Human capital, schooling and health

A consensus has been forged in the last decade that recent periods of sustained growth in total factor productivity and reduced poverty are closely associated with improvements in a population's child nutrition, adult health, and schooling, particularly in low-income countries. Estimates of the productive returns from these three forms of human capital investment are nonetheless qualified by a number of limitations in our data and analytical methods. This paper reviews the problems that occupy researchers in this field and summarizes accumulating evidence of empirical regularities. Social experiments must be designed to assess how randomized policy interventions motivate families and individuals to invest in human capital, and then measure the changed wage opportunities of those who have been induced to make these investments. Statistical estimation of wage functions that seek to represent the relationship between wage rates and a variety of human capital stocks may yield biased estimates of private rates of return from these investments for a variety of reasons. The paper summarizes several of these problems and illustrates how data and statistical methods can be used to deal with some of them. The measures of labor productivity and the proxies specified for schooling and adult health are first discussed, and then the functional relationships between human capital and wages are described. Three types of estimation problem are discussed: (1) bias due to omitted variables, such as ability or frailty; (2) bias due to the measurement of an aggregation of multiple sources of human capital, e.g. genetic and socially reproducible variation, which may contribute to different gains in worker productivity; and (3) errors in measurement of the human capital stocks. Empirical examples and illustrative estimates are surveyed.     

Rethinking Internal Migrations in Lao PDR: The Resettlement Process under Micro-Analysis

Current debates about the resettlement issue in Laos point to the need to pay closer attention to the migrants' representations and practices. In this article, three biographies of recent settlers in Thongnamy (Bolikhamxay Province) are analysed to highlight some concrete mechanisms at work in this context of socio-economic change. People rely on a diversity of resources to make ends meet, with varying success. Kinship and social capital are vital resources, and land is a major concern for all. The migrants' agency (a dimension missing in more quantitative surveys) must, however, be framed against a local ‘arena’, which is itself entangled in the broader, national setting, as revealed by a discussion of the ethnic issue and the land allocation policy. Ultimately, this paper offers insights into the progressive social differentiation that takes place in a new, heavily populated and multi-ethnic village where access to land is now at stake.     

Room at the top? Minority mobility and the transition to demographic diversity in the USA

We examine the ramifications of the demographic transition to diversity in the USA through an analysis of changes at the top of the occupational hierarchy, as glimpsed in recent census data. We find evidence that, among the incumbents of better-paid occupations, the percentage of non-Hispanic whites, the historically dominant majority, is sharply declining, while the proportion of immigrant-origin minorities, Asians, both foreign and US born, and US-born Hispanics, is growing. African Americans, or US-born blacks, are not so far sharing much in this growth. However, whites still retain important advantages in terms of occupational placement net of education and in terms of earnings net of occupational placement. We conclude overall that demographic shifts are highly likely to drive further diversification at the top of the US workforce; the question of whether whites can hold on to their advantages in the face of these changes cannot be answered yet.     

Ecological restoration: A new frontier for nature conservation and economics

Ecological restoration is still perceived by many conservationists, and the majority of economists, as a diversion, a delusion, and – far worse – a waste of money. In this paper we point out that restoration is in fact complementary not only to nature conservation but also to sustainable, equitable socio-economic development. This is because restoring and augmenting the natural capital base generates jobs and improves livelihoods and the quality of life of all in the economy.

In developing countries, where most biodiversity hotspots occur, both conservation of nature and the restoration of degraded ecosystems will find local support only if they are clearly linked to socio-economic development. Conversely, sound socio-economic development in the environmentally damaged portions of those countries undoubtedly will require ecological restoration of the natural capital base. Nature conservation, ecological restoration, and sustainable economic development policies should therefore be planned, budgeted and executed conjointly.     

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.     

Social capital and cigarette smoking: New empirics featuring the Norwegian HUNT data

Using a rich Norwegian longitudinal data set, this study explores the effects of different social capital variables on the probability of cigarette smoking. There are four social capital variables available in two waves of our data set. Our results based on probit (and OLS) analyses (with municipality fixed-effects) show that the likelihood of smoking participation is negatively and significantly associated with social capital attributes, namely, community trust (–0.017), participation in organizational activities (–0.032), and cohabitation (–0.045). Significant negative associations were also observed in panel data, pooled OLS, and random effects models for community trust (–0.024; −0.010) and cohabitation (–0.040; −0.032). Fixed-effects models also showed significant negative effects for cohabitation (–0.018). Estimates of alternative instrumental variables (IV) based on recursive bivariate probit and IV-GMM models also confirmed negative and significant effects for three of its characteristics: cohabitation (–0.030; −0.046), community trust (–0.065; −0.075), and participation in organizational activities (–0.035; −0.046). The limitations of our conclusions are discussed, and the significance of our study for the field of social capital and health is described, along with suggested avenues for future research.     

Companion's effects upon resistance to change

In order to investigate the effects of a companion's presence on resistance to change, five rats were trained under a multiple schedule comprised of components with high versus low rate of water reinforcement. After response rates became stable, water was given to the subjects prior to the experimental sessions, and these were conducted both in the absence and in the presence of a companion, which also could be responding or merely present. Results showed that the companion's presence increased resistance to satiation, mainly during the component with the higher reinforcement rate. These results suggest that the effect of the companion's presence may interact with reinforcement rate in determining response rate and resistance to satiation.     

Do Turkish women in the diaspora build social capital? Evidence from the Low countries

Abstract

Ever since Putnam (2000) made social capital a concept that should be mourned for its decline in the USA, researchers and policy makers in some western countries have adopted it as a solution to what they believe to be the failed practices of multiculturalism. Instead of preserving their individual cultures and traditions, critics would have them build social capital by bridging to people and institutions in their new countries and adopt the ‘shared values’ of the host countries and become ‘integrated’. This study, based on a study conducted in the Netherlands in 2006, and supplemented with survey findings from Flanders at the same time, examines whether this perspective is accurate, focusing on women migrants who live in the Low Countries (Netherlands and Flanders in Belgium), of the networks they have built or not and the reasons for that, and of the role of media and the internet in that process.     

Will Risks to Older Workers Change in the 21st Century?

Workers aged 65 and older face different risks than those in younger age groups. The occupational fatality rate for this group (13.6 per 100,000 workers) during 1980-1995 was almost three times greater than the rate for workers aged 16 to 64. This study projects the traumatic occupational fatality experience for the ten occupations with the largest number of occupational fatalities for workers 65 years and older. Although the occupational fatality rate for workers 65 years and older is projected to decrease from 12.5 in 1995 to 11.5 in year 2008, the number of occupational fatalities for this group is projected to increase from 459 in 1995 to 518 in year 2008. The overall proportion of occupational fatalities experienced by workers in the 65 years and older age group is expected to increase from 7% in 1995 to 10% in 2008. To assist in developing the most effective interventions, the five leading external causes of death associated with these fatalities were estimated for year 2008. With the aging of the American workforce, more research is needed in areas concerned with protecting older workers from injury.     

Teenagers' Experience with Occupational Health and Safety Issues in West Virginia

Students in three high schools in West Virginia completed one of three questionnaires according to work status. A total of 1156, 14- to 17-year-old students completed the survey, 17% had ever (currently or previously) worked. These students reported employment mostly during June to August (36%), mainly in recreational facilities (15%). The main task performed was cleaning (44%). Forty-five percent experienced one or more on-the-job injuries with cuts being the most common. A large number of the teenagers (84%) reported receiving training in how to do their job and little training on safety and health. When the teenagers were queried on who is at fault when a teenager is injured, 46% indicated that accidents just happen and 38% blamed the teenager. The respondents indicated they had used scaffolding and ladders (32%), power tools (29%), and/or driven mo tor vehicle (15%), all tasks prohibited by child labor laws. The results indicate a deficiency in knowledge among this group of teenagers on topics related to occupational safety and health and child labor laws. A need exists for a concerted team approach to address these problems.     

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.     

生计资本对农户再参与退耕还林意愿的影响——以卧龙自然保护区为例

运用参与式农户评估方法,以卧龙自然保护区为例,研究了生计资本对于农户再次参与下一轮退耕还林意愿的影响。研究结果表明约77%的农户愿意再次参与退耕工程,愿意再参与退耕的农户和不愿意再参与退耕的农户生计资本具有显著差异性。逻辑斯蒂回归结果表明,自然资本、金融资本以及社会资本对农户的再参与意愿有显著影响,但是作用方式不同:其中自然资本对农户再参与有着显著的负影响,金融资本、社会资本对农户再参与意愿有显著的正影响。生计资本二级指标中,农户拥有的耕地面积、现金收入、家庭村委会成员数量以及劳动力受教育程度对农户的再参与意愿具有显著影响,其中农户拥有的耕地面积对其再参与意愿具有显著负影响,且贡献较大((β=-23.041)),而现金收入、家庭村委会成员数量以及劳动力受教育程度对农户再参与意愿具有显著正影响,以现金收入的影响最大(β=38.591),其次分别是家庭村委会成员数量(β=13.625)和劳动力的受教育程度(β=7.717)。最后,论文探讨了生计资本及其组成指标对于农户再参与意愿的作用机制,建议降低农户对于土地资源的依赖,提高非农业收入和补偿标准,提高劳动力素质以及优化区域发展环境来提高农户的再参与意愿。     

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.