A close look at the demography of Afghanistan

The first survey designed to allow estimates of the demographic characteristics of Afghanistan's sedentary population was conducted during the period 1972-1974. Our analysis of these data, based on recently developed techniques for handling imcomplete or inaccurate data, suggests that this population lives under conditions that are extreme when judged by modern standards. Marriage is early, especially for females, and universal. Marital fertility conforms to a pattern of natural fertility and total fertility is high. The birth rate is among the highest in the world today, and the expectation of life at birth is among the very lowest. Mortality is lower in urban areas than in rural areas, whereas total fertility is approximately the same in both. Our estimates of fertility and mortality imply stable populations which match closely the observed age distributions for both the rural and urban areas.     

Macroeconomic Implications of Agglomeration

Cities exist because of the productivity gains that arise from clustering production and workers, a process called agglomeration. How important is agglomeration for aggregate growth? This paper constructs a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of cities and uses it to estimate the effect of local agglomeration on aggregate growth. We combine aggregate time‐series and city‐level panel data to estimate the model's parameters via generalized method of moments. The estimates imply a statistically and economically significant impact of local agglomeration on the growth rate of per capita consumption, raising it by about 10%.     

PartyIntents: a portal survey to assess gay and bisexual men's risk behaviors at weekend parties

PartyIntents examines whether portal survey methods could be used to anonymously survey gay and bisexual men about HIV-risk behaviors before and after a weekend party-oriented vacation. The study recruited 97% of eligible men and of these 489 participants 47% completed the follow-up assessment. Approximately one half of the men intended to use illegal drugs over the weekend, and almost 20% thought that they might have anal intercourse and not use a condom. The methodology can be applied and provides useful information about HIV risk at these events, though refinements may be needed to increase the follow-up rates.     

How publics respond to crisis communication strategies: The interplay of information form and source

Through an experiment with 162 college students this study empirically evaluates an emerging communication model: the social-mediated crisis communication model (SMCC). As part of a series of studies testing the SMCC model, this study focuses on two of the SMCC model's components: the effects of crisis information form (traditional media, social media, and word-of-mouth) and source (third party and organization) on publics’ acceptance of crisis response strategies and publics’ crisis emotions. The findings clearly indicate the importance of strategically matching crisis information form and source when organizations respond to crises. In addition, the selection of crisis information form and source affects publics’ attribution independent and dependent emotions.     

THE SOCIAL SECURITY CRISIS: AN INTERNATIONAL DILEMMA1

Social security systems throughout the world are in a dilemma. The over-expansion of the sixties has compounded the current recession's unemployment and other problems and created an “ideal” system difficult for the economically depressed countries to alter. Older workers are particularly hard hit during recessions. They are often pressured into retirement, with no financial or career alternatives, in an attempt to free up jobs for younger and hard-to-place workers. Many schemes have been devised to compensate older workers for their losses: high unemployment compensation, partial unemployment benefits and a liberal interpretation of disability insurance and other assistance programmes not specifically designed for the elderly. The author exposes many proposals for altering social security but concludes that most schemes have not yet been implemented. While international economic recovery would surely heal the ailing systems, the author contends there are remedial measures, largely ignored at present, that could be taken to soothe the systems' wounds.     

High School Retention Rates and Social Class

Sixth form retention rates were calculated for each State high school in the Wollongong urban area and correlated with two measures of social class (education and occupation) in each high school feeder area. The study found that retention rates in the Wollongong Urban Area ranged from 12.94% to 31.04%. The rates vary directly with the proportions of the feeder area populations in professional and managerial occupations (r = 0.94, p < 0.01) and with Leaving Certificate or higher education (r = 0.93, p < 0.01). The rates varied inversely with the proportions of feeder area populations employed in trade, unskilled and production process occupations (r = ?0.70, p < 0.05).     

Using operations research to guide family planning program development and policy formulation in sub-Saharan Africa

The process by which a population policy and family planning program evolve in a given country is influenced by many factors that combine to make each country's experience unique. One of the most influential factors among these is the role played by external technical assistance, normally provided through donor-supported mechanisms. One donor-supported mechanism that seeks to guide the operational policy and program development process is technical assistance through operations research. Many questions are raised during the design of family planning programs that are often best answered with reference to empirical evidence collected through applied, or operations research (OR). This paper provides a review of the three main OR approaches currently being used in sub-Saharan Africa: diagnostic or needs assessment studies; experimental pilot studies; and intensive technical assistance for problem-solving and institutional development. The extent to which these OR approaches can play a role in family planning program development to improve and expand service delivery activities is discussed, and examples where these approaches have been used are given.     

Work motivation, organisational identification, and well-being in call centre work

Previous work has not considered the interplay of motivational forces linked to the task with those linked to the social identity of employees. The aim of the present study is to combine these approaches. Two studies with call centre agents (N=211, N=161) were conducted in which the relationships of objective working conditions (e.g., inbound vs. outbound work), subjective measures of motivating potential of work, and organisational identification were analysed. Job satisfaction, turnover intentions, organisational citizenship behavior (OCB), health complaints, and burnout were assessed as indicators of the agents' work motivation and well-being. In both studies it was found that objective working conditions substantially correlated with subjective measures of work motivation. Moreover, employees experiencing a high motivating potential at work reported more OCB, higher job satisfaction, and less turnover intentions. As hypothesized, organisational identification was a further independent predictor of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, OCB, and well-being. Highly organisationally identified employees report higher work motivation and more well-being. Additionally, interactions between the motivating potential and organisational identification were found. However, all the results indicate that interventions seeking to enhance work motivation and well-being in call centres should improve both the motivating potential of the job and organisational identification. These two factors combined in an additive way across both studies.