A cultural economy perspective on service sector migration in the global city: the case of Hong Kong

This article argues that in order to fully understand the geography of labour migration to global cities, it is necessary to consider economic forces in conjunction with mediating socio-cultural influences. Support for this argument is based on an examination of the pattern of migration to Hong Kong, a city which plays a significant role in the world economy.
Reported here are the results of an analysis of recently released 1996 by-census data, and the authors' interviews with foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. These findings have shown that highly skilled immigrant workers were drawn largely from developed countries, the main sources of inward investment in this city, while less skilled immigrants were drawn from less developed neighbouring labour markets.
While the geographical pattern of immigration followed broadly that predicted from Hong Kong's position in the world economy, the results have revealed that cultural influences such as language and social networks are also important in shaping the economic roles of migrant workers.     

A problem in household composition

"Distinction made between household-persons and household-markers [the person who identifies the family or household as a unit] is formalized in the notion of nested populations. This leads to an extension of the Leslie model into a formulation of growth for both population and households. The extended model involves the matrix presentation of household composition where ratios of household-persons who are age 0, per household-marker, function as surrogate values for fertility rates. The extended model describes change over time in the distribution of population by age, and in the distribution of households by age of household-marker, or household-head. The model involves the inversion of a nonnegative matrix, and is feasible only if it yields, projected over time, nonnegative entries in vectors representing distribution of population by age, and distribution of household-heads by age. Conditions for the feasibility of the extended model are discussed, and a sufficient condition for feasibility over a single interval is identified." (SUMMARY IN FRE)     

Bequests as a heir "disciple device."

This paper develops a model ofinter vivos gifts and bequests in a setting of moral hazard and adverse selection. Altruistic parents do not perfectly know how much effort their children make to earn their living, nor do they know their true level of ability.Inter vivos gifts take place prior to the realization of the children's earnings whereas at the moment of bequests, parents do observe them. We show that an optimal transfer policy generally uses a mix ofinter vivos gifts — deemed as more efficient — and bequests — deemed as more redistributive.We are thankful to Allessandro Cigno, Jacques Cremer, Claude d Aspremont and anonymous referees for their comments.Responsible editor: Alessandro Cigno     

The health status of elderly people and the new direction of health services

The projected increase of people in Japan aged 75 years and older in the years to come implies the increase of the disabled elderly. Thus, the core of societal preparation for the aging of the population is generally considered to be the expansion of services for the disabled elderly. However, gerontological studies on the health status of the elderly conducted in Japan show that the prevalence of disability is quite low and even decreasing. Relative to the services for the disabled elderly, preventive services for the healthy elderly have long been overlooked. In 1994, the Metropolitan Tokyo Government organized a task force to develop a new health education program as the preventive health service for the healthy urban elderly. A preliminary plan outlining the health education program--consisting of propagation with a booklet, on-the-job training of practitioners, and development of new curricula and teaching materials--was proposed by the authors for discussion within the task force. Although the inquiry has just begun and the plan is still nascent, it seems adequate to fit the needs for preventive health services in the near future.     

Premarital relationships and livelihoods in Ghana

This study is based on interviews with a sample of 400 single women aged 18-25 years from the Fante ethnic group in Cape Coast, Ghana, in 1991, and on focus groups. This case study illustrates the importance of economic and living arrangement support expected from partners in premarital relationships. Support may be for living and maintenance ('chopmoney', provisions, household items, and rent); for financial security (provision of capital); and for clothing and hairdressing. Women did not always require economic support in premarital relationships. Women expect boyfriends to provide 'chopmoney' (money for food and general upkeep) and contribute some money for the rent. Only 36% of sexually active women expected their boyfriends to supply food provisions. Premarital sexual relationships are used to obtain start-up capital. The author refers to evidence that senior government officials engaged in sexual transactions with clients before loans and credit facilities were offered. 87% of sexually experienced women expected their partners to pay for at least part of clothing expenses. The study revealed that there was considerable disparity between women's expectations and actual receipt of economic support. 56% desired, but only 36% received, 'chopmoney' in full. 40% expected their partners to pay for household furnishings in full, while only 10% did so. 55% expected capital, but only 15% received it. The three most frequently received benefits in full were hair dressing, shoes, and dresses. Men provided most non-negotiable items as a means of "boosting their egos." Many young women rely on the support of men in order to improve their status. Ghanaian men control financial resources and economic power. Mothers of adolescent daughters encourage premarital sexual behavior. Prostitution is considered different from sexual exchange relationships. It is argued that gender inequalities and domestic abuse are perpetuated through sexual exchange relationships.     

Temporary and illegal labour migration: the Israeli experience

In recent years, Israel has become a major recipient of documented and undocumented temporary labour migrants from many countries outside the Middle East region. The purposes of this article are to describe Israel's experience of temporary labour migration and its concomitant, illegal labour migration; and also to explore what her policies on temporary labour migration indicate about the nature of the policy-making process in this policy domain in Israel.
To these ends the article traces the evolution of temporary labour migration – legal and illegal – and recent policy initiatives of the Israeli government. It then considers some of the major conceptions of the policy-making process found in public policy literature. The article concludes by pointing to the uniqueness of Israel's experience of temporary labour migration and to the fact that her policies have been overwhelmingly reactive – inadequately considered, ill-conceived, ambivalent in relation to their ultimate purpose and, in the course of implementation, vulnerable to "privatization" (being taken over by vested interest groups).
Analysis of the most recent policy initiatives designed to reduce the number of legal labour migrants and address the problem of illegal labour migrants, reflect a policy-making process that is not followed by commensurate action.     

Family migration and the economic status of women in Malaysia

"The impact of family migration on women's economic position in a developing country setting is an area that has received relatively little research attention. Incorporating a lifetime perspective, this study makes use of the retrospective migration histories of husbands and wives from the second round of the Malaysian Family Life Survey to estimate how joint migration with the husband affects women's socioeconomic achievement. The findings show that family migration depresses the chances of working, but it does not significantly reduce socioeconomic attainment of those who do work. However, when a woman migrates with her husband she does forgo the substantial advantage she could have derived had she moved alone."     

"How much do you spend gambling?" ambiguities in survey questionnaire items

The validity of a survey's findings is dependent upon the clarity and lack of ambiguity contained in each individual item yet minimal attention has been directed to this issue in most prevalence studies. Researchers have shown a tendency to accept the uncritical assumption that respondents interpret seemingly simple and straightforward items such as 'how much do you spend gambling?' in a consistent manner. No attempt is made to confirm the uniformity of responses by clarifying the mathematical formulae used by respondents to derive their answers. The purpose of this paper was to examine the consistency shown by a sample of 181 medical undergraduate subjects in estimating the level of gambling expenditure in a series of five case vignettes describing various scenarios of wins and losses during a session of gambling. Results revealed a wide variation in calculated figures depending upon whether or not subjects interpreted the item to mean net expenditure or turnover. Only two thirds or less of subjects calculated the figure to be the difference between the initial amount risked and the residual at the conclusion of the session. It is suggested that more attention be paid in prevalence and clinical studies to providing subjects with clear instructions on how to calculate expenditure estimates.     

Implementing a gender policy in ACORD: strategies,constraints, and challenges

ACORD, a consortium of 11 nongovernmental organizations from Europe, Asia, and North America devoted to poverty alleviation in Africa, formally adopted a gender policy in 1990 aimed at reducing gender-based inequities in communities where ACORD works. A 1994-96 survey of field programs indicated that the greatest gains for women had been recorded in the areas of welfare, access to resources, conscientization (awareness of and will to alter gender inequalities), and, to a lesser extent, participation; minimal progress was noted in shifting the prevailing gender-based imbalance of power and control in public or private spheres. The research identified several programming and organizational strategies that have promoted positive outcomes for women: gender-awareness training for staff and community members, working with mixed groups, working with women-only groups, promotion of female leadership, gender-aware participatory planning and evaluation, spreading responsibility throughout the organization for implementing the gender policy, recruitment and promotion of women staff, networks for women staff, and direct field involvement in research. Also identified were internal and external factors that weakened policy implementation: a lack of clarity as to its aims, culture-based resistance, confusion regarding responsibilities and procedures, weak accountability mechanisms, lack of gender impact indicators, training inadequacies, underrepresentation of women staff, and inadequate resources. As a result of the review process, ACORD has given gender issues centrality in its current 5-year strategic plan.