The effect of marital status at first birth on marital dissolution among adolescent mothers

The sequencing of marriage and first birth was expected to play an important role in the stability of marriage among adolescent mothers. We hypothesized that adolescent women who married prior to conception would have the lowest rates of marital disruption, followed by those who married between conception and birth. Adolescent women who gave birth prior to marriage were expected to suffer the highest rates of marital dissolution. The results provide partial support for our hypotheses. There is little difference in the probability of separation between adolescent mothers who had a postmarital conception and those who had a premarital conception but married before the birth. Having a premarital birth, however, significantly increases the probability of marital dissolution. We also hypothesized that marital status at first birth would have less effect on the probability of marital dissolution for blacks than for whites. This, too, is generally supported by our findings. Among black females, those with a premarital birth are the first to suffer a marital disruption, but by the end of ten years there is little difference in the probability of separation among the three marital status groups. In contrast, among white females, those with a premarital birth are the first to experience a disruption, and this differential persists over all subsequent marriage duration intervals. Thus, the sequencing of marriage relative to birth has similar short term effects for whites and blacks, but the effect for blacks is evident only in the short term. Ten years after the marriage, black adolescent mothers have similar rates of marital stability regardless of the sequencing of marriage. This is consistent with the findings of previous research and with our hypothesis; with the black family pattern of lower rates of marriage, higher rates of illegitimacy and higher divorce rates, the sequencing of marriage has no long lasting consequences on marital stability. Finally, our predicted decline in the effect of marital status at first birth over historical time also finds partial support. For white females there has been a change in the effect of marriage-first birth sequencing on separation over time. In the period encompassed by the women in our study, white adolescent mothers who married subsequent to the birth have been the most likely to experience a separation at all marriage duration intervals, but this differential narrows as age at interview declines. Among black females there has been no change in the effect of a premarital birth over time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Stress Coping Strategies,Perceived Organizational Support and Marital Status as Predictors of Work–Life Balance among Nigerian Bank Employees

The study examined stress coping strategies, perceived organizational support and marital status as predictors of work–life balance. Two hundred and fifty-four bank workers participated in the study. Results of the regression analyses showed that stress coping strategies was a significant predictor of work–life balance (β = .34, p = .000) and contributed 11 % variance in work–life balance after controlling for the effects of gender, age and education. The result further revealed that perceived organizational support significantly predicted workers’ work–life balance (β = .22, p = .001) and contributed additional 4 % variance in work–life balance after the effects of gender, age, education and coping strategies have been controlled. Marital status was not related to work–life balance. The findings of the study were discussed based on Nigerian socio-economic realities. The implications of the findings to work–life policies and practices were discussed.     

Tolerance for Failure and Incentives for Collaborative Innovation

Most organizations employ collaborative teams to manage innovation projects. Although the use of collaborative innovation teams is a good starting point, an organization's ability to innovate can be enhanced by managing risk‐taking behavior through monetary incentive schemes and through an organizational culture that tolerates failure. This article reports the results of two controlled experiments aimed at understanding how tolerance for failure and incentives impact the decisions of individuals engaged in a collaborative innovation initiative. A key element of our experiments is the notion of endogenous project risk, which we define as the explicit link between resources allocated to a project and the likelihood of project success. We observe that when penalties are low, the amount of risk an individual assumes is fairly insensitive to the rewards that are offered. In an analogous result, when individuals make decisions alone (rather than collaboratively), higher tolerance for failure does little to increase the amount of risk an individual is willing to take. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of implicit incentives that are created as a result of project and organizational characteristics.     

The effect of housing on perceptions of quality of life of older adults participating in a medicaid long-term care demonstration project

As the nation struggles with the great increase in the numbers of older adults, many questions arise about how to provide housing and long-term care options that will ensure the quality of life of older adults. This study demonstrates that older adults and their families perceive quality of life more positively once moved from a nursing home to an assisted living facility using Medicaid funds. Results of this exploratory study are promising and suggest that having housing options available across the continuum of care with individualized case management offers older adults the hope for "quality living".     

Divergence in Age Patterns of Mortality Change Drives International Divergence in Lifespan Inequality

In the past six decades, lifespan inequality has varied greatly within and among countries even while life expectancy has continued to increase. How and why does mortality change generate this diversity? We derive a precise link between changes in age-specific mortality and lifespan inequality, measured as the variance of age at death. Key to this relationship is a young–old threshold age, below and above which mortality decline respectively decreases and increases lifespan inequality. First, we show for Sweden that shifts in the threshold’s location have modified the correlation between changes in life expectancy and lifespan inequality over the last two centuries. Second, we analyze the post–World War II (WWII) trajectories of lifespan inequality in a set of developed countries—Japan, Canada, and the United States—where thresholds centered on retirement age. Our method reveals how divergence in the age pattern of mortality change drives international divergence in lifespan inequality. Most strikingly, early in the 1980s, mortality increases in young U.S. males led to a continuation of high lifespan inequality in the United States; in Canada, however, the decline of inequality continued. In general, our wider international comparisons show that mortality change varied most at young working ages after WWII, particularly for males. We conclude that if mortality continues to stagnate at young ages yet declines steadily at old ages, increases in lifespan inequality will become a common feature of future demographic change.     

Nontraditional Family‐Related Attitudes in Japan: Macro and Micro Determinants

Attitudinal data are commonly used to measure values, which in turn represent moral doctrines that are resistant to change and are the foundation for societal norms. This article examines changes in the attitudinal climate in Japan. Three national surveys (1994, 2000, and 2009) are used to examine a range of attitudes that measure a) the centrality of marriage and childbearing, b) nontraditional family behaviors, and c) gender roles in the work and family spheres. There is strong evidence of movement toward less‐traditional attitudes during 1994–2000, followed by limited change in the 2000s. Period factors were paramount in the 1990s. Across the board, women hold less‐traditional attitudes than men, and this difference has increased over time. Both engaging in nontraditional family behaviors (being married but remaining childless) and knowing someone who has engaged in nontraditional family behaviors (cohabitation) causally lead to holding nontraditional attitudes, suggesting mechanisms whereby changes in individual behavior can lead to changes in societal values.     

A framework for production rescheduling in sociotechnical manufacturing environments

No plan survives contact with reality. Despite the rich research base regarding handling uncertainty in production planning and control systems, there is an intellectual gap between theory and practice with regard to handling unforeseen events generated by internal and external factors, such as unforeseen machine downtimes and changes in demand. Motivated by longitudinal observations in two industrial settings and an analysis of the relevant literature, a framework for rescheduling decision-making in the face of unforeseen production events is proposed. In practical settings, the effectiveness of decisions depends on a set of situational factors. The findings of this research can be utilised further to provide guidelines for developing effective decision support principles and systems, addressing the needs of organisational decision-makers.     

On the bias of sampled autocorrelations

The author believes that, once again, the time has come to study how sample autocorrelation behaviour departs from asymptotic theory. Amongst other things, the classical formulae for bias need revising in the light of current definitions, and to make them immediately applicable to practical situations. Considerable extensions are also necessary to cover more general ARIMA models and, further, to obtain results valid for short series. Motivation is provided by demonstrating the varied implications of bias for Box-Jenkins identifications estimation, verification and forecasting.