Touch, Sexuality and Power in Residential Settings

Summary This paper examines areas of concern surrounding touch, sexualityand associated power in residential establishments. The placeof touch and the expression of sexuality are considered in relationto residents and staff. It is suggested that these are importantfactors in framing a concept of residential care based on rightsand duties, and that current practice often takes a limitedperspective of some of the fundamental needs of residents     

OFFSHORING PRODUCTION: A SIMPLE MODEL OF WAGES,PRODUCTIVITY, AND GROWTH

We examine the relationship between offshoring and the labor market in an occupational choice model of trade and endogenous growth where workers are employed on the basis of their individual skill levels. Trade liberalization leads to offshoring and reduces employment in the manufacturing sector. Displaced workers move into traditional and innovation sectors according to their skill levels, shaping real wages and aggregate productivity in the manufacturing sector. The paper aims to show how inter‐sectoral labor market adjustments, highlighted by skill heterogeneity, could be a possible explanation for the simultaneous rise in productivity and reduction in real wages that have coincided with the sharp escalation of offshoring activities in the U.S. manufacturing sector since 2004. (JEL F16, F23, J24)     

CHANGEABLE WEATHER IN A COOLING CLIMATE ATOP THE LIBERAL PLATEAU: CONVERSION AND REPLACEMENT IN FORTY-TWO GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY ITEMS, 1972-1989

This article tracks trends (early 1970s to late 1980s) in U.S.opinion for 42 General Social Survey items with liberal/ conservativeovertones. The broad question is whether the great "liberal"shift since World War II has ended; the narrow issue is therelative importance of cohort succession and intracohort shifts.Despite common impressions, the overall trend is more liberalthan conservative, but it conceals opposing "weather" and "climate"processes. Within cohorts ("weather") I find a conservativetrend between the early and late 1970s and a liberal "rebound"in the 1980s. Between cohorts virtually all items show smallbut cumulative liberalizing produced by cohort succession. Thesecohort effects are declining in magnitude because the associationbetween year of birth and liberalism is nonlinear. I find acurvilinearity such that Americans born after World War II arenot consistently more liberal than their predecessors. Thisshift is not explained by the lesser schooling of youngest adultsor by ceiling effects. Consequently, I predict lessening ofthe liberalizing "climate" produced by cohort succession. Allthese propositions are qualified, depending on the topic, andthe analysis takes heed of the notorious age/period/cohort identificationproblem.     

ADVANCE PRODUCTION,INVENTORIES, AND MARKET POWER: AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION

We report an experiment that assesses the effects of alterations in production conditions and product durability on market power in Bertrand‐Edgeworth duopolies. Static equilibrium analysis predicts that advance (rather than “to demand”) production raises prices, but does not affect profits. The further addition of a simple inventory option causes prices to fall and seller earnings to increase. Contrary to these predictions, we observe similar prices in baseline and advance production treatments, but lower profits given advance production. An inventory option reduces both prices and earnings. Results are driven by the treatments' effects on sellers' capacities to tacitly collude. (JEL C9, D4, L4)     

Feelings and Emotions in Residential Settings: the Individual Experience

Summary This paper examines the impact of admission to residential care,makes a distinction between feelings and emotions, and suggestsways in which emotional habits are formed. Some of the feelingssurrounding primary needs are considered and examples are givenof the powerful emotional drives which result from the dailyinteractions of staff and residents. The need to acknowledgeparallel feelings and emotions in both the cared-for and thecare-givers is underlined together with the importance of constructinga framework of care which allows for the growth of the individualemotional lifestyles of residents.     

THE CYCLICAL BEHAVIOR OF PRICES AND RELATIVE PRICES

Price and output shock correlations provide information concerning macroeconomic shocks. Previous research generally finds small or negative correlations between real gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP deflator shocks but positive correlations between industrial production (IP) and consumer price index (CPI) shocks at short forecast horizons. We show that mismatched price and output correlations may have different magnitudes or signs than matched pairs. Matched and mismatched correlations between disaggregated prices and output from the GDP accounts indicate the procyclical price of nondurables to durables makes correlations between mismatches misleading. Thus, there is reason to be skeptical of results based on IP and the CPI. (JEL E31, E32)     

RIGHT-TO-WORK LAWS AND FREE RIDING

Many economists argue that state right-to-work laws, by disallowing union shops, encourage free riding and thus diminish union viability. Others counter that right-to-work laws are not enforced and that they represent local attitudes and employee characteristics which would encourage free riding in any me. We find that when other factors which affect free riding are taken into account, the marginal impact of right-to-work laws remains significant, although of a smaller magnitude than that found in previous bivariate studies.     

QUALITY AND WORK FORCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: THE MANAGERIAL PERFORMANCE IMPLICATION

Quality has been in the limelight as organizations have sought to create a competitive advantage and theorists have sought to understand the implications of quality management. This paper examines the synergistic effects of the quality emphasis in the organizations, the use of appropriate work force management practices, and the managerial performance outcomes as interactive phenomena. Using data from multiple levels of employees in manufacturing units in various industries, we tested hypotheses regarding the managerial performance impact of the synergy in work force management practices and the quality emphasis. The results indicate that the effectiveness of work force management practices in enhancing managerial performance varies with the emphasis on quality that is manifested by meeting and exceeding customer needs and preferences through accurate, consistent, reliable, and durable products, and by making design changes in the products as desired by the customer.     

THE IMPACT OF RESTAURANT CALORIE LABELS ON FOOD CHOICE: RESULTS FROM A FIELD EXPERIMENT

Using field experiment data, we compare the effectiveness of calorie labels to a “fat tax” at reducing calories ordered. Results from a structural model of consumer demand show that numeric labels did not influence food choice, but symbolic traffic light labels caused restaurant patrons to select lower‐calorie menu items; thus, adding a traffic light symbol could enhance the effectiveness of the numeric calorie label (as currently proposed by the Food and Drug Administration). Additionally, our model projects that labels can both reduce intake more than a 10% tax on high‐calorie items and a 10% subsidy on low‐calorie items. (JEL Q18, I18)