The equalizing role of human resource intensive growth strategies: A theoretical model

Empirical evidence concerning the relationship between education-intensive development strategies and income distribution is used to formulate a growth model in which the variance of the dispersion rate of income is linked to the human and physical capital intensity of production. It is shown that, under plausible assumptions, the growth trajectory does not have a unique steady state. Of the possible steady states, for any two steady states characterized by equal per capita output and by different combinations of physical capital-labor ratio and average human capital, the income distribution associated with the steady state with the higher level of average human capital is Lorenz superior.     

Change and inertia in the New York state medicaid personal care services program: an institutional case study

This study analyzes how competing logics (belief systems) of stakeholders have influenced patterns of change and inertia in the development of the New York Medicaid Personal Care Services (PCS) program. A case-study methodology was used to collect documents, statistics, and interview data from four key stakeholder groups: state and city officials, PCS agencies, a labor union, and consumer advocates covering the period 1999 to 2005. The New York PCS program is one of the oldest, largest, and most stable programs in the United States. Its early unionization of workers resulted in relatively generous wages and benefits and made New York number one nationally in PCS spending per capita. In spite of wide support from stakeholder groups, the overall number of participants has gradually declined since 1999. A consumer-directed model of personal care developed in 1995 challenged the status quo and has grown steadily. Resistance by public officials, agency providers, and union representatives to the consumer-directed model has resulted in a small program that is often targeted toward individuals labeled "difficult to serve." Dominant stakeholders in New York have ensured a stable personal care program that has resisted change and led to program inertia.     

Older patient-physician discussions about exercise

This cross-sectional observational study examined the frequency of older patient-physician discussions about exercise, who initiates discussions, and the quality of questioning, informing, and support about exercise. The study used a convenience sample of 396 follow-up visits at 3 community-based practice sites, with 376 community-dwelling older patients and 43 primary-care physicians. Audiotapes were analyzed using the Multi-Dimensional Interaction Analysis coding system. Results demonstrate that exercise was discussed in 13% of visits and the subject was raised equally by patients and physicians. Exercise was significantly more likely to be discussed in dyadic visits (14.7%) than in triadic visits (4.1%). Patient level of education, patient overall physical health, and the physician's being female were significant predictors of the occurrence of exercise discussion. Given the importance of exercise for maintaining health and independence in older adults, more clinical and research attention is needed to address barriers to effective discussions in this area.     

HOMEWARD BOUND: THE RETURN MIGRATION OF SOUTHERN-BORN BLACK WOMEN, 1940 TO 1990

A major demographic trend of the twentieth century has been the dramatic decrease in the percentage of African Americans residing in the South. The Great Migration reduced the percentage of Blacks living in the South from 90 percent at the turn of the century to 53 percent in 1990. However, since at least 1940 there has been a measurable North to - South counterstream of migrants , and since about 1970 there has been net in - migration of Blacks to the South . This in - migration includes northern - born Blacks, as well as former migrants returning to the South. Prior research on the Great Migration, and its more recent reversal, has tended to overlook the experiences of Black women. In this study, we use the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series to describe the return migration patterns of southern - born Black women in 1940, 1970, 1980, and 1990. Our analysis has four primary objectives: (a) to provide a broad overview of trends in return migration to the South for Black women during the last 60 years of the twentieth century, (b) to determine the selectivity of female return migrants from the larger population of southern migrants residing in the North, (c) to compare female return migrants with southern - born women who had remained in the South, and (d) to help set an agenda for future research on female return migration. Although the focus throughout the article is on the return migration of African American women, parallel information is presented for Whites to provide a comparative perspective.     

North Central Sociological Association Presidential Address. Renewing Sociology: Integral Science,Solidarity, and Loving Kindness

Abstract

We contribute to the debate about the effects of immigration in the United States by analyzing the impact of recent (1980-2000) immigration on the economic outcomes of African Americans. We use Census 2000 data for a sample of 150 U.S. metropolitan areas to examine these outcomes. Our findings indicate that after controlling for a variety of theoretically relevant control variables, increases in recent immigration decrease labor force non-participation and poverty, and increase median earnings, among blacks. We argue that recent immigration expands blacks' job opportunities in or near the middle of the occupational hierarchy (e.g., protective services; office and administrative support). However, we also find a non-linear effect of immigration on black median earnings which indicates an immigrant population threshold where black earnings begin to decline. Thus, both sides of this debate may be correct: middle-class blacks benefit from increased immigration, but the gains of the black middle class do not always offset the fact that poor and lower-skilled blacks are losing out because of increased competition with immigrants.     

Racial Residential Segregation in Urban America

There are numerous causes and consequences of racial residential segregation in American metropolitan areas, and a long-standing literature is filled with debates about them. We provide an overview of the trends and patterns regarding racial residential segregation, focusing primarily on blacks and whites. We pay special attention to the competing arguments about race and class in the context of residential stratification. We then discuss the many causes of residential segregation, and its social and economic consequences. After the overview, we identify key gaps in the literature. We discuss three broad substantive areas of research that expand the study of racial residential segregation: (i) the everyday experiences of race, class, and gender disadvantage as they are related to segregation; (ii) contemporary immigration streams and their impact on black-white residential dynamics; and (iii) the power of political-economic forces to transform residentially segregated spaces, with a particular emphasis on processes related to gentrification and home mortgage lending.     

An empirical analysis of urban primary education in the United States

A Factor Analysis of the Coleman report data on Equality of Educational opportunity is performed. The results of this analysis are used to suggest hypotheses about the nature of interactions affecting educational production functions. These hypotheses are then used as an aid in the specification of a simultaneous equation regression model of the educational process. Finally, a set of TSLS estimates of the parameters of this regression model is presented.