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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Recruiting, Retaining, And Creating Quality Teachers, C. Kirabo Jackson Dec 2011

Recruiting, Retaining, And Creating Quality Teachers, C. Kirabo Jackson

C. Kirabo Jackson

This article synthesizes the research literature on how to ensure that the teaching workforce is effective. It offers three approaches to improving effectiveness: attract talented individuals into the profession, create incentives for exerting optimal effort, and provide professional development so that teachers have the skills to be effective. The research literature reveals that each approach can yield meaningfully improved student outcomes and that no one strategy is clearly more effective. The policy implication of these findings is that a multifaceted approach would improve teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. However, although there are examples of successful policies, there is no consensus …


Explaining The Persistence Of The Informal Economy In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Explaining The Persistence Of The Informal Economy In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

To evaluate critically the competing explanations for the persistence of the informal economy that variously represent this sphere as a residue, by-product, alternative and/or complement to the formal economy, this paper reports a survey of livelihood practices in 313 Moscow households. The finding is that the majority of households primarily depend on informal work to secure their livelihood and that although each and every theorisation is wholly valid with regard to particular types of informal work and/or specific population groups, no one articulation fully captures the diverse nature and multiple meanings of the informal economy in contemporary Moscow. The paper …


Theorizing The Self-Service Economy: A Case Study Of Do-It-Yourself (Diy) Activity, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Theorizing The Self-Service Economy: A Case Study Of Do-It-Yourself (Diy) Activity, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Recently, it has become increasingly recognised that self-servicing is a growing rather than declining phenomenon. To explain this, a range of competing theories have emerged which variously portray those engaged in self-servicing either as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. This paper evaluates critically the validity of these rival explanations. To do this, the extent of, and reasons for, self-servicing in the domestic realm is empirically evaluated through an internet survey of 5,500 people living in the city of Sheffield in England. This resulted in 418 valid responses (a 7.6 …


Enabling Enterprise: Tackling The Barriers To Formalisation, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Enabling Enterprise: Tackling The Barriers To Formalisation, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.


Evaluating The Persistence Of Subsistence Work In Contemporary Economies: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers Dec 2011

Evaluating The Persistence Of Subsistence Work In Contemporary Economies: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers

Colin C Williams

Purpose – Contrary to the view that the subsistence economy is some minor residue persisting in
only a few peripheral enclaves of modern economies, the purpose of this paper is to begin to chart the
importance and prevalence of subsistence work across the contemporary economic landscape and the
reasons underpinning engagement in this form of non-commodified labour.
Design/methodology/approach – To do so, the extent of, and reasons for, subsistence production
amongst those living in contemporary Moscow is evaluated using face-to-face interviews with
313 households in affluent, mixed and deprived districts.
Findings – It was found that subsistence work is a …


From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Drawing inspiration from a burgeoning corpus of scholars who have begun to question the narrative of impending market hegemony, this paper seeks to further advance this emergent ‘diverse economies’ literature by constructing a conceptual framework for representing the multiple labour practices in economies. Transcending the simplistic market/non-market dichotomy, this conceptualises multiple kinds of labour existing along a spectrum from market-oriented to non-market oriented practices, which is cross-cut by another spectrum ranging from wholly monetised to wholly non-monetised practices. The resultant portrayal of a plurality of labour practices that seamlessly merge into each other is then applied to understanding the types …


An Analysis Of Different Approaches To Women Empowerment: A Case Study Of Pakistan, Amatul R. Chaudhary, Muhammad Irfan Chani, Zahid Pervaiz Dec 2011

An Analysis Of Different Approaches To Women Empowerment: A Case Study Of Pakistan, Amatul R. Chaudhary, Muhammad Irfan Chani, Zahid Pervaiz

Muhammad Irfan Chani

Women empowerment has attracted the attention of researchers as an active area of research since 1980s. It can be viewed as an ultimate end as well as a mean to achieve other development goals. The present study is an attempt to investigate how consciousness /sensitization of women about their rights, economic empowerment of women and women’s overall development can be helpful in achieving the goal of women’s empowerment. The study uses data for the period of 1996 to 2009 for Pakistan. Empirical results reveal that consciousness of women about their rights, economic empowerment of women and women’s overall development have …


The Effects Of Internet Access On Labor-Supply Decisions, Katrina Kosec, Sara Champion, Christopher Stanton Dec 2011

The Effects Of Internet Access On Labor-Supply Decisions, Katrina Kosec, Sara Champion, Christopher Stanton

Katrina Kosec

The prevalence of Internet access in the home has increased markedly over the last decade. In many respects, it has changed the way people live and work. This paper examines the relationship between Internet in the home (and whether it is broadband) and various measures of labor supply using data from the Current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey for the period 1998–2010. After including extensive controls, we document that home Internet access is highly positively cor¬related with employment, with total hours worked, and with the amount and share of work done from home. We also document that …