Social and Economic Structural Antecedents of Fertility*

Social and economic structural characteristics of counties are used to predict differences in county fertility rates using 1970 census data for North Carolina's one hundred counties. We argue that fertility rates are affected by county social and economic structures, and hypothesize that fertility rates vary directly with level of occupational sex segregation and inversely with degree of urbanization, industrialization, population size, and female labor force participation rates of counties. Variables reflecting general sociodemographic characteristics of counties are also included in the analysis. Using multiple linear regression and factor analytic techniques, a preliminary model of social and economic structural antecedents of fertility is constructed. Three factors, which collectively account for 69 percent of the variance in fertility rates, are indicative of the importance of social and economic structural conditions in accounting for variation in local fertility.     

The equalizing role of human resource intensive growth strategies: A theoretical model

Empirical evidence concerning the relationship between education-intensive development strategies and income distribution is used to formulate a growth model in which the variance of the dispersion rate of income is linked to the human and physical capital intensity of production. It is shown that, under plausible assumptions, the growth trajectory does not have a unique steady state. Of the possible steady states, for any two steady states characterized by equal per capita output and by different combinations of physical capital-labor ratio and average human capital, the income distribution associated with the steady state with the higher level of average human capital is Lorenz superior.     

When self-interest and age sterotypes collide: elders opposing increased funds for programs benefiting themselves

Elders tend to be portrayed by the media as selfishly promoting programs that benefit the old. We predicted, however, that older individuals who choose positive stereotypes about the young over positive stereotypes about the old would oppose an increase in spending on these programs. By analyzing the responses of 1656 individuals, we found: (1) older participants were more likely than younger participants to oppose increased funding of Social Security, Meals on Wheels, and Medicare; and (2) this opposition to increased funding for Social Security and Meals on Wheels was predicted by a stereotype of aging based on a more favorable perception of the capabilities of the young than of the old. Our findings suggest that elders' evaluation of programs that benefit their age group may be more influenced by stereotypes internalized decades earlier than by their current group interests.     

Hiding in Plain Sight: The Significance of Recognizing What is Hidden

This case commentary considers relational psychoanalytic treatment with a marginalized, traumatized client. It illustrates the centrality of a mutually developed, psychoanalytically informed generative relationship in clinical practice with oppressed clients. Such relationships promote the freedom to think, to reflect, and to make sense of one’s experience. Treatment aims to help clients bear traumatic experiences, to deepen their subjectivity and to claim a sense of agency in their lives. Development of these capacities is especially important for work with oppressed clients since their histories and living conditions militate to strip them of their dignity, integrity and fundamental humanity. The author asserts that in this way psychoanalytically informed clinical practice promotes social justice and empowerment.     

The ‘Building Blocks’ of Professional Identity among Social Work Graduates

Based on systems theory, the current study aimed to examine the relationships between the following sets of variables: input variables—satisfaction with supervision, self-differentiation, and sense of coherence; throughput variables—values and empathy; and the output variable—professional identity of BSW students. Questionnaires were completed by 160 social work students who were about to graduate the social work program. Path analysis (The AMOS 5 program) was used to analyze the research model. Satisfaction with supervision was the only input variable that was directly related to professional identity. Of the throughput variables, empathy and personal values were directly related to professional identity, whereas sense of coherence was indirectly related to empathic concern, with social values as a mediator. Practical recommendations are discussed.     

Ordered Regressions

There are often situations where two or more regression functions are ordered over a range of covariate values. In this paper, we develop efficient constrained estimation and testing procedures for such models. Specifically, necessary and sufficient conditions for ordering generalized linear regressions are given and shown to unify previous results obtained for simple linear regression, for polynomial regression and in the analysis of covariance models. We show that estimating the parameters of ordered linear regressions requires either quadratic programming or semi‐infinite programming, depending on the shape of the covariate space. A distance‐type test for order is proposed. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed methodology improves the mean square error and power compared with the usual, unconstrained, estimation and testing procedures. Improvements are often substantial. The methodology is extended to order generalized linear models where convex semi‐infinite programming plays a role. The methodology is motivated by, and applied to, a hearing loss study.     

Launching Medical Foster Home Programs: Key Components to Growing This Alternative to Nursing Home Placement

Objective: The objective of this research was to examine and explain elements that enhanced or thwarted program growth of the United States Veterans Health Administration Medical Foster Home program. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted nationally through individual interviews over the phone and in-person (n = 22) with coordinators (n = 15 at slow-growth programs; n = 6 at fast-growth programs), program support assistants (PSAs) (n = 1 at slow-growth program), and home-based primary care team members (n = 3), as well as three in-person focus groups (n = 28 total participants) with home-based primary care team members. All participants (N = 53) were involved with programs in existence for at least two years. Results: Facilitators and barriers that enhanced or thwarted program growth emerged around four themes: A full-time coordinator; Unmitigated home-based primary care team engagement; Pursuit and receipt of appropriate referrals; and Match between caregiver, home, and Veteran. Conclusions: To facilitate program growth, program leaders should consider themes identified and how to foster situations and shape policies that put themes into practice.     

THE EFFECTS OF VARIABLE AND FIXED TRANSACTION COSTS ON OPTIMAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS

This paper studies the impact of variable and fixed transaction costs on investment decisions under conditions of risk. The decision model is first formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear program. The following subjects are then examined: the structure of the investment frontier facing the investor and the effects of transaction costs on this frontier, the impact of transaction costs on the investor's optimal investment strategy, and the conditions for the equilibrium structure of risky asset prices and risk-return relationships. The main finding is that the relaxation of the assumption of the absence of transaction costs eliminates some of the most unattractive implications of the classic capital asset pricing model (CAPM) while preserving the more attractive implications of this model. Also, our model provides explanations for some discrepancies between the theoretical CAPM and empirical findings and, therefore, is a step toward narrowing the gap between theory and practice.