Comparing the transpirational and shading effects of two contrasting urban tree species

Urban Ecosystems - Urban trees are getting increasing attention as a tool to mitigate urban heat island effects. A more functional and quantitative view of transpirational and shading effect,...     

Quality of College Life (QCL) of Students: Further Validation of a Measure of Well-being

This paper reports a study designed to further validate a measure of quality of college life (QCL) of university students (Sirgy, Grzeskowiak, Rahtz, Soc Indic Res 80(2), 343–360, 2007). Two studies were conducted: a replication study and an extension study. The replication study involved surveys of 10 different college campuses in different countries. The results of the replication study provided additional nomological (predictive) validation support of the measure based on a theoretical model mapping out the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction with college life. With respect to the extension study, the focus was to further test the nomological validity of the QCL measure by arguing and empirically demonstrating that the consequence of QCL is life satisfaction. The extension study involved a survey of three college campuses in different countries. The results were also supportive of the nomological validity of the QCL measure.     

Exceptional contributions to US science by the foreign-born and foreign-educated

This paper contributes to the debate on high-skilled migration byexamining whether the foreign-born and foreign-educated are disproportionatelyrepresented among individuals making exceptional contributions to science and engineering (S & E) in the U.S. Six indicators of scientific achievement areused: individuals elected to the National Academy of Sciences and/or National Academy of Engineering, authors of citation classics, authors of hot papers, the 250 most-cited authors, authors of highly cited patents, and scientistswho have played a key role in launching biotechnology firms. We do not claim that this list is exhaustive, merely illustrative. Using a variety of sources, we are able to determine the birth andeducational origin of 89.3% of the study group of over 4,500 scientists and engineers. For each indicator of scientific achievement, we test to see if the observed frequency by birth (or educational) origin is significantly differentfrom the frequency one would expect given the composition of the scientific labor force in the U.S. We find that although there is some variation by discipline, individuals making exceptional contributions to S & E in the U.S. aredisproportionately drawn from the foreign born. Only in the instance of hot papers in the life sciences were we unable to reject the null hypothesis that the proportion is the same as that in the underlying population. The most frequent country of origin in the life sciences is Great Britain followed by Germany. In the physical sciences the reverse is true. We also find that individuals making exceptional contributions are, in many instances, disproportionately foreign educated, both at the undergraduate and at the graduate level. We conclude that immigrants have been a source of strength and vitalityfor U.S. science and, on balance, the U.S. appears to have benefited from the educational investments made by other countries. We do not investigate, however, whether U.S. scientists and engineers have borne part of thecost of the inflow of foreign talent by being displaced from jobs and/or earning lower wages. Nor do we investigate the cost to the countries of origin.     

Refugee Protection Meets Migration Management: UNHCR as a Global Police of Populations

This article investigates the complex relationship between the practices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the field of refugee protection and the more recent political rationality of ‘migration management’ by drawing from governmentality studies. It is argued that the dissemination of UNHCR's own refugee protection discourse creates certain ‘figures of migration’ allowing for justifying the build-up and perfection of border controls, which in turn enable any attempt to ‘manage’ migration in the first place. Conversely, the problematisation of population movements as ‘mixed migration flows’ allows UNHCR to enlarge its field of activitiy despite its narrow mandate by actively participating in the promotion, planning and implementation of migration management systems. Based on ethnographic research in Turkey and Morocco, this article demonstrates, furthermore, that UNHCR's refugee protection discourse and the emerging migration management paradigm are both based on a methodological nationalism, share an authoritarian potential and yield de-politicising effects. What UNHCR's recent embracing of the migration management paradigm together with its active involvement in respective practices then brings to the fore is that UNHCR is part of a global police of populations.     

Bonuszahlungen an Geschäftsführungen: Wodurch werden Gerechtigkeitsurteile von Erwerbstätigen beeinflusst?

Managerial compensation in large companies is subject to many critical concerns; this holds particularly for bonus payments. Empirical evidence shows that nearly three quarter of the German population perceive managers’ incomes as unfairly high. Based on an own survey, we examine what drives fairness perceptions of bonus payments for managers: When do employees assess bonus payments for managers within their own company as unfairly high? Under which conditions do they accept high bonus payments? The analyses show that acceptance decreases with the estimated amount of bonus paid. It increases, however, if aspects of procedural and distributive justice are taken into account.     

Outsiders and Intrapreneurs: The Institutional Embeddedness of Social Entrepreneurship in Germany

The social entrepreneurship discourse in Germany has become more prominent at a time when the deeply rooted corporatist traditions of social provision have come under pressure for marketization. This article examines the potential role of “social entrepreneurs” in the institutionally established German welfare state. The article analyzes the opportunities and constraints that new players face. Drawing on survey data and case studies in the areas of elderly care and advancement of children with immigrant background, the analysis retraces the structure and diffusion of social entrepreneurial projects. It concludes that the simple transfer of the social entrepreneurship model is unlikely. The analysis suggests that successful social ventures in Germany adapt the notion of social entrepreneurship to prevalent institutional realities. In the context of more encompassing social services, dense decentralized networks, and different cultures of philanthropism, new players have a complementary role that stimulates rather than dominates the process of social innovation.     

Competing risks quantile regression at work: in-depth exploration of the role of public child support for the duration of maternity leave

Despite its emergence as a frequently used method for the empirical analysis of multivariate data, quantile regression is yet to become a mainstream tool for the analysis of duration data. We present a pioneering empirical study on the grounds of a competing risks quantile regression model. We use large-scale maternity duration data with multiple competing risks derived from German linked social security records to analyse how public policies are related to the length of economic inactivity of young mothers after giving birth. Our results show that the model delivers detailed insights into the distribution of transitions out of maternity leave. It is found that cumulative incidences implied by the quantile regression model differ from those implied by a proportional hazards model. To foster the use of the model, we make an R-package (cmprskQR) available.