In Conversation with the American Sociological Association President: Randall Collins on Emotions, Violence, and Interactionist Sociology

Randall Collins est professeur de sociologie à l'University of Pennsylvania et Président de l' American Sociological Association . Dans cette entrevue, R. Collins parle de la sociologie des émotions, de la tradition interactionniste ainsi que de la violence. L'entrevue permet de situer les contributions de Collins dans le développement contemporain de la sociologie critique et la microsociologie interactionniste.
Randall Collins is Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and is the President of the American Sociological Association. In the following interview, Collins discusses the sociology of emotions, the interactionist tradition, and violence. The discussion situates Collins' contributions as part of an intellectual trajectory that incorporates elements of critical sociology and the micro-sociology of interaction.     

The Problems of Managing the Family Contacts of Children in Residential Care

Summary The study explores the problems of managing the family contactsof children in residential care. It focuses on the family linksexperienced by two children undergoing a two month long periodof observation and assessment. It is seen that the family linksof these children take a low priority, particularly as socialwork plans change and the informal world of the institutionbecomes pervasive. The outcomes of the two cases are charted.     

PRICE PREDICTION ERRORS AND REAL ACTIVITY: A REASSESSMENT

Rational expectations, natural-rate macro-models in which aggregate demand disturbances affect the real sector through price prediction errors, while powerful and tractable analytical tools, are often perceived to be of questionable empirical relevance. This paper reexamines the empirical role of price prediction errors in determining the level of real aggregate activity. The approach is distinguished by accounting for aggregate supply-side disturbances and by more careful treatment of natural rates. Contrary to some previous studies, we find considerable empirical support for the hypothesis that demand-driven price level surprises are positively and significantly correlated with aggregate real economic activity.     

Production planning in a MRP/JIT repetitive manufacturing environment

Some literature suggests that the best approach to production planning is a complete implementation of just-in-time. It has also been suggested that JIT replaces material requirements planning, and computerized procedures are an unnecessary complex burden on management especially in a highly repetitive environment. This article examines the JIT programme at the John Deere Engine factory. In 1985 the factory began a JIT programme with the belief that it would replace their MRP system. The results of the JIT programme are examined and management's conclusion that the best approach is a blend of JIT and MRP is explored.     

On the Contingent Valuation of Safety and the Safety of Contingent Valuation: Part 2 - The CV/SG "Chained" Approach

This article reports the results of a study aimed at estimating a willingness-to-pay based value of statistical life for road risks using a multi-stage approach which involves "chaining together" responses to contingent valuation and standard gamble questions.The rationale for employing a multi-stage approach is to break the wealth/risk of death trade-off down into a number of conceptually manageable steps, thereby trying to attenuate the various biases that appear to be pervasive in responses to more direct contingent valuation questions in the health and safety field.     

INCENTIVES, PREDESTINATION AND FREE WILL

Without wholeheartedly endorsing Max Weber's views on Protestantism and economic growth, we present a model formalizing his claim that belief in predestination was a component in economic development. Our model suggests that belief in predestination is more effective when heterogeneity of beliefs is high, when the desire for homogeneity is high, or when accurate signals about ethics are important. Using the General Social Survey, we find that Protestants generally and Presbyterians in particular exhibit a stronger connection between individual and group behavior and between worldly success and church attendance. ( JEL A13, Z10)     

THE RELATIVE STICKINESS OF WAGES AND PRICES

While many modern business cycle theories posit the existence of nominal wage and/or output price stickiness, their relative importance remains an unsettled issue. Using a structural VAR model, this paper exploits evidence on the behavior of real wages to assess the relative importance of these two sources of stickiness. The empirical results suggest that a positive shock to aggregate demand causes a significant temporary fall in real wages. This is taken as evidence that sticky wages have played a more important role than sticky prices in transmitting aggregate demand shocks to real economic activity in the post-war U.S. (JEL E32)