Lone mothers: a review

This paper briefly reviews recent empirical studies on the economic behaviour of lone mothers concentrating on the duration of lone motherhood, on labour supply, and on the determinants of their welfare participation. We start out by sketching some stylised facts about lone-mother-families in various countries. With this background we give a guided tour through the empirical literature followed by a summary of the policy implications of the results presented. JEL classification: H53, I38, J22 Received November 9, 1994 / Accepted March 12, 1996     

Perceived Risk, Stigma, and Potential Economic Impacts of a High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada

This study investigates the potential impacts of the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, upon tourism, retirement and job-related migration, and business development in Las Vegas and the state. Adverse impacts may be expected to result from perceptions of risk, stigmatization, and socially amplified reactions to "unfortunate events" associated with the repository (major and minor accidents, discoveries of radiation releases, evidence of mismanagement, attempts to sabotage or disrupt the facility, etc.). The conceptual underpinnings of risk perception, stigmatization, and social amplification are discussed and empirical data are presented to demonstrate how nuclear images associated with Las Vegas and the State of Nevada might trigger adverse economic effects. The possibility that intense negative imagery associated with the repository may cause significant harm to Nevada's economy can no longer be ignored by serious attempts to assess the risks and impacts of this unique facility. The behavioral processes described here appear relevant as well to the social impact assessment of any proposed facility that produces, uses, transports, or disposes of hazardous materials.     

The uniform convergence of the nadaraya-watson regression function estimate

If (X₁,Y₁), …, (X_n,Y_n) is a sequence of independent identically distributed R_d × R-valued random vectors then Nadaraya (1964) and Watson (1964) proposed to estimate the regression function m(x) = ? {Y₁|X₁ = x{ by where K is a known density and {h_n} is a sequence of positive numbers satisfying certain properties. In this paper a variety of conditions are given for the strong convergence to 0 of ess_Xsup|m_n (X)-m(X)| (here X is independent of the data and distributed as X₁). The theorems are valid for all distributions of X₁ and for all sequences {h_n} satisfying h_n → 0 and nh/log n→0.     

Perceptions of health and well-being in transition societies: some results of a qualitative study carried out in the Ukraine

This article reports on research carried out within the scope of the Inco-Copernicus Programme, from 1999 to 2002, on ‘Health and Well-Being in Transition Societies’. In particular, it presents the results of a qualitative study carried out in the Ukraine. On the basis of in-depth interviews and two biographical interviews, data are analysed on the following topics: employment situation, informal economy, perception of health and well-being, perception of social services, perception of social exclusion, crisis and low expectations, coping strategies, and perceptions of citizens’ rights. It concludes that transition has meant important change that has had a significant effect upon the Ukrainian population.     

东北夷传说的再发现——由人类学发掘颛项史迹

中国上古或"传说文化"划分为四大"板块",这四大板块完全能够涵盖东西南北"四方"的主要原居民及他们的文化内涵与特质.其中北方的狄人集群,情形十分复杂,他们只有相似的文化形态和松散的文化联系,因而录求重要传说人物--颛顼的大致族属便显得十分重要.颛顼的原生地是东方偏北的东延展区,是以鸟为祖灵的东夷传说祖先神.     

Disappointing and deviant youth and the rage of the elders

A generalized adult hostility toward youth derives from the complexities of the parent/child relationship, often mirrored in the helper/client and therapist/patient dyads. Parents derive considerable or little narcissistic gain from the accomplishments of their offspring, and conversely, are disappointed or even mortified by their failures. This is particularly true of narcissistically vulnerable parents—helpers and therapists as well—and accounts for widespread attitudes of competition, disparagement, and outright hostility toward young people. In the extreme, the pathological situations of emotional exploitation, incest, and physical abuse occur, but lesser forms of exploitation, such as personally gratifying advocacy, political gain, cultism, and enhancement of professional status, point to similar, but seemingly less destructive, forms of narcissistic gain. Youth may respond by conforming, defying, disappointing, and deviating. Adults may be either pleased, or enraged.     

Inflation,decimalization and the estimated sizes of coins

Subjects who were asked, in 1976, to estimate the sizes of British coins either under their current names or under their names before decimalization in 1971, gave bigger estimates under the old names. This difference is attributed to the loss of value of the coins since 1971.     

云南民族地区的贫困代际传递

“十三五”时期是全面建成小康社会的决胜阶段,必须彻底解决全国目前尚未脱贫的7000多万农村贫困人口的贫困问题。其中,农村贫困问题又集中表现在民族地区,云南是集边疆、民族、山区、贫困为一体的欠发达省份,是脱贫攻坚难啃的硬骨头。从贫困代际传递的视角,分析了家庭内部包括家庭结构、生育观念、监护状况、受教育程度以及社区范围内的宗教信仰、丧葬习俗方面的致贫因素并呼吁少数民族地区干部群众抓住当前发展的有利时机,凝聚各方力量,发挥内生动力,充分实现自身发展,同时认真学习党的各项民族政策,树立对待宗教的正确态度,进而加速脱贫,共享小康。     

A conversation with Richard Easterlin

After an introduction touching on various biographical highlights, this paper summarizes a wide-ranging discussion with Richard Easterlin which occurred in the Autumn of 1996. We considered the Easterlin Hypothesis – its genesis and current status, together with Easterlin‘s views on attempts to develop measures of relative income – and then moved on to “The Fertility Revolution” and questions regarding the applicability of the theory of household choice in modernizing societies. This was followed by a discussion of his early career development and influences on him at that time, ending with ruminations regarding the current state of economics, and the validity of training given to young economists today. JEL classification: J10, J11, J13 Received February 13, 1997 / Accepted February 26, 1997     

Population size and environmental quality

This paper presents a simple general equilibrium analysis of first best allocations in an economy where a consumption good is produced using labor. Production results in pollution, which is a public bad. Pollution abatement can be achieved either by restricting production or by using additional labor. We consider how the first best allocation and Pigouvian tax vary with population size. Consumers are unambiguously worse off when the population is larger, but not necessarily due to increased pollution. In fact, optimal policy on how pollution and labor should vary with population size is very sensitive to preferences and technology. The best response to an increase in population size might be either to increase or to decrease emissions and/or labor, depending on functional forms and parameters. However, given separable preferences and some convexity, the optimal emissions tax increases, and the first best level of per-capita consumption decreases with population size. The paper also considers the extent to which exogenous technical progress can overturn these conclusions. Received August 28, 1996 / Accepted January 27, 1997