Does board gender diversity affect firm risk-taking? Evidence from the French stock market

Journal of Management and Governance - Drawing from a sample of French companies that made up the SBF 120 index over the period 2006–2010 (before the enactment of the...     

"Who believes most in me and in my recovery": the importance of families for persons with serious mental illness living in structured community housing

In this article, the authors report on qualitative findings on the role of family in supporting recovery for mental health consumers living in structured, community housing in a large Canadian city. Despite living separately from families and relying heavily on formal services, residents identified their families more often than mental health professionals, friends, and residential caregivers as those who most believe in them and their recovery. Families supported recovery by providing affection and belonging, offering emotional and instrumental support, and by staying actively involved with residents. Families are a vital, untapped resource for social workers in promoting independent living.     

An Alternative Estimation Approach for the Heterogeneity Linear Mixed Model

In this article, an alternative estimation approach is proposed to fit linear mixed effects models where the random effects follow a finite mixture of normal distributions. This heterogeneity linear mixed model is an interesting tool since it relaxes the classical normality assumption and is also perfectly suitable for classification purposes, based on longitudinal profiles. Instead of fitting directly the heterogeneity linear mixed model, we propose to fit an equivalent mixture of linear mixed models under some restrictions which is computationally simpler. Unlike the former model, the latter can be maximized analytically using an EM-algorithm and the obtained parameter estimates can be easily used to compute the parameter estimates of interest.     

Interdisciplinary team discussion on work environment issues related to low back disability: a multiple case study

From both a social and cost-benefit perspective, disability prevention and associated management strategies for assisting employees with back pain are only successful if they address critical return-to-work (RTW) determining factors present in the workplace, including ergonomic factors. Despite our current knowledge of the importance of an integrated team approach targeting these factors, questions remain regarding the conceptual framework adopted by contemporary rehabilitation teams as it relates to work-oriented interventions to accommodate employees back to work. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the work environment issues discussed by an interdisciplinary team engaged in the work rehabilitation process of low back disability cases. A qualitative content analysis was conducted for 10 sample cases that underwent a rehabilitation program in Quebec (Canada). Drawing on the results of these analyses, a framework representing a synopsis of practitioners' involvement in the person-environment dynamic is presented and discussed. This study makes a unique contribution to the understanding of the 'real-life' content of an interdisciplinary activity in disability management, thus, helping rehabilitation practitioners to build knowledge on the practical application of a cross-disciplinary framework to address work environment issues during the RTW process of those patients sick-listed due to back pain.     

Transborder Activism in the Americas: Exploring Ways to Better Assess and Learn from Less Powerful Forces,Towards Other Possible Worlds

Are we observing the emergence of a global civil society or a counter-hegemonic movement able to challenge the forces of neoliberal globalization? Is ‘Another World’ really possible and in the making, as World Social Forum (WSF) participants have suggested? Who could lead the movement toward a more just, democratic, and ecological world order? A growing number of scholars and activists are grappling with these questions. However, these questions mask other important aspects of transborder activism and political moments of resistance. Examining various cases of transborder activism in the Americas, this paper highlights the value and limits of a range of studies on contemporary forces promoting sociopolitical change, especially in the field of international political economy (IPE). The paper draws from field research and incorporates insights from activists' own situated knowledge to highlights the unexpected developments and political imaginaries that may emerge in the public realm during events like counter-summits or the World Social Forum (WSF) processes, for instance.

¿Estamos observando la emergencia de una sociedad civil global o un movimiento contra-hegemónico capaz de retar las fuerzas de la globalización neoliberal? Y es posible, como sugirieron los participantes del Foro Social Mundial (FSM), ¿“Otro Mundo” en formación? ¿Quién podría liderar el movimiento hacia un orden mundial democrático y ecológico? Un número creciente de académicos y activistas están enfrentándose a estas preguntas. Sin embargo, estas preguntas enmascaran otros aspectos de activismo transfronterizo y los momentos políticos de resistencia. Examinando varios casos de activismo transfronterizo en las Américas, este artículo subraya el valor y los límites de un rango de estudios sobre fuerzas contemporáneas que promueven el cambio sociopolítico, especialmente en el campo de la Economía Política Internacional. El artículo extrae de la investigación de campo e incorpora el propio entendimiento profundo de los activistas para destacar los desarrollos inesperados e imaginarios políticos que puedan emerger en el ámbito público, como por ejemplo, durante los eventos, como en las cumbres opuestas o en los procesos del Foro Social Mundial (FSM)

     

Therapeutic Return to Work: Rehabilitation in the workplace

Therapeutic Return to Work is a work rehabilitation program linking graded work exposure with functional restoration therapy for chronic low back pain. This study evaluates the impact of the program on stable return to work (RTW) and compares it with the impact on RTW of three frequently used ways of management of back pain (normative comparison). At two year follow-up, 93% of participants of the Therapeutic Return to Work program were working. This rate was higher than in the comparison groups. Although limited by its norm-referenced evaluation design, the results of this study indicate the importance of placing the work site in the center of the of work rehabilitation process. In this program occupational therapists make full use of the client's natural environment.