A response to criticism of our estimates of under-5 mortality in Iraq, 1980–98

According to estimates published in this journal, the number of deaths of children under 5 in Iraq in the period 1991–98 resulting from the Gulf War of 1991 and the subsequent imposition of sanctions by the United Nations was between 400,000 and 500,000. These estimates have since been held to be implausibly high by a working group set up by an Independent Inquiry Committee appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General. We believe the working group's own estimates are seriously flawed and cannot be regarded as a credible challenge to our own. To obtain their estimates, they reject as unreliable the evidence of the 1999 Iraq Child and Maternal Mortality Survey—despite clear evidence of its internal coherence and supporting evidence from another, independent survey. They prefer to rely on the 1987 and 1997 censuses and on data obtained in a format that had elsewhere been rejected as unreliable 30 years earlier.     

Multiple step-stress accelerated life test: the tampered failure rate model

Battacharyya and Soejoeti (1989) proposed the tampered failure rate model for step-stress accelerated life testing. In this note, their model is generalized from the simple (2-step) step-stress setting to the multiple (k-step, k > 2) setting. For the parametric setting where the life distribution under constant stress is Weibull, maximum likelihood estimation is investigated and the situation where the different stress levels are equispaced is looked at.     

Evidence-Based Evaluation of Staircase Architectural Design to Reduce the Risk of Falling for Older Adults

The impact of an increasingly aging population warrants accommodations in home architectural design. Focusing on the staircase design criteria as part of the home environment, this article presents an integrated evidence-based staircase evaluation for home staircase design to reduce the risk of falling for older adults (those 65 years and older). The staircase evaluation has been developed by dividing the staircase into four design elements: handrail design, step design, staircase geometric design, and lighting. Each element is divided into several features that define its architectural design. For example, the step design element is further divided into four features: going depth, riser height, nosing, and step finishing material. A hierarchical list is provided based on an evidence-based comparison of various scenarios for each feature. The hierarchical list presents the comparative effect of each scenario on reducing the risk of falling for older adults.     

When data justice and environmental justice meet: formulating a response to extractive logic through environmental data justice

ABSTRACT

Environmental data justice (EDJ) emerges from conversations between data justice and environmental justice while identifying the limits and tensions of these lenses. Through a reflexive process of querying our entanglement in non-innocent relations, this paper develops and engages EDJ by examining how it informs the work of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI), a distributed, consensus-based organization that formed in response to the 2016 US presidential election. Through grassroots archiving of data sets, monitoring federal environmental and energy agency websites, and writing rapid-response reports about how federal agencies are being undermined, EDGI mobilizes EDJ to challenge the ‘extractive logic’ of current federal environmental policy and data infrastructures. ‘Extractive logic’ disconnects data from provenance, privileges the matrix of domination, and whitewashes data to generate uncertainty. We use the dynamic EDJ framework to reflect on EDGI’s public comment advising against the US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule for Transparent Science. Through EDJ, EDGI aspires to create new environmental data infrastructures and practices that are participatory and embody equitable, transparent data care.     

Labour Policy and Determinants of Employment and Wages in a Developing Economy with Labour Shortage

Using data from a sample of 1,099 workers, this paper investigates the determinants of employment and wages for workers in the United Arab Emirates. The paper further examines the wage distribution and the decomposition of the wage gap between the public and the private sectors. Results of the study are consistent with the dual labour market theory and indicate that the labour market in the United Arab Emirates is segmented based on sectors (public versus private) and types of workers (nationals versus non‐nationals). The study concludes with a discussion of the implication of these findings for the effectiveness of labour and economic policy.     

Distribution of Household Income in America: Effects of Source of Income,Inflation, and Cost of Living Differentials

This study focuses on four aspects of theinequality of average household income amongthe American states. First, we document changein the inequality of nominal average householdincome between 1979 and 1990. Second, weidentify states contributing to the observedinequality. Third, we examine the pattern instate income convergence-divergence whenspatial and temporal state price differentialsare accounted for. Fourth, we provide estimatesof impacts of alternative income components onincome inequality. We find that inequality inreal income is smaller than that in nominalincome. Also, we conclude that traditionalincome measures that exclude transfer paymentsand other types of income overstateinequality.     

Differences in consumption patterns of single-parent and two-parent families in the United States

Different patterns of single-parent and two-parent families in six major expenditure categories are examined using the 1989 Consumer Expenditure Survey. Comparisons are made of the influence of permanent income, family size, region, race, gender, age, and education of the head of the family on the expenditure categories. The results show that with the exception of expenditures on shelter, the two groups differ significantly in their consumption patterns.1991 Visiting Professor at the Family Economics Research Group, Agricutural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Current research interests include consumption economics and time-use allocation.Current research interests include the economic status of American households.