Suchergebnisse

Abstract A general criticism of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act is that it is primarily the result of an urban political agenda, and it may hurt rather than help the rural poor. Under the new welfare system, the rural poor that are most likely to be affected are those who live in socially, economically, and spatially disadvantaged communities. More residents in these communities are likely to need TANF, clients in these communities are least likely to leave TANF by finding employment, and community organizations are likely to have more limited resources to help TANF recipients. The objective of this study is to examine the extent to which variations in community conditions account for differences in TANF participation rates. Using 1997 TANF data from the Mississippi Department of Human Services, we estimated OLS regression models of local TANF participation rates across 100 communities in nonmetro counties. The results indicate that TANF participation rates tend to be higher in communities with high concentrations of African Americans, less faith‐based activeness, more employment in retail trade, spatial concentration of the poor, and located in the Delta.

Projection of future patterns of population change or economic
growth is usually improved when trends over considerable time-periods
are available for extrapolation or are used as a check on underlying
assumptions. However, historical demographic data for Pakistan are
limited. Before independence in 1947, data were available only for India
as a whole or for districts, some of which were divided between Pakistan
and India at the time of independence. By detailed examination and
analysis of district reports from the censuses of India, it is possible
to reconstruct demographic changes for the areas now comprising
Pakistan. Two such studies have been undertaken in the Demo¬graphic
Section of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics: the first
was a study of boundary changes and population changes from 1881 to 1961
[29]. The second, reported here, is a study of the labour force of
Pakistan, 1901-1961.

PROFESSOR OSTROSKY ARGUES THAT OUR PAPER ON VOTER PARTICIPATION RATES IS MISSPECIFIED SINCE IT FAILS TO ALLOW FOR INCOME AND EDUCATION. THERE CERTAINLY IS CONSIDERABLE MERIT IN OSTROSKY'S CRITICISM. MOREOVER, HIS EMPIRICAL RESULTS DO APPEAR TO CAST DOUBT UPON OUR HYPOTHESIS (CEBULA AND MURPHY (1980), THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND VOTER PARTICIPATION RATES: AN EXPLORATORY NOTE. PUBLIC CHOICE 35(2): 185-190).

IN OUR PAPER ON THE IMPACT OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE ON VOTER PARTICIPATION RATES (CEBULA AND MURPHY, 1980), WE ARGUE ON THEORETICAL GROUNDS THAT, IN STATES WHERE THERE IS A DOMINANT POLITICAL PARTY, THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE SYSTEM ACTS TO REDUCE THE VOTER PARTICIPATION RATE; THESE ARGUMENTS ARE STRONGLY SUPPORTED BY THE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE.

The last few decades have seen increasing attention to problems of open and disguised unemployment (and underemployment) in developing countries. Open unemployment appears to have increased in the sixties. Disguised unemployment of persons in the labour force (as defined by marginal product of labour below the wage) is a key element in the labour surplus interpretations of underdeveloped economies. In developed countries, hidden or disguised unemployment is thought of primarily in terms of nonparticipation related to the difficulty of obtaining a job; the usual proxy for such difficulty is the unemployment rate. As open unemployment has risen in the urban areas of many L.D.C's, while participation rates have at the same time been falling, it is natural to ask whether this particular form of hidden unemployment is becoming increasingly important in those countries. More generally, a country's participation rate is a valuable indicator of the degree of utilization of the labour force; the hints it may provide as to the nautre of the labour market and the demand for labour are one of several contributions it makes to the understanding of an economic system.

IN A RECENT NOTE IN THIS JOURNAL, RICHARD CEBULA AND DENNIS MURPHY (1980) ARGUED THAT VOTER TURNOUT RATES IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ARE LOWER UNDER THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE THAN THEY WOULD BE UNDER A SYSTEM OF DIRECT ELECTION. THEY POINT OUT THAT IN A STATE WITH ONE DOMINANT POLITICAL PARTY A VOTER CANNOT AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION, SINCE HE CANNOT REVERSE THE STATE OUTCOME AND THEREBY ALTER THE DISPOSITION OF THE STATE'S ELECTORAL VOTES. UNDER DIRECT ELECTION, ON THE OTHER HAND, SUCH A VOTER ENJOYS SOME SMALL PROBABILITY OF BEING PIVOTAL. SINCE THE PROBABILITY OF ALTERING THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION IS ONE INGREDIENT IN CALCULATING THE EXPECTED BENEFIT FROM VOTING, THE AUTHORS CONCLUDE THAT THE EXISTENCE OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE REDUCES VOTER PARTICIPATION RATES.

The purpose of this paper is to throw some light on the labour
force in Pakistan with respect to its participation in agriculture and
non-agricultural activity over the period 1961 through 1971; in addition
some comparison is provided between the activity rates of 1951 and 1961.
Finally some tentative explanations of the behaviour of labour force
participation rates over the last decade are offered. The data on which
this study is based has been drawn from the 1951 and 1961 Censuses of
Pakistan and from the Labour Force Survey of the Statistical Division,
which is carried out as a regular sample enquiry on national basis since
1963. The data from these surveys has been used to provide esti¬mates of
economic activity for each year up to 1971. The population census of
1972 did not collect information on labour force activity

The ageing of societies in the European Union (EU), and much of the developed world, is one of the main challenges facing the governments. This reduction is due both to relatively more people ceasing work as they reach retirement age, but also due to age discrimination and people leaving the workforce in the years before retirement. This paper seeks to consider the effects of demographic change on Scotland's labour force, and particularly the geographic effects of activity rates for older workers. It then considers some of the policy options available.