Career Maturity Determinants: Individual Development,Social Context,and Historical Time

Two samples of 16- to 19-year-old adolescents from different contexts were compared. Whereas young East Germans had experienced an educational system that offered relatively little choice, West Germans had experienced more leeway. In 1991, youth from East Germany reported more career maturity than did same-aged adolescents from the West. Different variables predicted career maturity in the 2 groups. Whereas person-related variables predicted career maturity in both groups, family and peer contexts were relevant only among the West German youth. In 1996, when differences in social context had greatly diminished, these differences had disappeared. Results confirm the usefulness of a cross-cultural and contextual approach to career development.     

The Travelling Salesman Problem on Permuted Monge Matrices

We consider traveling salesman problems (TSPs) with a permuted Monge matrix as cost matrix where the associated patching graph has a specially simple structure: a multistar, a multitree or a planar graph. In the case of multistars, we give a complete, concise and simplified presentation of Gaikov's theory. These results are then used for designing an O(m3 + mn) algorithm in the case of multitrees, where n is the number of cities and m is the number of subtours in an optimal assignment. Moreover we show that for planar patching graphs, the problem of finding an optimal subtour patching remains NP-complete.     

Count data models for demographic data

"This paper deals with the estimation of single equation models in which the counts are regressed on a set of observed individual characteristics such as age, gender, or nationality....We propose a generalized event count model to simultaneously allow for a wide class of count data models and account for over- and underdispersion. This model is successfully applied to German data on fertility, divorces and mobility." (SUMMARY IN FRE)     

Untersuchungen zur Ursache unterschiedlicher Ergebnisse sehr ähnlicher Viktimisierungssurveys

Two very similar surveys on victimization were conducted in 1997. Although the target population, design, operationalization, field organization and part of the interviewer staff were nearly identical, the resulting estimates of victimization status were remarkably different. Neither correction for design effects nor the use of appropriate weighting eliminated this statistically significant difference. Several methodological details of the surveys are considered as explanations. Quantitative estimates of their possible effects are given. The interviewer working conditions are identified as the most likely source of the discrepancy. This result emphasizes the importance of these seldom documented and even more rarely controlled fieldwork details.     

Do Aid Donors Specialize and Coordinate within Recipient Countries? The case of Malawi

Acknowledging that aid proliferation and a lack of coordination impair aid effectiveness, donors have repeatedly promised to specialize and better coordinate their aid activities, notably in the Paris Declaration of 2005. We exploit data on the exact location of aid projects in Malawi to assess whether the country's bilateral and multilateral donors have acted accordingly at the district and sector level. We do not find compelling evidence for increased aid specialization after the Paris Declaration, and the regional division of labour among donors may even have deteriorated. Our within‐country evidence thus broadly corroborates what previous studies have found at the national level of recipient countries.     

Daddy months

We consider a bargaining model in which husband and wife decide on the allocation of time and disposable income, and fertility. Since her bargaining power would go down otherwise more strongly, the wife agrees to have a child only if the husband also leaves the labor market for a while. The daddy months subsidy enables the couple to overcome a hold-up problem and thereby improves efficiency. However, the same ruling harms other types of couples and may also reduce welfare in an endogenous taxation framework.     

Toward Development of the End User Computing Construct in a University Setting*

The authors identify and define the end user computing (EUC) construct and operationalize the construct through development of a valid, reliable measure called the EUC activities scale. This scale is designed to distinguish specific, discrete computer activities performed on the job. The research analyzes the validity and reliability of the instrument based on data obtained from 776 university employees who participated in the initial, exploratory application. Exploratory factor analysis of the scale resulted in five factors. In order of increasing complexity of job-related computer activities, these factors are: beginning EUC activities, intermediate EUC activities, advanced EUC activities, EUC facilitation activities, and EUC infrastructure activities. The factor analysis, reliabilities, and known-groups analysis provide support for the construct validity of the instrument when used in a university setting. Suggestions are provided for further use of the scale in business environments to increase generalizability, refine the instrument, and help establish a coherent theoretical basis for further research in EUC.