Showing papers in "Population Research and Policy Review in 1985"

Rural electrification and fertility change

Abstract: This article addresses the possible linkage between the spread of electrification in rural areas and subsequent declines in human fertility. Evidence from nine studies in six countries is reviewed and compared. The conclusion from this review is that there is, in fact, some link and that the higher the level of rural electrification the higher is contraceptive prevalence and the lower is the level of fertility. This link appears puzzling at first glance, but the article proposes a conceptual and theoretical framework for interpreting these results and fitting them into accepted theories of fertility. Finally, some important policy implications are discussed and future directions for research indicated.

Approaches, assaults, attractions, affairs: Policy implications of the sexualization of the workplace

Abstract: This article is an analysis of the relationship between, on the one hand, empirical findings and theoretical perspectives on the sexualization of the workplace and, on the other, changes in public policy intended to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment as a problem for employed women. The sexualization on the workplace is conceptualized as all consensual and coerced sexual interactions at work, that is, both sexual harassment and sexual relationships. A summary of the evidence regarding both types of behaviors reveals that sexual harassment is experienced quite often by women workers; occasionally, women engage in sexual relationships with persons met at work. Harassment has significant negative consequences for the economic, emotional and physical condition of women, delimiting further an economic position for women which has already been affected severely by occupational segregation and employment discrimination. In assessing the impact of guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defining sexual harassment as sexual discrimination, issues are raised concerning the use and effectiveness of the guidelines by women workers, courts, and employers. It is argued that public policy on harassment is necessary and progressive but limited in its impact; the bulk of the problem, especially with regard to co-worker behavior, and the structural context of inequality are left relatively untouched.

Population Distribution and Economic Development in Africa: The Need for Urbanization Policies

Abstract: Many countries in Africa are facing severe development problems because of high rates of population growth, stagnant or declining agricultural productivity, and increasing migration of the rural poor to large cities. Most demographic studies of Africa ignore problems arising from the spatial distribution of population and public allocation of investment. Strategic planning of the location of development investments in ways that will prevent or reduce excessive concentration of population and productive activities in large primary cities is becoming increasingly important for many African governments. In this article it is argued that the excessive growth of primary cities in predominantly rural countries can be detrimental to their economic recovery. Policies encouraging more widespread distribution of population in secondary cities and towns and policies promoting investment in physical infrastructure, marketing, small-scale manufacturing, and agroprocessing in secondary cities and towns can provide a stronger base for both rural and urban development in many African countries in the future.

Neighborhood Participation in Community Development: A Comparison of Strategic Approaches

Abstract: This study compares the ability of community development corporations to mobilize residents of low income neighborhoods to participate in redevelopment efforts. The evidence and argument show that community development corporations have not been more successful than other types of community-based organizations in (1) the degree to which organizational leadership has been recruited from the neighborhood; (2) the type of control exercised by residents over redevelopment policy, and; (3) the degree of fiscal autonomy achieved by the organization. The policy ramifications of the findings are discussed and analyzed.

Transmigration in Indonesia: an evaluation of a population redistribution policy

Abstract: In this article an attempt is made to evaluate Indonesia's population redistribution policy—transmigration—from 1969 onwards. In addition to population redistribution, transmigration also has socio-economic and political objectives. In spite of the fact that in monetary terms transmigration has become one of Indonesia's main development programmes and the budget per transmigration family has increased enormously since 1969, it is established that for several years the ambitious targets could not be realized. In addition, studies show that in several cases the many promises of the transmigration authorities could not be met. With respect to the objective of population redistribution, it is concluded that so far transmigration has hardly influenced Indonesia's population distribution; only in specific receiving areas have the effects of transmigration been significant. Furthermore, it is shown that there is reason to doubt the role which the agriculturally-oriented transmigration programmes can play in the regional development process. In addition, there is evidence that in some cases the schemes have also been used as an instrument to serve (implicit) political aims.

International dependence and urbanization in East Asia: Implications for planning

Abstract: In recent years the political economy of the world-system approach to macrostructural change has asserted itself as a dominant paradigm in the sociology of development. Increasingly, comparative urban researchers have pointed to the linkages between the growth of Third World cities and the role these places play in the changing international system. This article begins by summarizing the major elements of this perspective on “dependent urbanization.” Then the urban experiences of the less-developed nations of East Asia are interpreted using this approach. This analysis leads into a discussion that centers on the main objective of the article, which is to tie the dependency/world-system perspective to policy-making and planning. How can this research contribute to debates about practical problems and suggest realistic, implementable solutions? The article concludes with some general comments about the relationship between theoretical analysis, planning, and action directed at bringing about social change.

The United States Senate votes to uphold Roe versus Wade

Abstract: An analysis is reported of the voting of U.S. Senators in their rejection in 1983 of the proposed Hatch/Eagleton Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That Amendment, if passed and ratified, would have reversed the 1973 Supreme Court Decision in Roe versus Wade which legalized abortion throughout the United States; the Senate, in effect, thus voted to uphold Roe versus Wade. Analyses are reported on public opinion and public policy, regional differences, characteristics of the states and personal characteristics of the Senators, including some variables of more political relevance and others of more relevance to social scientists. A regression analysis summarizes the results by indicating that, other things being equal, pro-choice votes were likely to be cast by nonCatholic Democratic Senators who were from New England, the Pacific, or Middle Atlantic region, who were from states with a relatively high income, and who had voted against a proposed constitutional amendment allowing prayer in public schools.

The ambiguities of U.S. temporary foreign worker policy

Abstract: Expansion of temporary worker programs has figured prominently in recent proposals to reform United States immigration policy. The Florida sugar cane industry has been using foreign workers from the English-speaking Caribbean since 1943. The 8000 to 9000 workers annually admitted under section H-2 of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act to cut cane constitute the largest legal nonimmigrant labor force in the United States. Examination of the Florida H-2 program reveals that existing temporary worker policy is ambiguous, if not contradictory, on the issues of the displacement of domestic workers; the characteristics and value of H-2 workers; their impact on local communities in the United States; and the effects of seasonal labor migration on the migrant and his country. Suggestions for improving policy include strengthening of statutory guidelines and administrative agencies, adoption of a more market-sensitive adverse effect wage rate, making farm labor more attractive to American workers, removing distinctions between foreign and domestic workers, and measures to improve the lot of the migrant and his home society.

Reforming electricity rates: Benefits to low-income households

Abstract: The electricity rate reforms proposed in the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act reflect the quest for an energy policy which encourages conservation, efficiency, and equity. Focusing on equity concerns, this research examines the relative effectiveness of lifeline and time-of-day rates in easing the burden of rising household energy prices among the low-income population. Lifeline rates establish a minimum number of kilowatt hours (kWh) required for basic necessities and a special low rate for these kWh. Time-of-day rates provide lower electricity prices to those households using electricity during off-peak generating hours. The data indicate that lifeline rates would assist low-income households in general, with the greatest benefits going to poor households with small numbers of members and older heads of household. Time-of-day rates would immediately benefit smaller households and those with older household heads. Some lifestyle changes, in the form of appliance use patterns, would be required among the low-income population if they are to benefit from time-of-day rates.

The Strength of Primordial Ties: Suburban Community Adaptation to School System Retrenchment *

Abstract: Communities and local schools are attached to one another for many other reasons than the purely instrumental objectives of educating children. These highly symbolic interpenetrations of community and school include considerations of diffuse communal identity, religion, and ethnicity. Taken together with different priorities about wider educational goals, these narrower community objectives for local schools put contradictory strains on community-school relations in the heated climate of increased community participation in contracting school systems. Competing claims about the central purposes of local schools become extraordinarily salient parts of the external environment of school districts experiencing contraction, and play a major role in the process of adapting school district organizations to conditions of decline. For many citizens the desire to preserve the local symbolic and non-instrumental roles of neighborhood schools, in particular, may at times outweigh the goal of maintaining “quality educational service delivery” as seen from the perspective of school managers. For other citizens, the protection of “quality programs,” serving their children as stepping-stones to the wider society, outweighs considerations of local neighborhood solidarity and identity in adapting to declining enrollments and fiscal strains in the schools.

Taxes Versus Services: Municipal Service Provision in Growing Rural Communities

Abstract: Planners and administrators in North American rural communities proximate to cities have struggled over the last decade to cope with expanding populations. Amongst the questions posed by this population growth, those associated with the municipal provision of services are considered to be of paramount importance by many commentators. This article examines conventional wisdom on the service-provision implications of rural population growth in light of evidence gained through surveys of rural residents in an urbanizing region of Southern Ontario, Canada. A trade-off game is used to produce budget-constrained community preferences on priorities of municipal service provision; preferences are shown to be more complex in their relationship to residents' characteristics, such as length of residence, than is often suggested in the literature. Moreover, when asked to indicate their preference concerning the broad trade-off between service levels and taxes, 41 percent preferred the status quo and 40 percent opted for increased services and taxes, whilst only 10 percent preferred to save on taxes by sacrificing service quality. It is suggested that policy makers consider carefully the design limitations of survey instruments prior to phrasing policy on service provision. In situations like those created by Proposition 13 in California and Proposition 2 1/2 in Massachusetts, the implications of budget cuts became apparent to residents only as services seriously deteriorated or disappeared altogether. By conducting a trade-off game or some suitable alternative, the implications of tax changes for service provision became apparent to residents without the changes having to occur in reality.

Federal job training programs and employment outcomes: Effects by sex and race of participants

Abstract: This article examines the extent to which the program activity assignments of participants in federal job training programs affect their future employment prospects. We analyze the effects of three types of programs—classroom training, on-the-job training, and work experience—on the post-program employment outcomes of black and white women and men. The data are from the Continuous Longitudinal Manpower Survey of fiscal 1976 participants in the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). Logistic regression and event history analysis are used to assess the likelihood of immediate employment upon leaving CETA and the rates at which participants enter and leave their first post-program spells of employment and nonemployment.