Being well and doing well: on the importance of income for health

Income is robustly associated with health status. Higher income is associated with lower mortality and morbidity, both cross-nationally and within societies. This relationship is not just confined to low levels of income, but extends well beyond median levels of income in society with diminishing marginal returns to health status with additional increments in income. Drawing upon the absolute and relative interpretations of income and conceptualising them simul-taneously at the individual and community level, we develop a typology of income–health relationships and discuss the distinctiveness of, and connections between, each type. We conclude that a multilevel conceptual and methodological framework is most appropriate to understand the income–health relationship.     

Multicultural Democracy: Toward a better democracy

Multicultural democracy incorporates socio-economic, cultural, and political diversity and goes beyond current conceptions of democracy. It begins by asking these critical questions: Who is and is not participating in democracy and on whose terms? And how wide is the path to participation? These questions serve as a foundation for exploring the three tenets of multicultural democracy: democracy as a path, membership in both large and small publics, and diversity as essential. After explaining the theory of multicultural democracy, I examine the extent to which critical pedagogy, building of community, and thorough disciplinary content contribute to classroom-based multicultural democracy.     

Wo lernen Kinder mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf besser? Ein Vergleich schulischer Kompetenzen zwischen Regel- und Förderschulen in der Primarstufe

Promoted by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, there is a trend towards the inclusive education of students with special educational needs (SEN) in regular classrooms. The present study addresses the question if achievement differences emerge between SEN students who attend a regular primary school and those who attend a school for special education. Based on data from the IQB-Ländervergleich Primarstufe 2011, a national assessment in German primary schools, the achievement of SEN students in regular schools (n?=?658) was compared to the achievement of students in special schools (n?=?413). Propensity score matching was applied to control for differences in achievement related characteristics between the two groups. After matching, SEN students in inclusive educational settings showed significantly higher test scores in German reading and listening comprehension as well as in mathematics than comparable SEN students in special schools. The effects were more pronounced for students with a special need of learning support than for students with speech and language-related special education support. Possible explanations for the higher achievement of SEN students in regular schools and for differential effects with regard to type of SEN are discussed.     

Survival analysis for the missing censoring indicator model using kernel density estimation techniques

This article concerns asymptotic theory for a new estimator of a survival function in the missing censoring indicator model of random censorship. Specifically, the large sample results for an inverse probability-of-non-missingness weighted estimator of the cumulative hazard function, so far not available, are derived, including an almost sure representation with rate for a remainder term, and uniform strong consistency with rate of convergence. The estimator is based on a kernel estimate for the conditional probability of non-missingness of the censoring indicator. Expressions for its bias and variance, in turn leading to an expression for the mean squared error as a function of the bandwidth, are also obtained. The corresponding estimator of the survival function, whose weak convergence is derived, is asymptotically efficient. A numerical study, comparing the performances of the proposed and two other currently existing efficient estimators, is presented.     

Comparison at 32–37 Weeks Postconception of Infants Born 1983–1989 and 1995–2004 on the Neurobehavioral Assessment of the Preterm Infant

In spite of numerous recent outcome studies of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants, no data exist on their development prior to term. In this study we traced and compared the neurobehavioral development of 251 ELBW (< 1,000 g) and 240 low birth weight (LBW; 1,000 g–2,500 g) preterms born between 1995 and 2004 from 32 to 37 weeks postconceptional age (PCA), using the Neurobehavioral Assessment of the Preterm Infant (NAPI Korner & Thom, 1990). Compared to the original NAPI cohort of 521 infants (born 1983–1989), the ELBW and LBW infants were at higher medical risk, displayed weaker motor development, a tighter scarf sign and popliteal angle at all or most PCAs, and a weaker cry at older PCAs; they did not differ in irritability and percent asleep ratings. Few differences were noted between the ELBW and LBW groups. Research is now needed to determine whether the 1995 to 2004 NAPI values of ELBW and LBW infants at 32 to 37 weeks PCA are predictive of later outcome of high‐risk preterms.     

The welfare state as a context for children's development: a study of the effects of unemployment and unemployment protection on reading literacy scores

Data were analysed from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) to examine whether the relationship between parental unemployment status and child reading literacy is modified by the level of unemployment protection provided by the nation. The sample consisted of 61,946 children, nested in 3,918 schools among 17 market economies. The results of multi-level analyses indicated that, after controlling for a range of individual, family and school covariates, children with unemployed fathers in all countries had significantly lower reading literacy scores than those of employed fathers (β = −8.84, SE = 2.01). The contextual effect of unemployment protection was not significant after accounting for fathers' employment status (β = −18.63, SE = 16.26). However, there was a significant negative interaction between unemployment protection and fathers' unemployment, yielding the unexpected suggestion that, in countries with higher levels of unemployment protection, children with unemployed fathers fare worse, both in relation to children with unemployed fathers in lower protection countries, and in comparison with children with employed fathers (β = −26.96, SE = 8.08). Possible explanations are advanced for this result, including the potential for a 'discouraged child effect' arising from the potential association between unemployment protection and higher local unemployment rates (though unemployment rates at the national level were not significant).     

Sharing Responsibility for Product Recovery Across the Supply Chain

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs typically hold the producer—a single actor defined by the regulator—responsible for the environmental impacts of end‐of‐life products. This is despite emphasis on the need to involve all actors in the supply chain in order to best achieve the aims of EPR. In this paper, we examine the economic and environmental implications of product recovery mandates and shared responsibility within a supply chain. We use a two‐echelon model consisting of a supplier and a manufacturer to determine the impacts of product collection and recycling mandates on the incentive to recycle and resulting profits in the integrated and decentralized supply chains. For the decentralized supply chain, we demonstrate how the sharing of responsibility for product recovery between the echelons can improve total supply chain profit and suggest a contract menu that can Pareto‐improve profits. To examine both the economic and environmental performance associated with responsibility sharing, we propose a social welfare construct that includes supply chain profit, consumer surplus, and the externalities associated with virgin material extraction, product consumption, and disposal of nonrecycled products. Using a numerical example, we discuss how responsibility sharing may or may not improve social welfare. The results of this paper are of value to firms either anticipating or subject to product recovery legislation, and to social planners that attempt to balance economic and environmental impacts and ensure fairness of such legislation.     

Modified maximum likelihood estimation for rayleigh distribution

For defining a Modified Maximum Likelihood Estimate of the scale parameter of Rayleigh distribution, a hyperbolic approximation is used instead of linear approximation for a function which appears in the Maximum Likelihood equation. This estimate is shown to perform better, in the sense of accuracy and simplicity of calculation, than the one based on linear approximation for the same function. Also the estimate of the scale parameter obtained is shown to be asymptotically unbiased. Numerical computation for random samples of different sizes from Rayleigh distribution, using type I1 censoring is done and is shown to be better than that obtained by Lee et al. (1980)     

Older People’s Conceptualization of Abuse: A Systematic Review

The concept of elder abuse is a relatively recent one, and there is ongoing debate around its definition and interpretation. Policy in America, the United Kingdom, and Ireland has been criticized as being professionally driven and therefore paternalistic and disempowering. Little is known about older people’s understanding of the term “abuse” or the behaviors that they deem to be abusive. In this systematic review, eight databases were searched using agreed-upon criteria, and the results were assessed for relevance. Fifteen studies were included and are discussed under the themes of caregiving, domestic violence, society, abusive acts, and thresholds.