THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEMALE LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION AND FERTILITY IN G7 COUNTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM PANEL COINTEGRATION AND GRANGER CAUSALITY

This paper examines the relationship between the female labour force participation rate and total fertility rate for the G7 countries over the period 1960 to 2004 using panel unit root, panel cointegration, Granger causality and long-run structural estimation. The paper's main findings are that the female labour force participation rate and total fertility rate are cointegrated for the panel of G7 countries; that long-run Granger causality runs from the total fertility rate to the female labour force participation rate and that a 1-per cent increase in the total fertility rate results in a 0.4 per cent decrease in the female labour force participation rate for the G7 countries.fertility, female labour force participation, panel unit roots, panel cointegration, G7 countries.

Situational and dispositional indicators of performance : competing models in education

The attainment of high grades on the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is critical to the future study and employment prospects of many Australian adolescents. Thus it is important to understand the factors that contribute to performance in the VCE. The aims of this study were twofold: the main aim was to test competing models of academic performance, subsuming a range of situational and dispositional variables based on a) self-efficacy theory, b) target and purpose goals, c) cognitive skills and self-regulatory strategies, and d) positive psychology. These models were each tested in terms of English performance and mathematics performance as these units contribute proportionally the most to overall VCE scores. In order to study whether pressures peculiar to the VCE impact on performance, the competing models were tested in a sample of Victorian students prior to the VCE (year 10) and then during the VCE (year 11). A preliminary study was conducted in order to develop and test four scales required for use in the major study, using an independent sample of 302 year nine students. The results indicated that these new scales were psychometrically reliable and valid. Three-hundred and seven Australian students participated in the year 10 and 11 study. These students were successively asked to provide their final years 9, 10 and 11 English and mathematics grades at times one, three and five and to complete a series of questionnaires at times two and four. Results of the year 10 study indicated that models based on self-efficacy theory were the best predictors of both English and mathematics performance, with high past grades, high self-efficacy and low anxiety contributing most to performance. While the year 10 self-efficacy models, target goal models, positive psychology models, self-regulatory models and cognitive skill based models were each robust in the sample in year 11, a substantial increase in explained variance was observed from year 10 to year 11 in the purpose goal models. Results indicated that students’ mastery goals and their performance-approach goals became substantially more predictive in the VCE than they were prior to the VCE. This result can be taken to suggest that these students responded in very instrumental ways to the pressures, and importance, of their VCE. An integrated model based on a combination of the variables from the competing models was also tested in the VCE. Results showed that these models were comparable, both in English and mathematics, to the self-efficacy models, but explained less variance than the purpose goal models. Thus in terms of parsimony the integrated models were not preferred. The implications of these results in terms of teaching practices and school counseling practices are discussed. It is recommended that students be encouraged to maintain a positive outlook in relation to their schoolwork and that they be encouraged to set their VCE goals in terms of a combination of self-referenced (mastery) and other-referenced (performance-approach) goals

SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF CHINA'S OFF-FARM MIGRANTS

Existing research applying the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) in China is restricted to urban and rural samples. There are no studies for Chinese off-farm migrants. The specific aims of this study are (a) ascertain whether Chinese off-farm are satisfied with their lives; (b) investigate the equivalence of the PWI in terms of its psychometric properties; and (c) examine whether the responses to the PWI from participants falls within the narrow range predicted by the 'Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis???. The PWI demonstrated good psychometric performance in terms of its reliability, validity and sensibility and was consistent with previous studies for Western and non-Western samples. The data revealed a moderate level of subjective well-being (PWI score = 62.6). While Chinese off-farm migrants lead hard lives, the PWI was within the normative range predicted for Chinese societies by the 'Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis'. A likely explanation for this finding rests with the circular nature of migration in China. When China's offfarm migrants find it too difficult to cope in the cities, most have the fallback position that they can return to their homes in the countryside. This option provides an external buffer to minimize the inherent challenges of life which would otherwise impinge on the life satisfaction of China's off-farm migrants.China, Personal Wellbeing Index, Subjective Wellbeing

PERSONAL WELL-BEING IN URBAN CHINA

This paper reports the findings of a survey administering the Personal Well-Being Index in six Chinese cities (N=3390) to ascertain the personal well-being of China's urban population.The specific aims of the study were: (a) ascertain whether Chinese urban residents are satisfied with their lives; (b) validate the PWI using an urban sample that is representative of the urban population and larger in size than that which has been utilized in existing studies for Mainland China; (c) compare the results to existing studies for Hong Kong, Macau, rural China and single city studies which have administered the PWI in Guangdong and Shandong; (d) examine whether the responses to the PWI from participants falls within the narrow range predicted by the ???Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis??? and provide further evidence on whether this framework is applicable to Chinese samples; and (e) examine which participant characteristics predict personal well-being, examine whether own income and/or relative income predicts personal well-being and compare these results with previous studies for China and other countries. The data indicated a moderate level of personal well-being (PWI score = 67.1). The PWI demonstrated good psychometric performance in terms of its reliability, validity and sensitivity, consistent with previous published studies. The PWI was within the normative range for non-Western countries and was within the narrow band predicted by the ???Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis???. Similar variables were found to predict personal well-being to those found in previous studies for China and elsewhere.China, Personal Wellbeing Index, Subjective Wellbeing

SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF BEIJING TAXI DRIVERS

This study investigates subjective well-being among a sample of Beijing taxi drivers in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games using the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI). The specific aims of this study are (a) ascertain whether Beijing taxi drivers are satisfied with their lives; (b) investigate the psychometric properties of the PWI in this unique population; and (c) examine whether the responses to the PWI from participants falls within the narrow range predicted by the ???Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis???. The PWI demonstrated good psychometric properties and was consistent with previous studies for Western and non-Western samples. The data revealed a moderate level of subjective well-being (PWI score = 61.1). While Beijing taxi drivers work long hours for low wages, the PWI was nonetheless within the normative range predicted for Chinese societies by the ???Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis???. The results suggest that the homeostatic mechanism is fairly resilient, even when the individual leads a hard life based on objective indicators. For Beijing taxi drivers, it may be that personal relationships and feeling part of the community acts as an important buffer for the homeostatic system.China, Personal Wellbeing Index, Subjective Wellbeing

Medieval Roskilde: an Urban-Archaeological Survey

Medieval Roskilde - an Urban-Archaeological Survey

Is there a Natural Rate of Crime?

Studies in the economics of crime literature have reached mixed conclusions on the deterrence hypothesis. One explanation which has been offered for the failure to find evidence of a deterrent effect in the long run is the natural rate of crime. This paper applies the univariate Lagrange Multiplier (LM) unit root test with one and two structural breaks to crime series for the United Kingdom and United States and the panel LM unit root test with and without a structural break to crime rates for a panel of G7 countries to examine whether there is a natural rate of crime. Our main finding is that when we allow for two structural breaks in the LM unit root test and a structural break in the panel data unit root test, there is strong evidence of a natural rate of crime. The policy implications of our findings is that governments should focus on altering the economic and social structural profile which determines crime in the long run rather than increasing expenditure on law enforcement which will at best reduce crime rates in the short run.Natural rate of crime; Deterrence hypothesis; unit root.

PANEL DATA, COINTEGRATION, CAUSALITY AND WAGNER'S LAW: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE PROVINCES

This paper tests Wagner's law of increasing state activity using panels of Chinese provinces. The paper's main methodological contribution is in that we employ for the first time in the literature on Wagner's law a panel unit root, panel cointegration and Granger Causality testing approach. Overall, we find mixed evidence in support of Wagner's law for China's central and western provinces, but no support for Wagner's law for the full panel of provinces or for the panel of China's eastern provinces.

Review of algorithms for RNA secondary structure prediction with pseudoknots

Pseudoknots are structures that are formed from the base pairing of an RNA secondary loop structure with a complementary base which lies somewhere outside of the loop. The result is a structure, which plays a vital role in cell structure rigidity, regulation of protein synthesis, and in the structural organization of RNA complexes. Deciphering RNA folding patterns would begin to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the cell and its functions and open a new world to scientists. Many algorithms have been written in this quest to predict RNA\u27s secondary structure but not many have been very successful. In this thesis, some of these algorithms are discussed and considered for their strengths and weaknesses. First those algorithms, which exclude pseudoknots and other more complex structures, are presented. The later algorithms include those, which attempt to include some of the more complex structures into their calculations. In the end, all the algorithms are taken into consideration and their strengths and weaknesses compared so as to find some path for future direction. By using the strengths found in these variety of algorithms and avoiding some of the piffalls encountered by others hopefully new algorithms will be developed in the future that are more successful in deciphering RNA secondary structure