1,294 research outputs found

    The great U.K. depression: a puzzle and possible resolution

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    Between 1913 and 1929, real GDP per person in the UK fell 1 percent, while this same measure of economic activity rose about 25 percent in the rest of the world. Why was Britain so depressed in a decade of strong economic activity around the world? This paper argues that the standard explanations of contractionary monetary shocks and an overvalued nominal exchange rate are not the prime suspects for killing the British economy. Rather, we argue that large, negative sectoral shocks, coupled with generous unemployment benefits and housing subsidies, are the primary causes of this long and deep depression.Depressions ; Unemployment

    Supporting strategy : a survey of UK OR/MS practitioners

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    This paper reports the results of an on-line survey conducted with practitioner members of the UK Operational Research (OR) Society. The purpose of the survey was to explore the current practice of supporting strategy in terms of activities supported and tools used. The results of the survey are compared to those of previous surveys to explore developments in, inter-alia, the use of management/strategy tools and „soft‟ Operational Research / Management Science (OR/MS) tools. The survey results demonstrate that OR practitioners actively support strategy within their organisations. Whilst a wide variety of tools, drawn from the OR/MS and management / strategy fields are used to support strategy within organisations, the findings suggest that soft OR/MS tools are not regularly used. The findings also demonstrate that tools are combined to support strategy from both within and across the OR/MS and management / strategy fields. The paper ends by identifying a number of areas for further research

    Wellbeing Policy

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    Wellbeing – or the prudential good life – refers to how well someone’s life is going for him or her (Crisp, 2014 ). Increasingly, awareness of the limitations of traditional economic indicators has led researchers to call for scientifi c measures of wellbeing to augment traditional measures (Diener et al., 2009 ; Diener and Seligman, 2004 ; Layard, 2005 ). Th e main problem with measures of per capita production, income and wealth is that they do not attribute direct value to many factors widely viewed as essential to high wellbeing, including relationships, health and happiness (Helliwell, 2006 ). In light of this problem and the attendant research, national governments and multinational organisations are investigating new measures of wellbeing to inform policy making (Diener, 2009 ; Stiglitz et al., 2009 ). Over the last decade, many of these new measures have been incorporated into various policymaking processes (see Diener et al., 2009 ). Within this movement toward new measures of wellbeing, some researchers are calling for the importance of mental health to be recognized by including various measures of mental health in any collection of key policy outcomes (e.g. Bok, 2010 ; Layard, 2005 ; Layard and Clark, 2014 ). To pave the way for a focus on wellbeing policy in the context of mental health and recovery specifi cally (e.g. see Jarden, Jarden & Oades, this volume), this chapter briefl y reviews the history of this debate, the current challenges of using measures of wellbeing and mental health for policy making, and some of the possibilities for meeting these challenges. We conclude that, with public backing, it would be appropriate for governments to measure mental health and wellbeing, and for the resultant data to inform policy making generally, and specifi cally as it relates to mental health

    The decline of the printed catalogue in Britain

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    Why must you be mean to me? Crime and the online persona

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    Women in Botany and the Canadian Federal Department of Agriculture, 1887-1919

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    This article explores the nature of women's involvement in the science of botany in the federal Department of Agriculture from 1887 to 1919. It argues that the professionalization and bureaucratization of science in the department created distinct opportunities for women but also confined them to specific jobs deemed appropriate for their sex. Because the botany that was first undertaken in the department emerged from the natural history tradition, women first contributed as unpaid "amateur" observers, collectors, and correspondents. As science professionalized and bureaucratized in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, the contributions of unpaid "amateurs" were no longer desired or needed. At this juncture, women were employed as paid assistants and members of the support staff. As civil servants, women entered an organization that was undergoing a process of professionalization and bureaucratization. As a result, women were subjected to hierarchical and territorial segregation, undertaking 'women's work' in botany. They performed tasks which were undervalued, underpaid, and offered little or no opportunity for advancement, and were, therefore, rejected by men. Satisfying the demands generated by the professionalization and bureaucratization of science as well as of the federal civil service, women were a pivotal part of the botanical workforce of the Canadian federal Department of Agriculture from 1887 to 1919.Cet article explore la nature de du travail des femmes dans la science botanique au ministĂšre fĂ©dĂ©ral de l’Agriculture de 1887 Ă  1919. Il suggĂšre que la professionnalisation et la bureaucratisation de la science au sein du ministĂšre pendant cette pĂ©riode ouvrent certes des occasions d’emploi aux femmes, mais cantonnĂ©es Ă  certaines tĂąches spĂ©cifiques jugĂ©es appropriĂ©es Ă  leur sexe. Le type de botanique pratiquĂ©e au ministĂšre ayant d’abord Ă©mergĂ© de la tradition de l’histoire naturelle, les premiĂšres femmes contribuent d’abord Ă  titre d’observatrices, collectrices et correspondantes « amateures » et non rĂ©munĂ©rĂ©es. A mesure que la science se professionnalise et se bureaucratise Ă  la fin du 19e et au commencement du 20e siĂšcle, les contributions « amateures » et bĂ©nĂ©voles ne sont cependant plus requises ou nĂ©cessaires. À partir de ce moment, des femmes sont employĂ©es comme assistantes et membres rĂ©munĂ©rĂ©es du personnel de soutien. À titre de fonctionnaires, ces femmes intĂ©grent alors une organisation engagĂ©e dans un processus de professionnalisation et de bureaucratisation. Dans ce cadre, elles sont sujettes Ă  une sĂ©grĂ©gation hiĂ©rarchique et territoriale balisant un « travail de femmes » en botanique, fait de tĂąches mĂ©sestimĂ©es, sous-payĂ©es, offrant peu d’occasions d’avancement et donc dĂ©laissĂ©es par les hommes. RĂ©pondant ainsi aux demandes de la professionnalisation et de la bureaucratisation de la science et de la fonction publique fĂ©dĂ©rale, ces femmes reprĂ©sentent une part cruciale de la main-d’oeuvre en botanique au ministĂšre fĂ©dĂ©ral de l’Agriculture de 1887 Ă  1919

    Specialization effect and its influence on memory and problem solving in expert chess players

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    Expert chess players, specialized in different openings, recalled positions and solved problems within and outside their area of specialization. While their general expertise was at a similar level players performed better with stimuli from their area of specialization. The effect of specialization on both recall and problem solving was strong enough to override general expertise – players remembering positions and solving problems from their area of specialization performed at around the level of players one standard deviation above them in general skill. Their problem solving strategy also changed depending on whether the problem was within their area of specialization or not. When it was, they searched more in depth and less in breadth; with problems outside their area of specialization, the reverse. The knowledge that comes from familiarity with a problem area is more important than general purpose strategies in determining how an expert will tackle it. These results demonstrate the link in experts between problem solving and memory of specific experiences and indicate that the search for context independent general purpose problem solving strategies to teach to future experts is unlikely to be successful

    The Long and Winding Road: Getting Papers Published in Top Journals

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    This paper goes behind the scenes, from the author\u27s point of view, in the messy process of publishing papers in top quality journals. It describes the tortuous history of a particular paper that was eventually published in Information Systems Research to provide some insight, especially for those new to the academic world. It goes on to draw more general guidelines for shaping papers for publication
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