Government Governance (GG) and Inter-Ministerial Policy Coordination (IMPC) in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia

This paper focuses on the function of Inter-ministerial Policy Coordination (IMPC) and its critical role in governance. Following a definitional section, the authors give an overview of public sector governance in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia and discuss the application of governance principles to Inter-Ministerial Policy Coordination in these regions. They conclude with specific examples from the Republic of Macedonia and Central Asia.

Interval shrinkage estimators

This paper considers estimation of an unknown distribution parameter in situations where we believe that the parameter belongs to a finite interval. We propose for such situations an interval shrinkage approach which combines in a coherent way an unbiased conventional estimator and non-sample information about the range of plausible parameter values. The approach is based on an infeasible interval shrinkage estimator which uniformly dominates the underlying conventional estimator with respect to the mean square error criterion. This infeasible estimator allows us to obtain useful feasible counterparts. The properties of these feasible interval shrinkage estimators are illustrated both in a simulation study and in empirical examples.     

SELECTIVE RECOGNITION: HOW TO RECOGNIZE DONORS TO INCREASE CHARITABLE GIVING

Recognizing donors by revealing their identities is important for increasing charitable giving. Using a framed field experiment, we show that all forms of recognition that we examine increase donations relative to the baseline treatment, and recognizing only the highest or only the lowest donors has the strongest and significant effect. We argue that selective recognition creates tournament‐like incentives. Recognizing the highest donors activates the desire to seek a “positive prize” of prestige, while recognizing the lowest donors activates the desire to avoid a “negative prize” of shame. We discuss how selective recognition can be used by charities to increase donations. (JEL C93, D64)     

Jewish fearless speech: towards a definition of Soviet Jewish nonconformism

ABSTRACT

The article proposes a model for analyzing the utterances of Jewish nonconformism in the late-Soviet Russian literature, based on Michel Foucault’s theory of fearless speech and Eric Gans’ theory of the origins of culture. The utterances of nonconformism transform an asymmetrical conflict into symmetrical nonvictimary relations, in which a new, supposedly real identity of a figure is revealed and mobilized for protest. These new relations are based on mutual recodification of different discursive configurations – political, moral, social, aesthetical, metaphysical, or mystical. The discussion will focus on the selected novels of Fridrikh Gorenshtein, Felix Roziner, and, in greater detail, David Shrayer-Petrov.     

Can groups solve the problem of over-bidding in contests?

This study reports an experiment that examines whether groups can better comply with theoretical predictions than individuals in contests. Our experiment replicates previous findings that individual players significantly overbid relative to theoretical predictions, incurring substantial losses. There is high variance in individual bids and strong heterogeneity across individual players. The new findings of our experiment are that groups make 25% lower bids, their bids have lower variance, and group bids are less heterogeneous than individual bids. Therefore, groups receive significantly higher and more homogeneous payoffs than individuals. We elicit individual and group preferences toward risk using simple lotteries. The results indicate that groups make less risky decisions, which are possible explanations for lower bids in contests. Most importantly, we find that groups learn to make lower bids from communication and negotiation between group members.     

Random stopping sets in a sequential analysis of random measures and fields

A random stopping set is defined and some of its properties are proved. Namely, we prove the theorem on the absolute continuity of measures on a σ-algebra F_τ connected with a random stopping set τ, which can be applied to the sequential analysis of random measures and fields.     

Examining Associations between Occupation and Health by using Routinely Collected Data

When examining a large number of associations simultaneously, as happens when routinely collected data are used to assess associations between occupation and health, it is not obvious how best to identify associations requiring further investigation since some risks may be high, or low, by chance alone. We have developed an approach to deal with this problem which is relatively easy to apply and appropriate to applications where data are not too sparse. Observed to expected ratios are estimated using an empirical Bayes procedure. Anomalous associations can be seen as outliers in a normal probability plot of the log-ratios. The method is illustrated in the analysis of 252 000 cancers registered in men in England during 1981–87.     

The Only Gay in the Village? Everyday Life of Gays and Lesbians in Rural Slovenia

The article deals with the comparison of the characteristics, experiences, and perceptions of everyday life of gays and lesbians living in rural and urban areas of Slovenia. We focus on the following thematic aspects: (1) coming out; (2) intimate partnerships; (3) the access and the use of gay infrastructure; and (4) violence against gays and lesbians. The article also addresses and discusses the urban/rural divide as a Western construct that might not be completely applicable to other social and cultural contexts. Taking Slovenia as an example, this article questions the self-evidence of rural/urban divide as an analytical concept. On the basis of our research, we conclude that this concept requires continuous revisions and reinterpretations in a concrete social and cultural context(s). The characteristics of gay and lesbian everyday life either in rural or in urban context in Slovenia lead to the conclusion that even within a specific social and cultural context, the concept of urban/rural divide should be used carefully, taking into account complexities of everyday lives and various factors that influence them.     

Has immobility been left behind in migration regulatory infrastructures?

The article brings the concept of the immobile left-behind population into the migration infrastructure debates focusing on countries of migrants' origin. Drawing on an analysis of government's migration policy in Kyrgyzstan and interviews with stakeholders in rural areas, the article concludes that the government relies on a traditional sectoral approach and agriculture in this regard and stands separately from mobility contexts. The policy discourse around outgoing migration focuses on mobility but less engages with return migration and the situation with left behind. We show how remittances-dependant country keeps migration policy as a non-active management tool. A starting point for a more holistic policy approach that includes the left-behind population would be facilitating discussion of left-behind needs in regions with active outmigration, including a wide range of stakeholders from migrants, family members, local authorities and migrant organizations. That would require essential changes in how policies are formulated and implemented, including introducing a cross-cutting and multi-level governance approach.     

Using the RE‐AIM framework to identify and describe best practice models in family‐based intervention development: A systematic review

The family unit carries with it a responsibility of possibly being the most important predictor of positive child development. The aim of this systematic review is to identify and describe best practice models or processes in family‐based intervention development. The following databases were included in the review: PsychArticles, Academic Search Complete, ERIC, SocIndex, Sage, Sabinet, and Pubmed. Peer‐reviewed, English language, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods in nature conducted within the last 10 years. Interventions were required to include families as part of the programme as well as describe the model or process used in intervention development. Two self‐developed data extraction tables were developed for this review. The articles included for review were heterogeneous in terms of the outcomes, and so a narrative synthesis was used. After yielding an initial search of 400 studies, 28 articles were finally included for extraction and analysis with varying levels of intervention strength. Interventions are further described in terms of reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance dimensions. A feasible intervention appears to be one that is flexible, engages processes to recruit those who are most at‐risk and is facilitated by someone known to or from the same community as the participants, can retain its participants, and can be evaluated with the same participants at a minimum of 6 months later.