DURKHEIM'S PREDICTION ABOUT THE DECLINING IMPORTANCE OF THE FAMILY AND INHERITANCE:

In 1912 Emile Durkheim predicted that testators would shift their beneficiaries in their last wills from their families to organizations as societies industrialized, primarily because the family would decline as an economic institution. This article analyzes and expands Durkheim's prediction into a “Durkheimian’ theory of organizational inheritance. The 429 last wills filed in the probate court of Providence, Rhode Island, from 1775–1985 are content analyzed in order to test Durkheim's prediction and to determine if other fundamental changes have occurred in testamentary behaviors. Contrary to Durkheim's prediction, families and kin remain as the beneficiaries in more than 90 percent of the sole beneficiary wills and in more than 80 percent of the combined beneficiary wills. Spouses, children, and grandchildren remain as the most frequent beneficiaries. Although many other types of beneficiaries besides family members and voluntary associations were named by testators in 1985, these other types accounted for a relatively small percentage of the beneficiaries. Other factors are suggested that could bring about widespread organizational inheritance during the next twenty years. The family was in the past better suited to ensure the continuity of economic life as well, because it was a small group in direct touch with things and people and also itself endowed with a genuine continuity. To-day this continuity no longer exists. The family is all the time in process of breaking up; it lasts only for a period and it may die out here and there. It no longer has sufficient power to link the generations one to another, in the economic sense. But only a secondary, fairly small medium can be a substitute. This can and should have greater scope than the family because the economic interests themselves have grown. It is not possible for any central organ to be everywhere present and everywhere active at the same moment. All these points, then persuade us in favour of the professional groups. -Emile Durkheim     

Immigrant and Native‐Born Differences in School Stability and Special Education: Evidence from New York City1

Using the literature on achievement differences as a framework and motivation, along with data on New York City students, we examine nativity differences in students’ rates of attendance, school mobility, school system exit, and special education participation. The results indicate that, holding demographic and school characteristics constant, foreign‐born have higher attendance rates and lower rates of participation in special education than native‐born. Among first graders, immigrants are also more likely to transfer schools and exit the school system between years than native‐born, yet the patterns are different among older students. We also identify large variation according to birth region.     

From Arrow to cycles, instability, and chaos by untying alternatives

From remarkably general assumptions, Arrow's Theorem concludes that a social intransitivity must afflict some profile of transitive individual preferences. It need not be a cycle, but all others have ties. If we add a modest tie-limit, we get a chaotic cycle, one comprising all alternatives, and a tight one to boot: a short path connects any two alternatives. For this we need naught but (1) linear preference orderings devoid of infinite ascent, (2) profiles that unanimously order a set of all but two alternatives, and with a slightly fortified tie-limit, (3) profiles that deviate ever so little from singlepeakedness. With a weaker tie-limit but not (2) or (3), we still get a chaotic cycle, not necessarily tight. With an even weaker one, we still get a dominant cycle, not necessarily chaotic (every member beats every outside alternative), and with it global instability (every alternative beaten). That tie-limit is necessary for a cycle of any sort, and for global instability too (which does not require a cycle unless alternatives are finite in number). Earlier Arrovian cycle theorems are quite limited by comparison with these. Received: 31 July 1999/Accepted: 15 October 1999     

Shelter Network: serving homeless families and individuals (1987-2007)

Shelter Network is a nonprofit organization that delivers a range of services that meet the needs of homeless families and individuals in order to help them achieve stable housing and self-sufficiency. The agency began as a grassroots community effort to respond to the growing problem of homelessness and its relationship with its external community continues to play an important role in its financing, growth, and development. Over its 20-year history, Shelter Network has overcome multiple challenges related to leadership, finance, and community support and has grown from a grassroots agency into an organization with a budget of $7 million.     

Girls Incorporated of Alameda County at 50: a voice for girls (1958-2008)

Girls Incorporated of Alameda County is nonprofit human service organization that has delivered education, counseling, and advocacy services to girls aged 6 to 18 for 50 years. The organization began as a small, local girls club and has grown into a large multi-faceted service delivery organization attached to a national governing body. The history of Girls Incorporated of Alameda County introduces struggles in relation to external and internal factors that altered the way that the agency financed and managed and exemplifies the important role of nonprofit leadership. The organization's many accomplishments have also presented multiple challenges, particularly related to the changing roles of women in American society.     

The Effect of Immigrant Communities on Foreign‐Born Student Achievement1

This paper explores the effect of the human capital characteristics of co‐ethnic immigrant communities on foreign‐born students’ math achievement. We use data on New York City public school foreign‐born students from 39 countries merged with census data on the characteristics of the immigrant household heads in the city from each nation of origin and estimate regressions of student achievement on co‐ethnic immigrant community characteristics, controlling for student and school attributes. We find that the income and size of the co‐ethnic immigrant community has no effect on immigrant student achievement, while the percent of college graduates may have a small positive effect. In addition, children in highly English proficient immigrant communities test slightly lower than children from less proficient communities. The results suggest that there may be some protective factors associated with immigrant community members’ education levels and use of native languages.