A general family of univariate stochastic orders

In this paper we introduce and study a family of univariate stochastic orders parameterized by a function h  . The usual stochastic order _?st${?}_{\mathrm{st}}$, and the total time on test transform order _?ttt${?}_{\mathrm{ttt}}$, are special cases of this new family. We study some properties of the new family, and we give some applications of it in actuarial science, reliability theory, and statistics.     

Worth a Third Read: Six Readers Recall Articles from the AJFT and ANZJFT

Six readers were asked to recall papers from earlier issues of this journal and to write briefly about what made these papers stand out in their minds. These readers have also been unable to resist the temptation to mention other papers which they would like to have had the time to discuss as well!     

Labor Migration,Remittances and Economic Well-being of Households in the Philippines

Labor Migration has long been viewed as a strategy adopted by the household unit to allocate family resources rationally to increase the flows of income and to raise family standard of living. The research reported here examines the extent to which remittances sent by Filipino overseas workers increase the income and standard of living of households in the Philippines. Data for the analysis were obtained from a representative sample of 2,388 households drawn in 1999–2000 from four major “labor sending” areas in the Philippines. The analysis compares households with and without overseas workers to estimate the contribution of remittances to household income and to household standard of living (measured once by an ‘objective’ indicator and once by a ‘subjective’ assessment). The data reveal that due to remittances the income of households with overseas labor migrants is considerably higher than the income of households without overseas workers. The data also reveal that remittances are used mostly for consumption purposes (e.g. purchase of food, clothing, education, and goods) and that most of the difference in standard of living (whether measured on the ‘objective’ or the ‘subjective’ scale) between households with and without overseas workers are attributed to remittances. The implications of labor migration and the policy that encourages and supports labor migration for the Filipino society are evaluated and discussed.

Population size, perceived threat, and exclusion: a multiple-indicators analysis of attitudes toward foreigners in Germany

The major objective of the present research is to examine the long-standing theoretical proposition that hostility and discriminatory attitudes toward out-groups are likely to rise with relative size of the out-group population. Using data from The German General Social Survey (ALLBUS, 1996) we provide, for the first time, an examination of the impact of both actual and perceived size of the foreign population on discriminatory attitudes toward foreigners. Specifically, by using a multiple-indicators analytical model, we examine the theoretical proposition that perceived threat posed by an out-group population mediates the relations between size of the out-group and exclusionary attitudes toward the out-group. The analysis does not support the theoretical expectation that actual size of the foreign population in the locale is likely to increase either perception of threat or exclusionary attitudes. Perceived size, however, is found to be associated, as expected, with perceived threat, and perceived threat is found to mediate the relations between perceived size and support for exclusionary practices against foreigners—the higher the perceived size, the more pronounced are both the threat and anti-foreigner attitudes. The findings and their significance are discussed in the light of sociological theories on the relations between minority size and discrimination.     

Civic Service and Social Class: The Case of Young Arab Women in Israel

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This study examines the motivations of young Arabs—as a national minority in Israel—for enrolling in civic...     

Occupational Destinations and Economic Mobility of Filipino Overseas Workers1

This study examines employment and occupational shifts experienced by Filipino overseas contract workers in the transition from country of origin to country of destination and examines the impact of labor migration on economic conditions and standard of living of the families left behind. Data for the analyses were obtained from a representative sample of 2,346 households drawn from four primary sending areas in the Philippines. The analyses focus on characteristics of the households and of the household members employed overseas. The findings reveal that a considerable number of overseas workers (both men and women) were unemployed prior to migration and that the overwhelming majority of these workers were recruited to fill low‐status (manual and service) occupations in the host country. The analysis demonstrates that the odds for Filipino overseas workers to be employed in low‐status occupations were extremely high, net of human capital characteristics, net of the occupations they held in the Philippines, and net of country of destination. Further analysis reveals that overseas employment is associated with a substantial increase in earnings (five‐fold for men and four‐fold for women). Comparison between households with and without overseas workers reveals that, net of household characteristics, the flows of income earned abroad are used to purchase household goods to improve standard of living. These findings provide firm support to expectations derived from the household theory of migration according to which labor migration is a strategy adopted by the household unit to allocate family resources rationally to increase the flows of income in order to raise the family standard of living.     

Institutional Structure and Immigrant Integration: A Comparative Study of Immigrants' Labor Market Attainment in Canada and Israel1

The present study focuses on the incorporation of immigrants from the former Soviet Union in two receiving societies, Israel and Canada, during the first half of the 1990s. Both countries conducted national censuses in 1995 (Israel) and 1996 (Canada), making it possible to identify a large enough sample of immigrants and provide information on their demographic characteristics and their labor market activity. While both Canada and Israel are immigrant societies, their institutional contexts of immigrant reception differ considerably. Israel maintains no economic selection of the Jewish immigrants and provides substantial support for newcomers, who are viewed as a returning Diaspora. Canada employs multiple criteria for selecting immigrants, and the immigrants' social and economic incorporation is patterned primarily by market forces. The analysis first examines the characteristics of immigrants who arrived in the two countries and evaluates the extent of selectivity. Consistent with our hypotheses, Russian immigrants to Canada were more immediately suitable for the labor market, but experienced greater difficulty finding and maintaining employment. Nevertheless, immigrants to Canada attained higher‐status occupations and higher earnings than their compatriots in Israel did, although the Israeli labor market was more likely to reward their investments in education.     

The Structure of Technology in a Multioutput Branch Banking Firm

We formulate and estimate a multioutput bank's cost function amenable for distinguishing between economies of scale and economies of network density. We find significant returns to network density, especially for smaller banks. Diseconomies of scale are found for the larger banks, whereas the hypothesis of constant returns to scale could not be rejected for the smaller banks.     

Measuring disproportionality,volatility and malapportionment: axiomatization and solutions

The measurement of disproportionality, volatility and malapportionment often employ similar indices. Yet the debate on the issue of adequate measurement has remained open. We offer a formal and rigorous list of properties that roughly subsume those of Taagepera and Grofman (Party Polit 9(6):659–677, 2003). One of these properties, Dalton’s principle of transfers, is formalized in a manner that resolves the ambiguity associated with it in previous studies. We show that the cosine measure satisfies all the properties. We also show how the Gallagher index can be modified to satisfy all the properties. The cosine measure and the modified Gallagher measure are co-monotone.