Dynamic Marriage Matching: An Empirical Framework

This paper develops a new model for empirically analyzing dynamic matching in the marriage market and then applies that model to recent changes in the U.S. marriage distribution. Its primary objective is to estimate gains by age from being married today (till death of at least one spouse) relative to remaining single for that same time period. An empirical methodology that relies on the model's equilibrium outcomes identifies the marriage gains using a single cross‐section of observed aggregate matches. This behavioral dynamic model rationalizes a new marriage matching function. The model also solves the inverse problem of computing the vector of aggregate marriages, given a new distribution of available single individuals and estimated preferences. Finally, this paper develops a simple test of the model's empirical validity. Using aggregate data of new marriages and available single men and women in the United States over two decades from 1970 to 1990, I investigate the changes in marriage gains over this period.     

A Rejoinder to Forman on AHP,with Emphasis on the Requirements of Composite Ratio Scales*

In an earlier paper [11], the problems of rank reversals and invalid composite priorities in AHP were addressed by modifications to the AHP procedure. That solution was subsequently criticized [5]. In this paper, we rebut these criticisms, and we show how rank reversals in AHP can arise merely from the process of normalizing local priorities.     

Teaching International Social Work in a Global Classroom

Social work educators are challenged with preparing students for international social work and work with immigrant and refugee populations. This pilot project aimed to develop an online global classroom to teach an international social work course to social work students participating from five different locations: United States (N=25), South Africa (N=4), Mexico (N=11), Hong Kong (N=6), and Australia (N=2). Qualitative data were collected from students regarding their experiences in this global classroom. Thematic analysis revealed the development of rich authentic learning, where their interactions with international classmates led to a transformative learning experience and a beginning sense of social work in a global context. Implications for future leaning and teaching of social work content across global borders are discussed.     

Mortality among elder abuse victims in rural Malaysia: A two-year population-based descriptive study

Our study aims at describing mortality among reported elder abuse experiences in rural Malaysia. This is a population-based cohort study with a multistage cluster sampling method. Older adults in Kuala Pilah (n = 1,927) were interviewed from November 2013 to May 2014. Mortality was traced after 2 years using the National Registration Department database. Overall, 139 (7.2%) respondents died. Fifteen (9.6%) abuse victims died compared to 124 (7.0%) not abused. Mortality was highest with financial abuse (13%), followed by psychological abuse (10.8%). There was a dose-response relationship between mortality and clustering of abuse: 7%, 7.7%, and 14.0% for no abuse, one type, and two types or more, respectively. Among abuse victims, 40% of deaths had ill-defined causes, 33% were respiratory-related, and 27% had cardiovascular and metabolic origin. Results suggest a link between abuse and mortality. Death proportions varied according to abuse subtypes and gender.     

‘Familial looking’: Chinese Canadian vernacular photography of the exclusion period (1923–1967)

This essay examines the roles of photographic and oral testimony in the construction of Chinese Canadian family identity during a period of discriminatory immigration laws and family separation. Extending Marianne Hirsch’s idea of the ‘familial look’, I argue that Chinese Canadians deployed photography to serve as visual proxies that could transcend physical border restrictions. By examining the interplay between visual and verbal cues and the entanglement of selective framing and storytelling, I posit that the strategic use of photography was a means of building a material trace of family presence in the face of absence and loss. However, as a medium where distance and absence are inherent properties, photography – when paired with oral history – also reveals gaps and discontinuities in the construction of memory. Containing and activating trans-temporal and transnational narratives, family photographs and oral histories act upon each other, changing the way we interpret each mode of articulating the past. Deployed as forms of énoncés, photographs in this period declared Chinese Canadians as members of a visible citizenry, in spite of barriers preventing their achievement of full rights as Canadians. This research draws from the development of the project Chinese Canadian Women, 1923–1967, an online multimedia resource and digital repository that brings together oral histories and photographic collections of families across Canada.     

Data availability in accounting research: Some evidence

The data availability policy of the American Accounting Association is examined to address two research questions: (1) Are data dependent results in The Accounting Review readily available for further inquiry and dissemination of accounting knowledge? (2) What are the potential factors that may account for the availability or the lack of data? Several potential factors including job rank, number of revisions before acceptance, source of data, and funding source are suggested to account for the lack of data availability. The results indicate that, in general, authors are not willing to make their data available to others. We conclude by suggesting some options that may ameliorate the situation.     

Taking risks in investing in the equity market: racial and ethnic differences

Some policy makers and policy analysts have proposed that Social Security should be privatized to enable participants to achieve higher returns through investment in the stock market. How well individual retirees would fare financially under a privatized system largely depends on their decision to invest in the equity market, rather than in other types of investment vehicles. For that reason, it is important to investigate the degree to which minority people are currently investing in this market. This article presents the findings of a study that compared the investment behavior of black and Hispanic people aged 51 to 61 with the investment behavior of their white counterparts. The major findings indicate that black and Hispanic people: (a) are less likely to invest in the equity market than are white people, and (b) tend to invest smaller percentages of their assets in the equity market. Implications for policy are discussed.     

The psychosocial needs of the Chinese elderly

Changing Chinese family patterns caused by immigration have contributed to the breakdown of traditional community and familial control in Chinese-American families. As a result, the Chinese-American elderly are faced with unique psychosocial problems that workers must consider when providing services to this population.     

Dopamine and risk choices in different domains: Findings among serious tournament bridge players

We explore how risk-taking in the card game contract bridge, and in a financial gamble, correlate with variation in the dopamine receptor D4 gene (DRD4) among serious tournament bridge players. In bridge risk-taking, we find significant interactions between genetic predisposition and skill. Among men with the 7-repeat allele of DRD4, namely 7R + men, those with more bridge skill take more good risks and fewer bad risks, while the opposite is found for less-expert 7R + men. Conversely, skill does not predict risk-taking among men without the 7R + allele. Consistent with some prior studies, we also find that 7R + men take more risk in the financial gamble. We find no relationship between 7R + and either risk measure among our female subjects. Our results suggest that the dopamine system plays an important role in individual differences in risk-taking among men, and is the first to distinguish between advantageous and disadvantageous risk-taking.