OLIGOPOLY CAPITALISM, LABOR ORGANIZATION, AND WAGES OF WORKERS IN AMERICAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

This article investigates the interaction between oligopoly power, labor unionization, and worker wages. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for workers in manufacturing industries little evidence is found that workers are exploited by oligopolistic employers, but rather wages for production workers increase with both unionization and employer's market power. There is evidence, however, that unionization reduces variation in wages due to increased oligopoly power.     

TAXATION, AGGREGATE ACTIVITY and ECONOMIC GROWTH: FURTHER CROSS-COUNTRY EVIDENCE ON SOME SUPPLY-SIDE HYPOTHESES

This paper investigates the effect of marginal tax rates on the level of economic activity. Data from sixty-three countries for the period 1970-84 provide support for Koester and Kormendi's method of estimating marginal tax rates for individual countries. However, their conclusion that increases in marginal tax rates have negative effects on the level of economic activity is not robust when we extend the time period from 1970-79 to 1970-84. Further, even for Koester and Kormendi's own data set, the negative relation does not hold when the sample is disaggregated into industrial countries and low-income countries.     

The effect of Monte Carlo approximation on coverage error of double-bootstrap confidence intervals

A double-bootstrap confidence interval must usually be approximated by a Monte Carlo simulation, consisting of two nested levels of bootstrap sampling. We provide an analysis of the coverage accuracy of the interval which takes account of both the inherent bootstrap and Monte Carlo errors. The analysis shows that, by a suitable choice of the number of resamples drawn at the inner level of bootstrap sampling, we can reduce the order of coverage error. We consider also the effects of performing a finite Monte Carlo simulation on the mean length and variability of length of two-sided intervals. An adaptive procedure is presented for the choice of the number of inner level resamples. The effectiveness of the procedure is illustrated through a small simulation study.     

Unfreiwillige Helfer von Selbstmördern

Using participant observation and interviews the article examines the social context of emotional stress experienced by railway drivers who are confronted with railway suicides. A consequence of activities around railway suicides is a lack of resources for drivers, to control their body and definition of the self. Whereas the view of dead bodies may be delegated to others, railway drivers are routinely made suspects of involuntary manslaughter. There are various strategies railway drivers have developed to cope with a suicide accident. It is stated a change in the emotional culture of engine drivers: in earlier times it was considered appropriate (and typical male) to bear the consequences of such an incident and not to talk about it, whereas today the naming and expression of emotions, most of the time in the course of psychological treatment, is a legitimate strategy. The authors argue, that coping with railway suicides mainly focuses on techniques to manage emotional stress, whereas activities that produce emotional stress in the first place are not appreciated.     

Comparing the Level of Positive Tendency in a Life Satisfaction Evaluation between Chinese and Western People

We demonstrate that people from Chinese cultural backgrounds have a smaller positive tendency in life evaluation compared to people in typical Western cultures. Participants first described their imagined best and worst life and then rated their current life on scale anchored by those imaginings (Mellor et al. International Journal of Social Research Methodology Theory and Practice, 2, 263–278, 1999), with scores above 50 indicating the strength of positive tendency. We compare responses from 82 Taiwanese students to data from the 22 Australian students in Mellor et al.’s (International Journal of Social Research Methodology Theory and Practice, 2, 263–278, 1999) study. Results of independent t tests support the hypothesis that culturally Chinese subjects have a lower positive tendency (65.32%SM) than Australian participants (76.12%SM) in life satisfaction evaluation. Shih-jung Lee and Chia-huei Wu have made equal contributions to this study.     

Estimation for the autoregressive moving average process observed with noise

SUMMARY The autoregressive moving average process ARMA (p,q) observed with noise has another ARMA (p,k) representation, where k = max (p,q). Parameters for the ARMA (p,k) representation satisfy some non-linear restrictions. We develop restricted Newton-Raphson estimators of the ARMA (p,k) process which takes advantage of the information given in the non-linear restrictions. The asymptotic relative efficiency of the estimators indicates that the proposed restricted Newton-Raphson estimator is more efficient than the unrestricted Newton-Raphson estimator. In a Monte Carlo experiment, the proposed estimator is shown to perform better than the unrestricted estimator of the ARMA (p,k) process.     

A discipline in peril: Sociology’s future hinges on curing its biophobia

Several lines of evidence are reviewed regarding sociology’s decline as a college major and as a respected academic discipline in recent decades. The present article attributes most of the decline tobiophobia, i.e., the tendency to avoid considering biological causes of human behavior. Four explanations are offered for sociology’s biophobia: semantic factors, lack of training in biology, exclusive focus on humans, and moral/political factors. Ironically, a recent survey indicated that most sociologists are at least mildly receptive to the view that biological factors play some role in several important aspects of human behavior, including academic achievement, sexual orientation, serious adult criminality, and even gender differences in aggression. In addition, many sociologists have proposed biosocial explanations of human behavior, although often having to publish in non-sociology outlets. The article ends by illustrating how biological and social factors can be combined to help explain a well-established relationship between religiosity and criminality.     

THE VOICES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MFT STUDENTS: SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

This study examined the issue of African-American participation in MFT academic programs. Data for the study came from surveys completed by 25 of the 29 program directors of AAMFT accredited MFT programs and from 90-minute telephone interviews with 15 of the 20 African-American students identified by the participating directors. Results indicate that African-American students and faculty are glaringly underrepresented in MFT master's and doctoral degree programs. For example, although African-Americans constitute 12.2% of the United States population and 5% of all master's degree recipients in the United States, less than 1% of all MFT master's degree recipients are African-American. Specific suggestions are offered by students and faculty for improving recruitment and retention of African-American students and improving program sensitivity to cultural and racial issues which may impede the full integration of the African-American student into the academic program and the profession.     

From the specter of Mao to the spirit of the law: Labor insurgency in China

Theory and Society -