Does Increasing Parents’ Schooling Raise the Schooling of the Next Generation? Evidence Based on Conditional Second Moments*

This article investigates the degree of intergenerational transmission of education for individuals from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Rather than identifying the causal effect of parental education via instrumental variables we exploit the feature of the transmission mechanism responsible for its endogeneity. More explicitly, we assume the intergenerational transfer of unobserved ability is invariant to the economic environment. This, combined with the heteroskedasticity resulting from the interaction of unobserved ability with socioeconomic factors, identifies the causal effect. We conclude that the observed intergenerational educational correlation reflects both a causal parental educational effect and a transfer of unobserved ability.     

The Influence of Cognitive-based Group Composition on Decision-making Process and Outcome

The effects of cognitive-based group composition on decision-making process (problem formulation, ideation) and outcome (performance, time-to-decision) were investigated. Two types of composition based on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator were compared – a uni-temperament group composition (all sensing-judgers), common among supervisors and managers, and a multi-temperament composition (a sensing-judger, a sensing-perceiver, an intuitive-thinker, and an intuitive-feeler). While significant relationships were found between the process and outcome stages, cognitive-based group composition generally did not predict the decision-making process or outcome variables. A significant interaction between group composition and problem formulation, however, suggests that a multi-temperament (heterogeneous) composition can moderate the effect of problem formulation on performance. The implications of these findings for cognitive-based group composition and decision making are discussed, along with suggestions for future research     

The British merger movement: the importance of the ‘aggressive’ unions

Union mergers in Britain are dominated numerically by transfers of engagements from minor unions to major unions. Just five major or acquiring unions were responsible for absorbing 79% of all transfers to TUC affiliated unions between 1978 and 1994. This study establishes the extent of this domination, examines the characteristics of the five unions’ aggressive merger policies and considers the consequences of the findings for theories of union mergers.     

Union responses in electronics: a globalised environment

This article examines union responses to a hostile environment in the electronics sector in four European countries. All unions saw the need for change, but those with the greatest need to develop strategic responses were not those which were in the best position to do so.     

A note on two‐part pricing under uncertainty

In his classic article, Walter Oi (Oi, Q. J. Econ. 2005; 85 : 77–96) analyzed the optimal structure of a two‐part tariff. He showed that identical consumer demands result in user fees equal to marginal cost and a lump‐sum entry fee equal to the consumer surplus that marginal cost pricing generates. This result appears in managerial economics texts (Managerial Economics (6th edn). W. W. Norton: New York; 472–475; Managerial Economics and Business Strategy (5th edn). McGraw Hill/Irwin: New York; 410–412) and intermediate microeconomics texts (Intermediate Microeconomics (6th edn). W. W. Norton: New York; 451–453). In this note, we extend Oi's analysis to the case of uncertainty. We show that attitudes toward risk influence the optimal two‐part tariff. The results from our model describe the two‐part tariff that emerges from expected utility maximization. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coordination on saddle-path solutions: the eductive viewpoint—linear multivariate models

We examine local strong rationality (LSR) in multivariate models with both forward-looking expectations and predetermined variables. Given hypothetical common knowledge restrictions that the dynamics will be close to those of a specified minimal state variable solution, we obtain eductive stability conditions for the solution to be LSR. In the saddlepoint stable case the saddle-path solution is LSR provided the model is structurally homogeneous across agents. However, the eductive stability conditions are strictly more demanding when heterogeneity is present, as can be expected in multisectoral models. Heterogeneity is thus a potentially important source of instability even in the saddlepoint stable case.     

Are “Anti-Folk Theorems” in repeated games nongeneric?

Folk Theorems in repeated games hold fixed the game payoffs, while the discount factor is varied freely. We show that these results may be sensitive to the order of limits in situations where players move asynchronously. Specifically, we show that when moves are asynchronous, then for a fixed discount factor close to one there is an open neighborhood of games which contains a pure coordination game such that every Perfect equilibrium of every game in the neighborhood approximates to an arbitrary degree the unique Pareto dominant payoff of the pure coordination game.     

Children's active travel and independent mobility in four countries: Development,social contributing trends and measures

In many countries a decline in children's active and independent mobility, like walking and cycling is registered. In this paper the development of children's mobility in Denmark, Finland, Great Britain and Norway is compared to examine differences and similarities in these countries. Accessible data are used, which implies that not all of them are directly comparable, but they are employed as indicators of development. The trends are the same in these four countries, an increase in car use and decrease in bicycling and walking. Distance to school has increased, both as a result of bigger units and more children in private schools. Traffic is an important reason for taking children to school by car, but convenience for the parents is also part of it. Organized leisure activities has also contributed to less walking and cycling, in addition to more time pressure in families, increased access to car(s) and easier access to parents as a ‘transport service’ by the help of the mobile phone. The measures that different countries use in trying to meet the challenges of children's mobility tend to focus on the school trip and most often on traffic safety, both at national and local levels.