The relative economic progress of male foreign workers in Kuwait

"A human capital framework is utilized to examine the economic progress of nine nationality groups of foreign workers [in Kuwait] using data from the 1983 national Labor Survey. The sources of earnings' variations of particular interest to us included different degrees of education and experience transferability, occupational affiliation and ethnic background. In general, the results derived from the analysis suggest that 1) foreign workers achieve a discernible economic progress as their residence lengthens; 2) the rate of economic progress varies depending on worker's education, home and Kuwait-specific experience, occupational status and ethnic background; and 3) about one third of the earnings inequality is due to unexplained factors including discrimination."     

Profiles of refugee and non-refugee Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza

Relying on demographic and labour surveys which the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics collected in 1995, this article investigates the profile of West Bank and Gaza refugees. Refugees are better educated and have higher fertility than non-refugee Palestinians, but the difference is small. However, they have a significantly lower participation rate, a higher unemployment rate and a higher incidence of arrests and work stoppage than the corresponding rates among non-refugee Palestinians. A smaller proportion of Palestinians commute to work into the Israeli labour market and refugees earn lower wages than non-refugees. Returns to investment in education are small for both groups. High fertility among refugees imposes a future challenge for policy makers in terms of resources required for the provision of appropriate education and health facilities. Employing future labour market entrants is another serious policy challenge.     

政策调整适应劳动力市场灵活性

20世纪90年代以来,是中国从计划经济向市场经济转轨、市场经济体制逐步形成的过程。在这一过程中,政府对市场的直接干预程度弱化,劳动力市场机制对资源配置的基础性作用不断增强。与此同时,劳动立法和执法工作滞后,导致正规就业岗位越来越少,灵活就业和非正规就业比重极大增加,工作任期普遍缩短,劳动力流动率提高,而社会保障、就业服务机会不足,劳动者就业的稳定感极大地降低,劳动力市场的总体就业安全性降低。在这一过程中,政府进行了一系列的立法、制度和政策调整,来适应不断增强的就业灵活性。本文主要从劳动力市场制度政策的角度,对这些调整进行评价,并提出建议。     

Asian women workers in Kuwait

The author examines trends in the roles of immigrant Asian women workers in Kuwait, using data from published censuses and reports and from three national-level surveys conducted in 1977-1979, 1983, and 1986-1987. "The study deals separately with the two major types of migrants: the domestic servants and the clerical and professional (or semiprofessional) workers.... The policies of sending countries and of Kuwait are discussed to reach some conclusions about the likely future patterns of migration of Asian women workers to Kuwait."     

A Cultural-Psychological Theory of Contemporary Islamic Martyrdom

What political, economic, religious, and emotional factors are involved in a person's decision to kill civilians and military personnel through the sacrifice of his or her own life? Data for this research were secondary analyses of interviews with Islamic martyrs, as well as their leaders’ speeches. This investigation into the cultural‐psychological explanations for Islamic martyrdom leads to a model explaining a person's decision to carry out the mission as resulting from a combination of four factors: the historical‐cultural context, group processes, immediate and anticipated rewards, and mechanisms to eradicate possible doubts and guilt regarding this decision. Compared to existing models, this model is more integrative and focused on the psychological processes involved.     

Operational research in Indian defence

The paper gives an outline of the areas of Operational Research (OR) where work in the Defence Department in India has been successful, even though it has not been fully implemented due to certain reservations on the part of the users and some limitations of OR scientists. There is an ad hoc quality in the decision making of the customer, and no large scale OR models are available which give a total effect of defence spending on social measures and human resources development. OR would be able to contribute to a balanced spending on defence in developing countries, if effort were made to analyse defence problems in the wider context. The author was formerly Director of Scientific Evaluation, Ministry of Defence, India.     

Use of a case study in sequencing/scheduling research

This paper describes a study of an industrial sequencing/scheduling problem. The study contains the definition of the problem, data requirements and examination of solution technique. Definition of the problem is discussed from the aspect of uniqueness of the specific system. Discussion of data requirements includes availability and accuracy, while examination of solution technique considers limitation of time, computer capacity, etc., as well as the possibility of imbedding available algorithms into the solution procedure. Conclusions are presented relative to the use of the case study approach in sequencing/scheduling research.     

Baghdadi Jews in Hong Kong: converting cultural,social and economic capital among three transregional networks

This article is an analysis of the attempts of Baghdadi Jewish traders in Hong Kong in the second half of the nineteenth century to construct and convert cultural, social and economic capital within and between the transregional networks of the Baghdadi diaspora, the Jewish diaspora and the British colonial elite. The analysis of the multiple and multi‐directional intersections between the cultural, social and economic characteristics of the three networks shows that Baghdadi social capital accounted for significant ruptures and disjunctures between the increasing cosmopolitanization, deterritorialization and hybridization of the Baghdadi traders' cultural identities and the definition of Baghdadi cultural capital. An understanding of the role of Baghdadi social capital in accounting for the construction and convertibility of cultural, social and economic capital among these three transregional networks helps to explain the reproduction of social inequalities under increasing conditions of globalization, that is, under conditions that potentially augmented the number of sources defining cultural capital.     

The demand for children in Arab countries: evidence from panel and count data models

This paper provides empirical evidence on fertility determinants in Arab countries. Adopting a macro and micro framework and exploiting panel and count data models the paper estimates the impact of cultural and economic factors on the demand for children. The results obtained strongly support the hypothesis that cross-country heterogeneity buttresses differentiated fertility and that female education mitigates high fertility. Child mortality and parent‘s preferences for sons positively affect fertility. By and large, demand for children is price and income inelastic. Received: 30 May 1995 /Accepted: 19 February 1998