Exploring the Racial Identities of Black Immigrants in the United States

This study draws upon immigrant incorporation theories to investigate whether native origin trumps skin color in shaping the racial identities of black migrants. Using survey data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, six groups of black migrants are compared across two racial identity dimensions: racial group identification and racial group consciousness. The results demonstrate that while black migrants, with the exception of Puerto Ricans, develop a shared racial group identity with native-born blacks over time, the meaning they attach to being black in America varies by native origin.

The Banking Network as a Transmission Channel of Migrant Remittances: The Case of Greek and Italian Banks in Albania

The paper examines the role of the banking network of foreign banks, namely Greek and Italian banks, on the transfer of remittances of Albanian immigrants. Remittances through the official network that is formed mainly by the banking network, grew much higher in comparison to non-official network during the period 1994–2006. The paper finds that the growth of the amount of remittances conveyed through the official network as part of the total amount of remittances is related to the evolution of branches of Greek and Italian banks in Albania.

Nonprofit Isomorphism: An Australia–United States Comparison

This paper examines the organizational structures of nonprofit organizations in Australia and the United States. Using random samples of nonprofits drawn from the two organizational populations, the analysis compares the extent of structural resemblance or isomorphism in each. It detects similar levels of isomorphism for several structural characteristics. The paper interprets this finding as reflecting expectations for nonprofit organizations that stretch worldwide.

Reading your Counterpart: The Benefit of Emotion Recognition Accuracy for Effectiveness in Negotiation

Using meta-analysis, we find a consistent positive correlation between emotion recognition accuracy (ERA) and goal-oriented performance. However, this existing research relies primarily on subjective perceptions of performance. The current study tested the impact of ERA on objective performance in a mixed-motive buyer-seller negotiation exercise. Greater recognition of posed facial expressions predicted better objective outcomes for participants from Singapore playing the role of seller, both in terms of creating value and claiming a greater share for themselves. The present study is distinct from past research on the effects of individual differences on negotiation outcomes in that it uses a performance-based test rather than self-reported measure. These results add to evidence for the predictive validity of emotion recognition measures on practical outcomes.

A Historical Perspective on High School Students’ Paid Employment and Its Association with High School Dropout

Discussions about the role of paid employment in high school students’ lives usually involve untested assumptions about historical trends in the frequency, intensity, and selective nature of students’ employment behaviors. Using several nationally representative data sources, we find few changes in rates of employment or hours worked per week among adolescents since 1940 or among students since 1980. We observe important changes in recent decades in racial/ethnic and gender differences in employment and intensive employment. Finally, we observe that the relationship between students’ intensive employment and high school completion has been stable and persistently significant since the late 1960s.

Sexual Orientation and Labor Market Discrimination

We develop empirical estimates of the return to sexual orientation in the labor market and utilize the 2004 Current Population Survey to determine if lesbians and gay men are treated differently from their heterosexual counterparts. We find strong evidence consistent with the hypothesis of discriminatory treatment against gay men, and this evidence differs substantially by occupation. On the other hand, we find no evidence of discrimination against lesbians. These findings are consistent with priors based on economic theory of the standard taste for discrimination and statistical discrimination models. The results for both men and women are consistent across wage and total compensation regressions.

The Financial Assimilation of an Immigrant Group: Evidence on the Use of Checking and Savings Accounts and Currency Exchanges

This article examines the determinants of financial market participation for a particular group of immigrants: Hmong refugees in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Our findings indicate that controlling for income and education, Hmong immigrants are less likely to have savings accounts and credit cards and are more likely to use currency exchanges, compared to randomly selected non-Hmong households living in the same neighborhoods. However, these effects are mitigated by time spent in the US. Financial assimilation appears to take 15–20 years. These findings expand our understanding of immigrant assimilation and highlight some of the complexities associated with the process of assimilation.

The Decomposition of Firm-size Wage Differentials

No completely satisfactory explanation for the persistent and well-documented large-firm wage premium has been found. I use a novel adaptation of the Oaxaca/Blinder wage discrimination model to examine the firm-size wage differential which allows the wage differential to be decomposed into the portions attributable to (1) differences in employee endowments, (2) how the firm values these endowments, and (3) residual differences. Small firms actually pay higher wages based on how they value their workers’ endowments, but this wage premium was overshadowed by the superior endowments of workers in large firms and a residual differential in favor of large firms.

How Retired Households and Households Approaching Retirement Handle Their Equity Investments in the United States

This study examines how U.S. retired households and households approaching retirement change their equity holdings over time. Applying a decomposition analysis on the repeated cross-sectional U.S. Survey of Consumer Finances from 1989 to 2004, this study presents the effects of change in population size including mortality, change in financial wealth, and change in preference on the change in aggregate financial asset share invested in equity. A formal regression-based decomposition is also provided. It was found that there is a convex relationship between age and equity holdings as a share to financial assets for the older population. In addition, the risk-taking attitude-equity holdings profile shifted upward during the period of 1989 to 2004 for the older population. It is further documented that 70% of those senior equity investors chose financing retirement and financing future liquidity as the primary saving goals. Therefore, longevity pattern plays an important role for older population to hold equity.

A demographic analysis of the family structure experiences of children in the United States

This paper analyzes the family structure experiences of children in the U.S. Childbearing and transitions among single, cohabiting, and married states are analyzed jointly. A novel contribution is to distinguish men by their relationship to children: biological father or stepfather. The analysis uses data from the NLSY79. A key finding is that children of black mothers spend on average only 33% of their childhood living with the biological father and mother, compared to 74% for children of white mothers. The two most important proximate demographic determinants of the large racial gap are the much higher propensity of black women to conceive children outside of a union, and the lower rate of “shotgun” unions for blacks compared to whites. Another notable finding is that cohabitation plays a negligible role in the family structure experiences of children of white mothers, and even for children of black mothers accounts for less than one fifth of time spent living with both biological parents.

A Commentary on “Gender Perspectives in Cross-Cultural Couples”

This commentary expands on Kellner’s article by discussing clinical practice with Asian and Euro-American couples. Differences in Western and traditional Asian cultural expectations around intimacy and styles of emotional expression can often lead to misunderstanding among couples. Therapy can also be a challenge for couples when they do not share the same first language. A therapist who only speaks English can inadvertently create an alliance with the partner whose first language is English. On the other hand, bilingual therapists who use both English and an Asian language in the session can face challenges differentiating their roles as a therapist versus a translator. Case illustrations are presented to illustrate these challenges.

The Problem of Adaptation of the Diaspora Armenians in Transition Armenia

The spontaneous process of immigration of Diaspora Armenians to Armenia started in 1990s. The absence of a relevant policy in the Diaspora and in the Republic of Armenia made the social cost of relocation for many immigrants rather high. New contacts turned into a psychological, social and cultural ordeal for both the relocated and local residents. The group isolation within parts of one unit as a problem has a tendency to grow. Research uses qualitative and quantitative methodologies to understand the challenges of immigrants in the Armenian reality, to identify policy and ideology gaps to overcome those challenges. The conclusions of the research can help policy-makers and interested/relevant organizations in Armenia and the Diaspora in the development of policies to regulate the spontaneous and ineffective processes in and out of the country, and direct all Armenians forces to country democratisation processes.

The scoring rules in an endogenous election

Plurality rule is mostly criticized from being capable of choosing an alternative considered as worst by a strict majority. This paper considers elections in which the agenda consists of potential candidates strategically choosing whether or not to enter the election. In this context, we examine the ability of scoring rules to fulfil the Condorcet criterion. We show for the case of three potential candidates that Plurality rule is the only scoring rule that satisfies a version of the Condorcet criterion in two cases: 1) when preferences are single-peaked and, 2) when preferences are single-dipped.

---

Strengths-Based Approach and Coping Strategies used by Parents Whose Young Children Exhibit Violent Behaviour: Collaboration Between Schools and Parents

This research study explores the strategies adopted by 60 parents of children between 3 and 9 years of age considered to have engaged in violent behaviour, within the meaning of the Safe Schools Act (Ontario Ministry of Education, Canada, 2000). This legal framework requires parents to be involved in the decisions concerning their children. Parents’ perceptions of their involvement lead them to develop coping strategies enabling them to play a more active role in such decision making. This article analyzes their perceptions according to a strengths-based approach and seeks to provide a mediation perspective to social work practice with families.

Unmasking Racism: Halloween Costuming and Engagement of the Racial Other

We explore Halloween as a uniquely constructive space for engaging racial concepts and identities, particularly through ritual costuming. Data were collected using 663 participant observation journals from college students across the U.S. During Halloween, many individuals actively engage the racial other in costuming across racial/ethnic lines. Although some recognize the significance of racial stereotyping in costuming, it is often dismissed as being part of the holiday's social context. We explore the costumes worn, as well as responses to cross-racial costuming, analyzing how “playing” with racialized concepts and making light of them in the “safe” context of Halloween allows students to trivialize and reproduce racial stereotypes while supporting the racial hierarchy. We argue that unlike traditional “rituals of rebellion,” wherein subjugated groups temporarily assume powerful roles, whites contemporarily engage Halloween as a sort of “ritual of rebellion” in response to the seemingly restrictive social context of the post-Civil Rights era, and in a way that ultimately reinforces white dominance.

Computer usage, destination language proficiency and the earnings of natives and immigrants

This paper uses the concept of a computer as a public good within the household to model the demand for computers at home. It also investigates the determinants, and consequences for earnings, of computer use. The equations are estimated using data on the native born and immigrants from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing in Australia. The multivariate analyses show that recent arrivals are more likely to use computers than the Australian born. The data suggests a high degree of favorable selection in migration as the level of computer use in Australia is much higher than in most of the countries that Australia’s immigrants come from. Those with a higher permanent income (education, household assets) are more likely to have a computer at home, but there is no effect of transitory income (unemployment). Immigrants who are more proficient in English are also more likely to use a computer. The relation between age and computer use is strongly influenced by cohort effects. Using a computer at home is associated with about 7% and 13% higher earnings for native-born and foreign-born men, respectively. For the immigrants, the effects of schooling and English language proficiency on earnings are greater among those who use a computer at home. This suggests complementarity in the labor market. The use of a computer is shown to be a way the foreign born can increase the international transferability of their pre-immigration skills, a finding that has implications for immigrant assimilation policies.

Social Movements and Rights Claims: The Case of Action Groups in the Niger Delta of Nigeria

This article examines how the various claims to, and demands for, rights have enabled and shaped the various equity and justice seeking social movements that have emerged in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, the key point being that claims to rights are fundamental of the logic and coherence of social movements. The article is divided into three sections. The first sets the conceptual and analytical frame by elaborating on the rights–social movements nexus. This is followed by a discussion of the historical and conceptual location of the Niger Delta. The rest of the article interrogates the contexts of relative deprivation, rights denial, and injustice within which social movements have emerged in the Niger Delta. A major objective is to account for why the social movements have been largely ethnic and most recently generational and to analyze the dynamics and outcomes of the rights struggles waged by the various social movements.

Do Reservation Wages Really Decline? Some International Evidence on the Determinants of Reservation Wages

Using cross-country data, we investigate the determinants of reservation wages and their course over the jobless spell. Higher unemployment benefits lead to higher reservation wages. Further, again consistent with the basic search model, repeated observations on the same individual provide scant evidence of declining reservation wages.

Sexual orientation and self-reported lying

This paper examines empirical links between sexual orientation and self-reported lying using data collected in several waves of Georgia Institute of Technology’s World Wide Web Users Survey. The data include questions about sexual orientation, lying in cyberspace, and a broad range of demographic information. According to the theoretical framework of Gneezy (Am Econ Rev 95: 384–395, 2005) on the economics of deception, individuals conceal or falsify information when the expected benefit of lying exceeds its costs in terms of psychic disutility. If non-heterosexuals expect to benefit more by falsifying information, then this theory predicts higher rates of lying among non-heterosexuals. The data show that gays and lesbians do indeed report lying more often than heterosexuals, both unconditionally in bivariate correlations and after controlling for demographic and geographic differences. These empirical results are consistent with the conclusion that non-heterosexuals expect higher benefits from concealing personal information because of anti-homosexual discrimination.

It’s Not What You Know, but How You Use It: Statistical Knowledge and Adolescent Problem Gambling

This paper examined the nature of irrational gambling-related cognitions in a sample of 926 adolescents (mean age = 14.5 years) sampled from Australian schools. Students were differentiated according to gambling status and administered a series of items that assessed their understanding of objective odds, the nature of randomness, the role of skill in gambling, and the perceived profitability of gambling. The results confirmed previous findings that problem gamblers tend to be more irrational in their perceptions, as indicated by stronger beliefs in the role of skilful play in chance activities, and that gambling is a potentially profitable activity. However, counter intuitively, problem gamblers did not appear to have any poorer understanding of objective probabilities. These results are discussed in terms of Sevigny and Ladouceur’s (2004) concept of cognitive switching as well as psychological research concerning the role of emotional and motivational factors in the development of an illusion of control. The implications of these findings for gambling education programs are discussed.