"SECRET BALLOTS" AND SELF-REPORTS IN AN EXIT-POLL EXPERIMENT

A controlled exit-poll experiment on Election Day (November3, 1992) shows that refusals to answer questions and other evasiveforms of responding were significantly lower when respondentswere given a self-administered "secret-ballot" questionnairethan when they were interviewed face-to-face. While there weresome suggestive interactions of this mode-of-data collectioneffect with age and sex, and with the partisan atmosphere ofthe precinct in which the interviews were conducted, they wereborderline in significance, inconsistent in pattern, or difficuitto interpret. More important, comparisons with official electionreturns (the truth) indicated that the secret-ballot techniquewas more accurate than were face-to-face interviews in estimatingthe final outcome on the most socially sensitive of three self-reportedvotes: a vote for or against a tax levy for elderly services.Using a genuine secret ballot in the tradition of the olderGallup preelection polls can thus increase the validity of self-reportsin exit polls today.     

Conceptualizing 'patriarchy'

Les théories féministes ont assigné des significations variées au concept de ‘patriarchié’. Dans cet article, j'identifie deux conceptualisations principales de ‘patriarchie’ que ?on retrouve dans la littérature: 1/ patriarchie en tant que dominance male, une caractéristique de la société; et 2/ patriarchie en tant que système autonome. La deuxième école de pensée a spécifié un concept de système ‘sex/gender’ qui représente un progrès théorique considérable. Je critique certains usages représentatifs de ‘patriarchie’ pour leur réductionnisme, et en particulier pour leur compréhension superficielle de la structure sociale et leur postulat ?un désir de pouvoir inné chez les hommes. Si ?on veut donner au concept de ‘patriarchie’ la moindre puissance analytique, son référent devra être constitué de ?intégration des processus de reproduction générationnelle, de reproduction des individus dans leur vie quotidienne au moyen du travail domestique et matemel, et de la production ?idéologie et ?identité sexées. Plus généralement, la compréhension de ?inégalité entre les sexes requiert que nos objets ?analyse incluent les niveaux structurel et individuel. This paper examines the different meanings that feminist theorists have given to the concept of ‘patriarchy.’ Two major conceptualizations appear in the literature: 1/ patriarchy as male dominance, a characteristic of society; and 2/ partriarchy as an autonomous system. Within the second school of thought, the specification of a ‘sex/gender system’ represents an important theoretical advance. I criticize representative treatments of ‘patriarchy’ for their reductionism, especially their crude understanding of social structure and their assumption of an innate male desire for power. I argue that if the concept of ‘patriarchy’ is to be given analytical depth, then its referent must be the integrated processes of generational reproduction, the reproduction of individuals in their daily lives through housework and motherwork, and the production of gender identity and ideology. More broadly, an understanding of gender inequality requires analysis both at the level of social structure and at the level of the individual.     

Restructuring Municipal Government: Labor-Management Relations and Worker Mental Health

Cette étude présente une enquête selon la méthode mixte sur l'association qui existe entre les relations travail-gestion et la santé mentale d'employés d'un secteur municipal subissant une restructuration de style nouvelle gestion publique. L'analyse des données du sondage ( N =902) démontre qu'il existe une relation relativement forte et constante entre les pratiques de gestion et la santé psychologique des employés. Des interviews réalisées auprès d'un sous-échantillon de 54 travailleurs révèlent que le contrôle excessif, l'incompétence et l'indifférence des gestionnaires combinés avec un minimum de récompenses soulignant les efforts consentis par les travailleurs ont pour conséquence que le personnel se sent dévalorisé. Nos résultats démontrent que la santé mentale des travailleurs a étéébranlée, en sapant leur estime de soi et en leur faisant perdre des possibilités d'améliorer leurs conditions de travail.
This study is a mixed-method investigation of the association between labor-management relations and employees' mental health in a municipal sector undergoing New Public Management-style restructuring. Analysis of the survey data ( N =902) demonstrates a relatively strong and persistent relationship between management practices and employee psychological health. Interviews with a subsample of 54 workers reveal that management's excessive control, incompetence, and unresponsiveness, combined with minimal rewards for workers' efforts, left staff feeling devalued. Our findings suggest that workers' mental health was harmed by the undermining of their sense of self-worth and the loss of avenues to improve their working conditions.     

Retrospective Earnings Data: Some Solutions for Old Problems

In this study using the recall method to collect longitudinalsalary data, it was found that information on past earningsis not substantially less accurate than that obtained for currentsalary. Retrospective information on earnings could be a usefulalternative to the costlier and more time-consuming panel operation.     

RETAIL REDLINING: ARE GASOLINE PRICES HIGHER IN POOR AND MINORITY NEIGHBORHOODS?

This study uses new data on retail gasoline prices in three cities to provide evidence on the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and consumer prices. We find that prices do not vary greatly with neighborhood racial composition, but that prices are higher in poor neighborhoods. For a 10% point increase in poor families relative to middle‐upper income families, retail gasoline prices increase by an average of 0.70%. Two‐thirds of this differential is explained by cost, competition, and demand characteristics of poor neighborhoods. The remaining differential likely reflects price discrimination in response to lower competition and/or more inelastic demand in poor neighborhoods. (JEL D43, J15, L71)     

THE IMPACT OF HIGH-TECH CAPITAL ON PRODUCTIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRALIA

This article examines the relationship between high-tech capital use and productivity. Using Australian data, some evidence is found of a positive relationship between high-tech capital use and productivity in the market sector, but there is much less evidence of excess returns. These results are robust to the use of a variety of different measures of high-tech capital. At the industry level however, the relationship is significant and positive for only some industries. This suggests that the benefits of investment in high-tech capital are not spread evenly across the economy. (JEL O3 )     

Occupational gender segregation of the Canadian labour force, 1931–1981

Nous presentom ici une Ptude des changements au sein du march6 du travail en ce qui a trait la segregation sexuelle. L'article debute avec des considerations sur la nature de la segregation sexuelle, puis un survol de la recherche canadienne et amPricaine i ce sujet. Notre analyse utilise les categories ocupationnelles du recensement, que nous pairons pour les recensements de 1931 i 1981. Les resultats de l'analyse montrent que le degre de segregation est demeurk trPs eleve jusqu'i la fin de la periode Ptudiee, bien qu'une certaine baisse soit enregistree dans les annees 1960 et 1970. Le pourcentage des travailleursl ewes occupant des emplois presque entiPrement skgrkgues a diminue. Cette tendance est plus marquee pour les emplois occupCs par des hommes que pour ceux occupPs par des femmes. Ainsi, la raison principale de la baisse du degre de segregation entre 1971 et 1981 semble Otre I'entree par un nombre significatif de femmes dans des occupations qui Ctaient jusque-la presque exclusivement masculines. Nous Ctablissons une liste des occupations ainsi towhees.
Following a discussion of the nature of gender segregation in paid work, and a review of American and Canadian research on the topic, we assess changes in gender segregation in the paid labour force, using census occupational categories, which were matched for adjacent pairs of censuses from 1931 to 1981. We find that gender segregation remained very high through 1981, although there was some decline in the 1960s and 1970s. There was also a decrease in the percentages of women and (especially) men in occupations almost entirely composed of same-gender workers. The chief reason for the decline in segregation between 1971 and 1981 appears to be the significant numbers of women who entered occupations that were formerly almost exclusively male. We list major occupations that are changing in this manner.     

Re-authorization of the Rehabilitation Act: Comprehensive solutions or political satisficing?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is widely hailed as a sweeping piece of civil rights legislation that will dramatically affect the lives of individuals with disabilities in the US for generations. In contrast, the re-authorisation of the Rehabilitation Act in 1992, and attempts to consolidate the rehabilitation programme for people with disabilities into a generic, consolidated employment system for the general public in 1995 brought only modest reforms. How does comprehensive reform get on the US political agenda? What factors were present during passage of the ADA that were not present during reauthorisation of the Rehabilitation Act? The author will use dominant political theories about policy making and agenda setting to answer these questions, and draw conclusions that will assist advocates in other countries in passing comprehensive civil rights legislation.     

Parental Rights Assumptions, The Passage of Time and 'Natural Justice': The Use of Section 3(1)(d) of the Child Care Act 1980

Summary This paper reports a study carried out in two Social ServicesDepartments, of 63 children in care under Section 2 of the ChildCare Act 1980, in respect of whom parental rights had been assumedunder Section 3 on the ground that they had been in Section2 care for three years or more. Some of the arguments put inthe debate about ‘natural justice’ in relation toparental rights assumptions are briefly considered in the introduction;recent changes in such assumptions are then outlined. The studyand its main findings are then presented, with reference tothe findings of other studies of parental rights resolutionswhere appropriate, Finally, the implications of the study forthe ‘natural justice’ debate are discussed. Theauthor's main conclusion is that the existing procedure is anomalousalthough Departments' use of it may be acrupulously careful.The grounds for assuming rights should be revised and the procedureshould be carried out by a family court.