Measurement and socio-demographic variation of social capital in a large population-based survey

Objectives The main objective of this study was to describe the variation of individual social capital according to socio-demographic factors, and to develop a suitable way to measure social capital for this purpose. The similarity of socio-demographic variation between the genders was also assessed. Data and methods The study applied cross-sectional data from the national Finnish Health 2000 survey (n = 8,028) which represents the adult population, aged 30 years and over. Several variables indicating social capital were condensed to dimensions on the basis of factor analysis. Participants were categorized into tertiles in each dimension of social capital by means of factor scores. The multinomial logistic regression model was used to produce the adjusted prevalences for the dimensions of social capital according to socio-demographic categories (age, gender, education, living arrangements, income, and type of region). Results Three dimensions of social capital were distinguished: social support, social participation and networks, and trust and reciprocity. Age had an inverse association with social support as well as participation and networks, and a curvilinear association between age and trust and reciprocity, the oldest age groups showing the highest level of trust. Married persons and those in the highest educational and income groups tended to have more social capital than other persons. Residents of urban and rural regions did not systematically differ from each other in their level of social capital although residents of urban regions participated less and showed less trust than people living in semi-urban or rural regions. Social support varied significantly with gender. The decline of social support by age was steeper in women than in men. Social participation and networks increased with education, the gradient appearing steeper among men. The difference between married and cohabiting men was substantial compared to women when it came to trust. Conclusions People who are young, married, educated, and well-off have plenty of social capital. This information might help various services to concentrate the actions on the people in danger of social exclusion. Our results also form a basis for the future by allowing the changes in social capital to be examined over time and over different studies.     

Selections and social selectivity on the academic track: A life-course analysis of educational attainment in Germany

Graduating from university is just the final step of an extended educational career. Sociological transition research has revealed that final educational attainment must be understood as the result of a sequence of successive decisions. With regard to graduation from university, one has to take into account that upper secondary school qualifications are required for enrolling in the first place, and in Germany, the decision for this kind of schooling is at a much earlier age. So where on the long way to the university degree does Germany ‘lose’ its potential academics and in particular its lower class children?     

Production and consumption externalities of human capital: an empirical study for Italy

The estimation of the effect of local human capital on wages only might not identify properly human capital spillovers. Appropriate identification requires considering the joint effect of local human capital on both wages and rents. Empirically, we study the effects of local human capital on household-level rents and individual-level wages for a sample of Italian local labour markets. Our results show a positive and robust effect of local human capital on rents, supporting the idea that human capital generates positive externalities at the local level. Our results also suggest that consumption and production externalities have a similar impact on wages.

Differences in meconium stained amniotic fluid in an Australian population: A retrospective study

Background

Meconium stained amniotic fluid commonly occurs postdates (?>40 weeks gestation) indicating fetal maturity. Previous literature indicates that different ethnicities mature at different rates.

论山东人力资源开发与人力资本形成

人力资本是经济增长的源泉和动力。本文通过历史资料对山东省人力资源现状进行考察,指出山东省人力资源总体素质水平与其经济发展水平不相适应。针对人力资源现状结合山东新时期经济发展目标,提出应大胆进行人力资本投资制度创新,提高人力资本投资强度,改善人力资本投资结构,尤其是要使人力资源开发与经济比较优势相结合等重要解决措施。     

Unequal transitions: Selection bias and the compensatory effect of social background in educational careers

Previous studies have shown that social background inequality differs among educational transitions and it is stronger for those transitions that involve a higher risk of social demotion. This paper focuses on two processes that may account for part of the observed differences in social background inequality across educational transitions. First, it studies how the family of origin might compensate for a ‘false step’ in the early stage of young people's educational careers. This compensatory effect of social background can be described as the likelihood of having ‘a second chance’ for unsuccessful educational transitions. Second, it focuses on two unobserved factors that might potentially bias the effect of social background across educational transitions. These are the students’ unobserved cognitive and non-cognitive skills and their unobserved anticipated choices of dropping out of the education system. Two issues – the compensatory effect of social background and selection bias in educational transitions – are addressed by estimating a probit model with sample selection for the transition to post-compulsory education in Spain.     

The association between social support and postpartum depression in women: A cross sectional study

Background

Prevalence of postpartum depression is estimated to be about 10–15% worldwide. Many risk factors are supposed to play a role leading a new mother to maternal postpartum depression which can considerably affect the baby, mother, family and also the society.

Welfare states and social mobility: How educational and social policy may affect cross-national differences in the association between occupational origins and destinations

Cross-national differences in the association between origins and destinations correspond to differences in both welfare regime type and access to post-secondary education. Socialist and social democratic welfare regimes foster a weaker origin–destination association than liberal, corporatist, or mixed regimes do. Nations with better-educated labor forces tend to also be the nations where the association between origins and destinations is weakest. Furthermore, the social and educational policy interact so that the tendency for educational access to lower the origin–destination association is most pronounced in the liberal welfare setting where the association would otherwise be greatest. Greater access is not necessarily associated with greater equality of opportunity, and we find very weak evidence that equality of educational opportunity itself is a direct influence on equality of occupational opportunity (even though nations that have a strong origin–education association also have a strong origin–destination association).     

高等教育与我国地区经济发展关系的实证研究——从人力资本存量的角度

本文从人力资本存量的角度考察了2004年我国高等教育与地区经济发展之间的关系。研究发现:(1)高等教育与当地经济发展存在高度正相关,但地理位置因素也会影响到其强弱。(2)高等教育对中部地区经济增长的促进作用最明显,京津及东部沿海地区次之,西部地区最低。(3)总体来看,高等教育对经济增长贡献仍然偏低。因此,应进一步加大高等教育投入,提高其对经济增长贡献。     

我国人力资本地区分布差异及其变化考探——基于不平等指数的度量与分解视角

本文运用基尼系数等不平等指数,考查了21世纪以来我国分地区的人力资本分布差异情况及其变化特征。结果表明,我国分地区的人力资本分布存在着较大的差异,其中东、中、西部地区间差距对总体差异的贡献率达到35%以上,而城乡间的差距贡献率一直都在75%以上;2005年之前我国人力资本的分布经历了一个分化的过程,2005年后尽管普及九年义务教育力度的提升在一定程度上平衡了乡村地区的人力资本分布,但城乡差距在总体差异中的贡献不但没有减小,反而还有所扩大。     

The transmission of social inequality: Examination of the linkages between family socioeconomic status in childhood and educational achievement in young adulthood

The present study examines the linkages between family socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood and educational achievement in young adulthood using data from a 25-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of over 1000 New Zealand children. Structural equation modeling of the association between latent SES at birth and educational achievement by age 25 years showed evidence of a strong association between latent SES and later educational achievement. Much of this association was mediated via two pathways relating to child cognitive ability and family educational aspirations; family economic resources and school factors did not mediate the association. However, even when the major theoretical pathways were taken into account, a substantial component of the latent SES/educational achievement correlation remained unexplained.     

乐观取向、社会服务使用与社会融合：香港新移民的一项探索性研究

本文基于对285名香港新移民的调查发现乐观取向、社会服务的使用是影响社会融合的重要因素,高乐观取向、更多使用社会服务的新移民社会融合程度更高。论文提出了相应的政策和服务建议。     

农村婚姻移民的社会适应及性别差异初探——来自吴江的实证研究

目前国内关于农村婚姻移民的社会适应研究还处于空白。本文利用《2010年吴江市居民生活质量调查》研究中236份婚姻移民的数据,从社会性别视角出发,从主观感知、经济层面、社会关系、文化适应等方面探索农村婚姻移民的社会适应状况和性别差异。实证研究发现,婚姻移民的主观适应感较好,其总体经济适应程度要低于本地居民,在社会关系、文化等方面也仍有少数人未能融入当地生活;社会性别因素对社会适应的主观感知没有显著影响,但在社会适应的经济、社会关系、文化等不同方面存在显著的性别差异。     

独生子女和非独生子女生育意愿差异的比较研究——基于江苏省生育意愿和生育行为调查

根据“江苏省生育意愿和生育行为”基线调查数据,本文使用交叉分析,多元线性回归等方法,探讨独生子女和非独生子女生育意愿的差异。结果表明,在意愿生育数量、意愿生育性别和意愿生育时间方面独生子女和非独生子女没有显著差异。