Robert J Thornton
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 104161 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Robert J Thornton |
| NOMBRES | Robert J |
| APELLIDO | Thornton |
| FIRMA | THORNTON R J |
| AFILIACIONES | University of the Witwatersrand |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6748-0913 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 51 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 258 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 51 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1958 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2021 |
| ÍNDICE H | 8 |
The Minimum Income Standard and equivalisation
Equivalence scales, used to compare incomes across household types, strongly influence which households have low reported income, affecting public policy priorities. Yet they draw on abstract, often dated evidence and arbitrary judgements, and on comparisons across the income distribution rather than focusing on minimum requirements. Budget standards provide more tangible comparisons of the minimum required by different household types. The Minim…
Therianthropes as human-animal relations
Southern African rock art is painted on exposed but sheltered rock faces and features involved collocations of images in generally ambiguous relation to one another. Therianthropes — mixtures of parts of humans and animals — condense in one image a relationship between animals and human persons. This analysis takes inspiration from the anthropology of iconography and value creation in Melanesian and Australian indigenous cultures rather than from…
Chiefs
Healing the Exposed Being
Have Pay Equity Laws in Canada Helped Women? A Synthetic-Control Approach
Ontario passed a very aggressive Pay Equity Act in 1988, and in 1996 Quebec passed a similar Pay Equity Act. We use synthetic-control methods to examine what has happened to the gender pay gap (female–male earnings ratio) in Ontario since 2005 and to see whether Quebec’s Pay Equity Act has had any effect on its pay gap. Ontario and Quebec are chosen simply because they are the provinces with the most comprehensive and “aggressive” pay equity laws…
Southern Africa
Magical Empiricism and 'Exposed Being' in Medicine and Traditional Healing
Southern African traditional healers often generalize too broadly from discrete ('accidental') instances of success, partly to recruit a clientele, while biomedicine frequently reasons incorrectly from the general to the specific. Both logics are based on empirical observations, but are inversions of each other; these I characterize as 'magical empiricism.' 'Magic' functions as a metapragmatic discourse to recruit a clientele from a skeptical pub…
Zamazama, “illegal” artisanal miners, misrepresented by the South African Press and Government
Sexual networks and social capital
Multiple and concurrent sexual partnerships (MCP) are prevalent in southern Africa and have been identified as a primary cause of high HIV prevalence in this region. Sexual liaisons with multiple partners serve to increase the size and diversity of an individual's sexual-and social-network and therefore to increase their social capital. This maximisation of social capital may minimise the risk to relationship(s) at the cost of maximising the biol…
The Transmission of Knowledge in South African Traditional Healing
Traditional healers' (sangomas) in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, are organized into 'schools' around a senior teacher (gobela). Healing is understood by its practioners to be a profession, not a religion or even a spiritual exercise. Healers actively assess the effectiveness of their healing methods, transmit their knowledge to each other, and evaluate each others' performances in ways that stray far from the mere transmission of 'tradition'…
Marginal utilities, time, and zombies
Retrospectives
The term “monopsony” was introduced by Joan Robinson in her 1932 classic The Economics of Imperfect Competition, although she gives credit to classics scholar B.L. Hallward of Cambridge for the actual coining of the term. Even though the term has become widely accepted by economists, its literal meaning is more idiosyncratic than simply “one buyer” of a commodity or service. In this paper I discuss the etymology of the term monopsony and suggest …
Gender Pay Differentials and Equality Legislation in the Republic of Ireland
Mark Cassidy, Eric Strobl, Robert Thornton, Gender Pay Differentials and Equality Legislation in the Republic of Ireland, Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, Vol. 28, Supplement: Occupational Gender Segregation: Public Policies and Economic Forces (May, 2002), pp. S149-S169
Comparable Worth in Academe
In 1988 a comparable-worth pay policy was implemented in Ontario, Canada, with the passage of the Pay Equity Act. The Ontario policy is unique in the scope and nature of its involvement in pay determination: it is proactive rather than complaints-based and it covers employees in both the private and public sectors. In this paper we relate the experiences of Ontario faculty under the Act, drawing upon information from a survey we conducted. We the…
Ethnicity and the geometry of power
`ETHNICITY' IS GENERALLY understood to be one `part' of a polity that contains, at least, other `ethnicities' and probably many other kinds of groupings or categories, including race, sex, colour, status groups and classes (after Max Weber, 1978:302-310,385-398; or Karl Marx, for instance 1970:82; Eriksen 1993:1-15). It is the thesis of this argument that categories such as ethnicity (as well as other similar types of social categories) are perce…
The Concomitant Effects of Phrase Length and Informational Content in Sentence Comprehension
The Economist in Tort Litigation
In recent decades, the involvement of economists as consultants and expert witnesses in civil tort actions has grown rapidly. In this article, the authors discuss the reasons for this phenomenon and the extent to conflicts of interest to arise in the practice of what is frequently called 'forensic economics.' They argue that, although conflict-of-interest pressures exist, the limited evidence does not indicate that unethical practices are rampant…
Private-Sector Experience with Pay Equity in Ontario
Since 1988 Ontario has had the most comprehensive comparable-worth or "pay-equity" policy in North America, if not the world. Ontario's Pay Equity Act is proactive rather than merely complaints-based and covers nearly all employers in the private as well as public sectors. In this paper we analyze the Ontario pay-equity policy and its experience to date. After reviewing the findings of several surveys sponsored by the Ontario Pay Equity Commissio…
Taphonomies of Topography
Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. Marc Augé. London: Verso, 1995. 122 pp.Landscape and Power in Vienna. Robert Rotenberg. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995. 385 pp.Imagineering Atlanta: The Politics of Place in the City of Dreams. Charles Rutheiser. London: Verso, 1996. 322 pp
Ethnography and the Historical Imagination. John Comaroff and Jean Comaroff
The Early Writings of Bronislaw Malinowski
South Africa
La Republique d'Afrique du Sud se caracterise par ses multiples limites et frontieres arbitraires mais qui sont au centre de toute politique et de tout conflit, conflits qui n'ont cependant pas empeche l'integration economique et politique. Pour ce pays (et non nation) la terre est une ressource ambigue, un probleme purement culturel dont veut etre issu chaque groupe. Johannesburg, Durban et Cape Town sont les trois etats-villes du pays ayant leu…
The Rhetoric of Ethnographic Holism
The End of the Future
The Consistency and Predictability of Grievance Arbitration Awards
In this study of the consistency and predictability of grievance arbitration awards, 177 arbitrators named awards and 188 management and union representatives predicted awards for six hypothetical cases—-three variants of a just-cause dismissal case and three of a contract interpretation case. The awards were quite variable: in one variant of each case, somewhat more than 70% of the arbitrators agreed on the award, but in all other instances the …
The Rhetoric of Ethnographic Holism
The Transmission of Knowledge in South African Traditional Healing
Traditional healers' (sangomas) in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, are organized into 'schools' around a senior teacher (gobela). Healing is understood by its practioners to be a profession, not a religion or even a spiritual exercise. Healers actively assess the effectiveness of their healing methods, transmit their knowledge to each other, and evaluate each others' performances in ways that stray far from the mere transmission of 'tradition'…
Narrative Ethnography in Africa, 1850-1920
The ethnographic monograph has its roots in two traditions. While its format and rhetoric are strongly influenced by the natural science monograph, its content derives largely from genres of travelogue and missionary letters and bulletins. In the period I850-I900, ethnographic writing was addressed to two audiences, but by the turn of the century it had been 'captured' by theoretical social scientists and became the appropriate and legitimate dom…
Imagine Yourself Set Down
Space, Time and Culture among the Iraqw of Tanzania
Healing the Exposed Being
Space, Time, and Culture among the Iraqw of Tanzania
The Consistency and Predictability of Grievance Arbitration Awards
In this study of the consistency and predictability of grievance arbitration awards, 177 arbitrators named awards and 188 management and union representatives predicted awards for six hypothetical cases—-three variants of a just-cause dismissal case and three of a contract interpretation case. The awards were quite variable: in one variant of each case, somewhat more than 70% of the arbitrators agreed on the award, but in all other instances the …
The shooting at Uitenhage, South Africa, 1985
This article examines the fatal shooting by the South African Police of 20 people among a small crowd in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It explores some cultural characteristics of violence as a social process and social form. In this incident, the intentions of the actors were not simply confrontational, yet the event had the shape of other "classic" confrontations in South African history. Since direct political chains of command were…
Modelling of Spatial Relations in a Boundary-Marking Ritual of the Iraqw of Tanzania
Licensing in the Barbering Profession
Analysis of the licensing requirements in the barbering profession in the United States. Economic impacts of effective occupational licensing; Effects of barber licensing on the supply of barbers; Changes in licensing provision. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)
Magical Empiricism and 'Exposed Being' in Medicine and Traditional Healing
Southern African traditional healers often generalize too broadly from discrete ('accidental') instances of success, partly to recruit a clientele, while biomedicine frequently reasons incorrectly from the general to the specific. Both logics are based on empirical observations, but are inversions of each other; these I characterize as 'magical empiricism.' 'Magic' functions as a metapragmatic discourse to recruit a clientele from a skeptical pub…
Marginal utilities, time, and zombies
Private-Sector Experience with Pay Equity in Ontario
Since 1988 Ontario has had the most comprehensive comparable-worth or "pay-equity" policy in North America, if not the world. Ontario's Pay Equity Act is proactive rather than merely complaints-based and covers nearly all employers in the private as well as public sectors. In this paper we analyze the Ontario pay-equity policy and its experience to date. After reviewing the findings of several surveys sponsored by the Ontario Pay Equity Commissio…
Gender Pay Differentials and Equality Legislation in the Republic of Ireland
Mark Cassidy, Eric Strobl, Robert Thornton, Gender Pay Differentials and Equality Legislation in the Republic of Ireland, Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, Vol. 28, Supplement: Occupational Gender Segregation: Public Policies and Economic Forces (May, 2002), pp. S149-S169
The Concomitant Effects of Phrase Length and Informational Content in Sentence Comprehension
Teacher Unionism and Collective Bargaining in England and Wales
This article analyzes the teacher union movement and the system of teacher bargaining in England and Wales. Although the teacher union movement is marked by an unusually high degree of organizational fragmentation, salaries in both countries are negotiated in a single forum at the national level called the “Burnham Committee.” This committee is unusual in the British context in that it has a statutory basis and negotiates fixed-term agreements wh…
Evolution, salvation and history in the rise of the ethnographic monograph in Southern Africa 1860-1920∗
The ethnographic monograph, despite its particularistic content, is a universalizing symbolic form that confirms the existence of human universals. It arose in the period 1860-1920 in response to intellectual and moral concerns of missionaries in Africa and intellectuals in European, universities. Temporal concepts of evolution, salvation and history, central to Victorian social and religious thought, all played a role in shaping the genre. It is…
The Minimum Income Standard and equivalisation
Equivalence scales, used to compare incomes across household types, strongly influence which households have low reported income, affecting public policy priorities. Yet they draw on abstract, often dated evidence and arbitrary judgements, and on comparisons across the income distribution rather than focusing on minimum requirements. Budget standards provide more tangible comparisons of the minimum required by different household types. The Minim…
Community
The elusive unity of Sir George Grey's library
1983). The elusive unity of Sir George Grey's library. African Studies: Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 79-89
The Economist in Tort Litigation
In recent decades, the involvement of economists as consultants and expert witnesses in civil tort actions has grown rapidly. In this article, the authors discuss the reasons for this phenomenon and the extent to conflicts of interest to arise in the practice of what is frequently called 'forensic economics.' They argue that, although conflict-of-interest pressures exist, the limited evidence does not indicate that unethical practices are rampant…
The Early Writings of Bronislaw Malinowski
South Africa
La Republique d'Afrique du Sud se caracterise par ses multiples limites et frontieres arbitraires mais qui sont au centre de toute politique et de tout conflit, conflits qui n'ont cependant pas empeche l'integration economique et politique. Pour ce pays (et non nation) la terre est une ressource ambigue, un probleme purement culturel dont veut etre issu chaque groupe. Johannesburg, Durban et Cape Town sont les trois etats-villes du pays ayant leu…
Concentration in the Labor Market for Public School Teachers
Recent studies that have investigated the relationship between the monopsony power of school districts and teachers' salaries have reached conflicting conclusions. The authors of this paper argue that the discrepancies among previous studies may be due to the arbitrary demarcation of the boundaries of teacher labor markets and the use of faulty measures of monopsony. Using a new procedure for defining teacher labor market boundaries and several a…
The Tuneful Flame
Microeconomic Foundations of Employment and Inflation Theory
The Demand for State and Local Government Employees
Ira Sharkansky and the references cited therein present evidence that agencies are seldom cut below their previous levels of appropriations.However this in itself is not evidence of incremental budgeting, for with growing state and local government budgets it is conceivable that the appropriate marginal conditions would dictate that all agencies be expanded anyway.' The number of state-year observations for all equations is 546; 11 years (65)(66)…
Monopsony and Teachers' Salaries
Monopsony and Teacher's Salaries
Sahlins and goody considered
Culture and Practical Reason by Marshall Salin; Domestication and the Savage Mind by Jack Goody
Licensing in the Barbering Profession
Analysis of the licensing requirements in the barbering profession in the United States. Economic impacts of effective occupational licensing; Effects of barber licensing on the supply of barbers; Changes in licensing provision. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)
Evolution, salvation and history in the rise of the ethnographic monograph in Southern Africa 1860-1920∗
The ethnographic monograph, despite its particularistic content, is a universalizing symbolic form that confirms the existence of human universals. It arose in the period 1860-1920 in response to intellectual and moral concerns of missionaries in Africa and intellectuals in European, universities. Temporal concepts of evolution, salvation and history, central to Victorian social and religious thought, all played a role in shaping the genre. It is…
Space, Time and Culture among the Iraqw of Tanzania
The Increasing Pay Gap for Women in the Textile and Clothing Industries, 1910 to 1970
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Teacher Unionism and Collective Bargaining in England and Wales
This article analyzes the teacher union movement and the system of teacher bargaining in England and Wales. Although the teacher union movement is marked by an unusually high degree of organizational fragmentation, salaries in both countries are negotiated in a single forum at the national level called the “Burnham Committee.” This committee is unusual in the British context in that it has a statutory basis and negotiates fixed-term agreements wh…
Space, Time, and Culture among the Iraqw of Tanzania
Space, Time and Culture Among the Iraqw of Tanzania
Modelling of Spatial Relations in a Boundary-Marking Ritual of the Iraqw of Tanzania
Space, Time, and Culture among the Iraqw of Tanzania
“This dying out race” W.H.I. bleek's approach to the languages of Southern Africa
Wilhelm Hendrick Immanuel Bleek was the first scholar to intensively study southern African languages and literatures. This paper examines his motivationfor doing so. Important influences included the German "Higher Criticism " of Biblical texts, and conflict between "High "and "Broad" church tradition in the English church. Bleek's attention to field study of actual oral literature is presented as his most important achievement, and his single‐m…
Invaluable ally or imminent aggressor? Australia and Japanese naval assistance, 1914–18∗
Narrative Ethnography in Africa, 1850-1920
The ethnographic monograph has its roots in two traditions. While its format and rhetoric are strongly influenced by the natural science monograph, its content derives largely from genres of travelogue and missionary letters and bulletins. In the period I850-I900, ethnographic writing was addressed to two audiences, but by the turn of the century it had been 'captured' by theoretical social scientists and became the appropriate and legitimate dom…
The elusive unity of Sir George Grey's library
1983). The elusive unity of Sir George Grey's library. African Studies: Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 79-89
Imagine Yourself Set Down
Concentration in the Labor Market for Public School Teachers
Recent studies that have investigated the relationship between the monopsony power of school districts and teachers' salaries have reached conflicting conclusions. The authors of this paper argue that the discrepancies among previous studies may be due to the arbitrary demarcation of the boundaries of teacher labor markets and the use of faulty measures of monopsony. Using a new procedure for defining teacher labor market boundaries and several a…
The Status of Master's Programs in Economics
It is the purpose of this article to report the results of a recent survey which we undertook concerning the content and structure of master's programs in economics. During the fall of 1985, questionnaires were sent to the 221 United States colleges and universities listed in Peterson's Graduate Programs in the Humanities and Social Sciences (1985) as having graduate programs in economics. One hundred sixty-nine responses were received from maste…
The Rhetoric of Ethnographic Holism
If Libraries Could Read Themselves
Community
Sociology (24 obras) · Political science (21 obras) · Economics (17 obras) · History (15 obras) · Law (15 obras) · Philosophy (12 obras) · Geography (10 obras) · Anthropology (9 obras) · Art (9 obras) · Computer Science (9 obras)