Swimming against the tide: why Sweden supports increased labour mobility within and from outside the EU

While the free movement of labour in the EU is generally depicted as a positive feature of the single market, it was also controversial in the debate on EU enlargement. Actors opposing enlargement argued that large waves of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) would ‘swamp’ Western labour markets, leading to so-called social tourism and increasing xenophobia. Contrary to the developments in other countries, Sweden was one of the only three Member States to immediately open its doors to citizens from the EU accession countries of 2004 and 2007. Sweden has also been one of the few EU countries to actively promote greater liberalisation of labour migration policy for third-country nationals (TCNs) within the EU, and the new Swedish Immigration Law of 2008 dramatically liberalised the TCN labour migration policy and made it more employer-driven. We argue that in order to understand why Sweden has supported increased labour mobility within and from outside of the EU, we need to complement existing explanations by analysing the preferences of the political parties. A two-dimensional analysis focusing on economy and culture provides an understanding of why so-called unholy coalitions of parties in support of liberal labour policies have emerged in Sweden during the 2000s. The article ends with a discussion of lessons learned from the Swedish case and wider implications for rights-based mobility in the EU.     

Turnaround: from breakdown to breakthrough with Open Space Technology

This interpretive case study sought to fully understand and describe the turnaround experience from an organizational breakdown to breakthrough with the use of Open Space Technology. The turnaround occurred in a Roman Catholic parish. Participant interviews were used to collect the data. These qualitative portrayals provided insights and implications around the effectiveness and impact of Open Space. Four important themes emerged: the experience of breakdown, the deep longing for a breakthrough, the transformation of crisis into a turnaround and the effectiveness of Open Space Technology. This case study provides perspectives on how to effect transformation for an organization in crisis with the least effort and maximum impact within a short time span. It contains insights and implications for leaders and consultants to do the same.     

Appointment Overbooking in Health Care Clinics to Improve Patient Service and Clinic Performance

The problem of no‐shows (patients who do not arrive for scheduled appointments) is particularly significant for health care clinics, with reported no‐show rates varying widely from 3% to 80%. No‐shows reduce revenues and provider productivity, increase costs, and limit patient access by reducing effective clinic capacity. In this article, we construct a flexible appointment scheduling model to mitigate the detrimental effects of patient no‐shows, and develop a fast and effective solution procedure that constructs near‐optimal overbooked appointment schedules that balance the benefits of serving additional patients with the potential costs of patient waiting and clinic overtime. Computational results demonstrate the efficacy of our model and solution procedure, and connect our work to prior research in health care appointment scheduling.     

高速铁路与经济增长的因果关系

针对中国高速铁路供给对经济增长和产业结构的影响,以及产业结构、城镇化率、人口密度如何决定高速铁路供给等问题,对高速铁路与经济增长的即时效应、快速效应和慢速效应机理进行分析。研究认为,从高速铁路对经济增长角度来看,2005~2014年中国省域面板数据实证表明:高速铁路在十年间的即时效应和快速效应不断降低,高速铁路的高时间价值与高出行成本特性主导的慢速效应占据支配地位,导致高速铁路对全国和中部地区经济增长没有显著影响,对东部地区有显著正向影响,对西部地区有显著负向影响,说明总体上高速铁路并不是经济增长的原因;从经济增长对高速铁路角度来看,Logit模型计量经济增长对高速铁路触发的影响表明:经济增长本源性需求内生出对高速铁路的即时效应、快速效应和慢速效应的派生性需求,经济增长以及第三产业、城镇化率、人口密度变量显著决定高速铁路供给。     

Approximations for a fixed sample size selection procedure for negative binomial populations

A large sample approximation of the least favorable configuration for a fixed sample size selection procedure for negative binomial populations is proposed. A normal approximation of the selection procedure is also presented. Optimal sample sizes required to be drawn from each population and the bounds for the sample sizes are tabulated. Sample sizes obtained using the approximate least favorable configuration are compared with those obtained using the exact least favorable configuration. Alternate form of the normal approximation to the probability of correct selection is also presented. The relation between the required sample size and the number of populations involved is studied.     

BECOMING A TECHNOLOGIST Days in a girl's life

Studies of the gender relations of information and communications technologies (ICTs) seldom deal with these relations as experienced in early childhood, except as located in schooling. The construction of identity in relation to technology is negotiated from an early age. In this article a technological strand is identified in childhood using 'experience stories', writing about specific situations or events on a specific theme, with the focus of analysis being on the theme, rather than on the individual. In reflecting on this technological strand of childhood the article tries to make sense of how everyday experiences serve as sites for constituting our relations with ICTs, and more personally, how they constitute relations for a young white working-class girl. This article also hopes to make visible technological acts which are essentialized and/or made invisible in later years. This article draws on a multi-layer definition of technology and uses conceptions of locally situated knowledge and practices to explore how a young girl might develop a familiarity with technology as part of everyday living. Class and race relations as well as gender relations are significant in early conceptions of 'knowing and doing' and later awareness of constructions of technology and technological identities and subjectivities. This article therefore attempts to identify these relations within the experience stories. By applying a concept of technology that encompasses the knowledge, skills and practices in the everyday life of a young girl, the author hopes to contribute to a richer understanding of the gender, class and race relations implicit in what is recognized as technological knowledge and to contribute to a more inclusive understanding of the social relations of ICTs.     

Gender Role Ideology and the Gender Based Differences in Earnings

Much of the research on gender differences in occupational earnings still focuses on human capital and the structure of the labor market. However, these variables rarely explain even half of the gender gap in earnings. Most research has examined the impact of gender role ideology as it impacts occupational choice, which indirectly can impact earnings. Using data from the National Opinion Research Center General Social Surveys, this research focuses on the relationship between attitudes about gender roles and two variables: (a) earnings, and (b) occupational positions held by women and men. Findings show that traditional gender-role ideology contributes to lower observed earnings for both males and females, independent of the influences of human capital characteristics, occupational context, and ascribed characteristics. Results support socialization as a partial explanation for the gender-based earnings differences and suggest that, to the extent that economic rewards are used to assess the value of gender role expectations, traditional gender role attitudes might continue to change and lead to relatively equal earnings among women and men.     

“Like Two Musketeers”: Socialization beliefs about toddler's friendships among Dominican,Mexican, and African American mothers

Parental ethnotheories shape socialization beliefs around childrearing more broadly, and children's friendships more specifically. While prior work has examined aspects of parental socialization of friendships among school-aged children and adolescents, no studies have examined beliefs held around the function of friendships among ethnically diverse mothers of toddlers from low-socioeconomic contexts. Toddlerhood marks a point in development when the concept of “friendship” gains impact and relevance due to leaps in children's social, cognitive, and motor skills, as well as children's increasing access to contexts where they organically encounter peers. Toddlerhood is also a time when caregivers may initially consider the influence of peers on their children, beliefs that could eventually guide and shift how they navigate socialization practices around friendship. In the present study, we document U.S. Dominican American, African American, and Mexican American mothers’ socialization beliefs around functions of friendship for their 2-year-old children. We found that mothers emphasized a variety of friendship functions, including learning of social skills and morality, and communicating and experiencing emotions. A majority of mothers viewed their children's friendships as unidirectional, and framed their children as undiscerning in their engagement with social information from peers. Findings are discussed in relation to mothers’ orientation to children and “childhood” via cultural and developmental beliefs.