The effect of informal caregiving on social capital investments

Social capital is a resource derived from a person's social network and is important for various outcomes. Social capital declines over time and requires investments to avoid further declines or to increase the stock. However, certain life events can negatively affect social capital. This paper analyzes how informal caregiving, defined as unpaid assistance to persons who cannot perform the usual activities of daily living without help, affects social capital investments. Drawing on the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) with data for 15 years, I apply fixed-effects (FE) regressions to estimate the effect of changing caregiving status (extensive margin) and the effect of an additional hour of caregiving (intensive margin) on social capital investments. The results show that caregiving negatively affects investments in social capital for weak and strong ties unrelated to the care task. Furthermore, caregiving increases investments in strong ties that are care related.     

风险投资的风险分析与控制探析

风险投资是一种高风险投资,其运作过程中存在着多种不确定性和风险。如何有效地控制风险是风险投资最终取得成功的关键。通过对风险投资过程中各种风险的分析,提出了控制风险的具体措施,以期实现风险投资的良好运行。     

The burdens of social capital: How socially-involved people dealt with stress after Hurricane Katrina

Research shows that those with greater social capital enjoy better physical and mental health. The current study illuminates a paradox of social capital which may afflict those involved in traumatic events. Several years of survey data reveal a dynamic picture of the link between social capital and stress following Hurricane Katrina. Results reveal that initially after Katrina, those who were more socially embedded carried the greatest load with respect to helping the displaced population, thus experiencing more stress. But over time, the most socially-involved then snapped back from their stressful experiences more rapidly than isolates. This confirms that over the course of stressful events, social involvement first exposes people to more stress, but as time passes, provides them a significant buffer against negative psychosocial experiences.     

Ethnic social capital: Individual and group level sources and their economic consequences

Ethnic social capital shapes economic action by immigrants by providing information, training, and credit that is otherwise unavailable. However, prior research on the effects of ethnic social capital on economic attainment by salaried workers primarily relied on case studies of specific destinations or ethnic groups. Furthermore, prior research focused on group level effects of ethnic social capital while largely ignoring the effects of individual-level utilization of ethnic ties. This study addresses these limitations by combining data from the New Immigrant Survey and the 5% file of the 2000 US Census. This allows controlling for group differences in actual utilization of familial ties and for differences between groups in their demographic makeup, legal status, and human capital when estimating the effect of ethnic social capital. It also allows addressing the potentially divergent implications of ethnic social capital for individual and group economic attainment. Results suggest that, on both the individual and group levels, reliance on ethnic social capital is associated with lower earnings for recent legal immigrants to the US.     

Partner selection and social capital in the status attainment process

Why is individual success so strongly affected by parental socioeconomic status? We argue that parental socioeconomic status affects the socioeconomic status of one's romantic partner, thereby partially determining one's own social capital and socioeconomic status. Censored-inflated structural equation models using data from the NEtherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study (NELLS) and British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) confirm these relationships, while cross-lagged analyses suggest that they may be causal in nature. The strong tendency for people to have a romantic partner that reflects their socioeconomic origin shows how far the influence of the parental home stretches and why it does so.     

风险投资有限合伙与合同自由原则研究

风险投资有限合伙合同几乎很少涉及对风险投资家(即:普通合伙人)的行为限制。而对此外部投资人通常倾向于采纳这种灵活而松散的安排。虽然表面上看起来作为有限合伙人的外部投资者处于一个容易受到伤害的地位,但是风险资本在运作过程中的循环性使得名誉约束代替了合同义务以及法律默示规定的地位。风险投资家和外部投资者可以灵活地安排协议内容的事实使得风险投资有限合伙成为了合同自由主义的鲜活的体现。     

企业集团人力资本投资的影响因素及其决策分析

企业集团是一种不同于一般企业的组织形式 ,其人力资本投资与一般企业相比有不同的特征和影响因素。企业集团人力资本投资决策的正确与否 ,直接关系到企业集团的生存与发展。本文运用基于模糊集理论的人力资本投资决策模型 ,进行了实际应用分析 ,并提出了相应的决策方法和途径。     

Latent Class Models in action: Bridging social capital & Internet usage

This paper explores how Latent Class Models (LCM) can be applied in social research, when the basic assumptions of regression models cannot be validated. We examine the usefulness of this method with data collected from a study on the relationship between bridging social capital and the Internet. Social capital is defined here as the resources that are potentially available in one’s social ties. Bridging is a dimension of social capital, usually related to weak ties (acquaintances), and a source of instrumental resources such as information. The study surveyed a stratified random sample of 417 inhabitants of Lisbon, Portugal. We used LCM to create the variable bridging social capital, but also to estimate the relationship between bridging social capital and Internet usage when we encountered convergence problems with the logistic regression analysis. We conclude by showing a positive relationship between bridging and Internet usage, and by discussing the potential of LCM for social science research.     

Immigration and violence: The offsetting effects of immigrant concentration on Latino violence

Despite longstanding interest in the effects of immigration on American society, there are few studies that examine the relationship between immigration and crime. Drawing from social disorganization theory and community resource/social capital perspectives, this study examines the effects of Latino immigration on Latino violence. Data on violence (i.e., homicide, robbery, and Violent Index) and the structural conditions of Latino populations are drawn from the California Arrest Data (CAL), New York State Arrest Data (NYSAD), and U.S. Census data for approximately 400 census places during the 1999–2001 period. Findings suggest that immigrant concentration has no direct effect on Latino homicide or Violent Index rates but may reduce Latino robbery. Immigration also appears to have multiple, offsetting indirect effects on Latino violence that work through social disorganization and community resource measures. These results suggest that (1) immigrant concentration does not contribute to Latino violence and may even reduce some forms of violence, (2) immigration simultaneously stabilizes and destabilizes structural conditions in Latino populations, and (3) it is useful to examine both the direct and indirect effects of immigration on crime.     

The role of social and cognitive factors in individual gambling: An empirical study on college students

Most of the studies on the determinants of individual gambling behaviour rely on cognitive theories. In our study, we argue that, besides cognitive factors, several social factors might play an important role as well. We analyse data from an ad hoc webmail survey conducted on about 2000 undergraduate students enrolled in a large public university in the Northern Italy in the academic year 2012–13. Using a variety of statistical techniques (standard regression models, boosted regression trees and structural equations models), we show that social variables affect both participation in gambling in the past year and latent gambling propensity. In particular, controlling for several proxies for individual cognitive ability and understanding of probability, gambling propensity is positively affected by the degree of gambling in the social surrounding (parents, peers, neighbourhood) and the acceptability of gambling activities to the individual. Moreover, in our sample of college students the role of social factors appears to be larger than that of cognitive factors, and this is consistent across different types of models and specifications.     

基于博弈模型的高新技术企业人力资本投资风险管理决策

知识及技术进步迫使高新技术企业必须进行人力资本投资,以促进企业内的知识及技术创新,保持其核心竞争能力.然而,巨大的人力资本投资风险影响了企业投资人力资本的积极性.针时这一问题,文章在界定高新技术企业人力资本及其投资风险基本内涵的基础上,引入博弈模型对人力资本投资风险管理决策问题进行了深入分析,最后提出了防范高新技术企业人力资本投资风险的措施,从而为解决类似问题提供了一种新的思路.     

The resilience of neighborhood social processes: A case study of the 2011 Brisbane flood

Social disorganization theories position neighborhood social capital and collective efficacy as key social processes that should facilitate community resilience in the aftermath of disaster. Yet limited evidence demonstrates that these social processes are themselves resilient with some studies showing that disaster can fracture even once cohesive neighborhoods. In this paper we assess the stability of neighborhood level collective efficacy and social capital before and after a disaster. We use multilevel structural equation modeling and draw on census and longitudinal survey data collected from over 4000 residents living in 148 neighborhoods in Brisbane, Australia before and after a significant flood event. We examine what happens to social capital and collective efficacy in flooded and non-flooded neighborhoods and assess whether demographic shifts are associated with change and/or stability in these processes. We find strong evidence that these processes operate similarly across flooded and not flooded communities. Our findings also reveal significant stability for our measures of social capital across time, while collective efficacy increases post flood across all neighborhoods, but more so in flooded neighborhoods. Neighborhood demographics have limited effect on patterns of stability or change in these social processes. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for our understanding of neighborhood resilience in the wake of disaster.     

论中国公民社会的成长与社会资本的培育

公民社会与社会资本是20世纪90年代以来中国学者关注的热点问题。公民社会所倡导的文化价值理念——合作、信任、互惠等无不与社会资本理论相契合,公民社会是社会资本得到滋养和发展的温床。我国公民社会发育的不完善严重制约了社会资本的形成。因此需要大力培育我国的公民社会,形成政府与公民合作治理的局面,从而提升我国社会资本的存量。     

Choosing between two semi-finalists: On academic performance gap,sex category,and decision question

We use an application-files experimental design to investigate a new topic in the assessment of candidates for junior-engineering jobs. Our focus is on two semi-finalists, a man and a woman, who show clearly different but still good levels of academic record. We keep the gap between those levels constant, but vary the sex category of the better performer. We also include control conditions in which the two have similar records. Each assessor’s task was to choose either one applicant or neither, and to rate both in competence and suitability. The control-group competence ratings indicate no gender bias by either men or women; the experimental-conditions competence data are consistent with the candidates’ records as predicted, but also show women minimizing the record of the better-performing male candidate. Choice and suitability, on the other hand, reveal a preference for the female applicant across respondents and conditions, as anticipated given the more open nature of those two questions, while still reflecting the academic records. Findings and their interpretation are presented in detail.     

中原经济区背景下邯郸市人力资本集聚问题与路径研究

人力资本集聚是推动地区经济发展的主因素之一,研究人力资本集聚有利于挖掘促进经济发展的有效措施。以中原经济区背景下的邯郸市为例,阐述了人力资本集聚和经济发展的互动关系,通过计算邯郸市人口净流量,分析了邯郸市人力资本集聚存在的问题,并提出了提高人力资本集聚水平的路径选择。     

英语中性别身份在谈话风格上的反映

男女双方不同的谈话风格更是蕴藏着丰富而又深刻的两性意识,这也是男女两性对社会、文化、历史等方面的认识在语言中的反映。     

当前就业过程中的双重机制:人力资本与社会资本

本文首先分别分析了人力资本、社会资本及其就业实现模型 ,然后通过社会资本的运作空间这一理论工具 ,分析了当前我国社会就业过程中的双重机制 ,认为以人力资本积累的本科毕业为临界值 ,在本科以下 ,由于社会资本的运作空间较大 ,社会资本的就业贡献率大于人力资本 ,而在本科以上则由于社会资本的运作空间较小而刚好相反 ,本科水平本身则是人力资本与社会资本双重并重的状态 ;最后文章认为伴随着整个社会学历层次 (或者说人力资本存量 )的提高过程的是社会就业中的人力资本临界值 ,由中专、大专向本科以及不久的将来的研究生转化的过程     

He said, she said: The gender wage gap according to self and proxy reports in the Current Population Survey

Roughly half the labor force data in the Current Population Survey (CPS) are provided by proxy respondents, and since 1979, men’s reliance on proxies has dropped dramatically while women’s reliance on proxies has increased. Few authors, however, have examined how combining these first-hand and second-hand reports may influence our understanding of long-term economic trends. We exploit the outgoing rotation group structure of the CPS by matching individual records one year apart, and we find that self-reported wages are higher than proxy-reported wages even after controlling for all time invariant characteristics. Furthermore, we find that changes in the use of proxy respondents by men and women since 1979 have made current estimates of the gender wage gap larger than they would have been without changes in reporting status. This suggests that the gender wage gap has closed more than previously estimated. We recommend that researchers combine self and proxy responses with great care, especially when analyzing time trends or making gender comparisons.     

Gender differences in the impact of job mobility on earnings: The role of occupational segregation

In recent years, researchers have begun to explore the extent to which the impact of switching firms (inter-firm mobility) on wages varies between men and women. Using data from the NLSY79 from 1979 to 2012, this paper extends existing research by exploring how occupational segregation and individual level factors contribute to gender differences in the impact of voluntary inter-firm mobility on wages. The paper also examines how patterns vary depending on education level. Findings suggest that men without a college education receive greater wage gains from voluntary inter-firm mobility than similarly educated women although there is no overall gender difference for individuals with a bachelor's degree. The wage returns to voluntary inter-firm mobility for both men and women increase as a function of the male representation in the occupation. For individuals without a college education, the male premium to voluntary inter-firm mobility is largest in highly male dominated occupations. However, women with a bachelor's degree employed in highly male dominated occupations use voluntary inter-firm mobility to narrow the gender wage gap.     

Widening the social context of disablement among married older adults: Considering the role of nonmarital relationships for loneliness

Utilizing the stress process and life course perspectives, we investigated the influence of non-spousal social support on the associations between marital quality, physical disability, and loneliness among married older adults. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), we found that the association between physical disability and loneliness was partially accounted for by the fact that physical disability was associated with less supportive nonmarital relationships. While physically-disabled older adults in higher-quality marriages were buffered from loneliness, supportive non-martial relationships did not offset elevated loneliness among those in low-quality marriages. These associations were largely similar for men and women. Thus, although both marital and nonmarital relationships are important for loneliness, when confronted with a stressor such as disablement it is the marital relationship alone that matters.