Informal sanctions and conditional cooperation: : A natural experiment on voluntary contributions to a public good.

In a natural experiment, this paper studies the impact of an informal sanctioning mechanism on individuals’ voluntary contribution to a public good. Cross-country skiers’ actual cash contributions in two ski resorts, one with and one without an informal sanctioning system, are used. I find the contributing share to be higher in the informal sanctioning system (79 percent) than in the non-sanctioning system (36 percent). Previous studies in one-shot public good situations have found an increasing conditional contribution (CC) function, i.e. the relationship between expected average contributions of other group members and the individual’s own contribution. In contrast, the present results suggest that the CC-function in the non-sanctioning system is non-increasing at high perceived levels of others’ contribution. This relationship deserves further testing in lab.

Att bli, att vara och att ha varit - om ingångar i och utgångar ur Jehovas vittnen i Sverige

Summary To become, to be and to have been: about the  Jehovah’s Witnesses The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, in the following text referred to as the Jehovah’s Witnesses or “the organisation”, is a worldwide Christian organisation with about 6.7 million members. The organisation has many times, without any success so far, proclaimed Armageddon when they expect Jehovah to return to Earth. They interpret the Bible in their own, often very literal way, and require their members to live according to these interpretations. Among the consequences of this, members are forbidden to vote, to do military service or to receive blood transfusions. Apart from attending the three weekly meetings, members are expected to be active in missionary work, known as “publishing”. If a member fails to do a certain number of hours’ publishing, he or she risks being deprived of active membership status Sweden in general is considered to be a society where the population is not very religious. The formerly state-governed Lutheran church has lost its influence and the vast majority of ordinary Swedes do not visit church on other occasions than weddings, funerals or christenings. Expressing one’s own religious values has become somewhat of a private matter where publicity is seldom appreciated, which is contrary to the practice of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This is one of the reasons why the Jehovah’s Witnesses are commonly perceived by average Swedes as a “suspicious” religious organisation. The aim and methods of the study This dissertation seeks to describe and investigate the entering and leaving of a highly structured and hierarchical religious community, exemplified in this case by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. What are the thoughts and aspirations of someone who is considering becoming a Jehovah’s Witness? What are the priorities and what experiences seem important when a person is going through such a process? And when this person has finally reached his or her goal of becoming a member, is it the same motivation that makes him or her stay in the organisation for longer periods of time, possibly for the rest of their lives, or does it change during the process of entering, or does this motivation change its character during the transition from entering to being a regular member? Why do some of the members change their attitude to the Jehovah’s Witnesses from rejoicing to bitterness? And how does this process of exit manifest itself? In what way is it different from the process of entry? The respondents in this study were chosen from both active members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Sweden and those who have left the organisation for personal reasons. Repeated interviews with ten active members of the organisation have been conducted in the course of the study and compared to equal numbers of former members. The interviews have been semi-structured to deal with questions of how a person has come into contact with the organisation; how they retrospectively experienced the process of entry; the reasons for becoming a member. Questions have also been asked about life in the organisation. The group of “exiters” have also been asked about the experience of leaving, why they wanted to leave, and how this process was started and carried out. In addition to this I have analysed a four-year diary describing the time inside and the process of leaving the organisation. This has given me an extra psychological insight into the inner experience of someone who has gone through the whole process. The analysis has been done by categorising the content of the transcribed interviews. An attempt to outline a model of an entry and exit process has been made, based on ideas and interpretations presented in the interviews. The analysis of the diary has involved thorough reading, resulting in a division of it into four different parts, where each part has been given a certain key-word, signifying the author’s emotional state when writing it. A great deal of the information about the Jehovah’s Witnesses has been collected through discussion boards on the Internet, informal talks with members and ex-members, interviews with representatives of the organisations during visits to its different offices (Bethels), such as St. Petersburg, Russia, and Brooklyn, New York, USA. The context Each organisation evolves in its own context with its own norms, roles and stories that would not survive outside it. With this as a starting point, there is a chapter dedicated to the description of the organisation’s history, structure and activities. It has been stated that the organisation’s treatment of its critical members and the strategies for recruiting new members have evolved over the years of its history. At the beginning there was an openness allowing members to be critical. As the structure of the organisation has become more rigid and formalised, the treatment of internal critics has become much less tolerated and exclusion has become a frequent option. As a rule many new members have been attracted to the organisation when (1) the day of Armageddon has been pronounced to be approaching; (2) the members of the organisation have been persecuted or threatened with persecution; and (3) the organisation has discovered a “new market”. The processes for entering and exiting How the entering processes manifest themselves depends on whether the person has been brought up in the organisation or not. A person converting as an adult has to pass six phases before being considered a Jehovah’s Witness by the organisation. These are:  Contact with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Studying the bible with members of the organisation, Questioning, Accepting, Being active as publisher (spreading the belief), Being baptised.  For a person brought up in the organisation, the process to full membership is much shorter:   Upbringing in the organisation, Taking a stand on the belief, Being baptised. The exit process contains of seven phases:   Different levels of doubts, Testing of doubts, Turning points, Different kinds of decisions, Different steps in executing the decisions, Floating, a period of emotional and cognitive consideration of membership and its experiences, Realtive neutrality.   The process in and the process out are both slow and are accompanied with anguish and doubts. When a person is going through the process in or out of the organisation he or she experiences criticism. This is when people around the adept question the decision to continue in the process. The result of the criticism depends on where in the process the person is. If he or she is at the beginning of the process, the criticism will probably make the person insecure and the process will slow down or stop. If the criticism is pronounced in a later phase, the process will probably speed up. The norms of the organisation affect the behaviour of the members. There are techniques for inclusion that both bind members to the organisation and shield them off from the surrounding society. Examples of techniques for inclusion are the “work situation” and “closed doors”. The work situation signifies that members who do as the organisation recommends – doing simple work – often end up in the same branch of industry as many other Jehovah’s Witnesses. This often means that the person has other witnesses as workmates. If the person is unemployed or moves to another town it is easy to find a new job through connections in the organisation. Doubts and exclusions can lead to problems since they entail a risk of losing one’s job. This can also result in problems getting a new job. Jehovah’s Witnesses are not supposed to talk to excluded members, which of course mean difficulties working together. “Closed doors” means that members who do as the organisation recommends – not pursuing higher education, not engaging in civil society, working with a manual or in other way simple job, putting much time into the organisation – will, after a long life in the organisation, have problems starting a new life outside the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The language used in the organisation shows the community among the members, thus the language is one of the most important symbols. A special way of thinking is created through the language. It binds members to the organisation and sometimes it can work as a way to get back into the normative world of the organisation. Randall Collins’s (1990, 2004) thoughts about “emotional energy” have enabled an understanding of the solidarity and unity in the organisation. This also gives an understanding of the way the members treat doubting and critical members. The members who want to exit have to open up the binding/screening off. A possible way to do that is through language, to become aware of the effect the language might have. Another way is to search for emotional energy in another situation. During the exit process, shame might be of some importance. When members become aware of the shame they feel, because they perceive they are “acting a belief”, the exit process might accelerate.

Capability outcomes from educational and ICT capability inputs : an analysis of ICT use in informal education in Kenya

In the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) ICT use in education is well studied. Education is often seen as a pre-requisite for development and ICTs are believed to aid in education, e.g. to make it more accessible and to increase its quality. In this paper we study the access and use of ICT in a study circle (SC) education program in the south coast of Kenya. The study is qualitative reporting results based on interviews and observations with SC participants, government officers and SC coordinators and teachers. The study builds on the capability approach perspective of development where individuals’ opportunities and ability to live a life that they value are focused. The aim of the study is to investigate the capability outcomes enabled through the capability inputs access and use of ICT in education as well as the factors that enabled and/or restricted the outcomes. Findings show that many opportunities have been enabled such as an increase in the ability to generate an income, learning benefits, community development and basic human development (e.g. literacy and self-confidence). However, conversion factors such as a poorly developed infrastructure and poor IT literacy prevent many of the individuals from taking full advantage of the ICT and the opportunities it enables. 

Life situations and the care burden for stroke pa­tients and their informal caregivers in a prospective cohort study

Background. The purpose of this study was to analyse whether the parallel life situation between stroke patients and their informal caregivers (dyads) shown in cross-sectional studies prevails also in a longitudinal perspective. Methods. A total of 377 Swedish stroke patients, aged ‡65 years, and their 268 informal caregivers were followed from hospital admission and one year on. Analyses were based on patient interviews, functional ability (MMSE) score, Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) score, Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) score, self-rated health score, and the Gothenburg Quality of Life (GQL) activity score. Similar information was obtained by postal questionnaires from informal caregivers, also including information on the nature and amount of assistance provided and on Caregiver Burden (CB) score. Results. Before index admission informal caregivers provided care on average 5 h per week and after discharge 11 h per week (P < 0.0001). Support volume was associated with patient sex (more for men), low patient’s functional ability, low received municipal social service support, closeness of patient–caregiver relation, and short distance to patient’s home. Significant positive associations within the dyads were found for HAD anxiety score (P < 0.0001), total NHP score (P < 0.0001), and GQL activity score (P < 0.0001) after adjustment for patient’s age, sex, functional ability, and patient–caregiver relationship. CB score increased with amount of informal caregiver support, patient’s age, and with low functional ability and low amount of municipal social service support. All these associations were constant across time. Conclusions. There was an association within the dyads regarding anxiety score, NHP score, and activity score. CB score was generally high.

Non-monotone insurance contracts and their empirical consequences

The goal of this paper is to show the possibility of a non-monotone relation between coverage ans risk which has been considered in the literature of insurance models since the work of Rothschild and Stiglitz (1976). We present an insurance model where the insured agents have heterogeneity in risk aversion and in lenience (a prevention cost parameter). Risk aversion is described by a continuous parameter which is correlated with lenience and for the sake of simplicity, we assume perfect correlation. In the case of positive correlation, the more risk averse agent has higher cosr of prevention leading to a higher demand for coverage. Equivalently, the single crossing property (SCP) is valid and iplies a positive correlation between overage and risk in equilibrium. On the other hand, if the correlation between risk aversion and lenience is negative, not only may the SCP be broken, but also the monotonocity of contracts, i.e., the prediction that high (low) risk averse types choose full (partial) insurance. In both cases riskiness is monotonic in risk aversion, but in the last case there are some coverage levels associated with two different risks (low and high), which implies that the ex-ante (with respect to the risk aversion distribution) correlation between coverage and riskiness may have every sign (even though the ex-post correlation is always positive). Moreover, using another instrument (a proxy for riskiness), we give a testable implication to desentangle single crossing ans non single croosing under an ex-post zero correlation result: the monotonicity of coverage as a function os riskiness. Since by controlling for risk aversion (no asymmetric information), coverage is monotone function of riskiness, this also fives a test for asymmetric information. Finally, we relate this theoretical results to empirical tests in the recent literature, specially the Dionne, Gouruéroux and Vanasse (2001) work. In particular, they found an empirical evidence that seems to be compatible with asymmetric information and non single crossing in our framework. More generally, we build a hidden information model showing how omitted variables (asymmetric information) can bias the sign of the correlation of equilibrium variables conditioning on all observable variables. We show that this may be the case when the omitted variables have a non-monotonic relation with the observable ones. Moreover, because this non-dimensional does not capture this deature. Hence, our main results is to point out the importance of the SPC in testing predictions of the hidden information models.

Setor informal e gênero: uma discussão conceitual e o caso da região metropolitana de São Paulo

A questão da mulher e o trabalho tem sido analisada sob diferentes perspectivas, que, por sua vez, têm sido bastante criticadas por simplificarem a questão. Este trabalho propõe que a questão da mulher e sua situação no trabalho, em particular no trabalho considerado precário, seja examinada sob a perspectiva de gênero. Esta oferece uma possibilidade analítica que permite um exame mais profundo das condições e diferenças entre mulheres e homens na esfera do trabalho.

Políticas sociais e democratização: o caso da educação informal da criança e do adolescente nas quatro últimas gestões em Curitiba

Este estudo sobre a contribuição das políticas SOClaIS para o processo de democratização do Estado em sua relação com a Sociedade, pretende demonstrar a importância da instituição e evolução de mecanismos institucionais nas políticas da área da educação informal da infância e da adolescência, para que elas possam caracterizar-se como políticas sociais de cunho emancipatório e, assim, contribuir para a construção de um espaço social politizado. Intencionamos a análise dos mecanismos que tenham sido institucionalizados na cidade de Curitiba durante o período de 1983 a 1996, a fim de verificarmos o grau de democratização destas políticas. Para a realização deste estudo, desenvolvemos uma metodologia baseando-nos em nossa prática na área estudada, no objetivo de nossa pesquisa e em bibliografia que fundamenta a diferenciação entre políticas sociais e políticas assistenciais. Examinamos o processo de instituição de mecanismos institucionais durante as quatro diferentes gestões que comportam o período investigado, verificando as continuidades e descontinuidades existentes, os fatores intervenientes e o grau de participação e autonomia dos diversos sujeitos - crianças e adolescentes, seua pais, funcionários responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento das políticas, comunidade e entidades organizadas. A conclusão que esta pesquisa nos permite é a de que as políticas as políticas assistenciais somente conseguem alçar ao patamar de políticas sociais se mecanismos institucionais forem instituídos, tanto ao nível do Estado como também em sua relação com a Sociedade, isto é, se procedimentos políticos de participação e controle por parte da população forem institucionalizados.

Mercado de trabalho, economia informal e políticas públicas : Brasil-anos 90 : um estudo de caso

Este trabalho tem por finalidade apresentar um resumo sobre a problemática da economia informal e as políticas para a geração de emprego no Brasil, nos anos 90. Como o governo, por meio de políticas públicas de desenvolvimento econômico, pode minimizar o problema do desemprego, assim, reduzindo a parcela de pessoas que trabalham no setor informal: caracterizar o mercado de trabalho; descrever o mercado informal brasileiro, relacionar e discutir possíveis soluções, particularmente, pelas políticas públicas. O universo da pesquisa passa pelo setor informal da economia, sua definição e seu comportamento, sua viabilidade e a posição do governo em relação à situação. A metodologia na análise do estudo de caso – mercado informal no Brasil nos anos 90 – enquadra-se em uma análise descritiva e exploratória, e quanto aos meios é considerada uma pesquisa bibliográfica. Este trabalho tem, também, por objetivo apresentar algumas políticas que influenciam o setor informal da economia, apresentando quais são elas e abrindo uma discussão sobre o assunto, suas vantagens e desvantagens, bem como quais as mudanças necessárias para uma melhor eficácia. O resultado obtido foi um levantamento do mercado de trabalho no Brasil nos anos 90, sua composição, a situação desse mercado e as políticas empregadas pelo governo durante o período para resolver o problema do desemprego e da informalidade. Na conclusão, sugerem-se possíveis soluções para o mercado de trabalho informal no Brasil.

Do formal para o informal: executivos em trabalhos flexíveis

Quando observamos o mundo do trabalho atual, percebemos que, há um movimento em direção à maior flexibilidade, tanto em relação aos empregados formais quanto aos trabalhadores que passam a atuar por meio de formas flexíveis de contrato de trabalho. O contrato de emprego flexível refere-se àquele que não segue o modelo formal de contrato de trabalho, regido por CLT (Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho), e, vem sendo estudado ultimamente como um resultado das mudanças na organização do trabalho, em geral, associado à busca por trabalhadores mais produtivos e de menor custo. Devido à amplitude dos fenômenos envolvidos nestas transformações, delimitamos o tema e o público a ser estudado: adotando a idéia de construção social da realidade, de Berger e Luckmann (1966/2002), analisamos os processos de “migração” de 30 executivos, residentes no município de São Paulo, ex-empregados de grandes corporações, que tiveram experiências em cargos de gerência média e alta em organizações nacionais e multinacionais, e, que atualmente, trabalham no mercado sob regime de contratos flexíveis. Para nosso estudo, entendemos os executivos como trabalhadores formais que ocupam posições de alta e média gerência na hierarquia organizacional e detêm posições de poder e prestígio. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo é descrever o sentido atribuído por executivos, ao processo de “migração” para formas mais flexíveis de trabalho e à nova realidade vivida no trabalho. A pesquisa segue uma abordagem qualitativa, utilizando-se de entrevista em profundidade semi-estruturada, para a coleta de dados; para a análise das entrevistas realizadas, usamos, como base, as idéias de práticas discursivas e produção de sentidos, de Spink e Medrado (1999/2004). A abordagem construcionista permitiu verificar que os executivos em trabalhos flexíveis possuem alto nível de autoconfiança, uma visão missionária sobre o seu trabalho, e diversos motivos diferentes para a “migração”. Por meio de seus relatos, pode-se observar as estratégias para a sobrevivência e obtenção de sucesso como um trabalhador flexível; a percepções dos entrevistados sobre o mercado brasileiro; a mudança de relacionamento com os clientes, a família e a rede de contatos. Apesar dos problemas enfrentados para se estabilizar, a maioria demonstra a vontade de permanecer no trabalho flexível, contrariando grande número de estudo que enxergam a flexibilização de contratos de trabalho como precarização para os trabalhadores. Para os executivos em regime flexível, a vida como trabalhador CLT parece fazer parte do passado: agora, eles precisam se mostrar competentes a qualquer custo, planejar-se para as “entressafras”, buscar melhorar a rede de contatos, aumentar o conhecimento e passar um tempo com a sua família. Os motivos de permanência são diversos, mas possuem um ponto de conversão: a sensação de deter o domínio sobre a sua vida, seu tempo, seu dinheiro, seu conhecimento, seu futuro. Talvez, o cotidiano apresente muitas situações de submissão à vontade do cliente e de dedicação maior do que na época de empregado formal; mas, na “realidade cotidiana”, a sensação é de ser o “dono” da sua vida.

Micro evidence on brazilian price stickiness and its consequences for sectoral real exchange rate and inflation persistence

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the price-setting behavior in Brazil and, in particular, the effects on inflation and good-level real exchange rate persistence. This thesis is composed by three Chapters. In the first Chapter, we present the main stylized facts about the behavior of retail prices in Brazil using micro data from the CPI index computed by the Fundação Getulio Vargas. Moreover we construct time series of price-setting statistics and relate them to macroeconomic variables using regression analyses. In Chapter 2, we investigated the relevance of heterogeneity in countries price stickiness on good-level real exchange rate persistence, considering a newly constructed panel data set of relative prices of 115 common products between the U.S. and Brazil. Chapter 3 is devoted to the relation between sectoral price stickiness and inflation persistence.

Informal wages in an economy with active labor courts

In most developing countries, job regulations and the justice branch interfere on several aspects of labor contracts. Inspired by this fact, we build a model that explores the role of labor courts in the determination of the di¤erence between formal and informal wages. We show that the presence of active labor courts in an environment where labor relations are subject to asymmetries of information reproduces features documented by the empirical literature. The main implications of our model are tested using Brazilian data.

O trabalho informal : o estudo dos camelôs de Porto Alegre

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Direito informal e regras sociais: um estudo do mercado popular Uruguaiana

O presente trabalho objetiva promover um estudo das regras sociais que compõem o MPU. A partir da idéia da existência de uma ordem jurídica Inoficial, coexistente com o direito positivo, torna-se possível pensar a questão da informalidade de modo diferente. Para o desenvolvimento desta proposta foi promovida uma análise conceitual da informalidade voltada para um estudo teórico do Pluralismo Jurídico, visando uma abordagem qualitativa das regras presentes no seio do MPU. Assim, torna-se crível confirmar a existência do que chamo de Direito Popular Uruguaiana, de modo a vislumbrar novas formas de tratamento da questão da informalidade.