Is It Me or Her? How Gender Composition Evokes Interpersonally Sensitive Behavior on Collaborative Cross-Boundary Projects

This paper investigates how professional workers’ willingness to act with interpersonal sensitivity is influenced by the gender and power of their interaction partners. We call into question the idea that mixed-gender interactions involve more interpersonal sensitivity than all-male interactions primarily because women demonstrate more interpersonal sensitivity than do men. Rather, we argue that the social category “women” can evoke more sensitive behavior from others such that men as well as women contribute to an increase in sensitivity in mixed-gender interactions. We further argue that the presence of women may trigger increased sensitivity such that men can also be the recipients of more sensitivity when one or more women are present on a team. In a study of 202 management consultants, we found that the willingness to act with interpersonal sensitivity increased in interactions with women. Moreover, this effect was greater in interactions with women who had low reward power—i.e., females who better fit the expectations associated with the social category “women.” We also found team-level effects. Professionals working with mixed-gender versus all-male client teams reported a greater willingness to act with interpersonally sensitive behavior toward male client team members. Our findings show that the willingness to act with interpersonal sensitivity is context dependent and shed light on the importance of studying interaction partner-level and team-level effects on willingness to act with interpersonal sensitivity

Nanometer patterning of water by tetraanionic ferrocyanide stabilized in aqueous nanodrops.

Formation of the small, highly charged tetraanion ferrocyanide, Fe(CN)64-, stabilized in aqueous nanodrops is reported. Ion-water interactions inside these nanodrops are probed using blackbody infrared radiative dissociation, infrared photodissociation (IRPD) spectroscopy, and molecular modeling in order to determine how water molecules stabilize this highly charged anion and the extent to which the tetraanion patterns the hydrogen-bonding network of water at long distance. Fe(CN)64-(H2O)38 is the smallest cluster formed directly by nanoelectrospray ionization. Ejection of an electron from this ion to form Fe(CN)63-(H2O)38 occurs with low-energy activation, but loss of a water molecule is favored at higher energy indicating that water molecule loss is entropically favored over loss of an electron. The second solvation shell is almost complete at this cluster size indicating that nearly two solvent shells are required to stabilize this highly charged anion. The extent of solvation necessary to stabilize these clusters with respect to electron loss is substantially lower through ion pairing with either H+ or K+ (n = 17 and 18, respectively). IRPD spectra of Fe(CN)64-(H2O) n show the emergence of a free O-H water molecule stretch between n = 142 and 162 indicating that this ion patterns the structure of water molecules within these nanodrops to a distance of at least ∼1.05 nm from the ion. These results provide new insights into how water stabilizes highly charged ions and demonstrate that highly charged anions can have a significant effect on the hydrogen-bonding network of water molecules well beyond the second and even third solvation shells

Tennessee: the birth and development of performance-based funding in higher education

Tennessee was the first state to introduce performance based funding metrics into their higher education system in 1979. Over the past 30+ years, the state reevaluated and amended their formula every five years. What was initially an additional allocation that could be earned on top of an institution’s standard budget has now become the sole method of allocating funds for higher education in Tennessee. In 2010 the Tennessee legislature passed the Complete College Tennessee Act, Which put the state on the path to be the first state in the nation that allocates 100% of higher education funds on the basis of a performance based funding formula. In order to learn how Tennessee ultimately created this policy, I looked at the various changes to Tennessee’s funding formulae since it was introduced in 1979, evaluating the purpose of each change, and culminating in a complete analysis of Tennessee’s radical new formula. Although for the first time in Tennessee’s history, funding changes were initially proposed by the state legislature, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, who was tasked with developing the formula, was able to take all of the lessons learned since 1979 and developed a formula that initially appears to be stable and will lead to success. By examining the process that Tennessee went through, my hope is that if Tennessee is successful in implementing this 100% formula, other states may appreciate the process it took to get to this model, and not jump into formulation of a formula without laying the necessary groundwork

Efficient Relocation of Spectrum Incumbents

Changes in technologies and in consumer demands have made prior radio spectrum allocations far from efficient. To address this problem the FCC has recently reallocated spectrum for more flexible use in bands that are partially occupied by incumbent license holders. Often, it is necessary for the new license holder to relocate incumbents to make efficient use of the spectrum. Regulations structuring the negotiation between incumbent and new entrant can promote efficiency. In particular, giving the new entrant the right to move the incumbent with compensation can reduce negotiation costs and promote efficiency when there is private information about spectrum values but good public information about the cost of relocating the incumbent. We examine the experience of broadband PCS entrants in relocating microwave incumbents. We conclude with some remarks on how these ideas might be applied to digital television spectrum.Bargaining; Auctions; Spectrum Auctions; Telecommunications Policy

The impact of benefit sanctions on mental health: research dissemination paper

No abstract available

What the council of economic advisors need to know about sustainable development

The decision by Alex Salmond to appoint a Council of Economic Advisors to move economic decision making away from purely political rationale is particularly welcome given the new administration’s commitment to sustainable economic growth as the overarching priority. From the first Minister’s statement to parliament4 is clear that as an economist he recognises that sustainable economic growth is not (just) economic growth that continues but economic growth that is environmentally and socially sustainable. In the Scottish Environment Protection Agency we have wrestled with just what sustainable economic growth might mean and here we offer some of our own thoughts to help the new council of economic advisors in their work

Unemployment, sanctions and mental health: the relationship between benefit sanctions and antidepressant prescribing

International social security systems increasingly place work-related conditions on individuals claiming out-of-work benefits, and enforce requirements through the use of benefit sanctions. The literature on the impacts of benefit sanctions considers both labour market and wider social effects, which this study contributes to through a focus on mental health. It considers the period of Coalition government (2010–15) in the UK, which imposed a comparatively high number of benefit sanctions and increased their severity through the Welfare Reform Act 2012. A longitudinal dataset is constructed using quarterly local authority-level data on Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) sanctions and antidepressant prescriptions in England. Results from fixed effects analyses indicate that, in the post-reform period, every 10 additional sanctions are associated with 4.57 additional antidepressant prescribing items (95% CI: 2.14 to 6.99), which translates to approximately one additional person receiving treatment. Importantly, this finding indicates that sanctions are associated with both adverse mental health impacts and wider public expenditure implications, which motivates further investigation at the individual-level. In addition, punitive sanctions form a core part of the new Universal Credit (UC) and so the results suggest the need to reassess the use of sanctions within the contemporary social security system

Welfare conditionality and activation in the UK: the mental health impacts of benefit sanctions

Increasingly, social security systems in the UK and internationally stipulate work-related behavioural requirements for claimants of out-of-work benefits. These are accompanied by claimant monitoring as well as the threat and imposition of financial penalties, which are known as benefit sanctions. The growth in recent decades in the use of behavioural conditions and sanctions has generated significant debate and contestation, in terms of the ethical justification of such approaches and, relatedly, evidence regarding their overall effectiveness. An important topic concerns the impacts of benefit sanctions on claimants. Policymakers typically assume that sanctions will improve labour market outcomes for the unemployed, which will then lead to a range of individual and societal benefits. A well-developed literature exists in relation to the labour market impacts of sanctions, though less is known in terms of their wider effects. A small but growing body of research, nevertheless, links benefit sanctions with outcomes such as financial hardship and foodbank usage, and there is increasing concern regarding adverse impacts on mental health. This thesis investigates the relationship between benefit sanctions and mental health outcomes, and considers whether higher rates and/or longer durations of sanctions are associated with adverse mental health impacts. A quantitative study is undertaken that focuses on Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) sanctions during the period of Coalition government (2010-15). In this period, the frequency of sanctions varied significantly and their severity was increased following the Welfare Reform Act 2012. This exogenous variation is used to better estimate the independent effect of sanctions on mental health outcomes. Given data availability, the empirical investigation carries out four analyses involving different data sources, outcomes and research designs at separate data levels. The first two studies carry out longitudinal ecological analyses using local authority-level data and fixed effects models. They find that, following the Welfare Reform Act 2012: every 10 additional sanctions applied per 100,000 population per quarter are associated with 4.57 additional antidepressant prescribing items; and that every 10 additional sanctions applied per 100,000 working age population per quarter are associated with 8.09 additional people suffering from anxiety and/or depression. The third study carries out a multi-level analysis, which provides a robustness check on the aggregate-level analysis carried out in the second study. It finds that, in the post-reform period, increases in the area-level sanctions rate are associated with increases in the likelihood that JSA claimants suffer from anxiety and/or depression. Finally, the fourth study carries out a difference-in-differences analysis. It indicates that the harsher sanctioning environment brought about at the onset of the Coalition government is associated with an increase in JSA claimants newly experiencing anxiety and/or depression. These results combine to provide a robust indication that JSA sanctions are associated with adverse mental health impacts, which is an important contribution to the existing empirical literature. They suggest that UK sanctions policy is overly harsh, and that steps need to be taken to reduce the adverse effects that it entails for claimants