Power indices and minimal winning coalitions

The Penrose–Banzhaf index and the Shapley–Shubik index are the best-known and the most used tools to measure political power of voters in simple voting games. Most methods to calculate these power indices are based on counting winning coalitions, in particular those coalitions a voter is decisive for. We present a new combinatorial formula how to calculate both indices solely using the set of minimal winning coalitions.     

Queer theory, late capitalism, and internalized homophobia

The emergence of queer theory represents a transformation in the approach to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered peoples. It has claimed new ground for treating sexuality and gender as worthy subjects in their own rights, rather than offshoots of gay and lesbian studies or of general cultural theory. The author contends, however, that it is doubtful that this approach can lead to social change. Queer theory has dismissed the usefulness of the disciplines that were the foundation of the social movements that initiated gay and lesbian studies, such as political economy, and in doing so, it has surreptitiously mirrored the social relations of reproduction that constitute late capitalism. This mirroring has had unseen consequences for the individual in society, and with queer theory's insistence on the relativity of experience and the dismissal of identity, has set the stage for a benign reinforcement of internalized homophobia. The author argues that this approach can be mediated by recognizing that identity is fluid, and that by focusing on identifying with social movements rather than centering analyses on the problems associated with identifying as a particular category of status and being, we can refocus our energies on the building and maintenance of mutual support and collective recognition that can lead to resolving the stagnation now dominating attempts to develop coalitions around issues that matter.     

Kooperation unter Konkurrenten? Regionale Kulturmuster und soziale Praktiken betriebsübergreifender Personalwirtschaft

During the recent financial and economic crisis, trade unions and employers’ associations have increasingly concluded collective agreements on so-called “collegial temporary work” that enables flexible deployment of employees, especially for small and medium sized enterprises. Empirical results show large differences in the application of those collective agreements: While the possibilities of the agreements were sometimes actively used in some regions, companies in other regions avoided implementation – despite their potential to cope with important challenges of economic crises and skill shortages. The paper selects a structuration theory perspective to analyze the reasons for the differences in the practice of this human resource management strategy by comparing two German regions (Braunschweig and the Ruhr area). The differences in the practices can be traced back to regional cultural patterns, interests of key actors, and the degree of involvement during the implementation period.     

The gender composition of corporate boards: A review and research agenda

In recent years, the composition of boards and, particularly, the inclusion of women on boards has attracted significant scholarly interest and public debate. In this article, I comprehensively review the academic literature on board gender composition. Using the systematic review method, I ask whether women directors really are different from men on boards, what factors shape board gender composition, how board gender composition affects organizational outcomes, and finally, why board gender quotas and other forms of regulation are introduced and what outcomes can be expected. Based on my findings, I develop a conceptual framework that clarifies the causal processes underlying both women's access to boards and the effects of women's presence on boards. Finally, I offer a research agenda designed to enrich our understanding of board gender composition.     

An Integrative Framework of the Information Systems Development Process*

Despite more than 25 years of research on the processes and outcomes of information systems development in organizations, deficiencies exist in our knowledge about the effective management of complex systems development processes. Although individual studies have generated a wealth of findings, there is a need for a cumulative framework that facilitates interpretation of what has been learned and what needs to be learned about the process of information systems development. This paper reviews prior research on ISD processes and identifies the different types of contributions that have been made to our growing knowledge. More important, it generates a cumulative framework for understanding the process of ISD that could provide a valuable template for future research and practice.     

Do antidepressants work? Statistical significance versus clinical benefits

Ours has been called the Prozac generation but, earlier this year, newspaper front page headlines screamed "Antidepressants don't work". Our authors' reanalysis of drug trials was widely reported as implying that antidepressant drugs such as Prozac are overprescribed and useless. The truth, as Blair T. Johnson and Irving Kirsch explain, is more complex, and more interesting.     

Pneumatologie und die Konstituierung soziospiritueller Gemeinschaften

This chapter brings together approaches from social anthropology and sociology in order to explore with a view to ethnographic research data from southern Africa (Zambia) the relationship between the life-world effects of Pentecostal theologies relating to the Holy Spirit (pneuma) on the one hand, and Pentecostal modalities of constituting translocal communities on the other. This focus allows to question conventional understandings of religious sociality as well as to carve out three different ways of establishing what I call ‘socio-spiritual communities’: In the mode of the ‘logistics of the spirit’, a given Pentecostal community expands in the socio-spatial logic of a network, meaning that the spatial movements of the Holy Spirit run parallel to the spatial movements of its human vessels; in the mode of the Holy Spirit’s ‘self-multiplication’, Pentecostal sociality takes the form of a scattering in which autonomous enclaves of spiritualization are connected to each other; finally, ‘spiritual scaling’ represents a mode of spiritual omnipresence in socio-religious space that is affected by changes in the Holy Spirit’s scalar morphology.     

Response to “Revisiting ISO 14000 Diffusion: A New ”Look“ at the Drivers of Certification”

In Corbett and Kirsch (2001), we used a simple regression in an exploratory investigation of drivers of global diffusion of ISO 14000 certification. We found that ISO 9000 certification levels, environmental treaties ratified, and exports as a proportion of GDP were the main significant variables, where the environmental measure may be moderated by GDP per capita. In his replication study, Vastag (2004, in this issue) analyzes the same data using more visual techniques, specifically regression trees, and finds support for the significance of ISO 9000 certification levels and environmental treaties ratified, but not for export‐propensity. Vastag raises a number of relevant methodological issues, to which we add some perspectives here.