Suchergebnisse

Despite the substantial literature on the paradox of the happy female worker, research has been sparse in investigating race differences in job satisfaction. The last national level study on racial differences in job satisfaction was done in 1981 when, using national level U.S. data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature Men for 1966, 1969 and 1971, Bartel showed that blacks had significantly more job satisfaction and further, that this racial gap had widened during this time. Though the reasons for this gap and its widening were not investigated, it was suggested, in a close parallel to the reason for the contented female worker, that lower expectations, in this case due to discrimination in the labor market, could be a reasonable explanation. Surprisingly, since then, there have been only a handful of studies focused on smaller, specific groups. This paper exploits two U.S. national level data sets, the GSS and the NLSY 1997, to examine the racial gap in job satisfaction. Simple means show that blacks are much less satisfied than whites and moreover, this difference has persisted not only across genders but also across almost four decades. To isolate the pure race effect, a sequential process is adopted by first examining the simple difference in the means of job satisfaction, then, through probit estimation, seeing the impact of individual attributes, finally progressing to incorporation of job attributes. Probit estimates give robust results. Blacks are significantly less satisfied than whites even when income, benefits and occupations are controlled. However, this racial gap is greater in the case of women and younger black men. An exploratory analysis shows that when discrimination is accounted for, the satisfaction gap is further reduced and the race coefficients are rendered insignificant. Estimates with comparison income show that the satisfaction gap is driven by perceived discrimination and not necessarily discrimination as captured by comparison income. This highlights the importance of policy measures to reduce perceptual discrimination.

Purpose. To empirically investigate the relationship of social interactions with self-rated health status. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. The United States, 1972–2008. Subjects. 53,043 respondents interviewed. Measures. In-person interviews were conducted by the National Opinion Research Center. Health is measured via self-assessment, and a binary indicator defines whether the respondent reports excellent or good health. Impersonal social interaction is binary, reflecting membership in at least one organization; personal interaction is binary, reflecting whether the respondent visits relatives, neighbors, friends, or bars at least once a month. Demographic, region, and time variables are standard controls. Analysis. Probit models were estimated at aggregated and disaggregated (race, gender, age, and education) levels. Results. Impersonal interaction fell 5% between 1974 and 1994, with deeper declines (12%) in personal interaction. Neighbor visits fell most (24%), but friends gained (5%). Marginal estimates indicate both personal and impersonal interactions are associated with better health. However, friends show the strongest effect. A 1-SD increase in the probability of meeting friends versus joining a club or association is associated with a higher (.019 vs. .014) probability of being in very good or excellent health. Conclusion. Social interaction, impersonal or personal, is significantly associated with health. Public policy facilitating greater interactions of the type that benefits different demographic groups may be health promoting. Results are suggestive of potential network effects at the individual and community levels, which have implications for designing and targeting more effective health interventions.

One of the major controversies about Indian development over the past two decades has been whether India would have done better with less restrictive trade and industrial policies. The paper investigates if foreign demand is a constraint for India's exports, whether export subsidies have helped the country's export growth, how important agriculture is in terms of supplying inputs and/or as a source of final demand for industrial growth etc. (DÜI-Sen)

Purpose: An empirical examination of the long-term association, disaggregated by gender, between religiosity and self-rated health with reference to demographic shifts in labor force participation, education, and income. Design: General Social Survey data. Setting: United States, 1974 to 2012. Participants: A total of 23 353 respondents. Measures: Self-assessed health; 2 key religiosity variables: attendance and intensity of belief; income, labor market variables, education, standard demographic variables, household size, region, and time dummies. Analysis: Probit estimation conducted for the aggregate sample by gender as well as by decades to examine possible gender differential changes over time. Results: Attendance has declined overall with a much greater decline for women. The overall positive association between religiosity and health masks considerable heterogeneity across gender and time; higher and stable for males, there is no longer a significant association for females. Increased education, income, and labor force participation can explain only part of this association. Education is the strongest mediator. Conclusion: The way women and men benefit from religious attendance has changed, suggesting that some pathways may be working differently for women now, especially those with less education. Moving away from church networks could be due to a perceived lack of support or substitution by other social networks. Ceteris paribus, since religious participation has been shown to weaken preference for risky consumption, declining participation, especially for women, may show up as an increase in risky behavior.

In the context of dramatically increasing U.S. health‐care costs, this paper contributes to an ongoing debate discussing proposals to replace the government's current policy of matching state Medicaid spending with a block grant system. State‐level panel data analysis provides evidence that, ceteris paribus, increasing the federal matching formula has a negative impact on prenatal care. This aggregate result masks significant differences between high‐ and low‐spending states and appears to be driven by the high‐spending states thus implying that a 2‐track approach to Medicaid funding may be more appropriate than the current system. (JEL I1, H7)