Examining evidence of financial and credit exclusion in Canada from 1999 to 2005

Changes are occurring in the provision of consumer credit, including the expansion of subprime and some fringe financial services (e.g., payday lending). We link two existing literatures on credit constraint and financial exclusion to assess the impact of these developments on the financial circumstances of low and modest-income consumers. We develop a model that identifies observable measures of credit constraint and financial exclusion and relate them to consumer characteristics and life cycle behaviour. We estimate this model using the two latest Surveys of Financial Security for 1999 and 2005, which provide consistent evidence of credit constraint and financial exclusion through time. We find modest overlap among our measures of financial exclusion, which include a zero balance/no account, credit card refusal, and using a pawnshop. Probit regression is used to investigate the factors influencing the incidence of financial exclusion. The results are similar for 1999 and 2005 and indicate rising incidence of financial exclusion as income and wealth fall, although the relationship is nonlinear such that incidence rises much faster at very low levels of income and wealth. Our analysis also suggests potentially important links between financial literacy, formal education, asset building, and financial exclusion and credit constraint. When we combine the samples, we find statistically significant evidence of growth in the incidence of each indicator of financial exclusion when other factors are held constant. Policy implications may include the strengthening of banking regulations that affect low-income Canadians and the promotion of universal financial literacy.     

会呼吸的电池——由空气产生电力的新能源

连续供应能源的电池 近百年来,人类的科技飞速进步,不论是军事武器还是民用设旌的发展,都是一日千里,近10年来更是与日俱增.因为科技发展的快速,加上全球人口的增长,能源的使用也不断地增加. 目前最重要的能源当属石油,而世界上石油的产量几乎全控制在几个主要的产油国家,这些产油国家组成石油输出国组织,简称OPEC.     

Self-Esteem,Vocational Identity,and Career Salience in High School Students

This study used Super's (1980) life span career development theory to investigate the relations between self-esteem level, vocational identity, and career salience in high school students. Two hundred fifty-one students were randomly selected from junior classes in urban, suburban, rural, and vocational schools. Results indicated that high self-esteem students scored significantly higher than low self-esteem students on vocational identity and career salience (participation, commitment, and values expectations) in school and home or family roles, but they did not differ on work, community, or leisure roles. Implications for life span career counseling are discussed.     

The ‘Feminization’ of Management? Issues of ‘Sameness’ and ‘Difference’ in the Roles and Experiences of Female and Male Retail Managers

Explanations of women’s poor representation in senior management usually emphasize differences between women and men managers’ experiences, circumstances and aspirations, and the gendered character of organizational structures and processes. Whilst these may all disadvantage women, some writers have suggested recently that women managers may differ in style and orientation in ways particularly appropriate for today’s developing organizations. This paper explores issues of ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ between women and men managers in retailing. Whilst both male and female store managers wanted to downplay gender differences and adopt a ‘gender neutral’ approach, they also associated a number of advantages and disadvantages with being a woman manager in certain contexts. Rapid sectoral change had caused companies to reassess the desired attributes and competences of managers; associated both with an enhanced valuing of ‘feminine’ qualities and with a more ‘objective’ and ‘clinical’ approach to assessment. Despite their equal numbers at entry points women remained poorly represented at senior levels, suggesting that subjective and informal processes were important determinants of women and men’s progress. Given management is inherently a process enacted by individual managers within a social context the extent to which it can be conceived in gender neutral terms is questioned since individuals are inevitably discussed and identified in terms of their gender.     

Agricultural policies and human fertility: Some emerging connections

Increasing agricultural output and slowing population growth are important policy goals of many developing nations. This article explores the idea that fertility of farm families may be influenced by the policies and programs introduced in rural areas to increase agricultural output. Specifically, the article provides an initial framework for identifying the links between agricultural policy and fertility, and reviews empirical studies regarding connections between human fertility and policies designed to influence agricultural production in rural areas.     

Creatively Labeling Behavior in Individual and Group Counseling

The authors make a case for the accurate labeling of behavior at the appropriate time in the counseling process and caution against the kind of labeling of a person which results in stereotyping and counseling ineffectiveness. They present a list of seven criteria to be considered if behavior is to be accurately labeled and advocate the use of metaphors, especially in group counseling, to label certain kinds of behavior     

Estimators for a simultaneous equation model with lagged endogenous variables and autocorrelated errors

Two full information estimators and a limited information estimator for the simultaneous equation model with autocorrelated errors are studies by the Monte Carlo method.The estimators share features of the two-step Gauss-Newton procedure and of Aitken generalized least squares.One full information method generates the estimated endogenous variables used in the later stages of computation from the unrestricted reduced form while the other uses a restricted reduced form.The observed small sample behavior was close to that suggested by asymptotic theory.     

Stimulus-Modeling (SM) Videotape for Marital Counseling: Method and Application*

The development of a classification system for analysis of specific verbal marital communications utilizing videotaped Stimulus-Modeling procedures is described. This instrument is applied to a study measuring the relative effects of modeling, modeling plus videotape feedback, and verbal counseling procedures on 30 couples seen in marital counseling. The Stimulus-Modeling (SM) tape portrays both functional and dysfunctional marital communicational patterns. Findings reveal that specific marital verbal behaviors can be operationalized and reliably measured. When these behaviors are depicted through modeling procedures and combined with videotape feedback, they are effective in changing specific problematic verbal behaviors. The results indicate the need to combine modern technology with modeling procedures in marital counseling.