bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Why does private consumption rise after a government spending shock?
Authors: Bouakez Hafedh , Rebei Nooman
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  Some recent empirical evidence suggests that private consumption is crowded‐in by government spending. This outcome violates neoclassical macroeconomic theory, according to which the negative wealth effect brought about by a rise in public expenditure should decrease consumption. In this paper, we develop a simple real business cycle model where preferences depend on private and public spending, and households are habit forming. The model is estimated by the maximum‐likelihood method using U.S. data. Estimation results indicate a strong Edgeworth complementarity between private and public spending. This feature enables the model to generate a positive response of consumption following a government spending shock. In addition, the impulse‐response functions generated by the estimated model are generally consistent with those obtained from a benchmark vector autoregression.
Unit roots and persistence in the nominal interest rate: a confirmatory analysis applied to the OECD
Authors: Romero‐Ávila Diego
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  This paper investigates the stochastic properties of long‐term and short‐term nominal interest rates for the OECD over the post‐war era. For that purpose, we employ univariate unit root tests as well as panel unit root and stationarity tests that explicitly allow for cross‐sectional dependence. Overall, we find overwhelming evidence that the nominal interest rate contains a unit root, which may be driven by a stochastic common factor. The computation of half‐lives through impulse‐response functions also points to a high degree of persistence. This has important implications for the cointegration analysis of the Fisher equation, the uncovered interest parity, and the term structure.
Interaction between knowledge and technology: a contribution to the theory of development
Authors: Kosempel Stephen
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  This article attempts to explain the large and persistent disparities in levels of output per worker across countries. It is argued that an explanation for these disparities requires an understanding of the relationship between knowledge and technology. The model that is constructed can be summarized as an open‐economy version of the Solow‐Swan growth model, in which technological change is investment specific, and knowledge about new technologies is embodied in labour. In the model, income differences arise because poor countries lack the knowledge to implement foreign technologies productively. Furthermore, these disparities persist when countries differ in their ability to learn. JEL classification: F43, O11
Information acquisition, dissemination, and transparency of monetary policy
Authors: Wong Jacob
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  This paper examines the role of transparency in a benevolent monetary authority's policies. Each firm's payoff depends on unobservable macroeconomic conditions and firms may incur a cost to acquire private information about macroeconomic conditions. The policy authority attempts to infer the underlying macroeconomic conditions from a noisy measure of aggregate actions and makes a public announcement to inform firms of this inference. High‐quality announcements provide firms the incentive not to gather private information and base actions solely on information contained in policy announcements. However, this makes the observed actions of firms less informative to the policy authority.
Banking crises in monetary economies
Authors: Hua Jiang Janet
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  This paper analyzes the effect of inflation on banking crises in a model in which money and banks play essential roles. The model's equilibrium replicates some key features of actual banking crises, namely, the partial suspension of payments and the desire to hold cash even in the absence of pressing liquidity needs. When banks have access to a stable foreign currency, inflation has a threshold effect on banking crises: higher inflation reduces the likelihood of crises when inflation is below the threshold; the reverse happens when inflation exceeds the threshold. This result appears to be broadly consistent with available evidence.
Swedish economic growth and education since 1800
Authors: De La Croix David , Lindh Thomas , Malmberg Bo
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it builds and makes use of long‐run data from Sweden on formal education that have never been used to date. Second, it provides a quantitative application of recent theoretical work on the link between demographic changes and economic growth through their effect on education. It concludes that changes in longevity may account for as much as 20% of the observed rise in education over the period from 1800–2000 via a horizon effect, but have little impact on income growth over the period. On the contrary, changes in population density and composition are central, mainly thanks to their effect on productivity. Most income growth over this period would not have materialized if demographic variables had stayed constant since 1800.
Education, credentials, and immigrant earnings
Authors: Ferrer Ana , Riddell W. Craig
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  Using 1981 to 2001 Census data, we study how the human capital of immigrants is rewarded in Canada. We distinguish between years of schooling and degrees obtained in order to estimate ‘sheepskin’ effects – the gain in earnings associated with receipt of a degree, controlling for years of schooling. We find that immigrant years of schooling and immigrant work experience accumulated before arrival is valued much less than Canadian experience of comparable natives. However, for immigrants the increase in earnings associated with completing educational programs is generally higher than that of comparable natives. We provide both signalling and human capital interpretations of this finding.
Maternal labour supply and childhood obesity in Canada: evidence from the NLSCY
Authors: Chia Yee Fei
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  This paper investigates the socioeconomic factors affecting childhood overweight and obesity in Canada using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. In particular, I attempt to address the issue of whether an increase in the mother's work intensity is associated with an increase in the risk of the child's becoming overweight or obese. I also attempt to evaluate the causality of this relationship and the mechanisms that might facilitate this link. The results suggest that an increase in the mother's work intensity when she first returned to work in the period after the child's birth and before the child started school is associated with an increase in the risk of the child's becoming overweight or obese later in childhood. Conditional on the mother returning to work in the period between the child's birth and the start of school for the child, a 10‐hour increase in the number of hours worked per week when the mother first returned to work is associated with an increase in the probability that the child later becomes overweight or obese that is in the range of 2.5 to 4 percentage points.
Large real exchange rate movements, firm dynamics, and productivity growth
Authors: Fung Loretta
Published: August 2010

Abstract. This paper examines the influence of large real exchange rate movements on firm turnover and production scale, and the contribution of these decisions to productivity growth. Our theoretical model predicts that home currency appreciations cause firm closure and reduce surviving firms' exports while boosting domestic sales. The net effect on sales and productivity therefore depends on changes in domestic sales and exports. Taiwanese firm‐level data are used to test these predictions. The results show that real currency appreciations lead to scale expansion of surviving firms which in turn raises productivity. Our findings suggest the existence of a significant scale effect.
Individual protection against property crime: decomposing the effects of protection observability
Authors: Hotte Louis , Van Ypersele Tanguy
Published: August 2010

Abstract.  We re‐examine the efficiency of observable and unobservable crime protection decisions with new results and insights. Observable protection is unambiguously associated with a negative externality. At the individual level, it reduces the crime effort, but its unit payoff remains unchanged. Conversely, unobservable protection reduces the unit payoff and has no effect on the crime effort exerted, though it deters crime globally. A decrease in the global crime payoff is detrimental to a victim if protection is observable, while it is beneficial when unobservable. While observable protection has a positive diversion effect, it has the opposite effect when unobservable.
Investigation of the fate of Sry‐expressing cells using an in vivo Cre/loxP system
Authors: Ito Masanori , Yokouchi Kou , Yoshida Kazuhisa , Kano Kiyoshi , Naito Kunihiko , Miyazaki Jun‐Ichi , Tojo Hideaki
Published: August 2010

Sry (sex‐determining region on Y chromosome) is expressed in the undifferentiated, bipotential genital ridges of mammalian XY fetuses. The expression of Sry initiates testis development, but the lineage of Sry‐expressing cells is unclear. In this study, double‐transgenic mice were analyzed using the Cre/loxP system. Cre under the control of the Sry promoter was expressed in the fetal gonads of transgenic mice similarly to endogenous Sry. The Sry/Cre‐transgenic mice were crossed with CAG(cytomegalovirus immediate‐early enhancer, chicken β‐actin promoter and fusion intron of chicken β‐actin and rabbit β‐globin)/loxP/CAT/loxP/LacZ‐transgenic mice, in which the transgene expressed β‐galactosidase after a Cre‐mediated recombination event. Sertoli cells, germ cells of testes and granulosa cells of ovaries of double‐transgenic mice stained positive with X‐gal. Cre expression was detected in germ cells and peritubular/Sertoli cells in adult testes. It is not clear whether β‐galactosidase expression in the Sertoli cells of the testes occurred as a result of Cre expression in the adult or in the fetal gonads. These analyses indicate that cells expressing Sry‐inducing factors in female fetal gonads become granulosa cells.
Tail regeneration in the Xenopus tadpole
Authors: Mochii Makoto , Taniguchi Yuka , Shikata Isshin
Published: August 2010

The tail of the Xenopus tadpole contains major axial structures, including a spinal cord, notochord and myotomes, and regenerates within 2 weeks following amputation. The tail regeneration in Xenopus can provide insights into the molecular basis of the regeneration mechanism. The regenerated tail has some differences from the normal tail, including an immature spinal cord and incomplete segmentation of the muscle masses. Lineage analyses have suggested that the tail tissues are reconstructed with lineage‐restricted stem cells derived from their own tissues in clear contrast to urodele regeneration, in which multipotent blastema cells derived from differentiated cells play a major role. Comprehensive gene expression analyses resulted in the identification of a panel of genes involved in sequential steps of the regeneration. Manipulation of genes’ activities suggested that the tail regeneration is regulated through several major signaling pathways.
Regeneration of the amphibian intestinal epithelium under the control of stem cell niche
Authors: Ishizuya‐Oka Atsuko
Published: August 2010

The epithelium of the mammalian digestive tract originates from stem cells and undergoes rapid cell‐renewal throughout adulthood. It has been proposed that the microenvironment around the stem cells, called ‘niche’, plays an important role in epithelial cell‐renewal through cell‐cell and cell‐extracellular matrix interactions. The amphibian intestine, which establishes epithelial cell‐renewal during metamorphosis, serves as a unique and good model for studying molecular mechanisms of the stem cell niche. By using the organ culture of the Xenopus laevis intestine, we have previously shown that larval‐to‐adult epithelial remodeling can be organ‐autonomously induced by thyroid hormone (TH) and needs interactions with the surrounding connective tissue. Thus, in this animal model, the functional analysis of TH response genes is useful for clarifying the epithelial‐connective tissue interactions essential for intestinal remodeling at the molecular level. Recent progress in culture and transgenic technology now enables us to investigate functions of such TH response genes in the X. laevis intestine and sheds light on molecular aspects of the stem cell niche that are common to the mammalian intestine.
Brain regeneration in anuran amphibians
Authors: Endo Tetsuya , Yoshino Jun , Kado Koji , Tochinai Shin
Published: August 2010

Urodele amphibians are highly regenerative animals. After partial removal of the brain in urodeles, ependymal cells around the wound surface proliferate, differentiate into neurons and glias and finally regenerate the lost tissue. In contrast to urodeles, this type of brain regeneration is restricted only to the larval stages in anuran amphibians (frogs). In adult frogs, whereas ependymal cells proliferate in response to brain injury, they cannot migrate and close the wound surface, resulting in the failure of regeneration. Therefore frogs, in particular Xenopus, provide us with at least two modes to study brain regeneration. One is to study normal regeneration by using regenerative larvae. In this type of study, the requirement of reconnection between a regenerating brain and sensory neurons was demonstrated. Functional restoration of a regenerated telencephalon was also easily evaluated because Xenopus shows simple responses to the stimulus of a food odor. The other mode is to compare regenerative larvae and non‐regenerative adults. By using this mode, it is suggested that there are regeneration‐competent cells even in the non‐regenerative adult brain, and that immobility of those cells might cause the failure of regeneration. Here we review studies that have led to these conclusions.
Growth potential of adult hepatocytes in mammals: Highly replicative small hepatocytes with liver progenitor‐like traits
Authors: Yoshizato Katsutoshi
Published: August 2010

The liver is one of the few organs that is capable of completely regenerating itself without using a stem cell population. When damaged, growth factors and cytokines are released, stimulating terminally differentiated adult hepatocytes and making them re‐enter the cell cycle. We have been developing a series of studies on the growth potential of rat and human hepatocytes to identify a population of hepatocytes that is responsible for the regeneration of the injured liver. For this purpose, we established an appropriate culture method for hepatocytes by which growth and differentiation capacities are practically examined under various experimental conditions. This in vitro assay system allows us to identify small hepatocytes that are prominently replicative compared to large hepatocytes. Non‐parenchymal cells play critical roles in the proliferation of small hepatocytes. These hepatocytes are present in both rat and human liver and are located in portal regions there. Phenotypic features were examined at morphological and gene/protein levels in detail, which showed the phenotypic plasticity in vitro. Mammalian liver includes a population of small hepatocytes in normal adults with a minute occupancy rate. We speculate that small hepatocytes play a role in regenerating the injured liver and in compensating for apoptotic hepatocytes in the physiological turnover of hepatocytes.
Tip‐1 induces filopodia growth and is important for gastrulation movements during zebrafish development
Authors: Besser Jaya , Leito Jelani T. D. , Van Der Meer David L. M. , Bagowski Christoph P.
Published: August 2010

Wnt signaling is essential during animal development and also plays important roles in pathological conditions. Two mayor pathways have been described: the β‐catenin‐dependent canonical (or classical) pathway and the β‐catenin‐independent non‐canonical Wnt pathway. Recent binding studies suggest links between the small PDZ protein TIP‐1 (Tax‐1 interacting protein) to components of both Wnt pathways. We have cloned and characterized the zebrafish tip‐1 gene. Whole mount in situ hybridization and semiquantitative reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) indicated that zebrafish tip‐1 is present as a maternal RNA and is ubiquitously expressed during early development. After 24 h of development, tip‐1 expression was high in the central nervous system (CNS) whereas only weak expression was detected in the caudal regions of the zebrafish embryo. Tip‐1 knockdown using antisense morpholino oligonucleotides, as well as ectopic tip‐1 expression, led to elongation defects in zebrafish embryos and larvae. Both knockdown and overexpression of tip‐1 resulted in a widened goosecoid (gsc) expression domain in shield stage embryos, led to an abbreviated prechordal plate, and to reduced convergent extension movements during gastrulation. We constructed a green fluorescence protein (GFP)/TIP‐1 fusion protein which, when expressed in cultured fibroblasts (ZF4‐cells), induced filopodia growth. Our observations indicate a role for TIP‐1 in gastrulation movements and in filopodia growth induction.
Precise control of fasciclin II expression is required for adult mushroom body development in Drosophila
Authors: Fushima Kazuma , Tsujimura Hidenobu
Published: August 2010

Fasciclin II (FASII) is a cell adhesion molecule that participates in axonal pathfinding, fasciculation and divergence in the Drosophila nervous system. Here, we examined spatio‐temporal control of fasII expression during the development of adult mushroom body (MB) and found that suppression of fasII in α′/β′ neurons is essential for the formation of adult α′/β′ and α/β lobes. Of γ, α′/β′ and α/β neurons, which are derived sequentially from the same four MB neuroblasts, only γ and α/β neurons expressed fasII. When fasII was misexpressed in developing MB neurons, defects resulted, including loss or misdirection of adult α′/β′ lobes and concurrent misdirection of α/β lobes. Although no gross anatomical defects were apparent in the larval MB lobes, α′/β′ lobes collapsed at the pupal stage when the larval lobe of γ neurons degenerated. In addition, α/β lobes, which developed at this time, were misdirected in close relationship with the collapse of α′/β′ lobes. These defects did not occur when fasII was overexpressed in only γ and α/β neurons, indicating that ectopic expression of fasII in α′/β′ neurons is required for the defects. Our findings also suggest that the α′/β′ lobe play a role in guiding the pathfinding by α/β axons.
Mathematical and experimental insights into the development of the enteric nervous system and Hirschsprung's Disease
Authors: Landman Kerry A. , Simpson Matthew J. , Newgreen Donald F.
Published: August 2010

The vertebrate enteric nervous system is formed by a rostro‐caudally directed invasion of the embryonic gastrointestinal mesenchyme by neural crest cells. Failure to complete this invasion results in the distal intestine lacking intrinsic neurons. This potentially fatal condition is called Hirschsprung's Disease. A mathematical model of cell invasion incorporating cell motility and proliferation of neural crest cells to a carrying capacity predicted invasion outcomes to imagined manipulations, and these manipulations were tested experimentally. Mathematical and experimental results agreed. The results show that the directional invasion is chiefly driven by neural crest cell proliferation. Moreover, this proliferation occurs in a small region at the wavefront of the invading population. These results provide an understanding of why many genes implicated in Hirschsprung's Disease influence neural crest population size. In addition, during in vivo development the underlying gut tissues are growing simultaneously as the neural crest cell invasion proceeds. The interactions between proliferation, motility and gut growth dictate whether or not complete colonization is successful. Mathematical modeling provides insights into the conditions required for complete colonization or a Hirschsprung's‐like deficiency. Experimental evidence supports the hypotheses suggested by the modeling.
Characterization and expression of a maternal axolotl Cyclin B1 during oogenesis and early development
Authors: Pelczar Hélène , Caulet Stéphane , Thibier Catherine , Aubet Geneviève , Poulhe Robert , Vallianou Ioanna , Yamashita Masakane , Andéol Yannick
Published: August 2010

The M phase promoting factor (MPF) is a dimer composed of a catalytic Cdk1 subunit and a Cyclin B regulatory subunit. We have characterized a cDNA containing the entire coding sequence of an axolotl Cyclin B1 protein that is able to promote MPF activity when added to a fraction from prophase I oocytes that contains monomeric Cdk1. The axolotl cyclin B1 gene is expressed as a maternal mRNA in oocytes and early embryos. Its poly(A) tail length increases in metaphase II oocytes and then decreases regularly during the first embryonic cell cycles. Endogenous Cyclin B1 protein is first expressed during oocyte meiotic maturation. Its level oscillates after fertilization and is coordinated to the phosphorylation level of tyrosine 15 residue of Cdk1 (pTyr15), with both maxima preceding each cell division. As expected, when translated into microinjected oocytes, axolotl Cyclin B1 induces the resumption of meiosis. In electrically activated unfertilized eggs (UFE), Cyclin B1 and pTyr15 cyclic accumulations are observed with kinetics different from those of the early embryonic cycles. The axolotl embryo and UFE provide interesting in vivo comparative models for studying events controlling Cyclin B1 regulation during development.
Regeneration‐dependent conditional gene knockdown (Readyknock) in planarian: Demonstration of requirement for Djsnap‐25 expression in the brain for negative phototactic behavior
Authors: Takano Tomomi , Pulvers Jeremy N. , Inoue Takeshi , Tarui Hiroshi , Sakamoto Hiroshi , Agata Kiyokazu , Umesono Yoshihiko
Published: August 2010

Freshwater planarians have a simple and evolutionarily primitive brain structure. Here, we identified the Djsnap‐25 gene encoding a homolog of the evolutionarily conserved synaptic protein SNAP‐25 from the planarian Dugesia japonica and assessed its role in brain function. Djsnap‐25 was expressed widely in the nervous system. To investigate the specific role of Djsnap‐25 in the brain, we developed a unique technique of RNA interference (RNAi), regeneration‐dependent conditional gene knockdown (Readyknock), exploiting the high regenerative capacity of planarians, and succeeded in selectively eliminating the DjSNAP‐25 activity in the head region while leaving the DjSNAP‐25 activity in the trunk region intact. These knockdown animals showed no effect on brain morphology or on undirected movement of the trunk itself. Light‐avoidance behavior or negative phototaxis was used to quantitatively analyze brain function in the knockdown animals. The results suggested that the DjSNAP‐25 activity within the head region is required for two independent sensory‐processing pathways that regulate locomotive activity and directional movement downstream of distinct primary sensory outputs coming from the head margin and the eyes, respectively, during negative phototaxis. Our approach demonstrates that planarians are a powerful model organism to study the molecular basis of the brain as an information‐processing center.
Clinical features and teratogenic mechanisms of congenital absence of digits
Authors: Ogino Toshihiko
Published: August 2010

To have a better understanding of classification of congenital hand anomalies, clinical features and teratogenic mechanisms of congenital absence of digits including ulnar and radial deficiencies, cleft hand, symbrachydactyly and constriction band were reviewed. There seemed to be four different teratogenic mechanisms of congenital absence of digits. Ulnar and radial deficiencies have the same clinical features and the cause of these deficiencies is closely related to a deficit of mesenchymal cells in the limb‐bud due to impairment before the formation of the limb‐bud. Cleft hand, central polydactyly and osseous syndactyly were induced by the same treatment at the same developmental stage in rats. Roentgenograms of the clinical cases and skeletal changes of the anomalies in rats appear to demonstrate that cleft hand formation proceeds from osseous syndactylies and central polydactylies. The teratogenic mechanism of a cleft hand seemed to be failure of induction of digital rays in the hand plate. The sequence of anomalies from brachysyndactyly, or the atypical cleft hand, to the congenital amputation, can be regarded as equivalent to the category of transverse deficiency that is bony dysplasia of the hand. Congenital constriction ring syndrome appears after the formation of the digital rays.
Early steps of paired fin development in zebrafish compared with tetrapod limb development
Authors: Mercader Nadia
Published: August 2010

The development of zebrafish paired fins and tetrapod forelimbs and hindlimbs show striking similarities at the molecular level. In recent years, the zebrafish, Danio rerio has become a valuable model for the study of the development of vertebrate paired appendages and several large‐scale mutagenesis screens have identified novel fin mutants. This review summarizes recent advances in research into zebrafish paired fin development and highlights features that are shared with and distinct from limb development in other main animal models.
Characterization and categorization of fluorescence activated cell sorted planarian stem cells by ultrastructural analysis
Authors: Higuchi Sayaka , Hayashi Tetsutaro , Hori Isao , Shibata Norito , Sakamoto Hiroshi , Agata Kiyokazu
Published: August 2010

Planarians have regenerative ability made possible by pluripotent stem cells referred to as neoblasts. Classical ultrastructural studies have indicated that stem cells can be distinguished by a unique cytoplasmic structure known as the chromatoid body and their undifferentiated features, and they are specifically eliminated by X‐ray irradiation. Recently, by using fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS), planarian cells were separated into two X‐ray‐sensitive fractions (X1 and X2) and an X‐ray‐insensitive fraction (XIS) according to DNA content and cytoplasmic size. Here we analyzed the fractionated cells by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). First, we found that both undifferentiated cells (stem cells) and regenerative cells (differentiating cells) were concentrated in the X1 fraction containing the S/G2/M phase cells. The regenerative cells were considered to be committed stem cells or progenitor cells, suggesting that some stem cells may maintain proliferative ability even after cell fate‐commitment. Second, we succeeded in identifying a new type of stem cells, which were small in size with few chromatoid bodies and a heterochromatin‐rich nucleus. Interestingly, they were concentrated in the X2 fraction, containing G0/G1 phase cells. These results suggest that planarian stem cells are not homogeneous, but may consist of heterogeneous populations, like mammalian stem cells.
Digit morphogenesis: Is the tip different?
Authors: Casanova Jesús C. , Sanz‐Ezquerro Juan José
Published: August 2010

Digit formation is the last step in the skeletal patterning of developing limbs. This process involves important aspects such as determination of chondrogenic versus interdigital areas; growth of digital rays with periodic segmentation to form joints and thus phalanges, and finally tip formation. Traditionally it was believed that the properties of digital rays were fixed at earlier stages, but recently a surprising plasticity of digit primordia at the time of condensation has been demonstrated. This implies the presence of local interactions that are able to modulate the particular programs that make a given digit, but we don't fully understand how they operate. An involvement of signaling from the interdigital spaces and from the apical ectodermal ridge has been proposed. Another interesting question is the formation of the last limb structure, digit tips, which may involve a specific molecular and cellular program. Indeed, the expression of several developmentally important genes is restricted to digit tips at late stages of limb development. Understanding the molecular and cellular interactions that lead to digit morphogenesis has important implications not only in the context of embryonic development (for example, how early cues received by cells are translated into anatomy or what are the mechanisms that control the cease of activity of signaling regions) but also in terms of limb diversification during evolution.
Managing the Drama: The Headteacher's Work in an Urban Primary School
Authors: Acker Sandra
Published: August 2010

Previous studies of the work of primary school headteachers tend to adopt a fairly superficial approach to categorizing tasks and contacts. As part of an ethnographic study of teachers' work in an inner city primary school, I ‘shadowed’ the headteacher for three one-week blocks plus four interviews and numerous informal talks. Life at this school was intense and often dramatic. I develop an approach which suggests the headteacher's work contains ‘routines’, ‘events’ and ‘stories’ and give examples of each. Some ‘stories’ develop into ‘sagas’ or ‘social dramas’ and two instances are described. I examine how this headteacher not only copes with, but enjoys, what appears to be an increasingly stressful job.
Macro-Economics and Infant Behaviour: A Sociological Treatment of the Free-Rider Problem
Authors: Barnes Barry
Published: August 2010

A number of general issues in the social sciences are currently being addressed through consideration of the free-rider problem, also known as the problem of collective action. Many different ways of comparing and evaluating competing social theories can be co-ordinated as discussions of the problem. In attending to its relatively simple structure fundamental issues routinely arise, concerning the basis of social order, the nature of power, and the invariants of human nature itself, if such exist. In this paper I adopt a sociological perspective in defending the plausibility of one kind of solution to the problem, and then explore the general significance of that solution in a frankly speculative way.
Football Hooligans: Theory and Evidence
Authors: Armstrong Gary , Harris Rosemary
Published: August 2010

This paper describes empirical research amongst hooligans. Such research has not always been valued. The significant factor in hooligan behaviour may be asserted to be the generation of violence in the lower working class and its dissemination amongst football fans. It is commonly asserted that hooligans operate in well-organized groups. It is argued here that such assertions need to be based on better evidence. A detailed account is given of the behaviour of a notorious group of fans and its key individuals. This shows that the ‘hard core’ fans were distinguished from others only by greater dedication to football and their club; they had a potentiality for violence but only of the low level kind that many others shared; they were more often involved simply because they went to more matches; they lacked organization. Nevertheless outsiders were, not unreasonably, sure they were a violent, organized group. This casts doubt on similar beliefs held about other groups unless beliefs are well substantiated. Detailed ethnography is valuable because it helps to sort out the nature of the ‘hooligan’ problem that requires to be theorized.
Some Reflections on Discourses on Football Hooliganism
Authors: Redhead Steve
Published: August 2010

This essay is partly a response to the recent ethnographic research carried out by Armstrong and Harris, and partly a survey of a more general set of interconnected discourses about football hooliganism as a social phenomenon over the past thirty years into which the work of Armstrong and Harris fits. Discourses on football hooliganism seemed to have proliferated just as the ‘object’ in question seems to have disappeared from public view; at least in Britain, if not in other parts of Continental Europe. Part of the problem lies in the difficulty of defining accurately what we mean by the highly contentious phrase ‘football hooliganism’, a term which has no specific referent in English or Scottish law and whose boundaries, or ‘field’, are demarcated by these various discourses or ‘disciplines’ themselves: namely legal, sociological, psychological, criminological, geographical, architectural and so on. The essay offers examples of approaches which might overcome some of the difficulties experienced in researching football hooliganism.
Football Hooligans: Old Bottle, New Whines?
Authors: Moorhouse H.F.
Published: August 2010

This paper reviews the claims about the explanation of violence around football put forward by Armstrong and Harris in the light of more widespread faults in the analysis of ‘hooliganism’. It argues that conceptual, definitional and methodological problems mean that the data Armstrong and Harris supply should not cause anyone to abandon either of the two theoretical positions they think they criticize. In particular their dismissal of the moral panic type of approach to the study of football hooliganism is rebutted. Evidence concerning Scottish football is supplied to support this and to indicate that all English researchers into this issue require to revise their arguments.
Scotland's Tartan Army in Italy: The Case for the Carnivalesque
Authors: Giulianotti Richard
Published: August 2010

This short paper seeks to explain the activities of Scottish fans in Genoa and Turin, during the 1990 World Cup, by drawing on some key concepts offered by contemporary writers in the field of post-modernism and post-structuralism. These writers include Foucault, Derrida, Barthes and Baudrillard. All emphasize a re-empowerment of agency, evading more conventional forms of domination: Foucault within the domain of enabling discourse, Derrida on the open interpretation of the sign's apparent meaning, Barthes on the ‘nature’ of jouissance and the body principle, and Baudrillard on the public toying with their media representation. It is argued that Scottish fan behaviour in Italy was structured by two opposing forms of ‘self-knowledge’, relating to either expressions of violent machismo or instrumentally ambassadorial conduct. The eventual triumph of the latter is most clearly shown through an application of Goffman's conception of ‘impression management’, as the social interaction of Scottish fans with other ‘teams’ in Italy is detailed chronologically. The paper concludes with some recommendations aimed at the relevant authorities, with a view to maximizing the internationalism of Scottish fans at future competitions.
The Boy Done Good: Football Violence, Changes and Continuities
Authors: Hobbs Dick , Robins David
Published: August 2010

As football related disorders remain stubbornly impervious to ‘solutions’, so the study of football hooliganism has become almost a minor branch of the social sciences. This paper looks critically at the main academic approaches to the problem in the UK and Europe. The shortcomings of much of this work are revealed, both theoretically and in terms of the evidence employed about the nature of hooliganism. The meagre amount of data about hooliganism contained in the plethora of Government reports that have so far been commissioned is striking. This may well be the reason why ‘official’ remedies so often prove inadequate. One way of gaining an understanding of this phenomenon is by making contact with, talking to, and observing at first hand the behaviour of those people most centrally involved, the hooligans themselves. This paper concludes with a series of portraits of ‘the boys’, some of it based on their own published writing. This will illustrate different forms of hooligan involvements. It will also provide an understanding of its origins as well as the true scale and scope of hooligan activity, about which many myths prevail. Something of the changes as well as the continuities on the football scene over the past 25 years will be indicated. Finally we will attempt to locate the whole phenomenon in its true place within British youth culture.
The Mourning after Hillsborough
Authors: Walter Tony
Published: August 2010

There are continuing claims that in our society death is a taboo subject, and that bereaved people have lost touch with mourning rituals. This view seems to be challenged by the extensive mourning rituals on Merseyside in the fortnight in April 1989 following the Hillsborough tragedy, and by the simultaneous media debates about what would constitute appropriate mourning. The article analyses both the media debates and the rituals in order to ascertain whether these contradict the ‘taboo’ thesis, or whether they were unique to Merseyside and/or to a particular disaster.
The Sociology of Football: A Research Agenda for the 1990s
Authors: Duke Vic
Published: August 2010

The paper emphasizes the need for an alternative sociology of football that goes beyond the issue of football hooliganism, which has dominated work in the field. In the light of the Taylor Report and the agenda of modernization of football in the 1990s, research into the football crowd as a whole is required. A positive view of the state of English football in 1990 is presented as a corrective to the negative image of the 1980s. The debate is set in the context of my previous work on the politics of football both in Britain and the new Europe – West and East. In the final section, several topics are placed on the research agenda for the sociology of football in the 1990s. These are the modernization of facilities, the study of fanzines, comparative research and a social demography of the football crowd.
Guidance, Counselling, Therapy: Responses to ‘Marital Problems’ 1950–90
Authors: Clark David
Published: August 2010

This paper makes a contribution to the still relatively undeveloped literature on the sociology of counselling, using a detailed case study of one organisation. Styles of intervention are explored in the work of the National Marriage Guidance Council/Relate. The paper rejects a simple linear development model based on transitions from ‘guidance’, to ‘counselling’ to ‘therapy’ Influences deriving from Rogerian models of counselling, from psychodynamic and behavioural theory are explored and are placed in the context of wider organisational factors. Attention is given to the varying fortunes of the medical model within Marriage Guidance. The paper concludes with an examination of the contradictions thrown up by recent attempts to develop an eclectic model of marital counselling, which appear to founder on the absence of any clearly defined goals for intervention.
Pleasing the Students: Teachers' Orientaton to Classroom Life in Adult Education
Authors: Salisbury Jane , Murcott Anne
Published: August 2010

It is noted that existing sociological research on classrooms has focused too narrowly on compulsory schooling with the result that we have no data showing the rituals and routines of Adult Classrooms or the ways that teachers cope and resolve them. The paper presents fieldnote and interview data from a small ethnographic study of the two Adult Evening classes. The data suggest that in contrast to the teacher of school aged pupils, who seeks control and discipline, ‘pleasing students’ is the major orientation to classroom life of the evening class teacher.

Do not say, the people must be educated when after all you only mean amused, refreshed, soothed put into good spirits and good humour or kept from vicious excesses. (Newman, 1873).
Dock Strikes and the Demise of the Dockers' ‘Occupational Culture’
Authors: Turnbull Peter
Published: August 2010

Throughout the post-war period dockers have vied with coal miners as Britain's most strike-prone occupational group. The dockers' ‘occupational culture’ was believed by many to be a principal factor behind this militancy, but this alone cannot account for the pattern or level of conflict on the waterfront. Furthermore, following decasualisation in 1967 and the progressive unitisation of cargo handling operations in the 1970s and 1980s the occupational culture of the dockers was progressively undermined. By the late 1980s the National Dock Labour Scheme had become the central pillar of what remained of the dockers' occupational culture, and as the 1989 national dock strike illustrated, without the support of the Scheme the dockers were unable to mount any effective resistance to the attack on their terms and conditions of employment initiated by the employers and fully supported by the state. It is only by integrating the sociological study of working class imagery and consciousness with an industrial relations analysis of the institutions, processes and structural conditions of workplace negotiations over the wage-effort bargain that it is possible to explain the nature and causes of dock strikes per se, the intensity of conflict on the waterfront, and the consummate failure of the dockers in the 1989 strike.
Ocean Cruising: A Sailing Subculture
Authors: Macbeth Jim
Published: August 2010

Just after dawn, an English couple in their 30's haul up their anchor and motor across the stillness of Suva harbour. The hurricane season is approaching and they are embarking on the 2–3 week trip to Bay of Islands New Zealand for the southern summer. Three months earlier, as their yacht lay aground on the fringing reef of uninhabited Suvarov atoll, they wondered if they'd ever reach New Zealand. But, with the help of other cruisers and lucky tides their steel 36 footer was clear and safe in under 24 hours. What was to be a one year trip around the north Atlantic was now happily way off course in the South Pacific and likely to remain so for some time.

That is just a glimpse of one small aspect of ocean cruising, the subculture of interest here. However, throughout the paper the ethnography of cruising is developed further. A model is proposed to show how individuals come to share the subculture ideology and then to participate in the lifestyle. Subsequently, 1 will place ocean cruising in the context of subculture theory by expanding the ethnography and relating cruising to other subcultures.
The Social Segregation of the Long-Term Unemployed in Hartlepool
Authors: Morris Lydia
Published: August 2010

This paper reports on research designed to investigate the nature and implications of the social segregation of the long term unemployed in a Northern UK town suffering high rates of unemployment. The project is designed to test the hypothesis that the social polarisation identified by Pahl (1984), confirmed by this writer's small scale research, and apparent in national statistics, reaches beyond the household to the extended family, and to friendship and neighbourhood contacts. Work history evidence from a sample of 791 married couples is used to establish the importance of informal information flows in shaping employment prospects, and additional material is presented which shows concentrations of unemployment in particular kinship and friendship networks. These data, together with evidence that employed informants are the most effective means of job access, demonstrate that a complex of factors will act together to reduce the chances of the long term unemployed finding work.
The Press and Public Access to the Environment and Development Debate
Authors: Lacey Colin , Longman David
Published: August 2010

This paper presents an analysis of some aspects of newspaper coverage of environment and development issues. In particular, Global Warming and the Sudan famine are used as case studies of the features of this coverage. It argues that there are few grounds for adopting the optimistic view, as taken by some researchers, that the press will sustain and deepen its reporting of these issues.

The analysis uses a computer-based methodology in which a key feature is the use of full-text on-line database of the contents of four newspapers. This paper presents the first steps in applying this methodology to the investigation of press reporting. It shows how the broad quantitative indicators available from this source can illustrate comparative patterns of newspaper coverage over long time periods and a wide range of themes.

The ultimate purpose of this analysis is to understand the processes which contribute to informing or educating public debate about issues that crucially affect the political and economic future of society. The argument is that the press docs educate the public (its readers) but that this process is highly selective, it can contradict espoused editorial policy, and frequently environment and development issues receive less prominence as their political significance increases. The analysis shows therefore that in many cases the coverage given to these issues actually declines even as their significance increases.

The authors argue that a social solution is required if the press is to be re-established as a public educator in a more positive sense. Methods must be developed for monitoring and influencing the processes by which the press manipulates the climate of opinion whilst nurturing its readership. One approach to this problem is taken by the Education Networks for Environment and Development Project at Sussex University where the results of this type of analysis are used to inform an open network of workers in a variety of professional institutions. Future investigations will look in more detail at this concept.
Gender and the Labour Market in Europe: Britain, Germany and France Compared
Authors: Lane Christel
Published: August 2010

This paper has two objectives: to contrast patterns of female labour market participation in three West European societies and to develop a theoretical approach which can encompass both universal features of gender divisions in the labour market and nationally specific ones.

Empirically, the focus is on the different levels and forms of labour force participation over the female life cycle, particularly on any resultant employment casualization. Consideration is also given to patterns of horizontal and vertical segregation and to pay. The differences between the three countries are explained by positing the existence of nationally specific gender profiles with a differential impact on labour market patterning along gender lines. These profiles are constructed by gender regimes at the level of the state which, in turn, are the result of political struggles and compromises of a variety of political actors. The paper utilizes European statistical data and secondary sources.
Typification in a Neuro-Rehabilitation Centre: Scheff Revisited?
Authors: Griffiths Lesley , Hughes David
Published: August 2010

This paper presents data on the admissions process in a Regional neuro-rehabilitation centre, using the framework proposed in Thomas Scheff's classic paper on typification in the diagnostic process as a starting point for analysis. We argue that typification is a more complex and diffuse process than Scheff's ‘diagnostic stereotype’ concept suggests, and that this may be linked to the particular work imperatives and relevancies that are important in this setting.
The Pull of the Fruit Machine: A Sociological Typology of Young Players
Authors: Fisher Sue
Published: August 2010

This paper seeks to provide a sociological account of how children and young people orient to fruit machine gambling. The account is based upon the findings of an ethnographic study and is presented in the form of a typology. Arcade Kings and their Apprentices, Machine Beaters, Escape Artists, Action Seekers and Rent-a-Spacers comprise a classification which includes ‘addicts’ as well as ‘social gamblers’. The typology reveals the multi-dimensional nature of fruit machine gambling as a leisure pursuit. It thus provides a theoretical contribution to the sociology of gambling as well as an ‘ethnographic road map’ for researchers and counsellors in the field.