Is Materialism All That Bad? Effects on Satisfaction with Material Life, Life Satisfaction, and Economic Motivation

The literature in economic psychology and quality-of-life studies alludes to a negative relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. In contrast, the macroeconomic literature implies a positive relationship between material consumption and economic growth. That is, materialism may be both good and bad. We develop a model that reconciles these two contrasting viewpoints by asserting that materialism may lead to life dissatisfaction when materialistic people evaluate their standard of living using fantasy-based expectations (e.g., ideal expectations), which increases the likelihood that they would evaluate their standard of living negatively. In turn, dissatisfaction with standard of living increases the likelihood that they would evaluate their life negatively. However, materialistic people who evaluate their standard of living using reality-based expectations (e.g., ability expectations) are likely to feel more economically motivated than their non-materialistic counterparts, and this economic motivation is likely to contribute significantly and positively to life satisfaction. Survey data were collected from seven major cities each in a different country (Australia, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Germany, Egypt, Korea, Turkey, and the USA) using a probability sample (cluster sampling method involving income stratification). The results provide support for the model. The economic public policy implications concerning how people evaluate their standard of living using ability-based expectations are discussed in the context of the ideals of meritocracy.     

Linking Advertising,Materialism, and Life Satisfaction

This paper develops theory related to advertising, materialism, and life satisfaction by formally testing explanations related to the antecedents and consequences of materialism. Survey data were collected from seven major cities each in a different country (Australia, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Germany, Egypt, Korea, Turkey, and the USA) using a probability sample (cluster sampling method involving income stratification). The results showed that the extent to which advertising is perceived to be materialistic contributes to materialism. Materialism, in turn, leads to the frequent use of various standards of comparison in making judgments about standard of living. As judgments about standard of living increase, standard of living is evaluated more negatively. In turn, negative self-evaluations contribute significantly to dissatisfaction with life.     

Contamination,deception and ‘othering’: the media framing of the horsemeat scandal

Food and consumption practices are cultural symbols of communities, nations, identity and a collective imaginary which bind people in complex ways. The media framed the 2013 horsemeat scandal by fusing discourses beyond the politics of food. Three recurrent media frames and dominant discourses converged with wider political debates and cultural stereotypes in circulation in the media around immigration and intertextual discourse on historical food scandals. What this reveals is how food consumption and food-related scandals give rise to affective media debates and frames which invoke fear of the other and the transgression of a sacred British identity, often juxtaposing ‘Britishness’ with a constructed ‘Otherness’.     

Using econometric analysis of willingness-to-pay to investigate economic efficiency and equity of domestic water services in the West Bank

The paper is aimed at providing evidence on economic efficiency, and equity of distribution of domestic water services in the West Bank. The study utilizes the CVM as a means of monetizing public preferences and households’ WTP. In the CVM questionnaire, the dichotomous choice with follow-up debriefing questions format is followed by an open-ended follow-up question was undertaken. A second questionnaire survey was directed to employees from water institutions, which was mainly designed to investigate the reasons behind the full absence of private sector in the provision of water supply. The two samples were selected to ensure a representative samples in accordance with the Palestinian case. The main findings of this paper gauged the WTP with key socioeconomic variables suggested by economic theory and previous CVM studies. These results provide information on economic efficiency and equity of water distribution. The results will allow decision makers to develop new policies that can achieve more efficient and equitable domestic water services.     

Regression model for surrogate data in high dimensional statistics

Abstract

This paper deals with the problem of estimating the regression of a surrogated scalar response variable given a functional random one. We construct an estimator of the regression operator by using, in addition to the available (true) response data, a surrogate data. We then establish some asymptotic properties of the constructed estimator in terms of the almost-complete and the quadratic mean convergences. Notice that the obtained results generalize a part of the results obtained in the finite dimensional framework. Finally, an illustration on the applicability of our results on both simulated data and a real dataset was realized. We have thus shown the superiority of our estimator on classical estimators when we are lacking complete data.     

The Securitization of Migration: A Racial Discourse1

As we enter the informational economy, freedom of human mobility has nearly disappeared. Instead, powerful words are travelling the globe unhindered: risk and security. They are being strung together with the present “migration phenomena”, leaving migrants bound by the chain of the new security discourse: the securitization of migration. This discourse is racism's most modern form. Discursive practices, as seen through the press portrayal of 599 migrants reaching Canada's western coast, have transformed migrants into agents which threaten “human security” How discourse informs government policy is illustrated through an examination of Canada's new immigration legislation.     

Reviewing building construction statistics in Turkey: Stakeholders’ perspective

Construction is one of the industries of strategic economic importance. Governments using their national institutions are involved in the collection of economic statistics, which indicate the state of their economy in the form of an annual time series. However, the completeness and accuracy of these statistics is frequently questioned by the stakeholders within the sector. Therefore there is an increasing need for accurate, manageable and reliable statistics to enable sound analysis of the construction sector. The main purpose of this research is to review building construction statistics in Turkey. The objectives of the review are to 1) engage with users to ascertain their views on the statistics and to identify their needs, and 2) investigate whether the statistics in their present form continue to meet user needs, and identify options for change. As part of the review, a user consultation exercise is carried out to identify whether user needs are met by the statistics, as well as to ascertain users’ views on the European Statistical System (ESS) key dimensions of the quality of the statistics. This review of building construction statistics will facilitate statistical information to be presented in a more comprehensive manner, with sufficient detail, highly reliable in terms of quality and responsive to dynamic changes of the sector (such as inflation and structural adjustment policies).