Persuasion in Politics

We present a model of the creation of social networks, such as political parties, trade unions, religious coalitions, or political action committees, through discussion and mutual persuasion among their members. The key idea is that people are influenced by those inside their network, but not by those outside. Once created, networks can be rented out' to politicians who seek votes and support for their initiatives and ideas, which may have little to do with network members' core beliefs. In this framework, political competition does not lead to convergence of party platforms to the views of the median voter. Rather, parties separate their messages and try to isolate their members to prevent personal influence from those in the opposition.

Managerial Capital and the Market for CEOs

This paper reconciles two pronounced trends in U.S. corporate governance: the increase in pay levels for top executives, and the increasing prevalence of appointing CEOs through external hiring rather than internal promotions. We propose that these trends reflect a shift in the relative importance of "managerial ability" (transferable across companies) and "firm-specific human capital" (valuable only within the organization). We show that if the supply of workers in the corporate sector is relatively elastic, an increase in the relative importance of managerial ability leads to fewer promotions, more external hires, and an increase in equilibrium average wages for CEOs. We test our model using CEO pay and turnover data from 1970 to 2000. We show that CEO compensation is higher for CEOs hired from outside their firm, and for CEOs in industries where outside hiring is prevalent.CEO pay, CEO turnover, General skills, Firms specific skills

Creating Language: A Learning Curve in Material Development

本文は、新たな教授法の導入に関する情報を提供する。著者は、言語学習教材の質および焦点に物足りなさを感じた経緯から、試行錯誤を重ね、ハリデーの機能文法ならびに一連のスキャフォールディング（足場づくり）による支援された’guided writing（予め方向付けされたライティング練習）’を取り込んだコースを開始した。このコースは、大学での言語教育に必要とされるスキルを習得し使うこと、過去の言語学習を発展させること、ならびに自律学習に向けた十分な指導をすることを3 年の間にさまざまなバージョンが作成されたが、ここではどのような段階を経て、どのような問題に遭遇したかを取り上げる。学生からのフィードバックの反映、アクティビティの数および多様性の増加、’guided writing’の導入、学生への教材の提示方法の変更、ならびに文章のジャンルによる違いなど、時間の経過とともに変更・調整を重ねた。この結果としてできたコースをCreating Language と呼ぶ。本コースの学生は、常時、特定のリサーチトピックへと方向づけられ、クラスメートや講師との振り返りおよびディスカッションを通じて、深いレベルで教材に関わるよう奨励される。コース終了時には、今後もこの手法を継続して使用、発展させていくための十分な手ごたえがあった。This paper examines the development of new academic teaching materials in a university context. The materials include explicit reference to Hallidayan functional grammar and make strong use of the Vygotskian concept of scaffolding.Several versions of the course illustrate the problems encountered and the modifications made over a period of three years. During this time, adjustments to the course, with reference to feedback from students, included the number and variety of activities, the introduction of scaffolded guided writing paragraphs, material presentation methods, and the utilisation of selected text types. The resulting course was named ‘Creating Language’. Throughout the course, students were guided towards specific research topics and encouraged to engage material at a deeper level through the use of taxonomies, reflection, and discussion with peers.By the end of the study period, it was strongly believed that the course had the potential to encourage a significant improvement in student language competence