The global corporate elite after the financial crisis: evidence from the transnational network of interlocking directorates

What impact did the recent financial crisis have on the corporate elite's international network? Has corporate governance taken on an essentially national structure or have transnational networks remained robust? We investigate this issue by comparing the networks of interlocking directorates among the 176 largest corporations in the world economy in 1976, 1996, 2006 and 2013. We find that corporate elites have not retrenched into their national business communities: the transnational network increased in relative importance and remained largely intact during the crisis lasting from 2006 to 2013. However, this network does not depend – as it used to do – on a small number of big linkers but on a growing number of single linkers. The network has become less hierarchical. As a group, the corporate elite has become more transnational in character. We see this as indicative of a recomposition of the corporate elite from a national to a transnational orientation.     

BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS AND DRINKING BEHAVIOR: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM AN IRISH COLLEGE STUDY

This article examines the results of single-equation regression models of the determinants of alcohol consumption patterns among college students modeling a rich variety of covariates including gender, family and peer drinking, tenure, personality, risk perception, time preferences, and age of drinking onset. The results demonstrate very weak income effects and very strong effects of personality, peer drinking (in particular closest friend), time preferences, and other substance use. The task of future research is to verify these results and assess causality using more detailed methods ( JEL D12, I31).     

Public Opinion du Jour: An Examination of the Spiral of Silence

This study investigates the spiral of silence theory using perceivedvote outcomes as well as actual vote behaviors. The first majorhypothesis—that those who see their position as gainingsupport will be more likely to discuss while those who see theirposition as losing support will be less likely to discuss—wassupported by the data. Some support was also found for the hypothesisthat individuals perceiving support for a certain candidatewould be more likely to express a preference for the candidate.Results also seemed to justify the Noelle-Neumann distinctionbetween the resistant hardcore and other types of citizens.The relative independence of perception of opinion judgmentsfrom own preferences also was investigated and support was foundfor this difference.     

THE IMAGE AND THE VOTE MANIPULATING VOTERS' PREFERENCES

Concern is often expressed regarding the ability of campaignconsultants to shape candidates' images and, thereby, influenceelectoral outcomes. Despite this concern, little attempt hasbeen made to investigate whether candidates' images can be shapedin a way that affects the vote. Here, we examine the role ofnonverbal aspects of candidate presentation on image makingand voters' preferences. In a series of three related studiesconducted at the time of the 1984 national election, the impactof different photographs of the same candidate is assessed.The results suggest that a candidate's image can be shaped insuch a way as to manipulate voters' preferences.     

SEX DIFFERENCES IN A SOCIOECONOMIC INDEX FOR OCCUPATIONS IN CANADA

Ce travail elabore un index socio-economique pour les femmes qui sont emThe Vendeeloyeës, base sur les niveaux pridominants d'education et de revenu dans 465 professions exercees par des femmes en 1970. L'index ainsi que ses deux composantes sont alors utilisés dans une comparaison de la structure socio-économique de la main-d'oeuvre masculine et féminine qui fait usage d'un index semblable pour les hommes tel que rapporté par Blishen et McRoberts (1976). Nous avons trouve que pour les 465 professions, il y a une ressemblance tres proche entre les hommes et les femmes quant A la stratification professionnelle selon le niveau d'éducation mais qu'il y a des différences considérables reliées au sexe lorsqu'il s'agit de la stratification selon le revenu. Les moyennes des points en matiére socio-economique pour les hommes et les femmes qui sont employés étaient presque identiques mais ce résultat, loin de prouver qu'il y a égalité des sexes, souligne en fait une faiblesse de base de I'index tel qu'employé dans I'étude de la stratification des sexes. En combinant de faqon additive I'education et les niveaux de revenu pour chaque sexe, l'index dissimule le fait que les femmes ont en general tendance à toucher moins de revenu que les hommes mais elles se retrouvent dans des professions reliées à des niveaux d'éducation plus élevés. Nos résultats viennent s'ajouter a la littérature sur la discrimination des sexes dans la structure professionnelle et constituent une mise en garde contre I'usage exclusif d'index socio-économiques basés sur les professions dans I'étude de la stratification des sexes. This paper develops a socioeconomic index for employed women, based upon predominant education and income levels in 465 occupations having female incumbents in 1970. The index and its two components are then employed in a comparison of the socioeconomic structure of male and female labour forces, which makes use of an analogous index for men, reported by Blishen and McRoberts (1976). We find that, across the 465 occupations, there is a close similarity between men and women respecting occupational stratification by education level, but there are considerable sex differences in the pattern of stratification by income. Mean socioeconomic scores for employed men and women are found to be nearly identical, but this result, far from evidencing sexual equality, actually points up a basic weakness in the index as employed in the study of sexual stratification. In additively combining education and income levels for each sex, the index obscures the fact that women tend to receive generally less income than men, but are situated in occupations having relatively higher education levels. Our results add to the literature on sexual discrimination in the occupational structure and caution against the exclusive use of occupationally based socioeconomic indices in the study of sexual stratification.