Exchange Rate Regime,Central Bank Independence,and Political Business Cycles in Brazil

This article examines policy consequences of electoral cycles and exchange rate regime choices in Brazil. The literature on opportunistic political business cycles maintains that governments adopt expansionary economic policies before elections to mobilize voters’ support. However, research findings in Latin America based on the theory has been inconclusive. I argue that the lack of conclusive evidence in Latin America stems from measurement errors common in the use of cross-national aggregate data. Using Brazil’s monthly data from 1985 to 2006, this article shows that there are electorally induced fiscal cycles under fixed and crawling peg exchange rate regimes and electorally induced monetary cycles under floating exchange rates only when the nation’s central bank is not independent. Indeed, accounting for Brazil’s unique economic contingencies and longitudinal variations in the de facto central bank independence, its public policy behavior remarkably resembles that of the more affluent, economically stable OECD countries.

Escaping Poverty and Securing Middle Class Status: How Race and Socioeconomic Status Shape Mobility Prospects for African Americans During the Transition to Adulthood

This article draws on extant research from the disciplines of psychology, sociology, and economics to identify linkages between individual, family, community, and structural factors related to social mobility for African Americans during the transition to adulthood. It considers how race and class together affect opportunities for social mobility through where African Americans live, whom they associate with, and how they are impacted by racial and class-related stigma. Of particular interest is social mobility as accomplished through academic achievement, educational attainment, employment, economic independence, and homeownership. Research on five issues is reviewed and discussed: (a) the unique vulnerabilities of newly upwardly mobile African Americans, (b) wealth as a source of inequality, (c) racism and discrimination, (d) the stigma associated with lower-class status, and (e) social and cultural capital. The article concludes with a summary and directions for future research.

计件工资问题与集体协商技术性对策

计件工资的秘密在于资方以保证一定的利润和保证能雇到一定的工人为前提,工人并不知道计件工资的秘密,反而把计件工资看作为真正体现"按劳分配"、"不劳不得,多劳多得"的工资制度。由此,产生制度性地规避最低工资、规避加班加点工资、规避特殊情况下支付工资等问题。解决计件工资规避劳动法规的关键并不在于加强政府监管,而在于确立工人的"话语权",即进行有效的,有针对性的集体谈判。因此,应设计工会进行计件工资行业或企业工资集体协商的操作性技术要点。     

The grey area between nationality and citizenship: an analysis of external citizenship policies in Latin America and the Caribbean

Literature on diaspora engagement policies, transnational and extra-territorial citizenship has painted the increasing recognition of dual nationality and the extension of state policies to the diaspora as a signal of states leaving behind the paradigms of exclusive nationality and residence as conditions to exercise citizenship. In doing this, this literature tends to treat citizenship and nationality as synonyms. By analysing the citizenship policies of 22 Latin American and Caribbean states towards their nationals who reside abroad and/or acquire another nationality, we add key nuances to such consideration: nationality and citizenship may relate to different legal statuses – with important consequences for migrants – and there might be differences also between the citizen rights of nationals by origin and of nationals by naturalization. In particular, we show that citizenship and nationality interact in different ways when it comes to the preservation of rights for emigrants: the distinctions allow restricting the portability of citizenship rights for nationals by birth, and other groups of nationals, depending on the exclusivity, and origin, of their national belonging. These distinctions tell a potentially different story of how citizenship is conceived of by states as they approach the challenges of membership and participation posed by emigration, and paint a less rosy picture with regard to the demise of exclusive nationality.     

Class,Politics and the Progressive Dilemma

This article considers contemporary class inequalities and how they might shape a progressive politics in the UK. Drawing on findings from the BBC Class Survey, it outlines changes in the class structure, class mobility and class identities. It is argued that the class structure is increasingly polarised and fragmented, with a wealthy elite, a vulnerable precariat and fragmented middle and working classes in between. Declining upward social mobility is a source of anxiety for middle‐class and working‐class parents alike. Class identification, especially working‐class identification, has weakened over time, although class snobbery is far from dead. Class has changed and the class basis of politics is changing now too. A progressive politics is possible if the political parties of the centre‐left appeal to the majority of the electorate rather than one class, acknowledge common concerns and worries and appeal to shared hopes and dreams that straddle class boundaries.     

关于心理干预在提高助学贷款还款率方面的思考

国家助学贷款在解决贫困大学生困难和维护社会稳定方面起到积极作用，但由于借贷学生违约率较高，影响了国家助学贷款制度的正常运行，其中不仅有经济方面的原因，还有心理方面的原因。在充分了解学生的心理感受和心理问题的基础上，利用心理干预的各种手段和措施，妥善引导学生正确的价值取向，促进学生健全人格的形成，让心理干预在提高助学贷款还款率方面发挥应有的效用。     

无锡地区鹅球虫种类的调查

采用饱和盐水漂浮法对无锡地区鹅感染球虫的种类及感染率等情况进行了初步调查。结果,从无锡地区17个不同鹅群的粪样中共获得8种球虫,其中艾美属球虫有6种,分别是有害艾美球虫、棕黄艾美球虫、赫氏艾美球虫、鹅艾美球虫、法氏艾美球虫、条纹艾美球虫;等孢属球虫1种,即鹅等孢球虫;泰泽属球虫1种,即稍小泰泽球虫。     

Blocked Mobility and the Rise of Cultural Nationalism: A Reassessment

This paper provides an empirical assessment of the blocked mobility thesis, especially in regard to its use to explain the rise of cultural nationalism. The thesis states that young university students see their upward mobility thwarted and as a result develop nationalist movements which, they believe, will provide them with an independent state and open up career opportunities for them. Using quantitative archival data from Ireland during the early 1900s and Canada during the 1960s, this paper challenges the major assumptions of the blocked mobility thesis. For these two cases it was found that there was neither an overproduction of graduates nor a contracting state structure, two essential preconditions of the blocked mobility thesis. This empirical finding forces us to develop an alternative approach to explaining the rise in cultural nationalism. Part of this paper is taken up with outlining this alternative approach.     

中间汇率制度思想起源与演进

中间汇率制度是金融改革可取的现实选择。中间汇率制度思想起源于第二次世界大战期间的美国,20世纪60年代被重新修订,提出“汇率宽区间”和“爬行钉住”计划;70年代以参考汇率和“最优钉住”理论为其升华;80年代将“宽区间”与“爬行钉住”结合,创立目标区经典模型;90年代,新兴市场化国家普遍实行钉住汇率制度,经验证明中间汇率制优于浮动汇率制。