Factors Associated with the Poverty Status of Asian Immigrant Householders by Citizenship Status

As a response to changing profiles of the Asian population in the United States, this study examines the demographic, human capital, and acculturation factors that are associated with the official poverty status of Asian immigrant householders by their U.S. citizenship status. From the 1990 Census Public Use Microdata Sample (Census of Population and Housing, 1990a), responses from 229,004 Asian householders are analyzed using hierarchical bivariate logistic regression. The results suggests that high levels of human capital and acculturation reduce the odds of Asian householders living below the official poverty threshold, regardless of their citizenship status. The degree to which the selected variables are associated with poverty status varies by citizenship status.     

朱熹理一分殊思想对当代建立全球普遍论理的意义

今天 ,人类进入全球一体化的时代特征越来越明显 ,建立人类的普遍论理或普遍价值的要求极为迫切 ,既然问题的提出并不是西方思维模式演绎的结果 ,而是基于全人类命运的共同要求 ,那么对问题的回答 ,也就要借鉴人类有史以来所有文化的思想资源从而作出回答。产生于八百年前的古代东方的朱熹的理一分殊思想 ,正为当代人类社会普遍论理或普遍价值的建立提供了极其重要的思想启示 ,可以说它对于 2 1世纪人类社会建立世界新秩序从而得以和平发展具有重大的历史性价值     

Dynamic principal component analysis with missing values

Dynamic principal component analysis (DPCA), also known as frequency domain principal component analysis, has been developed by Brillinger [Time Series: Data Analysis and Theory, Vol. 36, SIAM, 1981] to decompose multivariate time-series data into a few principal component series. A primary advantage of DPCA is its capability of extracting essential components from the data by reflecting the serial dependence of them. It is also used to estimate the common component in a dynamic factor model, which is frequently used in econometrics. However, its beneficial property cannot be utilized when missing values are present, which should not be simply ignored when estimating the spectral density matrix in the DPCA procedure. Based on a novel combination of conventional DPCA and self-consistency concept, we propose a DPCA method when missing values are present. We demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method over some existing imputation methods through the Monte Carlo experiments and real data analysis.     

Developmental Trends in Adolescent Suicidal Ideation

Research using retrospective or cross‐sectional data suggests that suicidal ideation rates peak during mid‐adolescence. This study used a longitudinal, community sample of adolescents who reported suicidal ideation repeatedly over 7 years to examine suicidal ideation trends. We hypothesized that a mid‐adolescence peak in ideation is limited to adolescents exposed to friends' or family members' suicidality. Ideation trends were compared across groups exposed and not exposed to others' suicidality and statistically assessed using growth curve analyses. Overall, ideation rates peaked at age 15 years. Group comparisons revealed that the peak was limited to adolescents whose parents reported suicidality.     

Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Speaker Panels Lead to Attitude Change Among Heterosexual College Students

The contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954 Allport, G. W. 1954. The nature of prejudice, Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.  [Google Scholar]) suggests that a speaker panel intervention may be effective in reducing prejudice toward sexual minorities among heterosexual individuals. Addressing methodological limitations of prior studies, the present study compared the effects of a speaker panel presentation versus a control condition in altering attitudes among 186 heterosexual university students. After controlling for context effects by collecting attitude measures presumably as part of a separate study, we found that students who received the speaker panel intervention generally demonstrated more positive attitudes afterward.     

Trajectory and Predictors of Early Adolescent Alcohol Use

The aim of this study was to identify the developmental trajectory and predictors of Korean early adolescents’ alcohol use. The sample comprised 2844 adolescents who participated in the five‐wave longitudinal Korea Youth Panel Study, in which students were assessed annually from grade 4 (aged 11 years) in 2004 to grade 8 (aged 15 years) in 2008. Latent growth curve (LGC) modeling was conducted and a quadratic (J‐shaped) LGC model was supported. Personality‐ and environment‐system predictors, based on problem‐behavior theory, were specified to account for variation in intra‐individual changes in alcohol use. Self‐control, depressive affect, parental abuse, number of drinking friends, and gender significantly predicted the initial level of alcohol use. Self‐control, depressive affect, parental abuse, peer attachment, gender, and family structure predicted the quadratic slope that was associated with the rate of acceleration of alcohol use. These findings suggest that more effort needs to be directed toward the implementation of alcohol prevention programs early in elementary schools and practitioners who are involved in effective alcohol‐prevention and intervention programs that are aimed at delaying the initiation of alcohol use and reducing drinking during adolescence should consider various psychosocial factors.     

Estimates of net internal migration for Korea, 1985-90

The authors "estimate the volume and rate of net internal migration in [South] Korea for each five-year age group for the period between 1985 and 1990, adopting the forward census survival ratio method.... Two sets of [estimates] are made: (1) net internal migration for administratively defined provinces and equivalent districts with urban-rural distinction and (2) net internal migration for each of 73 cities in 1990." Extensive tables contain the estimates.     

Social health insurance development in Mongolia: Opportunities and challenges in moving towards Universal Health Coverage

Mongolia achieved high population coverage under mandatory health insurance relatively quickly. This fact was viewed by policy‐ and decision‐makers as a central issue for health financing reform in Mongolia. Health insurance brought many new features for health service planning, provision, funding and resource management. Based on initial achievements, health insurance came to be strategically considered as the vehicle for achieving universal coverage. The article analyses developments in Mongolia's health insurance over the last decade along with the core policy dimensions of Universal Health Coverage. It examines various reform approaches and the numerous amendments to laws that have been implemented during this period and discusses new opportunities as well as challenges. The analytical review and findings discussed suggest that Mongolia has a need for evidence‐based policy decisions and informed political support, with health insurance backed by robust institutional and administrative capacities. More generally, it also emphasizes that health policy goals and objectives can be attained by strengthening and making transparent and publicly‐accountable all health system financing functions and arrangements. The policy analysis, experiences, lessons and proposed strategies presented with regard to Mongolia intend to stimulate wider discussions on health insurance development as well as promote continuing focused research on specific aspects of health insurance and public financing reform.     

The reform of the developmental welfare state in East Asia

This article examines social policy reforms in East Asia and whether the welfare states in the region became more inclusive in terms of social protection while maintaining their developmental credentials. It draws on findings from the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) project on social policy in East Asia, covering China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Japan, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan Province of China, and Thailand. It shows that East Asian economies responded differently to the crisis in terms of welfare reform. While Singapore and Hong Kong maintained the basic structure of the selective developmental welfare state, Korea, Taiwan, and, to a lesser extent, Thailand implemented social policy reforms toward a more inclusive one. Despite such different responses, policy changes are explained by the proposition of the developmental welfare state: the instrumentality of social policy for economic development and realization of policy changes through democratization (or the lack of it).     

Chance Constrained Programming Approach to Empirical Analyses of Mutual Fund Investment Strategies*

Chance constrained programming concepts are used to formalize risk and return relations which are then modeled for use in an empirical study of mutual fund behavior during the period 1984 through 1988. The publicly announced strategies of individual funds are used to form ex ante risk classifications which are employed in examining ex post performance. Negative relations between risk and return held in every year of the period studied. The bearing of these negative risk-return findings for the Bowman paradox, as studied in the strategic management literature, are thus extended from the industrial firms studied by Bowman (and others) and shown to be present even in these investment oriented mutual funds in each of the years of the great bull market from 1984 through 1988. Finally, our use of chance constrained programming enables us to separate risk from return behavior and evaluate their relative strengths as sources of these negative relations, which are found to be more in the returns than the risks.