REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN INSURANCE-INDUCED UNEMPLOYMENT IN CANADA

This paper provides empirical estimates of the effects of selected aspects of the unemployment insurance scheme on unemployment rates in the five economic regions of Canada. Separate five equation econometric models are estimated for each region, using annual time series data for the period 1953–1972. The results indicate that the unemployment insurance scheme had a substantial effect on unemployment rates, and that this effect varied considerably among regions.     

ENVIRONMENTAL INEQUALITY IN METROPOLITAN AMERICA IN 2000

ABSTRACT

This article compares black and Hispanic environmental inequality levels across 14 of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States and asks how conclusions regarding the existence of environmental inequality differ when different definitions of environmental inequality are employed. Using census tracts as the unit of analysis, industrial pollution data from the Toxic Release Inventory, and demographic data from the U.S. census, tobit regression analysis is used to determine whether two types of environmental racial inequality—disparate social impacts inequality and relative distribution inequality—existed in each metropolitan area in 2000. Results show that black and Hispanic environmental inequality were fairly widespread throughout the 14 metropolitan areas, that Hispanic environmental inequality was more widespread than black environmental inequality, and that conclusions vary depending upon which definition of environmental inequality is employed. This latter findings suggests that the conclusions researchers draw are likely to be inaccurate if they do not properly specify the definitions of environmental inequality they are using and the types of environmental inequality they are studying.     

RETURNS TO INVESTORS IN STOCKS IN NEW INDUSTRIES

We examine investors' returns from publicly traded stock in new industries associated with major changes in transportation and communication in the United States. Return distributions during the development of own‐brand personal computers, airlines, airplane and automobile manufacturers, railroads, and telegraphs reveal three general characteristics. A few companies generate outstanding returns, many firms fail, and returns are volatile. Firms' expected returns are higher than market returns for three of the five industries. Sharpe ratios and Jensen's alphas for portfolios of each new industry indicate that portfolios of stocks in firms in new industries are not an obvious bad deal. (JEL G1, G12, N2, N21, N22)     

WORK–FAMILY CULTURE IN FOUR ORGANIZATIONS IN FINLAND

The main objective of this study was to examine work–family culture in four organizations in Finland (n=1,114). Specifically, we attempted to clarify whether perceived work–family culture would vary according to gender, economic sector and type of organization. Furthermore, we investigated whether these perceptions would be related to employee self-reported well-being. The study data were gathered during 2001 by a questionnaire filled in by personnel from four different organizations, i.e. a municipal social and healthcare department (n=496), a municipal education department (n=232), a paper mill (n=183) and an IT organization (n=199). The first two organizations represented the public sector and the latter two the private sector in the Finnish economy. The results showed, first, that work–family culture was assessed more positively within the public sector organizations than in the private sector. Second, the work–family culture was experienced least positively in the paper mill and most positively in the municipal education department. Third, there were also variations between same-sector organizations, i.e. the paper mill and the IT organization. Finally, it emerged that poorer perceptions of work–family culture were related to decreased work–family balance, job satisfaction and positive job-related mood experiences.     

ADOLESCENTS' INCONSISTENCY IN SELF-REPORTED SMOKING: A COMPARISON OF REPORTS IN SCHOOL AND IN HOUSEHOLD SETTINGS

Extent and sources of inconsistency in self-reported cigarette smoking between self-administered school surveys and household interviews was examined in two longitudinal multiethnic adolescent samples, the urban Transition to Nicotine Dependence in Adolescence (TND) (N = 832) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) (N = 4,414). Inconsistency was defined as a positive report of smoking in school followed by a negative report in the household. Smoking questions were ascertained with paper-and-pencil instruments (PAPI-SAQ) in school in both studies, and computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) in TND but audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) in Add Health in the household. In TND, 23.5 percent of youths who reported smoking lifetime and 20.4 percent of those who reported smoking the last 12 months in the school survey reported in the household never having smoked; in Add Health, the latter was 8.6 percent. Logistic regressions identified five common correlates of inconsistency across the two studies: younger age, ethnic minority status, lesser involvement in deviant activities, having nonsmoking parents and friends. In TND, interviewing of youth and parent by the same interviewer increased inconsistent reporting. Matching the definition of inconsistent reporting and the age, gender and race/ethnic distributions of TND on an urban Add Health subsample reduced the predicted rate of inconsistency in TND. The estimated bias attributable to CAPI compared with ACASI methodology did not reach significance in the aggregated matched samples suggesting that irrespective of administration mode, household interviews decrease reporting of smoking, especially among younger, minority and more conventional youths embedded in a social network of nonsmokers.     

EAST-WEST DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDES ABOUT EMPLOYMENT AND FAMILY IN GERMANY

This article examines East-West differences in attitudes toward the traditional gender division of labor among German women and men, using data from the 1991 German Social Survey (ALLBUS). We test hypotheses about the effects of region and gender, and the interaction of both, in shaping gender-role attitudes. The results indicate that the combination of region and gender produces (1) a similar gender gap in attitudes in both regions, with women in East and West voicing stronger opposition to traditional gender roles than their male counterparts and (2) regional differences in attitudes, with East Germans more likely than West Germans to oppose a gender-based division of labor. Thus, this study shows that although state socialism was successful in fostering more progressive attitudes among East Germans, especially women, it did not eliminate the gender gap in attitudes about gender, work, and family.     

SEX DIFFERENCES IN A SOCIOECONOMIC INDEX FOR OCCUPATIONS IN CANADA

Ce travail elabore un index socio-economique pour les femmes qui sont emThe Vendeeloyeës, base sur les niveaux pridominants d'education et de revenu dans 465 professions exercees par des femmes en 1970. L'index ainsi que ses deux composantes sont alors utilisés dans une comparaison de la structure socio-économique de la main-d'oeuvre masculine et féminine qui fait usage d'un index semblable pour les hommes tel que rapporté par Blishen et McRoberts (1976). Nous avons trouve que pour les 465 professions, il y a une ressemblance tres proche entre les hommes et les femmes quant A la stratification professionnelle selon le niveau d'éducation mais qu'il y a des différences considérables reliées au sexe lorsqu'il s'agit de la stratification selon le revenu. Les moyennes des points en matiére socio-economique pour les hommes et les femmes qui sont employés étaient presque identiques mais ce résultat, loin de prouver qu'il y a égalité des sexes, souligne en fait une faiblesse de base de I'index tel qu'employé dans I'étude de la stratification des sexes. En combinant de faqon additive I'education et les niveaux de revenu pour chaque sexe, l'index dissimule le fait que les femmes ont en general tendance à toucher moins de revenu que les hommes mais elles se retrouvent dans des professions reliées à des niveaux d'éducation plus élevés. Nos résultats viennent s'ajouter a la littérature sur la discrimination des sexes dans la structure professionnelle et constituent une mise en garde contre I'usage exclusif d'index socio-économiques basés sur les professions dans I'étude de la stratification des sexes. This paper develops a socioeconomic index for employed women, based upon predominant education and income levels in 465 occupations having female incumbents in 1970. The index and its two components are then employed in a comparison of the socioeconomic structure of male and female labour forces, which makes use of an analogous index for men, reported by Blishen and McRoberts (1976). We find that, across the 465 occupations, there is a close similarity between men and women respecting occupational stratification by education level, but there are considerable sex differences in the pattern of stratification by income. Mean socioeconomic scores for employed men and women are found to be nearly identical, but this result, far from evidencing sexual equality, actually points up a basic weakness in the index as employed in the study of sexual stratification. In additively combining education and income levels for each sex, the index obscures the fact that women tend to receive generally less income than men, but are situated in occupations having relatively higher education levels. Our results add to the literature on sexual discrimination in the occupational structure and caution against the exclusive use of occupationally based socioeconomic indices in the study of sexual stratification.     

CAN CHANGES IN CONTEXT REDUCE VOTE OVERPORTING IN SURVEYS?

This paper reports the results of two split-sample experimentsdesinged to examine whether question context can reduce voteoverreporting in surveys. The first experiment tests the effectsof preceding the turnout item with a question about the locationof the polling place. If respondents who overreport do notknow where their polling place is, they should be less apt toreport incorrectly about turnout after being asked the locationof the poll. The second experiment tests the effects of precedingthe vote item with a question about lifetime electoral behaviour.If inaccurancy is dueto respondent's wanting to present themselvesin a favourable light, the oppurtunity to report past or usualgood citizenship should reduce the pressure to claim participationin the last election.     

ASOBI IN ACTION

In the past 30 years, play (asobi) has become the subject of a heated ideological debate in urban Japan, reflecting processes of cultural transformation. During these years, a late consumer culture characterized by an incessant pursuit of playlike hedonistic pleasures has reached its apotheosis within a conservative social context that maintains high levels of conformity and prioritizes production. It is against the background of these sociocultural dynamics that the cultural conceptualization and appreciation of play have been negotiated between play as a subsidiary activity complementary to work life, confined within boundaries, and play as a phenomenon of greatest personal significance, hardly constrained by time or space. These dialectics have influenced collective imaginaries, transforming play into a symbolic activity through which people can experience and reproduce cultural rhetoric about social distinctions, values and priorities.     

CHEATING IN CONTESTS

Wherever competition is used to motivate a desirable activity or productive effort it may also motivate undesirable and therefore prohibited behavior—that is, cheating—that the organizer of the contest attempts to police. For example, when workers compete for promotion, bonuses, or other rewards, they may misrepresent their output (i.e., commit fraud) or increase their output by unacceptable means (e.g., violate regulations). We show how the extent of cheating is determined by the payoffs at stake in the contest, the random component of output, probability of cheating being detected, number of contestants, and the penalty associated with being found to have cheated. We find that while greater enforcement reduces cheating, it may also reduce productive effort. We also identify how two particular aspects of enforcement, the awarding of default victories and use of correlated rather than independent audits, affect cheating behavior. (JEL J33, K42)     

聚焦

Chinese President Xi Jinping,on behalf of the Communist Party of China(CPC)Central Committee and the State Council,extended Spring Festival greetings to all Chinese at a reception in Beijing on January 30,2021.