The poor,the rich and the happy: Exploring the link between income and subjective well-being

The relationship between income and subjective well-being (SWB) is investigated using eight waves of the British Household Panel Survey and an estimation strategy that allows us to relax some assumptions typically made in the literature. First, we use a random effects generalised ordered probit model to investigate whether income effects are heterogeneous across SWB categories, and, second, we discretise (absolute and relative) income variables to allow for the income effects to vary across income groups. We find that higher absolute income increases SWB but up to a certain level, while low income is significantly correlated with low scores in the SWB ladder. Our results are consistent with the Easterlin Paradox that has been reported in the literature. We find that high-income groups are less likely to belong in the highest SWB level, which could be partly explained by the fact that the relative income status (rather than the absolute one) is more important in determining (the highest level of) SWB.     

Comparing Group and Individual Level Assessments of Job Characteristics in Testing the Job Demand-Control Model: A Multilevel Approach

This article describes a test of Karasek's JobDemand-Control (JD-C) Model using both group andindividual level assessments of job characteristics. Bygroup assessments, we mean aggregated individual data. A random sample from general hospitals andnursing homes included 16 institutions, 64 units, and1489 health care workers (82% response). Because of thehierarchically nested data structure (i.e.,institutions, units, and individuals) the research questionsand hypothesis were tested in multilevel regressionanalyses (VARCL). The results revealed both group leveland individual level effects with regard topsychological outcomes, and stressed the usefulness ofmultilevel techniques. Karasek's JD-C Model was partlyconfirmed by finding two interaction effects at grouplevel and at individual level with regard to jobsatisfaction and work motivation, respectively. Thediscussion focuses on theoretical, methodological, andpractical implications of multilevel modeling withrespect to the JD-C Model.     

Teens and technology: preparing for the future

In the past two decades, economic, technological, demographic, and political forces have stimulated major change in the learning and working landscape for young people. These circumstances compel us to prioritize the integration of technology skill building into youth development experiences in order to better prepare older youth for the challenges and responsibilities ahead. Facilitating older youth's acquisition of technology skills must continue to be a principal goal of policymakers, city leaders, and youth program providers. This chapter looks at the integration of technology skill building into youth development experiences with consideration of gender and races differences in technology access and utilization, along with challenges that at-risk teens face.     

Welfare rankings of income distributions: A rôle for the variance and some insights for tax reform

When generalized Lorenz curves cross, it is not possible to rank the underlying income distributions by the unanimous preference of all additively separable symmetric inequality-averse social welfare functions. But in many cases, unanimous preference results in terms of inequality-aversion are nevertheless available. When generalized Lorenz curves cross once, variance is decisive in determining a robust welfare ranking, and can provide a rationale for choosing equity over efficiency where these two desiderata conflict. Welfare recommendations for certain types of income tax reform are implied, including cases of yield-increasing redistribution.This paper has benefitted considerably from the perceptive comments of an anonymous referee. Valentino Dardanoni gratefully acknowledges financial assistance from the Banco di Sicilia and the Ente Luigi Einaudi of Rome.     

Grievance initiation: A literature survey and suggestions for future research

The correlates of grievance initiation are described within the context of categories of relevant factors suggested by the literature. The categories include environmental, management, union, union-management interaction, and employee factors. In the environmental category, the literature indicates that technology effects provide substantial promise for the explanation of grievances. Several important correlates of grievance activity are described in each of the other categories. Suggested methodological improvements for future research include expanded sets of control variables, multiple industry data sets, greater attention to grievance types, and the use of causal analytical techniques in longitudinal studies. Future research should provide a better understanding of the effects of several variables, including technology, methods of grievance resolution, workgroup cohesion, and fair representation requirements. It should also identify relationships that are specific to different issues. The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Jack Fiorito, I. B. Helburn, Tim Keaveny, R. Dennis Middlemist, Robert C. Rodgers, and anonymous reviewers.     

Outside of the corporate mainstream and excluded from the work community: A study of diversity,job satisfaction and well-being

Research over the past two decades indicates that exclusion from organizational information networks and from important decision-making processes is one of the most significant problems facing today's diverse workforce. Employees' sense of exclusion may play a critical role in explaining the connection between lack of opportunities experienced by employees who are different from the corporate 'main stream' and their job satisfaction and well-being. This study examines the relationship between diversity characteristics, sense of inclusion, fairness, stress and social support and the outcome variables of job satisfaction and well-being. A sample of 3400 employees of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds in the high-tech industry in Southern California completed a self-report questionnaire. Findings support the hypotheses that women and members of racial/ethnic minorities are more likely to feel excluded, and that exclusion is linked to job dissatisfaction and lower sense of well-being. The study further explores the potential role of exclusion as a mediator variable. These findings have implications for future research on workforce diversity and for organizational diagnosis and interventions aimed at creating a more inclusive workplace culture. Investigácion durante los últimos veinte anos indica que exclusión de cadena información del organización y exclusión de decisións importantes es uno de los problemas mas significante en el diverso mundo de trabajo. El sentido de exclusión de los empleados puede estar criticó en la explicación del connexión entre la falta de opportunidades para los empleados que son differentes del corriente principal y su satisfacion con trabajo y su bienestar. Este investigación explora el relation entre característicos diversos, sentido de inclusión, justicia, esfuerzo, y assistencia social, y los variables resultados de satisfacion con trabajo y bienestar. Este prueba de 3400 empleados de ethnicidades y razas differentes de un industria tecnológico en el sur de California han completo un cuestionario de su mismo. Conclusiones dar soporte al hipótesis que es mas probable que mujeres y los minorías de raza y ethnicidad sientan exculido, y que exclusión tiene connexión con desagrado con el trabajo y mas pequeno sentido de bienestar. Este prueba averiguares el posición de exclusión como un variable mediador. Estos conclusions tienen implicaciónes para los investigaciónes en el futuro con diversidad en trabajadores y para diagnosis con los organizaciónes y intervenciónes que quieren crear una cultura mas inclusivo en el organización.     

Competing for orthodoxy: territorial kings and the creation of lineages among the Tujia

This paper explores cultural unity and diversity in terms of the origins of orthodoxy. First, it examines the long-standing tradition of territorial kings (tuwang) in the local context – this tradition persisted even under the native chieftain (tusi) system imposed by imperial states. Secondly, it argues that the dual identities of native chieftains reflect competing claims to orthodoxy. Native chieftains derive their legitimacy not only from the state but also from their territory. To root their legitimacy in the territory itself, native chieftains emphasized their ancestors’ heroic events and their own ability as territorial kings to protect the region from invasions by other chieftains as well as the imperial state, while also stressing their ability to provide continued spiritual protection after their deaths. This paper furthermore shows that, in the process of constructing a system of ritual orthopraxy through incorporating state-promoted rituals like ancestor worship, native chieftains gained legitimacy by integrating Tujia society, on the one hand, while expanding their territories along the Western Hunan Miao frontier, on the other hand.     

Commitment and imagination in the social sciences: A concern for the future state of sociology

This paper deals with the actual as well as possible roles of sociologists in modem societies. It is based on the experiences of a typical pragmatical Scandinavian welfare state, namely Norway, where sociology undoubtedly has reached a certain level of success, especially as a repair‐oriented applied science. Sociology thus provides an avenue for entering important political and administrative processes in society. But this development—desirable as it may be—also includes certain risks. Sociology may thus abstain from becoming a kind of critical and intellectual pursuit it could be by paying due attention to alternative ways of organizing social life. A discussion is needed about how to avoid this trap and how new roles may be created.     

Social assistance for poor children in urban China: A qualitative study from the recipients' perspective

In urban China, the recipients' experiences living with social assistance are neglected. This article examines social assistance for poor children in urban China, mainly by interviewing parents and children from urban Dibao households in Tianjin and Chengdu. It finds that the recipients' feelings included gratitude, helplessness, shame and exclusion which reflected limited policy effect on material support and social exclusion prevention. It argues that the recipients are under-served and current social assistance policy for poor children which only includes differentiated aid and education aid is inadequate and should be further improved.     

Beyond "banking for the poor": credit mechanisms and women's empowerment

This article describes some strengths and limitations of credit programs for women in developing countries. It is urged that development planners recognize the importance of the selection of the type of credit mechanism in the long term. Ethical issues should be decided upon before the credit mechanism is operable. Organizations should make clear what level of commitment there is to empower borrowers. Most organizations give loans to women and assume empowerment will take place without devising strategies to ensure empowerment. Credit mechanisms include credit for the poor and credit by the poor. A sound financial portfolio and 100% repayment are not the appropriate criteria for securing the empowerment of women. Empowerment of women is related to "building the capacity of borrowers to manage and control decision making." UNICEF's framework of gender equality and women's empowerment identifies levels of empowerment as "welfare, access, conscientisation, participation, and control." Development planners should be aware that provision of credit also has the potential to increase a poor family's debt. Delinquency may be hidden by overlapping loans that trap borrowers. Fewer installment payments increase the chances of a debt trap. Reducing the number of installments may reduce administrative costs and conform to production processes, but may also lead to a debt trap. There is now considerable emphasis on investing in low-income women entrepreneurs as a highly efficient means of achieving social and economic objectives. Credit programs aim to support the growth of small, self-sustaining businesses, to improve women's opportunities, and to provide alternatives to exploitation by local money-lenders. This article describes the following credit mechanisms: bank guarantee systems, government credit schemes, intermediary projects, direct lending projects, banks for the poor, credit unions, and village-based banks.     

Carbon Labelling and Low‐income Country Exports: A Review of the Development Issues

This article discusses the carbon accounting and carbon‐labelling schemes being developed to address growing concerns over climate change. Its particular concern is their impact on small stakeholders, especially low‐income countries. The popular belief that trade is by definition problematic is not true; carbon efficiencies elsewhere in the supply chain may more than offset emissions from transportation. Indeed, low‐income countries may offer important opportunities for carbon emission reductions because of their favourable climatic conditions and use of low energy‐intensive production techniques. However, their effective inclusion in labelling schemes will require innovative solutions to provide low‐cost data collection and certification.     

The impact of taxes and transfer payments on the distribution of income: A parametric comparison

The Luxembourg Income Study data is used to explore the impact of taxes and transfer payments on the distribution of income across 13 countries for different years. The five-parameter generalized beta distribution and 10 of its special cases are considered as models for the size distribution of income. Maximum likelihood methods are used to estimate the model with corresponding measures of goodness of fit and inequality reported. These results identify the best-fitting two-, three-, and four-parameter models as well as describe the inter-temporal patterns of inequality corresponding to earnings, total income, and disposable income. A general pattern of increasing inequality is observed for almost all countries considered along with significantly different distributional impacts of taxes and transfer payments across countries.