The Differential Wage Impact of the Immigration Reform and Control Act on Latino Ethnic Subgroups*

Objective. This article tests whether employer sanctions for hiring undocumented workers, a provision of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), adversely affected the hourly earnings of Latino workers. Methods. Using the Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group Files from 1983–1990, a natural experiment framework is developed to assess the differential wage impact of employer sanctions on Latino ethnic subgroups. Results. Estimates of wage changes indicate that workers of Mexican descent saw a sizeable pre‐post IRCA decline in their hourly earnings relative to Cuban or Puerto Rican workers. Moreover, this change in wages is not observed among non‐Latino white workers. Controlling for the level of enforcement explains part of this decline immediately following the passage of IRCA, and enforcement efforts continue to be a significant factor several years later. Conclusions. The majority of evidence is consistent with the contention that employer sanctions adversely affected the earnings of Mexican workers.     

The Sociology of the Future: Tracing Stories of Technology and Time

The sociology of the future is an emerging field of inquiry that works to understand future consciousness drawing from a mix of Science & Technology Studies and the practice of foresight. Through an exploration of the theories, methodologies, and quagmires of anticipation employed in the study of nanotechnology, this piece introduces the sociology of the future and suggests some ways the field is taking definition. Exploring the future tense provides a means of taking responsibility for what is to come; yet, the movement of the social sciences into the tricky terrain of the future presents tensions. Understanding plausibility, how different communities use anticipatory knowledge, and the performative role of expectations in innovation remain areas of research rich with dilemmas and delights. As social scientists begin to weave their own accounts of futures, they should pay attention to the politics of such rendering.     

Relationship Risks in Context: A Cumulative Risk Approach to Understanding Relationship Satisfaction

Risks associated with less satisfying intimate relationships often co‐occur within individuals, raising questions about approaches that consider only their independent impact. Utilizing the cumulative risk model, which acknowledges the natural covariation of risk factors, this study examined individuals in intimate relationships using the Florida Family Formation Survey (n = 2,876) and a replication sample (n = 1,048). Analyses confirmed that not only was relationship satisfaction lower among those with more risks, but the cumulative risk score was predictive above and beyond the individual risk factors. Furthermore, experiencing multiple risks exacerbated the negative associations between individual risks and relationship satisfaction, suggesting that the operation of a risk factor in a relationship is moderated by the presence or absence of other risks.     

The Multiple Realities of Sameness and Difference: Ideology and Practice

Gender distinctions as dichotomous categories are perpetuated and maintained by social mechanisms and are socially constructed. Part of this social construction is reproduced by many social scientists who adopt mainstream cultural categories of gender and, through theoretical or methodological biases, fail to question them, or who, by their own practices, reinforce them. This analysis is an overview of the epistemological and methodological practices that reinforce gender distinctions and neglect reporting of similarities. Rejecting several models used to explain cultural differences, an alternative mode of analysis—multiplicity and proteanism—is proposed as a more productive perspective in the analysis of gender.     

Father Absence and Youth Incarceration

This study measured the likelihood of youth incarceration among adolescent males from father‐absent households, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N=34,031 person‐years). At baseline, the adolescents ranged from 14 to 17 years, and the incarceration outcome measure spanned ages 15 to 30 years. This study tested whether risk factors concentrated in father‐absent households explained the apparent effects of father absence. Results from longitudinal event‐history analysis showed that although a sizable portion of the risk that appeared to be due to father absence could actually be attributed to other factors, such as teen motherhood, low parent education, racial inequalities, and poverty, adolescents in father‐absent households still faced elevated incarceration risks. The adolescents who faced the highest incarceration risks, however, were those in stepparent families, including father–stepmother families. Coresidential grandparents may help attenuate this risk, although remarriage and residential instability increased it. Social policies to support children should broaden beyond an emphasis on marriage to address the risks faced by adolescents living in stepfamilies as well.     

Pregnancy Prevention from the Teen Perspective

One hundred and five teens from primary and secondary pregnancy prevention programs attended focus group interviews. This article reports teens' perceptions of the factors that contribute to adolescent pregnancy and the steps that can be taken to prevent early childbearing. Lack of knowledge and accessibility to contraceptives as well as unfulfilled emotional needs were considered crucial factors. Suggestions for service delivery from findings are explored.     

Cryptosporidium Dose Response Studies: Variation Between Isolates

The infectivity of three different isolates of the waterborne protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum has been tested in human feeding studies. These three isolates (Iowa, TAMU, and UCP) have different ID50s, indicating substantial variation in their infectivity for humans. This finding is of great importance for quantitative risk assessment as it provides strong evidence for heterogeneity in infectivity among isolates of the same species.     

Exploring how complex solution-based capabilities (CSC) are developed and integrated in engineering companies

Abstract

This paper explores how engineering companies develop and integrate solution-based capabilities for complex ‘one-off’ or small-batch production. Although there is extant literature on developing a stand-alone service, product and process capabilities, an integrated solution-based capability for effective execution of complex ‘design-build’ projects is currently underdeveloped. For such firms to be successful in delivering complex solutions, there is the need for organisational structured routines and processes which we conceptualise as complex solution-based capabilities (CSC). The study was based on a multiple case study using in-depth semi-structured interviews with managers and engineers. Primary data collected were complemented by documentary evidence, for triangulation and validity. The data were analysed using thematic analysis to develop a framework of CSC. The findings show that the case study companies have developed and integrated CSC through organisational routines and processes of make-to-concept approach, value creation and strategic coordination. Implications and future research are discussed.