Explaining differences in unemployment benefit takeup between labour migrants and Dutch native workers

The large increase in Eastern European migrants entering the Dutch labour market has led to concerns about their potential claim on Dutch unemployment benefits. We use a decomposition analysis to investigate differences in uptake of unemployment benefits between migrants and native Dutch employees by analysing register data for all employees in the Netherlands in 2015. The results show that Eastern European migrants, similar to other migrants, receive unemployment benefit more often than native Dutch employees. This difference can be largely ascribed to job characteristics. The inclusion of unemployment risk in the analysis reveals that non-working migrants are much less likely to receive unemployment benefits than Dutch natives.     

Bootstrapping a hedonic price index: experience from used cars data

Every hedonic price index is an estimate of an unknown economic parameter. It depends, in practice, on one or more random samples of prices and characteristics of a certain good. Bootstrap resampling methods provide a tool for quantifying sampling errors. Following some general reflections on hedonic elementary price indices, this paper proposes a case-based, a model-based, and a wild bootstrap approach for estimating confidence intervals for hedonic price indices. Empirical results are obtained for a data set on used cars in Switzerland. A simple and an enhanced adaptive semi-logarithmic model are fit to monthly samples, and bootstrap confidence intervals are estimated for Jevons-type hedonic elementary price indices.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of the Massachusetts workforce development system using no-shows as a nonexperimental comparison group

This article examines the effect of the Massachusetts workforce development system on the earnings of disadvantaged adults using nonexperimental data from the late 1990s. The authors construct a comparison sample for program participants using individuals who apply for and are offered services yet do not participate in a training program. They present a series of difference-in-difference estimates that make several alternative efforts to correct for selectivity bias, including econometric models that regression adjust for observable characteristics and fixed-effect models that adjust for time-invariant person effects. They also employ probabilistic matching techniques to more finely align the treatment and comparison samples. On average, program participants experienced 20% increases in annual earnings 1 year postintervention and 25% increases after 2 years. The authors uncover considerable heterogeneity in these effects, suggesting that the most difficult to serve and the most job ready benefit the least.     

The precarious double life of the recording engineer

This article draws upon a series of focus groups and interviews with recording engineers at various stages of their careers. Using these data, the article explores the way that recording engineers balance artistic sensibility with the logistics and precision of engineering. The piece shows that the term ‘recording engineering’ represents a highly varied set of practices, and that this variation can be understood through an examination of the balance between artistry and engineering found in the recording engineer’s background and biography, in their technical know-how and in the recording relations that they mediate. The article argues that in order to understand cultural production, we need to understand how, both individually and collectively, recording engineers find the balance between art and engineering that enables them to fit into hierarchies, to present themselves as legitimate to different audiences, to manage interpersonal relations and to maintain their role in the recording process. Here, this balancing act is described as the precarious double life of the recording engineer. As such, this exploratory article begins to open-up an understanding of the influence that recording engineers have upon the contemporary cultural soundscape.     

Adult perpetrator gender asymmetries in child sexual assault victim selection: results from the 2000 National Incident-Based Report System

Data from the 2000 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) show that while males make up about nine out of every 10 adult sexual assault perpetrators, totaling about 26,878 incidents within the reporting period, females account for about one out of 10 perpetrators, totaling about 1,162 incidents. Male sexual assault perpetrators offend against child victims about 25% of the time and predominantly choose female child victims, whereas female perpetrators offend against child victims about 40% of the time and choose child victims of both genders equally. Male perpetrators offend against adolescent victims about 40% of the time, and once again tend to choose female adolescent victims. Female perpetrators offend against adolescent victims a comparable amount of time (about 45%), and for forcible offenses (rape, sodomy, sexual assault with an object, and forcible fondling) choose adolescent victims of both genders equally, while for non-forcible offenses (non-forcible incest and statutory rape) they tend to choose predominantly male victims. Finally, adult male sexual assault perpetrators choose adult victims about 36% of the time while female perpetrators choose adult victims only 16% of the time. Implications for professionals are discussed, including recommendations to aid in correct identification of adult perpetrators and child/adolescent victims of sexual assault.     

Predictability of demographic variables in the short run

In assessing the performance of population forecasts, it is useful to have a standard with which the forecast errors can be compared. Univariate time series models may provide such a standard. Mean forecast errors of time series models indicate to what extent the movement of a variable could have been predicted from its own past. These errors show the degree of predictability that is attainable, at least in a given period. In this paper three times series methods (exponential smoothing, Box-Jenkins method, and structural time series models) are applied to Dutch data on births, deaths, marriages, immigrants, and emigrants. The variability of prediction errors between different periods is examined. The possibility that univariate predictions can be improved by using quarterly or monthly data instead of annual data is tested.     

Overcoming the Problems of Inconsistent International Migration data: A New Method Applied to Flows in Europe

Due to differences in definitions and measurement methods, cross-country comparisons of international migration patterns are difficult and confusing. Emigration numbers reported by sending countries tend to differ from the corresponding immigration numbers reported by receiving countries. In this paper, a methodology is presented to achieve harmonised estimates of migration flows benchmarked to a specific definition of duration. This methodology accounts for both differences in definitions and the effects of measurement error due to, for example, under reporting and sampling fluctuations. More specifically, the differences between the two sets of reported data are overcome by estimating a set of adjustment factors for each country’s immigration and emigration data. The adjusted data take into account any special cases where the origin–destination patterns do not match the overall patterns. The new method for harmonising migration flows that we present is based on earlier efforts by Poulain (European Journal of Population, 9(4): 353–381 1993, Working Paper 12, joint ECE-Eurostat Work Session on Migration Statistics, Geneva, Switzerland 1999) and is illustrated for movements between 19 European countries from 2002 to 2007. The results represent a reliable and consistent set of international migration flows that can be used for understanding recent changes in migration patterns, as inputs into population projections and for developing evidence-based migration policies.