Levels of Support from Children in Taiwan: Expectations versus Reality, 1965–99

Both population aging and the socioeconomic changes that often accompany it have effects on intergenerational arrangements. As a result, assessing the evolving social contract among family members is a key part of the research agenda. Studies monitoring these effects and other consequences are relatively new. Another way to gain insight is through a historical analysis that (a) traces how expectations for old‐age support have changed over recent decades for cohorts advancing through their life cycle, and (b) measures how well expectations accord with actual patterns. This article uses a series of fertility surveys in Taiwan from 1965 to the 1990s to trace expectations for coresidence among cohorts of young married women and to compare these expectations with the actual living arrangements observed in surveys of the elderly in the 1990s. The results indicate sharp shifts in expectations for each of the cohorts as they aged. These shifts reflect a response to respondents' own life course events and the changing socioeconomic environment and show large and persistent differentials by education throughout the period. These factors tend to bring expectations into fairly close concordance with the actual living arrangements observed some years later.     

Non‐Manipulable House Allocation With Rent Control

In many real‐life house allocation problems, rents are bounded from above by price ceilings imposed by a government or a local administration. This is known as rent control. Because some price equilibria may be disqualified given such restrictions, this paper proposes an alternative equilibrium concept, called rationing price equilibrium, tailored to capture the specific features of housing markets with rent control. An allocation rule that always selects a rationing price equilibrium is defined, and it is demonstrated to be constrained efficient and (group) non‐manipulable for “almost all” preference profiles. In its bounding cases, the rule reduces to a number of well‐known mechanisms from the matching literature. In this sense, the housing market with rent control investigated in this paper integrates several of the predominant matching models into a more general framework.     

Experimental Games on Networks: Underpinnings of Behavior and Equilibrium Selection

In this paper, we describe a series of laboratory experiments that implement specific examples of a general network structure. Specifically, actions are either strategic substitutes or strategic complements, and participants have either complete or incomplete information about the structure of a random network. Since economic environments typically have a considerable degree of complementarity or substitutability, this framework applies to a wide variety of settings. We examine behavior and equilibrium selection. The degree of equilibrium play is striking, in particular with incomplete information. Behavior closely resembles the theoretical equilibrium whenever this is unique; when there are multiple equilibria, general features of networks, such as connectivity, clustering, and the degree of the players, help to predict informed behavior in the lab. People appear to be strongly attracted to maximizing aggregate payoffs (social efficiency), but there are forces that moderate this attraction: (1) people seem content with (in the aggregate) capturing only the lion's share of the efficient profits in exchange for reduced exposure to loss, and (2) uncertainty about the network structure makes it considerably more difficult to coordinate on a demanding, but efficient, equilibrium that is typically implemented with complete information.     

THE FRAGILE AMERICAN: Hardship and Financial Troubles in the 21st Century

Rising economic insecurity at the turn of the 21st century made Americans increasingly vulnerable to financial distress. Studies of bankruptcy records show that personal hardships like health problems, divorce, job loss, and income disruption are the major reasons Americans fall into financial ruin. This article uses nationally representative data from the Survey of Consumer Finances to study the relationship between hardship and a range of financial troubles including bankruptcy, default, and credit access. We differentiate this analysis by class, expecting that debt troubles fall especially hard on middle‐income families. Our results show that while the middle class is distinctly vulnerable, multiple financial troubles accompany hardship for all classes.     

BRINGING PERSONALIZED TIES BACK IN: Their Added Value for Biotech Entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists Interorganizational Networks

Using a unique data set collected in France among biotech entrepreneurs and their venture capital investors (VCs), we measure the added value of personal relationships at the interorganizational level. Our analyses show that when two entrepreneurs share a personal collaboration tie or a personal friendship tie with a VC investor, the probability of having an advice tie and thus exchange tacit knowledge increases significantly. We confirm the importance of this kind of social embeddedness in the biotech industry where personalized ties––as opposed to institutional and contractual relationships––at the interorganizational level had not yet been examined systematically. Our results suggest that strategies of personalization of exchanges are vital for interorganizational learning. These strategies help entrepreneurs to access resources, participate in knowledge building, and co‐orientate activities in this sector.     

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE NATIVITY WEALTH GAP*

We investigate the relative wealth position of immigrant households residing in Australia, Germany, and the United States. In Germany and the United States, wealth differentials stem from differences in the educational attainment and demographic characteristics of the native and immigrant populations, rather than income differentials. In contrast, the small nativity wealth gap in Australia exists because immigrants to Australia do not translate their relative educational and demographic advantage into a wealth advantage. Overall, we find substantial disparity in the economic well‐being of immigrant and native families which is largely consistent with domestic labor markets and immigration policies. (JEL F22, D31)     

Community-directed engagement and positive youth development: Developing positive and progressive pathways between youth and their communities in Reclaiming Futures

Reclaiming Futures is an innovative juvenile justice reform initiative focused on improving the quality, quantity, and effectiveness of alcohol and drug treatment interventions for juvenile offenders. An important element of the Reclaiming Futures strategy has been the consistent and intentional involvement of community members as part of the systemic reforms and interventions in a way that attempts to share access to power and build agency for authentic community-anchored solutions. The purpose of these efforts is to assist young people to build positive and enduring connections that they can rely upon as a strong recovery network for ongoing support after their formal engagement with justice and treatment services is concluded. This paper describes relevant literature on positive youth development and community-directed engagement, the underlying philosophy of the approach, examples of how the Reclaiming Futures initiative has incorporated these ideas, discussion of barriers and supports to effectiveness, and implications for others wishing to implement similar strategies.     

Examining the relationship between psychotropic medication use and testing positive for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea among detained adolescents

Objective

We examined whether psychotropic medication (PTM) use was related to testing positive for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea among detained adolescents.

Methods

A convenience sample of 550 detained adolescents ages 14-18 years were recruited from eight youth detention centers in Georgia. Using A-CASI technology, data was collected on demographic factors, use of PTM, and sexual risk behaviors. Chlamydia and Gonorrhea diagnoses were assessed by laboratory testing.

Results

Thirteen percent (13.1%) of adolescents not using PTMs tested positive for STIs compared to only 4.9% of those reporting PTM use. PTM users had a 62% smaller odds ratio for testing positive for Chlamydia or Gonorrhea.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that use of psychotropic medication, if deemed useful by detained youth, may be a protective factor against engaging in behaviors which may culminate in contracting some STDs. The practice implications are discussed within the context of these findings.     

Rural small firms’ use of the internet: From global to local

Reporting on a study of internet portals in rural Scotland, the paper examines the discrepancy between the much theorised use of the internet to afford external market reach to small rural firms, and the consistent and prevailing evidence that the rural economy is sustained by locally-oriented trade. The study combines data from portal operators and rural firms that use portals and finds from both that greater importance is placed on maintaining local interest to facilitate local trade than fostering external market orientation. However, both suppliers and users of portals identify that local orientation of the portal also increases the effectiveness of externally-oriented marketing. Thus, rather than a focus on attracting external markets, a balance of local and external orientation is best placed to foster value-adding business activity. From a theoretical perspective the importance of the local when applied to rural small firms’ internet use is largely neglected, but its importance, as observed in the current study, suggests a rationale for developing theory that better explains the role of the internet for rural firms.