The effect of longevity on schooling and fertility: evidence from the Brazilian Demographic and Health Survey

This paper presents microevidence on the effect of adult longevity on schooling and fertility. Higher longevity is systematically associated with higher schooling and lower fertility. The paper looks at the 1996 Brazilian Demographic and Health Survey and constructs an adult longevity variable based on the mortality history of the respondent's family. Families with histories of high adult mortality in previous generations have systematically higher fertility and lower schooling. These effects are not associated with omitted variables and remain unchanged after a large array of factors is accounted for (demographic characteristics, family-specific child mortality, regional development, socioeconomic status, etc.).

Linking Social Support to Psychological Distress in the Unemployed: The Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluations

In this study, an integrative analysis involving social support and core self-evaluations (CSE) as concurrent predictors of psychological distress among unemployed adults was conducted. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between perceptions of social support and CSE with psychological distress among unemployed adults, as well as whether levels of CSE moderated the relations between social support and psychological distress. Results indicated that, along with the expected direct and additional influence, a significant social support × CSE interaction was found in explaining several dimensions of psychological distress beyond the independent effect of socio-demographic variables, social support and CSE independently. Specifically, we found significant interaction for social support × CSE in explaining stress and anxiety symptoms. Our data provide empirical support for theoretical and conceptual work connecting social support, CSE and psychological distress associated with unemployment suggesting that alone, but also in combination, these contextual and personal resources may be particularly relevant for leading to reduced psychological distress during unemployment. Finally, theoretical implications of the joint study of these constructs and their relation with psychological distress in unemployed people are discussed.     

Building a Translengua in Latina Lesbian Organizing

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the challenges and rewards, as well as the affective labor, involved in forging a Latina lesbian “translengua,” in other words a common language in the context of Latina lesbian organizing. I explore how members of Latina Lesbians en Nuestro Ambiente (LLENA) and Amigas Latinas, Chicago-based Latina lesbian organizations, attempted to foster consensus for collective action in the face of language differences and preferences. Through analysis of archives and interviews with activists, I untangle how LLENA and Amigas Latinas negotiated deeply personal and sensitive issues around language use as they worked to build an inclusive movement. I also identify strategies used to enact a translengua that could bridge linguistic differences within the Latina lesbian community.     

Zacatipan Kinship Terminology: A Dual Approach

Utilisant d'abord l'analyse componentielle - qui présente un grand intérêt pour l'ethnologie des systèmes cognitifs, comme Font démontre les recherches récentes - l'auteur établit que l'ensemble des termes de parenté d'une population nahuat du Mexique oriental peut être percu comme le reasultat de certaines opérations theaoriques simples - oppositions, permutations - à partir d'un nombre limité d'éléments. Elle complète ensuite cette perspective par une approche plus «classique», qui s'inspire du structuro-fonctionnalisme et qui lui permet d'expliquer certaines particularités du système qu'elle a décrit: entre autres l'emploi de certains termes espagnols et le fait que d'autres termes indigenes soient en train de tomber en désuétude. Elle montre que ces phénomènes sont consécutifs aux transformations socio-économiques des dernières générations qui ont profoundément modifyé tant les dimensions que la composition du groupe domestique indigène.     

The Effects of Being Out of the Labor Market on Subsequent Wages: Evidence for Uruguay

Based on administrative data combining workers’ earnings histories and unemployment insurance benefits, we document short and long term wage losses for a large sample of Uruguayan formal workers with high tenure. The contribution of this paper is to provide original evidence about job separation costs in a developing country, based on a unique array of social security and unemployment insurance administrative micro-data. Our main findings indicate that workers lose around 38 % of their previous wages in the first quarter after separation, and 1 year after, losses are still more than 14 %. If we consider earnings plus unemployment insurance benefits, losses at the quarter of separation are considerable lower, amounting 22 % of previous wages. We also provide original evidence about how wage losses vary across age groups, gender, industry and size of the firm. Differences between switchers and non switchers, as well as the effects of the economic cycle are also analyzed.     

Influence of form and timing of social support on parental outcomes of a child-maltreatment prevention program

This study examines how the form of social support (informal or formal) and the time frame at which it is provided (at the start or end of the program) influence parental outcomes on the “Apoyo Personal y Familiar” (APF) program for at-risk families showing inadequate child-rearing practices. A total of 496 parents participated, 247 parents referred by the municipal social services in the Autonomous Community of Castile and Leon (Spain), and 249 non-referred parents. Initial and final levels of use of and satisfaction with informal and formal support were used as predictors of change scores in self-rating measures of beliefs about child development, perceptions of the parental role and child-rearing practices, applying hierarchical linear regression analyses. Perceived use of and satisfaction with support explained around 22% to 49% of the change scores in the Nurturist belief as a simple view of child development, Couple agreement on educational matters, Permissive–neglectful practices and Coercion practices, after accounting for the variance due to risk status, financial situation and family structure variables. Informal support always has a positive impact irrespective of when the help is provided, whereas formal support only has a positive impact when applied at the start of the program. The adequate provision of social supports can be an efficient way to prevent child maltreatment by promoting changes in parental beliefs and practices related to at-risk parenting.     

When data justice and environmental justice meet: formulating a response to extractive logic through environmental data justice

ABSTRACT

Environmental data justice (EDJ) emerges from conversations between data justice and environmental justice while identifying the limits and tensions of these lenses. Through a reflexive process of querying our entanglement in non-innocent relations, this paper develops and engages EDJ by examining how it informs the work of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI), a distributed, consensus-based organization that formed in response to the 2016 US presidential election. Through grassroots archiving of data sets, monitoring federal environmental and energy agency websites, and writing rapid-response reports about how federal agencies are being undermined, EDGI mobilizes EDJ to challenge the ‘extractive logic’ of current federal environmental policy and data infrastructures. ‘Extractive logic’ disconnects data from provenance, privileges the matrix of domination, and whitewashes data to generate uncertainty. We use the dynamic EDJ framework to reflect on EDGI’s public comment advising against the US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule for Transparent Science. Through EDJ, EDGI aspires to create new environmental data infrastructures and practices that are participatory and embody equitable, transparent data care.     

Efficiency of telecommunications companies in European countries

The telecommunications sector has undergone the most drastic changes in terms of market liberalization and has dominated the privatisation process in most countries in terms of the size of its assets and because this industry is the flagship of public services. The purpose of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the efficiency of eleven European privatised Public Telecommunications Operators PTOs from 1997 to 2005 and to determine whether privatisation, liberalisation and investment in infrastructure have increased their efficiency or not. We make use of the DEA methodology to analyse the efficiency of PTOs, as this model is especially appropriate to analyse organisations whose production process does not result in the obtaining of a product but in the delivery of a public service. In spite of the technological progress, our results do not show that the comparative performance of PTOs has grown significantly during the period analysed. Therefore, we must take into account other factors such as privatisation, state regulation and organisational changes to determine their performance. From our study, we can conclude that not all companies have been able to adapt equally to the competitive market. The non-efficient companies have traditionally operated in a protectionist market and they continue in a monopolistic situation in spite of market liberalization.     

On social security financial crisis

We indicate that financial crisis in social security programs might be endogenous because social security affects fertility and human capital's decisions and thus, the aggregate growth rate of the economy. These effects lead to an endogenous erosion of the financial basis of the PAYG social security program so that, as a consequence, the PAYG system is not sustainable and it requires continuous increases in the social security tax rate. I received helpful comments in an earlier version of this paper from G.S. Becker, Larry Sjaastad, two anonymous referees and participants at seminars at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and The University of Chicago. Remaining errors are my own responsibility. Responsible editor: Junsen Zhang.