One male offspring preference: evidence from Vietnam using a split-population model

This paper examines sex preferences for children in Vietnam using the mother birth cohort from 1972 to 1993. We specify the full set for sex–birth order composition of existing children using a split-population model. The model relaxes the assumption in conventional hazard models that all mothers would eventually have another child. Our results indicate a preference in these families for one male offspring. In addition, we observe a mixed sex preference at the fourth birth order. We also establish that a one-square-meter increase in household living area, as a proxy for the increment in household wealth, is associated with a 0.997 times lower preference for a son for the second childbirth, but a 1.015 and 1.014 times higher preference for a son for the third and fourth childbirths, respectively. As long as two-child families dominate the population structure, these results suggest that the importance placed on economic reasons for a son preference will gradually weaken as economic development proceeds in Vietnam.     

Commercially arranged marriage and the negotiation of citizenship rights among Vietnamese marriage migrants in multiracial Singapore

Globalization and increased mobilities have multiplied cross-border transactions not only in the economic sphere but have also a major impact on human relationships of intimacy. This can be seen in the increased volume of differently mediated forms of international marriage, not just straddling ‘east’ and ‘west’, but within Asia and across different ethnicities and nationalities. International marriage raises a host of social issues for countries of origin and destination, including challenges relating to the citizenship status and rights of the marriage migrant. This paper examines the negotiation of citizenship rights in the case of commercially matched marriage migrants – namely Vietnamese women who marry Singaporean men and migrate to Singapore as ‘foreign brides’. While they are folded into the ‘family’ – what is often thought of as the basic building block of the nation in Asian societies – they are not necessarily accorded full incorporation into the ‘nation’ despite Singapore's claims to multiculturalism. This is particularly salient at a point when cross-nationality, cross-ethnicity marriages between Singapore citizens and non-citizens are on the increase, accounting for over a third of marriages registered in Singapore in recent years. Vietnamese women who marry Singaporeans are positioned within the nation-state's citizenship regime as dependents of Singaporean men, having to rely on the legitimacy of the marriage relationship as well as the whims of their husbands in negotiating their rights vis-à-vis the Singapore state. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic work with 20 Vietnamese women who are commercially matched marriage migrants, the paper first focuses on the vulnerable positions these women find themselves, particularly given difficulties in forging their own support networks as well as weaknesses of the civil society sector in what has been called an ‘illiberal democracy’ characterized by a political culture of ‘non-resistance’. The paper then goes on to examine the way they negotiate rights to residency/citizenship, work and children within webs of asymmetrical power relations within the family and the nation-state. We draw on our findings to show that citizenship is ‘a terrain of struggle’ within a multicultural nation-state shaped by social ideologies of gender, race and class and negotiated on an everyday basis within spheres of family intimacy.     

BANANAS: providing child care services to a multi-ethnic community

BANANAS, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that has provided child care resource and referral services for over 35 years. BANANAS emerged as a grassroots effort initiated by a group of female volunteers who sought to build a network of women with children who needed childcare. As the organization developed, its leaders recognized and responded to additional needs, including resource and information sharing, workshops and classes, and political advocacy. Beginning as a collective, BANANAS has grown into a multifaceted service delivery and advocacy nonprofit operating with an annual budget of $12 million. This history of the agency reflects the development of a unique community-based effort, its challenges and rewards, and the multiple successes that this pioneering nonprofit has experienced.     

Author Correction: Public Trust in Government and Compliance with Policy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

Public Organization Review -     

Public Trust in Government and Compliance with Policy during COVID-19 Pandemic: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

Public Organization Review - This study explores how much the Vietnamese public trust their government during the COVID-19 pandemic and how public trust in government translates into support and...     

Asian Community Mental Health Services at 35: a pioneering ethnic organization (1973-2008)

Asian Community Mental Health Services is a nonprofit organization that delivers mental health services to primarily Asian and Pacific Islander communities. From its early beginnings and over its 35-year history, the agency has had to overcome numerous challenges, including gaining legitimacy as a culturally specific nonprofit, combating stigma surrounding mental health issues within the Asian Pacific Islander community, building resources to fund service delivery, and developing an educated and culturally sensitive workforce. The history of the organization highlights the multiple challenges and rewards of developing a culturally specific nonprofit in an urban area as well as the important role that internal operations play in relation to nonprofit expansion and growth.     

The Australian child support reforms: a critical evaluation

The Australian Child Support Scheme aims to ensure that children continue to be supported financially should their parents separate or never live together. Sweeping changes to the Australian Child Support Scheme were introduced between 2006 and 2008, featuring a dramatically different system for the calculation of child support and a more rigorous enforcement regime. The reforms were intended to respond to ongoing concerns about equity, and to changes in social expectations and practices in gender, work, and parenting. In this article we summarise key findings from a large cross‐sequential study of the child support reforms. Although the new formula initially led to lower child support payments, and an increase in the proportion of separated mothers experiencing income disadvantage, payments two years later had increased slightly. More broadly, the new scheme appears to have resulted in little change in separated parents' policy knowledge, parenting arrangements, perceptions of fairness, and child support compliance. Taken together, these findings suggest that Australia may not have made as much progress as it would have liked in this thorny area of social policy – especially in relation to compliance and perceptions of fairness.     

Linking LGBT inclusion and national innovative capacity

This paper investigates the relationship between the social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and technological innovation. It empirically establishes that LGBT inclusion helps foster human capital skills, thus strengthening national innovative capacity. Exploiting cross-country data, this research provides suggestive evidence that social tolerance towards homosexuality is positively correlated with the economic complexity index, a novel measure of cross-country differences in innovative capabilities. Individual-level analyses, based on data from the World Values Survey, reveal that surveyed respondents who self-report tolerance towards homosexual acts tend to have positive attitudes towards technological innovation, ceteris paribus. This lends credence to the international evidence. Further analyses indicate that the link between LGBT inclusion and innovation is partially mediated through the accumulation of human capital. The main findings suggest that the social exclusion of LGBT people, at least to some extent, impedes long-run economic development by hindering innovative activities.