7,633 research outputs found
Can Hepatitis B Mothers Account for the Number of Missing Women? Evidence from Three Million Newborns in Taiwan
No full text
Discontinuities in the Distribution of Great Wealth: Sectoral Forces Old and New
Full text linkNational surveys of household economics and well-being in the United States usually focus on income. In those income surveys with supplemental wealth modules, the very rich are underrepresented if not unrepresented. Typically, wealth data are truncated such that they do not afford a view of the extreme top of the distribution. Therefore, we attempt to supplement our knowledge about elite wealth holdings by compiling data on the richest individuals and families in the United States. To do so, we draw from the rosters of the "Forbes Four Hundred," which have been published annually by Forbes magazine since 1982. Along with information from other business press reports and standard biographical sources, rosters of the very rich enable research on inequality at the extreme of the wealth distribution during a period of dramatic change in the composition and concentration of wealth. In this study, we focus analytically on economic sectors because we are interested less in the maldistribution of wealth by demographic groups than in inequality between different economic sectors. We will first specify our analytical approach, then examine issues in the use of business press rosters of the very rich as a data source, and follow with a discussion of the dimensions and categories of our sector typology. After presenting our results, we will address how sectoral forces old and new affect economic opportunity and great wealth outcomes.
HBeAg(+) and sex ratio of offspring: Evidence form Taiwan's three million newborns
No full textObjective: Mothers sero-positive for hepatitis B are slightly more likely to have a son. It is not known whether it is ever having HBV (HBsAg[+]) or currently active HBV (HBeAg[+]) which is associated with having a son. Method: Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the adjusted association of HBeAg(+) with offspring sex in all (90%) births (similar to 3 million) in Taiwan from 1988 to 1999. Results: Totally, 5% of mothers were HBeAg(+). HBeAg(+) mothers were slightly more likely to have a son (sex ratio 108 rather than 106) adjusted for HBsAg, birth order, mother's age, birth year, and area of residence. Conclusion: At a population level HBV status makes little difference to the sex ratio at birth. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2012. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
"Racial Wealth Disparities Is the Gap Closing?"
Full text linkDespite decades of policies aimed at improving the economic position of African Americans in terms of relative income and earnings, they remain substantially behind whites, and research presented in this brief indicates that the wealth gap is even more staggering. Following families over time in order to understand racial differences in the sources and patterns of wealth accumulation, the author finds that African Americans would have gained significant ground relative to whites in the past 30 years if they had inherited similar amounts, comparable levels of family income, and more similar portfolio compositions. Therefore, even if the income gap between whites and African Americans were immediately eliminated, it may take another two generations for the wealth gap to close. However, certain policies could help speed up the process.
Immigration and African-American Employment Opportunities: The Response of Wages, Employment, and Incarceration to Labor Supply Shocks
Full text linkThe employment rate of black men, and particularly of low-skill black men, fell precipitously from 1960 to 2000. At the same time, the incarceration rate of black men rose markedly. This paper examines the relation between immigration and these trends in black employment and incarceration. Using data drawn from the 1960-2000 U.S. Censuses, we find a strong correlation between immigration, black wages, black employment rates, and black incarceration rates. As immigrants disproportionately increased the supply of workers in a particular skill group, the wage of black workers in that group fell, the employment rate declined, and the incarceration rate rose. Our analysis suggests that a 10-percent immigrant-induced increase in the supply of a particular skill group reduced the black wage by 4.0 percent, lowered the employment rate of black men by 3.5 percentage points, and increased the incarceration rate of blacks by almost a full percentage point.
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