Economic activity and occupation in the Pacific Islands: issues of census classification and analysis

The author discusses the census assessment of economic activity and occupation in the Pacific Island nations of Oceania. "In the Pacific Islands, subsistence and certain kinds of cash activities are often overlooked, and this omission tends to make vulnerable groups, especially women, less visible to planners and politicians. Some progress has been made in incorporating nonwage and noncash activities into recent classification systems used in censuses. One of the purposes of the new International Classification of Occupations...is to provide an improved system of classification for such activities.... Also needed in the Pacific are systems for providing more meaningful data collection and analysis on the relationship between individual and household activities."     

Comparative labor market performance of visaed and non-visaed migrants: Pacific islanders in Sydney

Using survey data for Tongan and Samoan migrants in Sydney the effects of visa restrictions on labor market performance of migrants are assessed. Univariate analysis suggests a positive association between unemployment and the unrestricted entry of Samoan step-migrants from New Zealand. A probit model of the determinants of unemployment is estimated with controls for human capital and demographic variables. While human capital endowments are important, visa restrictions do not have a significant effect on either group‘s employability. Implications for policy are discussed highlighting the complementarities between host country immigration policies and foreign aid programs. Received: 13 August 1997 / Accepted: 5 March 1998     

Book Review: The Lost Gospel of the Earth. Tom Hayden. San Francisco,CA: Sierra Club Books, 1996. 280 pp (including references and index)

Population and Environment -     

Targeting and Mistargeting of Family Policies in High-Income Pacific Asian Societies: A Review of Financial Incentives

Population Research and Policy Review - Very low fertility rates can be found in many high-income Pacific Asian societies, such as Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. Governments...     

Smallpox and Epidemiological-Demographic Change in Europe: The Role of Vaccination

The relationship between smallpox epidemics, overall mortality and population growth, as reflected in an excess of births over deaths, has been examined with regard to the main sources of evidence from different parts of Europe. Epidemiological-demographic changes concomitant with different phases in the introduction of immunisation against the disease have been assessed in the light of evidence from records showing some causes of death as well as numbers of burials. By the eighteenth century; smallpox epidemics appear to have become predominant as an influence on fluctuations in overall mortality in much of Europe. Evidence is reviewed which suggests that although inoculation had probably protected many from smallpox after the mid-eighteenth century, to an extent that could have reduced overall mortality, vaccination enthusiastically promoted after 1800 had a dramatic epidemiological-demographic impact. Data from many sources have been summarised and indicate that the disease was virtually brought under control in North Western Europe during the course of the nineteenth century. Smallpox had probably caused between 8 and 20 per cent of all deaths directly in eighteenth-century Europe as well as unquantifiable secondary and associated morbidity and mortality. The removal of such a deleterious disease from a chain of infections affecting the population at this time, accounted for much of the increasingly more important role of mortality decline as the significant factor in demographic change. The evidence is circumstantial, but suggests that the unprecedented population growth of the early decades of the nineteenth century could in large part have been due to the control of smallpox through vaccination measures. The virtual elimination of the disease as a killer in Europe by the end of the century, following legislation and revaccination programmes was a unique achievement with further consequences for sustained population growth and improvements in health which for many were the only source of improvements in the standard of life.     

The San Francisco bathhouse battles of 1984: civil liberties,AIDS risk,and shifts in health policy

In the mid-1980s, controversy emerged in a number of American cities over the roles gay bathhouses and sex clubs might play in the spread of AIDS, and in raising safe-sex awareness. In 1984, San Francisco became the first city where political debates broke out over AIDS-related policies for bathhouses and sex clubs. These debates were dominated by questions of public health and gay civil liberties. A variety of proposals were put forward during 1984 to try to reconcile these two concerns, or to give one a higher priority than the other. Certain officials in San Francisco's government, and members of its gay/lesbian/bisexual community, strongly disagreed over whether the businesses should be closed, should make their own AIDS-prevention efforts, or should continue operating under new regulations. Policies implemented for the city's baths were disconnected from the known AIDS risk of different sexual behaviors, and from research findings on AIDS and the local baths. Political and judicial decisions concerning San Francisco's bathhouses and sex clubs that were made in 1984 had continuing influences on these businesses through the later 1980s and the 1990s.     

Uncrossing the U.S. Black-White Mortality Crossover: The Role of Cohort Forces in Life Course Mortality Risk

In this article, I examine the black-white crossover in U.S. adult all-cause mortality, emphasizing how cohort effects condition age-specific estimates of mortality risk. I employ hierarchical age-period-cohort methods on the National Health Interview Survey-Linked Mortality Files between 1986 and 2006 to show that the black-white mortality crossover can be uncrossed by factoring out period and cohort effects of mortality risk. That is, when controlling for variations in cohort and period patterns of U.S. adult mortality, the estimated age effects of non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white U.S. adult mortality risk do not cross at any age. This is the case for both men and women. Further, results show that nearly all the recent temporal change in U.S. adult mortality risk was cohort driven. The findings support the contention that the non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white U.S. adult populations experienced disparate cohort patterns of mortality risk and that these different experiences are driving the convergence and crossover of mortality risk at older ages.     

The Dual Role of Race and Immigration Among Ascending Neighborhoods in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Population Research and Policy Review - The racial/ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of immigrants to the United States has grown since the 1990s, along with growing neighborhood socioeconomic...     

Disparities in Academic Achievement: Assessing the Role of Habitus and Practice

Bourdieu’s theory of cultural and social reproduction—with its core concepts cultural capital, habitus, practice and field—is a leading account of the intergenerational persistence of educational inequality. Although numerous studies examine the relationship between class, cultural capital and academic outcomes, and some focus on gender differences in cultural capital, few attempt to operationalize Bourdieu’s accompanying concepts of habitus and practice, and to consider gender differences along these dimensions. The present study addresses these gaps by examining a “structure-disposition-practice” model of the relationships between family socioeconomic status (SES), sex, habitus, academic practices, and academic achievement using multilevel Canadian data. Findings of SES and gender differences in the model offer qualified support for the potential of Bourdieu’s framework to help increase our understanding of class and gender disparities in educational outcomes. Results suggest that habitus, practice and the “structure-disposition-practice” model are not only theoretically sophisticated, but also empirically sustainable and that future efforts to more precisely measure the model’s concepts and relationships are warranted.     

Self-Other Agreement in Happiness and Life-Satisfaction: The Role of Personality Traits

The aim of the current study is to examine the role of personality traits in self-other agreement in happiness and life-satisfaction which are often seen as the essential components of subjective well-being (SWB). Self-reports on the SWB measure and the NEO Personality Inventory-3 were obtained from 1,251 Estonians aged between 18 and 86 years. Other-ratings on the same measures were provided by knowledgeable informants. The measure of SWB showed significant self-other agreement, r = .55 (p = .000). We found this agreement to be transmitted (i.e., mediated) through the self- and other-rated personality facet scores of N3 (Depression) and E6 (Positive Emotions), Z = 2.8001–11.7142. The findings suggest that when an informant evaluates someone’s happiness or life-satisfaction, his/her rating is inflated by the image held about the personality of this person. Furthermore, self-reported SWB reflects, to some extent, what other people think about one’s personality.     

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Birthweight: The Role of Income and Financial Assistance

This paper attempts to explain the differences in birthweight observed between blacks, white Anglos, Chicanos, and other racial and ethnic groups. The analysis focuses on the role of income and financial assistance from relatives and public programs. Using data from the NLS Youth Panel, I construct a causal model of birthweight containing exogenous social and demographic risk factors and intervening proximate determinants of birthweight. A substantial part of the gap in birthweight between white Anglos and other ethnic groups (especially blacks) can be explained by the unfavorable socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the latter. On the other hand, blacks and other minorities smoke less and have other favorable proximate characteristics that depress differences in birthweight. When these proximate determinants are controlled, large ethic differences in birthweight remain unexplained by income and other sociodemographic factors.     

Perceptions of Domestic Violence in Lesbian Relationships: Stereotypes and Gender Role Expectations

In light of evidence suggesting that violence between lesbian couples is oftentimes dismissed as “mutually combative,” expectations that support this perception were examined. Participants (N = 287) evaluated a domestic violence situation within the context of a lesbian partnership. As physical appearance may be used to support gender- and heterosexist-based stereotypes relating to lesbians, participants evaluated a domestic violence incident wherein the physical appearance of both the victim and perpetrator were systematically varied. Overall, women perceived the situation as more dangerous than did men. However, among women, the plausibility of the victim's claim, and blame assigned to the perpetrator and victim, varied as a function of the physical appearance of the couple. Implications of this research as well as future directions are discussed.     

Economic Migration and Urban Citizenship in China: The Role of Points Systems

The conversion of a hukou (household registration) from one locale to another in China requires official approval, a process subject to conditions set out in numerous regulations. This article examines the role of points systems for selecting economic migrants eligible for an urban hukou in several provinces. Using the points systems, city governments prioritize human resources and capital, which they consider to be the key to economic prosperity, over social objectives. Meanwhile the majority of migrants, who participate in urban employment without official registration, are treated as necessary contributors to the economy but not as qualified beneficiaries of it. It remains to be seen, with a wider application of points systems in more Chinese cities, whether the hukou system will evolve to make urban citizenship less exclusive and more equitable. The article provides detailed examples, at the province and city level, of rating schemes for qualifying for an urban hukou.     

Personality Traits and Subjective Well-Being: Moderating Role of Optimism in University Employees

The present study examined the moderating impact of optimism on the relationship between personality traits (neuroticism and conscientiousness) and subjective well-being (distress and satisfaction with life) among university employees. Participants were 251 (age 25–60) employees at COMSATS University, who completed demographic information sheet, two subscales (neuroticism and conscientiousness) of NEO Personality Inventory (Costa et al. in Br J Psychol 78:299–306, 1987), Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol 67:1063–1078, 1994), Satisfaction with Life Scale (Dienere et al. in J Persy Assess 49:71–75, 1985), and two subscales (depression and anxiety) of Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis and Melisaratos in Psychol Med 13:595–605, 1983). On a final sample of 251 university employees, a series of moderated hierarchical regression analyses were performed separately for positive and negative health outcomes. Results indicated that optimism moderated between neuroticism and distress and neuroticism and satisfaction with life. Further, optimism moderated between conscientiousness and distress and conscientiousness and satisfaction with life. The current findings have implications for clinicians, researchers, and policy makers for the identification of resource factors that may help to understand the resistant power of non clinical sample to maintain positive functioning.     

Cigarette Smoking in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Unions: The Role of Socioeconomic and Psychological Factors

Cigarette smoking has long been a target of public health intervention because it substantially contributes to morbidity and mortality. Individuals in different-sex marriages have lower smoking risk (i.e., prevalence and frequency) than different-sex cohabiters. However, little is known about the smoking risk of individuals in same-sex cohabiting unions. We compare the smoking risk of individuals in different-sex marriages, same-sex cohabiting unions, and different-sex cohabiting unions using pooled cross-sectional data from the 1997–2010 National Health Interview Surveys (N = 168,514). We further examine the role of socioeconomic status (SES) and psychological distress in the relationship between union status and smoking. Estimates from multinomial logistic regression models reveal that same-sex and different-sex cohabiters experience similar smoking risk when compared to one another, and higher smoking risk when compared to the different-sex married. Results suggest that SES and psychological distress factors cannot fully explain smoking differences between the different-sex married and same-sex and different-sex cohabiting groups. Moreover, without same-sex cohabiter’s education advantage, same-sex cohabiters would experience even greater smoking risk relative to the different-sex married. Policy recommendations to reduce smoking disparities among same-sex and different-sex cohabiters are discussed.     

Structural Pluralism and Life Expectancy in Less-Developed Countries: The Role of Women's Status

This study replicates a previous finding forthe U.S. counties that showed a strongassociation, net of controls between``structural pluralism' and lower mortality. ``Structural pluralism' refers to a community'scapacity for political competition, and is acore element of ``democracy.' Pluralism hasthis effect because it facilitates theacquisition of appropriate medical facilitiesand because it tends to optimize the biologicalfunctioning of the residents. Working from amajor component of pluralism, minorityparticipation, this hypothesis is tested byshowing that women's status in less developedcountries improves life expectancy net ofcontrols. A path analysis demonstrates thatthe structural dimensions work through healthorganization as an intervening variable, andthe future testing of biological optimizationis outlined. Location in Africa south of theSahara is a partially unexplained controlvariable that has a powerful negative impact. Interpreting women's status as a component ofpluralism explains why it predicts increasedlife expectancy for all citizens, not justwomen. It is a global dimension that affectsall the members of a community.