Research report: a software solution for rapid policy assessment with reimbursed SMS and mobile cash

In this report, we introduce a system for running reimbursed surveys via text messages and mobile cash. The key advantage of this approach is the ability to conduct rapid surveys at an extremely low cost. After reviewing existing literature, we describe an automated system for conducting such surveys and demonstrate its merits in a proof-of-principle application in India. We obtain substantive insights on the effectiveness of a policy trial that are in line with expert assessments. This application suggests that our approach can be applied to a wide range of problems including impact assessment for policy or developmental aid, and monitoring of public sentiment, and possibly monitoring of conflict dynamics.     

Target setting for indirect processes: a new hybrid method for the continuous improvement management of indirect processes

Indirect processes are increasingly contributing to the total cost of production in highly competitive and technology-intensive industries. Unfortunately, they are less assessable than direct processes due to the complex organisational management structure. Therefore, companies seeking to make improvements in indirect areas need decision support methods to indicate which indirect process needs to be improved and to what extent. To facilitate this task, the target setting for indirect processes (TSIP) method has been developed following the constructive research approach. TSIP is a combination of process modelling, the analytic network process, activity-based management from managerial accounting research and the value control chart from target costing research in a kaizen budgeting framework. This new hybrid method is developed and validated in cooperation with a global first-tier automotive supplier.     

A simultaneous equation model of economic development and income inequality

The paper extends existing work on inequality and economic development by estimating a cross-country structural model that identifies bi-directional relationships between income inequality and other indicators of social and economic development. Overall, lower inequality is associated with improvements in other development indicators, but this is the result of several complex interactions. The most striking feature of the structural model is the insight it provides into the reasons behind the negative ‘Africa dummy’ in previous cross-country growth studies.     

Exact functionals and their core

Exact cooperative games or non-additive measures, coherent lower previsions and coherent risk measures are mathematically essentially the same. They are belong to the class of exact functionals on an arbitrary set of bounded functions. We investigate the exact functionals from a functional analytic point of view, i. e. we characterize this class by a norm, present a Hahn-Banach type theorem, provide a powerful construction method and adopt the concept of the core resp. σ-core from cooperative game theory. Received: December 2000; revised version: May 2001     

Qualität in der Personalberatung am Beispiel von Instrumenten der Personalauswahl

Empirical evidence shows that personnel selection methods positively contribute to the quality of the personnel selection process, which is one of the main fields of activity of personnel consultants. Unfortunately it is repeatedly mentioned in literature that selection methods could be implemented more efficiently. Personnel-consulting agencies and self-employed consultants bear a lot of responsibility regarding these aspects: they should recommend proven selection methods to their clients. In this article it is discussed how the selection process can achieve consistent quality.     

THE RISE OF THE EAST AND THE FAR EAST: GERMAN LABOR MARKETS AND TRADE INTEGRATION

We analyze the effects of the unprecedented rise in trade between Germany and “the East” (China and Eastern Europe) in the period 1988–2008 on German local labor markets. Using detailed administrative data, we exploit the cross‐regional variation in initial industry structures and use trade flows of other high‐income countries as instruments for regional import and export exposure. We find that the rise of the East in the world economy caused substantial job losses in German regions specialized in import‐competing industries, both in manufacturing and beyond. Regions specialized in export‐oriented industries, however, experienced even stronger employment gains and lower unemployment. In the aggregate, we estimate that this trade integration has caused some 442,000 additional jobs in the economy and contributed to retaining the manufacturing sector in Germany. This is almost exclusively driven by the rise of Eastern Europe, not by China. We also conduct an analysis at the individual worker level, and find that trade had a stabilizing overall effect on employment relationships.     

'Given up hope of dying': A child protection approach to deliberate self-harm in adolescents admitted to a paediatric ward

This paper describes an approach developed by a local authority social worker based in a paediatric department, working in close collaboration with consultant child and adolescent psychiatrists and paediatricians. The literature is informative on the significant psychosocial difficulties of young people who harm themselves deliberately, but there is little published work on the complexities of the actual multidisciplinary care given to these patients, the majority of whom are not actively suicidal by the time they are interviewed. The task is as much to intervene in the lives of young people at risk of harm or neglect as to prevent suicide.     

Problem gambling in the workplace, characteristics of employees seeking help

Few rigorous research studies exist to define the impact problem gambling may have on the workforce and the workplace. This study is an initial attempt to address this void by exploring the vocational patterns and demographics of callers with self report gambling problems to a state helpline. It utilizes Chi-squared Automatic Interaction (CHAID) Technique analysis to assess 1072 working age callers with gambling related problems. The goal of this exploratory investigation is to determine if the issue of problem gambling in the workplace warrants further research and, potentially, design of interventions. Discussion centers on the use of the information for development of employer based prevention and intervention efforts.