Will You Die for Your Country? Workplace Death in an Era of Mass Incarceration

People with criminal records in the United States continue to face limited employment opportunities due to social stigma and legal barriers. In contrast to the civilian sector, the military conducts a “whole person” evaluation to screen potential recruits and regularly hires people with felony and misdemeanor records. Moreover, evidence suggests that the military serves as a socially integrative institution and may facilitate desistance from future crimes. However, critics argue that the military exacerbates inequalities by subjecting marginalized communities to the unequal burden of service. Using the data obtained from the Army, we examine the relative risks of combat exposure and casualties between enlisted soldiers with and without criminal records who joined between 2002 and 2009. The results suggest that soldiers with felony and misdemeanor records are more likely to be assigned to combat occupations than those without criminal records. We also find that among soldiers assigned to positions with low combat exposure, ex-offenders face a higher risk of death compared to those without criminal records. Findings do not dispute the idea that the military facilitates desistance from future crimes and provides second chances to people with criminal records, but reaffirm the fact that military service costs lives and limbs.     

‘Actually There is a Brain in There’: Uncovering Complexity in Pathways Through Education for Young Adults Who Have Been in Care

Internationally, research has highlighted disruption to the educational trajectories of young people in care, documenting concern about upheaval and poor educational outcomes. We present findings from English data arising from qualitative longitudinal research with care experienced people (16–32 years) who were also in education, employment or training. The analysis extends understanding of the experiences of those who achieve educational ‘success’, including those who followed non‐linear trajectories. The need for a flexible education system, and leaving care entitlements, which take into account the disruption experienced by young people in care and the consequent possibility of delayed educational pathways, is discussed.     

复杂性科学及其在经济领域中的资助和研究进展

统计和分析了国家自然科学基金委员会(以下简称基金委) 管理科学部自 1986 年以来对复杂性科学及其在经济领域中相关研究的资助情况，同时，对复杂性科学及其与经济科学融合所产生的复杂经济学等研究进行了梳理，系统总结和分析了国内外相关研究的进展和发展趋势，以期为该领域的研究者提供参考和启示，促进复杂系统管理的研究，进而为管理科学部的十四五学科战略规划提供参考，为国家经济治理体系的完善等提供理论储备．     

Compensation or competition: Bias in immigrants' access to active labour market measures

Whether participation in active labour market programmes (ALMPs) pushes individuals back into employment depends on the programme's characteristics. On the basis of encompassing registry data that allow us to control for usually unobserved employability, we find evidence of a systematic access bias whereby jobcentre caseworkers in Switzerland assign unemployed persons to activation measures based on a competition logic that is mainly driven by an economic rationale and the jobcentre's performance evaluation. This practice seems problematic because it results in an overrepresentation of immigrants in measures with little efficacy rather than in measures that could compensate for employability disadvantages. Conversely, Swiss citizens are more likely to enter beneficial human-capital-intensive measures. It is plausible that this discrepancy in programme participation amplifies the general labour market disadvantages of immigrants.     

Experiences of homelessness by people seeking asylum in Australia: A review of published and “grey” literature

This review examines the current published and “grey” literature relating to the experiences of homelessness by people seeking asylum within Australia. While many people seeking asylum have experienced homelessness during their flight, inadequate and unaffordable housing are a feature of the settlement experience for a large number of new arrivals to Australia, putting at risk their successful settlement. This study aims to explore the factors influencing access to stable housing. A systematic review of the academic literature and a search of the grey literature identified 11 articles and 20 documents related to homelessness and people seeking asylum in Australia. The academic literature included a variety of methods and approaches to the investigation of the experience of homelessness in Australia. The grey literature was more practice based, including evaluation and research reports, submissions, and newsletters. Findings suggest that experiences of homelessness are multifaceted and have a range of influences, including policy, financial stress, lack of access to education and employment, and a lack of affordable and suitable housing. Any solutions to address homelessness need to be similarly diverse. Discrimination from real estate agents and employers was also identified as a barrier to housing for many people seeking asylum, an issue that will need to be addressed at a systematic level. The lack of research published in the academic literature means that although there may be some programmes or solutions operating in the community, as demonstrated in the grey literature, this information is not being shared beyond organisation websites or subscriber lists, resulting in a lack of coherency or sharing of solutions. This review highlights the need for further attention to the factors influencing homelessness in asylum seekers, the experience of homelessness, and how these can be addressed by government and non-government led strategies and policy development.     

The disembedded digital economy: Social protection for new economy employment in China

This research focuses upon employment in the new economy, exploring labour protection and social protection in the digital age in China. Through an empirical survey conducted in three Chinese cities, social insurance and the labour rights of employees in the digital economic sector, such as gig employment, e-commerce, and various other forms of online employment, have been examined in-depth. This study reveals new regulatory loopholes in the digital labour market, which have substantially eroded the basis of social policy arrangements in China, “softening” participation in social insurance branches and compliance with labour regulations remarkably. Drawing upon the theoretical concepts of Polanyi on embeddedness and disembeddedness, we argue that the digital employment sector in China has been increasingly disembedded from social institutions and social control. The new configuration in the digital field of social policy requires novel conceptual models and institutional settings to cope with increasing social risks in virtual spaces.     

The relevance of institutions and people’s preferences in the PSNP and IN-SCT programmes in Ethiopia

The effective implementation of social protection interventions is key for achieving positive change. The existing literature mainly focuses on issues related to programme design and impact, rather than the factors that influence the emergence, expansion and provision of these programmes. This article builds on the recent literature that indicates that the quality of institutions and people’s preferences play an important role in the implementation of social protection. It does so by using Ethiopia and its Productive Safety Net Programme – one of the largest social protection programmes in sub-Saharan Africa – as a case study, thereby contributing to debates on how to implement social protection more effectively, particularly in settings of widespread poverty and relatively low levels of institutional capacity. Based on primary qualitative data, the article finds that greater institutional quality at the local level is associated with the more effective provision of social protection. The ability of community members and social protection clients to voice preferences can lead to adaptations in implementation, although the extent to which this occurs is highly gendered.     

京津冀人口集聚对能源消费的影响

京津冀作为我国重要的人口集聚区,其区域发展面临严重的能源和环境问题。首先,基于STIRPAT模型构建京津冀面板数据模型,研究1990—2017年京津冀人口密度、经济增长、产业结构和环境规制对能源消费的影响。其次,采用SVAR模型通过脉冲响应函数和方差分解,研究京津冀人口密度变动对能源消费的作用机理和动态影响关系。结果显示,京津冀三地的人口密度、人均实际GDP与能源消费之间存在正向影响关系,其中河北省影响系数最大;北京和天津第三产业占比与能源消费之间存在反向影响关系,河北省第三产业占比对能源消费的影响不显著;北京和天津的环境规制对能源消费影响不显著,河北省环境规制对能源消费具有正向影响;京津冀地区和京冀两地人口密度变动对能源消费的影响在短期呈现负向效应,但是在中长期京津冀地区和三地人口密度变动对能源消费的影响均先上升然后缓慢下降,人口集聚具有集约用能效应。相对于能源消费自身影响而言,京津冀人口密度变动对能源消费的贡献相对较小,其影响效应有限。最后,对京津冀人口流动和能源消费一体化协同发展提出对策建议。     

Evaluation of Multicriteria Decision Analysis Algorithms in Food Safety: A Case Study on Emerging Zoonoses Prioritization

Decision making in food safety is a complex process that involves several criteria of different nature like the expected reduction in the number of illnesses, the potential economic or health-related cost, or even the environmental impact of a given policy or intervention. Several multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) algorithms are currently used, mostly individually, in food safety to rank different options in a multifactorial environment. However, the selection of the MCDA algorithm is a decision problem on its own because different methods calculate different rankings. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of different uncertainty sources on the rankings of MCDA problems in the context of food safety. For that purpose, a previously published data set on emerging zoonoses in the Netherlands was used to compare different MCDA algorithms: MMOORA, TOPSIS, VIKOR, WASPAS, and ELECTRE III. The rankings were calculated with and without considering uncertainty (using fuzzy sets), to assess the importance of this factor. The rankings obtained differed between algorithms, emphasizing that the selection of the MCDA method had a relevant impact in the rankings. Furthermore, considering uncertainty in the ranking had a high influence on the results. Both factors were more relevant than the weights associated with each criterion in this case study. A hierarchical clustering method was suggested to aggregate results obtained by the different algorithms. This complementary step seems to be a promising way to decrease extreme difference among algorithms and could provide a strong added value in the decision-making process.