Marrying Out : One-in-Seven New U.S. Marriages is Interracial or Interethnic

From the Executive Summary:

A record 14.6% of all new marriages in the United States in 2008 were between spouses of a different race or ethnicity from one another. This includes marriages between a Hispanic and non-Hispanic (Hispanics are an ethnic group, not a race) as well as marriages between spouses of different races -- be they white, black, Asian, American Indian or those who identify as being of multiple races or "some other" race.

This report is based primarily on two data sources: the Pew Research Center's analysis of demographic data about new marriages in 2008 from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) and the Pew Research Center's analysis of its own data from a nationwide telephone survey conducted from October 28 through November 30, 2009 among a nationally representative sample of 2,884 adults.

Source: Pew Research Center

Download full pdf publication | Link to online executive summary

Americans' Acceptance of Gay Relations Crosses 50% Threshold

Gallup Poll

Americans' Acceptance of Gay Relations Crosses 50% Threshold
Increased acceptance by men driving the change

Americans' support for the moral acceptability of gay and lesbian relations crossed the symbolic 50% threshold in 2010. At the same time, the percentage calling these relations "morally wrong" dropped to 43%, the lowest in Gallup's decade-long trend.

Link to online report and graphs

STAR METRICS: New Way to Measure the Impact of Federally Funded Research

From the Press Release:

A new initiative promises to monitor the impact of federal science investments on employment, knowledge generation, and health outcomes. The initiative–Science and Technology for America’s Reinvestment: Measuring the Effect of Research on Innovation, Competitiveness and Science, or STAR METRICS–is a multi-agency venture led by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

STAR METRICS will help the federal government document the value of its investments in research and development, to a degree not previously possible. Together, NSF and NIH have committed $1 million for the program’s first year.

Source: National Science Foundation

Link to press release and more information at NSF

Child Marriage in the Middle East and North Africa

Child marriage is a human rights violation. Several international human rights agreements protect children from child marriage, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Convention of Eradication of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990). All call for the free and full consent of both parties to marriage, a minimum age of marriage of 18, designation of child marriage as a harmful practice, and protection for the rights of children from all forms of exploitation.

Source: Population Reference Bureau

Link to online report

Poverty and inequality in the UK: 2010

In this Commentary, we assess the changes to average incomes, inequality and poverty that have occurred since 1979, with a particular focus on the changes that have occurred in the latest year of data (2008-09) and since 1996-97. This analysis is based upon the latest figures from the DWP's Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series, published on 20 May 2010 (Department for Work and Pensions, 2010). The HBAI series takes household income as its measure of living standards, and is derived from the Family Resources Survey, a survey of around 25,000 households in the United Kingdom that asks detailed questions about income from a range of sources.

Source: Institute for Fiscal Studies

Download full pdf publication | Link to online introduction

How Responsive is Higher Education? The Linkages between Higher Education and the Labor Market

Abstract:

Higher education is considered vital for developing a productive and dynamic labor force to meet the demands of the global economy. How effectively does the US higher education sector respond to labor market signals? We match US post-secondary degree completions from 1984 to 2008 with occupational employment statistics and employ an instrumental variables strategy to examine the supply response to changes in occupation specific demand. The supply of educated workers appears weakly responsive to short-term wage signals and moderately responsive to longer-term employment conditions. Analysis reveals a sizeable degree of heterogeneity and lag in the responsiveness across specific occupation-degree pairings. Failure to respond rapidly to changes in labor demand may be one factor driving inequality in wages across occupations and in the aggregate economy. We suggest some simple policy measures to help increase the responsiveness of the higher education sector, both in terms of the output of specific degree programs and the overall mix and composition of graduate completions.

Source: Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Gaining Insight into Cultural Geography through the Study of Musical Instruments

From Abstract:

At present, the need for an understanding of both physical and cultural geography is increasingly urgent in America’s schools. The present study explores using music as focus for the exploration of geography. Not only is music strongly linked to culture and environment but also its study provides an experiential understanding of a given culture in a way that few others can. Instrumental music, unfettered by practical, semantic, or representational constraints of other traditional art forms, can be considered as one of the most direct forms of cultural expression, reflecting primarily the collective imagination of the culture that developed it and the environment in which it developed. Musical instruments are shaped by a culture’s aesthetics and made using locally available materials and technologies.

The present article takes as a case study a class at the Museum School, a San Diego Unified School District charter school that emphasizes experiential learning and the arts in its daily curriculum. In this case study, 23 children in grades 4-6 focused their attention on the culture and geography of the Island of Bali, Indonesia, through studying its instrumental music, known as “gamelan.”

Source: Center for Learning through the Arts and Technology, UC Irvine

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship Repository

Arts Impact: Lessons From ArtsBridge

Abstract:

Arts Impact summarizes lessons learned at the ArtsBridge Program. It is informed by in-depth participant observation, logic modeling, and quantitative evaluation of program impact on K-12 students in inner city schools and arts students at the University of California Los Angeles over a two year period. The case study frames its analysis through a literary overview of the following social issues: 1) how educational attainment relates to poverty in California; 2) the importance of the creative economy in Los Angeles; and 3) the failure of California to reach federally mandated goals in arts education--particularly for under-resourced neighborhoods. Data finds statistically significant positive impacts on participants’ views of self and others. This case study suggests important roles for higher education partnerships with under-resourced K-12 schools, the significance of quality teacher preparation in the arts at the university level, and the positive impact of arts education for empowering student and teacher learning.

Source: Center for Learning through the Arts and Technology, UC Irvine

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship Repository

Reputation Management and Social Media

Overview

More than half (57%) of adult internet users say they have used a search engine to look up their name and see what information was available about them online, up from 47% who did so in 2006. Young adults, far from being indifferent about their digital footprints, are the most active online reputation managers in several dimensions. For example, more than two-thirds (71%) of social networking users ages 18-29 have changed the privacy settings on their profile to limit what they share with others online.

Reputation management has now become a defining feature of online life for many internet users, especially the young. While some internet users are careful to project themselves online in a way that suits specific audiences, other internet users embrace an open approach to sharing information about themselves and do not take steps to restrict what they share.

Download full pdf report | Link to online overview

The Economic Consequences of Proposed California Budget Cuts

This policy brief compares the economic impact of the Governor's 2010-2011 budget with an alternative budget approach that includes revenue increases. The Governor's cuts-only approach would result in the loss of 331,000 full-time equivalent jobs, $36 billion in economic output and $1.9 billion in state and local tax revenue, mostly as a result of cuts to major health and human services programs that bring in significant federal matching funds. A mixed budget approach that includes revenue increases would result in half the reduction in economic output, save $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenue, and save nearly 244,000 jobs.

Source: U.C. Berkeley Labor Center

Download pdf policy brief | Link to UC Berkeley Labor Center

A Profile of Criminal Incidents at School

This report uses NCVS data from three calendar years, 2003-05, to examine a range of characteristics of criminal incidents that occur at school, such as the location at school where the incident occurred, time of day when the incident occurred, whether the police were notified, and characteristics of offenders including their age, race, and whether they carried a weapon.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

The Job Market for New Economists: A Market Design Perspective

This paper provides an overview of the market for new Ph.D. economists. It describes the role of the American Economic Association (AEA) in the market and focuses in particular on two mechanisms adopted in recent years at the suggestion of our committee. First, job market applicants now have a signaling service to send an expression of special interest to up to two employers prior to interviews at the January Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) meetings. Second, the AEA now invites candidates who are still on the market, and employers whose positions are still vacant, to participate in a web-based "scramble" to reduce search costs and thicken the late part of the job market. We present statistics on the activity in these market mechanisms and present survey evidence that both mechanisms have facilitated matches. The paper concludes by discussing the emergence of platforms for transmitting job market information.

Source: Harvard Business School Working Papers

Download full pdf working paper | Link to online summary

History of Street Gangs in the United States

Introduction:

The first active gangs in Western civilization were reported by Pike (1873, pp. 276-277), a widely respected chronicler of British crime. He documented the existence of gangs of highway robbers in England during the 17th century, and he speculates that similar gangs might well have existed in our mother country much earlier, perhaps as early as the 14th or even the 12th century. But it does not appear that these gangs had the features of modern-day, serious street gangs.1 More structured gangs did not appear until the early 1600s, when London was “terrorized by a series of organized gangs calling themselves the Mims, Hectors, Bugles, Dead Boys … who found amusement in breaking windows, [and] demolishing taverns, [and they] also fought pitched battles among themselves dressed with colored ribbons to distinguish the different factions” (Pearson, 1983, p. 188).

The history of street gangs in the United States begins with their emergence on the East Coast around 1783, as the American Revolution ended (Sante, 1991). But there is considerable justification for questioning the seriousness of these early gangs. The best available evidence suggests that the more serious street gangs likely did not emerge until the early part of the nineteenth century (Sante, 1991).

source: National Gang Center

Download full pdf publication | Link to National Gang Center

Preferences for Status: Evidence and Economic Implications

This chapter was prepared for Elsevier's Handbook of Social Economics (edited by Jess Benhabib, Alberto Bisin, and Matthew Jackson). It brings together some of the recent empirical and experimental evidence regarding preferences for social status. While briefly reviewing evidence from different literatures that is consistent with the existence of preferences for status, we pay special attention to experimental work that attempts to study status directly by inducing it in the lab. Finally, we discuss some economic implications.

Source: Social Science Research Network (SSRN)

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Federal Financial and Economic Literacy Education Programs

Financial literacy — the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being — is becoming more and more important as individuals and families become increasingly responsible for their own long-term financial well-being. Financial and economic literacy education programs have been shown to increase financial literacy and capability. Many federal agencies and departments have long-standing financial education programs, and, in recent years, steps have been taken to increase coordination of such efforts. In late 2009, a survey was conducted of 21 federal agencies, who reported offering a total of 56 financial and economic literacy education programs. In this report, the authors analyze the survey data, describing each program's purpose, content, delivery formats, target audience, and evaluation goals and method. The authors conclude with recommendations for future evaluations, emphasizing the need for a standardized definition of what constitutes a financial and economic literacy education program and for a standardized method of evaluating such programs across agencies.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

The World Economic and Social Survey

The global economic crisis, coming on top of the food, fuel and climate change crises, has exposed the systemic weaknesses that led to the crisis and which the international community must find ways to overcome. These systemic weaknesses derive from the incoherence between the present set of institutions and rules, which were established more than 60 years ago, together with the founding of the United Nations and related institutions, and the much more extensive economic interdependence and complexity induced by decades of globalization. Reshaping global mechanisms and strengthening national capabilities in support of the shared goal of poverty reduction and development offer a feasible path towards overcoming these weaknesses and achieving policy coherence within the global economy.

Source: United Nations

Download full pdf report (English 202pgs) | Download pdf executive summary (English) | Links to report in other languages

Girls’ internalization of their female teacher’s anxiety: A “real-world” stereotype threat effect?

The deleterious effects that stereotypes can have on girls’ school performance in mathematics are best exemplified by the stereotype threat paradigm (1) showing that when women are reminded of stereotypes alleging male superiority in math, their math performance suffers (2). However, evidence is mixed on how much these threat effects apply to girls’ math performance in “real-world” settings (3), and how girls develop their vulnerability in the first place.


1. Steele CM, Aronson JM(1995) Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African-Americans. J Pers Soc Psychol 69:797–811.
2. Nguyen H-HD,Ryan AM (2008) Does stereotype threat affect test performance of minorities and women? A meta-analysis of experimental evidence. J Appl Psychol 93:1314–1334.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Download full pdf publication | Link to online version at PNAS online

What Kind of Candidates are Voters Looking for in November?

Many Americans say they will look less favorably this fall at congressional candidates who supported the federal bailout of major banks and financial institutions in response to the 2008 financial crisis.

About half (49%) say they are less likely to vote for a candidate who supported the major government loans to banks; 14% say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supported the legislation, while 32% say this will make no difference.

By contrast, about as many say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported the recently passed health care law (39%) as say they would be less likely to favor such a candidate (35%); 22% say a candidate's stance on health care legislation will make no difference.

Source: Pew Center for People and the Press

Link to online report

New Media, Old Media

News today is increasingly a shared, social experience. Half of Americans say they rely on the people around them to find out at least some of the news they need to know. [1] Some 44% of online news users get news at least a few times a week through emails, automatic updates or posts from social networking sites. In 2009, Twitter’s monthly audience increased by 200%. [2]

While most original reporting still comes from traditional journalists, technology makes it increasingly possible for the actions of citizens to influence a story’s total impact.

What types of news stories do consumers share and discuss the most? What issues do they have less interest in? What is the interplay of the various new media platforms? And how do their agendas compare with that of the mainstream press?

To answer these questions, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism has gathered a year of data on the top news stories discussed and linked to on blogs and social media pages and seven months’ worth on Twitter. We also have analyzed a year of the most viewed news-related videos on YouTube. Several clear trends emerge.

Source: Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism

Download full pdf publication | Link to online version

TRICARE and VA Health Care: Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)

The 111th Congress recently passed, and the President signed into law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148; PPACA), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-152; HCERA). In general, PPACA did not make any significant changes to the Department of Defense (DOD) TRICARE program or to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system. However, many have sought clarification as to whether certain provisions in PPACA, such as a mandate for most individuals to have health insurance, or extending dependant coverage up to age 26, would apply to TRICARE and VA health care beneficiaries. To address some of these concerns, Congress has introduced and/or enacted legislation. On March 20, 2010, H.R. 4894 was introduced. This bill would, if enacted, amend PPACA to clarify that nothing in PPACA shall affect any health care services provided by TRICARE or the VA health care system, and that all health care programs administered by DOD and VA would meet the criteria for minimal essential coverage. The TRICARE Affirmation Act (H.R. 4887; P.L. 111- 159), signed into law on April 26, 2010, would affirm that TRICARE satisfies the minimum acceptable coverage requirement in PPACA. Similarly S. 3162 (passed by the Senate on March 26, 2010) and H.R. 5014 (introduced in the House on April 14, 2010) would, if enacted, clarify that the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), Spina Bifida Health Care Program, and the Children of Women Vietnam Veterans Health Care Program meet the "minimum essential coverage" requirement under PPACA. In addition, the TRICARE Dependent Coverage Extension Act (H.R. 4923; S. 3201), if enacted, would extend certain PPACA provisions to TRICARE beneficiaries. This report addresses key questions concerning how PPACA will likely affect TRICARE and VA health care.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Latin America and the Caribbean: Illicit Drug Trafficking and U.S. Counterdrug Programs

Drug trafficking is viewed as a primary threat to citizen security and U.S. interests in Latin America and the Caribbean despite decades of anti-drug efforts by the United States and partner governments. The production and trafficking of popular illicit drugs--cocaine, marijuana, opiates, and methamphetamine--generates a multi-billion dollar black market in which Latin American criminal and terrorist organizations thrive. These groups challenge state authority in source and transit countries where governments are often fragile and easily corrupted. Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) largely control the U.S. illicit drug market and have been identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as the "greatest organized crime threat to the United States." Drug trafficking-related crime and violence in the region has escalated in recent years, raising the drug issue to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy concerns. Since the mid-1970s, the U.S. government has invested billions of dollars in anti-drug assistance programs aimed at reducing the flow of Latin American-sourced illicit drugs to the United States. Most of these programs have emphasized supply reduction tools, particularly drug crop eradication and interdiction of illicit narcotics, and have been designed on a bilateral or sub- regional level. Many would argue that the results of U.S.-led drug control efforts have been mixed.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Marriage and life expectancy

Marriage is more beneficial for men than for women - at least for those who want a long life. Previous studies have shown that men with younger wives live longer. While it had long been assumed that women with younger husbands also live longer, in a new study Sven Drefahl from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany, has shown that this is not the case. Instead, the greater the age difference from the husband, the lower the wife’s life expectancy. This is the case irrespective of whether the woman is younger or older than her spouse.

Source: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Link to online report

Minority Influence Theory

Abstract:

The study of minority influence began as reaction to the portrayal of influence as the province of status and numbers and from a realization that minorities need not just be passive recipients of influence but can actively persuade. From these beginnings, a considerable body of research, including ours, has investigated how minority views prevail. . In the decades that followed, we concentrated, not so much on persuasion or attitude change but, rather, on the value of minority views for the stimulation of divergent thinking. Dissent, as has been repeatedly documented, “opens” the mind. People search for information, consider more options and, on balance, make better decisions and are more creative. Dissenters, rather than rogues or obstacles, provide value: They liberate people to say what they believe and they stimulate divergent and creative thought even when they are wrong. The implications for group decision making, whether in juries or companies, have been considerable and there is increasing interest in research and in practice for the value of authentic dissent in teams and in creating “cultures” of innovation.

Source: Working Paper Series, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley [via eScholarship repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship repository

The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement

Abstract:

An emerging economic literature over the past decade has made use of international tests of educational achievement to analyze the determinants and impacts of cognitive skills. The cross-country comparative approach provides a number of unique advantages over national studies: It can exploit institutional variation that does not exist within countries; draw on much larger variation than usually available within any country; reveal whether any result is country-specific or more general; test whether effects are systematically heterogeneous in different settings; circumvent selection issues that plague within-country identification by using system-level aggregated measures; and uncover general-equilibrium effects that often elude studies in a single country. The advantages come at the price of concerns about the limited number of country observations, the cross-sectional character of most available achievement data, and possible bias from unobserved country factors like culture. This chapter reviews the economic literature on international differences in educational achievement, restricting itself to comparative analyses that are not possible within single countries and placing particular emphasis on studies trying to address key issues of empirical identification. While quantitative input measures show little impact, several measures of institutional structures and of the quality of the teaching force can account for significant portions of the large international differences in the level and equity of student achievement. Variations in skills measured by the international tests are in turn strongly related to individual labor-market outcomes and, perhaps more importantly, to cross-country variations in economic growth.

Source: IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor

Download full pdf publication | Link to IZA

The Information Dividend: Can IT make you ‘happier’?

From the Press Release:

A new global study from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, shows that access to information technology has a ‘statistically significant, positive impact on life satisfaction’.

‘Put simply, people with IT access are more satisfied with life even when taking account of income,’ said the study’s author, social scientist Michael Willmott.

‘Our analysis suggests that IT has an enabling and empowering role in people’s lives by increasing their sense of freedom and control, which has a positive impact on well-being or happiness,’ he continued.

Women and those on lower incomes or with fewer educational qualifications benefit most from access to and use of IT and appear to benefit more than those on higher incomes or with more qualifications.

The study also suggests that women in developing nations benefit even more than those in the developed world.

Called ‘The Information Dividend: Can IT make you happier?’ the report is based on an analysis of the World Values Survey, and contains responses from 35,000+ people globally. The findings suggest there may well be an ‘information dividend’ - a personal and social benefit which comes from access to information and IT.

Sosurce: BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT (formerly known as British Computer Society

Download full pdf publication | Link to online press release and summary of findings

Language Diversity, School Learning, and Closing Achievement Gaps: A Workshop Summary

The Workshop on the Role of Language in School Learning: Implications for Closing the Achievement Gap was held to explore three questions: What is known about the conditions that affect language development? What are the effects of early language development on school achievement? What instructional approaches help students meet school demands for language and reading comprehension? Of particular interest was the degree to which group differences in school achievement might be attributed to language differences, and whether language-related instruction might help to close gaps in achievement by helping students cope with language-intensive subject matter especially after the 3rd grade.

The workshop provided a forum for researchers and practitioners to review and discuss relevant research findings from varied perspectives. The disciplines and professions represented included: language development, child development, cognitive psychology, linguistics, reading, educationally disadvantaged student populations, literacy in content areas (math, science, social studies), and teacher education. The aim of the meeting was not to reach consensus or provide recommendations, but rather to offer expert insight into the issues that surround the study of language, academic learning, and achievement gaps, and to gather varied viewpoints on what available research findings might imply for future research and practice. This book summarizes and synthesizes two days of workshop presentations and discussion.

Source: National Academies Press

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Media Guidelines for The Portrayal of Disabilities

How people with disabilities are portrayed and the frequency with which they appear in the media has an enormous impact on how they are regarded in society. Portraying people with disabilities with dignity and respect in the media can help promote more inclusive and tolerant societies and stimulate a climate of non-discrimination and equal opportunity. These ILO Guidelines are intended as a tool for professional communicators.

Source: United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO)

Download full pdf publication | Link to ILO

Hispanics, High School Dropouts and the GED

From the Summary:

Just one-in-ten Hispanic high school drop-outs has a General Educational Development (GED) credential, widely regarded as the best "second chance" pathway to college, vocational training and military service for adults who do not graduate high school. By contrast, two-in-ten black high school drop-outs and three-in-ten white high school drop-outs has a GED, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of newly-available educational attainment data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey.

Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Download full pdf publication | Link to online Summary

Mobile How Group Dynamics May Be Killing Innovation

In a paper titled, "Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea (PDF)," Wharton operations and information management professors Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich argue that group dynamics are the enemy of businesses trying to develop one-of-a-kind new products, unique ways to save money or distinctive marketing strategies.

Terwiesch, Ulrich and co-author Karan Girotra, a professor of technology and operations management at INSEAD, found that a hybrid process -- in which people are given time to brainstorm on their own before discussing ideas with their peers -- resulted in more and better quality ideas than a purely team-oriented process. More importantly for companies striving for innovation, however, the trio says the absolute best idea in a hybrid process topped the Number One suggestion in a traditional model.

Source: Knowledge@Wharton

Download full pdf publication | Link to Knowledge@Wharton article

Lawyering for Marriage Equality

Abstract:
Critiques of litigation seeking to establish the right of same-sex couples to marry argue that it has produced a backlash undercutting the movement for marriage equality. In this account, movement lawyers emerge as agents of backlash: naively turning to the courts ahead of public opinion, ignoring more productive political alternatives, and ultimately hurting the very cause they purport to advance by securing a court victory that mobilizes opponents to repeal it. This Article challenges the backlash thesis through a close analysis of the California case, which contradicts the portrait of movement lawyers as unsophisticated rights crusaders and casts doubt on the causal claim that court decisions upholding same-sex couples’ right to marry have harmed the movement.

Source: UCLA Public Law Series, UCLA School of Law, UC Los Angeles [via eScholarship Repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship Repository

Gender and Japanese Immigrants to Peru, 1899 through World War II

Abstract:

This paper explores gender relations in the Japanese Peruvian community during its first 45 years of existence, with attention to gendered state policies in both Japan and Peru that affected the Nikkei community in Peru. Relying primarily on oral interviews, it follows Nikkei men and women's own descriptions their lives. Japanese cultural norms shaped patterns of migration, labor and family for emigrants to Peru, though late-Meiji ideology about women's role found relatively less echo than older rural patterns. As Japanese immigrants' labor patterns shifted, women found new roles, such as in store management, though they remained nearly exclusively responsible for child care and the reproduction of families. The relative scarcity of Japanese women in Peru had some effect on marriage and remarriage patterns, but ethnic associations and public sociability remained exclusively male spheres in Peru.

Source: Working Papers, UC World History Workshop, UC Berkeley [via eScholarship repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship Repository

Many Prostituted Juveniles Treated as Offenders, Not Victims

A new study by the Crimes against Children Research Center found that nearly a third of prostituted juveniles taken into custody by police are treated more as criminal offenders than as victims of the pimps and customers who sexually abuse them. Findings suggest the problem of prostituted juveniles is complicated and varied and requires a much more coordinated set of interventions than it currently receives.

Source: Crimes against Children Research Center, Univ. of NH

Download full pdf publication | Link to Crimes against Children Research Center

UK Centre for Economic Performance : Bankers’ Pay and Extreme Wage Inequality in the UK

Abstract:

It is well known that the distribution of income in the United Kingdom has widened considerably in the last three decades. This rise has been a result of a widening at both the top and bottom of the wage distribution. More recently, most of the action appears to have occurred at the top of the distribution with lower wage workers keeping pace with the median. This paper explores this increased dispersion at the very top of the wage distribution. We show that the growth has occurred primarily within the top few percentiles and that the rise in inequality in recent years is much more pronounced when we focus on annual earnings as opposed to weekly wages (where most work has concentrated). This is because annual wages include bonuses. By the end of the decade to 2008, the top tenth of earners received £20bn more purely due to the increase in their share (it would have been only £173bn had their share of the pie remained the same as 1998), and £12bn of this went to workers in the financial sector (almost all of which was bonus payments). We consider various reasons why the bankers have managed to capture an increasing share of the wage bill over the last decade.

Download full pdf publication | Link to the CEP

Radicalization or Rehabilitation Understanding the challenge of extremist and radicalized prisoners

This study is the result of internally funded RAND Corporation research. It seeks to provide a preliminary overview of the challenges posed by radicalized and extremist prisoners, and to explore the potential for the radicalization of young European Muslims in the prison environment. The study draws on the body of existing prison theory literature, historical case examples and contemporary open sources. It draws a number of conclusions about the potential in prison for extremist activity, including radicalization, and highlights a number of areas where further research and action may be desirable.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Individual Account Retirement Assets Are Concentrated In Families with Common Characteristics, Study Reports

Assets in individual account retirement plans are concentrated in families with a set of common characteristics–higher net worth, higher family income, higher educational attainment, with older family heads, and with white, non-Hispanic heads, according to a study released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

Download full pdf publication | Link to online Executive Summary

New Study: High-Standards States Far Exceed National [Education}Standards

...a detailed comparison of the March draft standards being proposed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) and standards currently in place in states recognized to have high standards—California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. The report is authored by Stanford University Mathematician Dr. R. James Milgram and Dr. Sandra Stotsky, a member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education who in the late 1990s oversaw the creation of Massachusetts' curriculum frameworks in the English language arts, mathematics, science/engineering, and history and social science.

The CCSSI, which is developing the draft K-12 mathematics and English national standards, was formed in 2009 by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to negotiate standards that could be adopted by all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The CCSSI effort has the explicit encouragement of the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE).

Adoption was originally going to be voluntary, but the Obama administration subsequently made adopting the national standards a criterion for receipt of federal "Race to the Top" grant funding. The administration has also floated the idea of making adoption of the new national standards a condition for receipt of federal Title I education funding.

Source: Pacific Research Institute

Download full pdf publication | Link to press release

IRS Releases Interim Report on Nonprofit Colleges and Universities Compliance Project

From the IRS Press Release:

...an interim report summarizing responses to compliance questionnaires sent to 400 public and private colleges and universities in October 2008. Colleges and universities make up one of the largest nonprofit segments in terms of revenue and assets.

The interim report contains preliminary information on the respondents’ organizational structures, demographics, exempt and unrelated business activities, endowments, executive compensation as well as governance practices. Respondents are divided into three groups based on size of student population.

Source: U.S. Internal Revenue Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online press release

The New Demography of American Motherhood

From the Executive Summary:

This report examines the changing demographic characteristics of U.S. mothers by comparing women who gave birth in 2008 with those who gave birth in 1990. It is based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau. It also presents results of a nationwide Pew Research Center survey that asked a range of questions about parenthood.

Source: Pew Research Center

Download full pdf publication | Link to online Executive Summary

The Legal Regime Governing Transfer of Persons in the Fight Against Terrorism

Abstract:
The practice of rendition - the involuntary transfer of an individual across borders without recourse to extradition or deportation proceedings - is not new. Indeed, the practice has been used by governments for more than a century. Famous renditions include that of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann from Argentina to Israel, and terrorist Carlos “the Jackal” (Ilich Ramirez Sanchez) from Sudan to France. Although such renditions have been controversial in human rights circles, they have been celebrated by many as crucial in the fight against impunity for grave crimes and are sometimes called “rendition to justice.”

The administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush was criticized for the new practice of “extraordinary rendition” - the transfer of suspects to countries known for the systematic use of torture. U.S. officials at the time defended the practice, relying on justifications developed to support “rendition to justice” and arguing that the practice was legal. Despite these justifications, international human rights bodies and intergovernmental bodies have determined that the extraordinary form of rendition is unlawful under human rights law. Although individuals have faced significant legal hurdles in fighting the practice in the U.S. legal system (most prominently in the form of the state secrets doctrine), there is little doubt among international law experts that extraordinary rendition is prohibited. Despite this clear consensus, there is no similar agreement concerning the practice of informal transfers - renditions of the non-“extraordinary” kind - more generally in the context of counter-terrorism efforts.

This article fills the void in the literature by examining the legal norms governing such transfers and setting out a minimum standard that must be upheld whenever a state transfers an individual. As a threshold matter, formal processes for transfer may not be intentionally bypassed and the transferring state must have a valid legal basis for apprehending the individual in contemplation of transfer. Substantive rules protect individuals against transfer to a real risk of: torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; persecution; enforced disappearance; or arbitrary deprivation of life. Procedural rules guarantee the individual the ability to challenge the basis for his or her apprehension/detention in advance of transfer before an independent decision-maker on the grounds provided for in international law. Where diplomatic assurances are used, they must be accompanied by rigorous safeguards including judicial review and effective post-return monitoring by the transferring state.

Source: NYU School of Law

Recommended Citation

Satterthwaite, Margaret L., "The Legal Regime Governing Transfer of Persons in the Fight Against Terrorism" (2010). New York University Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers. Paper 192.
http://lsr.nellco.org/nyu_plltwp/192

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Incidents of Jihadist Terrorist Radicalization in the United States Since September 11, 2001

Overview

Between September 11, 2001, and the end of 2009, 46 publicly reported cases of domestic radicalization and recruitment to jihadist terrorism occurred in the United States; 13 of those cases occurred in 2009. Most of the would-be jihadists were individuals who recruited themselves into the terrorist role. Some provided assistance to foreign terrorist organizations; some went abroad to join various jihad fronts; some plotted terrorist attacks in the United Sates, usually with little success because of intervention by the authorities. The threat of large-scale terrorist violence has pushed law enforcement toward prevention rather than criminal apprehension after an event — or, as one senior police official put it, “staying to the left of the boom,” which means stopping the explosions or attacks before they occur. This shift toward prevention requires both collecting domestic intelligence — always a delicate mission in a democracy — and maintaining community trust and cooperation.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Link to online overview at RAND

Teachers' Use of Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: 2009

This First Look report presents data from a spring 2009 Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) survey on the availability and use of educational technology by public elementary/secondary school teachers. The teacher survey includes information on the use of computers and Internet access in the classroom; availability and use of computing devices, software, and school or district networks (including remote access) by teachers; students' use of educational technology; teachers' preparation to use educational technology for instruction; and technology-related professional development activities.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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A Modern Framework for Measuring Poverty and Basic Economic Security

This report details how the dominant framework for understanding and measuring poverty in the United States has become a conservative one. The current U.S. approach to measuring poverty views poverty only in terms of having an extremely low level of annual income, and utilizes poverty thresholds that are adjusted only for inflation rather than for changes in overall living standards. As a result, the official poverty measure has effectively defined deprivation down over the last four decades, moving it further and further away from mainstream living standards over time, as well as from majority public opinion of the minimum amount needed to “get along” at a basic level. A new Supplemental Income Poverty Measure (SIPM) proposed by the Obama administration makes some important improvements to the current poverty measure. However, the SIPM remains a conservative approach that appears likely to lock in the poverty line at an extremely low level.

This report proposes a new framework for measuring poverty and basic economic security in the United States. Instead of being limited to the “extremely-low-income-only” approach the current poverty line and administration’s proposed Supplemental Income Poverty Measure (SIPM) represent, this framework should utilize measures of low income and other forms of economic hardship related to low income.

Source: Center for Economic and Policy Research

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America’s Future: Latino Child Well-Being in Numbers and Trends

America’s Future: Latino Child Well-Being in Numbers and Trends was produced by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). This data book offers a comprehensive overview of the state of Latino children by integrating a range of key factors and outcomes in the areas of demography, citizenship, family structure, poverty, health, education, and juvenile justice. It provides an overview of current national and state-level trends for Latino children under age 18 relative to non-Hispanic White and Black children, documenting both regional variations and changing trends since the year 2000.

Source: National Council of La Raza

Download full pdf publication | Link to NCLR

Better Data on Teacher Preparation Could Aid Efforts to Improve Education

A new report from the National Research Council on teacher education programs in the United States recommends that the U.S. Department of Education develop a national education data network to integrate existing information on teacher preparation, drive the collection of new data, and provide needed information to researchers and policymakers working toward better approaches to preparing K-12 teachers. The current paucity of data and well-targeted research severely limits the capacity of policymakers and the education community to draw conclusions about which approaches are effective and how to design better ones, said the committee that wrote the report.

Source: National Academies Press

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European Company Survey 2009

The European Company Survey 2009 on flexibility practices and social dialogue is the second European-wide establishment survey to be undertaken by Eurofound. The survey documents flexibility strategies in firms and is a unique source of comparative information on social dialogue at the workplace. According to management and employee representatives in 27,000 public and private establishments across Europe, working time flexibility is the most common type of flexibility available in European companies. More than half of all establishments with 10 or more employees in the EU27 use some type of flexi-time arrangement. This reflects a substantial increase on the situation four years ago as measured in the first European Company Survey, which covered 21 countries.

Source: EuroFound

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Out of Balance? Comparing Public and Private Sector Compensation Over 20 Years

From press:

Public workers earn 11% to 12% less than workers in private companies, according to a joint study from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and National Institute on Retirement Security.

...analyzed 20 years of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also found that the pay gap has generally widened over the last two decades, as private compensation moved higher while earnings for state and local workers fell.

Source: Center for State and Local Government Excellence

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The motherhood wage penalty

The motherhood wage penalty is a substantial obstacle to progress in gender equality at work. Using matched employer–employee data from Norway (1979–1996, N = 236,857 individuals, N = 1,027,462 individual–years), a country with public policies that promote combining family and career, we investigate (a) whether the penalty arises from differential pay by employers or from the sorting of employees on occupations and establishments and (b) changes in the penalties during a period with major changes in
family policies. We find that: (a) The penalty to motherhood was mostly due to sorting on occupations and occupation–establishment units (mothers and nonmothers working in the same occupation and establishment received similar pay), and (b) The wage penalties to motherhood declined substantially over the 18-year period.

Petersen, Trond, Penner, Andrew M., & Høgnsnes, Geir. (2010). The Within-Job Motherhood Wage Penalty in Norway, 1979–1996. UC Berkeley: Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4h8849rq

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Latin America and the Caribbean: Fact Sheet on Leaders and Elections

This fact sheet tracks the current heads of government in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. It provides the dates of the last and next elections for the head of government and the national independence date for each country.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to OpenCRS

"Socialism" Not So Negative, "Capitalism" Not So Positive

A Political Rhetoric Test

"Socialism" is a negative for most Americans, but certainly not all Americans. "Capitalism" is regarded positively by a majority of public, though it is a thin majority. Among certain segments of the public -- notably, young people and Democrats -- both "isms" are rated about equally. And while most Americans have a negative reaction to the word "militia," the term is viewed more positively by Republican men than most other groups.

These are among the findings of a national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press that tests reactions to words and phrases frequently used in current political discourse. Overall, 29% say they have a positive reaction to the word "socialism," while 59% react negatively. The public's impressions of "capitalism," though far more positive, are somewhat mixed. Slightly more than half (52%) react positively to the word "capitalism," compared with 37% who say they have a negative reaction.

Link to report published online | Download topline questionnaire (pdf)

Hispanics and Arizona’s New Immigration Law

More Americans believe that Hispanics are the targets of a lot of discrimination in American society than say the same about any other major racial or ethnic group, according to a Pew Research Center survey taken prior to the recent enactment of an immigration enforcement law by the state of Arizona. These findings from the Pew Research Center's November 2009 survey are included in a new Pew Hispanic Center fact sheet that covers a range of issues, attitudes and trends related to the new Arizona measure and its potential impact on the Latino community and on the enforcement of the nation's immigration laws.

Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Download pdf factsheet | Link to Pew Hispanic Center

Government Spending Undercover: Spending Programs Administered by the IRS

Abstract:

When policymakers look to trim fat from the federal government they too often ignore half the problem: the vast and complicated set of spending programs administered by the IRS. These programs are often referred to as tax expenditures, but this paper argues that they should be viewed just like any other type of government spending. In fiscal year 2011 we will spend over $1 trillion on tax expenditures. Despite their big price tag, these programs fly under the radar of media and popular opinion. As a result, they are more likely than direct outlays to be ineffective initiatives or giveaways to the politically powerful.

This paper explains what IRS-administered spending programs are, and summarizes the obstacles to subjecting them to the same scrutiny as other government spending. It then offers four recommendations for working these programs into the budget process: (1) requiring a bipartisan commission or a designated agency to create rules for identifying provisions that should be treated as “IRS-administered spending programs,” (2) directing CBO to display alternative projections of federal revenue and spending that count all IRS-administered spending programs as revenue raised and then spent, (3) requiring the IRS to inform taxpayers of the benefits they receive from such programs, and (4) allowing taxpayers to claim these benefits separately from remitting taxes due.

Finally, this paper offers a framework of questions and principles that policymakers should bear in mind in giving these programs the critical evaluation that they deserve. Specifically, policymakers should consider whether each IRS-administered spending program furthers any public goals and, if so, whether it is structured as effectively as possible to achieve its objectives. If a program seeks to encourage consumers to act in their own interest, policymakers should consider replacing or supplementing it with default rules and “nudges” that facilitate better decisions. If a program seeks to encourage consumers to make choices that benefit others, policymakers should target its subsidies on the choices that benefit others the most and the taxpayers who are most likely to respond. Responsiveness can often be increased by offering the same subsidy to everyone, framing the subsidy as a match, or delivering it earlier in time. More fundamentally, such subsidies should not depend on the claimant’s marginal tax rate or itemizing status. This implies that IRS-administered spending program that seek to influence or reward socially-desirable choices should almost always be delivered in the form of refundable credits, instead of non-refundable credits, deferral, deductions, or exclusions.

Source: New York University Law and Economics Working Papers

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2009 Saw Record Decline in Foundation Giving

Several factors helped to moderate the overall decline in 2009 foundation giving. Principal among them were the decision of a significant number of funders to reduce their operating expenses and/or draw upon their endowments to shore up their giving during the crisis; increased giving by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other grantmakers; continuing gifts and bequests from donors into new and existing foundations; and the practice of asset-averaging by some foundations, which reduces the impact on giving of year-to-year fluctuations in asset values.

Source: The Foundation Center

Download full pdf publication | Link to press release

Census Bureau Reports Nearly 6 in 10 Advanced Degree Holders Age 25-29 Are Women

The tabulations, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2009, showed that among people in the 25-29 age group, 9 percent of women and 6 percent of men held either a master’s, professional (such as law or medical) or doctoral degree. This holds true for white, black and Hispanic women. Among Asian men and women of this age group, there was no statistical difference.

The data also demonstrate the extent to which having such a degree pays off: average earnings in 2008 totaled $83,144 for those with an advanced degree, compared with $58,613 for those with a bachelor’s degree only. People whose highest level of attainment was a high school diploma had average earnings of $31,283.

Also included are data on the highest level of education achieved by a wide range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, including age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, household relationship, citizenship, nativity and year of entry. Historical tables provide data on mean earnings by attainment level, sex, race and Hispanic origin with data back to 1975, and tables on attainment levels back to 1940.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Link to download data tables | Download pdf Fact Sheet

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Perceived Access, Environmental Barriers to Use, and Use of Community Parks

Abstract:

Introduction
Community parks provide places for people to be physically active. Our objective was to determine how access to, barriers to use of, and use of community parks differ by race/ethnicity.

Methods
Analyses are based on a cross-sectional national sample of adults (N = 5,157) participating in the 2006 HealthStyles mail survey. Community parks were defined as outdoor public areas within 10 miles or a 20-minute drive from where a person lives that include walking/bike paths, nature preserves, playgrounds, beaches, lakes, rivers, or similar places.

Results
Overall, 12% of respondents reported not having a community park. Among those with a community park, 14% reported personal safety concerns and 14% reported inadequate or poorly maintained facilities as barriers to park use. Race/ethnicity was not associated with park access; however, Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to report barriers. Among those with access to a community park, 83% reported any park use in the previous year and, of these, 67% reported an active visit. Odds of any park use did not differ significantly by race/ethnicity. Odds of an active visit were significantly lower in non-Hispanic blacks than whites (odds ratio, 0.67) but did not significantly differ between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites.

Conclusions
Parks are valuable community resources to all racial/ethnic groups. To promote and increase community park use, it is important to be aware that parks are used differently by different racial/ethnic groups and that barriers may differentially influence park use.

Source: Prev Chronic Dis 2010;7(3). http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/
may/09_0150.htm. Accessed [date].

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The Loser's Curse: Overconfidence vs. Market Efficiency in the National Football League Draft

Abstract:

A question of increasing interest to researchers in a variety of fields is whether the biases found in judgment and decision making research remain present in contexts in which experienced participants face strong economic incentives. To investigate this question, we analyze the decision making of National Football League teams during their annual player draft. This is a domain in which monetary stakes are exceedingly high and the opportunities for learning are rich. It is also a domain in which multiple psychological factors suggest teams may overvalue the chance to pick early in the draft. Using archival data on draft-day trades, player performance and compensation, we compare the market value of draft picks with the surplus value to teams provided by the drafted players. We find that top draft picks are overvalued in a manner that is inconsistent with rational expectations and efficient markets and consistent with psychological research.

Authors : Richard Thaler (CASBS Fellow 1998) and Cade Massey
Source: Social Science Resource Network (SSRN)

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NIH-led Interagency Group Identifies Research Needs to Study Climate Change and Human Health Impacts

...highlights 11 key categories of diseases and other health consequences that are occurring or will occur due to climate change. The report, A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change, provides a starting point for coordination of federal research to better understand climate’s impact on human health. The recommendations of the working group include research to identify who will be most vulnerable, and what efforts will be most beneficial.

The report also examines a number of cross-cutting issues for federal research in this area, including susceptible, vulnerable, and displaced populations; public health and health care infrastructure; capacities and skills needed; and communication and education efforts.

Source: National Institutes of Health

Download full pdf publication | Link to NIH press release

Americans Remain Divided on Health Reform But Are Confused About The Law And How And When It Will Affect Them

The first Kaiser Health Tracking Poll fielded since the passage of health reform last month finds that 8 in 10 Americans know that President Obama signed the legislation into law. But 55 percent say they are confused about the law and more than half (56%) say they don’t yet have enough information to understand how it will affect them personally.

The poll finds that the public supports many of the provisions of health reform that are set to be implemented in the short term. When asked about 11 specific provisions scheduled to take effect this year, in each case a majority of Americans viewed them favorably, often with bipartisan support.

Still, the public remains divided on the law overall, with 46 percent viewing it favorably, 40 percent unfavorably and 14 percent undecided. Similarly, 31 percent of Americans say they expect personally to be better off because of the law, while 32 percent say they will be worse off and 30 percent say they don’t expect to be affected.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

Download full pdf publication findings | Download Chartpack | Download topline questionnaire | Link to KFF

Reauthorizing No Child Left Behind: Facts and Recommendations

This report synthesizes findings and draws lessons about the implementation and results of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) as reflected primarily in two longitudinal studies funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Progress to date suggests that NCLB's ambitious goal of having 100 percent of U.S. students proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014 will not be met. In addition, the flexibility provided to states by the law has resulted in the establishment of a different accountability system in every state, each with different academic standards, levels of student proficiency, and teacher requirements. Parents have not responded in great numbers either to school choice or to receiving supplemental educational services options. Should Congress reauthorize NCLB, the authors recommend that it consider making the following changes to the law: promote more-uniform academic standards and teacher qualification requirements across states, set more-appropriate improvement targets, broaden the measures of student learning beyond multiple-choice tests in reading and mathematics to include more subjects and tests of higher-thinking and problem-solving skills, focus improvement efforts on all schools while continuing to offer parental choice, and provide incentives for highly qualified teachers to teach in low-performing schools.

Source: RAND Corporation

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U.S. Initiatives to Promote Global Internet Freedom: Issues, Policy, and Technology

Online Summary:

Modern means of communications, led by the Internet, provide a relatively inexpensive, open, easy-entry means of sharing ideas, information, pictures, and text around the world. In a political and human rights context, in closed societies when the more established, formal news media is denied access to or does not report on specified news events, the Internet has become an alternative source of media, and sometimes a means to organize politically. The openness and the freedom of expression allowed through blogs, social networks, video sharing sites, and other tools of today's communications technology has proven to be an unprecedented and often disruptive force in some closed societies. Governments that seek to maintain their authority and control the ideas and information their citizens receive are often caught in a dilemma: they feel that they need access to the Internet to participate in commerce in the global market and for economic growth and technological development, but fear that allowing open access to the Internet potentially weakens their control over their citizens. Legislation now under consideration in the 111th Congress would mandate that U.S. companies selling Internet technologies and services to repressive countries take actions to combat censorship and protect personally identifiable information. Some believe, however, that technology can offer a complementary and, in some cases, better and more easily implemented solution to some of those issues. They argue that hardware and Internet services, in and of themselves, are neutral elements of the Internet; it is how they are implemented by various countries that is repressive. Also, Internet services are often tailored for deployment to specific countries; however, such tailoring is done to bring the company in line with the laws of that country, not with the intention of allowing the country to repress and censor its citizenry. In many cases, that tailoring would not raise many questions about free speech and political repression. This report provides information regarding the role of U.S. and other foreign companies in facilitating Internet censorship by repressive regimes overseas. The report is divided into several sections: • Examination of repressive policies in China and Iran, • Relevant U.S. laws, • U.S. policies to promote Internet freedom, • Private sector initiatives, and • Congressional action. Two appendixes describe technologies and mechanisms for censorship and circumvention of government restrictions.

Source: Congressional Research Service


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Diverging family structure and “rational” behavior: The decline in marriage as a disorder of choice

The past fifty years have witnessed a growing divergence in family structure by social class, income, education, and race. The goal is to explain why significant segments of the population are moving away from the traditional patterns of family and reproduction. Most demographers acknowledge that external and material constraints fail to account for most of the present dispersion by class and race in marriage, divorce, and patterns of childbearing. Nor do these factors explain the widening of disparities over time. In attempting to improve on prior theories, this paper proposes a different explanation for these developments. It argues that demographic trends can best be explained as the product of growing differences in styles of thinking about partner choice and reproductive behavior. Drawing on the work of psychologists Richard Herrnstein and Gene Heyman, the paper presents a model that contrasts two distinct types of “rational” choice: “global” and “local.” It then demonstrates that average disparities by race and class in the adoption of local or global decisionmaking methods can account for the significant demographic variations now observed in rates of marriage, divorce, and out of wedlock childbearing. The paper then suggests that this diversity emerged in the wake of the normative deregulation of the sexual revolution. The demise of strong heuristic mores and institutional constraints, and the rise of individualism, facilitated the development of contrasting decisionmaking styles in intimate relations.


Source: Scholarship at Penn Law [via NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to Legal Scholarship Repository

How Insurgencies End

This study tested conventional wisdom about how insurgencies end against the evidence from 89 insurgencies. It compares a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 89 insurgency case studies with lessons from insurgency and counterinsurgency (COIN) literature. While no two insurgencies are the same, the authors find that modern insurgencies last about ten years and that a government's chances of winning may increase slightly over time. Insurgencies are suited to hierarchical organization and rural terrain, and sanctuary is vital to insurgents. Insurgent use of terrorism often backfires, and withdrawal of state sponsorship can cripple an insurgency, typically leading to its defeat. Inconsistent support to either side generally presages defeat for that side, although weak insurgencies can still win. Anocracies (pseudodemocracies) rarely succeed against insurgencies. Historically derived force ratios are neither accurate nor predictive, and civil defense forces are very useful for both sides. Key indicators of possible trends and tipping points in an insurgency include changes in desertions, defections, and the flow of information to the COIN effort. The more parties in an insurgency, the more likely it is to have a complex and protracted ending. There are no COIN shortcuts.

Source: RAND Corporation

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Are Adolescents Talking with Their Parents About Sex Before Becoming Sexually Active?

Examines parent-child discussions of sexual behavior. Finds consistency in the timing and content of such discussions; however, many parents and children do not discuss key topics, such as birth control, before adolescents become sexually active.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Link to RAND research brief

Academic Salaries : 2009-10 Report on the Economic Status of the Profession

From the online summary:

Rough financial seas had been buffeting many colleges and universities for years before the recession that began in late 2007. Then in mid-September 2008, an economic tsunami crashed into our campuses, challenging our ability to provide the accessible, high-quality education necessary to achieve long-term national goals. As the economy weakened at the end of 2008 and into 2009, college and university presidents, business officers, admissions deans, financial aid directors, faculty, staff, students, and parents wondered whether higher education would find a refuge from the worst of the storm, as it had in prior recessions.

Eighteen months later we have some of the data needed to answer this question, and the answer is a resounding “no!” Current budgetary woes result less from rising costs than from reductions in revenue from virtually all sources. Even so, this year’s report reveals tremendous differences in the nature of budgetary woes across institutions. But what holds true among the roughly thirty five hundred colleges and universities across the country is that faculty members are on the front lines interacting with students in the classroom, in the laboratory, in the studio, on the stage, and in the field. Because of the importance of our work in determining “how well we educate our children,” to quote President Obama, it is essential that professors play a meaningful role in identifying measures for dealing with financial difficulties, so that the impact of cuts on the fundamental elements of our academic institutions is limited. Moreover, faculty members must continue to contribute to decision making as our institutions chart their course for a return to normalcy.

Source: American Association of University Professors

Download full pdf publication | Link to summary page and data download options

Nearly a Quarter of All Unemployed Americans Jobless For a Year or More – A Post-War High

From Press Release:

Twenty-three percent of America’s unemployed have been jobless for a year or longer, the highest rate since World War II, according to a study released today by the Pew Economic Policy Group. The report, A Year or More: The High Cost of Long-Term Unemployment, finds that this trend cuts across nearly every industry and occupation, and affects people of all ages and educational backgrounds. The existence of such a large pool of people – 3.4 million – who have been out of work for so long has had a significant impact on the federal budget.

Source: Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative, a program of Pew Economic Policy Group

Download full pdf publication | Link to online press release

Assessing the Impact of Education and Marriage on Labor Market Exit Decisions of Women

During the late 1990s, the convergence of women's labor force participation rates to men's rates came to a halt. This paper explores the degree to which the role of education and marriage in women's labor supply decisions also changed over this time period. Specifically, this paper investigates women's decisions to exit the labor market upon the birth of a child. The results indicate that changing exit behavior among married, educated women at this period in their lives was not likely the driving force behind the aggregate changes seen in labor force participation. Rather, changes in exit rates among single women, particularly those less educated, are much more consistent with the changing pattern of aggregate female labor force participation.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

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The New Consumer Behavior Paradigm: Permanent or Fleeting?

As outlined in the report, shoppers will be more deliberate and purposeful in their spending, as conspicuous consumption will give way to more conscious or practical consumerism. Rampant deal-seeking will be replaced by more purchase selectivity and the use of shopping techniques and tools discovered during the recession. Additionally, the affluent segment of Generation X and the young Generation Y will lead spending in the recovery.

Source Price Waterhouse Coopers

Download full pdf publication | Link to PWC Retail Division

Digest of Education Statistics, 2009

The 45th in a series of publications initiated in 1962, the Digest's primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest contains data on a variety of topics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances, and federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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Trends in the Use of School Choice

This report uses data from the National Household Surveys Program (NHES) to present trends that focus on the use of and users of public schools (assigned and chosen), private schools (church- and non church-related), charter schools, and homeschoolers between 1993 and 2007.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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U.S. Birth Rate Decline Linked to Recession

Birth rates in the United States began to decline in 2008 after rising to their highest level in two decades, and the decrease appears to be linked to the recession, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of state fertility and economic data.

This analysis is based on data from the 25 states for which final 2008 birth numbers are available. State-level indicators were used because the magnitude and timing of the recent economic decline varies from state to state, thus allowing a more nuanced analysis of links with fertility than is possible at the national level.

In 22 of these 25 states, the birth rate — the share of women of childbearing age who gave birth — declined or leveled off in 2008, compared with the previous year. In 20 of the 25 states, the number of births declined or leveled off from the previous year.

The analysis suggests that the falloff in fertility coincides with deteriorating economic conditions. There is a strong association between the magnitude of fertility change in 2008 across states and key economic indicators including changes in per capita income, housing prices and share of the working-age population that is employed across states.

Source: Pew Research Center

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War Bonds in the Second World War: A Model for a New Iraq/Afghanistan War Bond?

The high costs of fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have rekindled congressional interest in the concept of the sale of a Treasury security to help finance these war costs. In the 111th Congress, three bills have been introduced that would permit the issuance of a war bond: S. 2846, H.R. 4315, and H.R. 4385. Although these bills are silent on any relationship between the proposed "war bonds" and World War II-era war bonds, the question has been raised whether or not the issuance of war bonds during the Second World War serves as a good model for a new "war bond." During the Second World War, war bonds were sold to help finance the cost of national defense. War bonds were simply a new name for already existing U.S. savings bonds. War bonds were aggressively marketed through well organized campaigns, which appealed to citizens' sense of patriotism. Their primary purpose was to reduce consumer spending in order to lessen inflationary pressures and black market activity. Also, campaigns to sell war bonds were intended to raise morale by creating a sense of participation in the war effort. The sale of war bonds did reduce consumer spending. Current economic and financial conditions differ from those of the early 1940s. During the Second World War, high inflation and over-employment prevailed. The federal government imposed price and wage controls, production controls, rationing, controls on the level of interest rates on Treasury securities, and regulations on installment loans. As mentioned previously, war bonds were marketed primarily to reduce consumer spending. Today, despite concern about a personal savings rate below historical norms, most federal officials are more concerned about raising consumer spending, because of high unemployment and inadequate aggregate demand. To date, no savings bond or any other Treasury security issue has ever had its funds earmarked for any specific purpose; rather, all funds raised have been placed in the general fund. In summary, the prior war bonds program in the Second World War is a problematic model for Iraq/Afghanistan "war bonds."

Source: Congressional Research Service

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Criminalization Tensions: Empirical Desert, Changing Norms & Rape Reform

Abstract:

This short Article is part of the organizers’ larger Criminalization Project, which seeks, among other things, to develop theories for how criminalization decisions should be made. The argument presented here is that there is instrumentalist, as well as deontological, value in having criminalization decisions that generally track the community’s judgments about what is sufficiently condemnable to be criminal, but that there are also good reasons to deviate from community views. Interestingly, those in the business of social reform may be the ones with the greatest stake in normally tracking community views, in order to avoid community perceptions of the criminal law as regularly or intentionally doing injustice. By building the criminal law’s moral credibility, the law can earn “credibility chips” that the social reformer then has available to “spend” when the criminal law is needed to help change existing norms. The strategic dilemmas of a rape reformer are used as a case study to demonstrate the complexities of the calculations.

Author: Robinson, Paul H. Source: Scholarship at Penn Law. Paper 317.

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A House Divided: Polarization and Its Effect on RAND

From the abstract:

The American political climate has become increasingly polarized since the 1970s. Analysis by Keith Poole (CASBS Fellow 2004) and Howard Rosenthal (CASBS Fellow years 1999, 1992) shows that voting patterns within Congress have become increasingly divided along party lines, with fewer and fewer moderates. A major cause of polarization appears to be the geographic sorting of voters: Communities and regions of the country have become more politically and ideologically homogeneous, resulting in constituencies in congressional districts and in states that are more strongly conservative or liberal. Whatever its causes, the effects of increased polarization on political discourse and policymaking are clear: There is less room for deliberation between the two parties, and public policy decisionmaking is increasingly driven more by ideology than by objective analysis of which policies, programs, practices, and processes will produce the desired outcomes at the lowest cost. The mission of the RAND Corporation is to provide just this sort of objective analysis, and today's heated political environment presents a serious challenge to this mission. To help make sure that RAND's objective, nonpartisan research influences the policy debate, RAND must work to identify potentially controversial findings and take steps to ensure that they are not misinterpreted or distorted.

Source: RAND Corporation

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Government Collection of Private Information: Background and Issues Related to the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization

Summary:

Congress enacted the USA PATRIOT Act soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The most controversial sections of the act facilitate the federal government's collection of more information, from a greater number of sources, than had previously been authorized in criminal or foreign intelligence investigations. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), and the national security letter (NSL) statutes were all bolstered. With the changes came greater access to records showing an individual's spending and communication patterns as well as increased authority to intercept e-mail and telephone conversations and to search homes and businesses. In some cases, evidentiary standards required to obtain court approval for the collection of information were lowered. Other approaches included expanding the scope of information subject to search, adding flexibility to the methods by which information could be collected, and broadening the purposes for which information may be sought. Some perceived the changes as necessary to unearth terrorist cells and update investigative authorities to respond to the new technologies and characteristics of ever-shifting threats. Others argued that authorities granted by the USA PATRIOT Act and subsequent measures could unnecessarily undermine constitutional rights over time. In response to such concerns, sunset provisions were established for many of the changes. Subsequent measures made most of the USA PATRIOT Act changes permanent. However, three authorities affecting the collection of foreign intelligence information are set to expire on February 28, 2011: the lone wolf, roving wiretap, and business record sections of FISA. The 111th Congress replaced an earlier expiration date with the 2011 date. Before that change was made, the impending expiration prompted legislative proposals which revisit changes made by the USA PATRIOT Act and related measures. Two such bills--the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2009 (S. 1692) and the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R. 3845)--were reported from their respective judiciary committees. In addition to the expiring provisions, these and other bills introduced during the 111th Congress (e.g., S. 1686, S. 1725, S. 1726, S. 2336, H.R. 1800, H.R. 3846, H.R. 3969, and H.R. 4005) address a range of issues, including national security letters, minimization requirements, nondisclosure requirements (gag orders), interception of international communications, and retroactive repeal of communication provider immunity for Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) assistance.

Source: Congressional Research Service

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The European Union: Leadership Changes Resulting from the Lisbon Treaty

Changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union's (EU's) new reform treaty that took effect on December 1, 2009, have a significant impact on EU governance. The EU is an important partner or interlocutor of the United States in a large number of issues, but the complicated institutional dynamics of the EU can be difficult to navigate. The Lisbon Treaty makes substantial modifications in the leadership of the EU, especially with regard to the European Council, the Council of Ministers, and the EU's rotating presidency. Every six months, the "EU Presidency" rotates among the 27 member states. Under the treaty, however, the leader of the presidency country no longer serves as the temporary chair and spokesman of the European Council, the grouping of the EU's 27 national leaders. This duty now belongs to the newly created President of the European Council, who serves a once-renewable two-and-a-half year term. In addition, the foreign minister of the presidency country no longer chairs the meetings of EU foreign ministers in the Council of the EU (commonly known as the Council of Ministers). This duty is now performed by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, another newly created position whose holder serves a five-year term and is both an agent of the Council of Ministers and a Vice President of the European Commission. Many of the day-to-day duties of the rotating presidency country, however, will continue under the Lisbon Treaty. Ministers of the presidency country will still chair all of the meetings of the Council of Ministers other than in the area of foreign policy. The presidency country is expected to continue preparing and arranging these activities, and playing a leading role in the Council of Ministers to forge agreement on legislative proposals.

Source: Congressional Research Service

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Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2008; Graduation Rates, 2002 and 2005 Cohorts; and Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2008

This First Look report presents findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) spring 2009 data collection. This collection included five components: Student Financial Aid for full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students for the 2008-09 academic year; Enrollment for fall 2008; Graduation Rates within 150 percent of normal program completion time for full-time, first-time degree/ certificate-seeking undergraduate students beginning college in 2002 at 4-year institutions or in 2005 at less-than-4-year institutions; Graduation Rates within 200 percent of normal program completion time for full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students beginning college in 2000 at 4-year institutions or in 2004 at less-than-4-year institutions; and Finance for fiscal year 2008.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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Constitutional Courts and Democratic Hedging

From the Abstract:

This article analyzes the role of constitutional courts in stabilizing new democracies as they emerge from authoritarianism. Relying on both contractual and strategic considerations, the article presents a picture of constitutional courts as mediating or “hedging” the transition to democracy by offering the prospect of further resistance to one-party domination that has doomed many new democracies. By potentially lending an institutional ally to the losers in the first period of government formation, constitutional court may aid in resisting the process in which the first election is a contest for who gets to assume the power of the state, and in which the first election also proves to be the last election. This analysis is applied to the work that courts have done in shoring the institutional structures of divided government in counties from Eastern Europe to South Africa, and including restored competitive democracies in South Korea and Mexico. The argument then turns to the jurisprudence which does and should follow from the role of courts in stabilizing the transition to democracy.

Source: New York University Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers [via NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository]

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