bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Politics for Better or Worse: Political Nonconformity, the Gambling Dilemma and the North of England Newspaper Company, 1903–1914
Authors: Gliddon Paul
Published: March 2003

Edwardian Britain saw a revival of political activity by nonconformists, who campaigned fervently for the Liberal Party. This resurgence included the purchase of newspapers by nonconformists in the Liberal cause. Many of these nonconformists held strong moral beliefs, and scholars have suggested that there was a tension between such ideals and political practicalities, a tension that caused nonconformists to become disillusioned with political activity and to withdraw from it. However, since such arguments tend to be generalized, this article analyses one example of nonconformists’ difficulties, namely those experienced by Liberals who acquired several newspapers in Darlington in 1903. These Liberal nonconformists tried in vain to run The Northern Echo, a paper of note (or notoriety, depending on one’s politics), without the betting content they so deplored. This article argues that the episode does demonstrate a tension between high ideals and political practicalities, though the nonconformist response here was a pragmatic and even a mixed one that ensured the survival of a strong Liberal press in north‐east England for the next fifty years. It also suggests that, although there was a significant demand for betting content among newspaper audiences, none the less that demand was of a lesser extent than historians have so far supposed.
Time for the Hero? Reappraising Napoleon on the Bicentenary of his Rise to Power
Authors: Crook Malcolm
Published: March 2003

Books reviewed in this article:

Isser Woloch, Napoleon and his Collaborators. The Making of a Dictatorship

Andy Martin, Napoleon the Novelist

R. S. Alexander, Napoleon

Desmond Gregory, Napoleon’s Italy
Armed and Dangerous? The Use of Firearms in Robbery
Authors: O’Donnell Ian , Morrison Shona
Published: March 2003

Recent years have witnessed substantial and sustained increases in the number of armed robberies recorded in England and Wales. Drawing upon an analysis of police records and interviews with convicted armed robbers, this study explores the circumstances in which such offences take place and the extent to which the guns used in robbery are actually capable of discharging lethal shot. It is hoped that this investigation will increase understanding of the phenomenon of firearm use in crime and that it will contribute to a rational consideration of what would constitute appropriate responses by potential victims, the police and other agencies of the criminal justice system.
Magistrates’ Attitudes to Domestic Violence and Sentencing Options
Authors: Gilchrist Elizabeth , Blissett Jacqueline
Published: March 2003

This study explored the sentencing decisions made by magistrates for perpetrators of domestic violence versus perpetrators of stranger violence. Sixty–seven magistrates considered six vignettes involving violent incidents and suggested a sentence. More magistrates suggested prison for cases where the victim of the assault was a stranger rather than the perpetrator’s partner, but this was not statistically significant. Significant differences in sentencing were found where the vignettes featured alcohol, or the necessity of medical attention. Magistrates’ reasoning reflected the themes of denying, minimising, justifying and victim blaming. The article discusses the need for training to dispel myths about domestic violence.
Talking Tough, Acting Coy: What Happened to the Anti–Social Behaviour Order?
Authors: Burney Elizabeth
Published: March 2003

The government blames local authorities for using anti–social behaviour orders too little. Are they really to be blamed? What are the likely reasons for the very patchy support of the ASBO? The article examines a range of explanations, including that local crime and disorder partnerships, paradoxically having been told by the government to consult and innovate, are adopting a variety of other methods for suppressing anti–social conduct. Patterns of ASBO usage are examined, revealing that it is essentially yet another tool for dealing with persistent young offenders. Legislation for extending the scope and availability of ASBOs is critically appraised.
Shirking, Unemployment and Aggregate Fluctuations
Authors: Gomme Paul
Published: March 2003

Empirically, real wages exhibit relatively little cyclical variation and a weak cyclical pattern. Early real business cycle (RBC) models predict, to the contrary, large, procyclical real wage movements. Incorporating efficiency wages into a RBC environment would seem promising since one prediction from the efficiency wage literature is real wage rigidity. This paper evaluates a common microfoundation for efficiency wages, the shirking model, with respect to its predictions for real wages within a RBC‐style model. Simulations of the model reveal that it can generate dampened but still strongly procyclical real wage behavior.
Information Invariance in Variable‐Population Social‐Choice Problems
Authors: Blackorby Charles , Bossert Walter , Donaldson David
Published: March 2003

We examine the possibilities of extending Sen's taxonomy of fixed‐population information assumptions regarding the measurability and interpersonal comparability of individual utilities to social‐choice problems where the population may vary. It is shown that in order to avoid impossibility results, informationally more demanding assumptions than in the fixed‐population framework are required. We provide characterizations of variable‐population social‐welfare orderings based on information assumptions, and we suggest a way of generating the required informational environment by means of norms that impose a domain restriction on the set of possible utility profiles.
Bootstrap Testing in Nonlinear Models
Authors: Davidson Russell , MacKinnon James G.
Published: March 2003

Bootstrap testing of nonlinear models normally requires at least one nonlinear estimation for every bootstrap sample. We show how to reduce computational costs by performing only a fixed, small number of Newton or quasi‐Newton steps for each bootstrap sample. The number of steps is smaller for likelihood ratio tests than for other types of classical tests and smaller for Newton's method than for quasi‐Newton methods. The suggested procedures are applied to tests of slope coefficients in the tobit model and to tests of common factor restrictions. In both cases, bootstrap tests work well, and very few steps are needed.
Modes of Interaction Between Divorced Parents
Authors: Flinn Christopher J.
Published: March 2003

I develop a model in which exact compliance with child support orders is synonymous with cooperative outcomes with respect to child good expenditures. The child support order imposed by institutional agents serves as focal point for the problem of dividing the gains from cooperation. Compliance is observed when the gains from cooperation exceed the value of noncooperation for both parents. The model is estimated using administrative data from the state of Wisconsin. My estimates imply that increasing child support enforcement activities may have weak effects on the welfare of children of divorced parents.
Contracting With Wealth‐Constrained Agents
Authors: Lewis Tracy R. , Sappington David E. M.
Published: March 2003

We examine how a project owner optimally selects a project operator and motivates him to deliver an essential noncontractible input (e.g., effort) when potential operators are privately informed about their limited wealth. Truthful revelation of wealth is induced by promising a higher probability of operation and, if necessary, a greater share of realized profit the larger the nonrefundable bond that a potential operator posts. The project owner benefits when total wealth is widely dispersed among potential operators. Under plausible conditions, limited knowledge of wealth is not constraining for the project owner.
Sequential Procurement With Subcontracting
Authors: Gale Ian L. , Hausch Donald B. , Stegeman Mark
Published: March 2003

Two symmetric sellers are approached sequentially by fragmented buyers. Each buyer conducts a second‐price auction and purchases from the seller who offers the lower price. Winning an auction affects bidding for future contracts because the sellers have nonconstant marginal costs. We assume that the sellers are completely informed, and we study the unique equilibrium that survives iterated elimination of weakly dominated strategies. If subcontracting between the sellers is impossible, the final allocation of contracts is generally inefficient. If postauction subcontracting is possible, the sellers can be worse off, ex ante, than when subcontracting is impossible.
Cross‐Sectoral Patterns of Efficiency and Technical Change in Manufacturing
Authors: Koop Gary
Published: March 2003

This article uses data from 11 countries for 19 years to investigate the forces driving output change in 6 manufacturing sectors. A flexible model is adopted that allows for the decomposition of output changes into three types of change: technical, efficiency, and input. This framework allows, among other things, for the investigation of (1) the relative roles of the three components of output growth in each sector, (2) the manner in which efficiency change moves over the business cycle, and (3) potential technical spillovers from one sector to another.
Testing for Autocorrelation Using a Modified Box‐Pierce Q Test
Authors: Lobato Ignacio , Nankervis John C. , Savin N. E.
Published: March 2003

This article investigates the finite‐sample performance of a modified Box‐Pierce Q statistic (Q*) for testing that financial time series are uncorrelated without assuming statistical independence. The finite‐sample rejection probabilities of the Q* test under the null and its power are examined in experiments using time series generated by an MA (1) process where the errors are generated by a GARCH (1, 1) model and by a long memory stochastic volatility model. The tests are applied to daily currency returns.
Compensation Policies and Teacher Decisions
Authors: Stinebrickner Todd R.
Published: March 2003

A dynamic, discrete choice framework with a flexible structure for unobserved heterogeneity is used to model the occupational decisions of individuals who are certified to teach in elementary and secondary schools. The model is estimated using data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and is used to examine the effects of possible changes in the compensation policy for teachers.
Voting on Unemployment Insurance
Authors: Pallage Stéphane , Zimmermann Christian
Published: March 2003

In this article, we ask heterogeneous agents in a dynamic general equilibrium economy to vote on the generosity of their unemployment insurance program. We observe the influence on their vote of (1) moral hazard, (2) private alternatives, and (3) changes in employment status. Agents differ in skills, employment probabilities, income prospects, and assets. For a calibration to the United States, we show that: (1) in contrast to the literature, plausible levels of moral hazard need not induce large cuts in optimal benefits. (2) Switching to private insurance is rejected for most status quo, though it would be as generous. (3) Skill groups vote as a block. For reasonable discount factors, solidarity is never broken simultaneously for more than one group.
A Search Model of Money and Circulating Private Debt With Applications To Monetary Policy
Authors: Li Yiting
Published: March 2003

A search‐theoretic model is used to examine the coexistence of money and circulating private debt. Money is still valued even though there coexists credit which circulates among agents and dominates in the rate of return. When there coexist multiple equilibria, the equilibrium with credit Pareto dominates the one without credit if money supply is not extremely plentiful. This article also provides some predictions about the effects of monetary policies. A policy of open market operations whereby government discounts less for second‐hand debt decreases the value of money, credit, and interest rate prevailing in the market. This policy can also improve welfare by making credit trade feasible when the only equilibrium entails no credit without intervention.
CAN AGGREGATION ACROSS GOODS BE ACHIEVED BY NEGLECTING THE PROBLEM? PROPERTY INHERITANCE AND AGGREGATION BIAS*
Authors: KOEBEL BERTRAND M.
Published: March 2003

This article studies the problem of composite commodity in two different frameworks. In one case, aggregation across goods is analyzed for elementary goods that satisfy an optimality condition. The unrestricted case is also examined. The notion of an approximate aggregate representation is formalized and shown to be always possible. Can thereby aggregation issues simply be neglected in economic contributions? I show that the standard economic properties of initial functions are not necessarily inherited by the approximate aggregate. The severity of this problem and the size of the aggregation bias across inputs are investigated empirically.
A Theory of Trade Secrets in Firms*
Authors: Zábojník Ján
Published: March 2003

This article provides a simple theoretical model of trade secrets in hierarchical firms. A crucial assumption is that each manager has access to trade secrets pertaining to his own hierarchical level as well as to all lower levels. The article explores some implications of this assumption for optimal degree of trade secrets accumulation and protection as well as for the wage structure in firms. In addition, the model implies that managers may have an incentive to overpay their subordinates and protect their firms’ trade secrets too much.
Aggregate Fluctuations with National and International Returns to Scale*
Authors: Head Allen C.
Published: March 2003

Cyclical movements in aggregate output, factor inputs, and productivity are all positively correlated across countries. This article proposes a model in which positive cross‐country correlations of these variables result from increasing returns to the world‐wide variety of intermediate goods even if technology shocks are purely country‐specific. The model also accounts for the observed positive relationship between bilateral trade volume and international comovements. Positive comovements can also arise with constant returns to variety, but only if technology shocks are themselves strongly correlated. The combination of constant returns and common shocks, however, tends to generate procyclical fluctuations of the trade balance.
Attracting Fdi in a Politically Risky World*
Authors: Janeba Eckhard
Published: March 2003

Conventional wisdom holds that lack of government commitment deters foreign investment in developing countries. Yet this explanation is not convincing because some econometric studies have found little support for the role of political risk and host governments can offer upfront subsidies that compensate foreign investors for their sunk cost. This paper shows that a second commitment problem upsets the argument. A multinational firm cannot credibly commit to invest in only one country. Since countries differ in production costs and government credibility, this article explains the pattern of investment in a politically risky world.
When the Euro Falls Apart
Authors: Scott Hal S.
Published: March 2003

This paper recounts some well‐known problems confronting European monetary union (EMU), such as withstanding asymmetric shocks and maintaining domestic political support. It then examines how a speculative attack could damage a target country's banking system, and how the basic structure of EMU could facilitate its break‐up. On the basis of this analysis, one might reasonably conclude that there is a significant chance – over one in ten – that EMU may break up in whole or in part.

The paper then focuses primarily on two significant problems related to a break‐up. First, a country seeking to leave EMU, particularly after the transition period, may have difficulty re‐establishing its national currency unilaterally, as its economy is likely to have become thoroughly ‘euroized’. Second, any break‐up accompanied by re‐denomination of existing euro obligations, including government bonds, will create great legal uncertainty and costly litigation. There are no continuity of contract rules for exiting EMU equivalent to those for entering. Both problems require cooperative and deliberative solutions and will be difficult and costly to solve. If such problems are properly taken into account, which has not previously been the case, a euro break‐up in the foreseeable future, particularly after transition, is considerably less likely than the above estimate of one in ten.
Inflation, Volatility and Growth
Authors: Judson Ruth , Orphanides Athanasios
Published: March 2003

This paper re‐examines the relationship between inflation, inflation volatility and growth, using cross‐country panel data for the past 30 years. With regard to the level of inflation, we find that exploiting the time dimension of the data reveals a strong negative correlation between inflation and income growth for all but low inflation countries. To examine the role of inflation uncertainty on growth, we use intra‐year inflation data to construct an annual measure of inflation volatility. Using this measure, we find that inflation volatility is also robustly negatively correlated with growth, even after the effect of the level of inflation is controlled for.
Central Bank Independence and Credibility: Is There a Shred of Evidence?
Authors: Forder James
Published: March 2003

Books reviewed in this article:

P. Arestis and M. Sawyer, eds, The Political Economy of Central Banking.

A. Blinder, Central Banking in Theory and Practice.

The Bundesbank, ed., Fifty Years of the Deutsche Mark.

R. Elgie and H. Thompson, The Politics of Central Banks.

F. Lippi, Central Bank Independence, Targets and Credibility.
Monetary Policy Under the Zero Interest Rate Constraint and Balance Sheet Adjustment
Authors: Shirakawa Masaaki
Published: March 2003

There are two contrasting evaluations of the conduct of Japan's monetary policy since the early 1990s. One is that monetary policy has not been eased enough to promote economic recovery in Japan. The other is that, since monetary policy has already been substantially eased, further easing would not contribute to economic recovery, but would rather delay the progress of structural reform that is a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth. With these evaluations in mind, this paper examines the effect of monetary policy in general and the effect of so‐called ‘quantitative easing’ in particular when nominal short‐term interest rates are zero and balance sheet adjustment is in progress.
Some Factors Explaining the Reliability of a Structured Interview System at a Work Site
Authors: Di Milia Lee , Gorodecki Mark
Published: March 2003

Recent meta‐analytic research has demonstrated structured interviewing to hold acceptable validity and reliability. While the emphasis has been on refining psychometric properties, there is sufficient evidence to suggest a discrepancy between the manner in which interviewing systems should be used and how they are actually used. The present study examined the use of a commercially available structured interviewing system based on past behaviour. 112 candidates were interviewed on two separate occasions by 28 interviewers. Inter‐rater reliability was 0.55. The system required the derivation of a consensus score which was found not to differ significantly from the arithmetical mean of the original scores suggesting the process was not undertaken as required. Follow up discussions with interviewers reported three main areas of misunderstanding; lack of role clarity, different interpretations of job specification and inconsistent use of the rating system. Data also suggested interviewers were inexperienced. A critical finding involved female interviewers making assumptions about female applicant's motivations and suitability to the position. This finding was explained by employing ‘person‐in‐job’ prototypes. The data support the conclusion that although structured interviews may contain appropriate psychometric properties, the application of the system is critical.
A Comparison of the Belbin Self Perception Inventory and Observer’s Assessment Sheet as Measures of an Individual’s Team Roles
Authors: Senior Barbara , Swailes Stephen
Published: March 2003

The Belbin Team Role Self‐Perception Inventory (SPI) is a well‐known and well‐used measure for identifying an individual’s team roles. Less well‐known is Belbin’s Observer’s Assessment Sheet (OAS) which can also be used by colleagues of the individual concerned or, at least, those who know him or her well. To assess team role this study compared these two different team role measures when applied to a sample of 65 members of 11 different management teams. The results showed that only 35 of the 65 observer sets agreed amongst themselves about the team roles of the individual they observed and only seven of these 35 sets showed good agreement between the observers’ assessments and those of the individuals themselves. Positive correlations between the SPI scores and the OAS scores were found for only five of the nine team roles. The findings are discussed in terms of inter‐rater problems and the reliability of the instruments.
A Different Look at Assessment Centers: Views of Assessment Center Users
Authors: Lievens Filip , Goemaere Hans
Published: March 2003

This study aims to shed light on possible problems of assessment center users and designers when developing and implementing assessment centers. Semi‐structured interviews with a representative sample of assessment center users in Flanders revealed that, besides a large variability in assessment center practice, practitioners experience problems with dimension selection and definition, exercise design, line/staff managers as assessors, distinguishing between observation and evaluation, and with the content of assessor training programs. Solutions for these problems are suggested.
Human Resource Management Practices at Subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations and Local Firms in Taiwan
Authors: Huang Tung‐Chun
Published: March 2003

Global competition has forced corporations to invest overseas in order to gain or maintain competitive advantage. International investment entails not only the movement of capital, machinery, and products but also the spread of corporate cultures to host countries. This is so because, to maintain managerial consistency among its branches, a multinational corporation (MNC) will attempt to transplant its management system to any country in which it invests.However, it is also recognized that cultural contexts differ markedly among nations, and that multinational firms must adjust their management practices to accommodate specific conditions in host‐country environments.
On the Construct Validity of Integrity Tests: Individual and Situational Factors as Predictors of Test Performance
Authors: Mumford Michael D. , Connelly Mary Shane , Helton Whitney B. , Strange Jill M. , Osburn Holly K.
Published: March 2003

Although integrity tests are widely applied in screening job applicants, there is a need for research for examining the construct validity of these tests. In the present study, a theoretical model examining the causes of destructive behavior in organizational settings was used to develop background data measures of individual and situational variables that might be related to integrity test scores. Subsequently, 692 undergraduates were asked to complete these background data scales along with (a) two overt integrity tests – the Reid Report and the Personnel Selection Inventory, and (b) two personality‐based measures – the delinquency and socialization scales of the California Psychological Inventory. When scores of these measures were correlated with and regressed on the background data scales, it was found that relevant individual variables, such as narcissism and power motives, and relevant situational variables, such as alienation and exposure to negative peer groups, were related to scores on both types of integrity tests. However, a stronger pattern of validity evidence was obtained for the personality‐based measures and, in all cases, situational variables were found to be better predictors than individual variables. The implications of these findings for the validity of inferences drawn from overt and personality‐based integrity tests are discussed.
Do Impression Management Scales in Personality Inventories Predict Managerial Job Performance Ratings?
Authors: Viswesvaran Chockalingam , Ones Deniz S. , Hough Leatta M.
Published: March 2003

Theorists have argued that impression management scales should predict job performance in jobs where interpersonal interactions are important. This research examined the correlation between impression management scale scores and overall job performance as well as its component dimensions for managerial jobs (one type of job requiring considerable interpersonal interaction). First, a meta‐analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between impression management scale scores and overall managerial performance. Results indicated that the correlation was .04 (k = 17, N = 20,069) for managers. Two additional studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between impression management and specific facets or dimensions of managerial performance. In one of these two studies, the relationships between impression management scores and supervisory ratings on 24 performance facets were investigated for 826 managers. Criterion‐related validities ranged from ‐.06 to .07. In the second study, correlations of an impression management scale with ratings on 22 dimensions of performance were examined using a sample of 257 executives. The validities ranged from .01 to .11. There appears to be little evidence that impression management scales predict job performance in at least one job category where interpersonal interactions are important (management). Potential relevance of these results for understanding social desirability in personality measurement for personnel selection is discussed.
Assessment Center Procedures: Cognitive Load During the Observation Phase
Authors: Kolk Nanja J. , Born Marise Ph. , Van Der Flier Henk , Olman Julliette M.
Published: March 2003

This study explores the traditional procedure of observing assessment center exercises while taking notes vs. an alternative procedure where assessors merely observe and postpone note‐taking until immediately after the exercise. The first procedure is considered to be cognitively demanding due to the requirement of simultaneous note‐taking and observing. Also, dual task processing (concurrent observing and note‐taking) is considered to be especially demanding for assessors without rating experience. The procedures are evaluated using a 2 × 2 design (with note‐taking/without note‐taking × experienced/inexperienced). Some 121 experienced and inexperienced assessors rated videotaped candidates, observing either with or without taking notes. Results showed that experienced assessors yield significantly higher differential accuracy than inexperienced assessors. We did not find an effect of observation procedure on accuracy, interrater reliability or halo. Implications for future research are described.
Does Low Willingness to Respond Introduce a Bias? Results from a Socio‐epidemiological study among Young Men and Women
Authors: Novo M. , Hammarströ A. , Janlert U.
Published: March 2003

The aim of this study was to investigate if willingness to respond can introduce bias in a population survey and to study the socio‐economic characteristics of those with high and low willingness to respond. Two groups of final‐year pupils at compulsory school were surveyed five years after leaving school, at the age of 21. The data were collected during class meetings, by mailed questionnaires, telephone and personal interviews. The response rates in the studies were proportionally high – about 98% and 90% respectively. In both surveys there were more men compared to women who were late respondents or non‐respondents. Long‐term unemployment and lack of upper secondary school for both men and women, as well as living with a partner for men, corresponded to low willingness to respond to a survey. A higher alcohol consumption – between 1.5 to 6.5 times – was observed among those with lower willingness to respond. Even a low rate of non‐response can introduce a serious bias and produce uncertain results in, for example, studies on the consequences of youth unemployment on alcohol consumption.
Public sector lay‐offs in Sweden and the effect on women’s health
Authors: Sundh M. , Svensson P‐G.
Published: March 2003

Possible changes in the health of women who were laid off from permanent posts in the county council of Värmland are identified. The factors which influence the possible changes in health and well‐being induced by the lay‐offs are examined. The study is both descriptive in nature and hypothesis‐generating. The data were collected by means of a postal questionnaire (response rate of 86%). The study population consists primarily of assistant nurses and nurse aides. The results suggest significant changes in the health of the great majority of women who were laid off. In those cases in which a change has occurred, the change has more often been of a negative rather than a positive nature. The results show that there is a correlation between possible changes in health and the way in which the women have reacted to the lay‐offs.
Debate: Social resistance and the absent utopia: comments on Hartley Dean’s article Social rights and social resistance
Authors: Sohlberg P.
Published: March 2003

This article focuses on conceptual and methodological problems in the transition from normative conceptions of social rights to more general strategies of social policy. In a discussion of Hartley Dean's article Social Rights and Social Resistance, the author argues that relevant “rights strategies” within social policy in general transcends the traditional dichotomy, assumed by Dean, between structural approaches and more agent‐oriented approaches. In line with this, arguments are presented for the view that the denial of strategies concerning social rights, categorised as opportunistic or anarchistic by Dean, necessitates the formulation of realistic and substantial goal for strivings within social policy. Furthermore, the author claims that the conceptual elaboration of “social rights” does not in itself have any definite and direct consequences for the field of social policy, where material and symbolic power is more relevant. To transcend the criticised approaches of anarchism and opportunism, there still remains to be formulated a strategy of action.
Improving Workplace Expertise to Meet Increasing Customer Requirements: The Impact of Training
Authors: Streumer Jan N. , Calon Marie‐José
Published: March 2003

This article focuses upon the training of engineers at a factory producing integrated circuits. Inadequate use of statistical process techniques by the engineers meant that the production process was not being optimised in the context of increasing customer requirements. A training needs analysis was undertaken and a training programme was developed, implemented and evaluated. The results of this programme are presented and conclusions drawn.
Learning, knowledge productivity and strategic progress
Authors: Harrison Rosemary
Published: March 2003

Learning that yields strategically valuable knowledge is vital to an organisation’s progress towards its strategic goals. In increasingly turbulent environments, all types of knowledge have value; the development of knowledge must therefore be a responsibility shared by all organisational members, includ‐ing human resource development professionals. A literature review across three related fields points to the importance of an integrative approach to learning and knowledge processes in an organisation, if they are to aid strategic progress. It suggests the particular importance of corporate vision, of organisational context and of management action, and also indicates some roles and tasks for HRD professionals.
Supervisory support as a major condition to enhance transfer
Authors: Van Der Klink Marcel , Gielen Ester , Nauta Corine
Published: March 2003

Supervisory support is perceived as a major condition for enhancing the transfer of training. This article presents two studies that investigated the impact of supervisory behaviour on trainees’ transfer. Both studies were carried out in banking organisations. One study consisted of the investigation of a training programme that provided bank tellers with the knowledge and skills for handling customers’ complaints. The other study focused on the transfer of the training programme ‘legal aspects of bank tellers’ jobs’. In neither study was there any convincing evidence for the impact of supervisory behaviour on the transfer of training. The implications for future research and current practice are discussed here.
The relationship between organisational context and novice workers’ learning
Authors: Smith Erica
Published: March 2003

This article reports on findings from a longitudinal study, carried out during 1998–9, of the learning and training experiences of 11 Australian teenagers in their first year of fulltime work. Interviews with the young people over the course of the year were supplemented by interviews with parents, employers, and college teachers where appropriate. The working and training environments, and the learning experiences of the young people are described. The relationship between performance and learning is discussed. The article provides an insight into the lived experiences of young people attempting to learn about work within an organisational context.
French Cultural Decentralization and International Expansion.Towards a Geometrically Variable Interculturalism?
Authors: Négrier Emmanuel
Published: March 2003

For a long time French local and regional authorities were largely excluded from debates on cultural policy, and even more so from international cultural exchanges. Their intervention in this second area, in its most conventional forms to its contemporary networks, occupies a special place in the present issues. Being sustained by large increases in local and national budgets for culture, such an evolution necessarily raised certain strategic issues and debates, which are discussed in the paper. The international element of local cultural policies has only recently appeared as a potential area for local strategy development. It can be seen as the result of the cultural generation of the 1980s, from the point of view of actors in both the public and professional domain. This paper examines the three following aspects: the forms taken by cultural decentralization in its main stages, through the conferral of negotiated powers; the modifications in centre‐periphery relations brought about by this decentralization; and the emergence of an international exchange dynamic as a result of these first two processes.
Revisiting Informal‐Sector Home Ownership: The Relevance of Household Composition for Housing Options of the Poor
Authors: Miraftab Faranak
Published: March 2003

This article examines the linkages between the housing options of the poor and their household composition. It gathers field data among renters and owners in low‐income neighborhoods of Guadalajara, Mexico, and it argues that informal‐sector home ownership is not favorable to the conditions of female householders. Thus, housing assistance programs that focus solely on conditions of housing in informal settlements and that promote home ownership in peripheral areas practice a discriminatory approach to housing that cannot serve the needs of a growing percentage of low‐income households. Meanwhile, inner‐city rental units, with the greatest concentration of female householders, are being allowed to deteriorate and may soon be erased from the city's landscape on account of real estate pressure. The paper calls for housing policy‐makers and researchers to broaden their scope of concern to include renting and sharing as important shelter alternatives of the poor, and also to account for the variations in housing strategies of the poor based on changing patterns of household composition.
Bargaining with Transnational Corporations: The Case of Shanghai
Authors: Yeung Yue‐Man , Li Xiaojian
Published: March 2003

This study addresses the power relationship between TNCs and their partners in the host region, a question that critically affects regional development in this globalizing world. Site interviews suggest Shanghai’s special standing in China, providing it with stronger power in bargaining with TNCs than any other region in the country. Shanghai has thus gained tremendous benefits in technology transfer and managerial skill improvement. Company studies further reveal that the bargaining relationship between TNCs and local companies differs according to many factors. The level of ownership is determined by competition between both sides in terms of capital strength, technology level and marketing capability. The level of localization is affected by the previous status of the local partner, the size and development of the domestic market and the capability of the local manager. The change of one region’s bargaining power is also related to the power of other (potential) competition regions. The degree of regional economic imbalance between regions within a country tends to be enlarging in the process of global‐local interaction mediated by TNCs.

—

Cette étude concerne les relations de pouvoir entre les entreprises transnationales et leurs partenaires dans la région d’accueil, une question qui affecte de façon critique le développement régional dans un monde qui se globalise. Shangaï a une position spéciale en Chine qui lui donne plus de pouvoirs que n’importe quelle autre région du pays pour négocier avec les entreprises transnationales. Shangaï a donc acquis des avantages importants dans le transfert des technologies et dans le perfectionnement des compétences des cadres. Les études de firmes révèlent que les relations dans les négociations entre les entreprises transnationales et les entreprises locales changent selon de nombreux facteurs. Le niveau de propriété est déterminé par la compétition entre les deux parties quant au pouvoir du capital, au niveau technologique et à la capacité de commercialisation. Le changement des pouvoirs de négociation d’une région est aussi lié au pouvoir des autres régions qui pourraient lui faire concurrence. Le niveau de déséquilibre économique régional entre les régions d’un pays tend à s’accentuer dans le processus d’interaction local‐global dont les entreprises transnationales sont le médiateur.
Strengthening Access to Land for Housing for the Poor in Maputo, Mozambique
Authors: Jenkins Paul
Published: March 2003

Informal, or illegal, occupation of land is growing in importance in the cities of the developing world, especially sub‐Saharan Africa. The widespread nature of ‘illegality’ in some situations has led to queries of whether this should be termed ‘illegal’, and this is particularly so where there are potentially different entities bestowing legality. It has been increasingly recognized that informal land development is a solution for access to land by the urban poor, where formal supply is inadequate and inflexible, but that there need to be more efficient relationships between the formal and informal sectors. It is thus argued that new forms of association and new forms of partnership across the formal boundary are required. This article looks at the situation of land access for housing in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, with a focus on the poor majority, and suggests alternative mechanisms for urban land rights to the simplistic application of full freehold tenure in formal land markets. These alternative mechanisms are based on structures within civil society, as it is argued that where the state and market are weak, as in Mozambique, these are more appropriate and less alienating for the urban poor majority.

L'occupation irrégulière, voire illégale, des terrains s'accroît dans les villes des pays en développement, notamment en Afrique sub‐saharienne. Le caractère répandu de ‘l'illégalité’ dans certaines situations a conduit à s'interroger sur la pertinence du terme ‘illégal’, en particulier quand différentes entités sont susceptibles d'accorder la légalité. De plus en plus souvent, il est reconnu que l'aménagement non‐officiel du sol est une solution permettant aux citadins pauvres d'accéder à la terre (lorsque l'offre officielle n'est ni suffisante ni souple), mais que les relations entre les secteurs officiels et non‐officiels doiventÀtre plus performantes. L'article affirme qu'il faut créer de nouvelles formes d'association et de partenariat dépassant le cadre officiel. Il observe la situation de l'accès foncier pour le logement à Maputo, capitale du Mozambique, en considérant la majorité pauvre, et suggère d'autres mécanismes pour les droits fonciers urbains jusqu'à la demande toute simple de la pleine propriété sur des marchés fonciers officiels. Ces mécanismes de substitution sont basés sur des structures appartenant à la société civile, car lorsque l'État et le marché sont faibles, comme au Mozambique, ces mécanismes sont plus appropriés et moins aliénants pour la majorité urbaine pauvre.
City Natures
Authors: Walton John
Published: March 2003

Books reviewed in this article:

William Cronon, Nature’s metropolis: Chicago and the Great West

Gray Brechin, Imperial San Francisco: Urban power, earthly ruin

Susan Craddock, City of plagues, disease, poverty and deviance in San Francisco
Deterritorialization and Reterritorialization of the Orisha Religion in Africa and the New World (Nigeria, Cuba and the United States)
Authors: Dianteill Erwan
Published: March 2003

This article deals with the relationship of religion to space, ethnicity and political domination, through the case of the Orisha religion in Africa and the Americas. This religion originated in the south‐east of present‐day Nigeria and was first re‐implanted in the Americas as a result of the deportation of thousands of Yoruba slaves, especially to Cuba. Today, it is experiencing a second transplantation, resulting from Cuban emigration, mainly to the United States. These two moves, from Africa to Cuba and then from Cuba to the United States, have been associated with successive processes of territorialization and dissemination in very different social and political contexts, which are analysed in historical sequence. On each occasion, transmission through lineage and dissemination through proximity seem to have come into play, in varying degrees according to the socio‐political context. Even though religion and ethnic identity were closely linked in Africa, the Orisha religion has spread into populations of European and mixed‐race origin in Cuba. The United States is witnessing a form of ‘re‐ethnicization’ of this religion in the black population and in the Hispanic population, with notable differences between the East Coast and California.

Cet article a pour objet le rapport de la religion à l’espace, à l’ethnicité et à la domination politique dans le cas de la religion des orisha en Afrique et dans les Amériques. Cette religion, originaire du sud‐ouest de l’actuel Nigeria, s’est d’abord réimplantée dans les Amériques du fait de la déportation de milliers d’esclaves yoruba, à Cuba en particulier. Elle connaît aujourd’hui une seconde transplantation du fait de l’émigration cubaine, aux Etats‐Unis principalement. Les deux déplacements, de l’Afrique vers Cuba puis de Cuba vers les Etats‐Unis, sont associés à des processus successifs de territorialisation et de diffusion dans des contextes sociaux et politiques très différents, qui sont analysés dans leur succession historique. A chaque moment historique, il apparaît que transmission lignagère et diffusion par proximité jouent à des degrés variables selon les contextes socio‐politiques. Alors que religion et identité ethnique étaient étroitement liés en Afrique, la religion des orisha s’est diffusée dans la population d’origine européenne et métisse à Cuba. Aux Etats‐Unis, on assiste à une forme de ‘ré‐ethnicisation’ de cette religion dans la population noire et dans la population hispanique, avec des différences notables entre la côte Est et la Californie.
The Strange Respectability of the Situationist City in the Society of the Spectacle
Authors: Swyngedouw Erik
Published: March 2003

This article critically discusses the recent growing interest in and regained ‘respectability’ of the Situationist International and related urban cultural, architectural and political movements. It engages particularly with the present reinvention of the Situationist Movement and argues that the rediscovery of the ‘Situationist City’ celebrates an intellectualized, aestheticized and de‐politicized version that is particularly oblivious to the political and revolutionary theories and programmatic emancipatory urban agenda that underpinned the Situationist movement. We shall argue that this aestheticized reappropriation of selected parts of the Situationist legacy reinforces exactly what the Situationists actively criticized and tried to undermine. At the same time, intellectual and cultural attention is diverted away from the active urban reconstructions that try to confront the totalizing presence of the spectacle and breathe the spirit that Guy Debord and his friends pioneered in the 1950s and 1960s. We shall attempt to connect this rediscovery of the ‘Situationist City’ and the urban imaginations of the time to the theoretical and political insights, particularly those of Guy Debord, that developed in tandem with their concern with the production of a new way of living, one that revolved squarely around recapturing the urban. Finally, the enduring relevance of Debord’s work and insights is explored in the context of recent debates and events.

Cet article examine d’un il critique le récent intér?t croissant et la ‘respectabilité’ recouvrée à l’égard de l’Internationale Situationniste et des mouvements connexes, politiques, architecturaux, culturels et urbains. Il s’attache d’abord à la réinvention actuelle du Mouvement situationniste en affirmant que la redécouverte de la ‘Ville situationiste’ glorifie une version intellectualisée, esthétique et dépolitisée qui ignore notamment les théories politiques et révolutionnaires, ainsi que les programmes urbains d’émancipation, qui sous‐tendaient le mouvement d’origine. Cette réappropriation esthétisée de pans choisis de l’héritage situationiste renforce précisément ce que ses détenteurs réprouvaient vivement et s’effor??aient d’éliminer. Parallèlement, l’attention intellectuelle et culturelle est détournée des reconstructions urbaines actives qui tentent d’affronter la présence intégratrice du spectacle et d’insuffler l’esprit développé par Guy Debord et ses amis dans les années 1950 et 1960. L’article s’efforce ensuite d’associer cette redécouverte de la ‘Ville situationiste’ et les imaginations urbaines du moment aux réflexions théoriques et politiques (de Guy Debord en particulier) qui ont étéélaborées simultanément à un intérêt pour la production d’un nouveau mode de vie, lequel tournait carrément autour de la reconquête de l’urbain. Enfin, la pérennité des travaux et idées de Debord est étudiée dans le cadre des récents débats et événements.