UNDERSTANDING CHANGES IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CYCLE DYNAMICS

The volatility of economic activity in most G7 economies has moderated over the past 40 years. Also, despite large increases in trade and openness, G7 business cycles have not become more synchronized. After documenting these facts, we interpret G7 output data using a structural VAR that separately identifies common international shocks, the domestic effects of spillovers from foreign idiosyncratic shocks, and the effects of domestic idiosyncratic shocks. This analysis suggests that, with the exception of Japan, a significant portion of the widespread reduction in volatility is associated with a reduction in the magnitude of the common international shocks. Had the common international shocks in the 1980s and 1990s been as large as they were in the 1960s and 1970s, G7 business cycles would have been substantially more volatile and more highly synchronized than they actually were. (JEL: C3, E5)     

INTERPRETING ASYLUM,REINTERPRETING REFUGEES: AN AUSTRALIAN CASE-STUDY

Australian responses to Cambodian asylum-seekers have been characterised by a continuing history of conflict between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of Government. I argue that this conflict has worked to conceal Australian international and humanitarian obligations towards asylum-seekers and refugees. In addition to this, terms used to describe asylum-seekers and refugees as ‘boat people’ ‘queue jumpers’ ‘economic refugees’ etc, have operated as categories of bureaucratic control and political power which have also worked to conceal those obligations. Further to this, I explore the form and content of the relevant international instruments as these articulate the obligations upon states in the grant of asylum. I then examine Australian responses to Cambodian asylum-seekers and argue that the international instruments are no longer sufficient obligation upon signatory states such as Australia, to entrench the rights of asylum-seekers. I therefore suggest an extension to the current theoretical debate as this might inform possible ways in which to reconceptualise both the rights of asylum-seekers and the international and humanitarian obligations upon those countries from which they seek asylum.     

Hijab Micropractices: The Strategic and Situational Use of Clothing by Qatari Women

The hijab, the headscarf and cloak worn by some Muslim women, is often viewed through a lens of constraint, but in this article I emphasize its flexible use by women in Qatar, a wealthy, conservative Arabian Gulf nation. As part of a neoliberal agenda, the Qatari government frequently depicts female citizens using an “empowered woman” narrative that touts increased college enrollment, workforce participation, and sports involvement as evidence of a progressive gender milieu. Yet Qatar continues to be steeped in patriarchy and institutional gender discrimination. This domination finds its most visible expression in the scrutiny and regulation of women's clothing. In this article, I describe how Qatari women strategically modify, adjust, reimagine, and remove their hijabs to suit changing circumstances. These hijab micropractices—women's strategic and situational use of traditional Muslim clothing—are at times so infinitesimal they are easy to overlook. Yet they are significant because they enable Qatari women to exercise agency within the confines of clothing that is believed to signify Islamic patriarchy and female oppression. I argue that hijab micropractices are a means by which Qatari women resist these conditions, while maintaining a religious identity and commitment to family.     

Social Class and Conversion Capacity: Deprivation Trends in the Great Recession in Ireland

In this paper, we draw on Irish SILC data to examine the roles of social class, non-class risk groups and state policies in influencing enforced material deprivation as Ireland moved from a period of economic boom through deep recession and on to early recovery. We also employ Sen’s capability approach to explore the extent to which certain social risk groups differ in their capacity to convert social class-differentiated resources into increased capability in relation to avoiding material deprivation. The findings refute the notion of polarization either across time as a result of recession or as a result of more vulnerable social risk groups experiencing more pronounced social class differences. Instead, the impact of recession on social class and social risk group operated mainly in an additive manner with each having a relatively independent impact on deprivation. The exception was lone parents who were less able to convert the benefits of higher social class position into reduced deprivation levels.     

Volunteering and Income Inequality: Cross-National Relationships

Wilkinson and Pickett, in their 2009 book The Spirit Level, found that, in rich countries, income inequality was negatively associated with a range of indicators of well-being, but they did not consider the relationship with volunteering. This paper seeks to fill that gap. Using existing data sources, it shows that, among European countries, higher levels of volunteering are associated with lower levels of income inequality. The relationship is particularly strong for regular and sport-related volunteering. The basic Spirit Level thesis is therefore confirmed as applicable to volunteering. However, while the thesis involves just one theoretical explanation for the income inequality/well-being relationship, namely status anxiety, in the case of volunteering, other variables are also found to be at play, including government social spending, available leisure time and geo-historical traditions. It is concluded that, while high levels of volunteering, as a form of social capital, can be seen as one of a number of features of more equal societies, disentangling cause and effect may require a more holistic approach to understanding its contribution to the generation and sustaining of social well-being.     

Forensic Assertive Community Treatment: Recidivism,hospitalization, and the role of housing and support

While Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is considered an evidence-based service model, there is limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of an adaptation of the model, Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT), for persons with serious mental illness who also have significant criminal justice system involvement. Using a multimethod approach, this article combines quantitative and qualitative data to review baseline information and nine-month follow-up recidivism, hospitalization, and housing outcomes for individuals enrolled in a FACT program. Findings suggest substance use, housing, and FACT team members’ support played an important role in clients’ prison reentry experiences.     

Old-age security, religious celibacy, and aggregate fertility in a Tibetan population

Using the family system as a framework, this study investigates the connection between old-age security concerns and aggregate fertility in Sama and Lho, two ethnically Tibetan villages of highland Nepal. The microdemographic approach reveals a difference in family systems between the two villages that results in Sama having a significantly lower level of fertility than Lho. The key difference lies in the practice of Sama’s (but not Lho’s) householders of designating a daughter to be a nun, a strategy meant to retain female labour within the household and thereby guarantee a caretaker in old age. Although the effect of this practice on individual fertility is unclear, the comparison with Lho reveals how it sharply curtails aggregate fertility by preventing nearly one in five women from marrying. In this case the motivation to ensure old-age security acts as an unintentional preventive check on population growth. Comparisons with other societies illustrate how the population of Sama combines elements of both the historical European and Asian demographic experiences.     

The effects of demand,competitive, and technological uncertainty on board monitoring and institutional ownership of IPO firms

This paper considers industry-specific contingencies that may account for some of the inter-firm heterogeneity in the deployment of specific corporate governance mechanisms in IPO firms. We examine how differences in demand, competitive, and technological uncertainty in the industry influence the levels of IPO firm monitoring by board outsiders and institutional investors. We test our theory using a sample of U.S. firms that completed an IPO in 24 manufacturing industries. The results indicate that industry uncertainty is, indeed, significantly related to the use of corporate governance mechanisms. In particular, the empirical results indicate that industry effects on IPO firm board monitoring and institutional investor ownership are the strongest and most consistent for demand uncertainty and competitive uncertainty.

Promoting Health and Wellness in African American Males through Rites of Passage Training

The current work presents exploratory research findings related to the effectiveness of Let the Circle Be Unbroken, an African-centered “rites of passage” training program, to promote health and well-being in a sample of high-risk, African American males. An abbreviated version of the ADPRC-TADPOLE questionnaire was administered to 39 African American boys, between the ages of 8 and 16 years, who were participating in a community-based “rites of passage” training program. Findings suggest that the Let the Circle Be Unbroken training program is a viable program for improving self-esteem among young African American males. The implications of this research are relevant to the reduction of some health disparities observed among underrepresented populations, especially African American males.