The impact of international migration on fertility: an econometric population model

The authors develop an econometric model to examine the impact of migration on fertility in Greece in the period 1968-1986. In the model, the fertility equation is considered within a simultaneous equation system, and international migration is included as an explanatory factor of both fertility and per capita income. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

The impact of conservative discourses in family policies, population politics, and gender rights in Poland and Turkey

This article uses childcare as a case study to test the impact of ideas that embody a traditional understanding of gender relations in relation to childcare. Conservative ideas regard increasing female labor market participation as a cause of decreasing fertility on the functioning of a set of general policies to increase fertility rates. It looks into the Polish and Turkish contexts for empirical evidence. The Polish context shows a highly institutionalized system of family policies in contrast to almost unessential institutions in Turkey. Formally, the labor market participation of women is much lower in Turkey than in Poland. Yet, given the size of the informal market in Turkey, women's labor participation is obviously higher than what appears in the statistics. Bearing in mind this divergence, the article suggests Poland and Turkey as two typologies for studying population politics in contexts where socially conservative ideas regarding gender remain paramount. We qualify ideas as conservative if they enforce a traditional understanding of gender relations in care-giving and underline women's role in the labor market as an element of declining fertility. In order to delineate ideational impact, this article looks into how ideas (a) supplant and (b) substitute formal institutions. Therefore, we argue that there are two mechanisms pertaining to the dominance of conservative conventions: conservative ideas may either supplant the institutional impact on family policies, or substitute them thanks to a superior reasoning which societies assign to them. Furthermore, conservative conventions prevail alongside women's customary unpaid work as care-givers regardless of the level of their formal workforce participation. We propose as our major findings for the literature of population politics that ideas, as ubiquitous belief systems, are more powerful than institutions since they provide what is perceived as legitimate, acceptable, and good for the societies under study. In the end, irrespective of the presence of institutions, socially conservative ideas prevail.     

The Changing Catholicism in Poland

Abstract

When Slavic first began to be studied, it was noticed that several common Indo-European (IE) roots appeared to be lacking, one of which is conventionally believed to be IE *k’uō(n)/k’un- ‘dog.’ Recently, however, it has been the subject of two papers, relating it respectively to Slavic *pьsъ (Hamp 1980), and Slavic *zvon- (Holzer 1991). Hamp proposes that IE *k’uō(n)/k’un- is, in fact, originally derived from IE *pek’u-‘cattle.’ According to such a reconstruction, *k’uō(n)/k’un- would be derived from *pk’uō(n)/pk’un-, a zero-grade of *pek’u-ō(n)/pek’un-, with little semantic difficulty. Meanwhile, Holzer presents a fairly convincing case for a root *zvo-/zvon- ‘dog’ in Common Slavic (< IE *k’uō(n)/k’un-), where the voicing in the initial *z- may be treated as the result of borrowing within his Temematisch framework (< *svo- dog, cf. Lithuanian ?uo - id.). The root *zvon- in Slavic is normally associated with sounds, especially ringing. Holzer includes a comprehensive survey of the semantic issues. Hamp and Holzer are by no means mutually exclusive. Coming down firmly on the side of one or the other is difficult; my own preference would be for a theory that would incorporate them both. Such a theory is developed in this paper.     

波兰有轨电车的现代化改造

<正>早在20世纪70年代,波兰很少人拥有私人汽车,有轨电车、公共汽车和通勤铁路的票价很便宜,公共交通的客运量达到总出行人次的85%。公共交通的国有垄断性质决定了国家负担全部投资费用和运行补贴。随着波兰社会制度的变革,公共交通实行市场化,运行补贴被取消,导致票价大幅度提高,因而诱发私人汽车增多,公共交通的市场份额下降到50%。地方政府面临车辆维修     

The Role of Foreign Banks in Poland

The paper examines the process of the Polish banking sector's internationalisation, with a particular intention of describing incentives and the impact of foreign banks entry. In order to carry out an assessment of changes in the banking market structure and banks' performance, the study introduces arguments and motivations of foreign capital inflow into local financial systems with implications for the stability and the development of the banking sector. The role of foreign capital in the Polish economy derives from an analysis of the effects of foreign banks penetration, in terms of changes in competitiveness, efficiency, and stability of the banking sector. An assessment of concentration level and development prospects have also been included.     

Character work in social movements

Social movements carry out extensive character work, trying to define not only their own reputations but those of other major players in their strategic arenas. Victims, villains, and heroes form the essential triad of character work, suggesting not only likely plots but also the emotions that audiences are supposed to feel for various players. Characters have been overlooked in cultural analysis, possibly because they often take visual, non-narrative forms. By focusing on characters within movements, we illuminate some cultural dilemmas that both organizers and their opponents face as they try to influence players’ reputations.