Human Capital Attainment and Gender Empowerment: The Kerala Paradox*

Objectives. The State of Kerala in southwestern India shows the highest gender development index in the country. Despite having the highest literacy rate and educational achievements of women, the suicide rate among females is very high, and domestic violence committed against women is increasing every year in Kerala. This article attempts to analyze the demographic, social, and cultural changes that are occurring in order to understand this apparent paradox of high human capital attainment and high violence and suicides experienced by women in Kerala. Methods. The study uses data from the Census of India (1991, 2001) , National Crime Records Bureau (1998–2000), and Reproductive and Child Health ( District Level House Hold Survey—2001 ) to analyze trends in crime, violence, and suicide rates, and demographic profiles of the different districts in Kerala. Results. High educational attainment has fostered new aspirations and attitudes among women in Kerala. Yet, societal and cultural norms still dictate that women should be subservient to men both at home and in the labor market. This imbalance often contributes to family violence and suicides in Kerala. Thus, beneath the veil of development lie some disturbing social, cultural, and economic issues that may be contributing to high rates of suicide and family violence in Kerala. Conclusions. This study demonstrates that high educational attainment alone will not promote gender empowerment unless the social and cultural fabric of a country or state ensures equality of women in all areas of life.     

Generalization of the immigration and the stable population model

Building upon an idea presented by Espenshade, Bouvier and Arthur (1982) about the eventual stationarity of a population subjected to a net reproduction rate of less than one and a constant stream of immigration, this note reports the consequences upon the birth trajectory for all possible values of the net reproduction rate. It has been shown that when the net reproduction rate is equal to one, the number of births increases linearly with time. As may be expected, the increase is exponential for values of net reproduction rate greater than one.     

A state-of-art survey of static scheduling research involving due dates

This paper provides a guided tour of those scheduling techniques in which the performance measures bear in one way or the other on job due dates. The classification is based on scheduling objectives. Within each category the theoretical developments and computational experiences have been reviewed.     

On estimating the conditional probability of discovering a new species

Based on a capture-recapture sample of size $i;n+k,n≥ l,k ≥ 0, from a population of an unknown number of distinct species (or classes), the problem of estimating the total probability of the species unobserved in the first n selections is considered. As the estimand depends on both the unknown parameters and the data, the standard theory of estimation is inadequate for this problem A suitable definition of sufficiency is introduced and used to prove a Rao-Blackwell type result and discuss uniformly minimum mean squared error unbiased estimation. An alternative proof for an inadmissibility result is presented. The new proof gives more insight and a method for deriving improved estimators. The theoretical developments may be useful in other problems concerning inferences about random parametric functions.     

Invisible or Mainstream? Disability in Surveys and Censuses in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Social Indicators Research - This paper examines to what extent household surveys and censuses in low- and middle-income countries include disability questions and the types of questions under use....     

Sacrificing Women: A Study of Ritualized Practices among Women Volunteers in India

This study addresses issues related to inequality formation and reproduction, especially in regard to gender dynamics operating in a non-western society. Grounded in a post-colonial understanding of urban educated upper and middle class women NGO volunteers in contemporary India, it analyzes how they negotiate new approaches to challenge existing traditional gender roles, yet in critical ways contribute to their reproduction, particularly the traditional concept of ideal Indian womanhood. Employing structural ritualization theory we examine how ritualized symbolic practices related to the traditional concepts of caretaking, sacrifice, and the concept of natural sexual differences continue to be emphasized in a generation confronted with conflicting expectations about modern women’s roles. Twenty-one testimonies provide the major source of evidence along with data gathered through participant observation. This research enhances our understanding of the power of rituals and how they can continue to shape the cognitions and activities of actors.

Framing the corporate responsibility-reputation linkage: The case of Tata Motors in India

This study, focusing on the emerging economy context of one of India's largest automotive companies, Tata Motors, analyzes the thematic framing of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate reputation. Five CSR frames are shown: institutionalization, community development, modernization, mainstreaming, and nation-building. Reputation is framed via: heritage, nationbuilding, technological advancement, global footprint, and responsibility. The findings suggest how firms may better align their CSR efforts with regular business, and their larger public relations campaigns with wider social perceptions of their responsibilities.