Weights in Multidimensional Indices of Wellbeing: An Overview

Multidimensional indices are becoming increasingly important instruments to assess the wellbeing of societies. They move beyond the focus on a single indicator and yet they are easy to present and communicate. A crucial step in the construction of a multidimensional index of wellbeing is the selection of the relative weights for the different dimensions. The aim of this article is to study the role of these weights and to critically survey eight different approaches to set them. We categorize the approaches in three classes: data-driven, normative, and hybrid weighting, and compare their respective advantages and drawbacks.     

Pivotal Quantities Based on Sequential Data: A Bootstrap Approach

A bootstrap algorithm is provided for obtaining a confidence interval for the mean of a probability distribution when sequential data are considered. For this kind of data the empirical distribution can be biased but its bias is bounded by the coefficient of variation of the stopping rule associated with the sequential procedure. When using this distribution for resampling the validity of the bootstrap approach is established by means of a series expansion of the corresponding pivotal quantity. A simulation study is carried out using Wang and Tsiatis type tests and considering the normal and exponential distributions to generate the data. This study confirms that for moderate coefficients of variation of the stopping rule, the bootstrap method allows adequate confidence intervals for the parameters to be obtained, whichever is the distribution of data.     

The effect of teaching strategies on student achievement: An analysis using TALIS-PISA-link

The present study investigates the effects of different teaching strategies on student achievement using data from the so-called TALIS-PISA link created by the OECD. This is a recently developed instrument that allows for connecting data about teacher characteristics and practices collected in the TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey) survey with students’ academic performance measured in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). Our empirical strategy is based on an instrumental variable (IV) approach. Our results suggest that traditional teaching methods have a positive influence on students’ proficiency in mathematics, while the implementation of more innovative active learning strategies seem to have a negative impact on student achievement.     

The aesthetic life of artificial flavors

Abstract

Artificiality is usually understood as that which is man-made and is in contraposition to the natural. The term itself is increasingly recognized as a negative pole, while the label of “natural” is exploited as guarantee of healthiness in marketing food campaigns. This article takes issue with the natural/artificial debate by emphasizing the aesthetic side of artificial flavorings – chemical substances designed to alter or enhance the taste of processed foods. Here, I reconsider the conception of artificiality as a poor imitation of nature and instead underline the link between technology and aesthetics, by examining the practice of flavorists. Through ethnographic detail I call for moving the synthetic out of the “inauthentic” and argue that the attempt to mimic natural flavors through synthesis is not only an act of imitation and resemblance (as critics exclusively contend) but can also be thought as an act of representation and interpretation (as my fieldwork illuminates).     

Black adolescents' racial discrimination and suicide behaviors: Testing perceived school safety as a protective moderator

The current study examined associations between Black adolescents' (M_age = 15.55, SD = 1.23) racial discrimination and suicide behaviors (i.e., suicide ideation, suicide plan, and suicide attempts), and whether perceived school safety was a protective moderator. Furthermore, we tested gender differences in relations, which were not significant. Racial discrimination predicted greater suicide behaviors, and school safety informed less suicide behaviors. School safety moderated the relation between discrimination and suicide plan, such that at low school safety, discrimination predicted having a suicide plan but was not significant at high school safety. Furthermore, school safety moderated the relation between discrimination and suicide attempts. At low school safety, discrimination predicted more suicide attempts, but was not significant at high school safety.     

Determinants of Employment Decisions After the First Child Birth in Spain

The aim of this paper is to analyse impact of human capital on employment decisions (namely, entry and exit from employment) of first-time mothers in Spain. To carry out the analysis, we use the Fertility, Family and Values Survey of 2006. Transitions are studied via discrete-time duration models with control for frailty. The results indicate that education, previous work experience and living without a partner increase the likelihood of (re-)entering employment and decrease the likelihood of leaving employment after the first child than their low-educated, non-experienced and partnered counterparts. Women in recent cohorts register more (re-)employment transitions than the rest. However, no differences were observed in the transits out of employment across cohorts, which prove small progress in the work-life balance in Spain over the last decades. Finally, the circumstances around childbirth do not seem to influence employment decisions of first-time mothers.     

Service vs. manufacturing: how to address more effectively eco-innovation public policies by disentangling the different characteristics of industries

Eco-innovation is actually a fashionable topic, and several researchers are working on understanding the defining characteristics of firms that consider the environment as a priority when innovating. To date most of these studies have been carried out on manufacturing industries. This article investigates the similarities and differences among service and manufacturing firms. An empirical analysis of a sample of 5509 Spanish companies shows that the variables affecting the eco-innovative orientation of firms are quite similar. Results reveal that manufacturing firms have higher orientation toward the environment than service firms. Furthermore, highly polarized positions in environmental aspects can be found. Despite the limitations of the study, conclusions may help public policy to encourage environmental proactivity in service industry and innovation.     

Human factors identification and classification related to accidents'causality on hand injuries in the manufacturing industry

The causes of occupational accidents from the perspective of human factors have been a subject which has received little attention into the field of scientific research. The aim of this research was to identify and classify the human factors that influence human errors and failures that cause accidents and injuries specifically on hands. Available studies related to the topic have been developed mainly for aerospace applications and are found insufficient to explain accidents causalities in the manufacturing industry. This research was developed in the assembly industry of automotive harnesses and was conducted following a mixed Cognitive Anthropological approach. This study was developed in two phases. During the first qualitative phase, participants freely listed their knowledge to identify elements of the cultural domain, then and in the second phase they performed the successive pile sort technique for the collection data to classify elements in the cultural domain. Statistical models like Cluster Analysis and Multidimensional Scaling were applied for results' validation purposes. As results, 70 different human factors were identified and in the second phase they were classified into 4 main categories which were: human error, unsafe conditions, individual factors, and organizational factors. Statistical methods validated these results.     

Analysis of ergonomics conditions of a brand of mattress and pillows. University-industry project, Medellín-Colombia

This project presents an analysis of the ergonomic conditions of three types of mattress and three types of pillow. The products are manufactured by a Colombian company which specializes in flexible polyurethane foam and other products designed for rest and relaxation. The project was developed through the University - Industry relationship: a strategic partnership based on the knowledge and strengths of each component. The conceptual theories that underpin the Ergonomics Research Division of the Design Studies Research Group (GED) provided the methodological approach for the project: the characteristics, the requirements and the relationships that are established between the components that constitute the User - Product - Context system (basic principles of the Ergonomics - Design relationship). An important factor in the project was the conception and measurement of comfort. Comfort can be measured on an objective level (quantitative measurement), and on a subjective level (a user's particular perceptions and tastes). What constitutes 'comfort' can vary from person to person, thus making the identification of criteria for the standardization of consumer products problematic. This project enabled design recommendations to be made to the Company vis-à-vis future proposals for mattress and pillow products. This experience of applied research was carried out by professors and students from the Faculty of Industrial Design at the UPB in Medellín, Colombia.     

The footwear factory's assembly sector: opposing organizational structure and quality from the ergonomic work analysis

Data from 2006 indicated that Brazilian footwear leather industry was composed of approximately 9,488 formally registered establishments, considering the leather industry, footwear and leather goods. It was responsible for 211,582 people employed. However, in spite of having many employees, this kind of organization found several problems when analyzed from the ergonomics view. With this premise, then, in order to identify bottlenecks and other engineering problems that could cause discomfort and motivation lack among workers, leading directly to the loss of the product quality, the assembly sector of women's shoes factory was characterized.