DELIBERATION AND LEARNING IN MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEES

We use records from Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings to investigate the importance of deliberation and learning in monetary policy decision making in the period from 1970 to 1978 when Arthur Burns served as Chairman. We first propose a model of Bayesian learning in which FOMC members learn from each other as they sequentially reveal their policy preferences in a committee meeting. Then, as an alternative, we investigate a model in which members defer to an emerging consensus. Neither model is supported by the data, suggesting that within‐meeting deliberation might have had little effect on the quality of monetary policy decisions in the Burns era. (JEL E520, E580)     

Managing Care and Joined Up Thinking in the Curriculum

This paper discusses the curriculum development of a level three undergraduate course in managing care. It was produced and is presented by The Open University. The course is aimed at frontline managers in health and social care. The course team made consultation with service users, carers and managers a priority in developing the curriculum. The paper discusses this consultation process and the learning gained from it. A major contribution was to clarify debates about how far the course should have one core curriculum and how far it should offer specialist options for managers in different settings. Service users and carers had strong views on the need for better co‐ordination of services and recognition of individual needs rather than divisions into service‐led categories. Managers stressed the importance of reflecting the reality of frontline management. This helped the course team to develop a framework that stresses the commonality in the work and the importance of ‘practice‐led’ management. Service users and managers were involved as critical readers of course texts to ensure that the consultation process continued through the course development. A second strand is the need for the course to be accessible to those not yet in management positions, and extracts from an interactive CD‐ROM which presents case study material demonstrate the innovative joined up and accessible approach taken to student learning needs.     

Preparing for social work with refugees using enquiry and action learning

Internationally there is a need for social workers to be prepared to work with refugees and displaced persons. In many countries including the UK it may be difficult to ensure this is included in basic professional courses, especially if these are based on traditional disciplines, or if curriculum content is already overloaded. An approach to learning is described which is problem-led, and based on self-directed small group study, through which teaching and learning about work with refugees has successfully been included at a British school of social work.     

Patterning in Citations: An Analysis of References to George Herbert Mead

Abstract

Family work in dual-earner families has been studied extensively, but the focus has been primarily on household tasks and child care, neglecting the component of health care behavior. In this paper, I introduce scales to study the performance of family health care behaviors in dual-earner families. The items assess topics such as who arranged and accompanied family members to health care appointments, who left work early or took time off from work for health care, and who handled the paperwork of medical expenses. The sample consisted of 174 married women employed in health care and education. The study results indicate that the health care scales are reliable. They are also not highly correlated with demographic variables that might affect the utility of the scales to examine how health care behaviors are linked to other family work.     

‘Colour and communion’: Exploring the influences of visual art-making as a leisure activity on older women's subjective well-being

Research into the subjective experience of art-making for older people is limited, and has focused mostly on professional artists rather than amateurs. This study examined older women's motives for visual art-making. Thirty-two participants aged 60-86 years old were interviewed. Twelve lived with chronic illness; twenty reported good health. Nearly all had taken up art after retirement; two had since become professional artists. Participants described their art-making as enriching their mental life, promoting enjoyment of the sensuality of colour and texture, presenting new challenges, playful experimentation, and fresh ambitions. Art also afforded participants valued connections with the world outside the home and immediate family. It encouraged attention to the aesthetics of the physical environment, preserved equal status relationships, and created opportunities for validation. Art-making protected the women's identities, helping them to resist the stereotypes and exclusions which are commonly encountered in later life.     

The changing relationship between obesity and educational status

The increasing prevalence of obesity in the adult population has important implications for the health status of the population. Understanding the reasons for this increase will provide guidance in developing public health approaches to address the problem. In this paper we examine the changing relationship between educational attainment and obesity. We use annual cross-sectional survey data (National Health Interview Survey) of non-institutionalized adults aged 18 years or older conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control. Our results show that the educational advantage in obesity is declining. The prevalence of obesity among those with more than a high school education has increased at a faster rate than it has among those with less than a high school education between 1984 and 1994 (76 percent versus 41 percent among whites and 77 percent versus 27 percent among blacks). If the prevalence of obesity by educational level had stayed the same, the increased educational attainment of the population would have led to a decline in overall obesity prevalence. If the educational differentials in obesity had not changed, obesity would have been expected to increase from 11.77 percent to 15.62 percent of the population between 1984 and 1994, compared to the 18.21 percent observed. In contrast to expectations, the increased educational level of the adult population has not resulted in a decline in obesity. Although future cohorts of older adults are likely to be better educated, they also are more likely to be obese, leading to increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. Her research focuses on the patterns of health and illness in the elderly population, particularly the effects of obesity on later life health. Sandra L. Reynolds received her Ph.D.in Gerontology from the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California in 1996, after which she joined the faculty at the University of South Florida's School of Aging Studies. Her research interests include guardianship, advance directives, elder abuse, trends in health and disability, obesity, and active life expectancy.     

TWO TO TANGO? GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE DECISIONS TO PUBLISH AND COAUTHOR

The existence of old boy networks has long been postulated as a possible explanation for the presence of gender differences in market outcomes but with little empirical support because of the difficulty of measuring network access. This article exploits the unique attributes of academic labor markets and detailed data on individuals and jobs for PhD economists over nearly four decades. The results suggest that networks impact the joint decision to publish and coauthor, that these network effects differ by gender, and that gender differences in network access change over time as women become more well represented in a profession. (JEL J44 , J77 , J24 )