Banks,Insurance Companies,and Discrimination1

This article examines some of the reasons why banks and insurance companies have been accused of discrimination, and shows that this is by and large a false accusation. Economic analysis demonstrates that racial discrimination is not a profit‐maximizing strategy. Actually, unwise public policies are actually precluding many consumers from the market.     

A Hormonal Interpretation of Collins's Micro‐sociological Theory of Violence

Collins (2008) provides a grand theory that unifies all forms of human violence occurring in face‐to‐face situations, ranging from spousal abuse to medieval warfare. Laitin (2008) appreciates Collins's microscopic analysis of diverse data but points to important shortcomings in the theory, especially Collins's metaphoric explanations that are not testable. Here Collins's theory is merged with an existing biosocial model of dominance, replacing the metaphors with tangible, measurable hormonal mechanisms.     

Market and non-market effects on male and female occupational status attainment

Nous étudions dans cet article le processus ?acquisition de statut social, au regard de quatre approches sur le marché du travail: 1/ le chômage structural; 2/ les cycles économiques; 3/ la théorie des files ?attente et 4/ la théorie de la segmentation. Les implications de ces perspectives sont évaluées au moyen ?un modèle ?acquisition de statut qui comporte trois dimensions: temps, antécédents socio-économiques, sexe. Notre échantillon est composé?individus qui ont obtenu laur premier emploi à temps plein entre 1961 et 1972. Les résultats de ?analyse sont en accord avec les perspectives du chômage structurel et de la théorie de la segmentation, alors que ?accord n'est que partiel avec la perspective du cycle des affaires. Et on peut conclure dans un sens ni dans ?autre en ce qui a trait à la théorie de la file ?attente. De plus, nous montrons que les caractéristiques des individus (surtout les femmes) étudiés varient dans le temps, et que ceci doit être pris en compte si ?on veut comprendre la stratification et ?acquisition de statut social dans les sociétés complexes. The paper examines the status attainment process in relation to four labour market perspectives: 1/ structural unemployment; 2/ the business cycle; 3/ queuing theory; and 4/ segmentation theory. We evaluate their implications by developing a status attainment model which varies along three dimensions - time, socio-economic background and sex -and by testing the model on a heterogeneous sample of individuals who entered their first full-time job between 1961 and 1972. The results support our structural unemployment and segmentation-theoretic hypotheses, are partially supportive of our business cycle hypothesis and are ambiguous with respect to our queuing hypothesis. The discussion relates various labour market trends over the 1961–72 period to the status attainment process. In addition, we emphasize that the characteristics of individuals (particularly of women) entering into their first full-time job are time-dependent, and that this has implications for the understanding of status attainment and social stratification processes in complex societies.     

WHERE DID ALL THE SAVING GO? A LOOK AT THE RECENT DECLINE IN THE PERSONAL SAVING RATE

The inadequacy of aggregate saving is often cited as an explanation of the low levels of capital accumulation and productivity growth in the United States. Aggregate saving is low in large part because of the steep decline in the personal saving rate that has occurred since 1975. This paper uses a modified life-cycle model to analyze the determinants of this recent decline in the personal saving rate. The empirical results do not support the hypothesis that the decline in the saving rate was the result of a reduction in the real rate of return. The reduction in the rate of growth of income and the changing demographic profile of the labor force are the most important factors in accounting for the fall in the personal saving rate.     

From Community to Public Safety Governance in Policing and Child Protection

L'interopérabilité grandissante entre le maintien de l'ordre et la protection de l'enfant au Canada et au Royaume‐Uni semble indiquer que nous nous trouvons au milieu d'un changement gouvernemental passant de la gouvernance communautaire à une gouvernance de la sécurité publique. En effet, les discours mettant l'accent sur l'expertise locale en maintien de l'ordre et en protection de l'enfant se sont grandement transformés en raison des critiques sur le manque d'interdépendance entre les organismes. Les deux pays ont maintenant créé des bases de données interinstitutionnelles pour la gestion des personnes à risque. Cette intégration administrative engendre différentes formes de réglementations. Les auteurs concluent leur article en soutenant que cet ethos émergeant peut être conceptualisé comme une rationalité gouvernementale naissante. The growing interoperability between policing and child protection in Canada and the United Kingdom suggests that we are in the midst of a governmental shift from community governance to public safety governance. Indeed, discourses emphasizing local expertise in policing and child protection have largely muted because of criticisms over the lack of interagency interconnectedness. Both countries have now developed national interagency databases for the management of persons of risk. This institutional integration engenders different forms of regulation. We conclude by arguing that this emergent ethos may be conceptualized as a nascent governmental rationality.