Migration and Intergenerational Replacement in Europe

There are long‐standing concerns over low fertility levels in Europe and an increasingly important debate on the extent to which migration can compensate for below‐replacement fertility. To inform this debate, a wide array of indicators have been developed to assess the joint influence of fertility, mortality, and migration on birth replacement and intergenerational replacement. These indicators are based on various models and assumptions and some are particularly data demanding. In this article we propose a simple method to assess how far migration alters the extent of replacement for a birth cohort as it ages. We term the measure the overall replacement ratio (ORR). It is calculated by taking the size of a female birth cohort at selected ages divided by the average size of the cohorts of mothers in the year of birth. We present estimates of the ORR for a range of European countries representing different replacement regimes. We demonstrate that for many countries net migration has become a key factor in their population trends during the last few decades.     

Voluntary Work in Europe: Comparative Analysis Among Countries and Welfare Systems

The main contribution of this paper to the research of volunteering participation is considering simultaneously different levels of data aggregation: individual, country and welfare regimen. This strategy allows us identifying individual factors (socio-demographic variables) and contextual data (government expenditures on social issues and GDP), as well as comparing different political backgrounds (welfare systems). Our results suggest that socio-demographic characteristics and contextual data are important predictors of volunteer rates. Macro-policies might be effective tools to promote national volunteering participation, because international differences on volunteer rates smooth with the introduction of national contextual data.     

The Patterns of Satisfaction Among Immigrants in Germany

Using the data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, the paper focuses on the analysis of life satisfaction and income satisfaction among immigrants in Germany. The results suggest that it cannot be argued that Germany’s immigrants are, ceteris paribus, more satisfied or less satisfied than natives, since some immigrant groups appear to be more satisfied, while others show lower satisfaction levels relative to natives. Separate estimations for natives and immigrants show that, even though the patterns of satisfaction for the two groups are largely similar, several notable differences emerge. The final goal was to take a closer look at the negative relationship between satisfaction and duration of stay in Germany. After constructing reference groups by the timing of arrival, the negative relationship between income satisfaction and years since migration is reduced substantially. On the other hand, the negative association between duration of stay and life satisfaction is persistent, regardless of the way the reference groups are defined.     

Gender differences in psychosocial predictors of self-perceived health status in the elderly: Evidence from a Brazilian community study

ABSTRACT

This article aims to identify the psychosocial factors associated with self-perceived health status in the Brazilian elderly population and to present differences related to gender. The data were collected by questionnaire, including sociodemographic and behavioral questions, and scales for psychological dimensions. Self-perceived health status is related to level of education, physical activity, and self-efficacy in the total population. Regarding gender differences, self-rated health status among men is related to education level and self-efficacy and in women to level of education, physical activity, social support, and self-efficacy. These results can inform future health promotion interventions.     

Witnessing a body in decline: Men’s and women’s perceptions of an altered physical appearance

ABSTRACT

There has been a tendency within the literature to ignore how men and women who are very ill and at the end of life perceive and experience their visibly altered bodies. This article aims to provide new insights about this matter. A qualitative research approach was adopted. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 hospice patients, 20 family members, and 20 members of hospice staff. Findings reveal that because of masculine and feminine norms, physical appearance is more a matter of concern to women than to men who are close to death. This contradicts theories that suggest that patients experience a disinvestment on their sense of masculinity and femininity alongside the process of bodily deterioration and decay prior impending potential death.     

On backbone coloring of graphs

Let G be a graph and H a subgraph of G. A backbone-k-coloring of (G,H) is a mapping f: V(G)→{1,2,…,k} such that |f(u)−f(v)|≥2 if uv∈E(H) and |f(u)−f(v)|≥1 if uv∈E(G)\E(H). The backbone chromatic number of (G,H) is the smallest integer k such that (G,H) has a backbone-k-coloring. In this paper, we characterize the backbone chromatic number of Halin graphs G=T∪C with respect to given spanning trees T. Also we study the backbone coloring for other special graphs such as complete graphs, wheels, graphs with small maximum average degree, graphs with maximum degree 3, etc.     

Building evaluation capacity in Spain: a case study of rural development and empowerment in the European Union

The development of European Community administrative authority has greatly influenced the development of an evaluation culture among the southern and central member states of the European Union. The present case study from Spain provides an example of this diffusion through the use of an empowerment evaluation approach to build evaluation capacity within the context of rural development. The study focuses on the evaluation process over a 10-year period of three local development programs run by three local partnerships created in the rural areas of the Madrid region through the European LEADER initiative. Critical components of empowerment evaluation are discussed, as well as the impact, limitations, difficulties, and applicability of the approach to rural development in the European Union. Conclusions are presented concerning evaluation capacity building and the development of an evaluation culture.     

狄更斯笔下的迷情世界——析《远大前程》中的侦探小说元素

《远大前程》是狄更斯的一部力作。作为经典小说，它不仅通过主人公皮普的成长经历反映了当时真实的社会风貌，而且还穿插了一系列扣人心弦的悬念设置、或多或少的推理演绎和案件分析，使其在细读之中颇具侦探小说的风味。通过对文中悬念、推理、案件等侦探小说元素的逐一分析，可以发掘这部小说的另一种风貌。展现狄更斯笔下一个鲜被涉足的迷情世界，从而让读者更好地品味小说的艺术。     

语言活力、语言态度与语文政策--少数民族语文问题研究

我国是一个多民族的统一国家,许多民族有自己的语言文字。中华人民共和国建立后,党和国家以马克思主义民族观为指导,坚持各民族一律平等的基本原则,制定实施了正确的民族语文政策,保障各民族使用和发展自己的语言文字的自由,民族语文工作取得突出成绩,对促进各民族的发展进步发挥了重要作用。半个多世纪以来,特别是改革开放以来,随着我国经济社会的发展和变革,民族语文的使用和发展情况也发生了重大变化。在语言活力方面,除少数几种民族语文具有较强活力外,大多数民族语文由于使用人口少、使用范围窄、使用水平低而丧失活力,建国后新创制的一些少数民族语文由于难以适应少数民族经济社会发展的需要而面临困境,一些少数民族语文由于使用较少而成为濒危语言。在语言态度方面,为了适应民族地区经济社会发展的需要,许多少数民族群众在保持、传承本民族语文的同时,自觉选择汉语文的学习和使用,双语学习和双语教育成为民族群众语文学习的一个普遍趋势。基于民族语文发展变化的特点和趋势,为了更好地促进民族地区的现代化发展,提高民族地区和少数民族群众的社会经济发展水平,新时期的民族语文工作应把握这样几点:第一,必须高度重视民族语文在民族政策中的敏感性,增强大局意识,把坚持语言平等,保障各民族都有使用和发展自己的语言文字的自由,提倡各民族互相学习语言文字,作为维护民族团结,保持社会稳定,促进各民族共同繁荣进步的重要纽带。第二,保持民族语文政策的连续性和稳定性,依法开展民族语文工作。第三,从各民族的实际出发,分类指导,根据不同民族的需要和不同的语言态度,分别制定具体的民族语文规划,慎重、稳妥、积极地开展民族语文工作。对少数民族语言的学习和使用,要充分贯彻自愿自择的精神,切实尊重少数民族群众的意愿和选择。     

从权力控制到政治吸纳：科技防腐的演变路径

现代科学技术在防治腐败的过程中表现出越来越明显的优势,它有助于控制权力、削弱腐败动机,减少腐败机会。以"制度+科技"为主要特征的科技防腐模式是中国将现代科学技术融入惩治和预防腐败体系建设的产物,它以较低的成本实现了对权力的制约和监督,最大限度地降低了委托代理关系中由于信息不对称和机会主义等因素造成的交易成本。科技防腐是一个交易成本最优化的反腐形式,是建设廉洁政治的有利工具。随着现代科学技术与社会主义民主政治建设的深度融合,网络政治的兴起与发展是必然趋势,它以相对低廉的成本直接影响并作用于最深层次的权力结构,推动科技防腐从以体制内权力控制和体制外权力监督为主要特征的传统双向发展模式向以体制内权力控制和体制外政治吸纳为主要特征的新双向发展模式转变,从而实现从源头上防治腐败。