International Journal of Social Economics

Chen, Xudong; Lin, Yingge; Noiset, Luc P

2016 International Journal of Social Economics

doi: 10.1108/IJSE-05-2014-0090

Purpose– The scholarly literature that examines the economic assimilation of migrant families has focussed on the educational and economic achievements of the children of international migrants relative to the children of native born parents. Lower relative incomes of the children of immigrants might be attributable to discrimination, while higher relative incomes could be attributable to ambitious parents who produce more ambitious children. These potential effects have been difficult to disentangle. The purpose of this paper is to control for discrimination by examining internal migration in Honduras, allowing us to isolate evidence for or against the “ambition” effect. Design/methodology/approach– The paper uses the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique to ask if the children of migrants are similar or different than their parents in their attitudes toward work and economic advancement. Findings– This study finds that migrants are relatively hard workers in the sense that they experience relatively high marginal effects on earnings from improved socio-economic characteristics, such as years of schooling. The study also finds that these migrants do not pass on this hard-work ethic to their children, who experience much smaller marginal effects from increased years of schooling and other socio-economic characteristics. Originality/value– This study demonstrates that the children of migrants do not necessarily inherit the ambitious work ethic characteristic of their migrant parents. This result has important implications for studies that examine the assimilation and economic progress of migrant families, particularly those studies that use second-generation earnings as a measure of assimilation and economic progress.

Asongu, Simplice; Kodila-Tedika, Oasis

2016 International Journal of Social Economics

doi: 10.1108/IJSE-11-2014-0233

Purpose– Crimes and conflicts are seriously undermining African development. The purpose of this paper is to assess the best governance tools in the fight against the scourges. Design/methodology/approach– The authors assess a sample of 38 African countries. Owing to the cross-sectional structure of the data set, the authors adopt a heteroscedasticity consistent ordinary least squares estimation technique. For further robustness purposes, the authors employ Ramsey’s regression equation specification error test. Findings– The following findings are established. First, democracy, autocracy and voice and accountability have no significant negative correlations with crime. Second, the increasing relevance of government quality in the fight is as follows: regulation quality, government effectiveness, political stability, rule of law and corruption-control. Third, corruption-control is the most effective mechanism in fighting crime (conflicts). Practical implications– The findings are significantly strong when controlling for age dependency, number of police (and security) officers, per capita economic prosperity, educational level and population density. Justifications for the edge of corruption-control (as the most effective governance tool) and policy implications are discussed. Originality/value– The study is timely given the political instability, wars and conflicts currently marring African development.

Raza, Ahmad; Murad, Hasan Sohaib; Zakar, Muhammad Zakria

2016 International Journal of Social Economics

doi: 10.1108/IJSE-04-2014-0072

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore the critical interrelationships between poverty, culture and knowledge-based community development. Design/methodology/approach– The traditional approaches to the management of poverty such as infrastructure, literacy and economic aid have failed to deliver and ameliorate the lot of common people. The current paper engages in critical constructivist discourse on poverty as unfolding in the era of knowledge economy and seeks to propose a community focussed knowledge-based development model of human economic and social uplift. This model has three dimensions: community knowledge focus, interactions of local, regional and global knowledge shaping and influencing poverty management and finally collective responsibility (collective commitment) of groups to rid them of poverty trap. Findings– First, this paper looks at the social interconnections of poverty, culture and knowledge-based development in a critical discourse context. Second, it discusses the alternative worldviews of economic development. Third, it questions current epistemological and sociological assumptions of development paradigm. Originality/value– The paper looks at the issues of poverty, culture and economic development from a critical pluralistic epistemological standpoint. It also questions some of the prescriptive methods of development by poverty experts. It also proposes to effectively explore and integrate different cognitive styles in development discourse and their usefulness and relevance to global development discourse.

Reddy, A Bheemeshwar

2016 International Journal of Social Economics

doi: 10.1108/IJSE-11-2014-0221

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyse the labour force participation of older persons (aged 60 and above) in India from 1983 to 2011-2012. The paper also briefly reviews the conditions of work for the elderly and examines different socio-economic and demographic factors that are associated with labour force participation of elderly in India. Design/methodology/approach– The author uses data from repeated cross-sectional rounds of Employment and Unemployment Surveys of National Sample Survey Office from 1983 to 2011-2012. The author uses probit regression model to identify the socio-economic and demographic variables that are associated with the labour participation of the elderly in India. Findings– The results show that labour force participation rate of older persons in rural India remained almost stable between 1983 and 2011-2012, despite the rapid economic growth that India experienced during the same period. Further, the results show that among the elderly, those who belong to relatively poor socio-economic status are more likely to participate in the labour force. It is observed that large percentage of the elderly workforce are engaged in poorly paid jobs in the informal sector, either as casual workers or as self-employed in low-skilled or unskilled occupations. Research limitations/implications– This paper is mostly descriptive in its analysis and it only points to the possible socio-economic and demographic determinants of elderly labour force participation in India. Originality/value– Given that the studies on employment of elderly in India are scanty, this paper provides new evidence on changes in labour force participation of elderly over last three decades. Further, this study makes an attempts to understand who among the elderly most likely to participation in labour force in India.

Ramsaran, Dave; Rousu, Matthew C

2016 International Journal of Social Economics

doi: 10.1108/IJSE-10-2014-0199

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to attempt to ascertain how people who are experiencing the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract gas, define it. A case study is done on the town of Canton in Central Pennsylvania. Design/methodology/approach– A combination of in-depth interviews and content analysis of town hall meetings in the area, and content analysis of articles in the local newspaper (Canton Sentinel) were used to get a sense of how the people who live in this area are experiencing the increase in natural gas extraction. The study attempts to use the notion of framing and interpretive methodology to make sense of how some people in a small town experience the process. Findings– The major finding is that those that benefit directly from the industry tend to have more positive evaluation than those that do not benefit directly. Even those that benefited directly had concerns about the environmental impact of fracking, however have not as yet developed an appropriate narrative with which to articulate their concerns in a coherent manner. Originality/value– Few studies have been done that attempt to take into consideration the point of view of those who are directly experiencing the operation of the gas companies. How local residents are interpreting the impact of the gas industry is only just emerging however understanding that process would be paramount for public policy creation after the gas industry has matured and begins to decline.

Kirigia, Joses M; Mwabu, Germano M; Orem, Juliet N; Muthuri, Rosenabi Karimi

2016 International Journal of Social Economics

doi: 10.1108/IJSE-05-2014-0105

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to estimate discounted value of potential non-health gross domestic product (GDP) losses attributable to the 167,913 maternal deaths that occurred among 45 countries in the WHO African Region in 2013. Design/methodology/approach– A cost-of-illness method was used to estimate non-health GDP losses related to maternal deaths. Future non-health GDP losses were discounted at 3 per cent. The analysis was undertaken for countries categorized under three income groups. Findings– The discounted value of future non-health GDP loss due to maternal deaths in 2013 is in the order of Int$5.53 billion. About 17.6 per cent of that occurred in countries in the high and upper income group, 45.7 per cent in the middle income group and 36.7 per cent in the lower middle income group, and the average non-health GDP loss per maternal death was Int$136,799, Int$43,304 and Int$19,822, respectively. Research limitations/implications– This study omitted costs related to direct health care, direct non-health care treatment, patient time for treatment, informal caregivers’ time, intangible costs such as pain and grief, lost output due to morbidity, and negative externalities on the family and community. Social implications– The study demonstrated that maternal deaths have a sizable negative effect on non-health GDP of the region, implying that maternal mortality is not only a human rights concern but also an economic issue and that universal coverage of maternal health interventions ought to be an imperative goal in all countries. Originality/value– This paper provides new evidence on the impact of maternal deaths on non-health GDP of 45 countries in the WHO African Region.