Dissecting Public Sector Corruption in Bangladesh: Issues and Problems of Control

The public sector in Bangladesh is ridden with corruption of various dimensions and shades. Apart from bribery, rent-seeking and misappropriation of funds, the performance of public organizations is adversely affected by a host of other factors like excessive lobbying, delays in service provision, pilferage and larceny, irresponsible conduct of officials, bureaucratic intemperance, patronage and clientelism. The several institutional mechanisms to combat administrative malfeasance are rendered ineffective by a non-committed political leadership, a blase"d bureaucracy, weak accountability structures, and unproductive legislative labors. The public body for controlling corruption is itself associated with all sorts of malpractices and conducts its affair most unprofessionally. Despite several attempts, the constitutionally authorized ombudsman is yet to find its place in the governance framework.     

We Know Some Things: Parent–Adolescent Relationships in Retrospect and Prospect

This article examines the most important ideas to have emerged from the last 25 years of research on adolescent development in the family context and suggests some directions for the future. Two major sets of questions organize the review. First, how can we best characterize normative family relationships during adolescence, and, more specifically, is adolescence a time of parent à child conflict? Second, how do variations in parent – child relationships affect the developing adolescent? The answer to the first question depends on what is meant by conflict and, more importantly, from whom one gathers data. There is a need for a new perspective on the family, one that emphasizes the different viewpoints and stakes that parents and adolescents bring to their relationship with each other. Special attention should be paid to studies of the mental health of parents of adolescents. With regard to the second question, it is argued that there is enough evidence to conclude that adolescents benefit from having parents who are authoritative: warm, firm, and accepting of their needs for psychological autonomy. Therefore, it would seem most beneficial to institute a systematic, large‐scale, multifaceted, and ongoing public health campaign to educate parents about adolescence, one that draws on the collective resources and expertise of health‐care professionals, scientists, governmental agencies, community organizations, schools, religious institutions, and the mass media.     

Overcoming the zero interest-rate bound: A quantitative prescription

Using a macro-econometric model we provide a quantitative estimate of the cash transfer or tax cut that would achieve recovery from a severe recession when the central bank is unable to achieve full recovery because of the zero bound. We introduce an automatic transfer and simulate its triggering in the severe recession. We find that an automatic transfer that averages 3% of quarterly GDP repeated four times (quarterly) reduces the unemployment rate an additional full percentage point and thereby completes the recovery. We recommend that legislatures enact an automatic counter-cyclical fiscal policy that will assure adequate stimulus without generating a long-term debt problem.     

Integrating Family Therapy Training in a Clinical Psychology Course

Teaching family therapy to clinical psychology trainees is not common practice in Australian clinical psychology training programs. There is sparse discussion in the literature. Family therapy is an evidence based intervention that complements a diversity of established theories and psychotherapies and would complement the intervention skills of trainee clinical psychologists. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how family therapy training may be integrated into a postgraduate clinical psychology course. The literature on core family therapy knowledge, skills and training methods will form the backdrop to a review of specific family therapy training courses for clinical psychology trainees. This will then be mapped against a consideration of accreditation requirements of clinical psychology courses in Australia and suggestions made for integrating family therapy into their training curriculum. Anecdotal feedback from students provides an initial step toward evaluation.     

An alternative sampling strategy for obtaining child health data in a reproductive health survey

Retrospective demographic surveys typically collect substantial information about child health. This information is often collected for all children born during a specified period. For women with several young children, the interview can become quite long. To shorten the interview, some surveys have asked child health questions only for the last child born. However, data on the last birth may be biased because last children have a younger age distribution and have longer subsequent birth intervals than does the average child. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach to collecting child health data - that child health questions be asked only for a child chosen randomly from among the respondent's children younger than age five. This alternative has the advantage of keeping the interview shorter but does not lead to biased information.Abbreviations DHS Demographic and Health Surveys     

Monetary Policy Announcements and Stock Returns: Evidence from the Pakistani Market

Objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of monetary policy announcements on stock returns. Event window of 31 days and an estimation window of 250 days was constructed. ARIMA model is applied to calculate the estimated returns from estimation window (t ? 250). Abnormal returns were calculated by taking the difference between actual and estimated returns. Then abnormal returns were aggregated as cumulative abnormal returns (CAR). CAR at 30% showed an impact of monetary policy announcements on stock returns. Null hypothesis of zero abnormal returns was rejected since the results were found in critical region under normal distribution. Further, we decomposed the interest rate into expected and un-expected to analyze their impact on stock returns. After checking for stationarity, Engle–Granger co-integration test were applied to check long run relationship between interest rates and stock return. A significant effect of interest rates (expected and un-expected) was observed in the short run. These results are in line with Kuttner’s (J Monet Econ 47:523–544, 2001), Bernanke and Kuttner’s (J Financ 60:1221–1257, 2005), Bredin et al.’s (US stock returns the impact of domestic monetary policy shocks, http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/wp0604.pdf, 2007) and Ehrmann and Fratzscher’s (Equal size, equal role? Interest rate interdependence between the Euro Area and the United States, European Central Bank Working Paper 342, 2004). The study finds evidence of LR relationship between un-expected interest rates and whereas expected interest rates and stock returns have short term relationship.     

Exploring personhood in dining experiences of residents with dementia in long-term care facilities

Despite the shift toward using person-centered approaches in dementia care, the relevance and applicability of the concept “personhood” remains unclear in everyday practice and activities, such as mealtime experience for residents with dementia. Based on a qualitative study, this paper presents emergent themes at mealtimes that support or undermine personhood of twenty residents with dementia in two long-term care facilities. Methods of data collection included conversational interviews with residents with dementia, participant observations, focus groups with staff and examination of available documents. Data analysis identified eight themes: (1) outpacing/relaxed pace, (2) withholding/holding, (3) stimulation, (4) disrespect/respect, (5) invalidation/validation, (6) distancing/connecting, (7) disempowerment/empowerment, and (8) ignoring/inclusion. These findings raised questions about current practice and identified areas for improvement. Although staff approaches seemed to have the greatest impact on residents' experiences, the physical environment and organizational milieu were also responsible for hindering and facilitating staff to provide the best possible care and interaction.     

A phased increase in the U.S. investment rate: Sacrifice times, T-year gains, and investment rate returns

We simulate a phased increase in the U.S. investment rate using a translog production function with technical progress (disembodied and/or embodied). We assume there will be an absorption lag implying that factors are underutilized during the transition to a higher investment rate. We find that the “sacrifice time” (the time that elapses until consumption surpasses the value it would have had under the initial investment rate) is roughly nine years. Across alternative specifications, phase-in periods, and absorption lags, the sacrifice time varies from seven to 13 years, and is insensitive to the percentage increase in the investment rate. With a three-year phase-in of a 20 percent increase in the investment rate with a one-year absorption lag, the average “ecade gain” in output (the percentage gain at the end of a decade) is roughly 4 percent; the decade gain in consumption, 0 percent; the five-decade gain, 10 percent in output and 6 percent in consumption; and the “investment rate return” (the internal rate of return on a permanent increase in the investment rate), 13 percent.     

La crise du recrutement des lads-jockeys : l’essoufflement d’un système d’emploi corporatiste

How is the French labor market for lads organized (recruitment, careers, personnel management, retraining)? What changes are under way? A recent phenomenon - the vanishing of young lads with diplomas - helps answer these questions. Can this be explained other than by the discrepancy between dreams about this job and on-the-job reality? The latter can be understood only in relation to the economic and social changes in this working environment that have, in particular, threatened trainers’ positions. This happened during a period when the schooling of youth lasts longer and ends with a diploma even though this sector cannot absorb these young people. This difficult situation has several explanations. Working conditions have worsened (increasing precariousness, more stress, career obstructions) while young people have become more demanding, more critical and more qualified. Meanwhile, the old paternalistic system for managing personnel is falling apart.