Long-term health consequences of prenatal exposure to the Korean War

This paper investigates how in-utero exposure to the Korean War (1950–1953) affected health outcomes at old age. The probabilities of suffering from a particular type of functional limitation as well as having any disability were significantly higher in 2010 among the individuals born in 1951, who were in utero during the worst time of the war. The results of difference-in-difference estimations suggest that the magnitude of the adverse 1951 cohort effect on health is significantly larger for individuals whose places of birth were more seriously devastated by the war. Available evidence supports the hypothesis that the adverse long-term effects of in-utero exposure to the Korean War found in this study are unlikely driven by selection bias: the subjects of the 1951 birth cohort were not negatively selected in terms of parental characteristics in 1960.     

BLOCK,NEIGHBOURHOOD OR DISTRICT? THE IMPORTANCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL SCALE FOR AREA EFFECTS ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Researchers show an increasing interest in the question of how a neighbourhood influences its residents. The crucial question is whether place‐related factors have an independent effect on individual life chances. This study examines adolescent development, with educational attainment as the dependent variable. It further addresses contextual effects that emerge at different intra‐urban geographical scales by exploring spatial effects at block, neighbourhood and district level in Oslo, Norway. How does the population composition at the three scales affect the level of future educational attainment for adolescents? What are the most important aspects of the population? Is the impact of various population indicators similar or different across the three scales? A number of causal mechanisms, which operate at different geographical scales, such as social interaction, shared social spaces, stigmatization and institutional resources are discussed. The study has a longitudinal approach, and includes register‐based information about the whole population of Oslo and a young target population. The analysis is based on two‐, three‐ and four‐level modelling. The results reveal significant effects on the youth's future educational attainment at all geographical levels and for all tested measures of social and demographic area composition. The share of low‐educated neighbours seems to have the strongest impact. Contradictory to most other studies, the results show that the highest geographical level (district) has the strongest effect. This surprising result is tentatively interpreted to emerge from a combination of three interwoven mechanisms: the youths' extended activity spaces and social interactions, the institutional aspects (schools), and place stigmatization.     

WHAT SCALE MATTERS? EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS' SOCIAL POSITION,NEIGHBOURHOOD CONTEXT AND THE SCALE OF NEIGHBOURHOOD

Over the past few years, neighbourhood effects research has received significant attention from the academic world, not only in the US, where that attention has a longer tradition, but also in Western Europe. There is also substantial interest among policy makers. Most policy makers intend to reduce concentrations of poverty by enhancing the social mix of neighbourhoods. Avoiding high immigrant concentrations in particular neighbourhoods is another issue that fuels political debate and policy intervention in many Western European countries, Scandinavian countries included. However, there are clear gaps in the understanding of the relationship between neighbourhood composition and social outcomes. One of these gaps regards the scale of the neighbourhood; if there would be neighbourhood effects, what scale is it relevant to consider? Is mix good or bad for the social prospects of individuals at a level that is very local, for example a few neighbouring streets, or could mix be helpful at a somewhat higher scale? This article will focus on this issue, applying individual longitudinal data in multi‐level models for the entire active population of the three largest metropolitan areas in Sweden. We will explore the degree to which the social and ethnic composition of geographical districts, at a variety of scales (measured at time t), are statistically related to individual employment and earnings for adult metropolitan residents at time t+1, controlling for relevant personal and household characteristics.     

组织公平性--薪酬管理工作的重要原则

近年来,我国旅游业从高薪行业转变为相对低薪行业。许多旅游企业员工因工资收入低、缺乏发展机会等原因而跳槽或改行。如何做好员工薪酬管理,稳定员工队伍,是许多旅游企业管理人员面临的一项重要的工作。旅游企业的薪酬管理决策结果、决策程序、管理人员对待员工的态度和方式都会影响员工的薪酬公平感。本文根据组织公平性理论,探讨程序公平性和交往公平性对员工薪酬公平感和满意感的重要影响,并为企业管理人员加强薪酬管理工作提供一些建议。     

The Implications of Policy Stability for Renewable Energy Innovation in the United States, 1974–2009

Government support and commitment are of particular importance for renewable energy technology innovation activities, which are highly contingent on policy and market uncertainty. The research focus of this article is to examine the relationship between policy stability in public resource allocation and policy outcomes in renewable energy technologies. With time‐series cross‐sectional analyses, we test effects of both the stability and magnitude of federal R&D expenditures on patent applications in five renewable energy sectors (i.e., solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and bioenergy) from 1974 to 2009. The findings show that technology innovation is affected by both the magnitude and stability of government financial commitment. Nevertheless, when industries perceive government support over longer time frames, the magnitude effect loses explanatory power to the stability effect. In addition to federal R&D expenditures, policies pertaining to technology commercialization and marketization are a critical determinant of innovation activities. This study demonstrates that incremental, predictable, and credible expenditures facilitate renewable energy technology development. Conversely, a boom‐bust cycle of resource support fails to translate policy goals into intended results.     

Neurosurgical aspects of trepanations from Neolithic times

Trepanation of the cranial vault is the oldest known surgical procedure and has often been reported in the literature. We present two skulls with trepanations from Neolithic excavations in southwestern Germany. One skull exhibits a healed fracture in association with the trepanation. Both skulls show clear signs of healing without evidence of osteolytic inflammatory reaction. We discuss conditions relating to survival from trepanation in Neolithic times and some potential complications such as intraoperative bleeding and wound infection, in the context of modern neurosurgical knowledge. We conclude that neolithic skull surgery was probably mainly extradural. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ecological Modernisation and the Governance of Carbon: A Critical Analysis

Abstract: In this paper, we use insights derived from a critical evaluation of ecological modernisation theories to examine the origins and influence of new, market‐based, forms of carbon governance. Focusing on two key examples—emissions trading in Europe and the global market in offsets—we argue that ecological modernisation theories can help us understand the processes through which the seemingly intractable problem of climate change has been reframed as an opportunity to construct a new carbon economy and anticipate some of the tensions, contradictions and limits of such an approach. We then explore the governance dimensions of these novel market mechanisms, look at how they work, and then discuss whether, to what extent and for whom they work. We highlight a series of (un)‐intended consequences that flow from these practices and modes of governing. We conclude by discussing the significance of these observations both for debates on climate change and the governance of carbon and for theories of ecological modernisation.     

Evaluating strategic metropolitan planning in Bari and Taranto

Following the Italian Government’s decision to fund strategic planning in order to promote a sustainable and competitive development in city-regions in southern Italy, the regional governments were asked to steer proactively strategic planning initiatives within their respective territory. In the cases of Bari and Taranto, it was the first time that 31 municipalities constituting Metropolitan Bari and 28 municipalities constituting sub-region Taranto attempted to think collectively in order to prepare the strategic plan. This paper evaluates strategic planning in Bari and Taranto sub-regions and discusses lessons learnt for future efforts in strategic planning. We examine why were the strategic plans made and how was the planning process organized and what, if any, impact these attempts had on development strategies and governance models at the urban-regional level.     

Gains and losses, outcomes of interregional migration in the five Nordic countries

This paper examines the outcome of interregional migration in various aspects from the migrants' perspective. It is based on a survey, including 6 000 interregional migrants in the five Nordic countries. The results indicate that interregional migration leads to a positive outcome for most migrants and few people seem to be forced to make decisions including painful tradeoffs. Motives have an effect on what aspects of outcome migrants are satisfied with. The influence of individual migrants' characteristics on migration outcome revealed few significant effects. Migrants claimed to be most satisfied with living conditions and less satisfied with the livelihood after moving. To be satisfied with social conditions turned out to be crucially important for the general outcome of migration.