Domestic Supply,Job-Specialization and Sex-differences in Pay

This article proposes an explanation of sex-differences in job-allocation and pay in different institutional contexts. Job-allocation calculations are considered to be related to (1) the distribution of housework and (2) the skill-specialization requirements of jobs. In a context of uncertainty and imperfect information, housework and job-specialization requirements generate a particular incentive structure for each sex. This incentive structure can, however, be altered by governmental action. Welfare policies and services are expected to affect allocation decisions at the micro-level both by reducing the risks of skill-depreciation for women as well as by increasing their intra-household bargaining power. Both effects combined should reduce the economic pay-offs of “traditional” sphere-specialization by sex. This model is tested using a sub-sample of married and cohabiting employees drawn for the second round of the European Social Survey. Results based on nested random-intercept regressions show that sex-differences in job-specialization and housework can explain the wage effects of occupational sex-composition and have a significant direct impact on hourly earnings. Welfare-regime interactions also suggest that the association between housework and earnings is much weaker in societies displaying high levels of defamilialization and decommodification.

地方公共品供给、人口迁移与户籍制度--Tiebout 理论体系的地方性经验解释

Tiebout 模型是地方财政学的经典理论,后世从自利动机、财政外部性和公共品资本化等角度对其进行的拓展和修正,极大丰富了该理论的内涵,形成了一个对现实具有强解释力的理论体系。中国经济的发展,使国内地方公共品供给、人口迁移等问题越来越接近这一理论体系所勾勒的情形。本文利用其对江西的地方性经验进行解释,揭示了国内居民跨城市落户的投资移民性质,以及城市户籍管理和人口极差化流动的制度诱因。     

Pay equity in occupations: the nursing profession

The issue of comparable worth has been discussed in great detail, both in the media and in academic journals. This study provides an in-depth look at one female-dominated profession - the nursing profession. The focus of the analysis is on the determinants of individuals' decisions to participate or not participate in the nurse labor market. If the determinants are economic in nature, then comparable worth can be discussed in an economic framework. If, however, the decision is based on real or socialized differences in preferences, then other approaches may prove more valuable. This study finds that the choices made by the surveyed nurses were non-economic in nature.     

Population:Key to Balanced Food Supply

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Erratum to: Heterogeneous climate effects on human migration in Indonesia

We examine the effect of anomalous temperatures, rainfall levels, and monsoon timing on migration outcomes in Indonesia. Using panel data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey and high-resolution climate data, we assess whether intra- and inter-province moves are used as a response to climatic shocks. We evaluate the relative importance of temperature, rainfall, and monsoon timing for migration. Temperature and monsoon timing have significant effects, and these do not operate in the direction commonly assumed. Estimated effects vary according to individuals’ gender, membership in a farm household, and location. We also analyze climate effects on sources of household income, which point to the multi-phasic nature of household responses. Results undermine narratives of a uniform global migratory response to climate change and highlight the heterogeneous use of migration as a response to such changes. By extending previous research on environmentally induced migration in Indonesia, we also highlight the sensitivity of estimates to alternative climate and migration measures.     

Altruism and Market-Like Behavior: An Analysis of Willingness to Pay for Recycled Paper Products

The contrast between self-interested behavior guided by rational choice and altruistic behavior guided by normative considerations is a central theme in the social sciences. This study suggests that market and market-like behavior, the context where self-interest is expected to dominate, is in fact often motivated by altruism. This argument is tested by examining a willingness to pay measure, a surrogate for the market that is finding substantial use in analyses of public policy. In particular, the ability of the Schwartz model of altruism to explain willingness to pay for recycled products is examined. Findings indicate that even as the Schwartz model has explained many purely altruistic behaviors, it also can explain self-reported willingness to pay. While economists often have noted the importance of rational choice in even the most intimate of human decisions, this study notes the importance of normative altruism in even the most calculated.