Best unbiased prediction of order statistics in stable distributions

We introduce the best unbiased prediction of missing order statistics of a stable distribution, based on conditional expected value. We present necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of conditional moments of stable order statistics. These conditions enable us to compute unknown parameters using the expectation-maximization algorithm. We reveal the efficiency of the presented method through a simulation study.     

Ethnicity and Economic Well-Being: The Case of Ghana

In the context of decades of successful economic reforms in Ghana, this study investigates whether ethnicity influences economic well-being (perceived and actual) among Ghanaians at the micro-level. Drawing on Afro-barometer 2008 data, the authors employs logistic and multiple regression techniques to explore the relative effect of ethnicity on economic well-being. Results demonstrate that ethnicity is an important determinant of both measures of people’s economic well-being (perceived and actual) in Ghana. Ethnicity tends to have both negative and positive effect on economic well-being among different ethnic groups and different sub-sample. For instance, for three ethnic groups (Akans, Ga-Adangbes and Ewe/Anglo), ethnicity predicts lower level of economic well-being for rural residents, whereas for Akans, it minimizes the risk of deprivation in the urban setting. Findings from this study do not support the idea that ethnicity may be less relevant in shaping people’s well-being in an era of economic reforms in a society like that of Ghana. Detailed policy implications of the study are discussed emphasizing the need to develop ethnic-specific development programs to complement the on-going reforms as part of the country’s decentralization efforts.     

What We Talk About When We Talk About Taxes

Taxes are a preeminent issue in domestic politics, but the prevalence, content, and shape of public discussion on taxation is often perplexing to social researchers. We argue that part of the confusion arises from the lack of qualitative data on the meanings Americans associate with taxation. In order to remedy this lack we conducted semi‐structured interviews with white, Southern, small business owners. In answering our questions, our respondents constructed narratives that connected taxation with exploitation and a loss of personal freedom. We propose that everyday fiscal discourse is morally charged and interconnected with boundary work and a sense of group position. Further, qualitative research into tax talk can help make sense of the current political and social landscape (e.g., the continued cultural saliency of the Tea Party).     

Race,Wealth, and Class Identification in 21st‐Century American Society

This study examines the determinants of Americans’ subjective class identities, using General Social Survey data from 2006. In particular, this study addresses the question of whether individuals’ objective class positions, including wealth, account for differences in class identification between whites and blacks. The principal finding is that self‐identified blacks have lower odds of identifying as middle class or upper class than self‐identified whites, net of their objective class positions and their class origins. This finding suggests that the class identities of blacks are shaped by experiences of racial discrimination or by other elements of racial inequality.     

Demographic research on infant mortality

I present an overview of the current status and recent trends in social-demographic research on infant mortality in the United States. Following from a fundamental interest in social differentials, recent research has come to emphasize the diverse linkages between social inequality and mortality. Research increasingly uses multilevel perspectives, combining background as well as proximate variables. Coupled with the availability of new individual-level data sets linking information from diverse sources, researchers are able to give increasing attention to the study of cause of death from interdisciplinary perspectives. The analysis of racial/ethnic infant mortality differentials is an example of these trends.This is a revised version of a paper presented in the session, U.S. Infant Mortality from Different Perspectives, of the 1987 annual meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, February 11–15, Boston, MA.     

Is the Pro-Poor Premium Exemption Policy of Ghana’s NHIS Reducing Disparities Among the Elderly?

Under the act that established the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), persons 70 years of age or above are automatically enrolled in the scheme and therefore can access health services free at the point of use. This suggests that the elderly who are unable to afford the premiums of private health insurance can enrol in the NHIS thereby eliminating the possibility of disparities in health insurance coverage. Notwithstanding, few studies have examined health insurance coverage among the elderly in Ghana. The lack of studies on the elderly in Ghana may be due to limited data on this important demographic group. Using data from the Study on Global Ageing and Health and applying logit models, this paper investigates whether the pro-poor exemption policy is eliminating disparities among the elderly aged 70 years and older. The results show that disparities in insurance coverage among the elderly are based on respondents’ socio-economic circumstances, mainly their wealth status. The study underscores the need for eliminating health access disparities among the elderly and suggests that the current premium exemptions alone may not be the solution to eliminating disparities in health insurance coverage among the elderly.     

Strategic interaction sequences: the institutionalization of participatory budgeting in New York City

ABSTRACT

An interactive approach to social movements highlights time dynamics in ways more correlational approaches do not, in that interaction and outcomes unfold in sequences as players react to one another. Some aspects of these engagements are shaped by institutional schedules, while others leave discretion to the players. Some institutional schedules, meanwhile, may be reshaped by strategic interactions. By examining the implicit trade-offs and explicit dilemmas that pervade strategic interaction, we see how some are tightly linked to time whereas others more closely reflect ongoing structural situations. Analyzing the case of participatory budgeting in New York City, we focus on two trade-offs, ‘being there’ and ‘powerful allies’, that appear when social movements attempt to institutionalize new policies and processes. These time-based strategic trade-offs complicate activists’ efforts to secure lasting gains.     

Actor-Network Theory, Gabriel Tarde and the Study of an Urban Social Movement: The Case of Can Ricart, Barcelona

This article explores the possibilities that a deeper engagement with the work of Gabriel Tarde opens for Actor-Network Theory (ANT). It argues that the combination of ANT’s methodological and analytical orientation and Tarde’s neo-monadology offers a useful framework for the study of new forms of political activism. Findings from an ethnographic project on the conflict surrounding the eviction and demolition of the Can Ricart factory in Barcelona are used to discuss: a) how ANT transforms the objects of inquiry into performative, relational entanglements (or monads); and b) how Tarde’s neo-monadology helps to re-imagine the political in ANT, moving away from the design of new parliamentary forms and towards a politics of invention. Three key moments of invention in the conflict of Can Ricart are examined: the assemblage of a new activist collective, the fabrication of the very factory the movement was trying to save, and the generation of a bifurcation in the conditions of possibility in which the conflict was taking place.     

The Overlooked Side of the Experience: Personal Growth and Quality of Life Among Grandparents of Children Who Survived Cancer

This study adopted the theoretical framework of Schaefer and Moos (1992) to identify the resources that contributed to the personal growth and quality of life of 56 grandparents of childhood cancer survivors and compare them with 60 grandparents of healthy children. Participants filled out questionnaires addressing sense of coherence, social support, personal growth, and quality of life. A significant difference was found only with regards to personal growth. Hierarchical regressions revealed that health, economic status, higher levels of sense of coherence, and support contributed to quality of life, whereas being a grandparent of a child who survived cancer, lower sense of coherence, support, and past experience of the Holocaust contributed to personal growth. It seems that though they are both positive dimensions, quality of life and personal growth represent different entities in grandparents’ lives. This study sheds light on the experiences and perspectives of grandparents, indicating that alongside the physical and emotional toll taken by their grandchild’s illness, there are also positive implications that can lead to personal growth. Strengthening grandparents could enable families to take advantage of the potential contribution of one of the most committed support providers in the family.