The persistence of self-employment across borders: new evidence on legal immigrants to the United States

Using recently-available data from the New Immigrant Survey, we find that previous self-employment experience in an immigrant’s country of origin is an important determinant of their self-employment status in the U.S., increasing the probability of being self-employed by about 7 percent. Our results improve on the previous literature by measuring home-country self-employment directly rather than relying on proxy measures. We find little evidence to suggest that home-country self employment has a significant effect on U.S. wages in either paid employment or self employment

FROM PAPER TO PLASTIC BY 2002: RETAILERS' PERSPECTIVE ON ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFER SYSTEMS FOR FOOD STAMPS

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) is working under the deadline of October 1, 2002, to coordinate a change from the current paper disbursement system of paper food stamps to an electronic transfer system of benefits, known as EBT. The Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been studying the effectiveness of differing vehicles for benefit dispersal since the inception of the FSP in the 1960's. The merits of a direct cash payment have been compared to those of the paper system by the USDA and an array of professional groups and research organizations. The adoption of the electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system engenders a new set of questions about the effects of EBT on benefit recipients, retailers and the administering government agencies. Issues surrounding the transition from paper to plastic are still problematic for retailers in spite of the rapidly approaching deadline. National interoperability of EBT as well as fees involved with EBT operation are still points of contention for retailers. Anecdotal evidence from retailers also point to kinks in the institutional operation of EBT. Peak-loading problems with the electronic network system generate a host of undesirable consequences for benefit recipients and retailers. These problems impede the electronic system from taking advantage of the positive network effects that could arise from this new technology.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Testing a eustress–distress emotion regulation model in British and Spanish front-line employees

Studies suggest that suppressing emotions required by occupational roles (i.e., surface acting [SA]) can lead to employees’ emotional exhaustion. In contrast, trying to experience the emotions required by the role (i.e., deep acting [DA]) appears to be a less harmful strategy for the employee. However, problems with 1 of the mainstream measures of DA call for a reexamination of the construct’s operationalization and a clarification of its consequences. Furthermore, an integrated model explaining the differential outcomes of the 2 main emotion regulation (ER) strategies (SA and DA) is also required. Building on eustress–distress literature, it was hypothesized that cognitive reappraisal (a suggested operationalization of DA) would be associated with perception of thriving customer interactions, eliciting the eustress response (i.e., increased efficacy and commitment). It was also expected that suppression would be associated with perception of draining customer interactions, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intentions. Importantly, in line with the eustress–distress model, no cross-relationships between the eustress and distress route were hypothesized. A cross-national study comprised theme park employees from Spain (N=208) and the United Kingdom (N=204) and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used. Hypotheses were supported therefore the eustress–distress model offers a plausible explanation of the work-related ER outcomes. As an ER strategy, cognitive reappraisal may promote perceptions of thriving customer interactions that in turn generates opportunities to develop valued personal resources and organizationally desirable attitudes. Organizations should invest in individually based interventions to assist employees in interpreting customer demands in less harming ways

Multi-feature data repository development and analytics for image cosegmentation in high-throughput plant phenotyping

Cosegmentation is a newly emerging computer vision technique used to segment an object from the background by processing multiple images at the same time. Traditional plant phenotyping analysis uses thresholding segmentation methods which result in high segmentation accuracy. Although there are proposed machine learning and deep learning algorithms for plant segmentation, predictions rely on the specific features being present in the training set. The need for a multi-featured dataset and analytics for cosegmentation becomes critical to better understand and predict plants’ responses to the environment. High-throughput phenotyping produces an abundance of data that can be leveraged to improve segmentation accuracy and plant phenotyping. This paper introduces four datasets consisting of two plant species, Buckwheat and Sunflower, each split into control and drought conditions. Each dataset has three modalities (Fluorescence, Infrared, and Visible) with 7 to 14 temporal images that are collected in a high-throughput facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The four datasets (which will be collected under the CosegPP data repository in this paper) are evaluated using three cosegmentation algorithms: Markov random fields-based, Clustering-based, and Deep learning-based cosegmentation, and one commonly used segmentation approach in plant phenotyping. The integration of CosegPP with advanced cosegmentation methods will be the latest benchmark in comparing segmentation accuracy and finding areas of improvement for cosegmentation methodology

Essays on Race/Ethnic Variations in the Dynamics of Chronic Diseases Among Middle and Old Aged Americans.

This dissertation is composed of three empirical papers on ethnic disparities in chronic disease morbidity. Data come from Health and Retirement Study (HRS) participants aged 51+ from 1995-2006. The first paper analyzes intra- and interpersonal differences in comorbidity burden reported by white, black and Mexican Americans. Hierarchical linear models are employed to analyze ethnic variations in temporal changes of reported comorbidities. On average, participants have nearly two chronic diseases at the baseline, which increased to almost three conditions over 11 years. Mexican Americans demonstrate lower initial levels and slower accumulation of comorbidities relative to whites. In contrast, blacks show an elevated level of comorbidity, although their rate of change decelerated over time relative to whites. The second paper examines ethnic variations in the onset of hypertension diagnosis for white, black and Mexican Americans age 51 and over. Data came from HRS respondents who report being hypertension-free at the baseline. Discrete-time survival models are used to analyze ethnic variations in the probability of developing hypertension. We find the risk of newly diagnosed hypertension increased for all participants. Relative to white and Mexican Americans, black Americans had an elevated risk of incident hypertension throughout the 11-year period of observation. These variations persisted even when differences in demographic, health and socioeconomic status were adjusted. The third paper examines the onset of new diabetes mellitus diagnosis for HRS participants. Discrete-time survival models are used to analyze ethnic variations in the probability of developing diabetes. We find the risk of newly diagnosed diabetes increased for all study participants. Relative to white and black Americans, Mexican Americans have a significantly elevated risk of diabetes. Increases in diabetes incidence for Mexican Americans persist through adjustment of demographic, health and socioeconomic status. In contrast, increases in incident risk for black Americans relative to white Americans operate largely through changes in health status. Our findings of continued racial/ethnic disparities in chronic diseases suggest there are still improvements to be made in prevention efforts aimed at older minorities. These papers highlight the importance of social/structural factors as policy levers for mitigating chronic disease burden for minorities in the U.S.Ph.D.Health Services Organization & PolicyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77913/1/anaq_1.pd

Spatio-Temporal Determination of Small-Scale Vessels’ Fishing Grounds Using a Vessel Monitoring System in the Southeastern Gulf of Mexico

In most small-scale fisheries (SSF), there is limited or null information about the distribution and spatial extent of the fishing grounds where the fleets operate, due to the lack of explicit spatial and temporal data. This information is key when addressing marine spatial planning and fisheries management programs for SSF. In addition to technical or biogeographic restrictions, environmental conditions in the area influence the way fishers operate. Making use of data from a pilot Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) project tested in a small-scale fleet in the Southeastern Gulf of Mexico (SGoM), for the first time in the region, we were able to learn what role environmental factors play in the distribution of potential fishing grounds for this fleet. We got tracking information of 1,608 daily fishing trips from vessels operating in four states using the VMS for 7 months. We used a correlative modeling approach to identify potential fishing grounds where this fleet operates along the SGoM, accounting for environmental variables. We assumed that environmental conditions can shape the spatial distribution of species targeted by this fleet and hence influence fishers’ operations. The results indicated that net primary production and sea surface temperature were the main drivers that shape the spatio-temporal potential distribution of fishing grounds in the study site. The approach employed here seems appropriated and opens an opportunity to learn more about the factors that define the spatial distribution of small-scale fleets and their potential fishing grounds