What do policy makers really do?

an article by Richard Freeman published by Transforming Society

What do policy makers do? The question is important, because making policy engages a great number of people one way or another, and what they do they might do well or badly. Our standard answers are rather hazy, not least because policy making entails such great numbers of people doing a great number of things.

The literature tends to have addressed the question in functional terms, outlining and defining – and endlessly debating – different sets of activities such as advocacy and agenda-setting, formulating and decision making, implementing and evaluating.

But what if we were to begin somewhere else, to explore policy as a set of human actions, as a form of work, as real-time, practical and physical ‘doings and sayings‘? What do policy makers really do? What does their work entail?

The answer is surprisingly simple:

‘The two things that civil servants do is write papers and have meetings. Because that’s what we do. From that, things happen. Extraordinary though it might seem’ (quote from a senior civil servant)

‘When someone asks me what I do at work … I read, write and have meetings, that’s what I do’ (quote from a policy manager)

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Please note that the link to the article in “Policy & Politics” only takes you to the abstract – a lot less information than in the Transforming Society article.

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On a combined theory of pay level satisfaction

an article by Yong Heng (Angus) Yao (University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada), Edwin A. Locke (University of Maryland, USA) and Muhammad Jamal (Concordia University, Montreal, Canada) published in Journal of Organizational Behavior Volume 39 Issue 4 (May 2018)

Summary
For decades, research on pay level satisfaction has focused on two theories and one approach: the direct link theory, the discrepancy theory, and the no‐difference‐scores approach. However, there are still unsolved puzzles facing pay level satisfaction research.

We develop a combined theory to consider the impact of the interaction of reported pay and pay discrepancy. With this newly developed theory, we expect that:

1. both reported pay and pay discrepancy have main effects on pay level satisfaction;
2. reported pay and pay discrepancy also interact with each other, in that the effect of pay discrepancy on pay level satisfaction decreases as pay level increases;
3. equitable payment is more related to pay level dissatisfaction when pay level is low; and
4. overpayment in general is related to pay level satisfaction, not dissatisfaction.

An empirical study (N = 481) using four types of comparison standards was conducted, and the results supported our predictions. The findings of our study have important implications for both academic research and management practice.

Full text (PDF 14pp)

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The identity curation game: digital inequality, identity work, and emotion management

an article by Laura Robinson (Santa Clara University, USA) published in Information, Communication & Society Volume 21 Issue 5 (May 2018)

Abstract

The research examines an understudied facet of digital inequality: how digital inequality impacts identity work and emotion management.

The analysis reveals how unequal access to digital resources shapes how well youths are able to play what I call the identity curation game.

Digital resources determine youths’ ability to succeed in this game that is governed by three implicit rules:

1. constantly update or be sidelined,
2. engage in constant reciprocated identity-affirming interactions, and
3. maintain a strategy of vigilance to remove traces of failed identity performances.

This article draws on Symbolic Interactionism and pays particular attention to Hochschild’s theory of emotion management.

Drawing on these frameworks, the findings reveal how under-resourced youths experience connectivity gaps that disrupt their ability to play the identity curation game, as well as the resulting emotional consequences. Under-resourced youths manage distinctive negative emotions arising from connectivity gaps that hinder their digital identity work, as well as engaging in distinct kinds of suppressive work to police their own emotions including longing, envy, shame, frustration, and stigmatization.

In making these linkages, the research reveals the cascading effects of digital inequality among youths where constant connectivity is the sine qua non of social inclusion.

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Is it better to invest in hard or soft skills?

an article by Jiří Balcar (VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic) published in The Economic and Labour Relations Review Volume 27 Issue 4 (2016)

Abstract

Increasing awareness of the productive potential of soft skills has sparked a discussion of their systematic and purposeful development. However, education systems pay only limited attention to this topic in most countries and remain focused on the development of hard skills.

Is this approach rational or inadequate?

This article provides new evidence on different aspects of the wage returns to soft skills (as an approximation of their productivity), and thereby contributes significantly to the discussion of the role of educational institutions in their development. It provides evidence that soft skills are as productive as hard skills.

Moreover, it suggests that the productivity of hard skills stems from their combination with soft skills.

These conclusions do not correspond to the fact that the value of education is intermediated mainly by hard skills, resulting in unequal development of soft and hard skills in schools.

While concluding that education systems should pay more attention to soft skills development, the analysis recognises that this attention should be differentiated according to employers’ needs, owing to substantial differences in the value of soft skills across economic sectors.

It is also noteworthy that while significant gender differences in returns to hard skills were identified, wage returns to soft skills appear gender neutral.

JEL Classification: J24, J31, J71

Full text (PDF)

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Technology Is Least Of The Challenges For Online Engagement

an article by Vineeta Dixit published in e-government bulletin (December 2012)

The advent of the internet, social media and mobile devices have changed the way citizens can engage with each other and with their governments.

Across the world, governments are facing challenges to their legitimacy as citizens express a rising disquiet with corruption and non-responsiveness.

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