Do service-oriented IT architectures facilitate business process outsourcing?

How does a firm’s IT architecture affect its potential to outsource business processes? As Information Technology (IT) has become many firms’ essential operational infrastructure or “backbone”, we are interested in scrutinizing to what extent the kind of IT architecture affects a firm’s boundaries or the plasticity of its boundaries. Focusing on the particular concept of service-oriented architectures (SOA), we concretely ask: How does SOA affect business process outsourcing potentials? Since SOA is widely expected to modularize the IT implementation of business processes, it should increase business process outsourcing (BPO) in terms of buying in the provision of single business functionalities. We develop and empirically evaluate a theoretical model that conceptualizes the relationship between SOA and BPO. Questionnaire data from 115 firms give first evidence that SOA facilitates BPO. By increasing IT modularity, SOA supports BPO by increasing sourcing flexibility and, in particular, operational benefits, while at the same time lowering financial risks and strategic risks, such as lock-in. Overall, however, firms see SOA-based BPO mainly in an operational context with low hidden costs and little strategic benefits.     

Weak identification in probit models with endogenous covariates

Weak identification is a well-known issue in the context of linear structural models. However, for probit models with endogenous explanatory variables, this problem has been little explored. In this paper, we study by simulating the behavior of the usual z-test and the LR test in the presence of weak identification. We find that the usual asymptotic z-test exhibits large level distortions (over-rejections under the null hypothesis). The magnitude of the level distortions depends heavily on the parameter value tested. In contrast, asymptotic LR tests do not over-reject and appear to be robust to weak identification.     

A Didactic Approach Emphasising the Social Habitat as an Attempt to Meet Growing Social Disintegration: teaching in classes with youth of conspicuous behaviour using aesthetic and cultural means of communication

The life conflicts of pupils with behavioural disorders can be examined through their pictures. Conclusions can be drawn not only with regards to the psychological effects of art therapy, but also regarding a didactic orientated at life-circumstances. The pictures drawn by these pupils can give impulses for further aesthetic processes and become the basis for reflection and changes in behaviour. Environment-orientated didactics open the way to an active, but symbolic confrontation with manifest social conflicts. Teachers have to open their classrooms to the actual subcultural subjects and practices of their pupils. The pursuit of existential problems and the effort to find solutions can prepare the ground for new factual learning. In reference to social-philosophic theories, the culture-critical contents of these pictures should also be questioned. The images produced at the edge of society very often are pictures of a torn world.     

A note on testing the nullity of the between group variance in the one-way random effects model under variance heterogeneity

In an unbalanced and heteroscedastic one-way random effects model, we compare, by way of simulation, several test statistics for testing the null hypothesis that the variance of the random effects, also named the between group variance, is zero. These tests are the classical F-test, the test proposed by Jeyaratnam & Othman, the Welch test, and a modified version of Welch's test.     

Designs balanced for circular residual effects

Magda (1980) introduced a model for repeated measurements designs with a circular structure of the residual effects. He proved the universal optimality of circular balanced uniform designs over a subclass of the possible designs. We strengthen his result to optimality over the set of all designs with the same number of experimental units, periods and treatments.     

Socioeconomic status,value orientations,and fertility behavior in India

This paper examines the role assumed by value orientations in the explanation of fertility behavior. Specifically the concern is with the extent to which value orientations intervene between, or mediate, the relationship between socioeconomic status and fertility behavior. The relationships between socioeconomic status, four types of value orientations and three aspects of fertility behavior are examined among males in India. In most instances value orientations provide neither the sole nor the partial interpretations of the relationship between socioeconomic status and fertility. The results of this investigation suggest once again the inadequacy of value orientations as predictors of fertility behavior.     

Item nonresponse on income questions in panel surveys: Incidence, imputation and the impact on inequality and mobility

Summary: This paper deals with item nonresponse on income questions in panel surveys and with longitudinal and cross–sectional imputation strategies to cope with this phenomenon. Using data from the German SOEP, we compare income inequality and mobility indicators based only on truly observed information to those derived from observed and imputed observations. First, we find a positive correlation between inequality and imputation. Secondly, income mobility appears to be significantly understated using observed information only. Finally, longitudinal analyses provide evidence for a positive inter–temporal correlation between item nonresponse and any kind of subsequent nonresponse.* We are grateful to two anonymous referees and to Jan Goebel for very helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper. The paper also benefited from discussions with seminar participants at the Workshop on Item Nonresponse and Data Quality in Large Social Surveys, Basel/CH, October 9–11, 2003.     

Buchbesprechungen / Book reviews

Literatur / Books

Buchbesprechungen / Book reviews     

Situated Food Safety Risk and the Influence of Social Norms

Previous studies of risk behavior observed weak or inconsistent relationships between risk perception and risk-taking. One aspect that has often been neglected in such studies is the situational context in which risk behavior is embedded: Even though a person may perceive a behavior as risky, the social norms governing the situation may work as a counteracting force, overriding the influence of risk perception. Three food context studies are reported. In Study 1 (N = 200), we assess how norm strength varies across different social situations, relate the variation in norm strength to the social characteristics of the situation, and identify situations with consistently low and high levels of pressure to comply with the social norm. In Study 2 (N = 502), we investigate how willingness to accept 15 different foods that vary in terms of objective risk relates to perceived risk in situations with low and high pressure to comply with a social norm. In Study 3 (N = 1,200), we test how risk-taking is jointly influenced by the perceived risk associated with the products and the social norms governing the situations in which the products are served. The results indicate that the effects of risk perception and social norm are additive, influencing risk-taking simultaneously but as counteracting forces. Social norm had a slightly stronger absolute effect, leading to a net effect of increased risk-taking. The relationships were stable over different social situations and food safety risks and did not disappear when detailed risk information was presented.