‘Just kids playing sport (in a chair)’: experiences of children,families and stakeholders attending a wheelchair sports club

Children who use wheelchairs have few opportunities to play sport with their able-bodied peers and siblings. This appreciative, qualitative study explored the experiences of children, families and stakeholders at a wheelchair sports club. Participant observation, research activities, focus groups and interviews were used. Sixty-three people participated (37 children, 14 stakeholders, 10 parents, two older siblings). Thematic analysis identified one unifying theme (realising potential) and four main themes: invisibility of disability; ambivalence and attraction of the chair; fun and fellowship; and thrills and skills. The Cheetahs created opportunities for meaningful participation in wheelchair sports for children with and without disabilities.     

Competitive bidding — The probability of winning

A company bidding by sealed tender needs to know the relationship between their bid price and their chances of winning the contract. Previously published models for computing the probability of winning are examined and found to be inaccurate. The problem is reformulated, and a new general predictive model for computing the probability of winning is developed. The method of computation is illustrated by a simple worked example.     

Productivity of highly skilled immigrants: economists in the postwar period

Prior work finds declining immigrant quality in the postwar period that is linked to source-country and skill-composition changes associated with the 1965 Immigration Act. This paper uses a unique panel of foreign- and native-born American Economic Association members to show that the highly skilled experienced a similar shift away from European migrants toward those from Asia. However, the findings do not indicate that this change in source-country composition has been accompanied by a decline in quality; rather, the most recent cohorts of foreign-born economists appear to be more productive than their native counterparts.     

Role-Taking Accuracy in Medical Encounters: A Test of two Theories

Abstract

This paper tests five hypotheses derived from two contrasting theoretical perspectives on role-taking accuracy: a social contact theory and an institutional resource theory. We investigate how well doctors and patients perceive one another's perspectives in a medical encounter. The cumulative weight of the data supports the proposed social contact theory. Increased contact between residents and patients, as reflected in physician's year in residency, contributes to more accurate role-taking on the part of physicians. Conditions of social compatibility between doctors and patients vis a vis gender or race lead to more accurate role-taking. Finally, personal characteristics are better predictors of role-taking accuracy than institutional status variables such as type of residency training program or doctor's year in residency status.     

Rolling with the shakes: an insight into teenagers’ perceptions of recovery after the Canterbury earthquakes

Natural disasters are harmful worldwide events that inflict multiple psychosocial impacts on disaster-exposed individuals. A significant proportion of affected individuals are teenagers (13–18 years old) who, compared with adults, have been historically overlooked in disaster research. The literature is particularly sparse concerning teenagers’ recovery from natural disasters, specifically what recovery means to them and the contributing factors towards their positive recovery. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to gain deeper insight into this largely unexplored area by conducting five focus groups with teenagers (16–18 years) who experienced at least one of the Canterbury, New Zealand, earthquakes since and including the initial September 2010 earthquake. This study directly asked teenagers about their recovery over the three years after the initial earthquakes, with data being analysed using thematic analysis. Two main themes were identified: (1) perceptions of recovery, with three sub-themes (i) knowledge and being less frightened, (ii) talking about the earthquakes and (iii) shift in perspectives; and (2) contributing factors to recovery, with three sub-themes (i) participation in the community response, (ii) returning to school and (iii) the rebuild of Christchurch. These factors provide insight into how we can better support the recovery process for disaster-exposed teenagers to reduce long-term distress.     

A common-features analysis of Amsterdam and London financial markets during the eighteenth century

We examine the financial linkage between the London and Amsterdam financial markets using stock prices recorded in each market over the period 1723-94 in conjunction with tests for common trends, cycles, and regime shifts. These tests reveal a surprising degree of integration between the markets as their prices move together in both the short and long run. Moreover, shocks to the assets translate quickly and accurately between markets. It also appears that Dutch investment did not destabilize London markets and stock prices in London were the primary determinant of prices in Amsterdam.     

Poverty,Human Rights,and Global Justice: The Response-Ability of Multilateral Organizations

In this article we argue that questions about responsibility for eradicating poverty may be restated as ‘who is response-able?’—in other words, ‘who is capable of responding in such a way as to remedy the harm?’; and an important part of the answer is international organizations. Created and maintained by ourselves acting collectively, these organizations play an important role in making and applying global rules that often determine the capabilities of people to live dignified lives. And in the case of development organizations they are specifically mandated to act on behalf of the poor. This gives these organizations, and particularly the latter, a special responsibility. We argue that multilateral organizations are ‘response-able’, in the sense that they are uniquely placed to act by virtue of the powers that we, the people of the world, have given them: economic resources, expertise, and the political legitimacy they enjoy by virtue of their mandates. We argue further that people have a responsibility as individuals to ensure that the organizations fulfil these tasks to the best of their ability: to use their power, expertise, and political position to promote a fair and egalitarian world driven by the avoidance of poverty.

En este artículo sostenemos que las preguntas que se hacen sobre la responsabilidad de erradicar la pobreza, deberían replantearse cuestionando ‘¿quién es el responsable?’, en otras palabras, ‘¿quién es capaz de responder en tal modo para remediar el daño?’: y una parte importante de la respuesta está en las organizaciones internacionales. Estas organizaciones que han sido creadas y mantenidas conjuntamente por nosotros, desempeñan un papel importante en crear y mantener las normas globales que frecuentemente determinan las capacidades de la gente para llevar una vida digna. En el caso específico del mandato de las organizaciones para el desarrollo, deben actuar en representación de los pobres. Estas organizaciones, en particular, tienen una responsabilidad específica. Sostenemos que las organizaciones multilaterales son ‘responsables’, en el sentido de que fueron elegidas por los habitantes del mundo, exclusivamente para actuar en virtud de los poderes que nosotros les dimos: recursos económicos, expertos, y la legitimidad política que poseen mediante los mandatos. Además argumentamos que las personas tienen la responsabilidad como individuos, de asegurarse de que las organizaciones cumplan con sus tareas de la mejor forma posible: utilizando su poder, su especialización y conocimiento y utilicen su posición política, para promover un mundo justo y equitativo eliminando de la pobreza.

在本文中,我们认为有关消除贫困的责任问题也许可以重新表述为“谁是有响应能力的？”——换句话说,“谁具有以一种修补危害的方式进行回应的能力？”。答案的一个重要部分是国际组织。通过我们自己的集体行动,这些组织得到建立与维系,它们在制定和执行通常决定人们生存尊严能力的全球规则方面扮演着重要角色。而发展组织则尤其被授权代表穷人的利益。它赋予这些组织（尤其是后者）一种特殊的责任。我们认为,多边组织是“能够回应的”,这就是说,它们是唯一被置于采取行动地位的主体,因为世界民众给予其这种权力：经济资源、专业才干以及它们根据授权享有的政治合法性。我们进一步论证道,人们作为个体有责任确保这些组织以其最大的努力去完成这些任务：运用它们的权力、专业知识和政治地位,通过消除贫困以推进一个公正与平等的世界。