The effect of incentive regulation on productive efficiency in telecommunications

Incentive regulation is now an important regulatory tool in the telecommunications industry in the United States. The issue explored here is whether incentive regulation has resulted in an increase in productive efficiency. After providing an overview of the nature of incentive regulation, one methodology for measuring the effects of incentive regulation on productive efficiency is reviewed. This methodology is data envelopment analysis (DEA) and allows for the measurement of both scale efficiency and technical efficiency of individual local exchange carriers (LECs). The results indicate that most LECs were technically efficient over the 1988–1998 period. Four LECs, however, consistently demonstrate scale inefficiency. In the aggregate, however, based on the DEA results there was no identifiable improvement in aggregate LECs' technical efficiency between 1988 and 1998. Subsequently, an alternative methodology, a stochastic frontier production function approach, is considered. The results from this methodology confirm that there was no change in technical efficiency over the period of study, something that incentive regulation was specifically designed to enhance.     

Subjective discount rates among Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews

In this study, we compare the subjective discount rate for Israeli Jews and Arabs. All the subjects were bank customers, who were asked to bid and ask prices for delayed fixed amounts and for lotteries. The two populations live in the same country under the same laws. Nevertheless, according to the literature, Israeli Arabs seem to be a discriminated minority, who exhibit traits of a traditional collectivist culture, while Israeli Jews are a majority, who exhibit traits of an individualistic culture. As a discriminated minority, Israeli Arab may suffer from lower trust and as a result, according to the “trust” hypothesis, exhibit higher subjective discount rates and higher risk aversion. On the other hand, according to the “cushion” hypothesis, a collectivist society such as Israeli Arabs, provides a safety net for the individual and as a result, he will exhibit lower subjective discount rates and lower risk-aversion. The experimental findings show that the subjective discount rate and risk aversion of Israeli Arabs are significantly higher than that of Israeli Jews. Moreover, higher percent of Israeli Jews are at the low range of the discount rates (below 10%) and lower percent of Israeli Jews are at the high range of discount rate (above 20%) compared to Israeli Arabs. This is consistent with the “trust” hypothesis. For Israeli Jews, the discount rates are closer to the bank interest rate, while Israeli Arabs rates are much higher particularly for receipt. The dispersion of the distribution of discount rate is much larger for Arabs than for Jews.     

Personal Security and the 'Right' to Protection

Welfare organizations and social services deal with issues of personal security. They are involved in risk assessment and in the protection of individuals and families. However, their mission in this domain is not defined, and its boundaries are not set. The article discusses the right to personal security. The duty of the state to guarantee this right is stated by international declarations and conventions that were ratified by the United Kingdom, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights that was adopted into domestic English law. In the application of the right to personal security, and the state's duty to secure this right, two independent processes are taking place. First, in the United Kingdom, the English courts are reluctant to recognize an affirmative right to personal security and to impose on state and public agencies a duty to secure this right. Second, as in many other service areas, this duty is rendered to the community. It is vital for the social services to discuss this duty, especially when they are called to vouch for the personal security of individuals and families in the community.     

Personal Safety and the Mixed Economy of Protection

Many People report a growing fear of crime and victimization and a wish to promote their personal safety. The State, which has traditionally maintained the monopoly over law enforcement, is unable to guarantee personal safety to all. In addition to the State, therefore, for profit and non profit organizations fund and produce services to secure the safety of citizens and their property, creating the “Mixed Economy”of protection. This paper briefly discusses the right to personal safety and highlights eight alternative models included in the “Mixed Economy”of protection. It discusses the models and their implications for the community.     

Becoming a black Jew: cultural racism and anti‐racism in contemporary Israel

Many scholars consider ‘identity’ and ‘identity politics’ to be among the most important means for cultural minority groups to challenge a discriminatory reality. Others caution that these processes might result in the polarisation of differences, potentially fuelling hatred, harsh conflict, exclusion and even violence. The tension between these two views is presented in this article through an examination of the way young Ethiopian Jews whose parents immigrated to Israel in the late 1980s and early 1990s have developed their own particular identity precisely in the course of and as a result of the encounter with Israeli society and its mechanisms of exclusion, discrimination, and control. The state declared a policy of assimilation, but in practice relegated the new arrivals to a status of inferiority and marginality. As a result, young Ethiopian Jews reconstructed a new, complex and hybrid Israeli identity, in which blackness is one important element. This unique identity is presented in the paper as a crucial response by the youths to a discriminatory reality of cultural racism. However, the essay also raises doubts concerning their success in minimising their subjugation and in ‘de‐racialising’ Israel.     

THE TRADEOFF BETWEEN PERFORMANCE AND QUITTING IN HIGH POWER TOURNAMENTS

Tournaments may be characterized by the performance they induce as well as by the rate of quitting and dropouts of participants. Although most of the attention in the literature is on the performance induced by high power incentives, there are many daily situations in which dropouts and quitting are a major concern. Using a field experiment in schools and a model of dynamic tournament we examine the effect of different levels of rewards on the rate of quitting. Our experiment indicates that there is a possible tradeoff between performance and quitting. Strong incentives tournaments induced participants to exert more effort and exhibit a better performance but, at the same time, it induces a higher rate of quitting. We present a multi‐stage tournament model that gives rise to a similar characterization.     

Nonviolent resistance: a treatment for parents of children with acute behavior problems

Nonviolent resistance (NVR) is a new training model aimed at helping parents deal effectively with their helplessness, isolation, and escalatory interactions with their children. The purpose of this study is to evaluate training in NVR with the parents of children with acute behavior problems. Seventy-three parents (41 families) were randomly assigned to a treatment group and wait-list control group. Measures were taken at pretreatment, posttreatment, and a 1-month follow-up. In comparison with the wait-list group, parents who received training in NVR showed a decrease in parental helplessness and escalatory behaviors, and an increase in perceived social support. The children's negative behaviors as assessed by the parents also decreased significantly.     

Multi dimensional system for evaluating preventive program for upper extremity disorders among computer operators

Typing is associated with musculoskeletal complaints (MSCs), caused by multiple risk factors. Although a wide variety of ergonomic intervention programs were conducted to reduce risk factors and MSC's, only few of them were found evidence based. This study aimed to test the efficacy of a workplace intervention in reducing MSC's among computer workers. 66 computer workers were assigned randomly to one of three intervention programs: ergonomic intervention including biofeedback, intervention without biofeedback and control group without intervention. The efficacy was tested by advanced assessment including; pain location and severity, posture at work, upper extremity 3D kinematics, muscle activity and psychosocial status. Working hypothesis; significant score differences will be found between the study groups which underwent ergonomic intervention and the control group on the following measures: pain complaints, upper extremity kinematics, muscle activity and psychosocial status. Significant differences were found between pre and post intervention and between research groups and the control group in pain, posture and motion. The ergonomic intervention with biofeedback had no unique contribution in comparison to other interventions. In conclusion; the proposed intervention program was found efficient for reducing pain among computer workers.