fluids in a large academic medical center

Healthcare workers' and students' exposures to blood-borne pathogens during a 1-year period (1997) at a large university academic medical center were analyzed. The university health manages the Blood-Borne Pathogen Post-Exposure Control Program at the university and treats all reported exposures of students, faculty, and staff. Comparative exposure rates for all categories of healthcare workers, the work site where injuries occurred, and the circumstances involved in 298 exposure incidents are outlined. A standardized postexposure prophylaxis protocol provides for definition of the health status of all known source patients and assessment of the potential need for treatment of the exposed clinician. Implications of the study for focusing on improvements in training healthcare workers in proper procedures and the use of personal protective equipment in dealing with blood-borne pathogens are discussed.     

Older lesbians receiving home care: formal and informal dimensions of caregiving

Older lesbians face the triple jeopardy of ageism, sexism, and heterosexism, and their experiences are largely invisible. This qualitative, exploratory study examines the formal and informal caregiving experiences of 20 lesbians, 65 and older, who had utilized home care services due to acute illness or chronic disabilities. Half of those not partnered reported some level of isolation from support networks. Nearly all study participants eventually found home care workers with whom they were satisfied and even quite connected. Practice implications are discussed in context of study participants’ views of how being lesbian affects their aging process and day-to-day lives.