The Unbalance Penalisation Method for Metrics of Social Progress

This study contributes to the debate on the development of aggregate metrics of societal progress. Summarising societal progress into a single number poses various methodological challenges, including the choice of indicators, normalisation, weighting and aggregation. This paper addresses the issue of aggregation in the case of metrics of well-being and uses as a case study the European Union regional Social Progress Index—EU-SPI—published by the European Commission. The index is an aggregate measure of 55 social and environmental indicators observed for all the European regions grouped into 12 components. In metrics of this type, while complete substitutability among components is rarely acceptable, controlling their level of substitutability is highly desirable. To this aim, we adopt a modified version of the unbalance penalisation approach originally proposed by Casadio Tarabusi and Guarini (Soc Indic Res 112:9–45, 2013). A penalisation is applied to the regions whose performance across the index components is unbalanced, that is when they perform well on some components but worse on others. The penalisation applied by this approach depends on two parameters that, in its original formulation, are generally arbitrarily chosen. We design a data-driven approach allowing for an informed choice of the penalisation parameters. The comparison between the EU-SPI original and penalised scores shows that the penalisation effect is particularly evident for regions with a strongly unbalanced profile across the components. The proposed method allows for adjusting the level of substitutability between components when constructing an aggregate metric, an important functionality especially when measuring societal progress for policy-making.

     

Assessment of the needs of youth in residential care: Development and validation of an instrument

This article presents the development of a Residential Care Youth Needs Assessment (RCYNA) instrument. In two studies, initial evidence regarding the RCYNA psychometric properties was obtained using a sample of youth in residential care. Results show adequate levels of content and face validity, reliability and concurrent validity.     

Are Naturalized Voters Driving the California Latino Electorate? Measuring the Effect of IRCA Citizens on Latino Voting*

Objectives. The 1990s witnessed the growth and maturation of the Latino electorate in California and many scholars have posited as to the reasons. One argument is that naturalizations by way of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) drove the increases in Latino participation. In this article we investigate the extent to which this is the case. Methods. Using unpublished INS data, we offer the first empirical test of the IRCA theory by examining Latino IRCA petitions by zipcode to determine whether or not IRCA legalizations and subsequent naturalizations were the force behind increased Latino turnout, and the overall growth of the Latino vote. We merge IRCA data with Registrar of Voter data to examine real growth in the Latino vote at the zipcode level from 1996–2000 in southern California. Results. Although Latino voting grew substantially, we find that IRCA naturalizations did not spur the increases in Latino voting in the 1990s as some have expected. Instead, demographic and mobilization variables explain why the Latino vote grew between 1996 and 2000. Conclusions. As Congress debates new proposals to “legalize” the millions of undocumented immigrants living and working in this country, many will inevitably ask what impact their citizenship will have on the electorate. This study sheds some light on the relationship between amnesty programs, citizenship, and voting among Latinos.     

Rural population and social security in Brazil: An analysis with emphasis on constitutional changes

This paper analyses the situation of the Brazilian rural population with respect to social insurance and social assistance at two points in time: 1988 and 1998. The 1988 Constitution defined new rules with regard to eligibility conditions and benefit values for the rural population. But it was only in July 1991, with Law 8213, that these changes were implemented. We compare — by gender and individual age — activity rates and probability of receiving benefits, before and after the changes in legislation. We also compare, at these two points in time, family structure and the importance of the income of older people in the family budget. The analysis makes clear the positive impact brought by the legislation on the coverage and per capita family income of those families with older members in rural Brazil, bringing about some degree of poverty alleviation, as well as bridging the gender gap with respect to access to benefits. In contrast to what occurs in other Latin American countries, nowadays the Brazilian rural population has almost universal access to social security benefits, not only at family level but also in individual terms.     

Conditional Cash Transfer Programs,Credit Constraints,and Migration

This paper models the effect of anti‐poverty conditional cash transfer programs on labor migration. Their effect on migration depends on both the size and type of transfers. Conditional transfers, where the potential recipient has to comply with some requirement in order to qualify for eligibility, may decrease contemporaneous migration for some households, but increase future migration for others. In contrast, unconditional grants may increase current migration.     

Collective Action in Modern Times: How Modern Expressions of Prejudice Prevent Collective Action

This contribution addresses modern forms of group-based discrimination, and examines how these impact upon the likelihood that people engage in collective action. Based on a review of the relevant literature, we predict that modern expressions of prejudice are less likely to be perceived as indicating group-based disadvantage and hence elicit less anger, protest, and collective action than old-fashioned prejudice. We present three studies to offer empirical support for this prediction. In Study 1 ( N = 116), female participants were led to believe that the general public endorses either old-fashioned or modern sexist views. In Study 2 ( N = 44) and 3 ( N = 37) female participants were exposed to a student supervisor who allegedly held either old-fashioned or modern sexist views. Results of all three studies indicate that modern sexism is less likely to be perceived as a form of discrimination, and as a result elicits less anger at the source and less support for collective action (Study 1), intentions to protest (Study 2), and collective protest behavior (Study 3) than old-fashioned sexism. In discussing the results of this research, we connect to current insights on antecedents of collective action, and identify conclusions from our analysis that are relevant for societal and organizational policy making.     

Asymptotic linearity and limit distributions,approximations

Linear and quadratic forms as well as other low degree polynomials play an important role in statistical inference. Asymptotic results and limit distributions are obtained for a class of statistics depending on μ+X$\mu +\mathbf{X}$, with X any random vector and μ$\mu$ non-random vector with ∥μ∥→+∞$\parallel \mu \parallel \to +\infty$. This class contain the polynomials in μ+X$\mu +\mathbf{X}$. An application to the case of normal X is presented. This application includes a new central limit theorem which is connected with the increase of non-centrality for samples of fixed size. Moreover upper bounds for the suprema of the differences between exact and approximate distributions and their quantiles are obtained.     

School pathways and economic practices of Portuguese Ciganos: some continuities and changes

The main aim of this article is to offer a comprehensive perspective to a better understanding of the actual situation of Portuguese Ciganos.¹ In Portugal, the lack of recognition of Ciganos (Roma) and the sometimes incorrect ‘knowledge’ about them which are reflected in images that are limitative and distorted, suggest inferiority and are full of disdain, all of which negatively affects and restricts the life of Ciganos persons. This article intends to presents some of the main results of two qualitative studies conducted between 2004–2010, one of which sought to get to know Ciganos’ representations of domains, practices and situations perceived as discriminatory, while the other looked at the social integration paths of these persons. These studies produce new knowledge about both individual academic and occupational trajectories, and some of the main intergenerational changes that have occurred among Portuguese Ciganos. In addition, the article offers a new view about some social policies in Portugal and its impacts on Ciganos singularities. In fact, it’s possible to conclude that the universalism of the national social policies has not produced the desired effects in terms of a reduction in levels of poverty, exclusion, discrimination among Portuguese Ciganos.