Use of Overseas Migrants' Remittances to the Extended Family for Business Investment: A Research Note1

Abstract The extended family's role in economic improvement has been extensively debated. From a modernization theory perspective, the extended family is viewed as an institutional obstacle to economic progress, while a social capital perspective suggests that it is an “engine” insofar as it permits individuals to activate networks and pool resources beyond their own. This paper examines, from these perspectives, extended family influences on the use of remittances from transnational migrants. The research asks whether family influences are positive or negative and are more or less important than other factors in determining business investments. The research draws on interviews with 170 family heads in a small community in Pakistan. The results show that relatively little remittance income from family members working in the Middle East was channeled into business investments, despite government incentives offered to migrant households. Most of the extended family measures used in the research are statistically unimportant in explaining level of business investment. There thus appears to be little support for either modernization theory or social capital arguments on the role of the extended family. Of the five operationalized extended family dimensions only one was related to business investment, and that positively. However, “family” considerations are not irrelevant. The best predictors of business investment were a preexisting level of business exposure/experience within the family and whether or not the family head was aware of business investment opportunities. The results raise questions about the need to reconceptualize family influences beyond the formal dimensions of extended family structure.     

Efficient computation of the discrete autocorrelation wavelet inner product matrix

Discrete autocorrelation (a.c.) wavelets have recently been applied in the statistical analysis of locally stationary time series for local spectral modelling and estimation. This article proposes a fast recursive construction of the inner product matrix of discrete a.c. wavelets which is required by the statistical analysis. The recursion connects neighbouring elements on diagonals of the inner product matrix using a two-scale property of the a.c. wavelets. The recursive method is an (log (N)³) operation which compares favourably with the (N log N) operations required by the brute force approach. We conclude by describing an efficient construction of the inner product matrix in the (separable) two-dimensional case.     

Divisive clustering of high dimensional data streams

Clustering streaming data is gaining importance as automatic data acquisition technologies are deployed in diverse applications. We propose a fully incremental projected divisive clustering method for high-dimensional data streams that is motivated by high density clustering. The method is capable of identifying clusters in arbitrary subspaces, estimating the number of clusters, and detecting changes in the data distribution which necessitate a revision of the model. The empirical evaluation of the proposed method on numerous real and simulated datasets shows that it is scalable in dimension and number of clusters, is robust to noisy and irrelevant features, and is capable of handling a variety of types of non-stationarity.     

‘I Want to Bring Him from the Aeroplane to Here’: The Meaning of Animals to Children of Refugee or Migrant Backgrounds Resettled in Australia

Separation from animals with whom children have caring relationships can lead to considerable loss and grief, perhaps especially in the case of migration. This article reports on a thematic analysis of interviews undertaken with children of migrant or refugee backgrounds who had resettled in Australia. Findings suggest that children who spoke about animals framed their experiences in ways that either evoked a sense of loss with regard to animals or referred to animals as engendering a safe haven following resettlement. The article concludes by exploring potential service responses and encourages a focus on animals' needs in the context of migration.     

Brand image and equity: the mediating role of brand equity drivers and moderating effects of product type and word of mouth

In today’s competitive landscape, organizations are progressively searching for valuable practices to create strong consumer-based brand equity. Managers must remain vigilant and receptive to factors that influence brand equity. Accordingly, this paper addresses this issue. Specifically, the paper empirically investigates the mediating roles of three drivers of brand equity in the brand image—consumer-based brand equity relationship and explores the moderating roles of product type and word of mouth (WOM) on the linkages between brand image and brand equity. In order to understand these relationships, a questionnaire survey was administered among brand consumers, yielding a total of 321 responses. Confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha were utilized to estimate the validity and reliability of the measures. Structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation was employed to test the hypotheses. The authors find that brand image positively affects brand attachment, brand attitude, and brand awareness. Brand attachment and attitude positively influence consumer-based brand equity. The findings show that brand attachment and brand attitude partially mediate the relationship between brand image and brand equity. Product type and WOM have a significant moderating effect on the relationships among brand image, drivers of brand equity, and brand equity. The authors discuss the limitations of the study and provide future research directions.     

The Socioeconomic Incorporation of Immigrant and Native‐born Day Labourers in Tshwane,South Africa

It has been widely documented that unauthorized immigrants experience adverse economic incorporation in destination countries, particularly in the global North. Faced with restricted employment opportunities, many are drawn into informalizing segments of the labour market where earnings are low and unstable. Much less is known about how immigrant workers fare in the informal economy of cities of the South. Using surveys conducted in 2004, 2007 and 2015, we examine the economic outcomes of immigrant and native‐born workers who participate in the day labour markets of Tshwane, South Africa. In 2004 there were signs that foreign‐born workers enjoyed modestly better outcomes than South Africa‐born workers. In the latter periods, however, these advantages have disappeared and there are indications of a downward convergence of employment outcomes. The article concludes with a call for creating worker centres to regulate informal job markets for the benefit of workers, regardless of immigration status.     

Learning from the Religious Experiences of Bi+ Trans People

This article builds upon emerging studies of bi+ and trans populations to explore the importance of expanding studies of religion and nonreligion beyond an almost entirely cisgender and monosexual focus. Specifically, we utilize the largest qualitative sample of bi+ trans people (n = 249) in sociology to date to explore the ways people in both these populations experience religion. We find that while some bi+ trans people note exceptional positive experiences in religious contexts, they almost entirely experience religion as a source of damnation and trauma. Our analysis speaks to sociologies of (1) gender and (non)religion, (2) sexualities and (non)religion, and (3) (non)religious bi+ and/or trans experience. Our conclusion outlines implications for developing bi+ and trans inclusive studies of religion and nonreligion.     

Resisting sexism and speciesism in the social sciences: Using feminist,species‐inclusive,visual methods to value the work of women and (other) animals

Visual methods offer social scientists some promising possibilities for valuing the work of women and animals in domestic homes and formal organizations, such as schools, hospitals, residential care facilities and other workplaces. In this article, we consider how visual methods might be used to ‘put women and animals in the frame’. We draw data and inspiration from our What is it About Animals study [2015–2016], which involved an online call for people over 16 years of age, to post pictures, poems, stories and videos depicting what animals mean to them. We pay attention to attempts to resist sexism and speciesism in the valuing of work, including emotional labour. We consider the possibility of post‐humanist methods for animal subject‐hood, and a sociology of animals, emotions and work. We end with a discussion of possible future visual methods projects to value the work of women and (other) animals.