Credential Effects and the Returns to Education in China

Using the China Household Income Project (CHIP) data for 1995 and 2002, we examine the returns to education in China, separating out credential effects from pure years‐of‐schooling effects. The results are broadly consistent with the implications of China moving towards a market‐oriented economy: increasing returns to education where both years of schooling and credentials from completing key phases are rewarded; a decline in the importance of credentials as firms have more discretion to select the best‐suited employees irrespective of their credentials; more emphasis on credentials in the state sector; less emphasis on credentials for long‐tenured employees for whom the employer has more opportunity to assess productivity without relying on credentials; and a greater importance of credentials for females for whom the value of such signals may be more important.     

Two faces of union voice in the public sector

Summary and Concluding Observations Employee voice through unions is manifest in various ways in the public sector including unionization itself, strikes, political activity, and challenging managerial prerogatives. In each of these areas there are two faces to voice just as there are two faces to unions. Voice can be used in a more influence-peddling and muscle-flexing bargaining fashion to enhance rent seeking and noncooperative behavior with negative effects on productivity, competitiveness, and resource allocation. Voice can also be used more positively by articulating preferences and trade-offs, improving communications, and involving employees and enhancing their commitment to the organization. In all likelihood both faces of voice apply to unions in the public sector just as they do in the private sector. In the private sector, however, the negative monopoly face of unions has been increasingly constrained by competitive market forces such as globalization and trade liberalization as well as by the industrial restructuring to services and the information economy. Rents are obviously harder to obtain when there are fewer rents on the bargaining table. There is little survival value to pricing yourself out of the market now that market forces are more prominent. In such a private sector environment, unions have generally declined, strikes have dissipated, and managerial prerogatives have been enhanced.     

Spirituality,Religion, and Career Development: Current Status and Future Directions

The growing interest in the role that spirituality and religion play in mental health has spawned research investigating the relationships between spirituality, religion, and career development. To date, only a limited number of studies have explored these variables in tandem, but generally these investigations have found aspects of spirituality and religion to relate positively to career decision self‐efficacy, career values, and job satisfaction. Theoretical models that explore the connection between these variables are outlined, and future research directions and counseling implications are suggested.     

People and Pixels 20 years later: the current data landscape and research trends blending population and environmental data

Population and Environment - In 1998, the National Research Council published People and Pixels: Linking Remote Sensing and Social Science. The volume focused on emerging research linking changes...     

Career Maturity of Students in Accelerated Versus Traditional Programs

The authors assessed the career maturity of students in accelerated versus traditional academic programs. Students in traditional programs were hypothesized to be more advanced regarding their career decision making and development when compared with students in accelerated programs. The Medical Career Development Inventory (see M. L. Savickas, 1984) was administered to 441 medical students. Results showed that students in traditional programs had significantly greater career crystallization and career specification. Interventions are needed to further the career maturity and developmental tasks of students in accelerated programs.     

White women and affirmative action in employment in six southern cities

The purpose of this research is to examine data from 167 randomly selected businesses on the impact of affirmative action and white female employment in six representative Florida cities. OLS regression analysis was used to explore the independent effects of affirmative action among other employment-related predictors. While white women are doing relatively well in the job market, employer support for affirmative action has no significant influence on their employment, even at higher job levels.     

基于生态系统的管理如何融入城市环境政策——以西华盛顿为例

全球范围内城市聚落的增长影响着人类对自然资源的管理,从而促使自然科学和社会科学的学者们提倡以基于生态系统的途径来管理人类聚落。尽管过往有不少探讨基于生态系统管理(ecosystem-based management,以下简称EBM)的文献,但在制定环境政策时,却极少有城市和区域规划师将EBM因素考虑在内。本文对西华盛顿州的城市规划师在审视关于环境政策的科研数据时,在多大程度上运用EBM原则进行评估。笔者采用了现成文献中对EBM的定义,采访了42位在西华盛顿工作的环境规划师,询问其在审视有关科研数据时会考虑哪些EBM因素,并对访谈数据进行内容分析。结果显示,规划师们在审视与制定环境政策相关的科学文献时,会考虑监测、机构间合作、生态边界、价值取向乃至适应性管理等因素,但对于尺度、生态完整性和机构改革等因素,则会遇到阻碍或者说不会明确考虑。本文还阐述了为何有些EBM因素得到重视而另一些却被忽略,最后对通过应用EBM原则来改良城市环境政策的制定提出了建议。