Intergenerational Mobility in East Asian Countries: A Comparative Study of Japan, Korea and China

Abstract:  There have been fewer cross-national comparative works on social mobility in East Asian countries than in Western countries. The present study aims to explore the similarities and differences of intergenerational social mobility in three East Asian countries and to examine whether the Featherman–Jones–Hauser (FJH) hypothesis would fit well into the mobility tables for Japan, Korea, and China. Log-linear and log-multiplicative models are applied to the mobility tables of respondents' occupations according to the father's occupation in the three countries. The analysis of relative rates of mobility did not completely support the FJH hypothesis in a strict sense, even though it reasonably accounts for the total association of origin and destination in the three countries. My analysis demonstrates that a level of social fluidity has been higher in Korea and China than in Japan. Focusing on how relative mobility patterns differ between the three countries, intergenerational mobility in Korea is characterized by lower rates of class inheritance compared to Japan, while there seems to be a similarity between the patterns of social fluidity in Japan and Korea, even though they are to a certain extent deviant from Erikson and Goldthorpe's core model. In contrast to Korea, class inheritance rates in China are almost as large as in Japan. However, the mobility pattern between classes appears to differ substantially between the post-socialist and two capitalist countries. In particular, both downward and upward mobility between the white collar bloc and the unskilled manual position are more pervasive in China than in Japan and Korea. These results imply that sociologists interested in cross-national comparison of the social mobility between the East Asian countries should pay attention to both political institutions and the local labor market situatuion which can substantially affect social mobility.     

The impact of the 2nd intifada on Israeli Arab and Jewish social workers

This paper presents an analysis of interviews with Israeli social workers conducted as part of a study investigating the impact of the 2nd Intifada on the work, clients, views and feelings of Israeli Arab and Jewish social workers. The data were generated from 58 interviews with social workers who volunteered to do so. Coming from a sociological perspective, the study focused on how a violent political conflict impacts on two groups of social workers who live and work in the same society, but are likely to have different views about it. Their actions, views, well-being, and values were researched in a context likely to test universal social work values. The findings document a high level of tension and anxiety generated for both groups, very negative impact on clients’ life and views, largely negative effect on welfare services, co-existing with continuous professional development. Social workers’ views of their own national group and the other national group within the Intifada context highlight primarily the empathy with one's own group while lacking in empathy towards the other group, coupled with suspicion and some hostility. The struggle to maintain professional values is expressed only by a minority. The discussion and conclusions look at what social work can learn from the findings in understanding such complex contexts and the response to the challenge they pose to social work.     

高管团队冲突、凝聚力与决策质量的实证研究

一直以来,学术界呼吁加强对企业高层管理团队过程的研究,以打开这一"黑箱".本文通过对中国企业高层管理团队冲突、凝聚力和决策质量这三个团队过程中关键变量的关系的实证研究,发现团队内情绪冲突的增多会降低决策的质量,而凝聚力中的士气感则有利于决策质量的提高.另外,凝聚力中的归属感有利于情绪冲突的减少,从而间接提高了决策质量.本文一方面理论上补充了高层管理团队理论中对过程的研究,另一方面从团队过程的角度提出了加强团队决策质量的有效措施.     

试析侵犯著作权罪的法律冲突

由于著作权法对犯罪和刑罚规定得过于抽象,与刑法第二百一十七条规定的侵犯著作权罪产生了冲突。著作权法扩大了刑法规定的侵犯著作权罪的行为范围。侵犯著作权罪的对象表述存在着严重的逻辑错误。犯罪构成设计滞后,以营利作为犯罪的主观要件制约了法律的适用。著作权法保护的权益没有受到刑法的全面评价,刑法保护的权益过于注重财产权而忽视人身权。著作权法的规定也导致了特别刑法与普通刑法的冲突,从而使刑法的罪行法定原则受到了冲击。     

人口老龄化与代际财政不平等——基于代际账户核算法的模拟分析

本文采用代际账户核算方法,模拟测算了中国“现存代”和“未来代”的净税收负担值,探讨人口老龄化与代际财政不平等的关系。结果显示：如果保持当前财税制度和社会保障体制不变,未来代的净税收负担要明显高于现存代,中国存在较为严重的代际财政不平等问题,而且未来人口老龄化的进程越快,代际财政不平等程度就越高;但是,老龄化与代际财政不平等的关系还取决于劳动生产率和折现率的变化,折现率越低以及劳动生产率的增长率越高,将会缓解老龄化对代际财政不平等的冲击。据此本文认为,应逐步放开生育政策、延长退休年龄、提高劳动生产率,以改善老龄化背景下的代际财政失衡状况。     

‘Born this Way’? Prenatal exposure to testosterone may determine behavior in competition and conflict

Fetal exposure to sex hormones can have long lasting effects on human behavior. The second-to-fourth digit ratio (DR) is considered a putative marker for prenatal exposure to testosterone (vs estrogens), with higher exposure resulting in lower DR. Even though testosterone is theoretically related to competition, the role of DR in human behavior is debated; and in situations such as bilateral conflict is unknown. We investigate this through a laboratory experiment using a repeated 2-person Tullock contest played in fixed same-gender pairs. Based on a previously obtained large sample of student subjects, we selectively invited participants to the laboratory if their right-hand DR was in the top (High-DR) or bottom (Low-DR) tercile for their gender. Unbeknownst to the subjects, we performed a controlled match of the DR types (Low-Low, Low-High, High-High). This novel methodology allows us to analyze the causal effect of DR on behavior for the first time in the literature. We find that Low-DR (vs High-DR) males compete more aggressively regardless of the counterpart’s type. For females’ conflict behavior, the counterpart’s type matters more than the decision-maker’s type: Low-DRs are non-significantly more aggressive but every-one is more aggressive against High-DRs. Limitations due to sample size are discussed.     

Managing intractability: Wrestling with wicked problems and seeing beyond consensus in public relations

Managing perceived intractable problems—seemingly irrevocable, difficult-to-solve, often values-driven conflicts—is a regular occurrence for public relations practitioners. Yet, understanding and managing such problems is often outside of the bounds of public relations theories aimed primarily at building consensus. This paper builds on existing conflict-centered literature by carving out a place for dissensus-oriented or agonistic public relations theories and practices. Through interviews with 41 public relations practitioners facing perceived intractable scenarios and the integration of dissensual and agonistic perspectives of Lyotard (1984), Rancière (2010), and others, the paper provides evidence of these approaches in everyday practice. Finally, it offers a framework for social issue engagement that orients agonistic and dissensus-minded professional practices alongside consensus approaches.     

Dissecting moral judgements: Using moral foundation theory to advance the contingency continuum

Incorporating Moral Foundation Theory, this study introduces an enhanced Contingency Continuum to advance the Contingency Theory of Strategic Conflict Management by dissecting the origins of conflict formation. The enhanced Contingency Continuum treats conflict as a function of moral judgment based on which people judge right and wrong. This study explores how an event’s moral implication could be deconstructed into the enhanced Contingency Continuum and contribute to the formation of a conflict through a case study of Harvey Weinstein’s scandal. Our analysis and findings of the case were then validity-tested in an extensive verification interview with a practitioner/educator who has been in the PR field for more than 40 years. Three attributions of how the enhanced Contingency Continuum could advance the Contingency Theory are identified and summarized as a three-step-cyclic model, Moral Attitude Dynamic Model (MADM) to fully exploit the potential of the enhanced Contingency Continuum on managing not only moral conflicts but also conflicts that lack resolution such as long-standing social controversial issues.     

Cognitive and non-cognitive traits and the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic inequality

This paper studies the roles of cognitive and non-cognitive characteristics in a standard Roemerian Inequality of Opportunity (IOP) model. Using Australian microdata, we model the effects of individuals’ backgrounds and their psychological traits on two adult income variables. We find that measurable psychological traits (intelligence, locus of control, big five personality traits) are slightly more important than background characteristics (such as race, gender, social class at birth) in explaining income disparities. However, the fraction of IOP confounded by psychological factors is small (11%–12%), which suggests that background inequalities do not meaningfully reflect differences in cognitive or non-cognitive ability.     

“Don’t Mess with Ukrainian Farmers”: An examination of Ukraine and Kyiv’s official Twitter accounts as crisis communication,public diplomacy,and nation building during Russian invasion

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 resulted in an armed conflict that led to the death of thousands of soldiers and innocent civilians. While the countries waged war on the ground in places like Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Mariupol, another battle took shape in the Twittersphere. Ukraine and Kyiv’s official Twitter accounts leveraged their online platforms to win the war of public opinion by broadcasting the atrocities of war in real time, engaging with other countries as a form of digital public diplomacy, and rallying internal publics through nation building message strategies. The current study explores the use of government social media accounts during a unique period of armed conflict to identify various messaging strategies utilized to (1) communicate during a crisis event, (2) project itself favorably among an international audience, and (3) build a sense of national identity and unity among its citizenry. Results from this study suggest that public relations scholars should consider further analyzing the ways in which social media, nation building, and public diplomacy intersect during crisis events. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.