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In the literature on the relationship between class of origin and educational attainment, the typical conclusion is that class inequality was stable over the last century, and the attempts at egalitarian reform thus proven ineffective. The conclusion turns out to depend on the choice of statistical measure, in this case loglinear measures of association. Also linear measures of association give similar results. If instead, measures of inequality are used, the contrasting conclusion of a strong reduction in the class bias in recruitment to higher education emerges.

As the provision of higher education has increased over time, the trends in the results of these three measures differ. It is argued that it is measures of inequality that capture inequality in the allocation of higher education or bias in the allocation mechanisms. The argument in favor of using loglinear measures has been the special property of “margin insensitivity” attributed to them. It has also been suggested that they capture bias in the allocation mechanism, which may develop in a way different from the trend in the inequality of the allocation outcome. It is argued that neither claim is tenable.

This article analyzes two of the determinants of the effectiveness of the mediation process, namely the impact of different mediators and mediation behavior on mediation outcomes in international relations. We review the literature and consider this relationship in terms of specific hypotheses concerning (1) the identity of a mediator, (2) previous interactions with the parties, (3) previous mediation attempts, and (4) the nature of mediation strategy. An original data set of 97 international disputes and 364 mediation attempts in the post‐1945 period is utilized to test our hypotheses. Multivariate analysis suggests the significance of high mediator rank, directive strategy, and close political alignment in achieving successful outcomes. We use these results to posit and test a series of causal models of mediation.

Baltagi and Li (2001) derived Lagrangian multiplier tests to jointly test for functional form and spatial error correlation. This companion paper derives Lagrangian multiplier tests to jointly test for functional form and spatial lag dependence. In particular, this paper tests for linear or log-linear models with no spatial lag dependence against a more general Box-Cox model with spatial lag dependence. Conditional LM tests are also derived which test for (i) zero spatial lag dependence conditional on an unknown Box-Cox functional form, as well as, (ii) linear or log-linear functional form given spatial lag dependence. In addition, modified Rao-Score tests are also derived that guard against local misspecification. The performance of these tests are investigated using Monte Carlo experiments.

It is widely believed that the construction industry is more volatile than other sectors of the economy. Accurate predictions of the level of aggregate demand for construction are of vital importance to all sectors of this industry (e.g. developers, builders and consultants). Empirical studies have shown that accuracy performance varies according to the type of forecasting technique and the variable to be forecast. Hence, there is a need to gain useful insights into how different techniques perform, in terms of accuracy, in the prediction of demand for construction. In Singapore, the residential sector has often been regarded as one of the most important owing to its large percentage share in the total value of construction contracts awarded per year. In view of this, there is an increasing need to objectively identify a forecasting technique which can produce accurate demand forecasts for this vital sector of the economy. The three techniques examined in the present study are the univariate Box‐Jenkins approach, the multiple loglinear regression and artificial neural networks. A comparison of the accuracy of the demand models developed shows that the artificial neural network model performs best overall. The univariate Box‐Jenkins model is the next best, while the multiple loglinear regression model is the least accurate. Relative measures of forecasting accuracy dealing with percentage errors are used to compare the forecasting accuracy of the three different techniques.

The effects of reductions in Canadian tariffs on imports from thirty non‐OPEC Third World countries are estimated using quarterly data for the period 1972–79. Estimates of total trade expansion, trade diversion and trade creation are obtained using linear and a log‐linear specification. The results imply that the trade diversion effect is in general and for most commodity groups larger than the trade creation effect.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency of individual branches of a large Greek bank through the application of both goal programming (GP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA).

The paper employs a particular least absolute deviations (LAD) technique (i.e. a special case of GP/constrained regression) and DEA as two performance measurement methods. The performance evaluation by means of GP is assessed utilizing two alternative conceptual (parametric functional form‐loglinear) models: one focusing on transaction and one on production efficiency. The DEA assessment using the transaction efficiency model is performed under the specifications of constant or variable returns to scale.

The two methods do provide confirmation of each other's findings. The results support the main claim that there is a strong relationship between the rankings obtained by GP and DEA. Moreover, the GP results indicate that there is a relationship between bank branch transaction and production efficiency.

The results may be of interest to stakeholder groups such as bank shareholders, managers, and regulatory authorities.

The paper is believed to be the first to examine the application of GP and DEA to measure the efficient use of resources of bank branches in Greece in terms of location (urban‐rural).

Considers the concept of the “listening” organisation and its influence on service and business performance. Specifically reports on empirical research which investigated the link between service quality information practices, the listening organisation and service and business performance. In this respect, builds on an earlier model of service management developed by the London Business School and Warwick Business School in the UK. This extended model employs two composite performance indexes as moderator variables. Surveyed 438 service organisations in the Republic of Ireland; the loglinear model used to analyse the data shows a clear pattern. By taking listening practices, including information technology, as a holistic view of a constellation of information‐related practice type factors, demonstrates that there is a close relationship with service performance, which in turn influences business performance. Furthermore, technology type and competitive intensity, moderate this relationship. Establishes that the relationship between listening practices and service performance is much more important for the sophisticated task technology sector and that competitive intensity has a very minor interactive effect on the relationship. The results of the survey mirror recent empirical research in market orientation and organisational learning.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine how college students define the concept of leadership and to identify gender, racial, and age differences within these definitions. Participants were 1100 undergraduate students drawn from a national sample. Participants were asked to detail their definitions of leadership, which were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The definitional themes served as dependent variables in determining differences by gender, race, and age. Ten leadership themes describing the relationship between the leader and followers, leader characteristics, and leadership outcomes were identified, and the frequency of themes reflected fairly hierarchical perceptions of leadership. Findings by gender, race, and age emerged for nine of the ten themes. More contemporary understandings of leadership were demonstrated by women than by men, and the interaction of gender and age for three themes suggested more contemporary understandings of leadership for traditionally-aged students than non-traditionally aged students.

We study the spatial diffusion of stock backdating, an instance of corporate misconduct about which public information was virtually absent until 2005. Contrary to the findings of Bizjack, Lemmon, and Whitby (2009), our results reveal that this “invisible” practice did not diffuse through board interlocks. Rather, stock backdating spread through geographic proximity: firms were more likely to backdate stock options to the extent that other firms located geographically close to them had done so. Lending support to the importance of localized interactions among members of the local business elite, the effect of geographical proximity was conditional on high levels of local board interlocks. Our findings regarding the differential impact of geographic proximity and board interlocks on the diffusion of this invisible practice are analogous to the diffusion pattern of controversial practices proposed by Davis and Greve (1997).

As moderators of the health campaign process, involvement is divided into enduring and situational involvement. Based on the review of interdisciplinary literatures, a new health campaign model and optimal strategies are proposed. The new model has two dimensions (enduring and situational involvement) and four strategies: an affect‐evoking, an information‐oriented, a cue‐emphasizing, and a balanced‐argument strategy. For the empirical research, a 262 experiment with 143 undergraduate students using four different advertisements was conducted. Generally, the moderating effects of both enduring and situational involvement were supported. Regardless of some deviations from the proposed model, optimal strategies fit into the designated involvement level. Public relations practitioners will be able to choose the optimal message strategy after identifying the characteristic of targeted publics for health‐related campaigns.