The Adoption of Lotteries in the United States, 1964–2007: A Model of Conditional and Time-dynamical Diffusion

The paper examines the determinants of the diffusion of state lotteries as a process of policy innovation. After more than 100 years of prohibition, U.S. states began to establish lotteries in the 1960s. The article uses statistical event history analysis to show that the adoption and diffusion of state lotteries depends on fiscal, political, and regional factors of competition as well as on normative factors of social legitimization. The article develops two further arguments, first by discussing an advanced model of regional diffusion that views the regional effect as being dependent on the ideologicalinstitutional context and second by analyzing time dynamics in the diffusion process to show how initial explanatory factors change over time. In general, the findings point to the institutional environment as a factor influencing the diffusion of organizations.Der Aufsatz beschäftigt sich mit den Determinanten der Diffusion staatlicher Lotterien als Beispiel einer politischen Innovation. Nach einer Verbotszeit von mehr als einhundert Jahren führten US-Bundesstaaten Lotterien ab den 1960er-Jahren schrittweise wieder ein. Anhand von statistischen Ereignisdatenanalysen zeigt der Beitrag, dass der Diffusionsprozess von fiskalischen, politischen und regionalen Faktoren ebenso wie von normativen Faktoren der sozialen Legitimierung abhängt. Der Aufsatz stellt zwei weitere Aspekte heraus, die empirisch demonstriert werden: Zum einen wird ein erweitertes regionales Diffusionsmodell diskutiert, das die räumliche Ausbreitung in Abhängigkeit zur ideologischen Struktur angrenzender Staaten erfasst; zum anderen wird die zeitliche Dynamik des Prozesses modelliert. Hierfür ist der soziologische Neo-Institutionalismus der theoretische Bezugspunkt, und es wird angenommen, dass mit zunehmender Dauer des Diffusionsprozesses die ursprünglichen Kausalfaktoren ihre Erklärungskraft zugunsten eines Bedeutungsgewinns von Legitimitätsaspekten verlieren. Die Ergebnisse dokumentieren isomorphische Adaptionsprozesse und in organisationsökologischer Hinsicht die Bedeutung institutioneller Umwelten für die Ausbreitung von Organisationen.1 Introduction 2 The reintroduction and spread of state lotteries in the United States since 1964 3 Explaining the diffusion of lotteries (Fiscal) Economic factors: State lotteries to cover revenue Political factors: Lottery as a politically attractive tool Social factors: Religiously motivated gambling opposition Regional factors: Lottery diffusion across neighboring states 4 Empirical analysis Data and methods Predictors Results 5 Conclusion Reference

Creative Success and Network Embeddedness: Explaining Critical Recognition of Film Directors in Hollywood, 1900–2010

This article analyzes how social network structures affect career success in a projectbased labor market. The literature on team success has shown that teams perform well if they integrate both weak and strong ties simultaneously. Applying the literature to careers in the creative industries, the study suggests that creative artists are more likely to receive critical recognition if they build their careers in both familiar project networks and heterogeneous sets of creative conventions. It is argued that familiarity and diversity operate as complementary elements in the development of innovative ideas. While diversity is important to maximize the flow of new ideas, it needs to be embedded within trustworthy and familiar network structures in order to fully develop its creative potential. The suggested mechanism is tested by means of full career data of 55,097 film directors, covering 478,859 directing jobs in 330,142 film productions during the years 1900–2010. It is shown that familiarity and diversity explain a considerable part of a director’s critical success. Results from interaction effects show that diversity has greater effects on critical success if it is socially embedded within familiar social structures. The article contributes to the emerging understanding of the role of group processes and network structures in explaining individual career success.Dieser Artikel untersucht, wie soziale Netzwerkstrukturen Karriereerfolg auf einem projektbasierten Arbeitsmarkt bestimmen. Auf der Grundlage von Forschung zu Teamerfolg argumentiert der Beitrag, dass Karriereerfolg in Kreativberufen wahrscheinlicher wird, wenn Karrieren sich sowohl in vertrauten als auch in diversen, mit heterogenen Konventionen ausgestatteten Projektnetzwerken bewegen. Vertrautheit und Diversität wirken als komplementäre Elemente in der Entwicklung innovativer Ideen. Zwar fördert das Element der Diversität den optimalen Austausch neuer Ideen, allerdings muss es, damit sich sein kreatives Potenzial vollständig entfalten kann, zugleich in vertrauensvollen Netzwerkstrukturen eingebettet sein. Anhand eines vollständigen Karrieredatensatzes, der Karriereprofile von 55.097 Filmregisseuren in 478.859 Engagements und 330.142 Filmproduktionen in den Jahren 1900 bis 2010 einbezieht, wird dieser Mechanismus getestet. Es zeigt sich, dass sowohl Vertrautheit als auch Diversität einen Großteil des Kritiker- und Karriereerfolgs der Regisseure erklären. Interaktionseffekte zeigen zudem, dass Diversität einen stärkeren Effekt auf künstlerischen Erfolg ausübt, wenn sie in vertrauten Strukturen eingebettet ist. Insgesamt erweitert die Studie unser Verständnis davon, wie Gruppen- und Netzwerkstrukturen individuellen Karriereerfolg beeinflussen.1 Introduction 2 Theory 3 Data and method Dependent variable Predictors Covariates Analytical strategy 4 Results 5 Discussion and conclusion Appendix Technical details on the construction of the study’s predictors Additional tables Reference

Is There a Motherhood Penalty in Academia? The Gendered Effect of Children on Academic Publications in German Sociology

Based on data that tracks curriculum vitae (CV) and publication records as well as survey information from sociologists in German academia, we examine the effects of parenthood on the publication output of male and female academics that were present in German universities or research institutes in the year 2013. Results indicate that having children leads to a significant decline in the number of publications by women on average, while not affecting the number of publications by men. However, the gendered effect of children on productivity hardly mitigates differences in publication output between men and women, as women still publish about 20 per cent less than men after controlling for the adverse effects of children on productivity. The gendered effect of childbearing depends partly on prior levels of women’s academic achievements, suggesting a mechanism of performance-driven self-selection. Lower-performing women tend to suffer a stronger motherhood penalty than better performing women, while the publication output of successful women (who have been granted academic awards) is not reduced through childbirth. The results indicate that women are better at managing the ‘double burden’ of kids and career if external, award-giving committees have bestowed prestige upon them or indicated their potential for a scientific career.Introduction The gendered effect of children on publication output: theoretical considerations and empirical results Data and Methods Results Conclusions Footnotes Acknowledgements References Appendi

The Diversity of Wage Regimes: Why the Eurozone Is Too Heterogeneous for the Euro

Why did the transnational synchronization of wage inflations fail during the first 10 years of the euro? We analyze data from 1999 to 2008 for 12 euro members and estimate increases of nominal unit labor costs both in the overall economy and in manufacturing as dependent variables. While our analysis confirms that differences in economic growth shaped the inflation of labor costs, we add a political-institutional argument to the debate and argue that the designs of the wage regimes had an additional, independent impact. In coordinated labor regimes, increases in nominal unit labor costs tended to fall below the European Central Bank’s inflation target, while in uncoordinated labor regimes, the respective increases tended to exceed the European inflation target. Due to the stickiness of wagebargaining institutions, the lack of the capacity to synchronize inflation is not likely to disappear in the foreseeable future

Why the Poor Play the Lottery: Sociological Approaches to Explaining Class-based Lottery Play

Why do the poor spend more on lottery tickets than their wealthier and better educated peers? While social scientists generally agree that there is an inverse relationship between socio-economic position and patterns of lottery play, there is debate on what factors cause lottery gambling. Using survey data from a nationwide probability sample, we test three sociological approaches – socio-structural, cultural and social network accounts – to explain why the poor play the lottery. While controlling for cognitive bias theory, we find that peer play, educational attainment and self-perceived social deprivation have strong effects on lottery play. Culture, the study finds, plays a much lesser role. Although lottery players demonstrate fatalistic value orientations, it is not a lack of a ‘Protestant’ work ethic that makes the poor spend proportionally more on lottery tickets. The findings of this study generally point to the importance of social structures in explaining lottery gambling.Social Stratification and the Demand for Lottery Tickets Data and Methods Results Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Reference

The Agony of Da Feet: Reexamining the Foundation to Fitness

Educational Objectives 1. Explain the role of podiatry in helping older adults maintain wellbeing. 2. Provide an overview of common foot and ankle conditions that older adults should be concerned about. 3. Discuss newer services and techniques provided by podiatrists. 4. Review several cases in which podiatry supported patients’ health through early interventions

Anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus emissions and related grey water footprints caused by EU-27's crop production and consumption

Water is a prerequisite for life on our planet. Due to climate change and pollution, water availability for agricultural production, industry and households is increasingly put at risk. With agriculture being the largest water user as well as polluter worldwide, we estimate anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to fresh water related to global crop production at a spatial resolution level of 5 by 5 arc min and calculate the grey water footprints (GWF) related to EU-27′s crop production. A multiregional input-output model is used to trace the the GWF embodied in the final consumption of crop products by the EU-27. The total GWF related to crop production in the EU-27 in 2007 was 1 × 1012 m3/year. Spain contributed about 40% to this total. Production of cereals (wheat, rice and other cereals) take the largest share, accounting for 30% of the GWF, followed by fruits (17%), vegetables (14%), and oil crops (13%). The total agricultural GWF of the EU-27 related to crop consumption was 1830 billion m3/year, which is 3700 m3/year per capita on average. Overall, the EU-27 was able to externalize about 41% of the GWF to the rest of the world through imports of crop product

Strukturen ungleichen Erfolgs: Winner-take-all-Konzentrationen und ihre sozialen Entstehungskontexte auf flexiblen Arbeitsmärkten

Wie entstehen Erfolgskonzentrationen? Während das „Winner-take-all“-Phänomen bisher als Konzentrationsprozess auf der Nachfrageseite durch massenhaft gleichförmige Kaufentscheidungen der Konsumenten begriffen wurde, sind Bedingungen und Konstellationen auf der Anbieterseite wenig berücksichtigt worden. In diesem Beitrag werden sechs Ansätze diskutiert, die das Potenzial einer soziologischen Erklärung des Winner-take-all-Phänomens ausloten. Jeder der Ansätze versucht, Erfolgsungleichheiten aus den sozialen Strukturen heraus zu erklären, in die die Akteure auf dem Arbeitsmarkt eingebettet sind. Der Beitrag versteht sich als erster Zugang zu einem in der Soziologie zwar noch wenig erforschten, doch wichtigen Phänomen sozialer Ungleichheit und soll den Raum für zukünftige empirische Studien öffnen.How does success accumulate? While the winner-take-all phenomenon has been viewed as a process of accumulating demand that results from a huge number of consumers making the same purchase decision, the conditions and interactions on the supply side have received scant attention in the literature. This paper investigates six ways sociology could contribute toward shedding light on the winner-take-all phenomenon, all of which seek to explain unequal success by examining the social structures of the labor market in which the actors are embedded. The author takes a preliminary, exploratory look from a sociological perspective at an aspect of inequality that is socially significant, yet poorly understood. The approaches presented open the way for future empirical study