Understanding the Relationship Between Egalitarianism and Affective Bias: Avenues to Reducing Prejudice Among Adolescents

In an era during which affirmative action in education is in jeopardy, it is important to understand how the ideologies of high-status ethnic group members maintain (or reduce) social inequality. We examine the extent to which the relationship between egalitarianism and prejudice among European American and Asian American adolescents can be explained by outgroup orientation (i.e., how much one values interacting with members of other ethnic groups) and strength of identification with one's ethnic group. Using structural equation modeling, we tested whether these two variables mediate the relationship between egalitarianism and intergroup prejudice. Results revealed that outgroup orientation was a mediator, but ethnic identity was not. Implications for mutual acculturation theory, prejudice-reduction programs, and affirmative action in education are discussed.     

Superior Sporting Performance in Athletics: Determinants and Sustainability

The article aims to contribute to the understanding of competitive dynamics and specialization in international sport by analyzing superior sporting performance (SSP) in international athletics in the period from 1999 to 2018. By applying iterative Kolmogorov‐Smirnov tests to annual bests, the study examines national SSPs. Contrary to theoretical considerations, less specialized countries are more likely to achieve SSP. Technical entry barriers and macrosocial factors also appear to play a limited role. SSP seems not to disappear due to increased international competition. The United States and Russia are identified as “sporting super powers,” able to persistently dominate a number of disciplines. The case of Russia poses fundamental questions concerning market distortions in international sport resulting from doping. The results come with substantial policy implications.     

Engaging diverse experts in a global environmental assessment: participation in the first work programme of IPBES and opportunities for improvement

The need for interdisciplinary expert groups from different regions of the world to be involved in the fields of sustainability science and environmental change research is increasingly recognised. The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES) was established in 2012 as a science-policy interface and has gone beyond previous initiatives in its articulation of a clear commitment to inter- and transdisciplinary approaches that mandate a diversity of genders, disciplines and regional backgrounds within its expert groups. The first IPBES work programme, carried out between 2014 and 2018, has been supported by 17 expert groups, comprising over 1000 experts, who have been selected from over 2000 government and stakeholder nominations through formal procedures. In this paper, we present and critique the framework through which IPBES identifies and selects experts to participate in its processes. In addition, we synthesise and carry out a quantitative analysis on the expert nomination and selection data relating to the first assessment activities of IPBES. Identifying that the balance of regions, genders, disciplines and knowledge systems represented within these expert groups is still disproportionally dominated by male natural scientists from the Global North, the paper makes recommendations of how to better engage knowledge holders from different disciplines and diverse knowledge systems in future iterations of the IPBES work programme.     

DIMENSIONS OF MACROECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY: A COMMON FACTOR ANALYSIS

Uncertainty about the future course of the economy is a potential driver of aggregate fluctuations. To identify the distinct dimensions of uncertainty in the macroeconomy, we construct a large dataset covering all types of economic uncertainty. We then identify two fundamental factors that account for the common dynamics in this dataset. These factors are interpreted as macroeconomic uncertainty. The first factor captures business cycle uncertainty, while the second factor represents oil and commodity price uncertainty. While both types of uncertainty generate a decline in output, time‐varying oil and commodity price uncertainty is more important for fluctuations in real activity. However, nonlinearities seem to amplify the effect of business cycle uncertainty during the global financial crisis. (JEL C32, C38, E32)     

Werbe-Management in jungen Wachstumsunternehmen

New ventures with above-average growth potential vary significantly with regard to their success and show on average high failure rates which may be traced back to their lack of reputation in the market. This study examines whether systematic advertising planning and control can exert a positive influence on new venture performance and whether these effects vary across life cycle stages. The research model is based upon the contingent resource-based view and has been tested with a sample of 181 new ventures with high growth potential. Findings indicate that, indeed, a large portion of new venture performance can be explained by targeted planning and control methods and tools. As regards advertising control, a moderating effect of life cycle stages emerges: While a negative relationship between advertising control and performance exists in early stages, this relationship becomes significantly positive in later stages.     

What is the “right” market orientation for new entrepreneurial ventures?

A general notion in research on entrepreneurial marketing is that new ventures that adopt both strong market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation outperform other firms. The present research provides a more fine-grained analysis of this common wisdom. First, while extant research focuses on responsive market orientation, this research seeks to differentiate responsive from proactive market orientations in young ventures. Second, the study examines the moderating effects of the degree of entrepreneurial orientation on proactive and responsive market orientation’s performance consequences in the context of new ventures since these ventures must understand which orientations are worth pursuing, especially given their resource constraints. The theoretically developed research model is tested using survey data of 259 ventures in operation less than fifteen years from five national cultures in order to detect national dependencies and establish the robustness of the findings. Recommendations concerning which type of market orientation entrepreneurial and less entrepreneurial new ventures should follow are provided.