‘Yes,we can; but together’: social capital and refugee resettlement

Resettled refugees need a network of relationships to ensure they can live meaningful lives in New Zealand. These relationships are complex and exist between individuals and communities at local and national levels. Conceptualised as social capital, these relationships provide the invisible glue holding society together. Drawing on data from a research project on the Somali community in Auckland, this paper reflects on contemporary developments within the refugee sector and highlights the ways in which social capital provides further insight into the experiences of refugee integration at a local level in New Zealand.     

When nature pushes back: environmental impact and the spatial redistribution of socially vulnerable populations

Objectives. This research investigates the spatial redistribution of socially vulnerable subpopulations during long-term recovery from natural disaster. We hypothesize that the local environmental impact of a disaster influences this redistribution process and that how it does so varies by the urban or rural context in which the disaster occurs.Methods. To test these hypotheses, we use a novel research design that combines the natural experiment offered by Hurricane Andrew with GIS technology and local census data.Results. Findings indicate that in a more urbanized disaster zone (Miami), long-term recovery displaces socially disadvantaged residents from harder-hit areas; yet, in a more rural disaster zone (southwestern Louisiana), long-term recovery concentrates socially disadvantaged residents within these harder-hit areas.Conclusion. These findings bridge classic and contemporary research on postdisaster recovery and open new terrain for thinking about how environmental and social forces intersect to transform regions in different settlement contexts.     

The revolutionary and the Marginal-Positivist: Does the social indicators movement open up new possibilities for a dialogue?

A deep schism exists within the social sciences between the ‘Marginal-Positivist’, who feels meaningful change can be made through marginal steps in our social systems, and the ‘Revolutionary’, who feels fundamental alterations are needed before our systems will work for the betterment of mankind. This essay asks whether social indicators are compatible with the methodologies of each group, and if so, whether they offer a new possibility for a fruitful dialogue.     

The role of savings and wealth in reducing ‘wilt’ between expectations and college attendance

‘Wilt’ occurs when a young person in high school expects to attend college but does not do so shortly after graduating. In this study we find that youth with no savings account in their own name are more likely to experience wilt than any other group examined. In multivariate analysis, young people who expect to graduate from a four-year college and have an account are approximately six times more likely to attend college than those with no account. Teens who expect to graduate from a four-year college and have designated a portion of their savings for college are approximately three times more likely to attend college than those with no account. Additionally, when savings are taken into account, academic achievement is no longer a significant predictor of college attendance. Policy implications are discussed.     

The role of assets in improving college attainment among Hispanic immigrant youth in the U.S.

Despite the importance of higher education, Hispanic immigrant youth still have far lower college attainment rate than whites in the U.S. Existing studies show the significant role of household assets on educational attainment even after controlling for income. Thus, this study examines the role of homeownership and school savings on Hispanic immigrant youth's college attendance and graduation. Findings show that homeownership is a significant positive predictor of Hispanic immigrant youth's college attendance and graduation, but parent school savings is not a significant predictor. Policy and practice implications discussed.     

Recipes for Attention: Policy Reforms,Crises, Organizational Characteristics,and the Newspaper Coverage of the LGBT Movement, 1969–2009

Why do some organizations in a movement seeking social change gain extensive national newspaper coverage? To address the question, we innovate in theoretical and empirical ways. First, we elaborate a theoretical argument that builds from the political mediation theory of movement consequences and incorporates the social organization of newspaper practices. This media and political mediation model integrates political and media contexts and organizations' characteristics and actions. With this model, we hypothesize two main routes to coverage: one that includes changes in public policy and involves policy‐engaged, well‐resourced, and inclusive organizations and a second that combines social crises and protest organizations. Second, we appraise these arguments with the first analysis of the national coverage of all organizations in a social movement over its career: 84 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights and AIDS‐related organizations in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal from 1969 to 2010. These analyses go beyond previous research that provides either snapshots of many organizations at one point in time or overtime analyses of aggregated groups of organizations or individual organizations. The results of both historical and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analyses support our media and political mediation model.     

Wealth as Security: Growth Curve Analyses of Household Income and Net Worth During a Recession

Building on evidence of increasing inequality with the 2008–2009 recession, we asked whether households experienced different financial trajectories through the recession depending on initial income and net worth. Using growth curve models of households headed by young adults in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we compared the relationship between initial income and net worth and the rate of change of income and net worth from 1989 to 2011 among households with income above and below $50,000. We found different patterns of income change and different relationships among income, net worth, and their rates of change between high- and low-income categories. Results suggest initial wealth helped to stabilize income and wealth changes among higher income households, reducing financial insecurity.     

Age cohort differences in the developmental milestones of gay men

As the social context in which gay men live changes due to greater visibility, greater acceptance, and easier access to gay subculture, gay males may self-identify and take part in gay social activities at earlier ages than in the past. This study examined whether developmental milestones associated with sexual orientation for gay men have changed over the past several decades. A large and diverse sample of 2,402 gay men who responded to a 1994 survey published in a national magazine provided retrospective information on the age at which they reached individual psychological, social, and sexual behavior developmental milestones. We found evidence that individual psychological and sexual behavior milestones (e.g., awareness of attraction to males, having an orgasm with other male) are slowly moving toward earlier chronological ages (by 1 year of age every 8-25 years, p < 0.05), whereas social milestones (e.g., coming out) are moving more rapidly in a similar direction (by 1 year of age every 2-5 years, p < 0.001). The authors perform an innovative sensitivity test to demonstrate the persistence of the finding after correcting for the bias attributable to underrepresentation of those who have not yet self-identified as gay in such samples.     

FIRM MARKET SHARE, PRICE FLEXIBILITY, AND IMPERFECT INFORMATION

This paper argues that firms with larger market shares will be relatively better informed about demand conditions. The main implications are 1) more rapid price adjustments in concentrated industries, 2) price leadership in industries with dominant firms, and 3) price setting behavior by the concentrated side of the market.