Interorganizational Challenges in the Design and Management of Business Incubators

Business incubators are intended to enhance the growth of new firms by minimizing business failures. The environment for incubators improved as governmental policies shifted their emphasis toward small business generation. However, not enough is understood about how, why, and under what circumstances new firms succeed within the sheltered environment of incubators. This article uses an interorganizational framework to evaluate some preliminary studies of incubator performance and effectiveness.     

A. Reviews: general

i. Syria and the Lebanese Crisis. By Adeed Dawisha. London, Macmillan, 1980. pp.xii, 208. £15.00.

ii. Geographical Changes in the Traditional Arab Villages in Northern Israel. By Y.Bar Gal and A.Soffer. Durham University, Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (Occasional Papers Series, No.9). 1981. pp. 88, 20 figs.,10 plates, 13 tables.

iii. Moroccan Peasants: A Century of Change in the Eastern Rif 1870–1970. By David Seddon. Folkestone (Kent), Dawson, 1981. pp.xvii, 337, maps, tables. £15.00.

iv. Honneur et baraka: Les Structures socials traditionelles dans le Rif. By Raymond Jamous. Cambridge (Atelier d'Anthropologie Sociale), Cambridge University Press/Paris (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1981. pp.303, maps, tables, photographs. £22.50.

v. Ibn Khaldun and Islamic Thought Styles : A Social Perspective. By Fuad Basil and Ali Wardi. Boston, Mass., G.K.Hall & Co., 1981. pp.155. $23.95.

vi. The Arabic Novel : An Historical and Critical Introduction. By Roger Allen. University of Manchester (Journal of Semitic Studies Monograph No.4), 1982. pp.181.     

Biological maturation and social development: A longitudinal study of some adjustment processes from mid-adolescence to adulthood

The role of biological maturity in behaviors in adolescence which most often are considered as negative by adults was investigated for a normal group of girls. In mid-adolescence early matured girls were found to play truant, smoke hashish, get drunk, pilfer, ignore parents' prohibitions, considerably more often than did late maturing girls. These differences between biological age groups were mediated by the association with older peer groups and they leveled out in late adolescence. Data on alcohol consumption and crime at adult age showed little association with biological maturation. A hypothesis was tested suggesting that early biological maturation may have negative long-term consequences within the education domain. In accord with this assumption, a considerably smaller percentage of girls among the early maturers had a theoretical education above the obligatory nine-year compulsory schooling than among the late maturing girls. The association between biological maturation and adult education was significant also after controlling for standard predictors of education, such as the girls' intelligence and the social status of the home. The requirement of conducting longitudinal studies when investigating issues connected with maturation was strongly emphasized.The research presented here was supported by funds to D. Magnusson from the Swedish Terecentenary Foundation and the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research.Received Ph.D. from the University of Stockholm. Current research interest is development.Received Ph.D. from University of Stockholm. Current research interest is development.Received Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley. Current research interest is Social psychology.     

Controlling Nonconventional Expenditure: Tax Expenditures and Loans

Tax expenditures, credits and guarantees, and other nonconventional expenditures are prominent features of the public finances of the United States and other industrialized democracies. While reliable data on these practices have generally been available only for a decade or less, there is reason to believe that these types of transactions now constitute a larger share of total public expenditure than they did in the past. This article discusses the concepts arid implications of two types of nonconventional expenditures—tax expendituures and loans—as well as recent efforts to bring them within the scope of the budget process. The article deals mostly with American practices, but it also draws on the experiences of other democratic countries.