Volume 36, Issue 2

Empirical studies on world society usually employ cross-national longitudinal data. Different regression models for the analysis of such data exist. They may be distinguished according to their use of regional heterogeneity. The selection of a model implies a specific theoretical concept of world society and vice versa.This paper investigates these issues in sociological neo-institutionalism. The comparison between results of model calculations shows the effects of the use of different model specifications. Based on these results, conclusions about world society theory are drawn.

The aim of the following analysis is an empirical test of a theoretically modeled explanation of educational decisions in which the intention is to reveal the causes of social inequality in access to higher education. Data describing the educational decisions of high school graduates in Saxony support the basic assumptions of the rational choice models. The theoretically expected class-specific motives of status maintenance or the economic returns on education are not the crucial factors in class-specific educational decisions. In addition to the social disparity of expectations about success in education at university the subjective estimation of educational costs is central in decising against university training and in favor of vocational education - in accord with the actual allocation of financial capital between the social classes. The initial economic distribution among high school graduates leads to socially selective educational decisions and, consequently, to persisting inequality of educational opportunities with regard to access to higher education.

Survey data about German executives and entrepreneurs of medium sized companies in the manufacturing sector are used to compare orientations toward socio-political issues. By means of cluster analyses, two different patterns of attitudes can be described: those of social market economists and those of competitive capitalists. Both types stress the importance of business competition, but the first recommend more options to alter “rules” of competition, whereas members of the second often emphasize the importance of owners’ interests and see more negative consequences of entrepreneurial endeavor. The proportion of competitive capitalists in the sample of East Germans is nearly two-thirds, whereas the corresponding percentage among the West German interviewees amounts to 37 %. Some explanations for these distributions of socio-political orientations are discussed. Relevant variables seem to be the economic situation of the company, the annual income of the interviewee, and experience with institutions of Rhenish Capitalism (i.e. the existence of work councils).

For decades the marriage rate in Germany has been declining and the age of first marriage has been increasing. At the same time non-traditional living arrangements like cohabitation and long-distance relationships have been spreading. From the perspective of the theory of individualization these developments are viewed as empirical evidence for pluralization and for a rejection of the institution of marriage. Considerations from the perspective of utility theory come to the conclusion that marriage is losing in relevance because its utility is declining in comparison to other alternatives due to social change. Moreover, it is argued that especially for well-educated young women the opportunity costs of a marriage are rising because of the loss of autonomy and flexibility of married women. In spite of the theoretical and empirical evidence for these interpretations it is also true that almost four out of five members of the mid-1960’s birth cohorts in Germany marry at least once in their lives. The questions are: Why do these people marry and what subjective meaning do they ascribe to marriage? With data from a standardized survey of both partners (N = 754) of couples who married between 1999 and 2005 explorative cluster analyses have been conducted. The findings show the substantial importance of traditional attitudes toward marriage, and they indicate a high individual evaluation of church marriages. Moreover, they relativize the significance of the “love match”.