Bücher von Derek Bok

First published in 1998, this text became an immediate landmark in the debate over affirmative action in America. It grounded a contentious subject in concrete data at a time when arguments surrounding it were characterized more by emotion than evidence. It continues to present the most compelling data available about the effects of affirmative action.

During the past forty years, thousands of studies have been carried out on the subject of happiness. Some have explored the levels of happiness or dissatisfaction associated with typical daily activities, such as working, seeing friends, or doing household chores. Others have tried to determine the extent to which income, family, religion, and other factors are associated with the satisfaction people feel about their lives. The Gallup organization has begun conducting global surveys of happiness, and several countries are considering publishing periodic reports on the growth or decline of happiness among their people. One nation, tiny Bhutan, has actually made "e;Gross National Happiness"e; the central aim of its domestic policy. How might happiness research affect government policy in the United States--and beyond? In The Politics of Happiness, former Harvard president Derek Bok examines how governments could use the rapidly growing research data on what makes people happy--in a variety of policy areas to increase well-being and improve the quality of life for all their citizens. Bok first describes the principal findings of happiness researchers. He considers how reliable the results appear to be and whether they deserve to be taken into account in devising government policies. Recognizing both the strengths and weaknesses of happiness research, Bok looks at the policy implications for economic growth, equality, retirement, unemployment, health care, mental health, family programs, education, and government quality, among other subjects. Timely and incisive, The Politics of Happiness sheds new light on what makes people happy and how government policy could foster greater satisfaction for all.

Is everything in a university for sale if the price is right? In this book, one of America's leading educators cautions that the answer is all too often "e;yes."e; Taking the first comprehensive look at the growing commercialization of our academic institutions, Derek Bok probes the efforts on campus to profit financially not only from athletics but increasingly, from education and research as well. He shows how such ventures are undermining core academic values and what universities can do to limit the damage. Commercialization has many causes, but it could never have grown to its present state had it not been for the recent, rapid growth of money-making opportunities in a more technologically complex, knowledge-based economy. A brave new world has now emerged in which university presidents, enterprising professors, and even administrative staff can all find seductive opportunities to turn specialized knowledge into profit. Bok argues that universities, faced with these temptations, are jeopardizing their fundamental mission in their eagerness to make money by agreeing to more and more compromises with basic academic values. He discusses the dangers posed by increased secrecy in corporate-funded research, for-profit Internet companies funded by venture capitalists, industry-subsidized educational programs for physicians, conflicts of interest in research on human subjects, and other questionable activities. While entrepreneurial universities may occasionally succeed in the short term, reasons Bok, only those institutions that vigorously uphold academic values, even at the cost of a few lucrative ventures, will win public trust and retain the respect of faculty and students. Candid, evenhanded, and eminently readable, Universities in the Marketplace will be widely debated by all those concerned with the future of higher education in America and beyond.

Known for his extensive writings on professional ethics, law, and labor relations, Derek Bok returns with a persuasive claim that the compensation being paid to top executives, lawyers, and doctors cannot be justified in the most revealing study done yet regarding the compensation practices in various professional fields. As the American economy becomes more complex, the demand for able, highly educated people increases constantly with a steady growth of importance. But when considering the leverage of high pay and extravagant benefits, it is possible that talented individuals will be lost to the appeal of exaggerated compensation, putting the work that they are completing in danger. Bok argues that compensation paid to top executives, lawyers, doctors, and economists does not offer a significant benefit, nor is there evidence that large bonuses and other financial incentives produce better work. Additionally, he presents the concept that the lucrative rewards of Wall Street, elite law firms, and medical specialties deprive poorly paid but vital teaching and public service professions of desperately needed talent. The Cost of Talent asserts that America must enter a new period of national development by rethinking the values, motivations, and priorities that are reflected in our compensation practices in order to better serve the nation's long-term interests.