Labor market flexibility: An index approach to cross-country comparisons

Recently, researchers have used measures of economic freedom (Gwartney and Lawson, 2002) to quantify the relationship between various institutional factors and measures of economic performance. Using a subset of these data, we develop a labor market flexibility index. This measure should be useful to researchers who study labor market performance among countries.     

The preservation of multivariate comparative statics in nonexpected utility theory

This article investigates the preservation of multivariate expected utility comparative statics for “smooth” nonexpected utility representations. Specifically, we answer the following question: if an expected utility comparative statics property depends only on preferences over sure prospects, then when will a nonexpected utility maximizer with identical sure preferences also satisfy that property? We demonstrate that the effects of increased risk aversion are preserved under the “Almost Degenerate Independence” axiom, but that those of distribution changes of exogenous risks are not preserved under stringent assumptions. Hence, nonexpected utility comparative statics may diverge from expected utility, even for “first-order” properties—those whose effect is determinable from restrictions on “local” utility functions.     

Career Maturity in College Students With Learning Disabilities

This study compared levels of career maturity between college students with and without learning disabilities and investigated factors associated with career maturity. Few differences in career maturity were found. However, different predictors of career maturity for the two groups emerged. For students with learning disabilities, number of accommodations and quantity of work experience accounted for 22% of the variance in career maturity. For students without disabilities, academic achievement and type of work experience accounted for 21% of the variance in career maturity. Students with learning disabilities who received more instructional accommodations had lower levels of career maturity.     

Venturing Jointly: Vienna's Innovation Economy

Vienna's role as Austria's largest innovative city-region depends upon many factors, of which a vibrant regional innovation system driven by joint research ventures is a key component. Between 1994 and 2002, various research groups located in the Vienna region participated in 7,334 research projects funded by the EU during the 4th and 5th Framework Programs. Organizations from this region were more likely than elsewhere in Austria to assume scientific leadership positions as project coordinators. The region specialized heavily in research concerning environment, information and communication technology, bio-technology, traffic, and general research topics. The region's most active organizations were concentrated in the city itself: universities, research organizations, small firms, and large firms were represented in a ratio of approximately 4:2:1:1. Among firms that participated, the largest ones dominated during the course of this period, although research participation by firms continually shifted more to small- and medium-sized enterprises. In terms of Austria, most research is concentrated in the about 30 most active postal-code zones, which in turn are dominated by the Vienna region. Over the full period, there is no evidence that Austrian research projects concentrated further and some types of research decentralized slightly. At the same time, the research participation of small- and medium-sized enterprises became more centralized within the Vienna region. The singular importance of stimulating further and more effective research in the Vienna region and its innovation system is obvious and these findings may be helpful in establishing policies that support key organizations, improve research infrastructure, and further stimulate the city's knowledge-generating system to ensure long-term innovation possibilities.     

The Demand for Credit Cards: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances

We analyze data from the Survey of Consumer Finances estimate the response of credit card demand to standard price and income effects. We model credit card demand as a two-stage process, with consumers obtaining limits in the first stage and then borrowing some fraction of those limits in the second. We estimate this model with a nested tobit procedure. We also treat the demand for limits as one equation in a two-equation supply-demand model. We estimate this model with simple 2SLS, instrumenting for the price variable, the interest rate. The results of the first model suggest that most of the action in the market is in the demand for limits, not the demand for balances. (JEL D1 , G0 )     

THE QUESTION CUBE: A MODEL FOR DEVELOPING QUESTION REPERTOIRE IN TRAINING COUPLE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS

This paper presents a three-dimensional model for teaching questioning to those wishing to develop skills in couple and family therapy. The model breaks questions into their component parts of format (the style of the question: open, closed, forced choice, rating, or ranking); orientation (the person who is being inquired about: self or other), and subject (the content of the question: behavior, feelings, beliefs, meaning, or relationship). The model is presented in the context of our post-Milan version of couple and family therapy training. The model is useful in that it allows students gradually to increase their repertoire of questions in a way that offers step-wise learning and integrates with their existing skills.     

Altruism and social solidarity: Envisioning a field of specialization

Conclusion This article has presented a vision of what a field of altruism and social solidarity could potentially involve. An additional perspective on the nature of this field and how it could contribute to the discipline and to society is provided by the science of psychology. In the last decade a fundamental new orientation has developed in this discipline, growing from the pioneering work of Martin E.P. Seligman. Generally identified as “positive psychology” it represents a shift from a focus on trying to understand and find solutions to mental illness and various pathologies of thought and behavior in a “disease model” to a focus on human strengths, virtues, and other positive characteristics. This shift in focus is regarded as making a direct contribution to understanding what is best in human emotions and traits and how society can support the psychological flourishing of individuals. This new perspective in turn provides increased awareness of how the problems studied in the disease model can more effectively be prevented (Seligman, 2003, 2005). The importance of this focus on the positive for sociology and a call to action is stated by Seligman (2003): The third pillar of positive psychology is the study of positive institutions and positive communities.     

Rural-Urban Differences in Obesity1

Abstract Obesity is an important social and health issue in contemporary society. Differences in relative weight, overweight, and extreme overweight were examined in rural, middle-sized, and urban areas in a national sample of 11,578 adults in the NHANES II survey. Rural-urban residence and weight were examined in bivariate relationships and in multiple regression analyses controlling for demographic and physical variables. Overall bivariate analyses revealed that some groups in rural areas had higher weights than their more urban counterparts. However, regression analyses showed that many bivariate rural-urban differences disappeared when demographics were controlled, although rural white women and men were still more likely to be overweight relative to their more urban counterparts. These findings suggest that the demographic composition of rural and urban populations explains most, but not all rural-urban variations in weight.     

Reference citations in B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior -     

Use of vehicles with client groups

Conclusion In analyzing the group's behavior in the vehicle one needs to determine whether the behavior is obstreperous and aggressive or whether it is excessive energy and enthusiasm stimulated by the anticipated activity. If the worker determines that the group's hyperactivity is due to enthusiasm and delight over the anticipated pleasure, he may interpret to the group his awareness of their delight and enthusiams and support it. At the same time that he indicates his awareness of their impatience in not getting into the activity soon enough, the worker needs to help the group realize the danger potentials in their behavior and the need to maintain safety. Group members often have persecutional interpretations of regulations and rules (Redl & Wineman, 1957, p. 117). However, group workers need to help members acquire more realism about behavior that is appropriate in a vehicle.