U.S. immigration policy: the guestworker option revisited

In guestworker programs foreign nationals are admitted into another country on a nonmigrant status with severely curtailed social and limited labor market rights. The duration of stay is always finite and compliance with the terms of the contract are entered through a network of legal arrangements which allow officials in the receiving country a substantial amount of administrative discretion. Pro-guestworker arguments say that the borders cannot be closed, that guestworkers can be substituted for illegal aliens, that guestworkers are better than illegal aliens, and that additional labor benefits the US economy. Those against guestworker programs stress longterm socioeconomic issues rather than short-term economic advantages, saying that guestworker programs are no quick answer for illegal immigration, for domestic labor shortages, or for the US poor population. Guestworker programs, its opponents say, provide short-run economic benefits to a few employers and individuals at the expense of more widespread and longterm socioeconomic costs. They oppose: 1) the concept of admitting foreign workers with restricted rights, 2) the concentration of any negative labor market impacts on already disadvantaged domestic groups, 3) the proliferation of "jobs which Americans won't take," 4) many temporary guests ending up permanent residents, and 5) that exporting workers is as likely to impede as accelerate job-creating economic development in immigration countries. Most economists believe that diminishing marginal productivity produces downward-sloping short-run demand for labor schedules. The European experience with these programs has been different than those in the US since foreign workers in Europe were initially recruited in response to actual labor shortages and have always had legal status, but both Europe and the US have experienced large contingents of workers who remain in the countries and are at a pronounced power disadvantage regarding the society's institutions. Studies of guestworker programs have shown that worker flows eventually become impervious to the receiver's actual labor needs as employers disaggregate jobs into components which match the low skills of migrants and create additional foreign worker jobs which are then shunned by native labor, thus perpetuating a need for such labor. If the US opts for a large-scale guestworker program this will only replace 1 set of problems with another and it is not at all certain that large-scale guestworker admissions will proportionately reduce illegal migration inflows.     

Interstate Variations in Private Sector Union Density in the U.S.

This paper uses union density variations across state and state-industry cells in 1985, 1995, and 2005 to examine the factors that contributed to the decline in private sector unionization in the U.S. In addition to the conventional variables, it develops two measures to gauge the effects of union-management strife. Estimations indicate that union density varied directly with union organizing efforts and inversely with the employer opposition to unionization. Decomposition analysis reveals, however, that these variables do not explain why union density declined because changes in their marginal effects were favorable to unionization. Declining union density instead is attributable mostly to the shift factors subsumed under the intercept term over 1985–1995, and shift factors cum negative changes in sensitivity of unionization to workforce characteristics over 1995–2005.     

Urban-rural influences in U.S. environmental and economic development policy

Despite the fact that rural communities have the most to gain and lose in matters involving economic development and environmental preservation, they often are given the least voice in the political processes that create policies in these areas. Agendas are set, policies formulated and implemented by policy-makers, administrators, and practitioners in urban areas. These outside policies may not be consistent with how rural communities view the tradeoffs between the environment and the economy. We call for decentralization of economic and environmental policy. It is understood, however, that such an approach may involve risk. What if rural-based policy-makers and practitioners are, for instance, aggressively antienvironmental and pro-economic growth? Using results from a national sample of rural development officials, this study examines the environmental and economic development attitudes of development officials based on a population continuum. The findings suggest that rural-based development officials often have a greater appreciation of rural environmental quality of life features compared to their urban counterparts. The implications of the findings are detailed and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Firm outsourcing decisions: evidence from U.S. foreign trade zones

This article examines the operations of firms located in U.S. foreign trade subzones to study the responsiveness of outsourcing to international cost changes. I find that firms reduce their reliance on foreign inputs when dollar depreciation increases the relative price of imported inputs. The effect is pervasive across industries and is economically significant. In addition, firms that rely more heavily on imported intermediate inputs reduce their overall shipments when dollar depreciation elevates their imported, input costs. However, the magnitude of the shipments effect is economically small, suggesting that firms respond to exchange rate movements by adjusting their operations on other dimensions.     

Transforming national health policy: The significance of the stratification system

Policy formulation and decision-making occur within a continually changing sociopolitical environment. Presently, our national health policy lacks coherence and direction. It also is in a state of transition as evidenced by the recent restricted proposal to expand Medicare coverage to catastrophic illness. A comprehensive strategy for balancing escalating medical, hospital, and insurance costs as well as those associated with long-term care while extending access has not been devised. One of the most salient reasons for this is the failure of policy makers to grasp the complexities of the multifaceted stratification system. Its diverse, interrelated strata based on age, sex, economic status, and race are not incorporated in the process of shaping vitally needed and rational health policy. Doris Y. Wilkinson, a professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky, is a co-principal investigator on an intervention project funded by the National Cancer Institute. She recently received the Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins University.     

How culture influences foreign trade: evidence from the U.S. and China

Using a gravity model of trade and the U.S. and Chinese panel data, I present evidence that supports the views that linguistic links have become more important in foreign trade than geographical proximity and that linguistic influence on trade is more significant in China than in the U.S. The estimated result based on a broad panel of economies shows little overall relation between religious similarity and foreign trade in both the U.S. and China. But there is an indication that the religious dissimilarity tends to retard foreign trade with poor countries and regions and to encourage foreign trade with richer places. I also found that, although religious retardation on foreign trade is more significant in China than in the U.S., religious dissimilarity tends to retard the US export more than that of China; by contrast, it tends to retard the Chinese import more than that of the U.S. At last, the socio-economic implications of the estimated results are discussed.     

U.S. nonprofit organizations' demand for temporary foreign professionals

This article examines the demand by nonprofits in the United States for foreign professionals to fill a variety of specialized and managerial positions on a temporary basis. Our study contributes to understanding the demand side of the trend toward a more contingent workforce. We test predictors of nonprofit employers' pursuit of foreign labor for professional expertise and show an association between strategy to insource foreign labor and organizational resource level, mission, occupational need, and wage offer. Our findings suggest that government visa policies and practices affect labor pools for nonprofit organizations. Given that our study reveals varied interest by nonprofits in pursuing temporary foreign professionals, we end with a brief review and discussion of how the use of temporary and foreign professionals may influence the dynamics of nonprofit organizations and suggest additional research questions.     

Bringing Productivity Back In: Rising Inequality and Economic Rents in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector, 1971 to 2001

Using data on earnings and productivity for U.S. manufacturing industries from 1971 to 2001, we investigate economic rents and rising income inequalities. The results suggest that rents are most significant for managers, professionals, middle‐aged workers, and older workers. Conversely, negative rents are evident for women, Hispanics, single men, and blue‐collar workers. The underpayment of Hispanics appears to have increased while African Americans have gone from being underpaid to being overpaid. Workers with a college degree have become overpaid (i.e., “credentialism”) while “gift‐exchange” efficiency wages have declined. The marginal productivity of labor input has increased but is increasingly underpaid.     

Fertility variation among the U.S. foreign stock population in 1900

In the late 19th century, the US population included a large number of 1st and 2nd generation immigrants from European countries, often with relatively high fertility levels. This article investigates the degree to which fertility behavior changed as a result of social structural characteristics of the environment such as urbanization and children's role, the diffusion of fertility values and information from the native population, and the role of cultural values or resistance to change. By 1900 nationality groups within urban and rural environments in the US were showing amazingly similar degrees of adaptation in fertility patterns. Distinctive fertility patterns were being maintained over generations, but there appeared to be little inherence in the national culture or mentalities of the various European populations which retarded the speed of reproductive change, or even the legitimacy of smaller families. The clear continuing variations by nationality in fertility were geared to reflect social structural differences such as agricultural background and the functional role of children, rather than unique cultural outlooks. Even within the 1st generation, fertility variation across states responded in a regular manner to social structural factors, such as the agricultural orientation of the population and the importance of child labor. Other evidence suggests that some diffusion of fertility values must have been occurring from the native white to the foreign born population, especially within the urban parts of the US where greater contact was probably facilitated. The foreign born seemed particularly resistant to adoption of low fertility behavior in rural states where they comprised a significant segment of the population, and thus were probably able to isolate themselves more easily. These results do not support the notion of relative unique cultural adaptation. It may be that studies of the European transition have placed too much emphasis on cultural mentalities within various populations as a cause of different reproductive trends.     

The end of the Cuban contradiction in U.S. refugee policy

This article describes and analyzes the Clinton Administration's decision to end the almost automatic acceptance of Cubans as political refugees to the US. The decision came after the Balsero Crisis in July 1994 after many people stormed embassies and diplomatic residences in Havana, Cuba, demanding asylum and complaining about impoverished living conditions. Riots erupted. The May 2, 1995, policy ended the indefinite detention of over 28,000 Cubans in safe haven camps, repealed the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, restricted travel to Cuba, halted monetary remittances to Cuba, equalized the number of annual visas from Cuba, and legalized the return of Cubans adrift at sea. The goals were to solve the immediate migration crisis created by Cubans detained at Guantanamo Bay, to implement controls of future waves of Cuban asylum seekers, and to oppose Castro with economic and political initiatives. The economic embargo during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s devastated the Cuban economy and led to its alliance with the USSR. Each of the four waves of migration was distinctive in composition and reasons for migrating. By the mid-1990s, Cuba was no longer a threat, Soviet interests in Cuba had declined, and the policy was hoped to bring about the collapse of Castro and promotion of democracy. The 1994 resolution ended the contradictory and preferential treatment of Cubans. It also ended the selectivity of the US in admitting those from countries the US was directly opposed to. The permanence of the embargo due to legislation in 1996 is a push factor for mass migrations.     

Racial,religious, and national origin intermarriage in the U.S.: review of selected theory,method, and research

"This article summarizes the intermarriage literature with special reference to books and articles in the social sciences. The literature is partitioned into theoretical approaches, conceptualization and operationalization, computational formulas used in the reporting of intermarriage, general findings on the extent and types of intermarriage, [and] correlates of and attitudes toward racial, religious and national origin intermarriage. The authors conclude that a variety of theories and methods have [been] and continue to be employed to investigate this phenomenon. Among the findings reported are that racial intermarriages are least prevalent and national origin intermarriages the most prevalent in the United States."     

Understanding men's health and illness: a gender-relations approach to policy, research, and practice

Men's health has emerged as an important public concern that may require new kinds of healthcare interventions and increased resources. Considerable uncertainty and confusion surround prevailing understandings of men's health, particularly those generated by media debate and public policy, and health research has often operated on oversimplified assumptions about men and masculinity. A more useful way of understanding men's health is to adopt a gender-relations approach. This means examining health concerns in the context of men's and women's interactions with each other, and their positions in the larger, multidimensional structure of gender relations. Such an approach raises the issue of differences among men, which is a key issue in recent research on masculinity and an important health issue. The gender-relations approach offers new ways of addressing practical issues of healthcare for men in college environments.     

Supporting pupils with special health needs in mainstream schools: policy and practice

Education policy favouring ‘inclusion’, together with medical advances, mean that a growing number of pupils in mainstream schools may have health‐related support needs in respect of a chronic illness or physical disability. Data from an empirical research study investigating these needs and carried out between 1996 and 1998 are used to reflect on the position of this group of pupils within policy guidance on special educational needs (SEN) and medical needs. Evidence of confusion and ambiguity, both in the guidance and its interpretation, suggests that the needs of this group remain somewhat hidden. More recent developments in special needs policy guidance are discussed in terms of the prospect for strengthening support for this group of pupils. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The contemporary U.S. women's movement: An empirical example of competition theory

We use competition and resource mobilization perspectives to explain the rise of the contemporary U.S. women's movement. Our competition framework proposes that economic and sociodemographic changes since World War II increased competition between women and men in the marketplace. This increased competition provided motivation for the women's movement. We find support for this framework with national quantitative time-series data.     

High stakes: U.S. nonprofit organizations and the U.S. standing abroad

This research sought to explain the agency of U.S.-based nonprofit nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the U.S. standing abroad, and explore the NGO role in the U.S. public diplomacy. A multiple-case study method was used to look at five 501(c)(3) organizations that receive predominantly private funding and operate globally. The data gathered from in-person interviews and corporate documentation were compared between cases, and synthesized across cases using the theory-building technique. While U.S. standing affects American NGOs’ practices and discourses, American NGOs’ behavior might have a bearing on the attitudes, perceptions, and opinions of international publics about the United States. Both the NGO-owned state identities and American NGOs’ reputation for autonomy and freedom of expression enhance the U.S. public diplomacy efforts.