Maquiladoras and market mamas

"This study analyzes work, childcare arrangements, and earnings of mothers in the poor neighborhoods of Guatemala City and Greater Accra, Ghana, two urban areas where formal- and informal-sector work differ in importance. Unlike previous studies on childcare that take mother's work status as given, this paper treats childcare choice and labor force participation of women as joint decisions. Our empirical results indicate that participation in the labor market and use of formal day care are, in fact, jointly determined. In both Guatemala and Accra, life cycle and household demographic factors, notably child age, appear to have important effects on both decisions. In both cities, higher household wealth reduces the mothers' chances of working, presumably via an income effect. Controlling for endogeneity of labor market participation and formal day-care use, in Guatemala, day-care prices do not have significant impacts on earnings; neither does the number of day-care centers within a 10-minute walk affect earnings in Accra. In Guatemala, maternal education is an important determinant of utilization of formal day care, but does not have large effects on whether she works for pay or not. In contrast, in Accra, maternal education does not affect either the demand for formal care or the decision to work. In Guatemala, greater travel time from home to the day-care center reduces utilization of this type of care, but a larger supply of day-care centers in the community does not affect use of formal care in Accra. The lack of importance of formal day-care supply variables in Accra compared to the effect of some variables such as travel time to day-care centers in Guatemala suggests that provision of formal day care may not be as critical an intervention to increase mothers' labor force participation rates in cities where the informal sector dominates, such as in Accra. In more urbanized settings like Guatemala City, where the formal sector generates a higher proportion of jobs for women, formal day care is more important to mothers' decision to work." Author's AbstractRural poor ,

Maquiladoras and market mamas

"This study analyzes work, childcare arrangements, and earnings of mothers in the poor neighborhoods of Guatemala City and Greater Accra, Ghana, two urban areas where formal- and informal-sector work differ in importance. Unlike previous studies on childcare that take mother's work status as given, this paper treats childcare choice and labor force participation of women as joint decisions. Our empirical results indicate that participation in the labor market and use of formal day care are, in fact, jointly determined. In both Guatemala and Accra, life cycle and household demographic factors, notably child age, appear to have important effects on both decisions. In both cities, higher household wealth reduces the mothers' chances of working, presumably via an income effect. Controlling for endogeneity of labor market participation and formal day-care use, in Guatemala, day-care prices do not have significant impacts on earnings; neither does the number of day-care centers within a 10-minute walk affect earnings in Accra. In Guatemala, maternal education is an important determinant of utilization of formal day care, but does not have large effects on whether she works for pay or not. In contrast, in Accra, maternal education does not affect either the demand for formal care or the decision to work. In Guatemala, greater travel time from home to the day-care center reduces utilization of this type of care, but a larger supply of day-care centers in the community does not affect use of formal care in Accra. The lack of importance of formal day-care supply variables in Accra compared to the effect of some variables such as travel time to day-care centers in Guatemala suggests that provision of formal day care may not be as critical an intervention to increase mothers' labor force participation rates in cities where the informal sector dominates, such as in Accra. In more urbanized settings like Guatemala City, where the formal sector generates a higher proportion of jobs for women, formal day care is more important to mothers' decision to work." Author's AbstractRural poor ,

Unified Band Theoretic Description of Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Vanadium Dioxide Phases

The debate about whether the insulating phases of vanadium dioxide (VO2) can be described by band theory or must be described by a theory of strong electron correlations remains unresolved even after decades of research. Energy-band calculations using hybrid exchange functionals or including self-energy corrections account for the insulating or metallic nature of different phases, but have not yet successfully accounted for the observed magnetic orderings. Strongly-correlated theories have had limited quantitative success. Here we report that, by using hard pseudopotentials and an optimized hybrid exchange functional, the energy gaps and magnetic orderings of both monoclinic VO2 phases and the metallic nature of the high-temperature rutile phase are consistent with available experimental data, obviating an explicit role for strong correlations. We also report a potential candidate for the newly-found metallic monoclinic phase and present a detailed magnetic structure of the M2 monoclinic phase

PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS: AMERICANS KNOW NOT WHAT THEY EAT

Biotechnology stands to be a defining technology in the future of food and agriculture. Proponents argue that science and industry are poised to bring consumers a wide variety of products that have potential for meeting basic food needs, as well as delivering a wide-range of health, environmental and economic benefits. Opponents counter that the potential exists for unintended consequences, ranging from ecological disruption to adverse human health implications, and that these risks are not fully understood. Fundamental questions exist, however, regarding the general public's position on food products derived with the use of biotechnology. To address these questions, the Food Policy Institute addressed consumers using computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) system, a public phone survey of a sample selection of 1203 U.S. residents was administered between March and April 2001. The questionnaire was developed to address perceived gaps in the current literature on American consumer awareness, acceptance, and perceptions of food biotechnology and to serve as the basis for a set of longitudinal studies that will be able to track public opinion over time.Consumer/Household Economics,

Childcare and work

"This study investigates the effects of childcare on work and earnings of mothers in poor neighborhoods of Guatemala City. Recognizing that mothe'rs work status may depend on the availability of childcare, decisions to participate in the labor force and to use formal day care are modeled to allow for the possibility that they may be jointly determined. We then explore the impact of childcare prices on mothers' earnings, conditional on her decision to work. Also explored is whether a mother's "status" within her household (as measured by the value of the assets she brought to her marriage) influences her entry into the labor force.....Our results indicate that participation in the labor market and use of formal day care are, in fact, joint decisions for mothers. Life cycle and household demographic factors have important effects on both decisions. Maternal education is an important determinant of utilization of formal day care, but does not have large effects on whether she works for pay or not. Higher household wealth reduces her chances of working, presumably via an income effect. However, the value of assets she brought to her marriage increases the likelihood of her working....." from Authors' Abstract

Does subsidized childcare help poor working women in urban areas?

High urbanization rates in Latin America are accompanied by an increase in women's participation in the labor force and the number of households headed by single mothers. Reliable and affordable childcare alternatives are thus becoming increasingly important in urban areas. The Hogares Comunitarios Program (HCP), established in Guatemala City in 1991, was a direct response to the increasing need of poor urban dwellers for substitute childcare. This government-sponsored pilot program was designed as a strategy to alleviate poverty by providing working parents with low-cost, quality childcare within their community. This paper presents preliminary findings from an evaluation of the HCP carried out in 1998 in urban slums of Guatemala City. The evaluation included both an operations (or process) evaluation and an impact evaluation. Key findings of the operations evaluation are summarized, and preliminary findings of the impact evaluation on children's dietary intakes are presented. Aspects related to the targeting, coverage, and cost of the program are also discussed, and the patterns of childcare use by nonbeneficiary households and their costs are described.Urbanization Latin America. ,Women Employment Guatemala. ,Child care Developing countries Evaluation. ,Urban poor Services for. ,Evaluation. ,Children Nutrition. ,Poverty alleviation. ,

Does subsidized childcare help poor working women in urban areas?

High urbanization rates in Latin America are accompanied by an increase in women's participation in the labor force and the number of households headed by single mothers. Reliable and affordable childcare alternatives are thus becoming increasingly important in urban areas. The Hogares Comunitarios Program (HCP), established in Guatemala City in 1991, was a direct response to the increasing need of poor urban dwellers for substitute childcare. This government-sponsored pilot program was designed as a strategy to alleviate poverty by providing working parents with low-cost, quality childcare within their community. This paper presents preliminary findings from an evaluation of the HCP carried out in 1998 in urban slums of Guatemala City. The evaluation included both an operations (or process) evaluation and an impact evaluation. Key findings of the operations evaluation are summarized, and preliminary findings of the impact evaluation on children's dietary intakes are presented. Aspects related to the targeting, coverage, and cost of the program are also discussed, and the patterns of childcare use by nonbeneficiary households and their costs are described.Urbanization Latin America. ,Women Employment Guatemala. ,Child care Developing countries Evaluation. ,Urban poor Services for. ,Evaluation. ,Children Nutrition. ,Poverty alleviation. ,