Nonprofit cash holdings and spending: The missing role of government funding

Charitable nonprofit organizations have long been under scrutiny with regard to how they manage excess funds, particularly cash holdings. Given previous empirical evidence, agency problems have been treated as an effective lens to explain the consequences of cash holdings among nonprofits. That is, nonprofit managers spend cash holdings for their own interests as opposed to the social interests of the organization. This study revisits the question of how charities manage extra cash and further examines the role of government funding in nonprofits' spending decisions. The results suggest that nonprofit managers make decisions on how to manage extra cash in accordance with the level of cash holdings; therefore, agency problems do not effectively explain how nonprofits manage extra cash. Furthermore, the results illustrate two contrasting roles of government funding in nonprofits' financial behavior: government funding may be used to monitor unscrupulous behaviors among managers, but it may also restrain nonprofits from investing in human capital.     

Cross-Cultural Judgments of Spontaneous Facial Expressions of Emotion

We report data concerning cross-cultural judgments of emotion in spontaneously produced facial expressions. Americans, Japanese, British, and International Students in the US reliably attributed emotions to the expressions of Olympic judo athletes at the end of a match for a medal, and at two times during the subsequent medal ceremonies. There were some observer culture differences in absolute attribution agreement rates, but high cross-cultural agreement in differences in attribution rates across expressions (relative agreement rates). Moreover, we operationalized signal clarity and demonstrated that it was associated with agreement rates similarly in all cultures. Finally, we obtained judgments of won-lost match outcomes and medal finish, and demonstrated that the emotion judgments were associated with accuracy in judgments of outcomes. These findings demonstrated that members of different cultures reliably judge spontaneously expressed emotions, and that across observer cultures, lower absolute agreement rates are related to noise produced by non-emotional facial behaviors. Also, the findings suggested that observers of different cultures utilize the same facial cues when judging emotions, and that the signal value of facial expressions is similar across cultures.     

Anxiety in Adolescence: The Integration of Attachment and Neurobiological Research into Clinical Practice

Attachment theory illuminates aspects of adolescent development and points to critical treatment directions for adolescents. Recent neurobiological research illustrates the importance of integrating physiological understanding into clinical work. The application of attachment theory and neurobiology to treatment is illustrated best through the case example of one adolescent with panic disorder treated in an outpatient setting.     

Orphanage caregivers' perceptions: The impact of organizational factors on the provision of services to orphans in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Adding to the growing body of literature on outcomes for children living in orphanages and children's homes, this qualitative study explored the perceptions of institutional personnel – caregivers, staff members, supervisors, and administrators – about organizational factors affecting their ability to care for orphaned and vulnerable children living in institutions in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The participants in this study consisted of 59 caregivers, 7 supervisors, 10 administrators, 4 cooks, 4 teachers, 1 social worker, 1 security guard/driver, and 6 women classified as house helpers. Individual interviews were conducted using an English-written and stated semistructured interview guide the researchers had created. The data from the 92 interviews were transcribed and coded using inductive methodologies. The results revealed concerns from the personnel about their institutions' lack of adequate funding for essential items, including food and medicine for the children. The personnel were also concerned about the lack of appropriate workplace standards to ensure the sustainability of a viable workplace environment, including inadequate training, supervision, communication procedures, and staffing patterns, and collaborative partnerships and associations with other public or private community-based institutions. The findings from this study have considerable policy, practice, and research implications for social workers.     

Differences in biometry and body condition of the House Sparrow (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Passer domesticus</Emphasis>) in urban and rural population during breeding season

Data collected out of the breeding season suggest that House sparrows (Passer domesticus) from the urban populations are characterized by a smaller body size and poorer body condition compared to birds from rural populations. Considering an urbanized Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) and other potential predators, a new predator-prey dependency is developing that can also be a reason for the House sparrow’s poorer condition. This study was aimed at comparing the multivariate biometrical characteristics and few body condition indices of adult birds from urban and rural populations during the breeding season. It was hypothesized that a higher predation risk during the breeding season concerns mainly males, thus affecting their poorer condition. Most of the condition indices of males were significantly lower in the urban population. Males from the urban populations had lower body mass, shorter tarsus, longer alula, greater Kipp’s distance and higher wing pointedness index in comparison to the birds from rural populations, whereas these differences were not found between females. We suggest that the lower body condition and biometric differences in the analyzed birds are a means of adapting to the new predator-prey scheme in accordance to the tradeoff theory between starvation and predation risks. A lower condition of birds in poor foraging urban habitats and higher predation risk may be indicative of a declining population.     

Consent requires a relationship: rethinking group consent and its timing in ethnographic research

ABSTRACT

Activist groups in ethnographic research re-negotiated our Ethics Committee’s expected order of securing consent before data collection, demonstrating the importance of researchers taking time to build relationships first. Although the Ethics Committee expected us to obtain group consent, the literature provides little guidance on how to do this. We developed a Memorandum of Understanding to summarize what forms of participant observation each group agreed to and how we would reciprocate. In this article, we (re)conceptualize consent, using analogies to consent in social contract theory and sexual relations to offer a critical perspective on what constitutes consent. We argue that taking time to build relationships before expecting research participants to consent and replacing informed consent with a negotiated agreement is a more ethical approach. We advocate for Ethics Committees to expand the meaning of ‘informed consent’ and review its timing, especially for ethnographic research with groups.     

Efficient estimation of Markov regime-switching models: An application to electricity spot prices

In this paper we discuss the calibration of models built on mean-reverting processes combined with Markov regime-switching (MRS). We propose a method that greatly reduces the computational burden induced by the introduction of independent regimes and perform a simulation study to test its efficiency. Our method allows for a 100 to over 1000 times faster calibration than in case of a competing approach utilizing probabilities of the last 10 observations. It is also more general and admits any value of γ in the base regime dynamics. Since the motivation for this research comes from a recent stream of literature in energy economics, we apply the new method to sample series of electricity spot prices from the German EEX and Australian NSW markets. The proposed MRS models fit these datasets well and replicate the major stylized facts of electricity spot price dynamics.     

Reviewing changes to the Child Disability Allowance: Giving parents a voice

Abstract

The Diabetes Clinic at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children has been concerned at the impact of changes made in 1998 to eligibility for the Child Disability Allowance on families caring for a child with diabetes. A survey of those families was conducted to obtain their views on the changes. Results showed the number of families receiving Child Disability Allowance since the changes has significantly declined. Parents indicated the allowance should be automatic for children with insulin dependent diabetes as the disability is chronic, incurable, requires extra care and attention, and is a financial and emotional burden for families. Many felt the application process was unjust, incomplete and inadequate. The results formed part of a submission to the Department of Family and Community Services evaluation, giving parents a voice in this process. This project illustrates the capacity of social workers to attempt to impact on social policy within the context of their clinical practice.     

Shorebirds and stakeholders: Effects of beach closure and human activities on shorebirds at a New Jersey coastal beach

Coastal habitats are critical for conservation of migrant shorebirds. We examined the effect of beach closure on recreationists and on shorebirds, at an important southbound stopover area for shorebirds at Brigantine, New Jersey. The study had three prongs: 1) involve stakeholders during all phases, 2) assess public use of the beach and responses to closure, and 3) assess shorebird use of the beach and response to closure. Stakeholders were involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of the project. The beach was used for fishing, walking, dog-walking, and other recreational activities. Sixty percent of recreationists were positive about the study and beach closure to protect shorebirds. The data indicate that: 1) involving a wide range of stakeholders early and often was important to our ability to conduct, design, and implement the study, 2) the beach was used by different types of recreationists 3) beach users were supportive of the closure, 4) spatial use by shorebirds depended upon whether the beach was open or closed, especially for red knot, and 5) all species of shorebirds used a small beach area behind a protective fence whether the beach was open or closed. Red knot behavior was most affected by beach closure; they spread out over the entire beach when it was closed, and concentrated at the tip when it was open. Conservation measures should take into account stakeholders views, human uses, beach physiognomy, and potential closure of refuge areas during critical migration times for shorebirds.