Posting of workers across the EU: an empirical investigation

This paper investigates the effects of the intra-European posting of workers on domestic labour markets in the years 2007–2009. Instrumental variables related to neighbouring countries’ populations are used to address the endogeneity between posting and labour market features. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that an intensification of posting inflows is not likely to displace domestic workers, at any educational levels. Instead, an increase in posting from abroad may raise domestic labour costs. No significant effects are found on sending country labour market variables. Results point towards the development of possible synergies between domestic and posted workers, so that posting can actually improve labour efficiency and put upward pressure on labour costs.     

Self‐harm Risk Among Adolescents and the Phenomenon of the “Blue Whale Challenge”: Case Series and Review of the Literature

The “Blue Whale Challenge” is a dangerous Internet phenomenon. As per media reports, it involves a series of life‐threatening tasks imposed by a “curator” to “players,” who must fulfill the whole list, and it ends with the suicide of the player. The authors report the data of five suspected cases of “Blue Whales” managed from January 2016 to December 2017 by the staff of a unit (the “Bambi Unit” of the Pediatric Hospital “Regina Margherita” of Turin, Italy) that is dedicated to the evaluation of suspected abused children. Then, they analyzed this data in the light of the literature regarding self‐harm. This comparison highlights the role of the Internet in the spreading of self‐harm behavior among vulnerable adolescents who are characterized by epidemiological, psychological, psychiatric, social, and cultural risk factors. In conclusion, the authors suggest a multidisciplinary and specialized approach in the evaluation of adolescents who committed self‐harm activities.     

Isolating Target And Neighbourhood Vulnerabilities In Crime Forecasting

Risk terrain modelling (RTM) is emerging as an effective approach for predicting how and where crimes concentrate within cities and regions. However, in its previous applications there is a tendency to overestimate the influence of external environmental risks and preventive factors. Most studies applying RTM have investigated factors associated with the characteristics of the urban setting, whilst only a limited number have focused on identifying the risks associated with the availability and the characteristics of potential targets for criminals. This study uses RTM to identify the spatial risk and protective factors related to residential burglaries in the city of Milan, Italy. Factors considered are the neighbourhood- and target-related contextual factors, the exposure to crime and potential mitigating strategies. The results show that when the place and target of the offence are intrinsically related a target-oriented approach to select factors is useful for increasing the understanding of why some locations are most likely to experience future crimes. Indeed, the peculiarities of the target itself are integral to understan both the decision-making of criminals and the overall level of crime risk. Related policy implications are discussed.     

Social Enterprise,Capabilities and Development Paradigms: Lessons from Ecuador

Recently, social movements in Latin America have affirmed the ‘buen vivir’ development paradigm that pursues the social and solidarity economy model in reaction to mainstream development strategies. In this paper we explore the features of the social economy that has emerged from the social movement resistance in Ecuador. We have two aims. First, to contribute to the comparative analysis of the varying patterns in the evolution of social enterprise around the world. Second, to provide general theoretical insights into the ways in which the social economy relates to the contemporary debate on alternative development paradigms.     

Sequential contests revisited

In a past issue of this journal, Morgan (Public Choice 116:1–18, 2003) finds that aggregate effort is greater in sequential than in simultaneous lottery contests. We show that Morgan’s result is incorrect owing to a slip in a proof, and that aggregate effort turns out to be greater in sequential contests only if the contestants are sufficiently homogeneous. Additionally, we discuss the robustness of the corrected result to different specifications of the contest success function, and we partially restore Morgan’s case for sequential contests by showing that these contests are more desirable when maximizing only the effort of the winner, rather than maximizing the aggregate effort.     

Juvenile Facial Growth and Mimicry: A Preliminary 3D Study

Studies focused on facial development during childhood have been conducted by means of 3D technology to provide modifications of anthropometric parameters. Facial mobility was also considered. This study proposed a 3D approach to facial growth changes. Facial surface data of 6 subjects were acquired in T1 (age 7–14 years) and after 7 years (T2), in rest position, and during voluntary movements, by a 3D laser scanner. Linear and angular measurements on rest position scans at T1 and T2 were compared. Each mimic scan was superimposed with the corresponding rest scan. Displacement of significant anthropometric points was measured for each facial gesture and at T1 and T2 statistically compared. Vertical measurements were those most influenced by aging. Some measurements of central facial area were consistent over time. The pattern of soft tissues displacement for each expression was consistent in T1 and T2. These results may be helpful for missing children identification.     

Psychopathic Personality and Negative Parent-to-Child Affect: A Longitudinal Cross-lag Twin Study

Purpose

Previous studies that have explored the relationship between parenting style and children’s antisocial behavior have generally found significant bidirectional effects, whereby parenting behaviors influence their child’s antisocial outcomes, but a child’s behaviors also lead to changes in parenting style.

Methods

The present study investigated the genetic and environmental underpinnings of the longitudinal relationship between negative parent-to-child affect and psychopathic personality in a sample of 1,562 twins. Using a biometrical cross-lag analysis, bidirectional effects were investigated across two waves of assessment when the twins were ages 9-10 and 14-15, utilizing both caregiver and youth self-reports.

Results

Results demonstrated that negative parental affect observed at ages 9-10 influenced the child’s later psychopathic personality at ages 14-15, based on both caregiver and youth self-reports. For these ‘parent-driven effects’, both genetic and non-shared environmental factors were important in the development of later psychopathic personality during adolescence. There were additional ‘child-driven effects’ such that children’s psychopathic personality at ages 9-10 influenced negative parent-to-child affect at ages 14-15, but only within caregiver reports.

Conclusions

Thus, children’s genetically influenced psychopathic personality seemed to evoke later parental negativity at ages 14-15, highlighting the importance of investigating bidirectional effects in parent-child relationships to understand the development of these traits.