Language as Both Human Capital and Ethnicity1

In this study, we estimate earnings differentials for knowledge of thirteen minority languages in Canada's three largest urban area. We find that conditional on knowledge of a majority language, knowledge of a minority language is associated with lower earnings. However, the negative differential diminishes for those languages with large local populations. This suggests a positive human capital effect which is for the most part swamped by a negative factor. We argue that this factor is a reflection of ethnicity operating either through ethnolinguistic labor market enclaves or labor market discrimination against minorities.     

A Numerical Solution to the Nonhomogeneous Two-Stage MVK Model of Cancer

In this article, we describe a straightforward method for solving the probability of at least one malignant cell by time t, and the associated hazard function, in the general (i.e., nonhomogeneous) two-stage Moolgavkar-Venzon-Knudson (MVK) model of cancer. The method consists of solving four coupled ordinary differential equations derived from the Kolmogorov backward equations for this process. The relationship of this method to previously proposed solutions is discussed.     

Which Child Immigrants Face Earnings Disparity? Age‐at‐immigration,Ethnic Minority Status and Labour Market Attainment in Canada

Using Canadian Census microdata from 1990 to 2005, we investigate the earnings attainment of immigrants to Canada in 6 age‐at‐arrival cohorts. In comparison to past work we extend our understanding regarding three dimensions of the age at immigration debate: we explore heterogeneity across fine grained age‐at‐arrival cohorts, over a fifteen‐year period and across different ethnic groups. We find that white immigrants and female immigrants arriving in Canada prior to age 18 face little earnings disparity. In contrast, visible minority male immigrants face significant earnings disparity regardless of their age‐at‐migration, and additionally this disparity increases sharply with age‐at‐migration. We find a break in earnings attainment at an age‐of‐arrival of 17, with immigrants arriving after this age performing much worse than those arriving at this age or earlier. The patterns observed are found for visible minority immigrants as a whole, and for Chinese, South Asian and African/Black origin immigrants examined separately.     

Multiple facility location on a network with linear reliability order of edges

We study the problem of locating facilities on the nodes of a network to maximize the expected demand serviced. The edges of the input graph are subject to random failure due to a disruptive event. We consider a special type of failure correlation. The edge dependency model assumes that the failure of a more reliable edge implies the failure of all less reliable ones. Under this dependency model called Linear Reliability Order (LRO) we give two polynomial time exact algorithms. When two distinct LRO’s exist, we prove the total unimodularity of a linear programming formulation. In addition, we show that minimizing the sum of facility opening costs and expected cost of unserviced demand under two orderings reduces to a matching problem. We prove NP-hardness of the three orderings case and show that the problem with an arbitrary number of orderings generalizes the deterministic maximum coverage problem. When a demand point can be covered only if a facility exists within a distance limit, we show that the problem is NP-hard even for a single ordering.     

Exploring the role of faith in resettlement among Muslim Syrian refugees

ABSTRACT

Over 95% of the refugees from Syria who have resettled in the United States are Muslim. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the role of the Islamic faith in contributing to resiliency among recently resettled refugees from Syria. Ten in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Syrian adults who had arrived in the United States between 3 months and 2 years prior to the study. Findings emphasized the primary role of the Islamic faith in the lives of participants. For participants in this study, identifying as Muslim was an essential part of their identity and served as a source of comfort, strength, pride, and humility. Parents in the study expressed fears that their children would lose their connection to their culture and would grow up to devalue the Islamic faith and traditional religious practices due to their exposure to American values which they viewed less strict regarding dress, alcohol consumption, and faith practices. Understanding the important role that the Islamic faith can have in providing a source of comfort, strength, and empowerment for Syrian refugees, and working to build infrastructure to support and sustain these faith traditions is an essential component of refugee resettlement in the United States.     

On tail behaviour of kth upper order statistics under fixed and random sample sizes via tail equivalence

For a fixed positive integer k, limit laws of linearly normalized kth upper order statistics are well known. In this article, a comprehensive study of tail behaviours of limit laws of normalized kth upper order statistics under fixed and random sample sizes is carried out using tail equivalence which leads to some interesting tail behaviours of the limit laws. These lead to definitive answers about their max domains of attraction. Stochastic ordering properties of the limit laws are also studied. The results obtained are not dependent on linear norming and apply to power norming as well and generalize some results already available in the literature. And the proofs given here are elementary.     

Healthcare in India: Changing the Financing Strategy

The way in which healthcare is financed is critical for equity in access to healthcare. At present the proportion of public resources committed to healthcare in India is one of the lowest in the world, with less than one‐fifth of health expenditure being publicly financed. India has large‐scale poverty and yet the main source of financing healthcare is out‐of‐pocket expenditure. This is a cause of the huge inequities we see in access to healthcare. The article argues for strengthening public investment and expenditure in the health sector and suggests possible options for doing this. It also calls for a reform of the existing healthcare system by restructuring it to create a universal access mechanism which also factors in the private health sector. The article concludes that it is important to over‐emphasize the fact that health is a public or social good and so cannot be left to the vagaries of the market.     

Mental Health and Domestic Violence: 'I Call it Symptoms of Abuse'

Correspondence to Dr Cathy Humphreys, School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick CV4 7AL, UK. E-mail: c.f.Humphreys{at}warwick.ac.uk Summary Research evidence now clearly shows a direct link between women'sexperiences of domestic violence and heightened rates of depression,trauma symptoms, and selfharm. A research project based in Women'sAid outreach services provides further evidence of women's experiencesof severe emotional distress. However, their experiences ofmental health services were often found to be negative. A numberof practices within the medical model of mental health wereunhelpful including: the lack of recognition of trauma or provisionof trauma services; making the abuser invisible through focusingon the woman's mental health reified from her experiences ofabuse; blaming the victim; offering medication rather than counsellingsupport; the negative, consequent effects on child contact andchild protection proceedings if the woman is labelled with mentalhealth problems. Alternatively, women found services, oftenin the voluntary sector, helpful when they provided the followinginterventions: helping women name domestic violence; activelyasking about the abuse; attending to safety planning; respondingto women's specialist needs; and actively working with womento recover from abuse experiences. Support for her childrenwas also seen as very helpful. Implications for practice includethe commissioning of further services in the voluntary sector,addressing the inadequate response within the medical model,and increasing the sensitivity of responses to women's emotionaldistress across all sectors.