Social Network Effects on Mobile Money Adoption in Uganda

This study analyses social network effects on the adoption of mobile money among rural households in Uganda. We estimate conditional logistic regressions controlling for correlated effects and other information sources. Results show that mobile money adoption is positively influenced by the size of the social network with which information is exchanged. We further find that this effect is particularly pronounced for non-poor households. Thus, while social networks represent an important target for policy-makers aiming to promote mobile money technology, the poorest households are likely to be excluded and require more tailored policy programmes and assistance.     

Drug and alcohol use,delinquency, and vandalism among upper middle class pre- and post-adolescents

This article analyzes data from a survey research study of students in the fifth through twelfth grades of an upper middle class Chicago suburban community. The findings indicate the use of alcohol and drugs among both prepubertal and teenage students, and the involvement of both groups in theft and vandalism. The level of community affluence and quality of community institutions and services rule out the explanations (the tangle of pathology) usually offered in studies of delinquency in lower class and low-income communities. Peer group pressures and psychogenic factors appear to influence these kinds of acting-out behavior. And since considerable numbers of students noted that their parents had not established certain important regulations for them, the view advanced by this study is that deficient socialization and inadequate parenting also appear to be causes of these behavioral problems. However, since the study did not categorize the data in a way to permit cross-tabulations either supporting or invalidating this argument, this conclusion is a tentative one. It is suggested that future research dealing with these problems among this social stratum investigate the influence of parenting on acting-out behavior.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Main interests are emotional problems and acting-out behavior.Received his M. A. from Loyola University.     

Foreign-Trade Agreements: A New Federal Partner?

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the GeneralAgreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) shift power away fromstate and local government in the federal system. They imposenew rules on the exercise of state and local powers over procurementand the regulation of food, environmental, health, product andservice standards, investments, services, financial services,economic development, and land transportation. States will haveto comply with various reporting and registration requirements,and may be subject to stricter nondiscrimination obligationstoward imported goods and services than under the commerce clauseof the U.S. Constitution. State and local governments will bejudged by international panels, whose judgments the United Statesmust enforce or suffer trade sanctions from aggrieved tradingpartners. Yet, states have not strongly opposed NAFTA and GATT.The greatest state opposition has been to automatic preemption,which the Clinton administration promised to avoid as much aspossible. Nevertheless, increased power over federalism hasmoved to the executive branch, business, and trade-dispute panels,with less power for state and local governments.     

Affirmative action for women: more than a case of simple justice

Abstract: The point of departure for this essay is that society ought to equalize income between genders. However, the empirical evidence shows that affirmative action in the federal government, particularly quota hiring, is based on a false picture of the causes of the gender income gap and on an incomplete picture of the consequences of affirmative action. The gender gap is not caused primarily by employer discrimination but by educational segregation and by heavy and unequal family burdens. The proponents of quota hiring for women overlook the unintended societal impacts of the program. In the name of equality and justice, affirmative action does injustice to low-income women, to low-status men, and to mothers who work at home. Affirmative action also ignores the dilemma of negative fertility and its implications for pension fundability and the ability of society to care for the aged. The essay discusses reforms in income taxation, public pensions, education and job structure as alternatives to quota hiring. These reforms would favour women while remaining neutral between social classes and between women who work at home and women in the paid labour force. The suggested changes would not accelerate the decline in Canada's fertility rates. Sommaire. L'auteur prend pour hypothèse que la société se doit d'égaliser les salaires entre les hommes et les femmes. Mais s'appuyant sur des données empiriques, il montre que les programmes d'action positive au gouvernement fédéral, notamment les systèmes de contingentement à l'embauche, sont fondés sur me conception erronée des causes de la disparité salariale entre les sexes et sur une image incomplète des conséquences de l'action positive. Le fossé des sexes ne résulte pas principalement d'une discrimination pratiquée par les employeurs mais de la ségrégation dam le domaine de I'éducation, ainsi que de l'inéquité dans le partage des tâches familiales. Ceux qui préconisent l'établissement de contingentements à l'embauche pour les femmes oublient les répercussions sociétales cachées d'un tel programme. Au nom de l'égalité et de la justice, l'action positive fait preuve d'injustice envers les femmes à faible revenu, les hommes à bas statut et les mères de famille travaillant au foyer. L'action positive ignore également le dilemme des indices négatifs de fécondité ainsi que les répercussions de ce phénomène sur le financement des régimes de pension et sur les possibilités qu'a la société de prendre en charge les personnes âgées. L'auteur étudie les réformes du système fiscal, des régimes publics de pension, de l'éducation et des structures d'emploi en tant que solutions de rechange à l'établissement de systèmes de contingentement à l'embauche. De telles réformes seraient favorables aux femmes, sans différencier entre les classes sociales, ni entre les femmes qui travaillent au foyer et celles qui travaillent à l'extérieur. Les changements suggérés n'accéléreraient pas le fléchissement de l'indice de fécondité au Canada.