Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Bringing Us Together / Getting Us Out, Peter D. Verheyen

Libraries' and Librarians' Publications

The past five years have seen an explosion in the use of the Internet by book artists both as a tool for communication and as a means of publicizing their work. Not quite as rapidly, but steadily nevertheless some formerly traditional book artists have left the confines and limitations of hot type on damp paper to explore the creation of "books" which can only exist in digital form. In this presentation, I will explore how both book artists and the book arts represent themselves using digital media and what I see as some of the implications for the ways in …

Traditionality, Modernity, And Household Composition: Parent-Child Coresidence In Contemporary Turkey, Hakan Aykan, Douglas A. Wolf

Center for Policy Research

We investigate the patterns and correlates of currently married adult children’s coresidence with their parents in Turkey, using data from the 1993 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey. We are particularly interested in “traditional” patterns of coresidence—that is, coresidence with one or both of the husband’s parents—and the effects of variables measuring traditionality at the individual and contextual levels on coresidence with any parent, and with the husband’s parents. The results indicate that coresidence among currently married children is not the norm. However, the odds of coresidence with the husband’s parents, given that a couple coresides with any parent, are very …

Residential Choices And Prospective Risks Of Nursing Home Entry, Kenneth A. Couch, Duke Kao

Center for Policy Research

Nationally representative estimates of the prospective risk of entry into a nursing home and the likelihood of residing in a nursing home are obtained using data from the Longitudinal Study of Aging: 1984-1990. The roles of demographic characteristics, kin availability, and health status in determining entry into and residence in nursing homes is examined. Caregivers facilitate community residence and reduce the risk of nursing home entry for those with functional limitations. Dementia in combination with functional limitations increases the risk of nursing home entry.

Estate Taxes, Life Insurance, And Small Business, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, John W. Phillips, Harvey S. Rosen

Center for Policy Research

One criticism of the estate tax is that it prevents the owners of family businesses from passing their enterprises onto their children. The problem is that it may be difficult to pay estate taxes without liquidating the business. A natural question is why individuals with such concerns do not purchase enough life insurance to meet their estate tax liabilities. This paper examines whether and how people use life insurance to deal with the estate tax. We find that, other things being the same, business owners purchase more life insurance than other individuals. However, on the margin, their insurance purchases are …

When Random Group Effects Are Cross-Correlated: An Application To Elderly Migration Flow Models, Karen S. Conway, Andrew J. Houtenville

Center for Policy Research

Incorporating random group effects has proven important to making correct statistical inferences about factors that only vary across groups. We note that it is possible to have more than one random effect in models using cross-sectional data and that these random effects could be correlated, unlike in the typical panel data situation. Extending the standard multiple random effects model in this way is greatly simplified by using the two-step estimator we develop. Our application to an elderly migration flow model provides an intuitive example of cross-correlated random group effects and demonstrates the ease of our estimator, as well as highlighting …

Intergenerational Co-Residence And Children's Incomes, Thomas A. Dunn, John W. Phillips

Center for Policy Research

This paper examines co-residence arrangements between older parents and their adult children. We sketch a model of the co-residence choice that accounts for the preferences of the parent and the child and incorporates parental altruism and demands for housing, goods, and privacy. The model predicts that poorer, unmarried or childless siblings are more likely than their siblings to co-reside. The empirical analysis exploits the information provided by respondents in the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) survey about all of their children living in and outside their household. Indeed, we find that poorer siblings are more likely …

Benchmarking Local Government Services In Onondaga County: A Demonstration Study Of The 19 Towns And City Of Syracuse, Syracuse University. Maxwell School. Community Benchmarks Program

Community Benchmarks Program

This is the first in a series of reports that will provide data on several government services provided by 20 municipalities in Onondaga County: 19 towns and the city of Syracuse. This publication is part of the ongoing research activities of the Community Benchmarks Program (CBP) and is intended as a demonstration project. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the usefulness of benchmarks as a means of improving government performance. This report begins with the display of basic demographic information, and is followed by individual demonstration studies in the areas of responsiveness to CBP requests for information and …

Benchmarking Local Government Services In Onondaga County: A Demonstration Study Of The 19 Towns And City Of Syracuse. Executive Summary, Syracuse University. Maxwell School. Community Benchmarks Program

Community Benchmarks Program

This is the first in a series of reports that will provide data on several government services provided by 20 municipalities in Onondaga County: 19 towns and the city of Syracuse. This publication is part of the ongoing research activities of the Community Benchmarks Program (CBP) and is intended as a demonstration project. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the usefulness of benchmarks as a means of improving government performance. This report begins with the display of basic demographic information, and is followed by individual demonstration studies in the areas of responsiveness to CBP requests for information and …

Elderly Migration And State Fiscal Policy: Evidence From The 1990 Census Migration Flows+, Karen S. Conway, Andrew J. Houtenville

Center for Policy Research

The elderly’s unique economic situation makes some government expenditures more attractive and some forms of taxation less burdensome than others. This research investigates whether elderly migration is affected by state fiscal policies and discusses the possible consequences, both of which likely differ between younger and older elderly. Using state-to-state migration flows, we identify which states are gaining and losing younger versus older elderly people. We then estimate the migration flows as a function of the states’ amenities, cost of living, composition of government spending and alternative specifications of the tax system. We find that elderly migration is influenced by state …

Security Analysts' Career Concerns And Herding Of Earnings Forecasts, Jeffrey D. Kubik, Amit Solomon, Harrison G. Hong

Economics - All Scholarship

Several theories of reputation and herding (see, e.g., Scharfstein and Stein (1990)) suggest that herding among agents should vary with career concerns. Our goal in this paper is to document whether such a link exists in the labor market for security analysts. Specifically, we look at the relationship between an analyst's job tenure (a proxy for career concerns) and various measures of stock earnings forecast performance. We establish the following key results. (1) Older analysts are more likely to produce earnings forecasts of firms before younger ones. (2) Their forecasts also deviate more from the consensus forecast than their younger …

Horatio Alger Meets The Mobility Tables, Douglas Holt-Eakin, Harvey S. Rosen, Robert Weathers

Center for Policy Research

The question of how entrepreneurship relates to income mobility is cogent given the current public debate about the sources of income inequality and mobility in United States society. We examine how experience with entrepreneurship has affected an individual’s place in the earnings distribution. Our basic tack is to follow individuals’ positions in the income distribution over time, and to see how their mobility (or lack thereof) was affected by involvement with entrepreneurship. Our main finding is that for low-income individuals there is some merit to the notion that the self-employed moved ahead in the earnings distribution relative to those who …

Where Does The Money Come From? The Financing Of Small Entrepreneurial Enterprises, Zsuzsanna Fluck, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Harvey Rosen

Center for Policy Research

Using data from the Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Climate Study, we study the sources of firms’ finance during the very early stages of their lives. Our focus is the evolution of the mix of financial capital from “insiders” and “outsiders” as firms age. We find that at the beginning of firms’ life cycles, the proportion of funds from internal sources increases with age, while the proportion from banks, venture capitalists, and private investors declines. There is also evidence that these patterns eventually reverse themselves, with the proportion of insider finance ultimately declining and the proportion of outsider finance increasing with age. We …

Apocalypse Now? Fundamental Tax Reform And Residential Housing Values, Donald Bruce, Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Center for Policy Research

Using a simulation model crafted to integrate the short-run and long-term impacts of tax reform on the housing market, we find modest impacts from fundamental reform of the Federal income tax. These results suggest that concerns over the impact of tax reform on housing values and household net worth are overstated. To the extent that reform is otherwise desirable, fears of drastic effects on the housing market should not stand as an impediment to reform. Donald

Entrepreneurs, Income Taxes, And Investment, Robert Carroll, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Mark Rider, Harvey Rosen

Center for Policy Research

This paper investigates the effect of entrepreneurs’ personal income tax situations on their capital investment decisions. We examine the income tax returns of a sample of sole proprietors before and after the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and determine how the substantial reductions in marginal tax rates for the relatively affluent associated with that law affected their decisions to invest in physical capital. We find that individual income taxes exert a statistically and quantitatively significant influence on investment decisions. In our sample, a 5 percentage point increase in marginal tax rates would reduce the proportion of entrepreneurs who make new …

Financial Capital, Human Capital, And The Transition To Self-Employment: Evidence From Intergenerational Links, Thomas Dunn, Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Center for Policy Research

The environment for business creation is central to economic policy, as entrepreneurs are believed to be forces of innovation, employment and economic dynamism. We use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) to investigate the relative importance of family financial and human capital in the transition into self-employment. Specifically, we estimate the impacts of own wealth and human capital and parental wealth and self-employment experience on the probability that an individual makes the transition from a wage and salary job to self-employment. We find that young men’s own financial assets exert a statistically significant, but quantitatively modest effect on the …

Income Taxes And Entrepreneurs' Use Of Labor, Robert Carroll, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Mark Rider, Harvey Rosen

Center for Policy Research

This paper investigates the effect of entrepreneurs’ personal income tax situations on their use of labor. We analyze the income tax returns of a large number of sole proprietors before and after the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and determine how the substantial reductions in marginal tax rates associated with that law affected their decisions to hire labor and the size of their wage bills. We find that individual income taxes exert a statistically and quantitatively significant influence on the probability that an entrepreneur hires workers. Raising the entrepreneur’s “tax price” (one minus the marginal tax rate) by 10 percent …

Selected Government Performance Outcomes For The City Of Syracuse: Comparisons Of The Six Residential Tnt Sectors In The Areas Of Crime, Fire, Streets, Trash, And Parks, Syracuse University. Maxwell School. Community Benchmarks Program

Community Benchmarks Program

The report describes data compiled between January 1997 and March 1998 and suggests follow-up studies and actions. It also explains how benchmarks can be used to both improve government services as well as to provide a framework for community problem-solving in the areas of: 1) crime control, 2) fire protection, 3) park safety and maintenance, 4) street maintenance and snow removal, and 5) waste collection.

Moving Targets - Routine Iud Insertion In Maternity Wards In Tamil Nadu India, Cecilia Van Hollen

Anthropology - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Discrimination In Qualitative Actions By Real Estate Brokers, Jan Ondrich, Alex Stricker

Center for Policy Research

Discrimination occurs when people in a particular class are systematically treated less favorably than other equally qualified people. This study focuses on racial and ethnic discrimination in qualitative actions by real estate brokers, such as showing a customer a housing unit that was advertised in the newspaper. The data come from the Housing Discrimination Study, which conducted over 2,000 fair housing audits of real estate brokers in 25 metropolitan areas in 1989. Each audit consists of a visit to a real estate agency by a white person and either a black or Hispanic person with similar socio-economic characteristics. Using Chamberlain’s …

Submodel Estimation Of A Structural Vector Error Correction Model, William C. Horrace

Economics - All Scholarship

In this paper we derive the concentrated likelihood function of a mutually independent subsystem (submodel) of equations from a p-dimensional vector error component model under cointegration. The structural estimates of the subsystem parameters are identified by exclusion restrictions. The maximum likelihood estimates may be useful for counterfactual policy analysis.

State-Space Versus Multiple Regression For Forecasting Urban Water Demand, R. Bruce Billings, William C. Horrace, Donald E. Agthe

Economics - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents (V. 10-11, 1998-1999)

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

No abstract provided.

Progress And Problems In Recent Trade Bead Research, Richard G. Conn

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Thirty years have passed since the late Richard G. Conn presented this paper at the conference of the Canadian Archaeological Association in Winnipeg, March 8-9, 1968. It is presented here to show us how far we have come and how far we still have to go.

Venetian Beads, Frank Hird

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Interesting accounts of the manufacture of Venetian glass beads turn up in the most unlikely places. The one reproduced here was published in The Girl's Own Paper for February 1, 1896 (Vol. 17, No. 840, pp. 292-294). In addition to presenting a decent description of the manufacture of drawn and blown beads during the latter part of the 19th century, Mr. Hird gives us details concerning the setting in which the beadmakers and bead stringers worked. Paint peels from the ceilings of the rooms where women make blown beads, and half-dressed men sweat in the heat from the glass furnaces. …

Dressed To Kill: Jade Beads And Pendants In The Maya Lowlands, David M. Pendergast

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Jade was a material of paramount importance in ancient Maya life owing to its symbolic significance. The meanings of jade's color lent to the stone, and to those adorned with objects fashioned from it, an unmistakable aura of power. As a result, jade objects figure very prominently in the archaeological record, and their forms and contexts bespeak their ancient meanings. The tracing of the shapes, carving, production techniques, and use history of jades underscores the role of jade in Maya belief, political economy, and personal ornamentation.

Melanau Bead Culture: A Vanishing World?, Heidi Munan

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Settled on the South China Sea coast of Sarawak, the Melanau comprise an aristocratic society which used to have a strong bead culture, tied to animist religion. Developments in the 19th and 20th centuries have influenced the traditional way of life so that today, only a few Melanau still keep a significant number of beads. Nevertheless, shamen and healers, adherents to the old religion, continue to use beads in healing and purification ceremonies. Bereaved families protect themselves by wearing special beads, and by providing the deceased with beads according to his or her status in the traditional hierarchy. Specific kinds …

A Brief History Of Drills And Drilling, A. John Gwinnett, Leonard Gorelick

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

A microscopic examination of silicone impressions of the perforations of beads, sealstones, and amulets has produced a data base of characteristics that help to define what type of drill was used to make them. This article outlines the various types of drills that have been used from the Palaeolithic period to the present day, and notes what microscopic features characterize each one. Scanning electron micrographs illustrate the minute details that are revealed by the silicone impressions.

Reviews And End Matter

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Beads and Bead Makers: Gender, Material Culture, and Meaning, Lidia D. Sciama and Joanne B. Eicher (eds.) (1998), reviewed by Carole Morris

Glasperlen Christbaumschmuck/Glass Bead Christmas Tree Ornaments, by Waltraud Neuwirth (1995), reviewed by Karlis Karklins

Perlern: Archaologie, Techniken, Analysen, Uta von Freeden and Alfried Wieczorek (eds.) (1997), reviewed by Frank Siegmund

Das awarenzeitliche Graberfeld von Halimba. Das Awarische Corpus. Beihefte V, by Gyula Török (1998), reviewed by Katalin Szilagyi

Little Chief's Gatherings, by James A. Hanson (1996), reviewed by Karlis Karklins.

Stone Beads And Their Imitations, Robert K. Liu

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Simulations of precious-stone beads began to be made as soon as feasible materials became available. From antiquity onward, we have replicas of stone beads made of glazed stone, faience, and other ceramics, and glass. In contemporary times, glass and plastic have become the predominant substitutes for stone beads, although materials of organic origin, such as bone and tusk, have also been used. Information is presented on the background, materials, and techniques for detecting such simulations, using primarily visual clues provided by macro color photographs.

A History Of Gem Beadmaking In Idar-Oberstein, Si Frazier, Ann Frazier, Glenn Lehrer

BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers

Located at the southwestern edge of Germany, Idar-Oberstein is the historic stone-cutting center of Europe. The origins of the industry go back at least 500 years. The industry was originally based on local deposits of agate, jasper, rock crystal, and amethyst but beginning in the 19th century, all kinds of rough gemstones began to be imported from around the world. The industry grew very rapidly from the middle of the 19th century. A great deal of this success was based on the manufacture of agate beads ("African money") for export to Africa and the Middle East. This article not only …