LABOR SUPPLY OF POLITICIANS

Using data on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), we examine the impact of salaries on the composition and the behavior of legislators. Employing a differences‐in‐differences approach, we exploit the introduction of a law that equalized MEPs' salaries which had previously differed by as much as a factor of 10. Increasing salaries raises the fraction of MEPs who run for re‐election but decreases the quality of elected MEPs (proxied by college quality). Salary has no discernible impact on effort or legislation output. Higher salaries induce more political competition.     

A polynomial equation to predict low back compression force: accounting for the effects of load height on instability

The purpose of this study was to develop a regression equation that, incorporating the potential energy of the load in the hands, was capable of improved predictions of spinal compression forces. A stepwise polynomial equation was developed from EMG profiles of 15 muscles, and its spinal joint loading predictions at L4/L5 were compared to current methods of calculating spinal compression. Absolute muscle activation was shown to increase with increased loading height, indicating that the central nervous system responds to changes in spinal stability. The inclusion of potential energy into the calculation of spinal disc compression at L4/L5 improved estimates of the compressive forces acting on the spine. This is the first model to incorporate potential energy into a predictive model for lumbar spine compression without the use of electromyography. It was concluded that potential energy plays a vital role in dictating the recruitment patterns of the trunk.     

A time-varying measurement error model for age of onset of a psychiatric diagnosis: applied to first depressive episode diagnosed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI)

A substantial degree of uncertainty exists surrounding the reconstruction of events based on memory recall. This form of measurement error affects the performance of structured interviews such as the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), an important tool to assess mental health in the community. Measurement error probably explains the discrepancy in estimates between longitudinal studies with repeated assessments (the gold-standard), yielding approximately constant rates of depression, versus cross-sectional studies which often find increasing rates closer in time to the interview. Repeated assessments of current status (or recent history) are more reliable than reconstruction of a person's psychiatric history based on a single interview. In this paper, we demonstrate a method of estimating a time-varying measurement error distribution in the age of onset of an initial depressive episode, as diagnosed by the CIDI, based on an assumption regarding age-specific incidence rates. High-dimensional non-parametric estimation is achieved by the EM-algorithm with smoothing. The method is applied to data from a Norwegian mental health survey in 2000. The measurement error distribution changes dramatically from 1980 to 2000, with increasing variance and greater bias further away in time from the interview. Some influence of the measurement error on already published results is found.     

Decision‐making in child welfare services: Professional discretion versus standardized templates

The article explores differences in the assessment and decision‐making processes, in child welfare services where a standardized template is implemented and in services where it is not. Child welfare services in several countries use different approaches to assess children's and families' need for intervention. In Norway, as in other European countries, there is a shortage of knowledge about decision‐making strategies. The article examines how 36 child welfare caseworkers in 6 different teams in Norway investigate, assess, and make decisions at the phase of an incoming referral. The analysed data were collected by focus group interviews. We use decision theory as a theoretical frame of reference. The analysis shows variation in the assessment procedure at different points of the process, depending on which approach was used. Despite such differences, the final decisions made were almost identical. Even though the data has its limitations because of the small number of informants, the results indicate that choice of approach is not decisive for decision‐making in the child welfare services.     

Self-Reported Fears as Indicators of Young Children’s Well-Being in Societal Change: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Our main interest in this paper is in studying children’s well-being by using children themselves as informants and fear as an indicator of insecurity from cross-cultural and longitudinal perspectives. More specifically our paper documents the changes in the content and prevalence of children’s fears in two neighboring countries, Finland and Estonia, during the last decade. The study was carried out in 1993 and replicated in 2002/2003 in both countries with the random samples of total number of 420 five to six-year-old children (in Estonia 115 in 1993 and 91 in 2002; in Finland 105 and 109, respectively). For both countries the decade in question was a period of social, political and economic transition including post-socialist transformation in Estonia. Especially informationalization and globalization had a profound impact on the everyday life of parents and children. The increase of insecurity among children in both countries was expected. Children’s fears were investigated by means of an individual semi-structured and picture-aided interview. The most important findings are: the prevalence of children’s self-reported fears has generally increased during the ten years, especially among the Estonian children. The most significant increase was observed in both countries in fears of imagination-related things including television-related fears, fears of imagined creatures and of nightmares parallel to children’s increased media-exposure in daily life. Despite the increase of␣general welfare in both countries our results suggest the opposite tendency among young children; decrease of safety and increase of insecurity. The level of children’s insecurity was higher in Estonian than in Finland at both times. It is noteworthy that some fears of young children are ‚universal’ (fear of getting lost, fear of darkness, fear of being alone), while some fears are more context dependent (television-induced fears, fear of strange people). Young children proved to be competent informants of their condition and well able to provide essential and invaluable information about their problems and well-being. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Religiosity,quality of life,and survival in cancer patients

This study is based on a sample of 253 hospitalised cancer patients who filled out a 108 item-questionnaire, including indicators of quality of life and a two-item religiosity scale. A majority of the patients reported that their religious belief had been of support to them after they became ill from cancer. Religiosity was found to be significantly related to general satisfaction with life and feelings of hopelessness. A Cox regression analysis, where religiosity was entered among other relevant covariates, showed a negative relationship between religiosity and the hazard rate that came very close to attain statistical significance. Thus, the effect of religiosity on the survival of patients with severe diseases such as cancer seems worth following up in future studies.     

Making Radical Change Happen Through Selective Inclusion and Exclusion of Stakeholders*

The purpose of this paper is to explore how political leaders can gain acceptance for radical reforms through selective inclusion and exclusion of stakeholders. We had inside access to the formulation of a radical reform in the Scandinavian context and found that radical change was not secured through extensive participation, but rather through selective inclusion and exclusion of stakeholders. Change leaders cannot always choose who to include and exclude in participative processes and both proponents and opponents can influence the content in ways that make it less radical. In the context of the public sector, it becomes particularly challenging to gain acceptance for radical reforms because of the influence from multiple stakeholders, many of whom have the right to be included in the process. Based on a study of a Norwegian regulatory reform, we identify five tactics change leaders can use to manage selective inclusion and exclusion. These include deleting stages in the process, including new stakeholders, alternating the process sequence, suppressing issues, and controlling the kind of influence. By consciously including and excluding stakeholders, change leaders can secure that the radicalness of a reform is preserved in the formulation process.     

Psychological stress-factors and concentration of immunoglobulins and complement components in Norwegian nurses

Psychological stress produces immunological changes in animals, and increasing evidence suggests that this may also be true for humans. In the present study of 34 nurses in a busy ward of a Norwegian hospital, significant relationships have been demonstrated between die plasma levels of immunoglobulins and complement components and work-related 'stress', anxiety, and cognitive defence strategies. The main components of die work-related stress experience were role-stress and nonparticipation in decision-making.

The results indicate chat immunological parameters may perhaps be used as a psychological stress indicator, but the relationships are complex and can best be understood if individual coping and defence mechanisms are considered. Health symptoms were also examined, but these were not related to stress experience or immunological measures.     

ATTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS OF THERAPY WITH INCESTUOUS FAMILIES*

This study examines the effects of a self-help program, Parents United, on the members of families in which incest has occurred. Fifty-six male incest offenders, including three grandfathers, and thirty-five spouses were studied to assess the impact of the program on participants' attributions of responsibility for incest, changes in family relationships, and subsequent referral and recidivism. The program was successful in increasing participants' feelings of responsibility, and decreasing recidivism, but less successful in keeping the families together.