bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Issues in the Design of Longitudinal Organizational Research
Authors: Kimberly John R.
Published: October 2007

While there is a growing awareness in the field of organizational sociology of the need for longitudinal research, there are few exemplars to serve as guides for those interested in the design of such research. Written to provide an overview of issues in this increasingly important area, this paper begins by developing a working definition of longitudinal organizational research by examining the kinds of advantages that are generally held to derive from it. A distinction is made between research in and research on organizations, and a number of issues in the design of both sorts of longitudinal research are identified. Examples are provided through discussion of an ongoing project currently moving from a cross-sectional to a longitudinal design.
Prestige or Socioeconomic Scales in the Study of Occupational Achievement?
Authors: Featherman David L. , Hauser Robert M.
Published: October 2007

Current research on status attainment usually employs either a scale of prestige or of socioeconomic status to rank order occupation titles. Consistently, in the United States (and in limited international comparisons), correlations among variables in basic stratification models which rest upon data in the metric of socioeconomic status are higher than those reflecting occupational prestige. Earlier work advanced a substantive argument for this outcome to the effect that occupational stratification is fundamentally socioeconomic and not prestige mobility. Here we underscore the substantive argument by ruling out two artifactual explanations for these higher correlations. Neither the differential metric properties of the two scales (e.g., the longer "tails" of the Duncan Socioeconomic Index than the NORC prestige scale) nor the component properties of the Duncan scale account for these correlational differences.
Minimizing Error Variance Introduced By Missing Data Routines in Survey Analysis
Authors: Hertel Bradley R.
Published: October 2007

Seven ways of dealing with the problem of missing data are examined in this paper in light of their expected consequences on the strength of association among treated variables. These seven approaches include the (1) delete cases, (2) delete items, (3) sample mean, (4) group mean, (5) pairwise r, (6) regression analysis, and (7) random assignment solutions.
Demonstrating the Value of Mini Surveys in Social Research
Authors: Finsterbusch Kurt
Published: October 2007

The informative value of mini surveys (surveys of samples of 20 to 80 respondents) is described and illustrated. The declining marginal utility of each additional respondent makes mini surveys efficient. They give a rough idea of the population parameters and can lead to the rejection of hypotheses which differ widely from the evidence. The kind of confidence that can be placed in them is discussed, and it is concluded that they are particularly useful in applied and/or policy research. They can not be used, however, for complex multivariate analyses or precise comparisons. In addition to describing populations, they can be used to modify the opinions of experts and to test the applicability of previous findings to a specific situation or case. They can also be used in conjunction with large-scale surveys. Finally, several waves of mini surveys, which alternate data gathering, analysis, and questionnaire revision, can probe and explore issues better than does a single survey.
Analyzing Disproportionately Stratified Samples With Computerized Statistical Packages
Authors: Smith Kent W.
Published: October 2007

With proper unit-weighting, the widely used statistical packages provide unbiased estimates of means, proportions, and totals for disproportionately stratified samples but generally overestimate these statistics' variances. Proper unit-weighting need not artificially increase the sample size. If the assumptions of classical linear regression are appropriate and the model is correctly specified, then ordinary least-squares regression without unit-weighting provides the best-linear-unbiased and maximum-likelihood estimates for large stratified samples-at least for those with small sampling proportions from large populations. With heteroscedastic errors, generalized least-squares can be performed through data transformations.
Group Dynamics and Attitude-Behavior Relations
Authors: Heise David R.
Published: October 2007

A model is presented in which attitudes have effects on behaviors, behaviors are compared against norms to define deviance, and deviance has a return, corrective effect on attitudes through mechanisms of social control. Social interactions link these individual processes to form a single interpersonal system within a group. It is demonstrated that in a system of this kind, an attitude-behavior correlation is a function of many different social psychological effects, and its value conceivably could be positive, zero, or even negative. Results of a preliminary empirical study using two-stage least squares to estimate system parameters show that the proposed system is viable with some modifications. In particular, empirical evidence in support of an attitude-behavior effect is found.
Discretionary Methodological Decisions in Applied Research
Authors: Berk Richard A.
Published: October 2007

The process of completing any piece of empirical research requires that a large number of methodological decisions be made at each step in the undertaking. Some of these decisions are very clearly prescribed by conventional practice, while others allow for wide discretion. This paper discusses various kinds of discretionary decisions in applied research where special difficulties are necessarily produced by the requirement to speak to the needs of policy makers and other research users. Emphasizing the inevitable advocacy role of applied researchers, suggestions are provided for which kinds of discretionary methodological decisions in applied research should be encouraged and which should be condemned.
A Cautionary Note On the Use of Two-Stage Least Squares
Authors: Hout Michael
Published: October 2007

A computational error in the application of multiple regression computer programs to two-stage least squares estimation of the standardized coefficients for nonrecursive models leads to the understatement of the relative size of reciprocal effects. Furthermore, an error in the computation of the disturbance variance invalidates significance tests for the metric coefficients. The sources of the errors are derived and an example is presented. The example reveals that not only do the incorrectly computed standardized coefficients underestimate reciprocal effects, they also may lead to specious conclusions regarding group differences in the relative impact of causal variables.
Conjoint Measurement and the Canonical Analysis of Contingency Tables
Authors: Davis Peter Byard
Published: October 2007

The simultaneous conjoint model of measurement is first briefly outlined and its relevance to the problems of measurement level in sociological research discussed. The canonical correlation approach to the analysis of contingency tables is then presented as a simultaneous conjoint model solution to the problem of providing a more adequate representation than a traditional X2-based measure of association of more complex sets of frequency data.
Log-Linear Techniques and the Regression Analysis of Dummy Dependent Variables
Authors: Gillespie Michael W.
Published: October 2007

Although previous comparisons of log-linear techniques with the regression analysis of dummy dependent variables have focused on the statistical superiority of the log-linear techniques, this paper presents three advantages of dummy dependent-variable regressions. First, dummy dependent-variable regression is able to accommodate both categorical and continuous independent variables. Second, the calculation of indirect effects and reciprocal effects is possible only with dummy dependent-variable regression. Third, the slopes yielded by dummy dependent-variable regression possess the properties of fundamental parameters; the effect parameters of log-linear models do not. In particular, controlling for a variable that is irrelevant to the causal system under investigation can yield a partial relationship whose expected value differs from that of the zero-order relationship when using log-linear techniques.
Interpretation of Residual Paths and Decomposition of Variance
Authors: MacDonald K.I.
Published: October 2007

It is noted that a 'forwards incremental'decomposition of variance meshes particularly well with a recursive path analysis formulation of a social process, and it can readily be calculated from the model, knowing only the paths. From this it is suggested that it may be substantively illuminating to trace residual effects forwards through a standardized model, and not to confine interpretation of residual effects to the 'parent' variables. A simple interpretation of the residual path is also presented.
Log-Linear Models for Contingency Table Analysis
Authors: Holt D.
Published: October 2007

This paper is concerned with the interpretation of fitted log-linear models in contingency table analysis. The two most commonly used alternatives are the direct interpretation of the estimated coefficients of the fitted model and the interpretation of statistics, such as odds ratios, based upon the expected cell frequencies under the fitted model. There are strong reasons for preferring the latter since the statistics will be the same whatever computer program is used to fit the model whereas the estimated parameter coefficients will depend upon the set of constraints used to solve the normal equations. Thus, different computer programs can (correctly) provide different parameter estimates from the same data whereas statistics such as odds ratios based upon the expected cell frequencies will be unaffected. Interpretation based upon the estimated parameters of the fitted model is therefore potentially misleading. These problems are not unique to log-linear analysis but occur in analyses involving the generalized linear model.
Role Playing and the Study of Jury Behavior
Authors: Kerr Norbert L. , Nerenz David R. , Herrick David
Published: October 2007

Widespread use of simulated trials and mock juries to study jury behavior has stimulated concern for the external validity ofsuch simulations. A study is reported which examined the role-playing nature of mock jury deliberation. Subjects were either given typical role-playing instructions, or were led to believe that they were deciding an actual student discipline case. The two conditions did not differ significantly on their group or individual verdicts, sentence recommendations, deliberation time, or estimated social decision schemes. The significance and limitations of these results for the study of jury behavior are discussed.
Bodily practice, performance art, competitive sport
Authors: McDonald Ian
Published: October 2007

How are we to understand the meaning and politics of kalarippayattu in contemporary Kerala? This article begins by outlining the meaning of kalarippayattu in the mythohistorical landscape of feudal south India and its place in contributing to the development of cultural identity in the nascent state of Kerala. This provides a context for interpreting the different ways in which globalisation is reconfiguring kalarippayattu: a hitherto composite kalarippayattu is now being re-conceptualised as a bodily practice, a performing art and a competitive sport. Drawing on the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty and the work of Walter Benjamin, this article argues that while kalarippayattu as a competitive sport and performing art is ‘non-auratic’ by virtue of its assimilation into the capitalist logic of instrumental rationality and objectification, kalarippayattu as a bodily practice continues to have ‘aura’. Thus, the radical kernel of kalarippayattu as a martial art lies in its politico-phenomenological depth as a bodily practice, and in its capacity to act as a negative critique of dominant social trends.
‘I don't eat meat’
Authors: Saunders Jennifer B.
Published: October 2007

Hindu transmigrants use discourse on diet as a way to maintain connections with India, as well as to construct Indian, Hindu and caste identities. In this article, I argue that such discourse on food is a meta-discourse that reframes the symbolic meaning of food in the transnational context. This article examines a transnational Hindu community's discourse on food, and pairs R.S. Khare's arguments about the communicative function of food in a South Asian context with transnational and performance theories, as well as with Arjun Appadurai's argument about the significance of imagination in creating lived realities. Through their narratives involving food, this community is actively engaged in shifting the meanings of what it eats to emphasise their connections with each other, and with India. Thus, a vegetarian diet and the use of ‘authentic’ Indian ingredients become the symbols of Indian identity through discourse, which is then solidified through the acts of cooking and eating. This article is based on fieldwork conducted with an extended transnational Hindu family and its social networks in both India and the United States between 1999 and 2004.
Communication and Development
Authors: Rogers Everett M.
Published: October 2007

This article describes the dominant model of development, the factors that led to its decline in intellectual circles after about 1970, and the emerging alternatives. The implications of this academic shift in thinking on the role of communication in development are discussed in terms of such issues as the communication effects gap, the content of mass media messages about development, and the limitations of the social structure on developmental communication effects. Greater use of field experiments and network analysis is recommended.
Watergate and Television
Authors: Besen Stanley M. , Mitchell Bridger M.
Published: October 2007

This paper employs data from a "natural experiment," the televised coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings, to examine several hypotheses which have been advanced concerning television viewer behavior. This paper postulates a more general theory of audience preferences and develops a model to represent separate groups of viewer's with distinct preference orderings for program types. The results indicate that the previously proposed hypotheses-the "passive viewer" and "first choice only" hypotheses-concerning viewer behavior are deficient. These results also suggest that television viewing can be increased by the addition of new alternatives if they are sufficiently dissimilar to programs presently being shown. The programming decisions of the three networks can be represented as strategies in economic games involving audience-maximizing, loss-minimizing, and cost-minimizing payoffs. Collective action by the networks to provide rotated coverage, a departure from the usual practice of providing simultaneous coverage of major news events, is an especially attractive solution to the cooperative form of these games.
The Agenda Setting Function of the Mass Media At Three Levels of "Information Holding"
Authors: Benton Marc , Frazier P. Jean
Published: October 2007

The objective of this study was to extend the theoretical concept of agenda setting to include three levels of peoples' information holding: (1) awareness of general issues; (2) awareness of proposed solutions; (3) specific knowledge about the proposals. A content analysis of three media and a survey were conducted to examine whether or not agenda setting is operative at Levels 2 and 3, since previous research has consistently shown agenda setting at Level 1. Concerning economic issues, high intercorrelations among media regarding economic content were found at Level 2. Agenda setting was found at both Levels 2 and 3, with newspapers primarily setting the agenda for all media users. In contrast to prior agenda setting studies which have found television to play a substantial role in setting the public agenda at Level 1, television was not round to be setting peoples' agenda at Levels 2 and 3.
Congruent and Contradictory Verbal and Nonverbal Communications of Cooperativeness and Competitiveness in Negotiations
Authors: Johnson David W. , McCarty Kenneth , Allen Thomas
Published: October 2007

Within the communication literature there is an assumption that the congruency of verbal and nonverbal messages is important for accurate and persuasive communication and that nonverbal messages are more powerful than verbal messages in communication. Research by conflict theorists and educational psychologists indicate just the opposite. This study examined the effects of verbal and nonverbal messages indicating cooperativeness or competitiveness on negotiation outcomes. In two of the conditions the verbal and nonverbal messages were congruent, in the other two conditions they were contradictory. The results indicate that congruency of verbal and nonverbal messages was not an important factor in determining negotiation outcomes, although it did affect accuracy of communication. Verbal messages had much more impact than did nonverbal messages. The communication of cooperative intentions promoted a decision by the receiver to engage in cooperative behaviors and to arrive at cooperative negotiation outcomes.
The Persuasive Effectiveness of the Peer Appeal and a Communicator's First-Hand Experience
Authors: Cantor Joanne R. , Alfonso Herminia , Zillmann Dolf
Published: October 2007

A tape-recorded interview in which a woman gave a favorable evaluation of the intrauterine device was created in eight versions which effected a factorial variation in (a) the degree of age similarity between the interviewee and the subjects (peer, nonpeer), (b) the type of experience (primary, secondary) that the interviewee had had with the IUD, and (c) the interviewee's level of medical expertise (expert, nonexpert). Aside from these variations, all evaluative and factual aspects of the interview were identical in the eight versions. Male and female college students were exposed to one of the eight versions, purportedly in connection with an experiment on communication styles. In a later, supposedly unrelated questionnaire, subjects who had been exposed to the peer communicator rated themselves as significantly more likely to choose the IUD as a contraceptive method than subjects exposed to the nonpeer. Also, there was a tendency for subjects hearing a source who had used the IUD herself to rate the IUD as more effective than subjects hearing a source with secondary experience only, with the difference between these groups approaching significance. Expertise of the source did not exert a significant effect on any of the ratings.
Graphical Humor and the Measurement of Attitudinal Ambivalence
Authors: Anderson Ronald E. , Wieting Stephen G.
Published: October 2007

The use of graphical humor as an indicator of social and psychological attitudes is reviewed. A novel method for assessing attitudes using cartoons as projective devices is introduced. Analysis of responses from 275 students who were given both discursive, sentence items and graphical humor, projective items, demonstrates the potential of cartoons as stimuli for attitude measurement. The results suggest that graphical humor might be developed successfully in constructing alternative methods for measuring attitudinal ambivalence. Greater attention should be given to the ambivalence dimensions of social attitudes because ambivalence is a common and expected outcome of the inconsistencies and contradictions inherent in social life.
An Analysis of the Logic of Televised Campaign Advertisements
Authors: Buss Terry F. , Hofstetter C. Richard
Published: October 2007

A set of "idio-logical attributes" was used to identify styles of "concludifying" in texts of paid political campaign advertising broadcast during the 1972 presidential election. Republican and Democratic advertisements were found to be similar in the variety and proportion of concludifying styles employed. Advertisements tended to avoid styles classified as "informal logical fallacies," but included common "cognitive maneuvers." Patterns of subject/ object association among candidate, party, and issue themes were found to reflect common interpretations of Nixon and McGovern campaign strategies.
Community Control and Care of Scientific Information
Authors: Tichenor Phillip J. , Olien Clarice N. , Donohue George A.
Published: October 2007

Two midwestern cities were studied to evaluate how support for the basic values of widespread information and the use of specialized knowledge by the public and leaders is related to community structure as measured by homogeneity and heterogeneity. The public in the more heterogeneous community was more likely to support wide distribution and use of information. There were fewer differences between leaders in the two communities. The authors suggest that as social differentiation increases, information is evaluated in terms of perceived relevance for specific social ends.
Changes in Interpersonal Communication Patterns as a Consequence of Need for Information
Authors: Woelfel John C.
Published: October 2007

This paper utilizes a needs and gratifications approach to interpret patterns of interpersonal communication among children and adolescents. The main hypothesis is that individuals who are close to voting age will develop a need to obtain political information in order to hold informed political opinion upon which to base voting decisions. This hypothesis was confirmed. This need for political information led to increased information seeking among the respondents. The information seeking was apparently successful, resulting in increased attitude holding among the respondents.
Communicator Style as an Effect Determinant of Attraction
Authors: Norton Robert W. , Pettegrew Loyd S.
Published: October 2007

This research reports the results of three independent studies which investigate the relationship between attraction and communicator style (the way a person communicates). Study 1 compares the communicator styles of "best liked" and "least liked" friends. The "best liked" friend's style differed significantly from that of the "least liked" friend, scoring higher on attraction, communicator image, open, attentive relaxed. and dramatic/animated. In study 2, four specific styles were studied in relation to attraction. The dominant/open style was seen by subjects as the most attractive; the not-dominant/not-relaxed style was seen as least attractive. In study 3, teachers rated students representing the four styles investigated in study 2 on a nine-item attraction measure entailing physical, personality, and liking dimensions. Again, the dominant/open style emerged as most attractive. The three studies provide strong evidence that communicator style is an important effect determinant of attraction.
Investigating the Assumptions of Uses and Gratifications Research
Authors: Lometti Guy E. , Reeves Byron , Bybee Carl R.
Published: October 2007

This study attempted to determine empirically the gratifications sought from communication channels and to test the assumption that individuals differentiate channels based on gratifications. Age-related changes in the dimensions adolescents use to differentiate channels were also investigated Results indicated that three dimensions were operative across three age levels, although the importance of the dimensions varied with age. The three dimensions were surveillance/entertainment, affective guidance, and behavioral guidance.
Literacy, Illiteracy, and Learning From Television News
Authors: Stauffer John , Frost Richard , Rybolt William
Published: October 2007

This paper reports on an investigation of the abilities of literates and adult nonreaders to recall and use information from a national network television news program. On a test of unaided recall of news stories the literates recalled 55% more stories than the nonreaders. On a multiple-choice test of information gain from the news program, the literates performed 63% better than the nonreaders. The samples were found to be virtually identical in their use of and opinions about television news. A control group of college students was given the information test without first seeing the news program and did no better than chance.

The most important factor affecting recall was the length of time the story was on the air. Human interest stories were recalled much better by both groups than any other type of story. The level of performance among the adult nonreaders correlated highly with their reading levels.
Administrative Culture and Civil Society
Authors: Anechiarico Frank
Published: October 2007

This article explores the relationship between civil society and public administration. It is argued that the disjunction between reform movements in the two fields can be repaired by a focus on administrative culture. The role of administrative culture is explained through a comparative case study of the political response to official corruption involving organized crime in the United States and the Netherlands. In rejecting the American solution to the problem, the Dutch reflect an administrative culture that differs sharply from the control-oriented culture in American government. The conclusion proposes the adoption of civic engagement benchmarks in American public administration.
Toward a Reconciliation of the Bureaucratic and Democratic Ethos
Authors: Woller Gary M.
Published: October 2007

This article attempts to reconcile the dominant ethical frameworks in public administration: the bureaucratic ethos and the democratic ethos. To do so, the article begins by recasting the debate between the two ethos as a modern-day manifestation of the historic and ongoing debate between utilitarian and deontological ethics. It next shows how the principle of the universalizability of ethical rules can be derived from both utilitarian and deontological theory. Finally, it shows how the principle of universalizability can be used to reconcile the two ethos in the context of the public interest.
The Demonstration of the Righteousness of God in Romans 3:25,26
Authors: Piper John
Published: October 2007

The concept of the righteousness of God which provides the most natural and coherent interpretation of Rom 3:25,26 and which takes full account of the term's OT background as well as the immediate context is not "covenant faithfulness" or "faithfulness to creation" but rather God's unwavering commitment always to act for his own name's sake. The so-called "satisfaction theory" of the atonement may be more "Hebraic-Biblical" than is often thought.
Workers' Cooperatives in Brazil: Autonomy vs Precariousness
Authors: Lima Jacob Carlos
Published: October 2007

The aim of this article is to discuss the growth of workers' cooperatives within the context of recent industrial restructuring in Brazil. Based on the analysis of empirical cases, it seeks to assess whether, and to what degree, this kind of self-management results in workers' gains in autonomy and the democratization of workplace relations, or if this process of economic restructuring has merely left these workers in a more precarious employment situation.
Who Has Control in Teams without Teamworking?
Authors: Townsend Keith
Published: October 2007

A central aspect of labour process theory is the recognition that management must institute controls over the workforce to maximize levels of labour output. Yet, these controls are never complete and employees maintain some ability to actively determine the level of engagement in their work. This article examines the manner in which control is manifest within teams in two different organizations. The article demonstrates that within these two case study organizations, teams develop differently, primarily due to the processes in which the atypical team is engaged. The different processes result in the atypical team having a greater level of control over its members' primary processes and, in addition, greater control over what they do when not engaged in their primary task.
Adaptive EAP Estimation of Ability in a Microcomputer Environment
Authors: Bock R. Darrell , Mislevy Robert J.
Published: October 2007

Expected a posteriori (EAP) estimation of ability, based on numerical evaluation of the mean and variance of the posterior distribution, is shown to have unusually good properties for computerized adaptive testing. The calculations are not complex, precede noniteratively by simple summation of log likelihoods as items are added, and require only values of the response function obtainable from precalculated tables at a limited number of quadrature points. Simulation studies are reported showing the near equivalence of the posterior standard deviation and the standard error of measurement. When the adaptive testings terminate at a fixed posterior standard deviation criterion of .90 or better, the regression of the EAP estimator on true ability is virtually linear with slope equal to the reliability, and the measurement error homogeneous, in the range ± 2.5 standard deviations.
A General Approach to Algorithmic Design of Fixed-Form Tests, Adaptive Tests, and Testlets
Authors: Berger Martijn P. F.
Published: October 2007

The selection of items from a calibrated item bank for fixed-form tests is an optimal test design problem; this problem has been handled in the literature by mathematical programming models. A similar problem, however, arises when items are selected for an adaptive test or for testlets. This paper focuses on the similarities of optimal design of fixed-form tests, adaptive tests, and testlets within the framework of the general theory of optimal designs. A sequential design procedure is proposed that uses these similarities. This procedure not only enables optimal design of fixed-form tests, adaptive tests, and testlets, but is also very flexible. The procedure is easy to apply, and consistent estimates for the trait level distribution are obtained. Index terms: adaptive tests, consistency, efficiency, optimal test design, sequential procedure, test design, testlets.
Testing the Equality of Two Related Intraclass Reliability Coefficients
Authors: Alsawaimeh Yousef M. , Feldt Leonard S.
Published: October 2007

An approximate statistical test of the equality of two intraclass reliability coefficients based on the same sample of people is derived. Such a test is needed when a researcher wishes to compare the reliability of two measurement procedures and both procedures can be applied to the performances or products of the same group of individuals. A numerical example is presented. Monte carlo studies indicate that the proposed test effectively controls Type I error with as few as two or three measurements on each of 50 people. Index terms: equality of related intraclass reliability coefficients, intraclass reliability, sampling theory, Speannan-Brown extrapolation, statistical test.
Policy Sensitivity in Dynamic Optimization Models: A Study Remembering William Alonso’s Regional Modeling Perspectives
Authors: West Carol T. , Deepak M. S.
Published: October 2007

Although William Alonso began his illustrious career as an economic equilibrium modeler, he often was critical of formal mathematical models applied in the regional context. Regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) models have theoretical characteristics similar to the economic framework underlying his seminal Location and Land Use. However, their development and application have proceeded largely unheedful of the modeling concerns Alonso expressed for three decades following his classic 1964 publication. The current research summarizes the Alonso legacy to regional forecasting and policy impact modeling and expands regional CGE modeling in that context. A 20-period dynamic CGE/optimal control model of a simplified regional economy is used to determine paths of regional tax policy and public investment in physical infrastructure and human capital that maximize the present value of real disposable per capita income. Optimal results are compared with a baseline scenario in which a “passive” regional government simply sustains initial public infrastructure. Sensitivity of outcomes to model formulation is examined.
Managing Urban Growth for the Efficient Use of Public Infrastructure: Toward a Theory of Concurrency
Authors: Knaap Gerrit , Ding Chengri , Hopkins Lewis D.
Published: October 2007

In this article, the authors develop three dynamic models of urban growth with a focus on the efficient utilization of lumpy urban infrastructure. First, the authors show that the optimal growth rate depends on the rate at which infrastructure capacity is consumed when public service levels are variable and produced with a fixed stock of public infrastructure. Second, it is shown that the optimal growth rate depends on the rate of increase in marginal public service costs when public service levels are fixed and provided with variable inputs and a fixed stock of infrastructure. Third, the authors examine the optimal growth path when service levels are fixed and infrastructure is expanded in lumpsum increments. Under these conditions, the authors show that the optimum urban growth path depends on the level and timing of investments in urban infrastructure and that efficiencies can be gained by coordinating public and private investments in urban development.
Are Very Large Cities Successful? Searching for Dynamic Externalities Versus Evidence from Population Movements
Authors: Hansen Niles
Published: October 2007

This article considers two ways of viewing the successfulness of large U.S. cities. The first, which has been very prominent in the past decade, emphasizes that large cities are successful because the advantages of proximity create dynamic knowledge externalities that, in turn, are a source of increasing returns and higher per capita incomes. It is argued here that empirical evidence concerning the nature and magnitude of the externalities is often conflicting, and in any case they have not been measured directly. An alternative approach is to consider international and domestic population movements, which suggest that large cities have not been successful in the view of many domestic residents. Domestic migration patterns favor intermediate-size cities. Some reasons are given for why domestic population deconcentration has taken place.
Continuity and Change in Regional Planning and Policy: Scholarship in the Style of William Alonso
Authors: Markusen Ann
Published: October 2007

Commitment to regional policy analysis and counsel has long been a hallmark of leadership in regional science. In this article, the author traces the rise and disillusionment with development economics and its concern with backward regions, the emergence of deindustrialization as a regional challenge, opposing trends toward devolution and nation building, the rise of environmental concerns, and the resurgence of interest in metropolitan planning as successive high-water marks in regional policy making. Reflecting on the work of William Alonso, the author shows how a major theoretician in regional science bent his sights on the important policy issues of his times, evaluating options and forecasting new developments. While the objects of concern have changed, the author documents continuity in Alonso’s zest for the knottier policy issues in the field of regional analysis and his contributions to each.
Indonesia and China Today
Authors: Lindblad J. Thomas
Published: October 2007

There is a lively debate about the ‘China effect’ on economies in Southeast Asia that have embarked on industrialization in recent years.Will rapid growth and structural transformation of the Chinese economy undermine competitiveness in international markets of a low-wage country like Indonesia? This contribution focuses on the new challenges faced by industrialization policies in Indonesia with specific attention given to Chinese exports of similar types of products. Statistics on trade flows and revealed comparative advantage are discussed.This article also contains a historical background referring to two separate themes. The first concerns the economic position of Indonesians of Chinese descent, which goes far back in history. What does the ‘China effect’ mean to Indonesia, keeping in mind that a significant part of the Indonesian economy is dominated by Chinese Indonesians? Second, the necessity of an accelerated industrialization is considered in the context of the extreme dependence on world markets for an economy rich in natural resources like the Indonesian one. Does industrialization in competition with China imply exchanging one type of dependence for another?
The 'Divided Self' of Polish State-owned Enterprises: The Culture of Organizing
Authors: Kostera Monika , Wicha Maciej
Published: October 2007

In the course of the current transition to a market economy, Polish state-owned enterprises are expected to change their functioning very quickly in order to 'adapt' to the new rules of the game. Nevertheless, adaptation to market principles is hampered by old cultural mind frames, which the actors adopted to cope with communist governance. The reasons behind this cultural 'lag' are examined in this paper. It aims to develop a model of the culture of organizing enacted in big consolidated state-owned enterprises, to show how the old cultural patterns emerged. Currently, their existence hinders change.
Perspectives on Innovation in Organizations
Authors: Slappendel Carol
Published: October 2007

This paper maps out the literature on innovation in organizations in terms of three theoretical perspectives. These are referred to as the individualist perspective, the structuralist perspective, and the interactive process perspective. The perspectives provide the reader with a framework both for organizing this voluminous literature, and for understanding the key theoretical and methodological differences that are evident within this field.
Organizing Employment for High Performance: Theories, Evidence and Policy
Authors: Whitfield Keith , Poole Michael
Published: October 2007

There has been increased interest in recent years about the way in which employment is organized. Some commentators have suggested that there has been a qualitative transformation such that new forms of work organization have developed which offer the prospect of improved performance. Among the key propositions are: (1) labour is being deployed in a more flexible manner; (2) productivity increasingly depends on the commitment offered by workers; (3) performance-oriented work practices only work if introduced in an internally consistent manner; and (4), it is crucial that such practices are congruent with the overall strategy of the organization in which they are sited. Empirical evidence has indicated that there is much support for these propositions, but that the link between them and high organizational performance is both complex and variable. In particular, the context in which they are situated is a crucial determinant of their success.
Bouquets, Brickbats and Blinkers: Total Quality Management and Employee Involvement in Practice
Authors: Wilkinson Adrian , Godfrey Graham , Marchington Mick
Published: October 2007

To its advocates, TQM is unequivocally good and leads to the empowerment of employees and deservedly attracts bouquets. Alternatively, those from a labour-process perspective hurl brickbats, arguing that it represents an intensification of work, shifting the frontier of control firmly in management's favour. We argue, however, that both of these perspectives are blinkered and that the reality is more dependent on local circumstances and motives.
Unions, Flexibility, Team Working and Financial Performance
Authors: McNabb Robert , Whitfield Keith
Published: October 2007

The relationship between unions, new work practices and organizational performance has been the subject of much debate. Some commentators view unions as inimical to new work practices, whereas others see them as offering channels to facilitate their introduction. It has also been suggested that unions might prevent such practices from attaining their full potential and thereby their enhanced organizational performance. Using data from the third Workplace Industrial Relations Survey and the Employer Manpower Skills Practices Survey, a multinominal logit analysis is undertaken involving proxies for the adoption of flexibility and team working as the dependent variable and a vector of variables (including proxies for unionism) as independent variables. The results indicate that the presence of a closed shop at the workplace inhibits the adoption of flexibility and team working but that the presence of a recognized union is beneficial to their introduction. A binomial logit analysis of financial performance also indicates that the joint effect of union presence and both flexibility and team working on financial performance is positive, even though the single effect of union presence is negative.
The Role of National Context and HR Strategy in Shaping Training and Development Practice in French and U.K. Organizations
Authors: Tregaskis Olga
Published: October 2007

A comparative analysis of French and U.K. organizations is used to explore the impact of national context and formal human resources (HR) strategy on employee development systems. Survey data is drawn from 531 French and 879 U.K. organizations. The results indicate that national context is the strongest predictor of how employee development is organized above and beyond the impact of a formalized HR strategy. In contrast to French organizations, U.K. companies tend to be less restrictive in the range of management tools they use for monitoring, evaluating and delivering training and development. These differences are considered in the light of divergent national approaches to education and skill development. The use of a formalized HR strategy was correlated with the collection of work-force data on training and development need and effectiveness. It is suggested that the formalization of an HR strategy promotes HR planning mechanisms. The implications of these findings with respect to the ethnocentricity of the human resource management literature are considered.
Human Resource Policies and Company Performance: A Quantitative Approach Using Longitudinal Data
Authors: d'Arcimoles Charles-Henri
Published: October 2007

The organization of employment is often seen as a means to attain or retain competitive advantage in current product markets. High committment organizations and flexible specialization workplaces are some of the new labels of such modem human resource policies (Osterman 1994), the shaping of which should result in high performance. From an outsider's perspective, for instance that of an investor or a banker, such an assumption raises two important sets of questions:

- The first concerns the main features of these supposed high-performance work systems and their true association with economic performance indicators. These questions relate to a better understanding of new human resource management (HRM) models in order to understand the effects of HRM on the performance of the firm.

- The second set of questions concerns the ability of outside actors to analyze and truly understand these HRM models, about which they often have only poor and piecemeal information. In the event of a negative answer, investors and other outside actors might well be tempted to ignore or distort HRM issues.

The latter set of questions is rarely considered by recent research. It is more often the case that investors and financial markets do not fully consider human resource management issues because of speculation and the short-term pressures which are seen to dictate their decisions. Such pressures surely exist, but the main problem might relate more to analytical and informational problems. In this respect, the paper suggests that the French Company Personnel Report could be a useful document. Its published data may enable investors to understand HRM issues more fully and to evaluate their impacts on the performance of the firm. Empirical results are thus presented which reveal some interesting and significant correlations between profitability or productivity ratios and HRM indicators. The two major conclusions are that (a) training expenses may have some important effects on immediate and future economic performance; and (b) some recovery effects of dismissals can also be identified.
Helpmates of the Rodeo
Authors: Forsyth Craig J. , Thompson Carol Y.
Published: October 2007

This article provides an ethnographic account of women as supporting agents for professional cowboys and the rodeo enterprise. This research draws from participant observation, field interviews, western folklore and historical accounts, and Internet group discussions to provide a frame for and interpretation of women's patronage of rodeo cowboys. The primary data are derived from interviews with rodeo cowboys and women who are involved in rodeo life in various supporting roles. Interviews with professional cowboys provide validation of the vital nature of supporting roles for the success of rodeo careers. The analysis places women's supporting performances in historical and ideological contexts and illuminates the gendered nature of the rodeo as a professional sport.
Constructing Diverse Sports Opportunities for People With Disabilities
Authors: Nixon Howard L.
Published: October 2007

This article examines what the concept of sport without disability might mean in the structuring of sports and sports settings to accommodate the participation of people with disabilities as serious competitors. Two of its main purposes are (a) to provide a lens for thinking about sports opportunities for people with disabilities that are strongly filtered by considerations of structure, choice, and fairness and (b) to suggest a set of sports models that reflect these considerations in a variety of sports opportunities that are appropriate for different types of people with disabilities. A broader purpose is to present concepts, facts, findings, and a rationale to help sports policy makers, organizers, and administrators to formulate more responsive and appropriate sports policies, rules, and organizations to accommodate people with disabilities.
Eliminating Native American Mascots
Authors: Davis-Delano Laurel R.
Published: October 2007

Many scholars have written about the problems with Native American mascots. Yet no scholar has systematically studied what factors affect the outcomes of struggles over Native American mascots. In this study, the author compares seven cases in which Native American mascots were eliminated to seven cases, where they in which retained to discover factors that affect these outcomes. In all 14 cases, the author interviewed two opponents and two supporters of the mascots. In this article, the author not only describe her findings, the factors that influence outcomes of struggles over Native American mascots, but also utilizes these findings to make concrete suggestions for activists and practitioners who are attempting to eliminate these mascots.
Boards of Directors and Entrepreneurial Posture in Medium-size Companies
Authors: Gabrielsson Jonas
Published: October 2007

Research suggests that a strong and vigilant board can have a significant influence on the value-creating potential of medium-size companies. Yet, how best to conceptualize this relationship remains controversial.The mainstream approach has been to argue for a direct relationship between board demography and company performance. In opposition stands a growing number of scholars who argue that boards' ability to perform board tasks effectively — their actual behaviour — should be taken into account. Empirical studies comparing the two approaches are however surprisingly scarce. Based on this observation, the aim of the study is to test the influence of boards of directors on CEOs' commitment to take an entrepreneurial posture. Both demographic and behavioural board measures are included in the model. Statistical analysis on a sample of 175 medium-size manufacturing companies gives ample support for the behavioural approach. The study ends with a discussion of the results and suggestions for further research.