Longitudinal evidence for a midlife nadir in human well-being : results from four data sets

There is a large amount of cross-sectional evidence for a midlife low in the life cycle of human happiness and well-being (a ‘U shape’). Yet no genuinely longitudinal inquiry has uncovered evidence for a U-shaped pattern. Thus some researchers believe the U is a statistical artefact. We re-examine this fundamental cross-disciplinary question. We suggest a new test. Drawing on four data sets, and only within-person changes in well-being, we document powerful support for a U-shape in unadjusted longitudinal data without the need for regression equations. The paper’s methodological contribution is to exploit the first-derivative properties of a well-being equation

Do you have to win it to fix it? a longitudinal studyof lottery winners and their health care demand

We exploit lottery wins to investigate the effects of exogenous changes to individuals' income on health care demand in the United Kingdom. This strategy allows us to estimate lottery income elasticities for a range of health care services that are publicly and privately provided. The results indicate that lottery winners with larger wins are more likely to choose private health services than public health services from the National Health Service. For high-income individuals without private medical insurance, the larger their winnings, the more likely they are to obtain private overnight hospital care. For privately insured individuals, the larger their winnings, the more likely they are to obtain private care for dental services and for eye, blood pressure, and cervical examinations. We find that medium to large winners ( $500) are more likely to have private health insurance. Larger winners are also more likely to drop coverage earlier, possibly after their winnings have been exhausted. The elasticities with respect to lottery wins are comparable in magnitude to the elasticities of household income from fixed effect models

Longitudinal evidence for a midlife nadir in human well-being: Results from four data sets

There is a large amount of cross-sectional evidence for a midlife low in the life cycle of human happiness and well-being (a ‘U shape’). Yet no genuinely longitudinal inquiry has uncovered evidence for a U-shaped pattern. Thus, some researchers believe the U is a statistical artefact. We re-examine this fundamental cross-disciplinary question. We suggest a new test. Drawing on four data sets, and only within-person changes in well-being, we document powerful support for a U shape in longitudinal data (without the need for formal regression equations). The article's methodological contribution is to use the first-derivative properties of a well-being equation

Do you have to win it to fix it? A longitudinal studyof lottery winners and their health care demand

We exploit lottery wins to investigate the effects of exogenous changes to individuals' income on the utilization of health care services, and the choice between private and public health care in the United Kingdom. Our empirical strategy focuses on lottery winners in an individual fixed effects framework and hence the variation of winnings arises from within-individual differences in small versus large winnings. The results indicate that lottery winners with larger wins are more likely to choose private health services than public health services from the National Health Service. The positive effect of wins on the choice of private care is driven largely by winners with medium to large winnings (win category > $500 (or US$750); mean = $1922:5 (US$2,893.5), median = $1058:2 (US$1592.7)). There is some evidence that the effect of winnings vary by whether individuals have private health insurance. We also find weak evidence that large winners are more likely to take up private medical insurance. Large winners are also more likely to drop private insurance coverage between approximately 9 and 10 months earlier than smaller winners, possibly after their winnings have been exhausted. Our estimates for the lottery income elasticities for public health care (relative to no care) are very small and are not statistically distinguishable from zero; those of private health care range from 0 { 0.26 for most of the health services considered, and 0.82 for cervical smear

Put My Skills to Use? Understanding the Joint Effect of Job Security and Skill Utilization on Job Satisfaction Between Skilled Migrants and Australian Born Workers in Australia

The topic of skilled migrants has gained importance in the past decade as they are increasingly becoming one of the main drivers for labor supply in developed countries like Australia. Although there is research on skilled migrants, most have been studied from the perspectives of (un)employment, wage and over-education. Some evidence suggests that skilled migrants are often less satisfied with their job compared to their local counterparts, yet little is known about why these differences exist. Using a nationally representative sample of Australian workers, we examine how two important job characteristics, job security and skill utilization, exert their differential interaction effect on job satisfaction for skilled migrants and Australian born workers. We found a differential moderation effect between job security and skill utilization for skilled migrants and Australian born workers. For skilled migrants, high job security did not lead to positive reaction (i.e., job satisfaction), as this effect was dependent on their skill utilization; while such moderation effect was not present for Australian born workers. This study highlights the need to take a more fine-tuned approach by understanding target sample groups (e.g., skilled migrants) when study the relationship between key job characteristics and job satisfaction. Furthermore, it highlights the importance for organizations to revisit their human resource management strategies and policies to recognize the needs for enhancing skill utilization for skilled migrants

One Man's Blessing, Another Woman's Curse? Family Factors and the Gender-Earnings Gap of Doctors

Using data from a new longitudinal survey of doctors from Australia, the authors test whether observed large gender-pay gaps among general practitioners (GPs) are the result of women's larger willingness to interrupt their careers. On average, female GPs earn A$83,000 or 54$105,000, and A$45,000 for men and women without children. Of this gap, 66-75$15,000-A$25,000 in comparison to women without children; almost 100$35,000 in comparison to men without children, indicating the presence of a breadwinner effect that exacerbates the gender-earnings gap

Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), genome: putative underpinnings of polyphagy, insecticide resistance potential and biology of a top worldwide pest

Background Halyomorpha halys (Stål), the brown marmorated stink bug, is a highly invasive insect species due in part to its exceptionally high levels of polyphagy. This species is also a nuisance due to overwintering in human-made structures. It has caused significant agricultural losses in recent years along the Atlantic seaboard of North America and in continental Europe. Genomic resources will assist with determining the molecular basis for this species’ feeding and habitat traits, defining potential targets for pest management strategies. Results Analysis of the 1.15-Gb draft genome assembly has identified a wide variety of genetic elements underpinning the biological characteristics of this formidable pest species, encompassing the roles of sensory functions, digestion, immunity, detoxification and development, all of which likely support H. halys’ capacity for invasiveness. Many of the genes identified herein have potential for biomolecular pesticide applications. Conclusions Availability of the H. halys genome sequence will be useful for the development of environmentally friendly biomolecular pesticides to be applied in concert with more traditional, synthetic chemical-based controls

A Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium (PACE) meta-analysis highlights potential relationships between birth order and neonatal blood DNA methylation

Higher birth order is associated with altered risk of many disease states. Changes in placentation and exposures to in utero growth factors with successive pregnancies may impact later life disease risk via persistent DNA methylation alterations. We investigated birth order with Illumina DNA methylation array data in each of 16 birth cohorts (8164 newborns) with European, African, and Latino ancestries from the Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium. Meta-analyzed data demonstrated systematic DNA methylation variation in 341 CpGs (FDR adjusted P &lt; 0.05) and 1107 regions. Forty CpGs were located within known quantitative trait loci for gene expression traits in blood, and trait enrichment analysis suggested a strong association with immune-related, transcriptional control, and blood pressure regulation phenotypes. Decreasing fertility rates worldwide with the concomitant increased proportion of first-born children highlights a potential reflection of birth order-related epigenomic states on changing disease incidence trends.</p