The economic returns of bonding and bridging social capital for immigrant men in Germany

Using longitudinal data, this paper analyses the effect of different forms of social capital on the likelihood of employment and the occupational status of first generation immigrant men in Germany. This allows me to examine to what extent social capital of the bonding and the bridging types yield different returns. The study considers how contacts with natives, co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital are beneficial to the economic position of immigrant men. Random effects and fixed effects models show that strong inter-ethnic ties are beneficial both for employment and occupational status. There is no effect of co-ethnic ties and family-based social capital. It is concluded that, when using panel data, bridging social capital contributes to a better economic position and bonding social capital does not.     

Understanding the diversity of immigrant incorporation: a forms-of-capital model

This article develops the concept of forms of capital as the basis of a model of immigrant incorporation. The model sets out the manner in which the social, financial, and human-cultural capital of immigrant families predict the sorting of immigrants into various labour market trajectories. For example, immigrants arriving with low stocks of financial and human-cultural capital are most likely to find employment in the ethnic economy, whereas immigrants with human-cultural capital that is fungible in the host society tend to gain employment in the broader mainstream economy. Event history analysis is employed to demonstrate the model on four patterns of job mobility common among immigrants: entrepreneurship, professional-managerial-technical jobs, employment in the public sector, and semi- or low-skilled factory work and low-paid service jobs. The findings show that the mix of capital immigrants arrive with, and subsequently accumulate, shapes the trajectory of their incorporation into the host society. The research is based on a field study of Asian immigrants in the greater Los Angeles area.     

Time is money. Waiting costs explain why selection favors steeper time discounting in deprived environments

Individuals exposed to deprivation tend to show a characteristic behavioral syndrome suggestive of a short time horizon. This pattern has traditionally been attributed to the intrinsically higher unpredictability of deprived environments, which renders waiting for long term rewards more risky (i.e. collection risks are high). In the current paper, based on a simple dynamic life history model, we show that a significant portion of individuals' propensity to discount future rewards might have a completely distinct origin. Upon collecting a resource, individuals have the opportunity to accumulate “capital” (e.g. grow muscular tissue, build a protective shelter, buy a car, etc.), which eventually increases their productivity and/or their chances of survival. As a result, delaying the collection of a resource creates an opportunity cost in the sense that during the waiting time, the benefits otherwise generated by the increment in capital are lost. These forgone benefits are independent of collection risks and constitute waiting costs per se. Using optimal control theory we show that these costs can lead to the evolution of short time horizons even in the complete absence of collection risks. Moreover, assuming diminishing returns to capital, we show that the evolutionarily stable time horizon increases with the amount of capital already owned by individuals. When individuals possess little capital, they have a lot of room to improve their productivity and/or survival, hence they should be impatient to collect resources; that is, their time horizon should be short. On the contrary, when individuals already possess a lot of capital, the benefits of further accumulation are plateauing, hence patience becomes a more profitable strategy and individuals should lengthen their time horizon. This means that individuals get more patient as they age and that people in deprivation, who still have important productive and survival needs that can be satisfied, should have a shorter time horizon. This result leads us to interpret the behavioral constellation of deprivation in a new way.     

Does Workplace Social Capital Associate with Hazardous Drinking Among Chinese Rural-Urban Migrant Workers?

Background

The present study sought to investigate the associations between workplace social capital and hazardous drinking (HD) among Chinese rural-urban migrant workers (RUMW).

Methods

A cross sectional study with a multi-stage stratified sampling procedure was conducted in Shanghai during July 2012 to January 2013. In total, 5,318 RUMWs from 77 workplaces were involved. Work-place social capital was assessed using a validated and psychometrically tested eight-item measure. The Chinese version of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to assess hazardous drinking. Control variables included gender, age, marital status, education level, salary, and current smoking. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was conducted to test whether individual- and workplace-level social capital was associated with hazardous drinking.

Results

Overall, the prevalence of HD was 10.6%. After controlling for individual-level socio-demographic and lifestyle variables, compared to workers in the highest quartile of individual-level social capital, the odds of HD for workers in the three bottom quartiles were 1.13(95%CI: 1.04–1.23), 1.17(95%CI: 1.05–1.56) and 1.26(95%CI: 1.13–1.72), respectively. However, contrary to hypothesis, there was no relationship between workplace-level social capital and hazardous drinking.

Conclusions

Higher individual-level social capital may protect against HD among Chinese RUMWs. Interventions to build individual social capital among RUMWs in China may help reduce HD among this population.     

Social cues and hormone levels in male Octodon degus (Rodentia): a field test of the Challenge Hypothesis

Social interactions are important factors determining and regulating individual behaviors. Testosterone has been related to agonistic interactions, while glucocorticoids have been related to social stress, especially during interactions of dominance. We compared testosterone and cortisol concentrations in male degus (Octodon degus, Rodentia) under laboratory conditions without male social interactions, with data from wild males in nature. Under natural conditions, males should present higher levels of testosterone during the breeding season due to social interactions (Challenge Hypothesis). Alternatively, intense social instability could act as a stressing environment, raising glucocorticoids, which inhibit testosterone concentrations. Our results show a significant increase in agonistic interactions between males during the breeding season, and disappearance of non-agonistic male interactions during this period. Hormone levels in breeding season show nonsignificant differences between laboratory groups, but testosterone concentrations in field males were significantly higher than in laboratory males. Testosterone levels were similar among pre-breeding and breeding periods, but in field animals the concentration was approximately 30% higher than in laboratory degus. In field animals, we found two different mating strategies: resident males, with territorial behavior, and transient males, displayed an opportunistic approach to females. Finally, cortisol presents a similar pattern in both laboratory and field animals; pre-breeding values of cortisol are higher than during the breeding season. This suggests that social interactions in O. degus activate a rise in testosterone, supporting the Challenge Hypothesis, and could be considered as partial support of the Social Stress Hypothesis.     

The Role of Community and Individuals in the Formation of Social Capital

Because social capital shapes many desirable socioeconomic outcomes, we ask what incentives drive private investments in social capital. We estimate the association between private investments in social capital (outcome variable) and the following explanatory variables: (a) individual-level variables from an optimal investment model, (b) spillovers from group social capital, (c) village income inequality, and (d) market openness. We draw on information from Tsimane’, a native Amazonian society of foragers and farmers in Bolivia, and equate social capital with gifts, help given, and communal labor offered by the household. Age bore an inverted U-shaped and income bore a positive association with social capital, but geographic mobility, wealth, and schooling bore no significant association with social capital. We found strong group-level associations even after instrumenting social capital; the association probably stems from strong kinship ties which tend to blur the line between the group and the individual. Village measures of social capital were positively and significantly associated with private investments in social capital. We found some evidence that village income inequality and market openness were negatively associated with private investments in social capital.     

Focus: The Aging Brain: Social capital,health, and elderly driver status

Driving a car enables many people to engage in meaningful activities that, in turn, help develop and maintain personal social capital. Social capital, a combination of community participation and social cohesion, is important in maintaining well-being. This paper argues that social capital can provide a framework for investigating the general role of transportation and driving a car specifically to access activities that contribute to connectedness and well-being among older people. This paper proposes theoretically plausible and empirically testable hypotheses about the relationship between driver status, social capital, and well-being. A longitudinal study may provide a new way of understanding, and thus of addressing, the well-being challenges that occur when older people experience restrictions to, or loss of, their driver’s license.     

Differential long-term effects of social stress during adolescence on anxiety in Wistar and wild-type rats

Severe and chronic stress may interfere with adolescent neuronal plasticity that turns the juvenile brain into an adult brain increasing the vulnerability to develop anxiety disorders. It is well-known from adult stress research that there is a large individual differentiation in stress vulnerability. The current study is aimed at the individual resilience and vulnerability to adolescent social stress. Two strains of rats that differ in social behavioral skills were subjected to social stress during adolescence. In three experiments we studied short and long term effects of adolescent social stress using a water conflict test in different contexts. Wistar rats which had been socially defeated on postnatal days 45 and 46 showed, following water deprivation, a strong decrease in the total amount of water consumed and time spent drinking when tested 2 days and 3 weeks later in the context where they received the defeat experience. Also a strong increase in drinking latency was noticed in the context of the previous defeat. No differences in these parameters were found between defeated and non-defeated wild-type rats. The results of the water conflict test in an environment where no association with the previous defeat experience was present showed that the adolescent social stress did not induce a generalized anxiety.In conclusion, the water conflict test is a useful tool to measure the influence of social defeat on the motivation to obtain resources under conditions with different stimulus properties. In addition, our data suggest the importance of the strain used in adolescent stress experiments. The fact that Wistar rats showed a strong association with the context at adulthood whereas no effect was observed in the wild-type rats shows that victim characteristics are important determining factors for the long term effects of adolescent social stress.     

Seeking innovation: incentive funding for biodefense biotechs

In the current venture capital climate, it is easier to secure funding for late-stage, next-in-class therapeutic agents than for early-stage opportunities that have the potential to advance basic science and translational medicine. This funding paradigm is particularly problematic for the development of "dual-use" biothreat countermeasures such as antibiotics, vaccines, and antitoxins that target pathogens in novel ways and that have broad public health and biodefense applications. To address this issue, we propose the creation of the Drug Development Incentive Fund (DDIF), a novel funding mechanism that can stimulate the development of first-in-class agents that also possess the capability to guard against potential biothreats. This program would also support greater synergies between public funding and private venture investment. In a single act, this organization would secure science of national importance from disappearing, invest in projects that yield significant public health returns, advance the promises of preclinical and early phase research, revitalize biopharmaceutical investment, and create valuable innovation-economy jobs.     

Fitness increases with partner and neighbour allopreening

Altruism and selfishness are fundamental characteristics of human and animal societies. Among colonial biparental species, breeding outcome depends on interactions between mates and neighbours. However, the relationships between cooperation within and among partnerships and fitness have not been fully investigated. We show that in the highly colonial common guillemot (Uria aalge), altruistic behaviour (allopreening) towards a mate was positively related to long-term fitness, whereas allopreening a neighbour was related to current fitness. Turnover is much lower within than between pairs, so our results suggest that allopreening within pairs generates fitness returns at longer timescales than between pairs. Allopreening not only removes ectoparasites and maintains plumage condition, but may also have important social functions. We found a negative relationship between fight rate and allopreen rate between breeding neighbours, with nests exhibiting low breeding success having a higher frequency of fights with neighbours. We also found evidence for reciprocity in allopreening. Thus, allopreening may function as a reciprocal stress reducer, to decrease the likelihood of fights and associated breeding failure. We suggest that altruistic behaviour has long-term benefits for the survival of the offspring when living in a crowded neighbourhood.     

How does social capital matter to the health status of older adults? Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey

This paper uses longitudinal data from China to examine the causal relationship between structural social capital and health among Chinese older adults. We employ various econometric strategies to control for the potential endogeneity of social capital and account for the possible contextual confounding effects by including community-level social capital. We use three indicators to measure individuals’ general, physical, and mental health. Results indicate that social capital has a significant and positive effect on general and physical health. Based on our primary IV findings, a one standard-deviation increase in social capital leads to a 4.9 standard-deviation decrease in the probability of having bad health and a 2.2 standard-deviation decrease in physical activity limitations. Our results are robust to a series of sensitivity checks. Further analysis suggests heterogeneous effects by age but not by gender or area of residence.     

Data-Based Analysis of Winner-Loser Models of Hierarchy Formation in Animals

We review winner-loser models, the currently popular explanation for the occurrence of linear dominance hierarchies, via a three-part approach. (1) We isolate the two most significant components of the mathematical formulation of three of the most widely-cited models and rigorously evaluate the components’ predictions against data collected on hierarchy formation in groups of hens. (2) We evaluate the experimental support in the literature for the basic assumptions contained in winner-loser models. (3) We apply new techniques to the hen data to uncover several behavioral dynamics of hierarchy formation not previously described. The mathematical formulations of these models do not show satisfactory agreement with the hen data, and key model assumptions have either little or no conclusive support from experimental findings in the literature. In agreement with the latest experimental results concerning social cognition, the new behavioral dynamics of hierarchy formation discovered in the hen data suggest that members of groups are intensely aware both of their own interactions as well as interactions occurring among other members of their group. We suggest that more adequate models of hierarchy formation should be based upon behavioral dynamics that reflect more sophisticated levels of social cognition.     

Entropy-Based Financial Asset Pricing

We investigate entropy as a financial risk measure. Entropy explains the equity premium of securities and portfolios in a simpler way and, at the same time, with higher explanatory power than the beta parameter of the capital asset pricing model. For asset pricing we define the continuous entropy as an alternative measure of risk. Our results show that entropy decreases in the function of the number of securities involved in a portfolio in a similar way to the standard deviation, and that efficient portfolios are situated on a hyperbola in the expected return – entropy system. For empirical investigation we use daily returns of 150 randomly selected securities for a period of 27 years. Our regression results show that entropy has a higher explanatory power for the expected return than the capital asset pricing model beta. Furthermore we show the time varying behavior of the beta along with entropy.     

Behavioural and hormonal effects of social isolation and neophobia in a gregarious bird species, the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Separating gregarious individuals from their group members often results in behavioural and physiological changes, like increased levels of corticosterone. Testosterone and corticosterone, in particular, have been implicated in the response of mammals to novelty. Data in birds are, however, rare. The presence or absence of group members may also influence an individual's response to novel stimuli. We assessed the behaviour and hormonal response of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to a novel object in two different situations and seasons: each starling was tested when separated and when in contact with its group members in May/June (breeding season) and again in September/October (non-breeding season). Starlings are gregarious throughout the year, but as foraging flocks are small during the breeding season and large during the non-breeding season, we assumed that non-breeding starlings would be more affected by social isolation. Overall, starlings had higher levels of corticosterone, lost more body mass, and were more active when they were separated from their group. Isolated individuals, however, did not show a greater neophobic response than individuals in the presence of their group members in either season. Circulating levels of testosterone and corticosterone were higher after a test with novel object than after a test with only the familiar feeding dish in both sexes and seasons. However, control tests for handling effects confirmed only the increase in testosterone. Our study shows that social isolation is stressful for unrelated and unpaired members of a wild flocking bird species and demonstrates that novelty can lead to a rise in testosterone in birds.     

Social Capital,Collective Action and Group Formation: Developmental Trajectories in Post-socialist Mongolia

Group formation, social capital and collective action have been the focus of much recent attention amongst donors and policy makers. Optimistic scenarios highlight their contributions to poverty reduction and effective natural resource management. However, recent critiques have focused on the exclusionary potential or ‘dark side’ of groups and social capital. Not only are their longer term livelihood impacts unclear, but lacunae persist in our understanding of how social capital, especially trust, is built. This paper presents a longitudinal evaluation of trust, collective action and cooperation among herders in post-Soviet Mongolia in the context of recent donor projects. Results highlight the important catalytic effect of external interventions in overcoming a lack of trust and promoting formalised collective action, but only in the context of a particular conjunction of circumstances. Indications for livelihood outcomes confirm the differentiated benefits, exclusionary potential and fragility of social capital and new institutional forms.

Male Wistar rats are more susceptible to lasting social anxiety than Wild-type Groningen rats following social defeat stress during adolescence

Adolescence is an important period for the development of adult social competences. Social stress during adolescence may contribute not only to an inadequate social development but also to adult vulnerability to social anxiety. There seems to be a clear individual differentiation, however, in the vulnerability to the long-term negative consequences of social stress. The current study further explores this individual vulnerability and is aimed at the influence of social stress during adolescence on adult social anxiety and its context specificity. Rats from different strains (Wistar and Wild-type Groningen rats) were exposed to the resident-intruder paradigm five times during 10 min each in the period between postnatal day 45 and 58. Three and 7 weeks later, the animals were re-exposed to the context in the presence of either a dominant male or an anestrous female behind a wire mesh screen. Wistar rats that were socially defeated spent less time exploring the social stimulus in comparison with socially defeated Wild-type rats and their non-defeated controls. We conclude that the stressed Wistar rat shows signs of generalized social anxiety indicating that the Wistar rat can be considered as a vulnerable phenotype to effects of adolescent social stress.     

Social Capital and Sustainable Coffee Certifications in Costa Rica

Social capital has many applications in the adoption and management of voluntary certifications such as Fair trade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz, and CAFE Practices. We used a mixed-methods approach to assess social capital in five Costa Rican coffee cooperatives. We applied this information to its effects on the management of sustainable coffee certifications We found that the level of social capital affects the manner in which cooperatives manage certifications in terms of incentivizing certified members, distributing the profits from certification, and cooperating with outside organizations. Generalized trust was found to have an important link with voluntary participation in Rainforest Alliance certification when no financial incentive was provided. However, given the small differences among the cooperatives in micro-scale social capital, we conclude that certifications have not or have not yet made great impacts on the social capital on the micro-scale. This research presents important considerations for employing certifications and other sustainable development projects in different national contexts.     

Why do women live longer than men?

In the contemporary United States, males have 60 percent higher mortality than females. In Part I, published in the previous issue, we showed that 40 percent of this sex differential in mortality is due to a twofold elevation of arteriosclerotic heart disease among men. Major causes of higher rates of arteriosclerotic heart disease in men include greater cigarette smoking among men; probably a greater prevalence of the competitive, aggressive Coronary Prone Behavior Pattern among men; and possibly a protective role of female hormones. In addition, men have higher death rates for lung cancer and emphysema, primarily because more men smoke cigarettes. In Part II we analyze the other major causes of men's higher death rates: accidents, suicide, and cirrhosis of the liver. Each of these is related to behaviors which are encouraged or accepted more in men than in women in our society--for example, using guns, being adventurous and acting unafraid, working at hazardous jobs and drinking alcohol. We conclude with suggestions for reducing male mortality; for example, by changing the social conditions which foster in men the behaviors that elevate their mortality.     

Smoking and drinking by middle-aged British men: effects of social class and town of residence.

In 7735 men aged 40-59, selected at random from general practices in 24 towns throughout Britain, pronounced differences were noted in the prevalences of smoking and drinking between the social classes. Social class differences also existed for frequency and quantity of drinking, type of beverage, and several aspects of smoking behaviour. Increasing amounts of smoking were associated with higher prevalences of moderate to heavy drinking, particularly in daily rather than weekend drinkers. Between drinking groups, however, the relation with smoking was more U-shaped, with light and heavy drinkers smoking more than moderate drinkers. The lowest rates of moderate to heavy smoking were observed in frequent light drinkers, particularly in the nonmanual workers. The proportion of moderate to heavy drinkers was no higher among ex-cigarette smokers than among current smokers. When the data were examined by town of residence social class differences persisted. Controlling for social class still showed pronounced differences between towns in both smoking and drinking behaviour. These data confirm that town of residence and social class have independent effects on smoking and drinking. The established regional and social class differences in cardiovascular disease may be due in part to the independent influences of town and social class on smoking and drinking behaviour.     

Endocrinology of sociality: Comparisons between sociable and solitary individuals within the same population of African striped mice

The social organization of species ranges from solitary-living to complex social groups. While the evolutionary reasons of group-living are well studied, the physiological mechanisms underlying alternative social systems are poorly understood. By studying group-living and solitary individuals of the same species, we can determine hormonal correlates of sociality without the problem of confounding phylogenetic factors. The African striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) is a socially flexible species, which can be solitary or alternatively form complex family groups, depending on population density and the extent of reproductive competition. We predicted group-living striped mice to show signs of reproductive suppression and social stress, resulting in higher corticosterone but lower testosterone levels when compared to solitary-living individuals. To determine whether differences in social organization correlated with hormonal differences, we collected blood samples from free-living striped mice during four breeding seasons when we experimentally induced solitary-living in philopatric individuals by locally reducing population density. Striped mice that were group-living did not change their corticosterone or estosterone levels during the study, indicating that there was no temporal effect during the breeding season. Striped mice of both sexes had significantly lower corticosterone levels after switching from group- to solitary-living. Solitary males – but not solitary females – had higher testosterone levels than group-living conspecifics. Our results suggest that group-living results in physiological stress and can induce reproductive suppression, at least in philopatric males. The switch to solitary-living may thus be a tactic to avoid reproductive competition within groups, and is associated with decreased stress hormone levels and onset of independent reproduction.