Specialization and the Survival of Self‐Help Organizations

This article examines the survival rates of 589 self‐help organizations in order to understand how self‐help niches, organizations specializing in biomedical, human services, and behavioral health, differentially impact longevity. Drawing on a study of the self‐help movement, we examine how the various mechanisms by which specialization impacts self‐help movement organizations' chances of survival. Extending the concepts of embeddedness, countervailing powers, and organizational specialization to self‐help organizations, we investigate how formal structures and professional alliances differentially promote longevity. Results show how formalization enhances self‐help organizations' longevity, and serves as a mechanism by which specialization impacts organizational viability. While formalization has a robust and beneficial impact on longevity, some professional linkages are negatively associated with survival and others are positively associated with it.     

云冈石窟盝形龛的演变

源于印度早期佛教艺术和犍陀罗艺术时代的孟形龛形式是佛教石窟的基本龛式之一，云冈石窟亦雕刻了大量孟形龛以装饰佛像、菩萨像以及其他佛经故事内容。这些孟形龛形式不仅体现了艺术的继承性，更表现了艺术的创新性。通过不同时期出现的不同表现，我们看到了孟形龛在云冈石窟的多种式样。这不仅使云冈石窟的孟形龛式样更加丰富，加强了孟形龛式在装饰意味上的重要作用，而且使孟形龛装饰佛像的功能得到了进一步的扩展，使其成为石窟壁面运用最灵活的造像龛形式之一。     

The Role of Design in Inhibiting or Promoting Use of Common Open Space

Abstract

Redwood Gardens is a housing project for the elderly on the Clark Kerr campus affiliated with the University of California at Berkeley. A post occupancy evaluation study done in 1994 indicated that outdoor spaces were not well used, and a follow-up set of interviews and observations over a decade later in 2005 shows that the spaces are still underutilized, despite being greatly appreciated as an amenity. This paper explores reasons for the under usage, describes the design of the spaces, and makes proposals for improvements in seating and other environmental props that might facilitate both solo and group use of outdoor spaces. Design and policy recommendations are directed both to this immediate site and other such housing sites elsewhere.     

Segregated jobs or ethnic niches?: The impact of racialized employment on earnings inequality

Using data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality (MCSUI), this study examines the extent to which the racial or ethnic composition of jobs affects racial and ethnic-linked earnings inequalities among whites, blacks and Hispanics. Four types of jobs are distinguished according to the racial/ethnic composition of jobs in work establishments: predominantly white, multi-racial or mixed, predominantly black, and predominantly Hispanic. We found considerable differences among the four types of jobs. Jobs composed predominantly of white workers are characterized by the highest earnings, the highest status occupations, and the highest levels of education. In contrast, jobs predominantly composed of Hispanic workers are characterized by the lowest salaries, the lowest status occupations, and the lowest levels of education. The data analysis supports the hypothesis that job segregation is responsible for earnings disparities in the case of blacks versus whites, but only partial support for this hypothesis is found in the case of Hispanics versus whites. The analysis also provides support for the “devaluation hypothesis” which suggests that all workers experience pay penalties in jobs in which minority workers are predominant. Further analysis reveals that had most workers been rewarded like whites employed in predominantly white jobs, their earnings would have increased considerably. The only groups of workers who “benefit” from job segregation are Hispanic workers employed in predominately Hispanic jobs. In the absence of competition with others, Hispanics employed in predominantly Hispanic jobs earn more than they would earn in other jobs. The differential effects of the ethnic composition of jobs on economic outcomes of minority populations are evaluated and discussed in light of the roles played by sheltered and protected ethnic economies.