The Impact of India’s Janani Suraksha Yojana Conditional Cash Transfer Programme: A Replication Study

In 2005 the government of India established Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a conditional cash transfer programme to increase deliveries in health facilities. We re-examine an influential study published in 2010 on the effect of JSY on reproductive health coverage indicators and perinatal and neonatal mortality. We find the original authors’ results to be replicable and robust to various changes in model specifications and analysis. Through the use of multilevel models, we find meaningful heterogeneity across states and districts in the effects of JSY on the probabilities of in-facility delivery and skilled birth attendance, and neonatal mortality rates.     

Advances in violence and trauma: toward comprehensive ecological models

The most important things learned about violence and trauma in the past 20 years are that interpersonal violence is prevalent, with different forms co-occurring, and that victims' reactions are complex. Researchers are called to consider models that include the ecological context within which victims experience violence and trauma to gain a better understanding of the variation seen in psychological outcomes. Multivariate data-analytic techniques such as structural equation modeling and cluster analysis are suggested as promising ways to explore questions framed by comprehensive models. These recommendations are predicted to provide comprehensive and individualized ways to intervene and prevent interpersonal violence.     

Le style de gestion des hommes et des femmes: convergence ou divergence?

Sommaire: Bien que le modele masculin de la gestion soit encore la norme, il cons-titue un obstacle au leadership efficace. En effet, l'adaptation aux changements structurels que connaissent les organisations exige un changement de leur culture, misant davantage sur l'ecoute d'autrui, l'intuition, l'empathie, la flexibility, qualites qui sont traditionnellement pratiquees par les femmes. La reorientation des modeles de gestion et l'augmentation du nombre des femmes dans les postes de direction donnent-ils l'occasion aux femmes d'exercer leurs fonctions sans avoir a se deguiser psychologiquement en hommes? Ces conditions leur ont-elles permis de changer la culture organisationnelle en y introduisant des facons de faire qui tiennent mieux compte des facteurs humains? Les hommes ont-ils et eux-memes influences en ce sens? Pour repondre a ces questions, un questionnaire mesurant les styles de gestion et les caracteristiques manageriales a ete complete par 398 gestionnaires de la fonc-tion publique quebecoise (230 hommes et 168 femmes). Les resultats montrent que comparativement a leurs collegues masculins, les femmes utilisent davantage des styles de gestion faisant appel aux ressources humaines, a la cohesion et a la vulnerability, conformement aux hypotheses. Mais, contrairement aux hypotheses, elles recourent davantage au pouvoir et aux normes. Elles utilisent done plus que les hommes des styles de gestion masculins et feminins. De plus, elles s'attribuent plus de caracteristiques manageriales masculines et feminines que leurs collegues masculins. Par ailleurs, les gestionnaires des deux sexes s'attribuent davantage de caracteristiques manageriales feminines que masculines, ce qui suggere que des changements se produisent dans la culture organisationnelle. Abstract: Although the traditional masculine model of management is still the norm, it is criticized as impairing effective leadership. Adaptation to structural changes actually taking place in organizations requires a significant shift in their culture towards valuing and using talents such as intuition, empathy, flexibility and caring that women have been socialized to develop. In view of this reorientation of management skills and of the increase in the number of women holding managerial positions, are women now allowed to perform their functions as women, without having to imitate men? Do women have the opportunity to contribute to organizational change by developing practices more sensitive to humane factors? Finally, have men been influenced by women's ways of managing? These issues were addressed in a survey conducted with 398 respondents from the Quebec public service (230 men and 168 women). A questionnaire measured preferred managerial styles and self-attributed psychological characteristics. Results revealed that, as predicted, women's managerial style emphasized human resources, cohesion and vulnerability. However, contrary to predictions, women used power, norms and procedures to a greater extent than men did. Their managerial style thus combines feminine and masculine features. Moreover, women reported having more feminine and masculine psychological characteristics than did men. But, overall, feminine characteristics were self-attributed by both males and females, suggesting emerging changes in organizational culture.     

Hate Crimes: The legality and Practicality of Punishing Bias—A Socio-Legal Appraisal

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - This paper assesses the extent to which enhancing a penalty for hate crimes is a necessity. It...     

Post‐Democracy,Press, Politics and Power

Transnational media corporations now wield enormous power and influence. Never has this been displayed so starkly and so shockingly as in the revelations that emerged during the Leveson Inquiry into the culture and ethics of the press in the UK. This paper considers the implications of the relationship between media elites and political elites for democratic culture and media reform. The paper argues that the culture of press–politician mutual interest in which media executives and party leaders collude will continue as long as the solutions proffered focus on the ethical constraints of professional journalists rather than wider structural issues relating to plurality of ownership and control and funding of news in the public interest.     

Maturité organisationnelle des organisations publiques et management des connaissances

Mass retirements from the public service and non‐renewal of roughly half the workforce create challenges both for the intergenerational transfer of knowledge and knowledge management more generally. This article reviews the literature on organizational learning, learning organizations and intelligent organizations, concluding that these concepts are not well linked together. It reports on findings from interviews with 50 executives from the Quebec public service, which create a portrait of knowledge management and transfer practices and how they could be improved. The article then develops a model of organizational maturity in five phases, based on these findings, linking the concepts of organizational learning, learning organizations and intelligent organizations.     

The Influence of President Obama’s, Middle Name on Middle Eastern and U.S. Perceptions

In a series of cross-cultural experiments, we explore whether mentioning President Obama’s middle name facilitates or impedes his delicate position as a peace broker. Our results show that including Obama’s middle name affects perceptions of Obama and his proposals for the Middle East among Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. We examine whether the use of Obama’s middle name inspires the same reactions in the United States by replicating the study among those who sympathize with Israelis and those who sympathize with Palestinians. Results show that the effect of Obama’s middle name differs in the United States. This study has important implications, not only for the President Obama’s standing in the Arab world and for the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, but also for our understanding of subtle ethnic cues and biases across cultural contexts.