Volume 33, Issue 3

In this article Hartmut Esser’s claim to have designed a “general theory of action” is analyzed critically. This reveals that Esser’s action theory contains remediable inconsistencies due to the modeling of the theoretical statements. The application of fuzzy-logic is proposed to provide for more adequate and simpler modeling. Basically it is questionable whether the “psychologization of sociology”, which is a consequence of his framing-concept, is the right way for a sociology that is interested in explaining social aggregations.

While Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian countries are characterized by inclusive employment regulations, Continental and Southern European countries have developed more exclusive employment regulations. This is the result of different institutional frameworks: Inclusion in employment depends to a considerable extent on national economic and institutional structures, for example, on the systems of industrial relationships, on social and taxation policies, on the patterns of private and family life, and on the educational system. The relative impact of these factors is verified on the basis of cross-national data for 19 OECD countries from the 1980 s and 1990 s. It can be shown that a dynamic educational policy, employment-centered taxation policies, an active family policy, and more flexible working-time arrangements can counteract the rather negative employment impact of strongly developed social security systems and public services. The effects on the labor market participation of different age groups and sexes are very different: Above all, men profit from strong employment protection legislation and stronger wage differentiation while the labor market participation of women is facilitated by a better balance between work and family life, family services and cash benefits, and a higher education. Older employees profit from part-time work and stronger wage differentiation. While the Mediterranean and Continental European countries are shaped by industrial employment relationships, the labor market institutions of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon countries facilitate the expansion of personal and social services.

The provision of child care plays a crucial role in the current discussion about higher compatibility of family with employment. The availability of day-care for children may not only support the employment of mothers, but may also have a positive effect on fertility decisions. In this paper, we use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) as well as official statistics to investigate the influence of the regional supply of child care on East vs. West German women’s childbearing behavior in the years 1996 to 2000. The main result of our analysis is that the availability of public day-care has a positive impact on the transition to the first child in the East, while only the availability of informal care by grandmothers has a statistically significant effect in the West. The primary reason for this is likely to be the very different levels of child care provision in East and West, particularly as regards the day-care infrastructure for toddlers and school-age children and the availability of full-time care.

Using the case of the stock ticker, this paper shows how the media are relevant to processes of inclusion in functional systems. The history of the ticker has been neglected in the history of media as well as in media sociology even though the ticker was one of the first real-time media. The paper analyses the semantics which has been used to describe the ticker and its effects. The article suggests distinguishing between the mediality and the accessibility of ticker-based communication. First, the paper shows the importance of the ticker for financial communication and emphasizes the new possibilities for accessing financial communication which were generated by the ticker. Second, the paper focuses on the mediality of the ticker. It shows that the ticker is not simply a transparent medium, but that its mode of communication has become visible and fascinating. The concluding part discusses the relation between accessibility and mediality.