Inertia and Incentives: Bridging Organizational Economics and Organizational Theory

Organizational theorists have long acknowledged the importance of the formal and informal incentives facing a firm%u2019s employees, stressing that the political economy of a firm plays a major role in shaping organizational life and firm behavior. Yet the detailed study of incentive systems has traditionally been left in the hands of (organizational) economists, with most organizational theorists focusing their attention on critical problems in culture, network structure, framing and so on -- in essence, the social context in which economics and incentive systems are embedded. We argue that this separation of domains is problematic. The economics literature, for example, is unable to explain why organizations should find it difficult to change incentive structures in the face of environmental change, while the organizational literature focuses heavily on the role of inertia as sources of organizational rigidity. Drawing on recent research on incentives in organizational economics and on cognition in organizational theory, we build a framework for the analysis of incentives that highlights the ways in which incentives and cognition -- while being analytically distinct concepts -- are phenomenologically deeply intertwined. We suggest that incentives and cognition coevolve so that organizational competencies or routines are as much about building knowledge of %u201Cwhat should be rewarded%u201D as they are about %u201Cwhat should be done.%u201D

Obesity : America’s economic epidemic

Rural areas

Gauging a region's entrepreneurial potential

Regions are facing rapidly evolving pressures from today’s global economy. The old rules of the game, where traditional assets such as cheap land and labor determined a region’s success or failure, no longer apply. Instead, new categories of assets are shaping economic prospects—assets like workforce skills, lifestyle amenities, access to capital and information, and innovative activity. Finding new pathways to tap these assets makes economic success much easier. The first step along each new pathway is to measure a region’s assets. The Center for the Study of Rural America is working to quantify today’s critical regional assets by developing a series of asset indicators. These measures should help regions gauge their own competitive capacities, as well as provide a better understanding of the new drivers of regional economic growth. Entrepreneurship is emerging as a particularly promising new engine for regional growth. The relation between long-term regional employment growth and entrepreneurship is strong. Not only do entrepreneurs create new local jobs, but they also generate new wealth and new growth.Regional economics

The use of elastic therapeutic tape in clinical practice : an exploration of current usage and the evidence base within healthcare professionals

Aim: The central aim of this study is to explore the current use of elastic therapeutic tape (ETT), the views of the evidence base within healthcare professionals and investigate the reasoning behind its use in clinical practise despite the lack of conclusive evidence.Method: Six participants piloted the online survey which then went live between 13th October 2014 and 13th December 2014 via Survey Monkey. Active clinicians were recruited via their professional bodies with a link to the survey. To gain further insight, following piloting, interviews took place with six ETT trained and six untrained active clinicians varying in clinical backgrounds.Results: One hundred and twenty two respondents attempted the survey via the Survey Monkey link, seventy six participants (62.3%) were disqualified from data analysis, fif-ty nine (77.6%) of these due to the individuals not completing the full twenty one questions. ETT was utilised more in conjunction with athletic taping (n = 29) than ETT alone (n = 17). Results showed the most common population group clinicians worked in was musculoskeletal (n = 23). The majority of clinicians predominate aim of the tape for their primary and secondary population group was injury rehabilitation (n = 15; n = 7), and for their tertiary population was pain reduction (n = 8). Interviews highlighted two main overarching themes, efficacy of ETT and ETT within clinical practice; with the overall conclusion supporting the findings from the online survey of clinicians utilising practice based evidence as opposed to evidence based practice (EBP).Conclusion: Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, ETT is utilised within clinical practice, although often in conjunction with athletic taping. Furthermore, it can be concluded that clinicians are often using practice based evidence rather than evidence based practice when it comes to defending their application of ETT

Alpha suppression as a neural marker of task demands in voluntary vs involuntary retrieval in older and younger adults

Voluntary episodic memory relies on intentionally controlled retrieval, while involuntary episodic memory comes to mind automatically. Consistent with findings of reduced cognitive control with age, recent work suggests that voluntary memory declines with age while involuntary memory is relatively preserved. However, the neurophysiology underlying these age differences has yet to be established. The current study used EEG to test 31 young and 35 older adults during voluntary vs. involuntary retrieval (manipulated between-subjects). Participants first encoded sounds, half of which were paired with pictures, the other half unpaired. EEG was then recorded as they listened to the sounds, with participants in the involuntary group performing a sound localization task, and those in the voluntary group additionally attempting to recall the associated pictures. Participants later retrospectively reported which sounds brought the paired picture to mind during the sound task. Older adults said they remembered as many pictures as young adults, but their objective memory was lower on a final cued recall test. For the EEG analysis, older adults showed greater alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD; a neural marker of memory reactivation) for paired than unpaired sounds at occipital sites, possibly reflecting visual reactivation of the associated pictures. Young adults did not show memory-related alpha ERD effects. However, young adults did show greater alpha ERD during voluntary than involuntary retrieval at frontal and occipital sites, while older adults showed pronounced alpha ERD (indicative of effortful retrieval) regardless of condition. These data suggest that alpha ERD can be used as a neural marker of memory in older adults; however, a more naturalistic paradigm may be required to study true involuntary memory with age

Effects of a Preschool Arts Curriculum on Social and Emotional Competence

This study investigated the extent to which low-income preschool children’s social, emotional, and behavioral competence improved after engaging in a six-week-long arts program. Participants included 46 students of three, four, and five years of age in two low-income, state-funded classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area. Analyses of children’s scores on SCBE-80 measures of Social Competence and Egotistic-Prosocial showed statistically significant change from the pretest to the posttest. Teacher survey report of students’ frequency in social adaptation and enjoyment of the arts suggested that teachers observed social improvements in the classroom that were consistent with SCBE-80 results in Social Competence. Student interview results in frequency in emotional adjustment showed that children were more likely to identify their emotions, as was consistent with SCBE-80 results in Egotistic-Prosocial. Teachers reported that the arts program was a positive addition to the classroom and that they would be likely to continue the arts program in their classrooms if given the option. Taken together these findings lend empirical support to the argument that arts education can lead to social and emotional improvements in low-income populations. Further study of the critical elements of art program structure or type is recommended

Weathering the storm: supporting students through co-producing a resilience toolkit in Higher Education.

It is generally recognised that student wellbeing and mental health are key issues in Higher Education. COVID and lockdown led to unpreceded challenges and increased wellbeing concerns, yet students often do not access support for mental health issues. The aims of this study is to investigate if students are aware of the support resources available, if there are any barriers to facilitating student resilience and preventing student access to support and to co-produce an interactive, online resilience toolkit

Extradition and mental health.

The extradition of Lauri Love is in the balance. It is yet another high profile case involving extradition and mental health. The case is an illustration of how Asperger's Syndrome and the internet can conspire to engender circumstances with grave consequences. It is, Love argues, a matter of life and death. His appeal against the decisions leading up to his extradition order to the US is imminent