Explaining Family Change and Variation: Challenges for Family Demographers

Twenty years ago, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) issued a request for proposals that resulted in the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), a unique survey valuable to a wide range of family scholars. This paper describes the efforts of an interdisciplinary group of family demographers to build on the progress enabled by the NSFH and many other theoretical and methodological innovations. Our work, also supported by NICHD, will develop plans for research and data collection to address the central question of what causes family change and variation. We outline the group's initial assessments of orienting frameworks, key aspects of family life to study, and theoretical and methodological challenges for research on family change. Finally, we invite family scholars to follow our progress and to help develop this shared public good.     

Corporate Environmental Behaviors in Voluntary Programs: Does Timing Matter?*

Objective. Why do some firms participate in voluntary programs earlier than others? What conditions dictate whether firms participate in voluntary programs earlier rather than later? Current research on voluntary programs has not considered discrete processes in which corporate actors could have different motives and objectives in different time dimensions, that is, early versus late. Methods. We adopt a diffusion theory to disaggregate corporate voluntary participation behavior in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored Green Lights (GL) voluntary program. We focus on the GL participants during two periods—the early joiners in 1993–1994, and the late joiners in 1995–1996. Results. At the early diffusion stage, firms are more likely driven by the market motive that garners a “green” reputation, an important strategic asset to promote market competitiveness; at the late diffusion stage, firms are more driven by the institutional motive to improve their relationships with regulatory agencies and subsequently relieve regulatory pressures from them. Conclusion. We find that firms have different motives for GL participation at different diffusion stages. We suggest that policymakers who want to induce firms to join voluntary programs should pay more attention to program designs and implementation schemes that accommodate different corporate interests and objectives in different time orders of firms' participations in voluntary programs.     

Gendered Pathways to the Political: The Political Participation of Women Factory Workers in Mexico*

Objectives. The objective of this article is to analyze the mobilization factors available within and without international factories that do and do not contribute to political participation of employees, hypothesizing that the quantity, type, and causal linkages will vary by gender. Methods. Using original survey data of factory employees (N=402) in multiple sectors and regions in Mexico, I test common explanations as to how the factory experience stimulates and stifles the political participation of women employees, exploring whether the causal linkages between the workplace and political engagement are the same for women and men. Results. Contrary to some of the recent research that reveals men to be more politically engaged than women in the Mexican population overall, my data show that among factory workers there is rough parity between men's and women's levels of political engagement. A distinction of note, controlling for other variables, female employees are more likely than male employees to engage in informal political activities. Conclusion. The international factory experience appears to have a limited “egalitarian” effect. The distribution of factors leading to political mobilization for women and men is not equal, yet women are able to translate a distinct set of factors into participation.     

Marital Status,Gender, and Parents’ Psychological Well‐Being*

This study analyzes the associations between marital status, gender, and depressive symptoms among parents. The regression results indicate that married parents report fewer traditional depressive symptoms and lower rates of alcohol abuse than do single parents. Mothers and fathers also appear to be more likely to exhibit different depressive symptoms: Mothers are more likely than fathers to report traditional depressive symptoms and fathers are more likely to report the abuse of alcohol. Finally, we find evidence that indicators of parenting burdens such as economic strain, household labor, childcare, social support, and religious involvement mediate and moderate these relationships.     

Hidden Spaces of Resistance of the Subordinated: Case Studies from Vietnamese Female Migrant Partners in Taiwan1

This paper explores how contradictory social structures influence power relations between “Vietnamese brides” and their Taiwanese family members. By analyzing two aspects of interaction between “Vietnamese brides” and their husbands’ families, i.e., how the families require them to integrate into Taiwanese society and what strategies they employ to escape from these constraints, we argue that contradictory social relations together with commodified marriage and liminality help them to develop strategies of escape into the “hidden space.” The development of these strategies indicates one thing: hegemony is never fully achieved – it is always negotiated and contested.     

A representation for the Mexican political networks

A compressed graph representation for use with the Mexican political networks is introduced. Properties of these graphs are investigated. It is also explained how the Jorge–Schmidt power centrality index can be used to index the centrality of nodes in the original network from the compressed graph representation.     

Attitudes as an Expression of Knowledge and “Political Anchoring”: The Case of Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom

Attitudes toward the use of nuclear energy pose fundamental issues in the political debate about how to meet future energy needs. Development of new nuclear power facilities faces significant opposition both from knowledgeable individuals who display an understanding of the risks attached to various forms of power generation and those who follow strict politically based ideological dogmas. This article employs data from a 2005 Eurobarometer survey of UK citizens to examine the influence of both political preferences and knowledge in explaining support of nuclear power. Findings reveal that attitudes about nuclear power are highly politically motivated while the influence of knowledge about radioactive waste is dependent upon beliefs about the consequences of nuclear energy use. Perceptions of being informed about radioactive waste and trust in sources providing information about radioactive waste management also predict attitudes toward nuclear power generation.     

The Reshaping of Mexican Labor Exports under NAFTA: Paradoxes and Challenges

From the perspective of the political economy of development, this article analyzes the role played by Mexican labor in the U.S. productive restructuring process under the aegis of the North American Free Trade Agreement. By conceptualizing the labor export–led model it dissects three basic mechanisms of regional economic integration: maquiladoras, disguised maquilas, and labor migration. Not only does this analytical framework cast light on the contributions made by Mexican migrants to the economies of the United States and Mexico, it also reveals two paradoxes: the broadening of the socioeconomic asymmetries between the two countries, and increased socioeconomic dependence on remittances in Mexico.     

Asset Building in Rural Communities: The Experience of Individual Development Accounts*

Abstract This study examines the unique experiences of low‐income rural participants in an asset building program‐the Individual Development Account. Using data from the American Dream Demonstration, this study addresses three main questions: (1) What are the individual characteristics associated with saving outcomes among rural IDA participants? (2) What are the program characteristics associated with savings among rural participants? (3) What are the policy implications for supporting asset building in rural areas? To answer these questions we conduct an Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis. The results suggest that low‐income rural participants have the ability and willingness to save toward the accumulation of assets in IDAs. Looking at individual characteristics, home ownership appears to be an important predictor of savings. In addition, this study suggests that program characteristics (financial education, peer group meetings, match rate, direct deposit, and monthly saving target), not merely individual characteristics, are important in explaining saving performance for this group.