Does Parental Consent for Birth Control Affect Underage Pregnancy Rates? The Case of Texas

Previous work based on conjectural responses of minors predicted that the 2003 Texas requirement for parental consent for state-funded birth control to minors would lead to a large increase in underage pregnancies. We use state- and county-level data to test this prediction. The latter allow us to compare the impact of parental consent in counties with and without state-funded family planning clinics. We control for characteristics systematically correlated with the presence of state-funded clinics by combining difference-in-difference estimation with propensity score–weighted regressions. The evidence suggests that the parental consent mandate led to a large decrease in attendance at family planning clinics among teens but did not lead to an increase in underage pregnancies.     

Sample Sizes in the Interval Estimation of the Correlation Coefficient

An expression is derived for the maximum length of the interval estimator of the correlation coefficient, p, under bivariate normal assumptions. The prespecification of this minimum attainable precision and the confidence level results in an expression for the sample size required. An approximate expression for the sample size is proposed and is numerically shown to be as good as or better than that based on the Fisher's Z transformation.     

Smoothing fertility trends in agricultural field experiments

Fertility trend within blocks and local variations are the major obstacles to estimate cultivar contrasts in agricultural field trials. This paper examines methods of smoothing fertility trends in field trials using the P-spline. We begin by smoothing trend within block and for each block, and proceeds to demonstrate how it can be extended to smooth trends in trials with two-dimensional setting. We propose simultaneous modelling of trends and local variation. We use Papadakis [J.S. Papadakis, Comparison de differentes methds d'expermentation phytotechnique, Rev. Argen. Agronom. 7 (1940), pp. 297–362.] and kriged covariate to model local variation. We emphasize on the benefit of using P-spline to compromise between parametric and non-parametric approaches. Data sets from wheat and barley trials, designed as randomized complete block design and row-column, are analyzed. We set out a simple strategy of choosing between additive model and two-dimensional setting. We explore different estimation methods and offer some generalizations. The results show importance of the P-spline in modelling trend and the need to choose between additive and two-dimensional settings.     

The salience of gender in return migration

Return migration warrants special attention as a growing trend in our current globalized environment wherein migration can no longer be assumed to be a one‐way journey. As studies of return migration are burgeoning, this article argues for the salience of taking socially constructed ideas of gender as a central analytical factor in order to understand the complexities of human movement. It is imperative to take up gender both as a category of analysis and as a means to expand our theoretical understanding of migration. The process of return migration is overshadowed by gendered ideologies both in the home and in the host nation, as migrants leave and return to gendered societies. Through a review of recent literature, this paper will argue the multifaceted benefits of incorporating a gendered perspective in return migration research.     

Politics and Facets of Identity: Changing Lenses in Gaston Kaboré's Cinema

In spite of the resurgence of interest in the re-examination of the concept of identity, the shaping of multiple identities can benefit from interdisciplinary scholarly efforts and artistic insights. Based on a diagnostic political reading of cinematic text and an interview with the artist, this article draws some conclusions on the shaping of multiple identities. Following a conceptual scheme of characteristic locations of identity in a postcolonial setting, the study identifies four political forms of identity - the global, the cultural, the ideological/political and the individual. Those different facets are configured through ideological and discourse analyses of three cinematic texts and the declared intentions of Burkinabe filmmaker Gaston Kaboré.     

英国的FDI、贸易与企业利润

通过构建理论模型预测FDI的不同进入模式对东道国企业价格-成本盈余(Price-CostMar-gin,PCM)的影响,以及采用固定效应工具面板和经过聚类修正的有效广义矩等不同估计模型,对1991-2001年间的进口和FDI对英国制造业企业PCM竞争规制效应进行的实证研究表明:绿地FDI对利润有负向影响,而并购FDI对利润的影响为正,即绿地FDI对PCM有规制效应,并购FDI会增加PCM。本文是第一篇使用企业数据并区分FDI不同类型进行此问题研究的论文。