Blue‐collar Emigration from India and Governance

Indian expatriates numbering about 6.5 million, i.e. one‐third of the Gulf population, have been engaged in skilled, semi‐skilled and unskilled work since the time of the oil boom in the Persian Gulf regions. Putting monetary benefits to one side, emigrants' problems, such as false promises of recruiting agents, high visa charges, hurdles at workplaces and a defective system to address the grievances of Indian workers in the 18 Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries, are still unaddressed. With this background, the aim of this article is to concentrate on emigration from India to the 18 ECR countries listed by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), Government of India (GoI). The GoI has identified these 18 countries because they are not labour‐ (emigrant‐) friendly, and are vulnerable to exploitation with regard to their labour standards. The article begins with conceptualizing ‘emigration’ in the Indian context. By focusing only on the ECR countries, the real picture concerning the situation of Indian emigrants is unfolded. These 18 ECR countries are almost the same in their treatment of blue‐collar emigrants. So, only this category of countries is selected for this work. The following key areas are discussed in this article: the role of the MOIA and the respective state governments in supporting and protecting these emigrants and their families; shortcomings in Indian embassies' administrative structure in protecting blue‐collar Indian workers; and the existing legislative provisions and welfare schemes for Indian emigrants working in the 18 ECR countries. In addition, the existing programmes at both central and state government level for returning and deporting workers are covered in this article.     

The impact of inheritance experiences in orphans and vulnerable children support in Zimbabwe: A caregivers' perspective

Despite the predominant contemporary and traditional coping strategies adopted in Zimbabwe in the past three decades and beyond, challenges and issues related to inheritance continued to affect the livelihood of both orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their caregivers. This article is a qualitative phenomenological study seeking to examine the perceptions, views, and feelings of the OVC and their caregivers on their lived experiences in OVC care and support in Zimbabwe. The study focusses on the caregivers' perspectives of the impact of the inheritance experiences in OVC care and support within their tribal local rural communities. In‐depth narrative interviews were conducted with 30 caregivers, corroborated with 10 OVC purposively sampled in the Gutu District of Zimbabwe. The results showed that although the caregivers are doing their best in executing their strategies for OVC care and support, the manipulation and misappropriation of the inheritances from deceased parents or grandparents that were meant to benefit the OVCs are still widespread in the rural communities of Zimbabwe. In conclusion, the study recommends the need for an integrated stakeholders' approach in educating the local rural communities about their inheritance rights.     

Emigration from Israel 1950-1981: a simulation study

"Using our mathematical model of a general theory of normative regulation, we have reproduced over 80% of the variance in the cumulative percentages of emigrants [from Israel], as well as the yearly percentages from 1950 to 1981. These results suggest that, except for a limited period following the 'Six-Day War' of 1967, no situation-specific explanations are needed to account for the trends in emigration from Israel, and the phenomenon can be adequately accounted for by the general theory of normative regulation in modern industrialized societies. Some practical conclusions to mitigate the process are drawn from these findings."     

日本历史认识问题的几个层次分析

本文认为,日本人的认识观具有多重性。日本文明与天皇制及东亚儒教文化、西 方文明和本土的武士道精神结合起来,形成了不同于大陆国家中国和半岛国家韩国的日本 岛国文化特征。日本也因此形成了不同于中韩两国历史认识的日本人认识的特质。本文从 上述日本文化特质出发,分析了日本人对天皇制、日本战犯远东国际审判和靖国神社等历史 认识问题的层次及其成因。     

冲突的策略——以Ｓ市三峡移民的生活适应为例

举世瞩目的三峡工程开工已十年有余了,伴随着这项浩大工程的是亘古未有的百万移民大迁移。三峡库区移民属于工程移民,工程移民与投资移民、技术移民有着明显的区别,他们除了得到国家发放的迁移补偿外,几乎没有资金,也不具备现代产业所需要的各项技术和知识,他们大多是贫困山区的农民。他们的到来不仅难以为当地社会的经济带来活力,反倒有可能成为当地社会的负担。不少接纳地的政府并不像对待投资移民、技术移民那样,鼓励他们的到来,而是在国家的指令下接纳了这些工程移民。类似这种指令性的特征同样发生在移民身上,他们不像投资移民、技…     

Employment and Wage Trajectories for Mothers Entering Low-skilled Work: Evidence from the British Lone Parent Cohort

UK government policy encourages mothers of young children in low-income families to enter or return to work, via tax credit subsidies and support for childcare. Maternal employment is seen a central plank in the campaign against child poverty, both because it raises income immediately and because working now is seen as paving the way to better employment prospects in the future. But there is little evidence about medium- and long-term outcomes for mothers entering low-skilled employment. We know little about how likely such women are to remain in work, let alone how likely they are to progress to higher-skilled and better-paid jobs. This article uses the British Lone Parent Cohort, a data set which tracked lone mothers from 1991 to 2001, to examine employment trajectories for up to 560 mothers with a youngest child under five at the start of the period. It creates a typology of trajectories over the decade, identifying the share of women broadly stable in work, those remaining at home and those following unstable pathways between the two. It goes on to explore the factors associated with different pathways, asking whether individual and household characteristics, job characteristics, or changes in circumstances such as new health problems are most important. Finally, the article examines differences in wage progression across groups of women following different pathways, and similarly tries to identify the main factors associated with faster progress.     

新兴国家崛起与构建国际经济新秩序——以中国的路径选择为视角

我国学界历来把发展中国家建立国际经济新秩序的斗争主要界定为诉求“特殊与差别待遇”之举。然而,晚近新兴国家不断崛起,与发达国家间经济实力差距趋于缩小。于是,中国等新兴国家开始向发达国家主张“平等与无差别待遇”。此等新路径的开辟,可能意味着正在推动继20世纪80年代初之后一度潮落的发展中国家建立国际经济新秩序的斗争将再掀高潮。有鉴于此,学界在继续研究传统路径的同时,应更加关注此等新路径的开辟对和平发展之中国的意义,从而完整、准确地把握中国参与重构更加公正之国际经济秩序斗争的基本态势。     

Dutch Women are Liberated, Migrant Women are a Problem: The Evolution of Policy Frames on Gender and Migration in the Netherlands, 1995–2005

Over the past decade, there has been a major shift in Dutch gender equality policy to an almost exclusive focus on migrant women. Simultaneously, the focus of ‘minority policies’ has shifted more and more towards gender relations. The appearance of migrant women at the top of the political agenda is remarkable. In this article we examine how this construction of migrant women as a political problem has come about, and consider its implications. As we argue, the dominant policy frames of emancipation and individual responsibility are reinforcing a dichotomy between the autochthonous ‘us’ and the allochthonous ‘them’. As the problem is increasingly defined as a cultural one, it is implicitly stated that there is no problem with the dominant culture and society. Barriers for participation are exclusively located in the migrant (Muslim) culture. In this view, Muslim migrants should first change their culture before they can fully integrate in Dutch society.     

Employment discrimination in upscale restaurants: Evidence from matched pair testing

White and racial minorities with equal qualifications applied simultaneously for 43 waiter/waitress jobs in New York City fine dining restaurants. Applicants of all demographic backgrounds were treated with equal courtesy, but minorities were only 54% as likely as whites to receive a job offer. This discrimination, either conscious or unconscious, was documented in 31% of restaurants tested. Post-hiring differences appear even more widespread, with front of the house minority restaurant servers averaging 12% lower earnings than their equally qualified white peers. Ensuring equal treatment in hiring would expand minority access to good jobs in Manhattan fine dining by 3500 positions but not make it universal.     

Community Empowerment and Democracy in Zimbabwe: A Case Study from Binga District

The development of an “informed and alert electorate” is essential for the establishment of democratic governance in Africa and for the continent's future economic growth. This need is particularly evident in Zimbabwe, which is currently in the midst of an acute political and economic crisis. This paper tells the story of a small community‐based organization in a remote part of Zimbabwe, which helped to raise political awareness and consciousness among a dis‐advantaged rural population. Because of the threat that it posed to the Mugabe government, the organization was forced to close in October 2002. However, its experience has important lessons for the future development of Zimbabwe—and of Africa as a whole.     

The "Employment-first" Welfare State: Lessons from the New Deal for Young People

New Labour is constructing an “employment‐first” welfare state. It plans through Jobcentre Plus to transform the passive culture of the benefit system by creating more explicit links between individual behaviour and engagement with labour market programmes. The New Deal for Young People (NDYP) has been at the forefront of these changes. This paper reports on the findings from four case studies that explored how the NDYP has changed young people's experience of the welfare state. It establishes that NDYP offers a mixture of employment assistance and “pressure” and has made progress in developing front‐line services and helping young long‐term unemployed people into work. NDYP does not, however, work for all. In areas of high unemployment and for some disadvantaged groups intermediate labour markets could enhance the New Deal and make real the offer of “employment opportunities for all”.     

Migration stage and household income inequality: Evidence from the Valle Alto of Bolivia

A three-stage diffusion model of international migration and inequality posits that household income inequality first increases, then decreases, and finally increases again as a community's migration experience deepens. Analysis of data from a survey of 417 households in the Valle Alto region of Bolivia supports this model. Concomitant with the region's overall position in the middle stage, the results indicate that income inequality among active migrant households is less than that of non-migrant households, suggesting that migration reduces inequality. Furthermore, income inequality between urban and rural areas is diminished by migration. Individual towns in the region, however, illustrate all three stages of the diffusion model. The study supports other research showing that the middle stage of migration generates the most remittances, the highest commitment of resources to the home community, and the lowest inequalities among households.     

Impact of outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from Asia

The study makes an attempt to contribute to the ongoing policy debate on whether OFDI has a complementary or substitution effect on domestic investment and hence, growth. For the purpose, the current paper uses panel data analysis to understand the impact of OFDI for 14 emerging economies in the period 1981–2019. We supplement the cross-country evidence with a time series analysis for India, given that FDI outflows from the country have been steadily increasing over the years. The results confirm the positive effect of OFDI on economic growth, but the substitution effect for domestic investment. This indicates that the OFDI positively affects growth through its effect on trade and other positive spillover effect, rather than domestic investment. However, in case of India, the findings support the complementary effect of OFDI on domestic investment.     

Neurobiological research involving human subjects: Perspectives from the office for protection from research risks

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations at 45 CFR 46 require that all human subjects research supported by HHS be reviewed and approved by a local Institutional Review Board (IRB). Investigators may not involve human subjects in research without their informed consent, and additional safeguards are required when subjects are likely to be vulnerable to coercion or undue influence. Application of the regulations to neurobiological research is discussed.     

Remittances,financial development and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for post-COVID-19 macroeconomic policies

To design and implement effective post-COVID-19 macroeconomics policies to tackle poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), policymakers need to understand the factors shaping poverty in the region. This paper investigates the effect of international remittances and financial development on poverty alleviation in 44 sub-Saharan African SSA countries from 2010 to 2019. The instrumental variable generalised method of moment technique results indicated that while remittances increase poverty, financial development contributes significantly to poverty reduction. The results consistently revealed that remittances increase both male and female poverty rates, while financial development significantly reduces male and female poverty rates. Other factors such as economic growth, foreign direct investment, and trade openness contributed significantly to reducing poverty. In contrast, government expenditure and foreign aid were found to increase poverty rate in SSA. These results are robust to the Lewbel two-stage least squares estimator. The practical implications of these findings for post-COVID-19 macroeconomic policies in SSA are discussed.     

Health Care during Transition and Health Systems Reform: Evidence from the Poorest CIS Countries

The poorest seven countries of the former Soviet Union (CIS‐7) moved from a centralized system of health‐care funding and delivery to a range of institutional and financial arrangements. The different paths chosen have implied different results in terms of available resources, internal efficiency, health‐care inequality, and the corresponding incidence of public expenditures. This paper examines the level, composition and allocation of public spending on health, in light of the evolution of the health systems during the transition. The financial constraints experienced by CIS‐7 countries were reflected in the decrease of health‐care quality, the collapse of the already inefficient public health activities, and the increased incidence of out‐of‐pocket expenditures. These factors, alongside the increase in poverty, resulted in a decrease in health‐care utilization, suggesting that these countries may experience difficulties in achieving the health‐related Millennium Development Goals.     

多维视角下共享经济理论研究综述:理论演进与研究主题

伴随着商业实践的蓬勃发展,共享经济已成为新的理论研究热点,本文对共享经济的理论演进脉络、研究主题进行了系统梳理。从时间维度上,将共享经济理论演进分为三个阶段:理论萌芽阶段、理论觉醒阶段和理论自觉阶段。另外,从经济学、管理学、社会学、法学等多维视角对共享经济进行解构,并从共享经济的消费者及资源提供者、平台、传统企业、政府、社会与环境等视角,总结当前共享经济研究主题,并对未来研究进行了展望。     

试论移民融合制度：以移民融入中国的法律问题为视角

国际移民面临一系列跨文化适应困扰和问题,能否顺利融入移入国是衡量移入国移民政策成功与否的一个重要标准,移民融合制度在这一过程中发挥着关键作用。我国一直奉行积极引进海外人才政策,但是没有给予移民融合制度足够的重视。本文认为,有必要以国际标准认识和理解、建立和健全移民融合制度,推进人才强国战略实施。