Suchergebnisse

We examine the influence of property tax delinquency on the sale price of nearby homes from 2002 to 2013 using more than 46,000 residential property sales in a representative midwestern central city—Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After controlling for a number of property and neighborhood characteristics including nearby foreclosures, we find property tax delinquency has a significant influence on nearby home sales. The relationship is negative; one additional tax delinquent property within 250 m of a home sale is associated with a discounted sale price of 0.79% or approximately $1,085 on average. In addition, the influence of tax delinquent properties on home sale prices diminishes with distance, suggesting blight is the source of the discount. Based on these findings, the negative influence of tax delinquency is likely to be exacerbated in central cities where housing density is greater and delinquency is higher and more persistent than the surrounding suburbs, which has the potential to lead to fiscal distress as property taxes are the primary revenue source for cities. As such, we suggest a two-tiered approach for cities to mitigate the negative consequences of tax delinquency: a combination of policies to eliminate delinquency and also to help homeowners become financially stable.

This article investigates how political institutions affect government–media relationships. Most studies of media-politics focus on majoritarian parliamentary or presidential systems and on how party systems affect journalism. This tends to neglect important issues that pertain in more constitutionally complex democracies, such as the consociational institutions in postconflict societies. Taking the Northern Irish context as a strategic case study, we analyze data from thirty-three semistructured interviews with the actors responsible for communicating political issues in Northern Ireland: political journalists and the two groups of government communicators, civil service Government Information Officers (GIOs) and Ministerial Special Advisers (SpAds). By examining their roles and relationships in this context, we demonstrate the importance of considering the institutional design of the democratic system itself when attempting to develop a more comprehensive and nuanced theory of media-politics. In Northern Ireland, the absence of an official political opposition in the legislature, together with the mandatory nature of the multiparty coalition, means that the media have come to be perceived by many political and media actors as the opposition. This in turn influences the interpersonal interactions between government and media, the way political actors try to "manage" the media, and the media's approach to reporting government.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether or not the strategy of pursuing a global brand identity by leading Asian firms will produce intended outcomes in consumer responses. For this purpose, the study empirically examines whether global Japanese brands (e.g. Toyota) are perceived as global or Japanese by consumers.


Design/methodology/approach
Surveys were conducted with Korean consumers for their evaluations of Japanese automobile brands with varying degrees of globalness. As for brands, the study divides Japanese brands into two groups – those with high brand globalness and those with low brand globalness – and to examine if Japanese-origin effects differ between these two groups.


Findings
In contrast to the hypothesis, global brands were found to be more subject to country-of-origin effects.


Research limitations/implications
The findings contribute to research on consumer choices and brand globalness by showing country-of-origin effects for global brands.


Practical implications
The findings suggest that even when Asian firms emphasize the globalness of their brands, they may still need to attend to country-of-origin effects.


Originality/value
This study examines an unexplored issue of country-of-origin effects for global brands.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of musical tempo on consumer choice of tea in different temperatures.


Design/methodology/approach
Across two studies, participants were asked to listen to several musical stimuli with different tempi (i.e. slow or fast). Then, they were asked to evaluate and choose one drink (i.e. iced tea or hot tea).


Findings
Results suggest that consumers who listen to fast (slow) tempo music are more likely to choose iced (hot) tea. This effect is robust across different musical modes (i.e. major or minor) (Study 1). However, this musical tempo effect is attenuated when the participants are aware that the music they listened to can influence their judgments (Study 2).


Research limitations/implications
This research is an exploratory study. Thus, further examinations are needed to fully understand the underlying mechanism of this effect. Nonetheless, this research provides an initial evidence of the mediator of this effect.


Originality/value
This research explores how different musical tempi can influence consumer choice of hot or iced tea. Thus, this research adds understanding on how auditory cues (e.g. musical stimuli) can influence consumer choice of other food and drink variables (e.g. temperature).

Despite a rapid rise in the public visibility of parents who are choosing to support their transgender and gender-diverse children in recent years, little is yet known about how these parents challenge the regulatory forces of hegemonic gender through their parenting. Based on semi-structured in-depth interviews, this article offers a comparative analysis of the ways that two groups of mothers—gender-expansive and gender-subversive—with differing ideological understandings of gender diversity resist the transmission of hegemonic schemas as they work to affirm their child's sense of self. Drawing on Ridgway's concept of gender as a primary frame, I identify a range of strategies used by each group and assess the potential for and limitations to advancing progressive gender ideology through trans-affirming mothering. While both groups contribute in powerful ways to trans-positive, gender-inclusive change, they do so through distinct parenting approaches that vary in their potential to undermine dominant gender ideology. While both groups of mothers resist the transmission of hegemonic gender beliefs in their parenting, the tactics and rhetoric used by gender-subversive mothers pose a more direct threat to the gender order than do those of gender-expansive mothers.

Scientism is an attempt to apply the methods and approach of the natural sciences to matters of human social and political concern. Scientism‐based discourse has been used to reframe the public debate about controversial science and technology into a risk assessment carried out by experts. The biotechnology industry has used a scientism‐based discourse to avoid regulation and labeling, claiming that the scientific makeup of their products is all that matters for governing regulatory policy, not their social, economic, or environmental impact. In this case study I examine the discourse used in support of and opposition to AquaAdvantage salmon, the first genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption. This case inspired an opposition coalition of consumer and environmental groups that led the FDA to organize a public meeting about its review of the fish. The analysis finds support for previous studies showing that regulatory debates over biotechnology in the United States are dominated by scientism, and that scientism generates public skepticism rather than confidence. In previous cases citizen groups were unable to challenge the authority of scientism‐based regulatory policy, but in this case the agency's decision not to require labeling was overruled by a congressional labeling mandate driven by citizen mobilization.

AbstractThis paper focuses on a little-known aspect of the first constitutional period in the Ottoman Empire: the introduction ofidare-i örfiyye(an equivalent of the state of siege) into the Ottoman legal system. With a name rooted in the Ottoman legal tradition and a definition clearly inspired by the nineteenth-century French "état de siège," theidare-i örfiyyewas a case of legal hybridization that combined the Ottoman political and legal tradition with transnational (or transimperial) legal circulation. This paper seeks to understand how and why different legal references were combined in order to make it possible, under exceptional circumstances, to suspend the ordinary legal order. At the same time, it analyzes the first application of theidare-i örfiyye, which occurred during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, to show how local and diplomatic reactions to this exceptional state of affairs were crucial for the further definition of the notion. Through a critical approach to legal texts and archival documents, the article discusses how various legal sources, the political context of the early Hamidian reign, and local experiences all shaped the notion ofidare-i örfiyye, soon transforming it into a tool of government for exceptional and (more frequently) non-exceptional times.

Purpose
Much has been written about the impact of emergency service work on personnel, but very little is known about the lives of personnel once they have retired. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences and assess the quality of life (QoL) of emergency service retirees (ESRs) and to ascertain the possible longer term effects of emergency service work.


Design/methodology/approach
A series of one-to-one interviews was conducted with ESRs (n=10). These were then transcribed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.


Findings
A number of key emergent themes and associated sub-themes were identified from the analysis including: retirement as a major life change; potential impact of working role and unique aspects of emergency service work; trauma; and health and ageing more generally. Overall, the findings highlight the unique experiences of ESRs and the potential longer term impact of emergency service work on QoL in retirement.


Originality/value
In an under-researched area, the findings point towards a need to improve the transition to retirement for ESRs and, in particular, to enhance available supports, information and guidance for retirees, both prior to and following retirement.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the predispositional hypothesis related to the "rescue personality" and the mental health of firefighter recruits.


Design/methodology/approach
This study compared responses to a written set of personality and mental health measures between firefighter recruits and non-rescue comparison participants – individually matched based on age, gender, ethnicity, and marital status. Data analysis involved statistical one-way between subjects analyses of variance complemented with epidemiological paired odds ratio calculations.


Findings
The results indicated that firefighter recruits self-reported as less open to experience, less neurotic, and less Type A. They also self-reported as less likely to report somatization, hostility, and posttraumatic stress symptomatology than comparison participants. Recruits were higher in extraversion and conscientiousness, but indicated no differences in perceptions of risk or sensation-seeking behaviour.


Originality/value
The present study contributes to the literature on firefighter recruits and provides some initial data regarding personality of those attracted to the fire services, as well as information about the mental health of firefighters prior to service. Mitchell's "rescue personality" was partly supported and evidence was provided suggesting that new recruits have strong self-perceived mental health.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how a performance measurement system (PMS) can be designed for a collaborative network and to identify which factors affect such a design.


Design/methodology/approach
This is a single-case study of a collaborative network. The data have been collected from semi-structured interviews conducted during 2008-2009 and after the design process in 2010 and 2012, respectively.


Findings
The research results present a five-step process model for designing a PMS for a collaborative network. The findings show that a participatory development style that enhances socialisation, the positive development of a network culture and an outside facilitator all have beneficial effects on the design process.


Practical implications
The practical contribution of this study is related to knowledge about the PMS design process for a collaborative network to support its measurement-related development projects. This knowledge involves the phases of such a process as well as the various factors supporting or hindering it.


Originality/value
The study presents a PMS design process for the case network, which can be utilised in other collaborative networks in a similar context. It also highlights the most essential practical experiences related to this process.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify motivational factors for using wearable healthcare devices and examine the process by which these factors are integrated with the technology acceptance model (TAM) and contribute to the adoption of the devices.


Design/methodology/approach
An online survey assessed the proposed motivational factors for the adoption of wearable healthcare devices. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted on collected data (n=877) to demonstrate the reliability and validity of the measurement and structural model.


Findings
Perceived control and interactivity of wearable healthcare devices as well as users' innovative tendencies are positively associated with usage intention, while perceived cost has no significant effects on user intention to use the devices. The results also supported the explanatory strength and predictability of TAM.


Originality/value
Although the promising role of wearable devices in healthcare industries has gained much consumer attention, limited empirical investigations have been conducted on explicating how user attitude and usage intention are shaped regarding the devices. This study serves as one of the first attempts to empirically examine the adoption process, with implications for the future usage of wearable technology in the healthcare context.

Historically, implementing nutrition policy has confronted persistent obstacles, with many of these obstacles arising from political economy sources. While there has been increased global policy attention to improving nutrition in recent years, the difficulty of translating this policy momentum into results remains.We present key political economy themes emanating from the political economy of nutrition literature. Together, these interrelated themes create a complex web of obstacles to moving nutrition policy forward. From these themes, we frame six political economy challenges facing the implementation of nutrition policy today. Building awareness of the broader political and economic issues that shape nutrition actions and adopting a more systematic approach to political economy analysis may help to mitigate these challenges.Improving nutrition will require managing the political economy challenges that persist in the nutrition field at global, national and subnational levels. We argue that a "mindshift" is required to build greater awareness of the broader political economy factors shaping the global nutrition landscape; and to embed systematic political economy analysis into the work of stakeholders navigating this field. This mindshift may help to improve the political feasibility of efforts to reform nutrition policy and implementation-and ensure that historical legacies do not continue to shape the future.

The frequency and severity of natural disasters has placed a clear emphasis on the role of governments in responding to these crises. During the past decade, disaster events have had a significant impact on the relevant communities as well as raising questions regarding the role of government and the bureaucratic coordination of planning and response processes. These events have placed a renewed focus on the ability of governments to plan, prepare, and respond in an effective way to crises. They have also tended to indicate that there remain serious challenges to government coordination and that crises create a unique series of challenges for the public sector. At the heart of understanding how governments respond to crises are notions of bureaucratic coordination. It has been suggested that joined‐up or whole of government arrangements may provide an appropriate means in which to approach crisis management. As a result a number of key themes emerge including the nature of crisis management, role of leadership, understanding coordination, impact of organisational culture, and the interactions between individuals and institutions. This paper will consider these issues and provide a review of the relevant literature, to understand the synergies that exist in connected responses to crises.

This paper proposes that in developing jurisprudence on women's rights, the African Commission will need to ask the woman question, particularly the African woman question. The woman question requires a judicial or quasi-judicial body to always put woman at the centre of any decision with a view to addressing the historically disadvantaged position of women in society. Asking the African woman question means examining how the peculiar experiences of African women have been ignored by laws rooted in patriarchy across the region. Although the Commission has handled few cases directly dealing with women's rights, the paper suggests that the Commission can draw inspiration from decisions of other regional and international human rights bodies such as the European Court on Human Rights and the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) on how to ask the woman question. The paper recommends that in line with feminist reasoning, there is a need for the African Commission to develop a consistent gender-sensitive approach in dealing with cases that may have implications for women. In essence, the African Commission must ask the African woman question when dealing with cases on the enjoyment of women's fundamental rights.

Given the high symptom burden and low survivability of lung cancer, patients and their spouses have been found to experience poor mental health. The current study examined the roles of dyadic appraisal and dyadic coping on the mental health of 78 couples living with non-small cell lung cancer. Multilevel modeling revealed that spouses, on average, reported significantly worse mental health than patients. Dyadic appraisal and dyadic coping played important roles in predicting mental health, controlling for known developmental and contextual covariates. Dyadic appraisal of the patient's pain and fatigue was significantly associated with spouse mental health, albeit in opposite directions. Dyadic coping significantly predicted patient mental health. The study underlines the need to incorporate routine screening of both patient and spouse mental health, and highlights the complex role of appraisal within the couple in a life-threatening context. Viewing the couple as a unit, rather than separate individuals, raises important awareness about the role of disparate illness appraisals and coping strategies within the dyad on the health of both members. Nurses are particularly well situated to engage in a collaborative family-focused approach to the couple with cancer that promotes communication and health.