Language skills and earnings among legalized aliens

This paper uses the data on males and females from the 1989 Legalized Population Survey (LPS), a sample of aliens granted amnesty under 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, to analyse English language proficiency and earnings. We use a model of English language proficiency that is based on economic incentives, exposure and efficiency variables that measure the costs and benefits of aquiring English language skills. Consistent with the model, in this sample of former illegal aliens, English language proficiency is greater for those with more schooling, who immigrated at a younger age, who have been in the United States longer, with a more continous stay, and who have less access to other origin language speakers where they live. Earnings are higher by about 8% for men and 17% for women who are proficient in both speaking and reading English, compared to those lacking both skills. Received: 13 February 1998/Accepted: 9 July 1998     

Do smart parents raise smart children? The intergenerational transmission of cognitive abilities

Complementing prior research on income and educational mobility, we examine the intergenerational transmission of cognitive abilities. We find that individuals’ cognitive skills are positively related to their parents’ abilities, despite controlling for educational attainment and family background. Differentiating between mothers’ and fathers’ IQ transmission, we find different effects on the cognition of sons and daughters. Cognitive skills that are based on past learning are more strongly transmitted between generations than skills that are related to innate abilities. Our findings are not compatible with a pure genetic model but rather point to the importance of parental investments for children’s cognitive outcomes.     

‘Incorrect,loose and coarse terms’: classifying nineteenth-century English-language causes of death for modern use. An example using Tasmanian data

This paper outlines a cause-of-death classification system applicable to nineteenth-century English-language death data. Consisting of 32 categories, this system combines aspects of William Farr’s nosology, developed in nineteenth-century Britain, and the modern International Classification of Diseases. It is sufficiently broad for meaningful categories to be created for analytical purposes, but specific enough for particular cause-of-death trends and patterns to be traced. Individual-level death registration data from the British colony of Tasmania, 1838–1899, are used to demonstrate the application of this classification system. The paper describes the history of recording causes of death in nineteenth-century Tasmania and discusses several problems particular to nineteenth-century cause-of-death data. The benefits and disadvantages of three existing nosologies, Farr’s, Preston’s and the International Classification of Diseases, are considered with reference to nineteenth-century data. The final sections outline the data and method, and discuss an application of the classification system developed for cause-specific child mortality in nineteenth-century Tasmania.     

Family and neighborhood sources of socioeconomic inequality in children’s achievement

We examined family and neighborhood sources of socioeconomic inequality in children’s reading and mathematics achievement using data from the 2000–2001 Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey. To describe inequality in achievement scores, we used Gini coefficients and concentration indices and multilevel regression models. We found no inequality in children’s achievement by family income when other variables in the model were held constant. Mother’s reading scores and average neighborhood levels of income accounted for the largest proportion of inequality in children’s achievement. Neighborhood economic status appears to be strongly associated with children’s skills acquisition.     

Race,language, and social policy: Comparing the black and Hispanic experience in the U.S.

Recent studies project that most new U.S. workers by the year 2000 will be minorities, and warn that educational deficiencies among blacks and Hispanics may lead to a two-tiered society. Since the 1960s the U.S. government, prodded by a coalition of black and Hispanic rights organizations, has adopted a minority-discrimination model of equal opportunity that requires affirmative-action benefits for both protected groups to compensate for past discrimination. For Hispanics these programs have required separate, Spanish-language instruction in school.Since 1969, the availability of new survey data on ethnicity, family income, and Englishlanguage proficiency from the Census Bureau and the National Assessment for Educational Progress has permitted comparisons of social mobility by racial and ethnic groups. These studies show greater economic success among nonEnglish-speaking groups from Europe and Asia than among white-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant (WASP) groups, and they show similar upward mobility among Hispanics when proficiency in English is taken into account.These optimistic trends are tempered by the demands of the new global economy for high levels of literacy and numeracy in the knowledge-based industries of the future. In this job competition Asian-Americans, despite their language difficulties, have been most successful and blacks least successful. The political and ideological needs of black and Hispanic leaders have tied government policies to the minority-discrimination model and linked Hispanic remedies to Spanish-language programs, but the empirical data associate economic success with the acculturation model and English-language proficiency.     

A model of destination-language acquisition: Application to male immigrants in Canada

We develop a model using human capital theory and an immigrant adjustment process to generate hypotheses on the acquisition of destination-language skills among immigrants. The model is tested for adult male immigrants in the 1991 Census of Canada. Use of English or French is greater, the younger the age at migration, the longer the duration of residence, the higher the educational attainment, the farther the country of origin from Canada, and the linguistically closer the mother tongue to English or French, and among those who are not refugees, those from a former British, French, or American colony, and those who live in an area where fewer people speak the respondent’s mother tongue. The explanatory variables based on birthplace have behavioral interpretations and possess almost as much explanatory power as the birthplace dummy variables     

Employment Patterns of Less-Skilled Workers: Links to Children’s Behavior and Academic Progress

Using data from five waves of the Women’s Employment Survey (WES; 1997–2003), we examine the links between low-income mothers’ employment patterns and the emotional behavior and academic progress of their children. We find robust and substantively important linkages between several different dimensions of mothers’ employment experiences and child outcomes. The pattern of results is similar across empirical approaches—including ordinary least squares and child fixed-effect models, with and without an extensive set of controls. Children exhibit fewer behavior problems when mothers work and experience job stability (relative to children whose mothers do not work). In contrast, maternal work accompanied by job instability is associated with significantly higher child behavior problems (relative to employment in a stable job). Children whose mothers work full-time and/or have fluctuating work schedules also exhibit significantly higher levels of behavior problems. However, full-time work has negative consequences for children only when it is in jobs that do not require cognitive skills. Such negative consequences are completely offset when this work experience is in jobs that require the cognitive skills that lead to higher wage growth prospects. Finally, fluctuating work schedules and full-time work in non-cognitively demanding jobs are each strongly associated with the probability that the child will repeat a grade or be placed in special education.     

The Measurement of Economic, Social and Environmental Performance of Countries: A Novel Approach

This paper presents a new analytical framework for assessing spatial disparities among countries. It takes for granted that the analysis of a country’s performance cannot be limited solely to either economic or social factors. The aim of the paper is to combine relevant economic and ‘non-economic’ (mainly social) aspects of a country’s performance in an integrated logical framework. Based on this idea, a structural simultaneous equation model will be presented and estimated in order to explore the direction of the causal relationship between economic and non-economic aspects of a country’s performance. Furthermore, an exploration of the trajectory that each country has registered over time along a virtuous path will be offered. By means of a matrix persistency/transition analysis, the countries will be classified in clusters of good/bad performance. One of the most interesting conclusions concerns the inability of most countries to turn the higher educational skills of the population into greater economic performance over time. In addition, our analysis also shows that making an accurate picture record and formulating related policy aiming at environmental care is highly desirable. It is surprising that only a few countries have reached a favourable economic and environmental performance simultaneously.     

Do Immigrants Work In Riskier Jobs?

Recent media and government reports suggest that immigrants are more likely to hold jobs with poor working conditions than U.S.-born workers, perhaps because immigrants work in jobs that “ natives don’t want.” Despite this widespread view, earlier studies have not found immigrants to be in riskier jobs than natives. This study combines individual-level data from the 2003-2005 American Community Survey with Bureau of Labor Statistics data on work-related injuries and fatalities to take a fresh look at whether foreign-born workers are employed in more dangerous jobs. The results indicate that immigrants are in fact more likely to work in risky jobs than U.S.-born workers, partly due to differences in average characteristics, such as immigrants’ lower English-language ability and educational attainment.     

Unseemly and unwomanly behaviour: Comparing women’s control of their fertility in Australia and England from 1890 to 1970

From 1890 to 1970 Australian women’s use of female-controlled birth control methods was higher than that of English women. The latter primarily depended upon withdrawal and condoms. Use of these male-controlled methods of contraception is associated with low levels of female sexual pleasure, and the belief that husbands should initiate sexual activity and should control their wives’ fertility. I argue that higher use of female methods gave white Australian women greater sexual and reproductive autonomy throughout this period. The view that they were in a less desirable position than women in other Anglo cultures needs to be examined more closely.     

Obtaining multistate life table distributions for highly refined subpopulations from cross-sectional data: A bayesian extension of sullivan’s method

Multistate life table methods are often used to estimate the proportion of remaining life that individuals can expect to spend in various states, such as healthy and unhealthy states. Sullivan’s method is commonly used when panels containing data on transitions are unavailable and true multistate tables cannot be generated. Sullivan’s method requires only cross-sectional mortality data and cross-sectional data indicating prevalence in states of interest. Such data often come from sample surveys, which are widely available. Although the data requirements for Sullivan’s method are minimal, the method is limited in its ability to produce estimates for subpopulations because of limited disaggregation of data in cross-sectional mortality files and small cell sizes in aggregated survey data. In this article, we develop, test, and demonstrate a method that adapts Sullivan’s approach to allow the inclusion of covariates in producing interval estimates of state expectancies for any desired subpopulation that can be specified in the cross-sectional prevalence data. The method involves a three-step process: (1) using Gibbs sampling to sample parameters from a bivariate regression model; (2) using ecological inference for producing transition probability matrices from the Gibbs samples; (3) using standard multistate calculations to convert the transition probability matrices into multistate life tables.     

Language usage and fertility in the Mexican-origin population of the United States

This article examines the effects of English proficiency and female education on cumulative and recent fertility within the Mexican-origin population in the U.S. To ascertain whether the cultural or the human capital aspects of linguistic variables have the greater salience for fertility behavior, fertility patterns of bilingual women are compared with those of monolingual women speaking English or Spanish. Using the 1980 U.S. Census 5 percent Public Use Microdata Sample for ever-married Mexican-origin women aged 15-44, we find that for almost all age cohorts, the effects of English proficiency are negative and increase with rising education. The strength of the interaction is greater in younger age groups. Greater English proficiency is also associated with a more negative impact of education for native- than foreign-born women. Overall, the influence of "opportunity cost," as opposed to cultural factors, is more important in shaping the fertility behavior of these women.     

Are Educational Mismatches Responsible for the ‘Inequality Increasing Effect’ of Education?

This paper asks whether educational mismatches can account for the positive association between education and wage inequality found in the data. We use two different data sources, the European Community Household Panel and the Portuguese Labour Force Survey, and consider several types of mismatch, including overqualification, underqualification and skills mismatch. We test our hypothesis using two different measurement methods, the ‘statistical’ and the ‘subjective’ approach. The results are robust to the different choices and unambiguously show that the positive effect of education on wage inequality is not due to the prevalence of educational mismatches in the labour market.     

Changes in the quality of life of Durban’s people

Durban, the busiest port and second largest industrial hub in South Africa, has a developmental vision that sees its residents living in ‚acceptably serviced housing’ and enjoying a ‚generally high quality of life that can be sustained’. This vision is in response to South Africa’s transitional aspirations to move from an inequitable apartheid state to a democratic society with greater socio-economic parity. Since 1998 the eThekwini Municipality, which is the local authority responsible for the city of Durban, has conducted annual surveys to monitor the changes in the quality of life of Durban’s people. Structured questionnaire interviews were administered in 14 300 dwellings between 1998 and 2005. The samples drawn each year were representative of the city’s demographics and covered a wide range of housing types. Results indicate that parity of life satisfaction between race groups is as far apart in 2005 as it was in 1998. The paper undertakes trend analysis, from a local government perspective, of key objective and subjective variables in the surveys. It identifies the domains that have the greatest impact on satisfaction with life, and reports the salient issues for black householders, who have the lowest level of life satisfaction.The Research Locale:  Durban, which is a port city on the east coast of South Africa, has a population of over 3 million people. The population is comprised of the following groups: Asian (20%), black (68%), coloured (3%) and white (9%). It is Africa’s busiest port and is South Africa’s second largest industrial hub. It provides key trade linkages to Johannesburg, which is South Africa’s largest industrial hub. The major economic sectors are manufacturing, tourism, finance and transport. The complex topography is intersected by 19 rivers that flow to 98 kms of coastline.     

On the Compatibility of Islam and Gender Equality

Although the Muslim world is sometimes depicted as a homogeneous civilization lacking democracy and gender equality, Muslim countries show tremendous economic, political and cultural variation. In this paper, this variation is used to gain insight into the determinants of women’s labor market participation (LMP) in the Muslim world. We use data on 45 Muslim countries and apply SEM models to determine effects of modernization, democracy, cultural background, and state Islamization on women’s participation in the formal economy (absolute LMP) and on the share of women in the labor force (relative LMP). Women’s absolute LMP is higher in Muslim countries with higher levels of economic development and in the oil-exporting countries. For women’s relative LMP, practical democracy (the degree to which people actively participate in the system) takes in a key position. It has a strong positive effect on women’s relative LMP and mediates the effects of economic development (positive), formal democratic structures (positive) and state Islamization (negative) on women’s relative LMP. Results indicate that in these countries modernization may lead to empowerment of women by increasing their absolute LMP, but that for attaining gender equality the political opportunity structures is most important.     

Changing the Gender Balance in Caring: Fatherhood and the Division of Parental Leave in Norway

In this article, we study fathers’ use of parental leave in Norway, using register data from 1993 to 1997. In 1993, a special father’s quota (1 month) was introduced in the parental leave program. The father’s quota is a success in the sense that 85% of fathers entitled to the leave use it, but few take more than their quota (1 month). One policy intention was to make a real change in the gender balance in care. The analyses show that gender balance in breadwinning has a strong effect on fathers’ use of parental leave: controlling for parents’ educational level, labor market attachment and father’s income, we find that the more mothers contribute to the family economy and the more equalized their earnings are, the more parental leave fathers take.     

Are Father’s or Mother’s Socioeconomic Characteristics More Important Influences on Student Performance? Recent International Evidence

Since the early 1970s the importance of mothers’ socioeconomic characteristics on their children’s educational and occupational attainment has been acknowledged. However, it is not clear if fathers’ characteristics have a stronger influence because men usually have stronger attachments to the labour market, or alternatively mothers’ characteristics are more important because of their greater role in children’s socialization. This study addresses this question by comparing the influence of father’s and mother’s education and occupation on student performance in literacy and numeracy using data from 30 countries. The impact of mother’s education is usually greater or comparable to that of father’s education. In contrast, substantially stronger effects for mother’s occupational status compared to father’s were rare. In most countries the impact of mother’s socioeconomic characteristics (education plus occupation) on student performance is comparable to that for father’s. Of the four indicators of socioeconomic background, father’s occupational status and mother’s educational attainment tend to have stronger effects, although many countries do not conform to this pattern. There are indications that the relative importance of mother’s characteristics have increased over time.

Knowing One’s Lot in Life Versus Climbing the Social Ladder: The Formation of Redistributive Preferences in Urban China

This paper examines, how individual preferences for redistribution in general and redistribution to improve access to education, improve social protection for the poor, reduce income inequality and reduce unemployment depend on beliefs about what determines one’s lot in life and self-assessed prospects for climbing the social ladder in urban China. We find that beliefs about what determine one’s lot in life and subjective perceptions of future mobility are correlated with preferences for redistribution. We find that those who believe one’s lot in life is outside their control are generally more likely to favour redistribution. We show that this result is consistent with the existence of an altruism effect among the rich and entitlement effect among the poor. These findings are robust to the inclusion of control variables for the respondent’s personal characteristics and the location in which he or she lives.     

Wives and ex-wives: A new test for homogamy bias in the widowhood effect

Increased mortality following the death of a spouse (the “widowhood effect”) may be due to (1) causation, (2) bias from spousal similarity (homogamy), or (3) bias from shared environmental exposures. This article proposes new tests for bias in the widowhood effect by examining husbands, wives, and ex-wives in a longitudinal sample of over 1 million elderly Americans. If the death of an ex-wife has no causal effect on the mortality of her husband, then an observed association between the mortality of an ex-wife and her husband may indicate bias, while the absence of an effect of an ex-wife’s death on her husband’s mortality would discount the possibility of homogamy bias (and also of one type of shared-exposure bias). Results from three empirical tests provide strong evidence for an effect of a current wife’s death on her husband’s mortality yet no statistically signifi cant evidence for an effect of an ex-wife’s death on her husband’s mortality. These results strengthen the causal interpretation of the widowhood effect by suggesting that the widowhood effect is not due to homogamy bias to any substantial degree.