Anticipated (Grand-)Parental Childcare Support and the Decision to Become a Parent

Based on a cost-reduction argument, this study explored whether anticipated childcare support from their mothers influenced adult daughters’ decisions to have their first child. Using six waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam), discrete-time hazard models (N = 3155 women) were estimated for the transition to the decision to have the first child. Anticipated childcare support from the women’s mothers was approximated by the travelling distance between adult daughters and their mothers, a measure whose suitability was tested empirically. The results indicated that women in a position to anticipate having access to childcare support in the future decided to make the transition to parenthood earlier. This finding highlights both the strength of social interaction effects on fertility decision-making and the importance of intergenerational relationships for individual fertility histories already at their very beginning.     

Applying multivariate techniques to high-dimensional temporally correlated fMRI data

In first-level analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging data, adjustments for temporal correlation as a Satterthwaite approximation or a prewhitening method are usually implemented in the univariate model to keep the nominal test level. In doing so, the temporal correlation structure of the data is estimated, assuming an autoregressive process of order one.We show that this is applicable in multivariate approaches too - more precisely in the so-called stabilized multivariate test statistics. Furthermore, we propose a block-wise permutation method including a random shift that renders an approximation of the temporal correlation structure unnecessary but also approximately keeps the nominal test level in spite of the dependence of sample elements.Although the intentions are different, a comparison of the multivariate methods with the multiple ones shows that the global approach may achieve advantages if applied to suitable regions of interest. This is illustrated using an example from fMRI studies.     

Strategic Renewal: Past Research,Theoretical Tensions and Future Challenges

Strategic renewal has become a prominent theme in a variety of organization and management research domains in recent years. It refers to the process that allows organizations to alter their path dependence by transforming their strategic intent and capabilities. With contributions from an increasing range of theoretical perspectives and research contexts, the strategic renewal literature has become fragmented and lacks common definitions and conceptual clarity, which prevent cross‐fertilization and harm further development. This study systematically reviews the various literature streams on strategic renewal to provide a more integrative perspective. The authors identify three key theoretical tensions at the heart of strategic renewal research, namely learning vs. resource, induced vs. autonomous, and co‐alignment vs. co‐creation. By exploring these key tensions, the authors define strategic renewal's conceptual core, identify gaps in the past literature, and provide guidance for future research.     

Applying a longitudinal interpretive multi-case research method to study the employee impact of operations management systems in a micro firm setting

Abstract

While many operations management journals are now publishing interpretive studies, there is still a need for more material on how to carry out such work under the interpretive gestalt. By offering a research account of a longitudinal interpretive multi-case study, this paper seeks to contribute to the literary gap in ‘how to do it [interpretive research]’. The purpose of this paper is to document a longitudinal operations management study in three micro-firms, where the catalyst for this study is the implementation of an electronic operations management system in each case. The paper chronicles the authors’ experience in a four-year multi-case study, and as such provides insight into design, development and execution of longitudinal interpretive operations management research, and the building of a theoretical model. While blueprints are not the purpose of such reflections, they can provide insight and advice to researchers, which is the underlying goal of this paper.     

„Da gibt es Sachen,die macht man einfach nicht“ – Deutungsmuster von Banken im Kontext von Nachhaltigkeit und Krise

Banks in Germany are experiencing a profound legitimacy crisis. In the wake of financial and economic crises, failures, and bailouts, as well as new oversight and stricter regulations, banks have lost the reputation and trust they once had. The present article uses an analysis of interpretative patterns to examine how banks seek to legitimize themselves in times of crisis, with reference to sustainability as a guiding principle of society. Following the concept of social legitimacy by new institutionalism in sociology, and based on discursive interviews with 18 representatives of German banks, we reconstructed three interpretative patterns: a) the differentiation from “bad” banks, which abandons profit-maximizing business models and promotes the moral superiority of sustainable banking, b) responsibility for society, which promotes the role and responsibility of banks as socially relevant actors that spur social change, and c) “right” return, whereby banks seek an appropriate relationship between their value orientation and a return on investments. Although a return on investment is economically necessary and confers legitimacy, it may not be understood as an end in itself. Banks discredited during the crisis can refocus on a banking model which promises social legitimacy by referring to sustainability.     

BITCOIN 1, BITCOIN 2, ....: AN EXPERIMENT IN PRIVATELY ISSUED OUTSIDE MONIES

The value of bitcoin depends upon self‐fulfilling beliefs that are hard to pin down. We demonstrate this for the case where bitcoin is the only form of money in the economy and then generalize the message to the case of multiple bitcoin clones and/or a competing fiat currency. Some aspects of the indeterminacy we describe would no longer hold if bitcoin were an interest‐bearing object. (JEL D50, E42)     

Psychometric Properties of the Family Inventory of Resources and Stressors in Families of Children with Emotional/Behavior Disorders: Ethnic/Racial and Developmental Differences

The Family Inventory of Resources and Stressors (FIRST) has been shown to have adequate psychometric properties in the assessment of families of children with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD). However, the extent to which ethnic/racial and developmental differences moderate the psychometric properties of this instrument is unknown. The study sample consisted of 150 families with an EBD child consecutively admitted to the Astor Transitions Program. This study seeks (1) to conduct a psychometric analysis of the FIRST subscales among African American and Hispanic/Latino families with older students versus early childhood students with EBD, and (2) to determine whether profiles will show greater stress for families of older students due to longer exposure to their EBD. Alpha coefficients were computed with a cutoff of 0.70 (or higher) indicating acceptable internal consistency reliability. Criterion variables reflecting family environment, mental health, and level of service correlated with relevant FIRST subscales assessed validity. Ethnic/racial and developmental effects were found to moderate the psychometric properties of the FIRST. No statistically significant between-group mean differences on the FIRST were found for families of early childhood versus older EBD students. Despite evidence of response bias on the part of families and lack of standardization during test administration by caseworkers, the current findings still reveal adequate reliability and limited validity of FIRST subscales.     

The Effects of Ethnic Minority Adolescents' Ethnic Self‐Identification on Friendship Selection

This study investigated the effects of ethnic minority adolescents' ethnic self‐identification (host country, dual, or heritage country) on friendship choices among ethnic majority and minority peers. Hypotheses were derived from similarity–attraction and social identity theory and tested using longitudinal social network data from 1,004 middle school students (five schools) in Germany. Results showed that ethnic minority adolescents' ethnic self‐identification affected friendship selection beyond ethnic homophily. While host country and dual identification was beneficial with respect to friendships with both ethnic majority and minority peers, heritage country identification was detrimental to relations with both of them.     

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.     

If Human Rights Mattered

This article is a response to Judith Blau's ( 2016 ) essay, “Human Rights: What the United States Might Learn from the Rest of the World and, Yes, from American Sociology.” Here, I argue that if human rights mattered, then liberty could be assured. And absent human rights, liberty is a sham.