The effects of marginal employment on subsequent labour market outcomes

We analyse the consequences of starting a wage subsidised job, "marginal employment", for unemployed workers. Marginal employment is a type of wage subsidy paid to unemployed workers and they do not lose their unemployment benefits if the wage is below a certain threshold. We ask if the unemployed who start marginal jobs face better labour market outcomes than those who do not work. A priori it is not clear if those who work in marginal employment improve their labour market status, e.g. by signalling effort, or worsen it by reduced job search effort. We select unemployed workers and investigate the effect of marginal employment on their labour market outcomes, by means of propensity score matching. Our results suggest that selection into marginal employment is "negative", i.e. workers with characteristics we usually associate with low-productivity are more likely to select into such jobs. The unemployed who start to work in marginal employment during their unemployment spell suffer a (causal) penalty for doing so, relative to their peers who do not. The penalty, in terms of less employment, more unemployment, lower wages, lessens over time but is still present after three years.marginal employment; atypical employment; labour supply; propensity score matching

Rock, Rap, or Reggaeton?: Assessing Mexican Immigrants' Cultural Assimilation Using Facebook Data

The degree to which Mexican immigrants in the U.S. are assimilating culturally has been widely debated. To examine this question, we focus on musical taste, a key symbolic resource that signals the social positions of individuals. We adapt an assimilation metric from earlier work to analyze self-reported musical interests among immigrants in Facebook. We use the relative levels of interest in musical genres, where a similarity to the host population in musical preferences is treated as evidence of cultural assimilation. Contrary to skeptics of Mexican assimilation, we find significant cultural convergence even among first-generation immigrants, which problematizes their use as assimilative "benchmarks" in the literature. Further, 2nd generation Mexican Americans show high cultural convergence vis-\`a-vis both Anglos and African-Americans, with the exception of those who speak Spanish. Rather than conforming to a single assimilation path, our findings reveal how Mexican immigrants defy simple unilinear theoretical expectations and illuminate their uniquely heterogeneous character.Comment: WebConf 201

Modality-Specific Effects of Perceptual Load in Multimedia Processing

Digital media are sensory-rich, multimodal, and often highly interactive. An extensive collection of theories and models within the field of media psychology assume the multimodal nature of media stimuli, yet there is current ambiguity as to the independent contributions of visual and auditory content to message complexity and to resource availability in the human processing system. In this article, we argue that explicating the concepts of perceptual and cognitive load can create progress toward a deeper understanding of modality-specific effects in media processing. In addition, we report findings from an experiment showing that perceptual load leads to modality-specific reductions in resource availability, whereas cognitive load leads to a modality-general reduction in resource availability. We conclude with a brief discussion regarding the critical importance of separating modality-specific forms of load in an increasingly multisensory media environment

Modality-Specific Effects of Perceptual Load in Multimedia Processing

Digital media are sensory-rich, multimodal, and often highly interactive. An extensive collection of theories and models within the field of media psychology assume the multimodal nature of media stimuli, yet there is current ambiguity as to the independent contributions of visual and auditory content to message complexity and to resource availability in the human processing system. In this article, we argue that explicating the concepts of perceptual and cognitive load can create progress toward a deeper understanding of modality-specific effects in media processing. In addition, we report findings from an experiment showing that perceptual load leads to modality-specific reductions in resource availability, whereas cognitive load leads to a modality-general reduction in resource availability. We conclude with a brief discussion regarding the critical importance of separating modality-specific forms of load in an increasingly multisensory media environment

Adicción a los Videojuegos: ¿Qué podemos aprender desde la perspectiva de la neurociencia de la comunicación?

In recent years, video game addiction has received considerable empirical attention. Unfortunately, this research is stymied by inconsistencies in both conceptual and operational definitions of video game addiction. Moreover, the use of several video game addiction scales makes it difficult to estimate the prevalence and potential effects of video game addiction. While game genre is often treated as a predictor of video game addiction, existing measures often downplay the structural and social characteristics of video games that may contribute to behavioral outcomes such as increased playing time and addiction. In an effort to provide the clarity necessary to overcome these issues, we review research on video game addiction with a focus on the largely ignored unique characteristics of video games that are crucial for a more complete conceptualization of video game addiction. With this review in mind, we offer a conceptual framework for the integration of video game addiction within the broader context of behavioral addictions. Finally, we consider the neurological foundation of addiction and suggest opportunities for media neuroscientists to increase understanding and prediction of video game addiction and explore how game content features interact with reward systems in the brain.En los últimos años, la adicción a los videojuegos ha recibido una atención empírica considerable. Desafortunadamente, la investigación en este campo se encuentra obstaculizada por inconsistencias en definiciones conceptuales y operacionales de la adicción a los videojuegos. Por otro lado, el uso de varias escalas de adicción a los videojuegos dificulta la estimación de la prevalencia y los efectos potenciales de la adicción a los videojuegos. Mientras el género del juego es considerado frecuentemente como un predictor de la adicción a los videojuegos, las medidas existentes restan importancia a las características sociales y estructurales de los videojuegos que pueden contribuir a resultados conductuales tales como un incremento en el tiempo de juego y adicción. En un esfuerzo por proveer de claridad necesaria para subsanar estos problemas, se realiza una revisión sobre investigaciones relacionadas a la adicción a los videojuegos con un enfoque en las características de los videojuegos extensamente ignoradas y que son cruciales para una conceptualización más completa acerca de la adicción a los videojuegos. Con esta revisión, ofrecemos un marco conceptual para la integración de la adicción a los videojuegos dentro un contexto más amplio como el de las adicciones conductuales. Finalmente, consideramos la base neurológica de la adicción y sugerimos oportunidades para los neurocientíficos de la comunicación con el objetivo de incrementar la comprensión y predicción de la adicción a los videojuegos y explorar cómo los elementos de un juego interactúan con los sistemas de recompensa en el cerebro

A multi-method approach to studying the relationship between character strengths and vocational interests in adolescents

The relationship between character strengths and vocational interests was tested. In an online study, 197 thirteen to eighteen year-olds completed a questionnaire measuring character strengths and a multi-method measure for interests (questionnaire, nonverbal test, and objective personality tests). The main findings were that intellectual strengths yielded primarily relations with investigative and artistic interests. Social interests demonstrated relations with strengths of transcendence and other-directed strengths and enterprising interests with leadership strengths. The implications of the findings for practice are highlighte

Pelajar tunai tanggungjawab pilih perwakilan dalam pilihan raya kampus

Pilihan Raya Kampus (PRK) Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) bagi memilih calon Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar Sesi 2015/2016 yang diadakan pada 7 Oktober 2015 yang lalu berjalan lancar apabila pelajar masingmasing turun padang memilih calon mereka

Statische und dynamische Evaluation von Prognosen

'Es werden die grundlegenden Möglichkeiten zur Quantifizierung der Prognosegüte dargestellt. Für die Evaluation von horizontalen Prognoseverteilungen wird ein 'Gütemaße-Mix' empfohlen, der unterschiedliche Qualitäten von Prognosen abbilden kann und sich dadurch für differenzierte Prognosevergleiche in der Praxis eignet. Darüber hinaus können Prognosevergleiche informativer gestaltet werden, wenn Prognosen dynamisch evaluiert werden. Eine dynamische Evaluation erhält man, indem man den Prognosehorizont sukzessiv um eine Periode ausdehnt und nach jeder neu hinzukommenden Periode die Prognosegüte neu berechnet. Dadurch ist man in der Lage zu beurteilen, in welchen Zeiträumen ein Prognoseverfahren bessere Prognoseergebnisse erzielt als ein anderes. Anhand von Beispielen wird gezeigt, daß sich die Einschätzung der Güte einer Prognose auf Basis einer statischen und dynamischen Betrachtung unterscheiden kann. Für die statische und dynamische Berechnung der Gütemaße wird ein SAS/lML-Programm mitgeliefert.' (Autorenreferat)'The fundamental methods to quantify the accuracy of forecasts are presented. A 'mix of measures' for the evaluation of horizontal distributions of forecasts is recommended, which can indicate different characteristics of forecasts, and is therefore suitable for detailed comparisons of forecasts in practical applications. Evaluating forecasts dynamically makes comparisons more informative. This can be done by gradually expanding the forecast horizon by one period at a time, which yields a dynamic measure of forecast accuracy. It is thereby possible to assess in what periods one method of forecasting performs better than another. Examples are given to demonstrate that static and dynamic evaluations of forecast accuracy do differ. A SAS/IML-program is supplied that calculates the recommended 'mix of measures' statically and dynamically.' (author's abstract)

Auslieferungs- und Testmanagement mit .NET unter besonderer Beachtung automatisierter Tests für Web- bzw. Desktopanwendungen

Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich hauptsächlich mit Vorgehensweisen und Konzepten zum automatischen Testen von Web- und Desktopanwendungen. Es wird dabei allerdings auch auf das allgemeine Auslieferungs- und Testmanagement von Software eingegangen. Dazu gehören unter anderem der Ablauf des Auslieferungsprozesses, Einführung zum Testen von Software oder verschiedene Testmethoden.This thesis mainly deals with approaches and concepts for automated testing of web and desktop applications. Besides that an elaboration about general delivery and test management of software is made. This includes the flow of the delivery process, introduction to testing of software, different testing techniques and so on