Do Cooperatives with Better Economic–Financial Indicators also have Better Socioeconomic Performance?

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - The overall performance of cooperatives is related to economic–financial results and actions focused on benefits for...     

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF KIN AND ETHNIC FAVORITISM

Ethnic and kinship ties have long been viewed as potential catalysts for favoritism, and hence corruption. In experiments conducted in three countries, we recruit siblings, coethnics and strangers and vary the relationship(s) between the players of a game to observe how kin and ethnic ties influence the willingness of two players to benefit one another at the expense of a third party. We see universal sibling favoritism, but ethnic favoritism, and favoritism toward other in-group members (friends) varies. We argue this may be driven in part by kinship institutions, since favoritism is more common in societies with denser kin networks. ( JEL D9, C9, D73, J12)     

Marital Fertility and its Determinants in Rural and in Urban Spain, 1887–1930

Based primarily on census data between 1887 and 1920, the present article explores the basic structure of the social and economic factors that influenced marital fertility levels during the early part of the fertility transition in Spain. Multiple regression analysis is applied to ecological models based on separate rural and urban data. While some of the conclusions from the Princeton European Fertility Project have been corroborated, a number of the results have been quite noteworthy. Not the least of these are the sharply differing structures of causality in rural and urban areas, and the surprising and consistent role played by literacy as a stimulant of marital fertility. In the discussion of the results, we have insisted on the importance of interpreting different demographic, economic, and cultural indicators within concrete historical contexts.     

The double sampling S2 chart with estimated process variance

This paper proposes useful exact bounds for the parameters of the double sampling S² chart with known process variance and it also investigates the properties of the double sampling S² chart with estimated process variance, in terms of the average run length, the standard deviation of the run length and the average sample size, providing a numerical comparison with the known process variance case. It also provides guidelines to systematically design the double sampling S² chart both with known and estimated process variance and proposes two optimal design procedures with estimated process variance, for (a) minimizing the out-of-control average run length and (b) minimizing the out-of-control average sample size.     

The Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984 and Educational Attainment of Young Adults in the United States

ABSTRACT: We compare changes in the effect of child support payments on the educational attainment of children age 16 to 19 before and after passage of the Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984, which strengthened enforcement of child support obligations in the United States. Using 1979, 1984, and 1988 Current Population Survey data, we hypothesize and find a decline in the positive effect of child support between 1984 and 1988 that exceeds any earlier decline. Instrumental variables estimates provide additional evidence consistent with the idea that child support serves as an indicator of unobservable characteristics of noncustodial fathers who pay support.     

Identification of the mental workload of public employees in the administrative sector at a public university

In the workplace there are risk factors that can overwhelm the health of the worker causing physical and psychological disorders. Among these disorders, is occupational stress. Thus, this research proposes to measure the mental workload of job stress from the identification of demand, control and social support. It is an observational cross-sectional epidemiological character, performed with the Rectory office workers at the State University of West Paraná (Unioeste). Data collection was due to the application of the "Job Stress Scale" (JSS) and in its reduced version adapted to Portuguese. The survey sample consisted of 44 individuals. Statistical analysis was correlated inversely with medium intensity (r = -0.404) between age and social support. For males was found between control and age (r = 0.603). According to the data obtained, we conclude that most workers are exposed to passive work, leading to loss of skills or disinterest in the job. This study highlights the importance of research in the area and the need for new actions that change the conditions of stress at work.     

Urban ergonomics: an ongoing study of city signs and maps

The purpose of this study is to assess whether the existing signals in three European cities were developed according usability principles and ergonomic aspects for the citizen. City maps and signals will be tested using efficiency, effectiveness and user's satisfaction criteria. Among the urban areas are the center of Paris-FR, assumed to be well signalized, the historical center of Guimar?es-PT and Chorweiler, Cologne-DE, a residential neighborhood of modern urbanism characterized by the extensive use of vegetation, the landscape homogeneity, and, consequently, by the difficult navigation.     

Comparison between occupational noise measurement strategies: why is it important?

The international standard ISO 9612:2009, regarding the determination of occupational noise exposure through an engineering method, establishes a methodology for evaluating the exposure of workers to occupational noise, through the specification of three different strategies, namely: task-based measurement (TBM); job-based measurement (JBM) and; full day measurement (FDM). In this work, questions are raised, "resulting in a literature review regarding the need to test the functionality of the three strategies, through the systematic comparison between them and analysis of their application impact at several levels. There is a need to test the compare these three strategies, since there are no peer-review studies in this domain. In fact, there are still no studies that systematically do the comparison between them and analyze the impact of their application at various levels, such as the precision and accuracy of the results, the required equipment, time spent and, most important, the estimation of the uncertainty associated to the measurements.