Hidden in full view: the organization of public secrecy in Miéville’s The City and the City

ABSTRACT

In this article, we explore China Mieville’s novel The City and the City as a literary experiment for analyzing the dynamics of public secrecy. We explore public secrets as an intrinsic part of organizational life and as a framework for paying attention to the politics of organizing. First, we focus on the novel’s invention and use of the verb ‘unseeing’ to bring out the embodied and sensuous aspects of public secrecy as part of organizational processes. Second we unfold how, although the content of public secrets may turn out to be less spectacular than expected, it is exactly their mundaneness which is key to their political importance. This is important because in an increasingly disorganized and uncertain world, secrecy proliferates and the visibility of secrecy is often a strategic move to justify certain hidden actions.     

Semi‐parametric Estimation in a Single‐index Model with Endogenous Variables

We consider a semiparametric single‐index model and suppose that endogeneity is present in the explanatory variables. The presence of an instrument is assumed, that is, non‐correlated with the error term. We propose an estimator of the parametric component of the model, which is the solution of an ill‐posed inverse problem. The estimator is shown to be asymptotically normal under certain regularity conditions. A simulation study is conducted to illustrate the finite sample performance of the proposed estimator.     

Shape constrained kernel density estimation

In this paper, a method for estimating monotone, convex and log-concave densities is proposed. The estimation procedure consists of an unconstrained kernel estimator which is modified in a second step with respect to the desired shape constraint by using monotone rearrangements. It is shown that the resulting estimate is a density itself and shares the asymptotic properties of the unconstrained estimate. A short simulation study shows the finite sample behavior.     

Imperfect competition,border protection and consumer boycott: The future of the dairy industry in Israel

Recent increases in prices of dairy products in Israel led to consumer unrest and boycotts against dairy producers during the summer of 2011. The Israeli dairy industry is highly distorted with production quotas and administered prices for raw milk, tariff rate quotas and an oligopoly in dairy processing. Since the issue of self-sufficiency and food security is at the top of Israel's national priorities, the future of the dairy industry is generating heated debate. Thus, we use a general equilibrium model to estimate the effects associated with particular alternative policies actually discussed to liberalize the Israeli dairy industry.     

The Emperor's new clothes: South Africa's attempted transition to developmental social welfare and social work

This article critically interrogates the depth and quality of change of post‐apartheid welfare policy and social work practice towards a social development paradigm against the background of inequality and poverty in South Africa. It asks several questions: what kind of welfare system has the current welfare dispensation created? How far has it moved from a residual, ameliorative system to an institutional developmental system, in keeping with the developmental welfare paradigm? To what extent can residual provisions be transformed into developmental processes? What conditions are necessary for this to happen? The answers to questions such as these provide the basis for assessing South Africa's new developmental processes. The article highlights the fundamental contradictions in social development policy imperatives, which call for a marriage of economic and social considerations, and the internal contradictions across and within various welfare policies. Further, it argues that the government does not have the political will to bear the costs of the substantive change that the move towards developmental social work requires, choosing instead limited, individually targeted and ameliorative measures, such as increased social security spending. Thus, it suggests that ideological critique, consciousness raising and participation in public policy debates remain crucial for those who seek long‐term solutions to inequality and poverty in South Africa.     

Produktrückgaben und Preise im Versandhandel: Ein internationaler Vergleich

E-Commerce sales have been constantly rising over the past years. Among the reasons for this trend are advantages such as reduced search costs and low transaction costs for the buyer. A disadvantage of online shopping is that customers cannot inspect the product they buy online. In Germany, customers are entitled to get full refund when withdrawing from any distance selling. Customers can withdraw from a contract within two weeks without any explanation. Many retailers in the USA do not refund the full price to the customer in case of product return and charge restocking fees. A reason for such a restrictive return policy is the reduction of opportunistic product returns. In this paper, the authors compare prices in online-shops for identical products in the USA and Germany. The comparison shows that the alleged consumer protection achieved by a legal prohibition of restocking fees leads to higher average prices for electronic products in Germany.     

Natural relations: horses,knowledge, technology1

Maintaining the tensions and divisions between the human and non‐human, nature and culture has been a mainstay of Euro‐American thought. Drawing upon two studies of people's associations with horses, we examine how these divisions are being reworked in the social sciences as well in everyday life. We focus on how different ideas about ‘horses’, ‘horsemanship’ and how knowledge is acquired, accomplishes different social worlds. Specifically, what emerges in these differential discourses is that a paradox is put into play to make a distinction between traditional and contemporary ways of being in relation to nature and the animal; it is the paradox of what we want to refer to as ‘natural technologies’. We suggest that the paradox of ‘natural technologies’ is a proliferating feature of Euro‐American cultural life that troubles old divisions between nature and culture and propose that it indicates less about a politics of nature than a politics of culture. Specifically, we show that the preoccupation with bringing nature, and the non‐human, more into alignment with the human promotes ethics and equality as matters of lifestyle choice to the exclusion of very specific ideas about tradition, hierarchy, evolution and socialization.     

Einflussfaktoren auf Fehlzeiten und Maßnahmen dagegen

Determining factors of absenteeism and strategies against it Due to its increasing costs, institiutional absenteeism has become a central problem of successfull management. Most researchers differentiate between illness related and motivation related absenteeism. This distinction is not very useful, because it does not reflect the multifactorial causes of absenteeism. Intra-individual factors, societal context, company culture, working conditions, work-related tasks, and the behaviour of superiors play a critical role in determining the frequency and duration of sick leaves. A set of strategies is described in order to develop more motivating working conditions and a staff oriented management style. A project comprising a set of individual and collective strategies to reduce absenteeism is delineated.