Informality in a micro economy: Measurement,composition and consequences

This article measures the extent of – and unrecorded income generated by – informal employment in a micro economy characterized by poor governance. Household survey and census data are used to estimate the number of informal workers in Northern Cyprus and analyse the characteristics of informal employment, for the period 2004–11. Informal workers are mostly comprised of citizens with no social security registration, illegally employed immigrants or second‐job holders who have not registered their second jobs. In terms of value added, the estimated size of the informal economy is 9.1 per cent and 12.2 per cent of GNP in 2006 and 2011, respectively.     

Pragmatism, Bourdieu, and collective emotions in contentious politics

We aim to show how collective emotions can be incorporated into the study of episodes of political contention. In a critical vein, we systematically explore the weaknesses in extant models of collective action, showing what has been lost through a neglect or faulty conceptualization of collective emotional configurations. We structure this discussion in terms of a review of several “pernicious postulates” in the literature, assumptions that have been held, we argue, by classical social-movement theorists and by social-structural and cultural critics alike. In a reconstructive vein, however, we also lay out the foundations of a more satisfactory theoretical framework. We take each succeeding critique of a pernicious postulate as the occasion for more positive theory-building. Drawing upon the work of the classical American pragmatists–especially Peirce, Dewey, and Mead–as well as aspects of Bourdieu's sociology, we construct, step by step, the foundations of a more adequate theorization of social movements and collective action. Accordingly, the negative and positive threads of our discussion are woven closely together: the dismantling of pernicious postulates and the development of a more useful analytical strategy.     

Vernacular Domed Houses of Harran, Turkey

The beehive domed vernacular houses of Harran, Turkey were studied from the point of view of historical origin. The factors like climate, social and urban structure, spatial organization, construction and materials which effected the form of the buildings were considered. It has been discovered through this study that Harran houses can be built rapidly like tents, with burnt or sun-dried shallow bricks. Vernacular architecture of Harran illustrates the concepts of flexible building, climatic building design and re-usable building materials concepts. Possibilities of using this construction type in our times is discussed.     

Pay Referents and Satisfaction with Pay: Does Occupational Proximity Matter?

We explore whether employees compare their pay to the pay of others in a similarly prestigious occupation and, if so, whether this comparison has a negative impact on pay satisfaction. Using an experimental vignette methodology, Study 1 found that people are more inclined to compare with others from a similar or identical occupation and that comparison negatively impacts pay satisfaction. This comparison and its negative effect is particularly strong in high‐prestige occupations. Based on survey data, Study 2 also showed that the average pay of others in occupations of similar prestige is negatively correlated with employees’ pay satisfaction. This negative correlation was also stronger in higher‐prestige occupations. Our analysis highlights the importance of occupational prestige as a main factor influencing pay comparison.     

Why perceived organizational and supervisory family support is important for organizations? Evidence from the field

Review of Managerial Science - The relationship between perceived organizational support and its work-outcomes were usually based on social exchange theories. By keeping the social exchange...     

Comparison of the effectiveness of IPSS and VPSS without any help in LUTS patients: a prospective study

Aim: To compare the correlation of visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) and international prostate symptom score (IPSS). To investigate the effect of educational level and age in the responses to VPSS and IPSS.

Method: Three hundred and nine patients who gave consent and applied via LUTS to our institution were included in this study. They were requested to fill IPSS and VPSS. The patients were divided into two groups as middle-aged and elderly with a cutoff point of 65?years. They were divided into six groups based on educational level. SPSS was used for the statistical evaluation.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 61.5?±?8.9?years. The correlation was found between IPSS and VPSS (p?p?=?.332 and .138, respectively). No difference was found between the middle-aged and elderly groups in terms of the rates of inability to answer IPSS and VPSS (p?=?.177 and .681, respectively).

Conclusions: There is a correlation between VPSS and IPSS. VPSS can be used as an auxiliary or alternative tool instead of IPSS in evaluating LUTS; however, has no superiority to IPSS in elderly group. Currently, the best option to exclude bias in illiterate group is VPSS.     

A generalized skew slash distribution via gamma-normal distribution

In this article, we introduce a generalization of the slash distribution via the gamma-normal distribution. We define the new slash distribution by relation of a gamma-normal random variable with respect to a power of a uniform random variable. The newly defined distribution generalizes the slash distribution and is more flexible in terms of its kurtosis and skewness than the slash distribution. Basic properties of the new distribution are studied. We derive the maximum likelihood estimators of its parameters and apply the distribution to a real dataset.     

Experimental Results Indicating Lattice‐Dependent Policies May Be Optimal for General Assemble‐To‐Order Systems

We consider an assemble‐to‐order (ATO) system with multiple products, multiple components which may be demanded in different quantities by different products, possible batch ordering of components, random lead times, and lost sales. We model the system as an infinite‐horizon Markov decision process under the average cost criterion. A control policy specifies when a batch of components should be produced, and whether an arriving demand for each product should be satisfied. Previous work has shown that a lattice‐dependent base‐stock and lattice‐dependent rationing (LBLR) policy is an optimal stationary policy for a special case of the ATO model presented here (the generalized M‐system). In this study, we conduct numerical experiments to evaluate the use of an LBLR policy for our general ATO model as a heuristic, comparing it to two other heuristics from the literature: a state‐dependent base‐stock and state‐dependent rationing (SBSR) policy, and a fixed base‐stock and fixed rationing (FBFR) policy. Remarkably, LBLR yields the globally optimal cost in each of more than 22,500 instances of the general problem, outperforming SBSR and FBFR with respect to both objective value (by up to 2.6% and 4.8%, respectively) and computation time (by up to three orders and one order of magnitude, respectively) in 350 of these instances (those on which we compare the heuristics). LBLR and SBSR perform significantly better than FBFR when replenishment batch sizes imperfectly match the component requirements of the most valuable or most highly demanded product. In addition, LBLR substantially outperforms SBSR if it is crucial to hold a significant amount of inventory that must be rationed.     

Pragmatism and Ethnomethodology

Three features of pragmatist thought remain empirically underdeveloped or insufficiently explored: its call for a return to experience or recovery of concrete practices; its idea that obstacles in experience give rise to efforts at creative problem-solving; and its understanding of language in use, including conversational interaction, as an order of empirical practices in and through which problem-solving efforts are undertaken and social order ongoingly and collaboratively accomplished. Our aim in this article is to show that there exists a long-standing, theoretically informed, and empirically rich research tradition in which these pragmatist themes are further developed, albeit in ways the originators might have foreseen only in dimly programmatic form. This research tradition is ethnomethodology. We present in bold strokes the classical pragmatist ideas of Peirce, James, Mead, Dewey, plus Addams, focusing on the three themes mentioned above. We show how Garfinkel’s work surpasses even that of the pragmatists in developing the larger implications and promise of those themes. We demonstrate how ethnomethodological studies of work and science and conversation analysis, respectively, continue as well to develop the original pragmatist impulse in unsuspected ways. Finally, we step back from this account to ponder the broader significance of the connections we have explored between pragmatism and ethnomethodology.     

Re‐Organizing Work Roles in Health Care: Evidence from the Implementation of Functional Flexibility

Functional flexibility has been advocated as a mechanism for improving efficiency and service quality and is, it is argued, especially appropriate to service environments. In recent years the UK public health service has been subject to an ongoing programme of reform, designed to modernize the way in which health services are provided. A central feature of the reform involves breaking down traditional boundaries and the re‐organization of work roles. This article is concerned with examining the implementation of functional flexibility in three health‐care settings. Case‐study data are presented, focusing on the responses of employees and managers to initiatives to work more flexibly. For managers the implementation achieved efficiency gains and improvements to service quality, in spite of some resistance from employees. For employees the outcomes were more mixed. There was evidence of ‘humanization’ through greater job variety, challenge and access to training, but there were also costs in terms of intensification, role confusion and stress. The implications of these findings both for understanding the issues raised by the use of functional flexibility and for the implementation of policies in the NHS involving job redesign are discussed.