Rethinking empirical approaches to racial segregation

Within empirical approaches to racial residential segregation, there has been a tendency to draw on the work of or influenced by Robert E. Park and his ecological hypothesis to explore social and spatial relations between members of different ethnic and racial groups, thus framing research within a race relations paradigm. This has promoted an analysis which naturalizes racial differences but which also sidelines structural considerations. In turn this approach has also fed into political discourses on segregation, at times supporting more reactionary positions. This paper seeks to address this debate by considering whether emphasis on minority ethnic concentration sidelines the more pertinent issue of concentration in deprived areas, suggesting that neighbourhood deprivation as a measure can be more easily aligned with structural conditions which have influenced the settlement and historical experience of many ethnic minority communities. Specifically, I consider the extent to which a measure of neighbourhood deprivation is more important than the ethnic composition of an area for thinking about the distribution of inequalities in unemployment (as one example of socio‐economic inequality). Using multilevel logistic regression I find neighbourhood income deprivation to be more important than levels of co‐ethnic concentration for explaining ethnic differences in unemployment. The findings imply that neighbourhood deprivation is significantly more important for considering inequalities in unemployment for ethnic minorities than the ethnic composition of an area.     

A Study on the Sleep Patterns and Problems of University Business Students in Hong Kong

Abstract

Objective: To investigate sleep patterns and problems of university business students. Participants: Undergraduate Chinese business students in Hong Kong. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were completed during class lectures and through online system. Results: Of the 620 participating students (mean age 19.9 years), sleep duration was significantly shorter during weekdays (6.9 hours) than weekends (8.6 hours). Two thirds of students reported sleep deprivation. The following factors were associated with being a “poor sleeper” (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index > 5): attending early morning lectures (odds ratio [OR] = 1.90), living on-campus (OR = 1.89), Sleep Sufficiency Index less than 0.8 (OR = 2.55), sleep debt (differences of total time-in-bed between weekday and weekend ≥ 75 minutes) (OR = 1.58), and minor psychiatric disturbances (OR = 2.82). Conclusions: Poor sleep quality and sleep deprivation were prevalent in university business students in Hong Kong, especially for those attending early morning lectures and living on-campus. Systemic education on the importance of sleep and stress and time management is needed for university students.     

Factors Associated with Return Migration of First-Generation Immigrants in Belgium (2001–2011)

Belgium is a country with a long and diverse history of migration. Given the diverse context of immigration to Belgium, reasons for return migration will most likely vary as well. With this study, we want to quantify the return migration of Belgium’s immigrants and assess whether socio-economic, sociodemographic and health factors are related to return migration. Individually linked census and register data comprising the total Belgian first-generation immigrant population aged 25+ were used. Age-standardized emigration rates (ASER) by migrant origin and gender were calculated for the period 2001–2011. Additionally, relative return migration differences were calculated by country of origin and gender, adjusted for age group, length of stay, household composition, socio-economic indicators (education, home ownership and employment status) and self-rated health in 2001. Return migration was most common among immigrants from Spanish descent and from the neighbouring countries and higher among men than among women. Return migration was highly selective in terms of older age, lower length of stay in Belgium, not living with a partner or children, being high-educated, unemployed and in good health. Key issues for future research include examining the reasons for return migration, identifying the country of destination and accounting for household characteristics.     

Why me? The frog-pond effect,relative deprivation and individual outcomes in the face of budget cuts

Conservation of resources (COR) theory proposes that both individual characteristics and environmental factors predict stress reactions, but does not consider interactions between individual variables and the immediate social context. Using theories regarding the frog-pond effect, which relates to how an individual perceives themselves in relation to that of those around them, and relative deprivation, we tested the hypothesis that employees who were personally more affected by a potential stressor, yet were in an organizational unit less affected by that stressor, would report more negative outcomes than employees who were subjected to the same stress but were in more affected units. Utilizing multilevel modelling and departmental- and individual-level data from a university experiencing severe budget cuts, it was found that both individual perceived budget cut impacts and departmental impacts were related to less job satisfaction, reduced affective commitment, greater perceptions of psychological contract breach and increased turnover intentions, supporting COR theory. Interestingly, as predicted by the frog-pond effect and relative deprivation theory, affected academic staff within departments that were less affected by the cuts had more negative responses than equally impacted individuals in more affected departments. We concluded that the frog-pond effect is relevant to work stress research and practice.     

不患贫而患无助:城乡困难居民社会公平感的影响研究

基于湖北省城乡居民家庭综合社会调查数据,综合运用二项Logistic回归和多元有序Logistic回归两类模型,比较分析城乡困难居民社会公平感的影响因素。研究发现：社会经济地位对城乡困难居民社会公平感的影响并不显著,相对剥夺因素对城乡困难居民社会公平感有抑制作用,社会救助则对城乡困难居民社会公平感有促进作用;比较而言,社会救助的社会公平感促进效应更为稳健。其具体表现为：较之城市社区困难居民,城郊、乡镇社区困难居民的相对剥夺感低,农村社区困难居民的相对剥夺感更低,相应地,农村社区困难居民的社会公平感水平最高,城郊、乡镇社区居民的社会公平感水平次之,城市社区居民的社会公平感水平最低;较之未获得社会救助的城乡困难居民,获得过社会救助的困难居民更有可能发生社会公平感,且社会公平感水平更高。正所谓,不患贫而患无助。缩小层际差距、促进阶层融合、完善社会救助制度是提升社会公平感的题中应有之义。     

薪酬差距、管理者相对心理感知与企业绩效

薪酬差距不仅可影响管理者预期收益,还可令管理者在差异比较中产生相对心理感知并调整工作行为,进而影响企业绩效。通过构建同时体现相对剥夺和相对满意的管理者相对心理感知指数化模型,探讨了薪酬差距、管理者相对心理感知与企业绩效的内在联系。理论模型分析表明,管理者相对剥夺和相对满意敏感度对其心理感知与薪酬差距之间关系具有调节作用,即相同薪酬差距对不同相对心理感知类型的管理者具有互异的激励效果,进而会对企业绩效产生非线性影响。在此基础上,选取2016年1906家中国上市公司数据,基于分位数回归模型的实证研究发现,薪酬差距与企业绩效间存在着显著的非线性关系(倒U型关系),且在绩效较高的企业中两者之间的关联更紧密。这意味着,企业在决定最优薪酬差距时必须考虑管理者相对心理感知类型,即“相对剥夺敏感型”管理者所在企业应采取扁平化薪酬结构,“相对满意敏感型”管理者所在企业应采取陡峭型薪酬结构。     

面向群体利益分配的蚁群劳动分工建模与仿真

建立公平的社会群体利益分配机制是解决当前由利益失衡引发的社会矛盾与冲突的关键所在.基于对蚁群劳动分工在任务分配中所表现出柔性特征的分析,提出借鉴该任务分配柔性来实现利益分配柔性的新思路.首先从分配的角度对利益的概念进行界定,给出了其形式化描述,引入相对剥夺感来衡量利益分配的公平性.随后根据社会群体利益的特点,对基本蚁群劳动分工模型进行扩展,借助恢复因子来协调不同利益群体,建立了面向利益分配的蚁群劳动分工模型,给出了该模型的算法实现流程.选取一个具有代表性的利益分配实例进行仿真实验,从恢复性和分配柔性两方面验证本文模型的有效性.通过仿真分析发现,利益实现能力在利益分配过程中具有主导作用;对于利益分配不公的情况,恢复因子能够起到有效的恢复作用,且在动态环境下显示出良好的利益分配柔性.最后给出了利益型群体事件演化过程的描述,定量分析了其中的恢复情况,阐述了现实中利益型群体事件的演化规律.     

Constructing motherhood on the night shift: “Working mothers” as “stay-at-home moms”

Based on in-depth interviews with hospital nurses, this article examines the way in which employed women with children use the night shift to support a construction of motherhood which closely resembles that of mothers who are not in the labor force. Interview data reveal that a salient function of night shift work is the reconciliation of some of the structural and conceptual incompatibilities of being “working mothers.” Night-shift nurses construct themselves as “stay-at-home moms” by limiting the public visibility of their labor force participation, by involving their children and themselves in symbolically-invested activities, and by positioning themselves in the culturally-appropriate place and time: at home, during the day. All of these strategies work to highlight their visibility as mothers. An earlier version of this article was presented at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 13–17, 1993, Miami Beach, Florida. Funds for this research were provided in part by the University of California and by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.     

The breadth and depth of multidimensional child poverty in China

This study analysed the multidimensional child poverty status in China between 1989 and 2009, using the China Health and Nutrition survey data. Based on the Alkire–Foster method for measuring poverty, a multidimensional poverty index was calculated and further decomposed into seven deprivation dimensions: nutrition, water, sanitation, health, education, shelter and information. The study has four main findings: (1) The multidimensional child poverty rate in China declined gradually where the sanitation facility was most severely deprived; (2) The poverty gap between rich and poor provinces remained over the years; (3) The urban–rural disparity was reduced in all seven dimensions; (4) The poorest of the poor climbed out of ultra‐poverty and became the moderately poor or even the non‐poor.     

Estimating the impact of the Global Financial Crisis on poverty and deprivation

Although the Australian economy has avoided going into recession since the onset of the global financial crisis, relatively little is known about the social impact of the crisis. Survey and anecdotal evidence presented by a number of community sector NGOs suggest that the demand for emergency relief and other services rose in the aftermath of the crisis. This article reports results derived from two national surveys on poverty and social disadvantage that were conducted in 2006 and 2010 – prior to and after the crisis struck. The survey data allow income‐based poverty rates to be estimated as well as the extent and nature of deprivation, where deprivation is defined as being unable to afford items that a majority regards as essential: things that no‐one in Australia should have to go without. Poverty and deprivation are not alternative indicators but can be combined into a multi‐dimensional measure of consistent poverty. The paper examines how conventional (income) poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty changed between 2006 and 2010, and analyses the sensitivity of the results to alternative definitions. The findings provide the first comprehensive evidence on how the profile of social disadvantage in Australia changed in the period that spans the financial crisis.