241 research outputs found
Fertility as a process of social exchange
Get PDFBy marrying and raising children, parents participate in a system of gift-exchange in which the gifts in question are human lives, and the parties to the exchange are the kinship groups recognised in the society concerned. Fertility reflects the attitudes of prospective parents to their place in the existing system of reproductive exchange, and the relationships of cooperation and authority which it implies - as well as their confidence in the system’s continuing viability. It is shown that this view is compatible with earlier ideas about self-regulating population systems - and that changing economic circumstances are an important source of discrepancy between existing exchange systems and the attitudes and expectations of prospective parents. The discussion is developed with reference to data on European societies, including a case-study from the Alps, and concludes with an assessment of the relevance of the anthropological theory of gift exchange to contemporary fertility patterns in Europe and beyond.anthropological demography, cooperation, exchange marriage, fertility, homeostatic population regulation, reciprocity, second demographic transition
Review of \u3cem\u3eFamily, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe (3 Vols.) The Century of Welfare: Eight Countries (Vol. 1). \u3c/em\u3e Hannes Grandits, Editor. \u3cem\u3eThe View from Below: Nineteen Localities (Vol. 2).\u3c/em\u3e Patrick Heady and Peter Schweitzer, Editors. \u3c/em\u3ePerspectives on Theory and Policy (Vol. 3).\u3c/em\u3e Patrick Heady and Martin Kohli, Editors. Reviewed by Natalia Sarkisian.
Get PDFBook reviews of
Patrick Heady, Principal Editor, Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe. (2010), in 3 Volumes. University of Chicago Press for Campus Verlag. $57.00 each volume (paperback). Vol. 1: Hannes Grandits (Ed.), Eight Countries. Vol. 2: Patrick Heady & Peter Schweitzer (Eds.), The View from Below: Nineteen Localities. Vol. 3: Patrick Heady & Martin Kohli (Eds.), Perspectives on Theory and Policy
What is the Effect of Child Labour on Learning Achievement? Evidence from Ghana
No full textThis paper analyzes the links between child labour and poor school performance, using data gathered in Ghana in recent years. Author Christopher Heady moves away from conventional studies on child labour and education, which tend to focus on low school enrolment and attendance. He goes further, to examine the day to day impact of child labour on those in school, finding that, as well as leaving children too tired to learn, child labour robs them of their interest in learning. Children who are already contributing economically to their family income may be less interested in academic achievement, resulting in lack of motivation that affects both their learning and their future prospects.child labour; education; right to education;Ghana;
Family, kinship and state in contemporary Europe, Vol. 3: Perspectives on theory and policy
No full textKinship is at the heart of European society, sharing with the state responsibility for welfare and social reproduction. But the workings of kinship and their connection to state policies remain controversial. Received theories have had to be revised in the light of social and demographic change and accumulating evidence of long-standing cultural differences. With Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe, the editors and their collaborators have gathered a three-volume array of historical, sociological, and ethnographic data that examine these issues and introduce readers to the types of kin relationships found around contemporary Europe. In this volume the authors use network data to measure the extent of mutual assistance between relatives and explore its connection to residence and marriage patterns, intergenerational relationships, gender roles and fertility. They go on to review the findings of the whole study – drawing critically on theories of altruism, reciprocity, cultural continuity and socio-economic change. The book closes with some recommendations for policy
Structural changes in metals consumption
Get PDFFor 15 years the metals market has been characterized by slow growth - in some cases, even decline - in consumption. To test the proposition that structural changes in demand were the main cause of the slowdown, the author - drawing on U.S. data - uses an extended metals demand model that recognizes energy, labor, capital, and other materials as major inputs. The traditional model explains metals consumption in terms only of output and the prices of metal and its substitutes. It is inadequate to address the issue of structural change because it ignores other factors of production, such as energy, which have experienced dramatic changes. With the extended model, the null hypothesis of no structural change cannot be rejected for most metals. With the conventional model, the null hypothesis of no structural change is strongly rejected. Results with the extended model show that the downturn can be explained mostly by changes in the input variables, particularly such nonmetal inputs as capital and energy, which are much more important cost items than metals and have undergone drastic cost changes over the period.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Montreal Protocol,Mining&Extractive Industry (Non-Energy),Primary Metals
Descent or territoriality: Inheritance and family forms in the late Ottoman and early post-Ottoman Balkans
No full textPublic sector pricing in a fiscal context
Get PDFAdministered prices should deviate from marginal cost if they are to be used as instruments to generate revenue. The analysis is based on the Bank's two-step approach to public sector pricing: first calculating marginal cost, and then adjusting it to account for other factors. The aim is to show how those adjustments should be made to account for fiscal concerns. The appropriate basis for pricing in the first step, the author contends, is a weighted average of short and long term marginal costs. Deviations from marginal cost in the second step are shown to depend on their revenue raising, distortionary, and distributional effects. The author argues that it is better to raise prices above marginal cost through taxes than by raising the price received by the enterprise. The author describes how to set charges in the face of metering difficulties, stressing the need to set unifrom charges and to make indirect charges on inputs.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets
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