Making the middle classes on shifting ground? Residential status,performativity and middle‐class subjectivities in contemporary London

This paper argues that shifts in access to housing – both in relation to rental and ownership – disrupt middle‐class reproduction in ways that fundamentally influence class formation. While property ownership has had a long association with middle‐class identities, status and distinction, an increasingly competitive rental market alongside inflated property prices has impacted on expectations and anxieties over housing futures. In this paper, we consider two key questions: (1) What happens to middle‐class identities under the conditions of this wider structural change? (2) How do the middle classes variously manoeuvre within this? Drawing on empirical research conducted in London, we demonstrate that becoming an owner‐occupier may be fractured along lines of class but also along the axes of age, wealth and timing, particularly as this relates to the housing market. It builds on understandings of residential status and place as central to the formation of class, orienting this around the recognition of both people and place as mutable, emphasizing that changing economic and social processes generate new class positionalities and strategies for class reproduction. We argue that these processes are writ large in practices of belonging and claims to place, with wider repercussions within the urban landscape.     

Estimation,Testing, and Finite Sample Properties of Quasi-Maximum Likelihood Estimators in GARCH-M Models

We provide three new results concerning quasi-maximum likelihood (QML) estimators in generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic in mean (GARCH-M) models. We first show that, depending on the functional form that we impose in the mean equation, the properties of the model may change and the conditional variance parameter space may be restricted, in contrast to the theory of traditional GARCH processes. Second, we also present a new test for GARCH effects in the GARCH-M context which is simpler to implement than alternative procedures such as in Beg et al. (2001 Beg , R. , Silvapulle , M. , Silvapulle , P. ( 2001 ). Tests against inequality constraints when some nuisance parameters are present only under the alternative: test of ARCH in ARCH-M models . Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 19 : 245 – 485 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We propose a new way of dealing with parameters that are not identified by creating composites of parameters that are identified. Third, the finite sample properties of QML estimators are explored in a restricted ARCH-M model and bias and variance approximations are found which show that the larger the volatility of the process the better the variance parameters are estimated. The invariance properties that Lumsdaine (1995 Lumsdaine , R. L. ( 1995 ). Finite sample properties of the maximum likelihood estimator in GARCH(1,1) and IGARCH(1,1) models: a Monte Carlo investigation . Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 13 ( 1 ): 1 – 10 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) proved for the traditional GARCH are shown not to hold in the GARCH-M. For those researchers who choose not to rely on the first order asymptotic approximation of our proposed test statistic, we also show how our bias expressions can be used to bias correct the QML estimates with a view to improving the finite sample performance of the test. Finally, we show how our new proposed test works in practice in an empirical economic application.     

Why rural African-American women who use cocaine mistrust women

Little is known about the social networks of rural African-American women who use drugs, although the social networks of their urban counterparts have been characterized as small, mixed gendered, and distrustful of other women. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the characteristics of the social networks of rural African-American women, both users and non-users of drugs. Thirty rural women who used cocaine participated in in-depth qualitative interviews. Rural women who used drugs gave several reasons for their mistrust of other women and tended to have small social networks, which included family members and men to the exclusion of non-familial women. The findings of this study have implications for both research and practice.     

Found in (survey) translation: lessons learned while engaging with a wharekura in Southland,New Zealand

We liaised with a wharekura (Māori language immersion school) to translate and disseminate an online survey for a group of Māori youth in Southland, New Zealand (NZ). The focus of this article is not results, but the processes of respondent orientation and engagement to more genuinely include Māori in a youth survey. An online survey about transport and well-being was conducted with older teenagers from 12 schools, including the wharekura. After working with wharekura staff and students, the survey was translated from English into te reo Māori using best-practice methods. Steps were taken to safeguard authentic engagement, including how the survey translation was conducted, and how the survey data were shared. This NZ-specific experience adds to the literature about the practice of applying the principle of respondent orientation to the process of translating an existing survey into te reo Māori, demonstrating commitment to some Treaty of Waitangi principles. While this is not a kaupapa Māori research project, it is informed by some kaupapa Māori principles. This may be seen as a limitation of this work; however, we believe there are many positive experiences and lessons to be learned from our approach.     

The Career Attitudes and Intentions of Managers in the Finance Sector

A questionnaire survey of career attitudes and intentions was administered to 1646 middle managers from eight organizations in the UK finance sector. Lengths of time in the organization, in previous and in present job were shown to predict career attitudes and intentions. Longer-serving managers were less ambitious and were unwilling to accept various career options. Those who had spent longer in their present job neither expected any change nor were willing to accept it. While decreased inter and intraorganizational mobility are consequences of cost-cutting and recession, it is argued that efforts to increase mobility are likely to pay dividends. Other measures may also succeed, given the finding that organizations differed in terms of their managers' career attitudes and intentions over and above the effects of mobility.     

Expectation gaps between stakeholders and web-based corporate public relations efforts: Focusing on Fortune 500 corporate web sites

This study investigates how Fortune 500 corporations use corporate-focused web site public relations efforts to prioritize different stakeholders while trying to meet the expectations of each stakeholder. The study found that shareholder needs are most often addressed by the corporations followed by consumers, community members, government agencies, and activists. The results of the study suggest there are expectation gaps between stakeholders and web-based corporate public relations efforts. The study also found differences in the way various industries target stakeholders with the exception of shareholders.     

The saviour and the revolutionary: Afro-Caribbean responses in a Queensland/New Guinea kidnapping case

The recruitment of Pacific Island labourers for Queensland, Australia, 1863–1904, has often been seen through comparisons to the transatlantic slave trade. Yet the fact that men from Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica pushed for justice after one of the most notorious atrocities of the trade has very rarely been noted, their involvement mired by racist reporting of the case. If seen from the perspective of their Caribbean homelands, their words and actions, often misinterpreted by Queensland's courts and media, can be seen as latter-day resistance to enslavement, oppression and racism.     

Student achievement against national minimum standards for reading and numeracy in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9: A regression discontinuity analysis

Literacy and numeracy are essential for success in life. In Australia, students’ academic achievement is monitored using the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). One of the aims of NAPLAN is that results will drive student improvement by identifying which students are underperforming against national minimum standards and who require additional learning support. This study investigated the performance trajectories of students who were identified as “below the national minimum standards”, relative to students above the national minimum standards. This study used standardised reading and numeracy test scores for Australian students and regression discontinuity methods to investigate whether students who performed below the national minimum standards showed improved performance in subsequent years compared with similar students above the national minimum standards threshold. On average, achievement gaps between students below the standards and students at or above the standards persisted across year levels. Labelling students below the national minimum standards had no significant effects on later reading or numeracy achievement. The results suggest the NAPLAN national minimum standards labelling is not driving student improvement, highlighting the need for effective early identification and interventions for children who do not meet school year benchmarks for literacy and numeracy.     

Electronic cigarette and combustible cigarette use following a campus-wide ban: Prevalence of use and harm perceptions

Abstract

The current study examined changes in prevalence of e-cigarette use and perceptions of the harmfulness of e-cigarette and combustible cigarettes following a campus-wide tobacco ban. Undergraduate students completed surveys of tobacco use and perceived product harmfulness. Four samples were collected: in 2013 prior to the ban (n?=?792) and in fall 2014 (n?=?310), 2015 (n?=?208), and 2016 (n?=?417). E-cigarette use increased in the years following the ban (p?=?.01) while combustible cigarette use decreased from 2013 to 2016 (p?=?.02). Men were more likely than women to use both products (ps?<?.05). Students’ perceptions of the harmfulness of combustible and electronic cigarettes remained stable in the years following the ban (p?>?.05). This study is the first to examine the impact of including e-cigarettes in tobacco free policies. Combustible cigarette use declined, but e-cigarette use increased in the years following the e-cigarette ban. Prospective research is needed to understand the long-term impacts of e-cigarette bans.