’Til Divorce Do Us Part: Marriage Dissolution in Later Life

Late-life divorce—commonly referred to as gray divorce—is a rising trend that parallels the growth of the older adult population. We sought to gain an in-depth understanding of the experience of marriage dissolution, the divorce process, and life following divorce in a sample of older adults who divorced after more than 20 years of marriage. Qualitative data were collected from 10 divorcees (7 women and 3 men; M age = 63.5) and analyzed to understand the gray divorce experience; that is, factors that determined or delayed the decision to divorce and divorcees’ coping during and after divorce. Participants’ stories demonstrate that marriages endure despite problems because relationships are complex, and good experiences mix with bad ones. Outcomes of late-life divorce have significant health and financial implications for both individuals and society.     

Adaptation to a new world: experience of Bangladeshis in Japan

The author explores aspects of Bangladeshi migration to Japan. "The information base for the study is two major sources: sections on the level and trend of migration, socio-economic characteristics of migrants and their job experiences in Japan are based on a survey of Bangladeshi returned migrants from Japan. Information on their socio-economic adjustment was obtained from personal interviews with migrants who had lived and worked in Japan." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

How portable is social security for migrant workers? A review of the literature

This article reviews the recent literature on existing mechanisms that allow for the portability of social security entitlements for migrant workers and finds that North–North migrants have the best access to portability. There is limited coordination between origin and destination countries regarding the portability of social entitlements of South–North migrants. These migrants are dealing with discourses and policies that treat them as second class citizens, even as they are providing much‐needed labour to their host countries. South–South migrants are seeing new regional mechanisms addressing portability. However, many of the impacts of these mechanisms are not yet known. Other knowledge gaps on portability relate to internal and South–South migration, the role of gender and other social identities, migrants’ occupations as well as their legal immigration status.     

A Comprehensive Model for Measuring the Potential Impact of Information Technology on Organizational Strategic Variables*

The existing literature on the impact of information technology (IT) does not include rigorous theory building or empirical studies. This research seems to be the first comprehensive investigation towards the development of an empirically validated comprehensive model for understanding the potential impact of IT on organizational strategic variables. More specifically, organizational and industrial variables that appeared to be affected by IT are identified, measured, and operationalized in the form of a comprehensive model. This study is based on structured interviews with a carefully selected sample of 31 strategic managers who had experience using IT for strategic decisions. In addition, the variables included in the model are well grounded in the information systems literature. The variables are then empirically validated and their reliabilities critically tested. A comprehensive model is derived from these validated variables. The model is a first step towards measuring the overall potential impact of IT on an organization. The model can also be used to gauge IT's potential impact on individual strategic variables. A set of hypotheses is also presented for future research. The hypotheses primarily relate to the impact of IT on organizational strategic performance. The model provides an empirically validated foundation for testing of such hypotheses.     

Do the Poor Really Feel Poor? Comparing Objective Poverty with Subjective Poverty in Pakistan

Social Indicators Research - The current literature on poverty focuses intensively on objective poverty, which is based on household income, household consumption, basic needs, calorie...     

An efficiency Bayesian unit root test in Unobserved-ARCH models

This paper investigates the new prior distribution on the Unobserved-Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (ARCH) unit root test. Monte Carlo simulations show that the sample size is seriously effective in efficiency of Bayesian test. To improve the performance of Bayesian test for unit root, we propose a new Bayesian test that is robust in the presence of stationary and nonstationary Unobserved-ARCH. The finite sample property of the proposed test statistic is evaluated using Monte Carlo studies. Applying the developed method, we test the policy of daily exchange rate of the German Marc with respect to the Greek Drachma.     

The Reverse Gender Gap in Ethnic Discrimination: Employer Stereotypes of Men and Women with Arabic Names,

We examine differences in the intensity of employer stereotypes of men and women with Arabic names in Sweden by testing how much work experience is needed to eliminate the disadvantage of having an Arabic name on job applications. Employers are first sent curriculum vitaes (CVs) of equal merit in a field experiment setup. Arabic‐named CVs are thereafter enhanced with more relevant work experience than Swedish‐named CVs. The results indicate a reverse gender gap in employer stereotypes because initial differences in the number of callbacks disappear for female applicants when Arabic‐named CVs are enhanced but remain strong and significant for male applicants. Thus, contrary to what is often assumed about the interaction of gender and ethnicity, we find that Arabic men face stronger discrimination in the labor market than Arabic women.     

An empirical analysis of South Korea's economic development and public expenditures growth

Economists and political scientists have long maintained that there exists a one-way relationship between the size of government and economic growth. That is, it is hypothesized that economic growth is the cause of government expenditure growth and not the other way around. New research, based on the Keynesian paradigm, suggests that the causality runs from growth in government spending to growth in GDP. Concern with causality has spawned a growing body of new research by Landau (1983 and 1986), Kormendi and McGuire (1985), Singh and Sahni (1984), Marsden (1984), Conte and Darrat (1988), and Ram (1986). While some of these studies support the Keynesian paradigm, others find contrary evidence.In this study, we use Korean data to conduct causality tests of Wagner's law. Further, we develop a model consisting of a government growth equation and a GDP growth equation. Again, using Korean data, we estimate these equations and compare the results with those of Wagnerian causality tests. We conclude that the Korean government expenditures have not contributed to economic growth.     

Interpersonal skills scale: Development and validation in urbanized sample of adolescents

Interpersonal skills play a vital role in the growth and development of adolescents. The current study explored the experience and manifestation of interpersonal skills in Pakistani adolescents. In phase I, using open‐ended phenomenological approach, key components of interpersonal skills were elicited from 32 adolescents (boys = 16; girls = 16) aged 11–19 years (M = 14.48; SD = 1.06). In phase II, Content Validity Index for items (I‐CVIs) and scale (S‐CVI) was established. In phase III, pilot testing was carried out on 21 adolescents (boys = 11; girls = 10). In Phase IV, a sample of 674 adolescents (boys = 47%; girls = 53%) aged 11–19 years (M = 14.88; SD = 1.33) were tested for psychometric properties of Interpersonal Skills Scale along with Social Intelligence Scale for Adolescents and Self‐Esteem Scale for Children. Exploratory Factor Analysis (n = 221) generated three factors of the Interpersonal Skills Scale social engagement, sociability, and social etiquettes. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n = 453) also supported the three‐factor structure of the Interpersonal Skills Scale. Furthermore, the scale found to have high internal consistency, construct validity, discriminant validity, split‐half reliability, and test–retest reliability. The results are discussed in the light of factorial structure in the Pakistani cultural context.