Provides case studies and data from the major telecommunications service providers in most of the industrialized countries. Discusses reasons for the persistence of monopolies and the difficulty of affecting organizational change. Looks at privatization, challenges facing the workforce, and new job opportunities that would result. (JOW)

Unless unions can gain a greater role in decision making on the content of work, they risk losing members to management-controlled participation schemes. (JOW)

As people live longer, produce fewer children, and retire earlier, the ratio of older people to working people is growing. This creates an imbalance in the replenishment of pension funds. Solutions include promoting training and flexibility for older workers, ending discrimination, and changing attitudes thorough education and information. (JOW)

We examine the correlation between modern human capital and income among adult men in four foraging-horticultural societies of Bolivia. Despite their remote location, we find results similar to those found in developed nations. We find that: (a) education correlates with 4.5% higher overall income and with 5.9% higher wages and math skills…

This article discusses recurrent themes in the literature about teaching in developed countries: the intensification of work, increased central control, diminished professional autonomy, and fears about the deskilling of teachers. Labour Process theory is used to consider how we might understand the ways in which teachers' work and professionalism…

The international recruitment by countries of the North of teachers from less developed countries has become a controversial aspect of the problem of "brain drain". As a political and economic issue, the argument is that it reduces human capital within the education system and leads to the movement of highly skilled teachers from…

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other Group of Eight (G-8) countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom) that are among the world's most economically developed countries and among the United States' largest economic partners.…

How widespread is the production of food in old and new member states of the European Union and what is the social meaning or logic of such activities? We show that growing food is (a) more widespread in former communist countries than in traditional market economies and (b) is predominantly a hobby or recreational activity in affluent countries,…

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conferences on Educational Technologies (ICEduTech 2014), and Sustainability, Technology and Education (STE 2014). The International Conference on Educational Technologies (ICEduTech 2014) is the scientific conference addressing the real topics as seen by teachers, students, parents and…

The increase in burglary crimes, along with the rise in the citizens' worry about burglary crimes, has brought new challenges to the criminal justice systems in developed nations over the last decade. Crime surveys often point to a substantial dissonance between the actual likelihood of burglary and the perceived likelihood of victimization. This…

Declining tobacco use in high-income nations and rising tobacco use in low- and middle-income nations raises questions about the sources of worldwide patterns of smoking. Theories posit a curvilinear influence of national income based on the balance of affordability and health-cost effects. In addition, however, economic inequality, gender…

This paper considers recurrent alarms in England, Wales and other developed countries concerning shortages of teachers. It summarises the conclusions from a mixed-methods international study of teacher supply, quality and retention. The research used large-scale secondary data sets from a variety of sources, at both the individual and aggregate…

Against a background of declining employment in agriculture, a mobile workforce plays a crucial role in meeting seasonal labour demand in Australia. The dynamics of this labour force have received surprisingly little attention. We situate seasonal migration within the rising diversity of present-day mobility, and capture images of its early…

A look at a unique case applying the rules of freedom of expression for mass media in Sweden. (HB)

A discussion of how developments in psychotechnology, information and communications technology, organizational technology and systems technology promise new opportunities for personal and cultural development. (Author)