Vocational Experiences and Quality of Life of Migrants: Overview and Future Research

Quality of life is a complicated concept that has attracted broad attention from multiple disciplines. This article introduces a set of studies that employ diverse approaches to explore how work, vocational, and career experiences shape quality of life among migrants, and proposes a future agenda to extend this stream of research. Specifically, operationalizing quality of life in different ways, research showcased in this special issue has demonstrated how international and intranational migrants achieve, maintain, and enhance their well-being in different life domains. Reflecting on the literature and the showcased studies, this article proposes that future research should advance the current inquiry by better categorizing vocational experiences, uniquely operationalizing of quality of life in migration contexts, taking a more culturally sensitive perspective, and broadening methodological approaches.     

A PPI-MVM Model for Identifying Poverty-Stricken Villages: A Case Study from Qianjiang District in Chongqing,China

To support China’s national poverty alleviation strategies, it is urgent to develop a scientific method for identifying the poverty-stricken villages and the contributing factors. Based on the anti-poverty plan of “Entire-Village Advancement” of China and the human-environment interaction perspective, the paper proposes a participatory poverty identification model that utilizes geographic information system to quantify and integrate various contributing factors for poverty at the village level. First, a set of poverty identification factors are determined from the human-environment interaction perspective. Secondly, the game theory is used to combine the participatory subjective weight method and the objective entropy method to weight the factors, and a participatory poverty identification with minimum variance model is developed to identify the poverty-stricken villages and their contributing factors. Finally, the model is applied to Qianjiang District in Chongqing, and the case study demonstrates the effectiveness of the model. The model not only identifies the poverty-stricken villages systematically but also helps guide policies for effective poverty interventions.     

Modeling Comprehensive Dispersion of the Administrative Villages and Its Association with Economic Poverty: A Case Study from Poverty-Stricken Mountainous County,China

Identifying the dispersion of the administrative villages is one of prerequisites for the rational allocation of sources and services during implementing “Entire-Village Advancement” poverty alleviation strategy of China. From the perspective of an administrative village scale, this paper develops a methodology serving the construction of a comprehensive dispersion evaluation model and the examination of the relationship between dispersion and economic poverty. Specially, we develops an village-level comprehensive dispersion evaluation model that is presented in two forms of Euclidean Dispersion Index (EDI) versus Dispersion Composite Index (DCI), using spatial statistical analysis to examine the comprehensive dispersion of the administrative village and its association with the Net Income of Village Residents (NIVR) under different geographic and socioeconomic conditions. The case study in Neixiang County of China shows that, DCI is more rational and objective than EDI for scoring details of the village’s dispersion, especially in the mountainous area; DCI has a more significant spatial autocorrelation and a more significantly negative relationship to NIVR than EDI; the negative correlation between DCI and NIVR is obviously stronger in mountainous area than that in the hill and plain area; The closer to the economic circle, the higher NIVR vs. the lower DCI. Which not only provides new perspective and way to deal with dispersion, but also helps guide policies for effective poverty interventions.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Knot yet</Emphasis>: minimum marriage age law,marriage delay,and earnings

Despite the historical highs for age at first marriage, little is known about the causal relationship between marriage delay and wages, and more importantly, the mechanisms driving such relationship. We attempt to fill the void. Building on an identification strategy proposed in Dahl (Demography 47:689–718, 2010), we first establish the causal wage effects of marriage delay. We then propose ways to distinguish among competing theories and hypotheses, as well as the channels through which marriage delay affects wages. Specifically, we take advantage of their different implications for causal relationship, across gender and sub-populations. We reach two conclusions. First, we find a positive causal impact of marriage delay on wages, with a larger effect for women. Comparison of IV and OLS estimates suggests that the observed relationship between marriage delay and wages is attributed to both selection in late marriages and true causal effects. Second, we find strong evidence that the positive, causal effects are almost exclusively through increased education for both men and women.     

再论母系继承和父系继承制下的舅权

在民族学调查中,经常会涉及舅权问题.这种习俗一度被认为是同母系制联系在一起的,是母系制的产物,如果出现在某一父系民族,就证明该民族曾经历过母系制阶段.但民族学研究也证明舅权并不就是母系社会的必然产物,在父系社会中仍然有其存在的社会根源.因为在所有的社会中,亲属关系都必须是双边的,个人既通过父亲与一些人相联系,也通过母亲与另一些人相联系,即使是在最牢固的父系制社会中,母系亲属也受到一定的重视,这种重视往往通过舅权表现出来.换言之,在父系社会中,父系宗亲与子女的权利义务关系是主要的,但母系亲属与外甥也保持一定的权利义务关系,而且非常必要.     

Estimation of Deprivation Level Functions using a Numerical Rating Scale

Evaluating and quantifying human suffering in humanitarian operations offers an innovative and potentially powerful way to assess the performance of humanitarian logistics (HL) and help build optimization models. Previous studies have suggested deprivation cost as a metric and have estimated deprivation cost functions for water using willingness‐to‐pay. Our study proposes deprivation levels, defined as the degree of human suffering caused by lack of access to a good or service, and estimates deprivation level functions using a numerical rating scale. Analyzing data collected from respondents with and without disaster experience, we find that individuals in the latter category estimate deprivation differently from the beneficiaries of disaster relief. Our study demonstrates that deprivation levels can be expressed as logistic growth functions with a typical S‐shape, and that these can be integrated into HL optimization models to better account for human suffering.     

藏族网民对网络文化的使用习惯、特点与认同研究

藏族网民对数字图片、视频、歌曲、影视、游戏和小说等网络文化的喜好使得他们形成了网络文化的使用习惯、特点以及强烈的网络文化认同感.藏族网民在网络文化载体手机化趋势和网络文化消费娱乐化倾向与其他民族的网民保持着一致性.但在网络文化认同上则表现为更加喜欢选择藏族网络文化产品;更加积极参与到对涉藏网络文化传播内容、方式的肯定、批评和建议中;更加倾向于由藏人自己主导、创作的网络文化作品;强烈希望涉藏网络文化创作和传播过程中对藏族文化习俗的理解和尊重.网络为藏族文化的传播和保护带来了新的机遇,更重要的是在藏族网民心中逐步建立起了网络文化认同.     

创新理念 推进自治制度运行和自治地方治理现代化

Deepening reform, promoting the rule of law, and implementing the “Five Develop￣ment ” concepts have had a deep influence on the modernization of governance in ethnic autonomous regions. Based on a review of 30 years of success￣ful experiences in implementing ethnic regional au￣tonomous law, and focusing on the concepts of“innovation, coordination, green development, openness and sharing”, we need to conduct in -depth research on the ways to:promote governance by law, realize the modernization of governance;and promote the efficient implementation of ethnic autonomous systems in the ethnic autonomous re￣gion.
The 155 ethnic autonomous areas of China cover 64% of the total area of the country. There￣fore, the governance of the country cannot be a￣chieved without modernizing the governance in the ethnic autonomous regions. Modernizing the gov￣ernance in ethnic autonomous regions is a necessa￣ry element for modernizing the governance of the nation. The modernization of the ethnic autono￣mous regions actually means the legalization of the governance in ethnic autonomous areas, which is a main part of the legalization of the ethnic affairs.
The comprehensive, deepening of reform, and promoting governance by law have been strongly promoted. We should start from reality, respect differences, and take the development concepts of“innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing” into consideration so as to promote the ef￣ficient implementation of ethnic regional autono￣mous systems through various methods. We should update our concepts, weaken specificity, solidify locality, intensify new thinking, innovate the run￣ning of ethnic autonomous systems, and promote the modernization of governance in ethnic autono￣mous regions. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the theories and practices used since the imple￣mentation of ethnic regional autonomous regula￣tions, and under the premise of intensifying “the legalization of ethnic affairs”, we should deepen the comprehensive reform of the ethnic autonomous regions, comprehensively promote the governance by law, and realize the goal of building a moder￣ately prosperous society as scheduled through im￣proving and innovating the running of ethnic re￣gional autonomous systems.
“Ethnic areas are districts with rich resources and water sources; they are ecological screen zones, cultural characteristic zones, border areas, and poor areas.” At the same time, due to histori￣cal, social and natural factors,“the natural condi￣tions of most ethnic areas are not good; their be￣ginning phase of development is low; they have many historical debts; they are located far away from the central markets and urban areas;their ur￣ban-rural gap is very obvious”, and “their gap with the eastern areas ( of China) is growing larger and larger”. The reform and the promotion of gov￣ernance by law in ethnic autonomous areas should put more emphasis on locality, ethnicity and “au￣tonomy”. Of course, we must avoid of “artificial￣ly” intensifying ethnic consciousness, and creating ethnic “differences”. Meanwhile, we should “im￣prove the capability for legal management of ethnic affairs”, “intensify the construction of laws and regulations related to ethnic work”, “legally han￣dle those issues involving ethnic factors”, “insist on resolving issues involving ethnic factors by the law, and avoid of regarding civil and criminal problems related to ethnic people as ethnic prob￣lems, or regarding common disputes in ethnic are￣as as ethnic problems. ”
We should affirm that China’s ethnic relations are harmonious, and that their economics are de￣veloping rapidly. Since the implementation of the policy of “reform and opening -up”, especially since 2005 , the economics in ethnic autonomous regions have developed dramatically; the people’s living conditions have continuously improved;bas￣ic infrastructure has significantly speeded up; and ecological protection has solidly improved. Howev￣er, the problems still prevail. For example, the poverty in ethnic areas is still serious—there are more than 25 million poor in ethnic rural areas. Therefore, the task of poverty alleviation is still very tough. In addition, the gap between urban and rural areas and between different regions is very large in ethnic autonomous regions. Finally, the rate of urbanization is very low.
In sum, during the process of modernizing so￣cial governance in ethnic autonomous regions, we must pay full attention to the five“stage character￣istics” of ethnic work in China which are the:( i) co - existence of opportunities and challenges brought by the “reform and opening -up” policy and the socialist market economy;( ii) co-exist￣ence of the state’s constant support to the ethnic ar￣eas and its low level of development; ( iii ) co -existence of the state’s constant support to the eth￣nic areas and the weak level of basic public service capability in ethnic areas; ( iv ) co -existence of the constant exchange and fusion between various ethnic groups and the disputes involving ethnic fac￣tors;and ( v) co-existence of the great achieve￣ments in anti-national splittism, religious extrem￣ity, and violent terrorism, as well as the active ter￣rorism activities in some areas. Only when we rec￣ognize this situation, can we understand the speci￣ficity of doing ethnic work in China. The innova￣tion of governance of ethnic autonomous areas and the promotion of governance by law in the whole country must start from this actual situation.
At present, we still need to clarify the conno￣tations of autonomous rights. Based on a clear clar￣ification of the basic meaning of ethnic regional au￣tonomous rights, we should deepen reform, active￣ly transform the governance of the ethnic autono￣mous regions, further deepen relevant theoretical studies, and positively promote the ethnic regional autonomous system. The main purpose of the eth￣nic regional autonomous areas is to promote the de￣velopment of the various affairs of ethnic minorities and ethnic regional autonomous areas. The purpose for improving the ethnic regional autonomous sys￣tem is to ensure the development of ethnic minori￣ties and ethnic regional autonomous regions. Im￣proving the ethnic regional autonomous system should transform from one of preferential treatment to one of nuanced development.
Looking back to the past, the legal construc￣tion of ethnic regional autonomy has made great a￣chievements. However, the preferential policies of the state and relevant institutes are still the real factors promoting the development of the various af￣fairs of the ethnic minorities and ethnic autonomous areas. As described in this article, there are multi￣ple factors which influence the efficiency and per￣formance of the ethnic regional autonomy. The eth￣nic autonomous regions are restricted by natural conditions and economic development, therefore, they have to depend on assistance from the state and the relevant institutes—this is the objective re￣ality. However, the improvement of the ethnic re￣gional autonomous system must change the status of the past, and enable the ethnic regional autono￣mous system play out its actual role so that the va￣rious affairs of ethnic minorities and ethnic autono￣mous regions can step onto a road of nuanced de￣velopment.
The future development of the ethnic regional autonomous system depends on the consensus of theoretical and practical circles, i. e. a long-term mechanism whose purpose is to enable the system itself play its actual role should be established. Only by such a mechanism, can these puzzling problems be solved and gradually improved. Tak￣ing the breakthrough of the actual effect of the sys￣tem as the starting point of the ethnic regional autonomy’s deepening of the reform, one should take the following aspects into consideration:1 ) re-examine existing laws and regulations, and im￣prove them on the basis of institutional norms, en￣hance normalization, uniformity and manipulability of the ethnic regional autonomous regulations; 2 ) sort out the relationship between the institutions in ethnic autonomous areas and the upper levels of the state institutes, as well as the relationship be￣tween the institutions on the same level;on the va￣rious institutional levels, enhance clear cognition on the position, role and organizing principles of the ethnic regional autonomous system, and avoid taking the ethnic regional autonomous system as the affairs of the ethnic autonomous areas;3 ) im￣prove the supervisory mechanisms for running the ethnic regional autonomous system; and 4 ) im￣prove the mechanisms for handling disputes on the running of the ethnic regional autonomous system.
We must work closely, share the achieve￣ments, and promote the operation of the ethnic re￣gional autonomous system. For this purpose, we should:1 ) standardize the management of the eth￣nic regional autonomous system, and weaken the“specificity”;2 ) promote the governance capabili￣ty of the ethnic regional autonomous areas, and so￣lidify the concept of“locality”;3 ) enhance auton￣omous awareness and capability, intensify “new thinking”, motivate initiatives from the autonomous areas, and improve the autonomous system from the bottom-up, and rationally allocate the power and rights of the high-level organs and the auton￣omous organs in the ethnic autonomous areas.     

Characteristics of atmospheric PM2.5 in stands and non-forest cover sites across urban-rural areas in Beijing,China

Urban Ecosystems - Monitoring air pollution at a city scale is essential for controlling urban air pollution in cities, especially megacities, in China. In this paper, data for 1 city center site...     

What Helped Nonprofits Weather the Great Recession?

This study examined the effectiveness of several financial strategies for nonprofit organizations in fighting the Great Recession. Using data from human services and community improvement organizations in the state of New Jersey, we tested hypotheses about the relationships between three measures of financial sustainability and various fundraising efforts and financial indicators. We found that (1) except for strong external funding relationships, funding efforts were generally not effective in enhancing financial sustainability during the crisis; (2) higher operating margin and equity ratio improved an organization's ability to generate revenue and maintain expense levels, but higher debt ratio and administrative cost ratio were generally harmful; and (3) revenue diversification might aggravate fiscal stress and cause more expense cuts in a severe crisis. These findings improve our understanding of the mechanics of nonprofit management during times of harsh fiscal conditions and suggest useful ways for nonprofit organizations to navigate future financial crises.