An examination of paternal and maternal intergenerational transmission of schooling

More educated parents are observed to have better educated children. However, previous research has found conflicting results regarding the role of fathers and mothers: in most cases, a strong positive paternal effect was found with a negligible maternal effect; in fewer cases, opposite results were found. In this paper, I use a sample of Norwegian twins to evaluate the impact of sample size and sample selection on the estimates’ robustness: results concerning the effect of mother’s education are very sensitive to the sample size, while the selection of the sample seems to be a key to reconciling previous results.     

Age and subcultural differences on personal and general beliefs about memory

This study examined age and cultural differences on both personal and general beliefs about memory by comparing three age groups within two subcultures belonging to the same country: Milanese and Sardinian. Two innovative instruments on general and personal beliefs with graphic-rating-scale format (General Beliefs about Memory Instrument and Personal Beliefs about Memory Instrument) and a memory task (recall of 40 words) were administrated to participants. Sardinians held more positive attitudes about the effects of aging on memory reporting a later onset of declining memory ability and control over memory across the life span. They were also more optimistic in rating their global memory efficacy, control, and retrospective change. The two subcultural groups differed in terms of memory performance, with Sardinian individuals outperforming the Milanese. Findings are discussed in relation to the view of aging in different subcultural contexts.     

Optimal designs for discriminating between some extensions of the Michaelis–Menten model

In this paper some results on the computation of optimal designs for discriminating between nonlinear models are provided. In particular, some typical deviations of the Michaelis–Menten model are considered. A common deviation of this pharmacokinetic model consists on adding a linear term. If two linear models differ in one parameter the T-optimal design for discriminating between them is c-optimal for estimating the added linear term. This is not the case for nonlinear models.     

Longevity and concentration in survival times: the log-scale-location family of failure time models

Evidence suggests that the increasing life expectancy levels at birth witnessed over the past centuries are associated with a decreasing concentration of the survival times. The purpose of this work is to study the relationships that exist between longevity and concentration measures for some regression models for the evolution of survival. In particular, we study a family of survival models that can be used to capture the observed trends in longevity and concentration over time. The parametric family of log-scale-location models is shown to allow for modeling different trends of expected value and concentration of survival times. An extension towards mixture models is also described in order to take into account scenarios where a fraction of the population experiences short term survival. Some results are also presented for such framework. The use of both the log-scale-location family and the mixture model is illustrated through an application to period life tables from the Human Mortality Database.     

Objectified conformity: working self-objectification increases conforming behavior*

The present work explores whether self-objectification triggered by doing peculiar work activities would increase people’s conforming behavior. We conducted an experimental study in which participants (N = 140) were asked to perform a high objectifying activity (vs. low objectifying activity vs. baseline condition) simulating a real computer job. Afterwards, their levels of self-objectification and conforming behavior were assessed. Results revealed that participants who performed the high objectifying activity self-objectified (i.e., perceived themselves as lacking human mental states) more than the other conditions and, in turn, conformed more to the judgments of unknown similar others. Crucially, increased self-objectification mediated the effects of the high objectifying activity on enhancing conforming behavior. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Richer, the Happier? An Empirical Investigation in Selected European Countries

This study analyses the relationship between subjective and objective measures of well-being in selected European countries using the data of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). In the first part of the paper, we develop a random-effect ordered probit model, separately for each country, relating the subjective measure of income satisfaction to actual income, and controlling for some individual and household socio-demographic fixed effects. In the second part of the paper, we fit a Bayesian cross-classified multilevel model, in order to control for intra-family correlation in subjective well-being, which actually appears to be present. The research was financially supported by the Italian Ministry of University and Scientific Research and by the 5th European Research Programme (FELICIE – Future Elderly Living Conditions In Europe, No. QLRT-2001-02310, http://www.felicie.org). We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of an anonymous referee.     

The press and Alitalia's 2008 crisis: Issues, tones, and frames

Given that public opinion about a company's performance during a crisis is highly influenced by the way news media cover crisis events, studies that look at news media's choice of crisis issues, tones and frames are extremely valuable. This paper presents the main findings of a study on how the Italian and international press framed the Italian national airline Alitalia and its crisis in 2008 before its privatization. This study is based on content analysis of news articles published in 2008 in two Italian and two international newspapers. Comparisons of crisis issues, tones and frames between the Italian and international press are made. Implications and recommendations for crisis managers are discussed as well as directions for further research.     

Transitions in the Labour Market: Discouragement Effect and Individual Characteristics

The present work analyses the unemployment gender gap in Italy for the period 2004–11. We present a methodology for decomposing the natural rate of unemployment, thus defining it in terms of equilibrium labour market flows between the aggregate states of the labour market (Employment, Unemployment, Inactivity). In addition, we offer estimates of the determinants of the unemployment gender gap to pinpoint the relative role of individual characteristics and structural factors in determining this difference.     

How emerging digital technologies affect operations management through co-creation. Empirical evidence from the maritime industry

Abstract

Globalization, variation in customer expectations, and the developments connected to Information & Communication Technology are usually considered as the main drivers of changes in Operations Management (OM) strategies by firms in both manufacturing and service industries. Emerging digital technologies, such as Internet of Things or Cloud Computing, represents a novel paradigm that is rapidly affecting on several aspects of everyday-life of private and business users. This paper contributes to extant literature about the relationship between emerging digital technologies and OM, by stressing the value co-creation issue. Specifically, we investigate how emerging digital technologies affect OM through value co-creation in the maritime industry. Our study reports the case of FairWind project, an open technology marine service and graphic user interface enabling sailors to personalize their experience on board through 3rd party boat applications. The case of Fair Wind points out how emerging digital technologies contribute to OM within both organizations and, more in general, maritime industry, as well as the critical role of user’s co-creation in defining and managing on-board operations.     

Employability skills for future marketing professionals

This study investigates how digital transformation has disrupted the marketing career path by analysing the most in-demand marketing skills and identifying opportunities for future marketing professionals. Through a content analysis of job advertisements and a cross-country survey of marketing professionals, the study proposes a framework defining the skillset required of marketing professionals to start and move forward in their career. The study identifies five employability skill categories and 29 skills and capabilities. The relevance of such categories is also analysed across lowly and highly digitalised firms. This research contributes to the debate on the employability of new graduates and provides useful directions to universities, tertiary education institutions, and companies to support the marketing talents of the future.