CONVERGENCE OF BLACK HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN LARGEST U.S. CITIES.

This paper investigates the widening (divergence) or narrowing (convergence) of black income as well as black income proportionate to all income using median family income over the 1980s. Analysis is undertaken at the regional level using the coefficient of variation and analysis of variance, and at the city level using a linear model. The linear model, in addition to providing a measure for divergence or convergence, provides a measure of residual change which distinguishes city performance above or below expectation. At the regional level, the general result is divergence of black income born 1979 to 1989, while at the city level, the general results were divergence for black income, but a convergence in black income proportionate to all income.     

Aggregation of Efficiency Indices

Measurement of technical efficiency is carried out at many levels of aggregation—at the individual branch, plant, division, or district level; at the company- or organization-wide level; at the industry or sectoral level; or at the economy-wide level. In this paper, we examine the conditions under which these indexes constructed at various levels of aggregation can be consistent with one another—that is, the extent to which efficiency indexes can be consistently aggregated. Unfortunately, our results are discouraging, indicating that very strong restrictions on the technology and/or the efficiency index itself are required to enable consistent aggregation (or disaggregation).     

So what’s the news? Management strategies towards non–union employee representation at News International

In an environment of what would appear to be a widening ‘representation gap’ developing in many organisations, there has been considerable discussion on the effectiveness of non–union employee representation (NER) structures as communication devices and mechanisms for employee involvement, or as a substitute for unions in the collective bargaining process. The underlying debate centres on whether NER forms make trade unions unnecessary, or whether NER forms have a role different from, but complementary to, that of unions at the workplace. The findings of this study suggest that a ‘substitute’ or union avoidance strategy as used at News International Newspapers could have limitations. The implications of not recognising these limitations could result in greater indirect union influence in workplace issues and greater employee dissatisfaction at the workplace.     

Residential location and scheduling of work hours

The choices of residential location and work-start time in a monocentric city are examined. Workers may choose to live either near or far from the city center, where work takes place; they may also choose to start at a peak work-start time with many other workers, or to start at an off-peak time with fewer workers. The theoretical results indicate that the relation between choice of work-start time and location depends upon the effects of staggered work hours on income and the transportation technology in the city.     

Human Resource Responsibilities: Frequent Flyer Radiation Exposure

At the high altitudes that are the domain of commercial airliners, passengers are exposed to cosmic radiation at an intensity that is hundreds of times greater than at ground level. Such radiation exposure represents a risk for individuals who fly frequently as part of their job. Business travelers who fly at least 85,000 miles (137,000 km) per year are likely to receive radiation exposures that exceed the regulatory limit established for members of the general public exposed by proximity to medical or industrial radiation facilities. Their exposures will not, however, exceed the higher level allowed for radiation workers. Human resource managers need to identify those employees who fly frequently on company business or due to a company-initiated relocation (e.g., expatriate assignment), classify them as radiation workers, and ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements for providing risk education and exposure assessment for such workers. Failure to do so may incur potential liability for radiation-related health problems, particularly in the case of pregnant employees where the embryo or fetus is also at risk.     

Alternative measures of homeownership gaps across segregated neighborhoods

The dramatic rise in the U.S. homeownership rate from 64% in 1996 to almost 70% in 2005 has prompted increased attention to the relation between homeownership and demographic characteristics of households. The recent rise and sharp decline of subprime lending will likely spur further interest in homeownership gaps. Statistical analysis of these differences or “gaps” in homeownership between white and minority households has evolved into a highly stylized comparison of differences in homeownership at the mean or the conditional mean. This study implements a quantile decomposition technique that identifies the unexplained portion of the gap not only at the mean, but at every percentile of the homeownership distribution. Results suggest that differences in homeownership gaps at the mean reflect a combination of small differences at the upper end and much larger gaps at the lowest end of the distribution of homeowners. This study also adds credit history to the factors that are used to explain homeownership gaps.     

Without a vision, a business may perish

The process described is not only viable for a company, but also can be used by any group that is gathered to perform any task. The process serves to explore strengths and weaknesses so the group can use one and shore up the other. It looks at the outside forces that may affect the work and allows the group to place its effort in the areas it can influence. By looking at what is or about to occur, the process may be able to create synergism or prevent disaster. A vision or direction statement that many if not all had some input into is easier to understand and support. Referral to these benchmarks or compass points makes the journey easier.     

Urban growth and decline in a hierarchical system A supply-oriented dynamic approach

In this paper a dynamic simulation model of urban growth and decline is presented, where innovation at the urban scale is crucial. The model is characterized in terms of supply conditions of the different functions or bundles of goods produced at the different ranks of the urban hierarchy. Urban dynamics depends on the form of the net location benefits curve, in relation to urban size and rank, and it is constrained by demand or market size conditions. Both urban growth and decline are linked to the presence of location benefits and the appearance of innovations or new production.     

On the short-term effects of long-term change in cities: An efficient land markets model

This article develops a model of the determination of urban rent functions in the short-term when the housing stock is assumed fixed. The model suggests that expectations concerning the nature of long-term equilibrium play a central role in determining short-term rents. Open and closed models are discussed as alternative long-term paradigms applicable to different types of exogenous changes. The model suggests, first, that the short-term rent on housing gradient is always below the long-term gradient. Second, depending on whether land-owners have perfect or imperfect information concerning the nature of long-term equilibrium, the short-term rent gradient could signal them to rebuild the housing stock at the correct long-term density level or at too high or too low density levels.     

Sequential probit modelling of family and community effects on educational progress among children to Polish and Turkish immigrants in Sweden

We explore effects of individual, family, and neighborhood effects on educational progress. The statistical model used is a multilevel sequential probit model. Such formulation allows the covariate-effects to vary across different educational levels. Results based on about 2,100 children whose parents are either native Swedes or migrants from Poland or Turkey provide new insights with regard to differentials in educational progress across background varaiables. Among others, we find that parental education is a strong predictor of educational progress at all levels. On the other hand, while family structure, family economy, and ethinic background are strongly correlated to educational progress at lower levels, their effect diminishes at higher levels of education. Possible exaplanations and implications of the results are presented.     

Features of Tradi tional Arab Management and Organization in the Jordan Business Environment

Abstract

Re search into Arab man age ment and or ga ni za tion is recent and en tails a con tra dic tory vi sion about what type of man age ment is found in Arab busi ness or ga ni za tions. This pa per sug gests that at this in-cip i ent stage of re search into Arab man age ment and or ga ni za tion, the pri mary ob jec tive of re search should be to ex plore the main fea tures of Arab man age ment in an at tempt to de velop Arab man age ment and ad -vance its or ga ni za tion. The pa per, based on the out come of a com par ative em pir i cal re search, takes into con sid er ation ma jor the o ret i cal and meth od olog i cal short com ings of re lated re search and at tempts to build a ‘bal anced’ pic ture of Arab man age ment and or ga ni za tion. Evidence in di cates that Arab man age ment and or ga ni za tion in Jor dan are, largely, tra di tional and man i fested in spe cific fea tures (lim ited future ori en ta tion and ex ces sive lack of del e ga tion of au thor ity) re flect ing on their sys tems and prac tices.     

Humor: no materiel manager should be without it

Humor has the potential to be positive or negative, character building or destructive. Many suggest that a sense of humor is necessary for good health, whether of an individual or an organization. This article presents ways in which managers can foster a "laughing with" (instead of "laughing at") attitude as a means of managing stress, enhancing teamwork, and maintaining employee satisfaction in the face of adversity.     

Capitalization of interjurisdictional fiscal differentials: An alternative approach

In virtually every study concerning capitalization of fiscal differentials into property values, the unit of observation has been a local jurisdiction or an individual house sale within a jurisdiction. Urban economic theory suggests that capitalization of fiscal differentials should be most obvious at the border of two jurisdictions. Housing price differentials between adjacent blocks at the border of two jurisdictions will be used to study capitalization. Such an approach reduces problems associated with measurement of (dis)amenities and public services, and with the use of a distance variable in urban areas with multiple employment or recreation centers.     

Perceptions of stress at work

This article reviews previous research on the scale of perceived stress at work and describes results from the 'Bristol Stress and Health at Work' study (Smith et al, 2000a, 2000b). This study had three main aims: first, to determine the scale of perceived stress at work in a random population sample; secondly, to distinguish the effects of stress at work from those of stress in life as a whole; and, finally, to determine whether objective measures of health status and performance efficiency were related to reports of stress at work. These objectives were investigated by conducting an epidemiological survey of 17,000 randomly selected people from the Bristol electoral register, a follow‐up survey 12 months later and detailed investigation of a cohort from the original sample. The results revealed that approximately 20 per cent of the sample reported very high or extremely high levels of stress at work. This effect was reliable over time, related to potentially stressful working conditions and associated with impaired physical and mental health. The effects of stress at work could not be attributed to life stress or negative affectivity. The cohort study also suggested that high levels of stress at work may influence physiology and mental performance. The prevalence rate obtained in this study suggests that five million workers in the UK may have very high levels of stress at work.     

INTERFUEL SUBSTITUTION: A META‐ANALYSIS

Abstract This paper provides the first meta‐analysis of the interfuel substitutability literature. The sample includes 47 studies of interfuel substitution in the industrial sector, in manufacturing industry or manufacturing sub‐industries, or in the macro‐economy of a variety of developed and developing countries. Meta‐regressions are estimated for the six shadow elasticities of substitution between coal, oil, gas and electricity. I find that at the level of the industrial sector as a whole the oil–coal, oil–gas, oil–electricity and gas–electricity shadow elasticities of substitution are significantly greater than unity. The remaining elasticities – between coal and gas and coal and electricity – are insignificantly different from unity or zero due to their large standard errors. Substitution possibilities seem more constrained at the macro level and less constrained at lower levels of aggregation. Estimates of the elasticities of substitution from cross‐section regressions are generally largest whereas fixed effects panel estimates are intermediate in magnitude, and time‐series estimates are mostly much smaller. In order to obtain more precise and less biased estimates of long‐run elasticities of substitution, there is a need for additional primary studies using large samples and/or the between estimator which econometric research suggests is likely to provide the best estimates of long‐run elasticities.     

Ownership structure and hospital service costs and fees: A decomposition approach

This paper analyzes hospital characteristics that are associated with higher average costs and charges for venipuncture, computed tomography procedures (computerized axial tomography [CAT] scans), and electrocardiograms (EKG). Using data from a Medicare database, our results indicate that higher wages, larger hospital sizes, and greater service quality are associated with higher procedure costs, whereas system membership is generally associated with lower procedure costs. Blinder‐type decompositions, which are the main focus of this study, suggest (a) that venipuncture costs are about 17% to 19% lower at proprietary hospitals than at nonprofit or government hospitals, (b) CAT scan costs are about 6% to 12% lower at nonprofit hospitals than at proprietary and government hospitals, and (c) that EKG costs are about 3% lower at proprietary hospitals than at nonprofit or government hospitals. Lastly, large portions of each of these differences are found to be due to both differences in mean values of the hospitals' characteristics by ownership type and differences in the mechanism by which the hospitals' characteristics are transmitted to procedure costs.     

Do firms share the same functional form of their growth rate distribution? A statistical test

We propose a hypothesis testing procedure to investigate whether the same growth rate distribution is shared by all the firms in a balanced panel or, more generally, whether they share the same functional form for this distribution, without necessarily sharing the same parameters. We apply the test to panels of US and European Union publicly quoted manufacturing firms, both at the sectoral and at the subsectoral NAICS level. We consider the following null hypotheses about the growth rate distribution of the individual firms: (i) an unknown shape common to all firms, with all the firms sharing also the same parameters, or with the firm variance related to its firm size through a scaling relationship, and (ii) several functional shapes described by the Subbotin family of distributions. Our empirical results indicate that firms do not have a common shape of the growth rate distribution at the sectorial NAICS level, whereas firms may typically be described by the same shape of the distribution at the subsectorial level, even if the specific shape may not be the same for different subsectors.     

宝鸡市城区多方言现象探微

双语现象或多语现象是指在同一个社会中存在两种或两种以上的民族语言,亦即是指个人或群体能够并且经常使用至少两种语言进行交流的现象。这种现象是民族接触、语言接触带来的直接结果。但这种现象对于地处中国大陆内地的陕西省宝鸡市来说是几乎没有的,而双方言现象和多方言现象却普遍存在。     

Emotions in litigation contests

This paper introduces the concept of emotions into the standard litigation contest. Positive or negative emotions emerge when litigants either win or lose at trial and depend in particular on the level of defendant fault. Our findings establish that standard results of litigation contests change significantly when emotions are taken into account. We show that emotions may increase or decrease individual and total equilibrium contest effort, introduce an asymmetry into the contest, and reinforce or weaken a plaintiff’s incentives to bring a suit. In addition, we consider how emotions impact on justice.     

Beyond the Anglo‐Saxon and North European models: social partnership in a Greek textiles company

Much of the literature examining social partnership focuses on either Anglo‐Saxon or North European countries, differentiating between liberal market economies (LMEs) and coordinated market economies (CMEs). These studies argue, quite correctly, that the institutional forces shaping partnership in the two types of economy differ markedly, with the consequence that partnership takes somewhat different forms at the workplace. By contrast, there is only limited research on social partnership in Mediterranean economies—such as Greece—even though there are strong reasons to suggest it may be quite different from both LMEs and CMEs because of relatively recent military influence at state level and less well‐developed systems of industrial relations at organisational level. This article examines the forces operating both at national and at local level that facilitate or hinder the development of social partnership. It is based on the results of interviews with government, industry and union officials and a case study of partnership in a textiles company in northern Greece. It concludes that institutional forces provided workers with more protection than they would have achieved in an LME but that ultimately competitive pressures and a lack of effective workplace representation limited the degree to which the state can influence the processes and outcomes of social partnership at local level.