Migration, trade and wages

This paper analyses the impact of immigration on the UK labour market using the GNP function approach. We find that an increase in the number of unskilled immigrants reduces the wages of unskilled domestic workers, though the quantitative impact of this increase is small. No discernible impact of migration is found for skilled native workers. The results also suggest that unskilled immigrant workers and imports are substitutes in production, whilst skilled immigrant workers and imports are complements.     

Sex-Role Stereotyping and Social Work Education

The article presents the results of a nationwide study that examined the written criteria that is currently being used by graduate schools of social work for the appointment, retention, and promotion of their faculties. A content analysis of the study is discussed, and a unique behavioral model for the evaluation of faculty competence is offered.     

A pilot study of a preventive program for depressive and anxious symptoms during the postsecondary transition

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of the indicated level of the prevention program Zenétudes: making a healthy transition to college on anxious and depressive symptoms. Participants: 65 college students participated in the study, from September 2014 to August 2016. From that initial sample, 53 students (ages 16–34) were included in analyses. Methods: First-year students were screened for anxious and depressive symptoms at the beginning of their semester. Students who scored higher than the cutoff score were invited to be part of the study. Both treatment and comparison groups completed pretest, post-test, and follow-up questionnaires. Results: Results show significant differences between treatment and comparison groups in both depressive and anxious symptoms at follow-up. Conclusion: The results of this pilot study support the positive effects of Zenétudes on anxious and depressive symptoms. Larger studies should be conducted to identify which components of the program mediate its efficacy.     

Convex partitions with 2-edge connected dual graphs

It is shown that for every finite set of disjoint convex polygonal obstacles in the plane, with a total of n vertices, the free space around the obstacles can be partitioned into open convex cells whose dual graph (defined below) is 2-edge connected. Intuitively, every edge of the dual graph corresponds to a pair of adjacent cells that are both incident to the same vertex.     

Church Attendance,Social Capital,and Black Voting Participation*

Objectives. We test the traditional studies of political participation that suggest enhanced education and income will help reduce the racial gap in voting. Methods. We adopt a Bayesian model to test the impact of education and income on both black and white racial groups. We also link the explanation of black voting participation to social capital. Results. We find that bonding and bridging social capital as well as human capital are all important in explaining white voting participation, but only bonding social capital, measured by church attendance, explained African‐American voting participation. Conclusions. We conclude that the utility of social capital theory and continuing significance of human capital theory must be considered in a racial context. In addition, our findings offer important implications about the continuing role of black churches for increasing social capital and political participation.     

Application of the Precautionary Principle by Senior Policy Officials: Results of a Canadian Survey

Though use of the controversial precautionary principle in risk management has increasingly been recommended as a guide for the construction of public policy in Canada and elsewhere, there are few data available characterizing its use in risk management by senior public policymakers. Using established survey methodology we sought to investigate the perceptions and terms of application of the precautionary principle in this important subset of individuals. A total of 240 surveys were sent out to seven departments or agencies in the Canadian government. The overall survey response rate was 26.6%, and our findings need to be interpreted in the context of possible responder bias. Of respondents, the overwhelming majority perceived the precautionary principle and the management of risk as complementary, and endorsed a role for the precautionary principle as a general guideline for all risk management decisions. However, 25% of respondents responded that the lack of clarity of the definition of the principle was a limitation to its effective use. The majority of respondents viewed their own level of understanding of the precautionary principle as moderate. Risk managers appeared to favor an interpretation of the precautionary principle that was based on the seriousness and irreversibility of the threat of damage, and did not endorse as strongly the need for cost effectiveness in the measures taken as a precaution against such threats. In contrast with its perceived role as a general guideline, the application of the precautionary principle by respondents was highly variable, with >60% of respondents reporting using the precautionary principle in one-quarter or less of all risk management decisions. Several factors influenced whether the precautionary principle was applied with the perceived seriousness of the threat being considered the most influential factor. The overwhelming majority of risk managers felt that "preponderance of evidence" was the level of evidence required for precautionary action to be instituted against a serious negative event. Overall, the majority of respondents viewed the precautionary principle as having a significant and positive impact on risk management decisions. Importantly, respondents endorsed a net result of more good than harm to society when the precautionary principle was applied to the management of risk.     

Inductive Risk,Science, and Values: A Reply to MacGillivray

The argument from inductive risk (AIR) is perhaps the most common argument against the value-free ideal of science. Brian MacGillivray rejects the AIR (at least as it would apply to risk assessment) and embraces the value-free ideal. We clarify the issues at stake and argue that MacGillivray's criticisms, although effective against some formulations of the AIR, fail to overcome the essential concerns that motivate the AIR. There are inevitable trade-offs in scientific enquiry that cannot be resolved with any formal methods or general rules. Choices must be made, and values will be involved. It is best to recognize this explicitly. Even so, there is more work to be done developing methods and institutional support for these choices.     

Is a Bird an Apple? The Effect of Speaker Labeling Accuracy on Infants' Word Learning,Imitation, and Helping Behaviors

This study examined infants' sensitivity to a speaker's verbal accuracy and whether the reliability of the speaker had an effect on their selective trust. Forty‐nine 18‐month‐old infants were exposed to a speaker who either accurately or inaccurately labeled familiar objects. Subsequently, the speaker administered a series of tasks in which infants had an opportunity to: learn a novel word, imitate the speaker's “irrational” actions, and help the speaker obtain an out‐of‐reach object. In contrast to infants in the accurate (reliable) condition, those in the inaccurate (unreliable) condition performed more poorly on a word‐learning task and were less likely to imitate. All infants demonstrated high rates of instrumental helping behavior. These results are the first to demonstrate that infants as young as 18 months of age cannot only detect a speaker's verbal inaccuracy but also use this information to attenuate their word recognition and learning of novel actions.