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Seeking to measure stocks of migration-specific human & social capital available to Mexican immigrants & to quantify their effect in promoting migration to the US, data from the Mexican Migration Project (N = 7,143 households surveyed in Mexico & 456 in the US) are used to assess the share of people in western Mexico who have been to the US &/or are socially connected to someone who has migrated to the US in the past, & is living in the US (at time of survey). Results show that 40% of household heads from this region -- & 20% of all persons of labor force age -- have been to the US at least once in their lives, & 25% have an immediate family member currently living in the US; 61% have a member of their extended family living north of the border; & 37% report knowing a friend in the US. All told, 73% of household heads in western Mexico are socially connected to someone living north of the border, & 81% at least know someone with US experience. These extensive stocks of human & social capital lead to very high probabilities of outmigration over the course of a Mexican's life & suggest that migration to the US may continue even as economic pressures to migrate diminish. 6 Tables, 17 References. Adapted from the source document.

Background. The epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is poorly understood in developing countries. In South Africa (SA) specifically, two healthcare systems (private v. government funded) exist, and it is therefore important to assess patient characteristics in order to plan appropriately.Objectives. To determine epidemiological characteristics of TSCI in the private healthcare system in Cape Town, SA, and compare findings with previously published data from the government sector.Methods. A regional, population-based design was used, including all private and government-funded hospitals in the catchment area (Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality). All eligible survivors of TSCI in the private sector were retrospectively identified from admission records for a 1-year period. The International Spinal Cord Injury Core Data Set was systematically completed using patient medical records. Epidemiological data from the government cohort were secondarily analysed; however, socioeconomic variables were primarily analysed in this study. Inferential statistics were used to assess differences between the two healthcare systems.Results. The annual crude incidence of 20.0 per million in the private sector was significantly lower than the 75.6 per million in the government sector (p<0.001). In addition, the two cohorts differed significantly with regard to age at injury, pre-injury employment and aetiology, highlighting that individuals in the private sector were older than those in the government sector, that most were employed prior to the injury, and that their injuries were chiefly transport related, as opposed to assault in the government sector.Conclusions. Two cohorts with TSCI from the sampling population differed with regard to incidence, aetiology and sociodemographic characteristics. The findings suggest the need for more than one high-priority primary prevention programme, stratified by healthcare system. These programmes should inclusively emphasise road safety and the consequences of interpersonal violence among men.

Background. The epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is poorly understood in developing countries. In South Africa (SA) specifically, two healthcare systems (private v. government funded) exist, and it is therefore important to assess patient characteristics in order to plan appropriately.Objectives. To determine epidemiological characteristics of TSCI in the private healthcare system in Cape Town, SA, and compare findings with previously published data from the government sector.Methods. A regional, population-based design was used, including all private and government-funded hospitals in the catchment area (Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality). All eligible survivors of TSCI in the private sector were retrospectively identified from admission records for a 1-year period. The International Spinal Cord Injury Core Data Set was systematically completed using patient medical records. Epidemiological data from the government cohort were secondarily analysed; however, socioeconomic variables were primarily analysed in this study. Inferential statistics were used to assess differences between the two healthcare systems.Results. The annual crude incidence of 20.0 per million in the private sector was significantly lower than the 75.6 per million in the government sector (p<0.001). In addition, the two cohorts differed significantly with regard to age at injury, pre-injury employment and aetiology, highlighting that individuals in the private sector were older than those in the government sector, that most were employed prior to the injury, and that their injuries were chiefly transport related, as opposed to assault in the government sector.Conclusions. Two cohorts with TSCI from the sampling population differed with regard to incidence, aetiology and sociodemographic characteristics. The findings suggest the need for more than one high-priority primary prevention programme, stratified by healthcare system. These programmes should inclusively emphasise road safety and the consequences of interpersonal violence among men.

Can electoral reforms such as an independent redistricting commission and the top-two primary create conditions that lead to better legislative representation? We explore this question by presenting a new method for measuring a key indicator of representation - the congruence between a legislator's ideological position and the average position of her district's voters. Our novel approach combines two methods: the joint classification of voters and political candidates on the same ideological scale, along with multilevel regression and post-stratification to estimate the position of the average voter across many districts in multiple elections. After validating our approach, we use it to study the recent impact of reforms in California, showing that they did not bring their hoped-for effects.

Uses a survey of military couples (N not specified) to study the relationship between moves to a new geographical location & the number & timing of births. Results indicate that each move permanently reduces a woman's wage by 2.8%, lowering the cost in foregone earnings of time devoted to child care, & thereby increasing expected completed fertility. Also, because a move depresses a woman's potential current wage, it raises the probability of birth near the time of a move. 4 Tables, 3 Figures, 13 References. Adapted from the source document.