Multigenerational punishments on the children of Salvadoran immigrant and deported fathers

Drawing on qualitative research conducted in the United States and in El Salvador, the author examines the experiences of the children of 40 immigrant men and 40 deported men. This study reveals the harmful effects of U.S. immigration policies and enforcement practices on the children of Salvadoran immigrant and deported fathers. Their children were found to have experienced the unintended consequences of U.S. immigration laws and enforcement practices in their own lives and relationships. These findings support Enriquez's (2015) concept of “multigenerational punishments” where children of immigrant parents share the risks and limitations associated with their parent's immigration status. They also experience the negative spill-over effects of immigration policies and enforcement practices even though they were not directly targeted by these laws. This study reveals multigenerational punishments manifested in the form of social, economic, emotional, and physical inequalities which negatively affected the children of Salvadoran immigrant and deported fathers. As a result, many of their children experienced harmful changes in their lives and relationships under the U.S. immigration enforcement regime. This study is significant in that it provides insight into the issues that immigrant families face and the need for policy interventions for immigrant and deported parents and their children.     

Computing and approximating multivariate chi-square probabilities

We consider computational methods for evaluating and approximating multivariate chi-square probabilities in cases where the pertaining correlation matrix or blocks thereof have a low factorial representation. To this end, techniques from matrix factorization and probability theory are applied. We outline a variety of statistical applications of multivariate chi-square distributions and provide a system of MATLAB programs implementing the proposed algorithms. Computer simulations demonstrate the accuracy and the computational efficiency of our methods in comparison with Monte Carlo approximations, and a real data example from statistical genetics illustrates their usage in practice.     

Beyond Rhetorical Differences: A Cohesive Account of Post‐devolution Developments in UK Health Policy

Health is perhaps the most significant policy area to be devolved to decision‐makers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Consequently, there has been a great deal of interest in assessing the extent to which health policies (which already differed somewhat prior to devolution) have diverged since 1999. To date, analyses have tended to focus either on health care policies or on specific public health issues (e.g. health inequalities or tobacco control). The story that emerges from this body of work suggests health care policies have diverged significantly, whilst public health policies have remained remarkably similar. This article is one of the first to consider health care and public health policy alongside each other. It reassesses and updates previous analyses, incorporating developments relating to the 2010 general election and the 2007 and 2011 devolved administration elections. Drawing on a variety of textual sources (policy documents, research evidence and corporate literature), our findings differ from existing analyses in suggesting that, despite some noticeable differences in policy rhetoric, approaches to both health care provision and tackling public health problems remain similar. Looking to the future, the article concludes that the common economic challenges, combined with a tight fiscal policy (that remains excepted from devolution), means the similarities in health care provision across the UK are likely to remain more pronounced than the differences. However, current debate about the constitutional settlement, and in particular the prospect of greater fiscal freedoms for the devolved administrations, may provide opportunities for more meaningful divergence in health policy than has been possible hitherto.     

Three strings of inequalities among six Bayes estimators

We discover three interesting strings of inequalities among six Bayes estimators, where for the parameter space (0, 1), (0, ∞), and ( ? ∞, ∞), each case has a string of inequalities. The three strings of inequalities only depend on the loss functions, and the inequalities are independent of the chosen models and the used priors provided the Bayes estimators exist. Therefore, they exist in a general setting which makes them quite interesting. Finally, the numerical simulations exemplify the two strings of inequalities defined on (0, 1) and (0, ∞), and that there does not exist a string of inequalities among the six smallest posterior expected losses.     

The effects of socioeconomic inequalities of working life on health: implications for an ageing population

Abstract

This study examines suggestions that inequalities in health related to socioeconomic status (SES) will increase in older age. A representative sample of the New Zealand population aged 55–70 years (N = 6662) responded to a postal questionnaire with measures of health (SF-36), SES, and health-related behaviours. Hierarchical multiple regressions supported predictions that the SES of working life will continue to influence physical and mental health in early old age. The strongest predictor was self-reported economic living standards. This subjective measure of SES is an important construct for future investigations of health and wellbeing among older people in an ageing population.     

Functional Estimation of a Density Under a New Weak Dependence Condition

The purpose of this paper is to prove, through the analysis of the behaviour of a standard kernel density estimator, that the notion of weak dependence defined in a previous paper (cf. Doukhan & Louhichi, 1999) has sufficiently sharp properties to be used in various situations. More precisely we investigate the asymptotics of high order losses, asymptotic distributions and uniform almost sure behaviour of kernel density estimates. We prove that they are the same as for independent samples (with some restrictions for a.s. behaviours). Recall finally that this weak dependence condition extends on the previously defined ones such as mixing, association and it allows considerations of new classes such as weak shifts processes based on independent sequences as well as some non-mixing Markov processes.     

Estimation and Confidence Regions for Parameter Sets in Econometric Models1

This paper develops a framework for performing estimation and inference in econometric models with partial identification, focusing particularly on models characterized by moment inequalities and equalities. Applications of this framework include the analysis of game‐theoretic models, revealed preference restrictions, regressions with missing and corrupted data, auction models, structural quantile regressions, and asset pricing models. Specifically, we provide estimators and confidence regions for the set of minimizers Θ_I of an econometric criterion function Q(θ). In applications, the criterion function embodies testable restrictions on economic models. A parameter value θthat describes an economic model satisfies these restrictions if Q(θ) attains its minimum at this value. Interest therefore focuses on the set of minimizers, called the identified set. We use the inversion of the sample analog, Q_n(θ), of the population criterion, Q(θ), to construct estimators and confidence regions for the identified set, and develop consistency, rates of convergence, and inference results for these estimators and regions. To derive these results, we develop methods for analyzing the asymptotic properties of sample criterion functions under set identification.     

On inequalities in constrained random variables

A unified treatment allows an inequality due to Mallows and an inequality due to Slepian to be generalized     

Families Across the Income Spectrum: A Decade in Review

During the past decade, scholars continued to focus on how larger economic trends impacted families across the income spectrum. From income and wealth inequality to economic insecurity, the gaps between the haves and the have nots remained, and some widened during this period. The authors' comprehensive review found the following three major takeaways: first, the biggest economic divides run through families with children; second, low-income families face concentrated disadvantage marked by insecurity and precarity; and third, inequality and insecurity shaped the “dynamism” of family life, including how families respond culturally and emotionally to economic changes, and how these responses unfold over time. They examine active areas of research, including parenting trends and the transition to adulthood. They also document a new scholarly emphasis on uncertainty and instability along with the forces that exacerbate or mitigate them, such as job quality, economic volatility, wealth, and incarceration. Research during the past decade focused on the experience and consequences of dynamism, reflecting not only the reality that families evolve but also that they face continual change in their economic, social, and political contexts. The authors highlight research investigating how families “do dynamism,” work that looks over time or offers in-depth examinations of how families adapt to and cope with dynamism every day. This research reveals that inequality and insecurity are not only matters of levels and gaps but also ongoing matters of meaning-making, identity, and feeling. The authors conclude by highlighting some strengths and weaknesses of these research streams and pointing out new avenues for future scholarship.