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In this paper, the authors describe an approach to evaluating large-scale initiatives that span multiple project sites and respond to multiple evaluation needs at the project and program levels. Known as 'cluster evaluation' by those working with and for the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, a private philanthropic institution in the US, this approach encounters problems and offers solutions that are similar to other 'devolved' evaluation strategies for dispersed programs in the UK and several other European countries. This paper positions cluster evaluation in the literature and practice of evaluation by (I) describing cluster evaluation's key features, (2) relating it to core concepts in the evaluation field, (3) distinguishing it from other forms of multi-site evaluation, and (4) outlining a number of conceptual challenges that need to be resolved for the approach to achieve broader applicability and success.

This paper analyzes the distribution of earnings as being generated by workers choosing among occupations on the basis of earnings maximization. A worker's earnings then have characteristics of an order statistic. The extension to multiple occupations leads to the revision results from A.D. Roy's two-occupation case. An additional occupation raises expected earnings while in general reducing earnings inequality. Asymptotic results from order statistics suggest that the process of occupational choice determines a limiting distribution of earnings independently of underlying distributions of occupational abilities.

Two new probability density functions (generalized beta and quadratic elasticity) are considered as models for the size distribution of income. The generalized beta distribution nests the generalized beta of the first and second kind, generalized gamma, lognormal and Pareto as well as introducing a number of new distributions to the literature. The quadratic elasticity distribution provides another generalization of the gamma distribution. The beta, gamma and lognormal distributions have been widely used in the income distribution literature. These distributions and many of their special cases are fit into five sets of US family income data for 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, and 1990. This permits a comparison of the relative fit of several distributions over time.

Since Pareto specified in 1895 his Type I model, scores of income distribution models have been proposed. In this study, almost all of these models are organized in three generating systems. The foundations of these system specifications and the basic properties that probability distribution functions should fulfill to be entertained as income distribution models are presented and analyzed. Their main scope is to guide the researchers to the choice of an appropriate and robust model to describe observed income distributions in different epochs and countries with different state of socioeconomic development, and according to several socioeconomic attributes of the observed populations.

Drawing on and extending the theory of human capital, a comprehensive life-cycle model of individual earnings is designed. The approach taken permits an isolated analysis of three interconnected levels of aggregation (intra-cohort distribution, overall distribution, and lifetime distribution) within the same dynamic microeconomic model of educational choice. In this way, interrelated economic, demographic, and fiscal effects on earning inequality are established. The paper reveals that reallocation reaction of optimizing individuals, combined with population heterogeneity by productive endowments, learning abilities and working age, can destroy simple relationships between the standard of living, current earnings inequality, and public distributional policy.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the latent component in the distribution of earnings. The distribution of earnings can be deconvoluted into a latent and an observable component. The observed component is generated by those measurable characteristics of the individual that are interpreted as indicators of productivity. The latent component is generated by misinformation, discrimination and ignorance on the part of the employer. In this paper we employ the distribution of the residuals of a series of Mincer type equations as the proxy for the distribution of the latent component in earnings. By using various specifications and by computing distributions across occupations we are able to remove the confounding influence of potential specification bias. The residuals are examined using the Bera-Jargue test for normality and Elderton's Kappa criterion. The results are reported for 34 occupations using the 1990 CPS data.

A model of the distribution of income is derived from a two market general equilibrium model consisting of a goods market and a labor market. The dynamics of income distributional changes as well as their stationary counterparts are also derived.

A simple theory of the labor market is presented in which the short end of the market sells. A flexible parameterisation of the theory yields an earnings distribution density function which is closely approximated by the well-known beta and gamma specifications. Apart from providing a theoretical rationale for these tractable and closefitting specifications, the theory suggests that the parameters of the beta distribution (this distribution encompassing the gamma as a special case) can be interpreted in terms of the structure of labor markets. This has implications for why earnings distributions take their commonly observed positive skew, as well as for wider issues including the relationship between employment and equality.

In the following pages I will give an account on how the Norwegian Red Cross reacted to the tragic killing of six ICRC delegates in Chechnya in December 1996. Then was the time for action; now is the time for reflection.For the Movement as a whole it is vital that we now focus on the security issue as it affects our Red Cross/Red Crescent workers. At the same time, we must never let evil acts like this paralyse our ability to operate in conflict areas.

The Review continues to report on questions raised by the tragedy of Novye Atagi, Chechnya, where six Red Cross staff were killed while working at a Red Cross hospital. The March–April 1997 issue described what actually happened and outlined the initial conclusions drawn by the ICRC and their implications for the conduct of its operations. In the present issue, the President of the Norwegian Red Cross, Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, focuses on how a National Society which lost two of its members in the tragedy handled the situation, and what lessons have been learned for the future. In the second contribution, Dr Barthold Bierens de Haan gives a detailed account of the way the ICRC helps its delegates in the field to handle stressful situations, which can arise in any circumstances.