A survey on bank branch efficiency and performance research with data envelopment analysis

The banking industry has been the object of DEA analyses by a significant number of researchers and probably is the most heavily studied of all business sectors. Various DEA models have been applied in performance assessing problems, and the banks' complex production processes have further motivated the extension and improvement of DEA techniques. This paper surveys 80 published DEA applications in 24 countries/areas that specifically focus on bank branches. Key issues related to the design of DEA models in these studies are discussed. Much advice is included on how to design future experiments and studies in this domain. A number of areas where further research could be fruitful are suggested.     

Symbolic Interaction and Applied Social Research: A Focus on Translational Science

In symbolic interaction, a traditional yet unfortunate and unnecessary distinction has been made between basic and applied research. The argument has been made that basic research is intended to generate new knowledge, whereas applied research is intended to apply knowledge to the solution of practical (social and organizational) problems. I will argue that the distinction between basic and applied research in symbolic interaction is outdated and dysfunctional. The masters of symbolic interactionist thought have left us a proud legacy of shaping their scholarly thinking and inquiry in response to and in light of practical issues of the day (e.g., Park and Blumer). Current interactionist work continues this tradition in topical areas such as social justice studies. Applied research, especially in term of evaluation and needs assessment studies, can be designed to serve both basic and applied goals. Symbolic interaction provides three great resources to do this. The first is its orientation to dynamic sensitizing concepts that direct research and ask questions instead of supplying a priori and often impractical answers. The second is its orientation to qualitative methods, and appreciation for the logic of grounded theory. The third is interactionism's overall holistic approach to interfacing with the everyday life world. The primary illustrative case here is the qualitative component of the evaluation of an National Institutes of Health‐funded, translational medical research program. The qualitative component has provided interactionist‐inspired insights into translational research, such as examining cultural change in medical research in terms of changes in the form and content of formal and informal discourse among scientists; delineating the impact of significant symbols such as “my lab” on the social organization of science; and appreciating the essence of the self‐concept “scientist” on the increasingly bureaucratic and administrative identities of medical researchers. This component has also contributed to the basic social scientific literature on complex organizations and the self.     

Early Motherhood and Long‐Term Economic Outcomes: Findings From a 30‐Year Longitudinal Study

This study examined linkages between early motherhood (before age 20) and long‐term economic disadvantage, using data from a birth cohort of 509 New Zealand‐born women followed to age 30. Associations between early motherhood and economic outcomes were examined using linear and logistic regression models and were adjusted for a range of prepregnancy factors. The findings suggested that early motherhood was associated with several indicators of economic disadvantage at age 30, including working fewer hours, welfare dependence, lower personal incomes, and exposure to economic hardship. These associations remained statistically significant even after extensive adjustment for confounding factors. These findings suggest that having a child before age 20 leads to long‐term economic disadvantage that persists for at least a decade.     

Couples Therapy for Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem accompanied by substantial morbidity and mortality. Despite its documented impact on health, there is no widely recognized treatment of choice. Some studies indicate that couples suffering from situational violence may benefit from couples therapy, but professionals are cautious to risk the possibility of violent retaliation between partners. After a comprehensive literature search of 1,733 citations, this systematic review and meta‐analysis compiles the results of six studies to investigate the effectiveness of couples therapy as a treatment for violence. Preliminary data suggest that couples therapy is a viable treatment in select situations.     

The Effects of Urban Form on Ambient Air Pollution and Public Health Risk: A Case Study in Raleigh,North Carolina

Since motor vehicles are a major air pollution source, urban designs that decrease private automobile use could improve air quality and decrease air pollution health risks. Yet, the relationships among urban form, air quality, and health are complex and not fully understood. To explore these relationships, we model the effects of three alternative development scenarios on annual average fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations in ambient air and associated health risks from PM_2.5 exposure in North Carolina's Raleigh‐Durham‐Chapel Hill area. We integrate transportation demand, land‐use regression, and health risk assessment models to predict air quality and health impacts for three development scenarios: current conditions, compact development, and sprawling development. Compact development slightly decreases (?0.2%) point estimates of regional annual average PM_2.5 concentrations, while sprawling development slightly increases (+1%) concentrations. However, point estimates of health impacts are in opposite directions: compact development increases (+39%) and sprawling development decreases (?33%) PM_2.5‐attributable mortality. Furthermore, compactness increases local variation in PM_2.5 concentrations and increases the severity of local air pollution hotspots. Hence, this research suggests that while compact development may improve air quality from a regional perspective, it may also increase the concentration of PM_2.5 in local hotspots and increase population exposure to PM_2.5. Health effects may be magnified if compact neighborhoods and PM_2.5 hotspots are spatially co‐located. We conclude that compactness alone is an insufficient means of reducing the public health impacts of transportation emissions in automobile‐dependent regions. Rather, additional measures are needed to decrease automobile dependence and the health risks of transportation emissions.     

Disability as Moral Experience: Epilepsy and Self in Routine Relationships

This paper draws on depth interview data from an availability sample of 80 people with epilepsy to examine the moral experience of disability (cf. E. Goffman, 1959, "The Moral Career of the Mental Patient," Psychiatry, 22 , 123–135). This concept directs attention to how those who live in the social world of epilepsy, and of disability more generally, define themselves and others in both positive and negative ways. Most discussions of the moral aspects of disability turn on the concept of stigma, and epilepsy certainly is a prime area for such study. This paper, however, focuses on the consequences of disability for the distribution of work and responsibility in routine, everyday relationships and how, in turn, this affects the way people see, think about, and feel about themselves. Particular attention is given to family, parental, and employment relationships. The paper raises the question, If disability is a social construction and has such costs, how can we best construct it for all concerned?     

Adolescent development: A view from self psychology

Self psychology does not have a distinctive developmental theory. This paper discusses some of the methodological problems related to the articulation of such a theory, and goes on to outline a theory of adolescent development that is consistent with the tenets of self psychology. The major points made are: Adolescence does not represent a recapitulation of prior phase of development, the sense of self cohesion is fundamental to a healthy sense of self, and the culmination of the adolescent process is the formation of a nuclear sense of self.private practice     

Explaining support for the Moral Majority

The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of several theoretical perspectives for understanding the popular appeal of the Moral Majority. The perspectives used were cultural fundamentalism, diffusion, resource mobilization, status loss, and alienation. Data came from a series of surveys between 1981 and 1984 carried out in Middletown, Indiana. Overall, diffusion theory was useful in understanding who knew about the Moral Majority, and cultural fundamentalism was most helpful in understanding support for the Moral Majority.     

State of the union: A century of American labor

Journal of Labor Research -