Unequal at the Starting Line: Creating Participatory Inequalities across Generations and among Groups

We investigate how inequalities in political participation are shaped across generations by considering the influence of family background--in particular, parents' education and political involvement--on political participation. We pursue this issue, first, for individuals, investigating the effects of parental characteristics on the participatory profile of their offspring. Then, we use what we have learned to understand how group differences in political participation--between women and men and among Latinos, African Americans, and Anglo Whites--are rooted in the legacy of class and political background and in experiences throughout the life cycle.     

Memoir/manuals of South Korean pre‐college study abroad: defending mothers and humanizing children

In this article, we analyse the memoir/manuals of three ‘goose’ families. These are South Koreans whose children participate in pre‐college study abroad (PSA). One parent (typically the mother) accompanies the child while the other (usually the father) remains at home to support the venture. Although many South Koreans aspire to study abroad, both the mothers and children of goose families have attracted wide criticism – the mothers for being narrowly instrumental and too family centred, worried only about social reproduction and mobility and the children for forsaking their nation, foregoing their filial duties and, perhaps, failing abroad. These memoir/manuals defend the goose mother and protect the PSA child against such charges. As memoirs, they depict remarkable people worthy of documentation. As manuals, they offer (at least some) guidance for mothers and families contemplating this particular family strategy. The memoir/manuals open a window to the challenges and anxieties of PSA in South Korea today.     

EFFECTS OF OVERWEIGHT ON RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS

We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health to estimate effects of adolescent girls' overweight on their propensity to engage in risky sexual behavior. We estimate single equation, two‐stage, and sibling fixed‐effects models. We consider both absolute weight and weight relative to other girls in the individual's school. We focus on vaginal intercourse without a condom, any type of sexual activity while under the influence of alcohol, and anal intercourse. Our findings confirm previous research indicating that overweight or obese girls are less likely than their recommended‐weight counterparts to be sexually active. As a result, they are less likely to have vaginal intercourse without a condom. However, overweight or obese girls are not less likely to have sex under the influence of alcohol, and once they have had vaginal intercourse, their consistency of condom use is no different from that of their recommended‐weight peers. The most striking finding is that overweight or obese girls are at least 15% more likely than their recommended‐weight peers to have ever had anal intercourse regardless of whether they have ever had vaginal sexual intercourse. The results from this study underscore the importance of using multifaceted and contemporary measures of risky sexual behavior and have implications for the health and well‐being of adolescent girls. (JEL I12, J13)     

SOME ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF ANTICIPATING TECHNICAL ADVANCE

Using a simple model of a long run profit maximizing firm, we investigated the consequences of foreseeing future technical advance upon the adoption of new technology, scrapping of old, and for price and output of the firm's product. To simplify the analysis and highlight the conclusions, we assumed all technologies embodied in equipment and all equipment infinitely durable. It was shown that the often-used formulas for the unit cost of using capital over a finite (rkj/(l — a^T)) or infinite (rkj) life are appropriate only if the equipment does not become outmoded during its economic life and if there are no demand shifts in that time interval. Otherwise, the current cost of using capital (ex ante) must reflect future lesser or greater earning power of that capital due to outmodedness or demand shifts. Anticipation of technical advance tends to delay scrapping of old equipment and retard installation of new, with current output smaller and price higher than if technology is stagnant. Selection among currently competing technologies is also affected by the course future technical advance is expected to follow. The economic lifetime of capital equipment is independent of the elasticity of demand for the firm's output. On the other hand anticipation of demand expansion tends to partially or wholly offset the effect of anticipating future technical advance, while expected demand decline tends to reinforce it. Uncertainty about when improved technology will appear tends to retard adoption of current best practice technology, to retard scrapping of outmoded technology, restrict output and elevate price, in comparison with pptimal policy when the time of availability is believed known. The optimal policy is unaffected when it is the magnitude of the improvement rather than its timing which is unknown.     

EFFECTS OF WELFARE REFORM ON ILLICIT DRUG USE OF ADULT WOMEN

Exploiting changes in welfare policy across states and over time and comparing relevant population subgroups within an econometric difference‐in‐differences framework, we estimate the effects of welfare reform on adult women's illicit drug use from 1992 to 2002, the period during which welfare reform unfolded in the United States. The analyses are based on all available and appropriate national data sets, each offering unique strengths and measuring a different drug‐related outcome. We investigate self‐reported illicit drug use (from the National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse and National Surveys on Drug Use and Health), drug‐related prison admissions (from the National Corrections Reporting Program), drug‐related arrests (from Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports), and drug‐related emergency department episodes (from the Drug Abuse Warning Network). We find robust evidence that welfare reform led to a 10%–21% decline in illicit drug use among women at risk of relying on welfare, as well as associated declines in drug‐related arrests (6%–7%), drug‐related hospital emergency department episodes (7%–11%), and possibly drug‐related prison admissions (11%–19%). The findings indicate that an appropriately designed welfare system with sufficient job opportunities for those who are able to work can result in both increases in employment and decreases in drug use. (JEL I38, K42, J21)     

BLACK-WHITE WEALTH INEQUALITY: IS INHERITANCE THE REASON?

Racial differences in the receipt of financial inheritances he& to explain why the average difference in wealth between black and white households is larger than the average difference in income. Using data from a panel of prime-aged males and from a representative survey of the U.S. population, we document the greater likelihood of white households receiving an inheritance than black households. Controlling for other factors which contribute to racial differences in wealth, we estimate that financial inheritances may account for between 10% and 20% of the average difference in black-white household wealth.