The Knowledge-Based Economy: Conceptual Framework or Buzzword?

In the last two decades, concepts have appeared that have influenced and even defined entire science and technology policies in Western countries: high technology, national system of innovation, information economy, knowledge-based economy, and the new economy. In all these policy developments, the OECD, acting as a think tank for its member countries, has been an important promoter of these concepts, turning them into buzzwords. This article looks at the concept of knowledge-based economy in order to explore the crucial role of the OECD in its dissemination and, above all, the role statistics have played in shaping policy discourses.     

Press articles and influence processes: the different effects of incriminating information and crime story information on judgments of guilt

The present study examines how potential jury members' judgments are affected by two types of information provided by the media: (1) information that is directly incriminating for the accused and (2) crime story information, that is, information about the events of the crime but not directly pertaining to the defendant's innocence or guilt. Although the influence of directly incriminating information has been widely researched, the effect of crime story information has never been studied. Our objective was to test the hypothesis that incriminating information affects judgments directly, whereas crime story information affects judgments indirectly via the arousal of negative emotions. We did this by coding the two types of information in 78 press articles about a criminal trial heard in France. Participants (N = 312) were asked to read the articles and then indicate their anger arousal and give their judgment about the accused. The results support our hypothesis. We conclude by discussing the contribution of our findings to research into the media's influence on legal cases.     

Belgium

European Journal of Political Research -     

Managerial Mediation Competency: A Mixed‐Method Study

Managerial conflict resolution skills such as mediation have often been poorly defined and measured. We used a mixed‐method design to develop a managerial mediation competency scale. In our first study, we used semistructured interviews to identify managerial mediation skills and attitudes, from which we derived a framework for measuring managerial mediation competency. In our second study, we developed scale items and used a quantitative survey to test the scale's psychometric qualities and to gain insight into the theoretical structure of managerial mediation competency. Our managerial mediation competency scale can be used in research questionnaires or organizational surveys as a training, research, and theory development tool.     

Les relations de collaboration entre le secteur public et les organismes communautaires du secteur jeunesse‐enfance‐famille : Entre la sous‐traitance et la coconstruction

Sommaire: L'État incite les établissements publics et les organismes communautaires à développer et à augmenter la fréquence de leurs relations interorganisationnelles. L'État veut ainsi favoriser une intégration des services permettant une meilleure réponse aux besoins sociaux de la population. Cette étude propose une typologie permettant d'analyser les modèles de relation qui se mettent en place entre ces deux groupes d'acteurs. La recherche s'est intéressée aux interfaces dans le secteur des services sociaux à l'enfance, à la jeunesse et aux familles québécoises. Au total, 111 gestionnaires ont répondu à un questionnaire leur permettant d'évaluer leurs rapports en fonction de quatre dimensions proposées par Coston pour situer les relations entre l'État et les organismes du tiers secteur. Le modèle de relation rapporté par les répondants est celui de la coexistence. Quoique le modèle de relation rapporté par les organismes communautaires et par les établissements publics soit le même, une analyse plus nuancée des résultats permet de constater que les organismes communautaires se perçoivent appartenir à un système plus socio‐étatique (dominé par les établissements de réseau) que les répondants des établissements publics. Abstract: The government encourages public institutions and community organizations to develop and increase the frequency of their inter‐organizational relationships. In doing so, the government seeks the integration of their services in order to meet the social needs of the population more effectively. This study aims to develop a typology for analysing patterns in the relationships being established between these two groups of stakeholders. The research focused on the interfaces in the social service sector for children, youth and families in Quebec. In total, 111 managers responded to a survey that enabled them to assess their relationships on the basis of four dimensions proposed by Coston for analysing relationships between the government and third‐sector organizations. The respondents identified “coexistence” as the most common type of relationships. Although the community organizations and the public institutions identified the same type of relationships, a more nuanced analysis of the survey results reveals that community organizations see themselves as part of a system that is more “socio‐governmental” in nature (i.e., dominated by the institutions in the network) rather than “public.”     

A database of mitochondrial DNA hypervariable regions I and II sequences of individuals from Slovakia

In order to identify polymorphic positions and to determine their frequencies and the frequency of haplotypes in the human mitochondrial control region, two hypervariable regions (HV1 and HV2) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 374 unrelated individuals from Slovakia were amplified and sequenced. Sequence comparison led to the identification of 284 mitochondrial lineages as defined by 163 variable sites. Genetic diversity (GD) was estimated at 0.997 and the probability of two randomly selected individuals from population having identical mtDNA types (random match probability, RMP) for the both regions is 0.60%.     

Sex Differences in Physical and Indirect Aggression: A Developmental Perspective

Males generally use aggression more often than females. However, the magnitude of difference between the sexes varies widely according to the type of aggression that is considered, and according to the developmental period studied. Taking a developmental perspective, this paper reviews research that compares the progression of physical aggression (predominantly used by males) with indirect aggression (predominantly used by females) among males and females. Existing empirical evidence indicates that most children cease to use physical aggression during the course of childhood, but that a minority fails to do so. This group is comprised of children with high, stable levels of PA and is mostly male. Overall, most children use low levels of IA, but there is one group that uses this type of aggression with increasing frequency. This group is mostly female. Importantly, the differences between the sexes are not stable over time. Rather, while the gap between males and females is present during preschool years, it widens considerably during childhood and preadolescence. A review of hypotheses based on evolution, biology and social learning provides critical insight into the origins and development of sex differences in aggression over the life course. We conclude by arguing that violence in males may be effectively reduced through early, sustained intervention with high-risk mothers.     

Hochwasserschutz zwischen Enteignungsentschädigung und Amtshaftung*

Der Hochwasserschutz bildet einen gleichermaßen tatsächlich herausfordernden wie rechtlich komplexen Schwerpunkt des geltenden Wasserrechts. Nicht von den genuin wasserwirtschaftsrechtlichen Aspekten zu trennen sind dabei Fragen nach etwaigen Kompensationsansprüchen. Im Folgenden sollen die Grundstrukturen der Haftung für Hochwasserschäden aufgezeigt werden, um eine erste Groborientierung für die rechtliche Bewertung im konkreten Einzelfall zu ermöglichen. *) Erweiterte Fassung eines Vortrags, gehalten am 22. 4. 2004 auf dem 9. Leipziger Umweltrechtssymposium Rechtliche Aspekte des vorbeugenden Hochwasserschutzes. Manuskriptstand: April 2004.