Self-Efficacy Toward Service, Civic Participation and the Business Student: Scale Development and Validation

This paper presents the development andvalidation of new measurement tools to exploreself-efficacy toward service and toward civicparticipation. We developed and administereda survey to 851 students in an AACSB-accreditedcollege of business at a comprehensive publicuniversity located in the Midwest. Traditionalscale development methodologies plusconfirmatory factor analysis and simultaneousfactor analysis in several populations wereused to analyze both a primary sample and aholdback sample. Results strongly support thevalidity and reliability of the surveyinstrument. Future use for the instrumentincludes verification of the effectiveness ofpedagogies designed to increase self-efficacytoward service and motivation for civicparticipation in business students.     

Dinge, die meine Eltern nicht sehen sollten

Every successful communication process requires a certain degree of self-disclosure. However, both in real life and on social network sites like Facebook, self-disclosure does not imply a total sacrifice of privacy. People rather tend to disclose one part of the self while keeping another one protected. In doing so, it is less important where the protective line is drawn, but that a line is drawn at all. This basic principle of conditional self-disclosure can be applied in diverse strategies. An online survey among German Facebook users (n = 684) examined this assumption. Items for a scale of subjective privacy regulation were derived from Burgoon’s four dimensions of privacy. Based on user’s varying emphasis on these privacy dimensions, seven different types of privacy management could be distinguished. Among these, six different strategies of conditional self-disclosure were observed (?chatty“, ?blogging“, ?networking“, ?sorting“, ?passive“, and ?inexperienced“). Only ?careless“ users did not follow our expectations, attaching none of the measured protective conditions to their self-disclosure.     

Evolution of the study and practice of personality at work

This article reviews the dynamic evolution of personality research and practice in work organizations from the early 1900s through the present. The article reveals steady‐state equilibrium in the world of practice. In contrast, the world of research is shown to be punctuated by rapid changes in conceptual foci, levels of analysis, and methodological approaches, as well as whether or not personality at work is even considered important. Explanations are offered for these trends, including the ways theory and research in the larger world of the study of personality have been reflected in personality research in and on work organizations. The article concludes with some thoughts about revisiting various branches in this evolution and suggestions for the future of personality research and practice in work organizations. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The multiple filter test for change point detection in time series

A framework for the detection of change points in the expectation in sequences of random variables is presented. Specifically, we investigate time series with general distributional assumptions that may show an unknown number of change points in the expectation occurring on multiple time scales and that may also contain change points in other parameters. To that end we propose a multiple filter test (MFT) that tests the null hypothesis of constant expectation and, in case of rejection of the null hypothesis, an algorithm that estimates the change points.The MFT has three important benefits. First, it allows for general distributional assumptions in the underlying model, assuming piecewise sequences of i.i.d. random variables, where also relaxations with regard to identical distribution or independence are possible. Second, it uses a MOSUM type statistic and an asymptotic setting in which the MOSUM process converges weakly to a functional of a Brownian motion which is then used to simulate the rejection threshold of the statistical test. This approach enables a simultaneous application of multiple MOSUM processes which improves the detection of change points that occur on different time scales. Third, we also show that the method is practically robust against changes in other distributional parameters such as the variance or higher order moments which might occur with or even without a change in expectation. A function implementing the described test and change point estimation is available in the R package MFT.     

International Differences in Student Achievement: An Economic Perspective

Abstract. International comparisons reveal large cross‐country differentials in average student performance. Although there is considerable public debate about these differences, their sources are hardly identified. Using school, teacher and student data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the present paper attempts to explain what causes between‐country gaps in mathematics test score distributions. Following a three‐pronged strategy of micro‐level and cross‐country regressions as well as bilateral country comparisons, we show how these gaps are explained by differences in school, teacher and student characteristics, or financial resources devoted to the school system. Institutional characteristics, such as competition between schools and the composition of the faculty can also help to understand international differences in student achievement.     

Formal and Informal Labour Markets: Challenges and Policy in the Central and Eastern European New EU Members and Candidate Countries

The paper aims at comparing the formal and informal labour marketsin the Central and Eastern European new EU Member States andcandidate countries of the European Union. First, the currentsituation of the labour market is described, focusing on therecent developments since the breaking up of the East. Thenthe policy design of these labour markets is depicted and itseffects on formal and informal labour markets. The most importantchallenges for employment policy as well as the effects of enlargementon the labour markets are analysed. The paper ends with a shortsummary. (JEL J21, J23, H26, H11, O17, O57)     

The origins of terrorism: Cross-country estimates of socio-economic determinants of terrorism

Prior research has concluded that socio-economic development does not significantly affect terrorism. We take an alternative view. First, we note that a country's socio-economic circumstances affect terrorists' behavior through terrorism's opportunity costs. We argue that this reasoning also holds for the case of supreme value terrorism. Then, we run a series of negative binomial regressions for 110 countries between 1971 and 2007 to test the hypothesis that poor socio-economic development is conducive to terrorism. We find that socio-economic variables indeed matter to terrorism, contrary to other results. Our findings imply that countries can benefit from economic development and growth in terms of a reduction in terrorism.     

Fair ranking of teachers

Economic theory suggests that it is optimal to reward teachers depending on the relative performance of their students. We develop an econometric approach, based on stochastic frontier analysis, to construct a fair ranking that accounts for the socio-economic background of students and schools and the imprecision inherent in achievement data. Using German PIRLS (IGLU) data, we exploit the hierarchical structure of the data to estimate the efficiency of each teacher. A parsimonious set of control variables suffices to get a “fair” estimate of unobserved teacher quality. A Hausman–Taylor type estimator is the preferred estimator because teacher efficiency and some exogenous variables may be correlated.