Ethnicity and political participation: A comparison between Asian and Mexican Americans

What is ethnicity and how does it matter for political participation? Previous research has shown that the participatory disparity of Asian Americans, as different from Latinos, cannot be explained with sociodemographic and group consciousness variables. Adopting the view of a growing body of scholars who think ethnicity is an evolving rather than a static phenomenon, this study proposes multidimensional measures of ethnicity for two immigrant groups. Reexamining part of the 1984 data set that contains a unique oversampling of Asian and Mexican Americans in California, it is found that the two groups, despite a huge socioeconomic gap, bear similar ethnicity and participation structures. For both groups, acculturation increases participation; attachment to homeland culture does not necessarily discourage participation; and the role of group consciousness is much more complex than previously conceived.     

Migrating women: Mexican women in the United States

"This analysis considers some aspects of the international migration of Mexican women, seen under the light of two recent statistical sources: the [U.S.] 1990 census and the 1993-1994... International Migration Survey at the Mexican Northern Border. The joint analysis of migrations and migrant inventories reveals the hidden scope of feminine exile, as well as some of its peculiarities, and offers numerical answers to two questions: How does sex differentiate Mexican immigrants in the United States? How does the migration affect work, marriage, child-bearing, etc. of Mexican women? The results suggest the need to address migration no longer as an action of individuals, but of families (most immigrants are married), and to place the mother or the wife at the gravity center of the household migratory space." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Close-of-the-century trends in Mexican urbanization

"This article reviews the main characteristics of Mexican urban development during the eighties through the study of its spatial-demographic aspects and the changes in the space-sector structure of [the] economy, and suggests a prospect of national urbanization for the nineties.... The main point is to illustrate and explain why the eighties can be considered a milestone in urban development, [introducing] a new trend in Mexican urbanization which will consolidate during the nineties." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Identifying Irregularities in Mexican Local Elections

A generalized distrust in Mexican local elections raises the question of whether electoral corruption has vanished or remains a prevalent practice in the country. To answer this question, I analyze the 2010 gubernatorial elections, exploiting a feature of the country's electoral system: within each electoral precinct, voters are assigned to polling stations according to their childhood surname. Consequently, the only difference between voters in contiguous polling stations should be their last names. Given that political preferences are seldom correlated with voters' names, I use suspicious differences in turnout levels across contiguous polling stations to identify fraudulent practices. The findings of this article indicate that nondemocratic enclaves that actively obstruct the completion of Mexico's democratic transition still remain today.     

Phenotypic Preference in Mexican Migrants: Evidence from a Random Household Survey

Political Behavior - Does pre-existing preference based on skin tone, facial features, and other observable characteristics, i.e., phenotypic preference, affect immigrant voters’ support for...     

Are Americans underinvesting in their children?

He has written widely on the Economics of health care. Among his books are The Economics of Physician and Patient Behavior; Economic Aspects of Health; How We Live;and The Health Economy.     

Tourism: A Facilitator of Social Awareness in an Indigenous Mexican Community?

As Latin American economies and cultures become increasingly tied to a global political, economic, and social order, indigenous and other marginalized people find themselves at a crossroads where their cultural survival is challenged. Tourism is one important aspect of this new economic order and it is often one of the few resources remaining in countries such as Mexico whose economy has been tied more directly to interests of dominating leaders contributing to this new world order. And while many observers note that tourism often has an exploitative impact on indigenous and marginalized people, this article examines the contradictions in tourism, identifying those economic spaces where the indigenous people have been successful in renegotiating their position with the dominant mestizo group in their community. This article offers provocative insights about the impact of tourism on indigenous people in a community in the northern mountains (Sierra Norte) in Puebla, México. It examines the potential contradictions in tourism under the economic conditions of neoliberalism.     

Trade or raid: Acadian settlers and native Americans before 1755

Public Choice - Could North America have been settled more peacefully, with fewer property rights violations against Native Americans? To answer this question, we utilize the case of French...     

Recent changes in the Mexican industrial labor force

"We study...some of the repercussions of the crisis and economic restructuring on the manufacturing labour force in the main urban areas of Mexico. Using the data of the National Survey of Urban Employment for the period 1986-1992, we set, first of all, the evolution of female and male presence in the manufacture of the country's main industrial cities. Further, some of the characteristics of the manufacturing labour force in different types of cities are examined. For this purpose, we are considering several issues: the condition of wage earner and non-wage earner workers, the size of the establishment, some sociodemographic aspects (gender, age, schooling level, and condition of the head of household), as well as different aspects related to labour conditions (length of workday, job benefits, and salary levels)." (EXCERPT)     

Structural Adjustment and Political Adaptation: The Politics of Neoliberal Reform in Mexican Agriculture

Through a study of recent policy change in Mexico, this article shows that even a strong state, implementing a radical reform via purportedly neutral policy changes, inevitably must adapt to a context shaped by previous policy choices and outstanding political imperatives. In this case, the prior organization of commercial export growers in the fresh fruit and vegetable subsector, the strength of an independent peasant movement, and the state's long-term commitment to a rhetoric of development and social welfare significantly qualify the reform effort. In the export sector, Mexican production is largely shaped by the still powerful Confederation of Growers of Fruits and Vegetables. In regard to peasant agriculture, the government has had to make significant concessions to independent peasant organizations in an effort to regain political support. The neoliberal program has thus been qualified and to some extent reshaped by both immediate political considerations and the longer-term institutional and political structures of Mexican society. In this sense, economic forces remain "embedded" in prior social structures and political choices.     

Transnational absentee voting in the 2006 Mexican presidential election: The roots of participation

In many of the major migrant-sending countries of the developing world, governments have extended political rights to expatriates, often including the right to vote via absentee ballot. Little is known about the factors that shape transnational electoral participation, however. Using official records provided by the Mexican Federal Electoral Institute, we model the incidence of expatriate ballot solicitations prior to the 2006 presidential election in Mexico. Based on a series of event count regression analyses conducted at the level of U.S. metropolitan statistical areas, we find that transnational involvement in the election depended not only on socioeconomic factors but also on the concentration of Mexican civic associations within the local community, the presence of Spanish-language media, and distance from the Mexican border. This suggests that the roots of immigrant transnational participation include factors familiar to social scientists as well as dynamics uniquely relevant to immigrant communities.     

Preaching to the Choir: Americans Prefer Communicating to Copartisan Elected Officials

Past work suggests that partisan attachments isolate citizens from encountering elite messages contrary to their points of view. Here, we present evidence that partisan attachments not only serve to filter the information citizens receive from political elites; they also work in the other direction, isolating politicians from encountering potentially contrary perspectives from citizens. In particular, we hypothesized that Americans prefer expressing their opinions to politicians who share their party identification and avoid contacting outpartisan politicians. Three studies—drawing on a mixture of observational, field experimental, and natural experimental approaches—support this hypothesis: Citizens prefer to “preach to the choir,” contacting legislators of the same partisan stripe. In light of evidence that contact from citizens powerfully affects politicians’ stances and priorities, these findings suggest a feedback loop that might aggravate political polarization and help explain how politicians of different parties could develop different perceptions of the same constituencies.     

Migrants' remittances and economic voting in the Mexican countryside

This study advances and tests hypotheses about the effects of migrants' remittances on political behavior. Analyzing new survey data from Mexico, I find that despite being very poor, respondents who receive remittances tend to view their income as more stable than neighbors who do not receive this money. As a result, remittance recipients have relatively fewer economic grievances and tend to feel more optimistic about economic matters than neighbors who do not receive remittances. According to the economic voter thesis, citizens who are more satisfied with the economy are also less likely to pressure and oppose politicians, particularly incumbents. Analyses indicate that respondents in this sample who receive remittances are indeed less likely to lobby local officials for economic assistance. They were also less likely to mobilize against and punish the incumbent party in the 2006 Mexican presidential election.