{"title":"The Impact of Education and Culture on Poverty Reduction: Evidence from Panel Data of European Countries.","authors":"A Spada, M Fiore, A Galati","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03155-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03155-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The 2030 Agenda has among its key objectives the poverty eradication through increasing the level of education. A good level of education and investment in culture of a country is in fact necessary to guarantee a sustainable economy, in which coexists satisfactory levels of quality of life and an equitable distribution of income. There is a lack of studies in particular on the relations between some significant dimensions, such as education, culture and poverty, considering time lags for the measurement of impacts. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by focusing on the relationship between education, culture and poverty based on a panel of data from 34 European countries, over a 5-year period, 2015-2019. For this purpose, after applying principal component analysis to avoid multicollinearity problems, the authors applied three different approaches: pooled-ordinary least squares model, fixed effect model and random effect model. Fixed-effects estimator was selected as the optimal and most appropriate model. The results highlight that increasing education and culture levels in these countries reduce poverty. This opens space to new research paths and policy strategies that can start from this connection to implement concrete actions aimed at widening and improving educational and cultural offer.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10265551/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9716451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modeling Opportunity Indicators Fostering Social Entrepreneurship: A Hybrid Delphi and Best-Worst Approach.","authors":"Vineet Kaushik, Shobha Tewari","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03139-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03139-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Opportunity as a construct has been widely examined in for-profit entrepreneurship research, but it is scarcely studied in the context of social entrepreneurship. It is being observed that many entrepreneurs venture into social enterprise because they perceive it as an opportunity. This study aims to address this phenomenon by extensively identifying the opportunity indicators that promote entrepreneurs to pursue social entrepreneurship. We accomplish this by employing a mixed-methods approach wherein we used both quantitative and qualitative data from experts and analysed it using a hybrid approach of Delphi rounds and the best-worst method. We identified 13 opportunity indicators from the literature, and in the first round of Delphi, four new indicators were added to the list by a panel of 24 experts drawn from industry and academia across India. In the second round of the Delphi method, 18 of the 24 experts took part and rated the importance of each indicator on a 5-point Likert scale. Depending on the availability of the experts, both rounds of Delphi were held in person and virtually. Based on the cut-off levels for standard deviation, interquartile range, and probability of occurrence, experts agreed on 16 indicators. Furthermore, a best-worst method approach was used to prioritise these indicators based on the opinions of industry and academic experts. The study used a theoretical lens of entrepreneurial opportunity and its two different views: objectively discovered and subjectively perceived. The results revealed a consensus among academicians and practitioners for objectively discovered opportunity indicators, which gave the highest priority to \"institutional support\" and \"funding opportunities.\"</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-32"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10252175/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9707649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elisa Menardo, Marta Viola, Alice Bacherini, Luana Angelini, Roberto Cubelli, Giulia Balboni
{"title":"The Effects of the COVID-19-induced Lockdown on the Social Capital and Cultural Capital in Italy.","authors":"Elisa Menardo, Marta Viola, Alice Bacherini, Luana Angelini, Roberto Cubelli, Giulia Balboni","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03140-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03140-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The present study investigated the effects of the first COVID-19 lockdown on the Cultural and Social Capitals in Italy in a large group of adults (<i>n</i> = 1125). The relationships between the COVID-19 spread and participants' Cultural Capital, Social Capital, educational level, occupational prestige, and age were studied using structural equation models. For women but not for men, pandemic spread was positively affected by occupational prestige and it had a positive relationship with their Social Capital (women: CFI = 0.949; RMSEA = 0.059 [CI = 0.045-0.075]; men: CFI = 0.959; RMSEA = 0.064 [CI = 0.039-0.087]). Moreover, the participants were divided into three validated clusters based on their Cultural and Social Capitals levels to investigate changes in the Capitals compared with the pre-lockdown period. It was found that the lockdown contributed to improving the gap among individuals increasing high levels and decreasing low levels of both the Capitals. People with high Cultural and Social Capitals seemed to have seized the opportunity given by COVID-19 restrictions to cultivate their cultural interests and become more involved within their networks. In contrast, individuals with low Cultural and Social Capitals paid the highest price for the social isolation. Given that the Capitals encourage healthy behavior and influence well-being and mental health, institutions should develop or improve their policies and practices to foster individual resources, and make fairer opportunities available during the pandemic.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11205-023-03140-7.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10234587/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10093942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alessandra De Rose, Maria Felice Arezzo, Mario Amore, Alessandro Cuomo, Sergio De Filippis, Silvestro La Pia, Marta Pasqualini, Alessandro Pirani, Riccardo Torta, Andrea Fagiolini
{"title":"Vulnerabilities in Mental Health due to Covid-19 Pandemic: The Response of the Italian Physicians.","authors":"Alessandra De Rose, Maria Felice Arezzo, Mario Amore, Alessandro Cuomo, Sergio De Filippis, Silvestro La Pia, Marta Pasqualini, Alessandro Pirani, Riccardo Torta, Andrea Fagiolini","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03111-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03111-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities in societies. In this paper we analyse the categories that have suffered more than others from the pandemic and the restrictions on social life in terms of mental health. We rely on the Serendipity project based on a survey administered between November 2021 and February 2022 to a sample of Italian physicians (n = 1281). The survey aimed to assess the perception of general practitioners, paediatricians, geriatricians, and mental health specialists (psychiatrists, neurologists, child neuropsychiatrists), about changes in the mental health of the population as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. The strategies implemented by the doctors interviewed in terms of the intensity of the prevention, emergence, and treatment of mental health interventions, and their association with physicians' characteristics and their opinions on patient vulnerability have been illustrated by means of a multiple correspondence analysis. An overall result of the survey is the consensus of doctors on the worsening of mental health in general population, especially among their patients, due to the pandemic and on the onset of new discomforts. The most exposed individuals to the risk of onset or worsening of mental disorders include women, young people, and patients with psychiatric comorbidity. The paper also illustrates the interventions put in place by the physicians and deemed necessary from a public heath response perspective, that include providing psychoeducation to the general population, improving telehealth services, and increasing financial and human resources for community-based care.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10227811/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9707646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mung Khie Tsen, Manli Gu, Chee Meng Tan, See Kwong Goh
{"title":"Homeworking and Employee Job Stress and Work Engagement: A Multilevel Analysis from 34 European Countries.","authors":"Mung Khie Tsen, Manli Gu, Chee Meng Tan, See Kwong Goh","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03138-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03138-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Working from home (WFH) has had both positive and negative impacts on the work conduct. To maximise the benefits of homeworking, previous literature mainly focuses on creating self-help strategies for homeworkers to reduce work stress and maintain work engagement. However, fewer studies take on the policymaker perspective and evaluate optimal working conditions in the homeworking context. Using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study evaluates the effects of various work characteristics (job demands and resources) on the stress and engagement of infrequent and frequent homeworkers. Using the sixth European Working Conditions Survey 2015 which contains 5090 participants from 34 European countries, we studied 6 job demands and 5 job resources via Exploratory Factor Analysis. After testing the model's fitness using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, multiple mixed-effects models were used to test the job demands and resource effects on worker stress and engagement. Dominance Analysis was then used to identify the relative importance of each job demand and resource when explaining employee stress and engagement. We found emotional demands, time pressure, and workload to be the top three demand factors that cause work stress across the groups. Other than daily homeworkers, a positive and fair social climate is the most prominent resource able to boost job engagement across all of the other groups. By identifying the homeworkers' most influential demands and resources, this study will help managers better understand the steps to take to provide healthy job conditions for homeworkers.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-28"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10225779/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9707645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Absolutely Relative: How Education Shapes Voter Turnout in the United States.","authors":"Yeaji Kim","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03146-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03146-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Why has voter turnout in the United States not increased proportionally with educational attainment over time? Relative education theories have attempted to answer this question by highlighting how the value of individuals' education may be influenced by the educational levels achieved by others. For instance, individuals may attain a higher level of education compared to previous generations, but the relative value of their education may not improve if society as a whole also achieves higher levels of education. Thus, this increased educational attainment may have little influence on voter turnout. Using a new measure of relative education and incorporating more recent post-2000 data, this research finds that while the relative education model explains the education-turnout relationship prior to 2000, since then individuals with a higher absolute level of education have been more likely to vote, regardless of the relative value of their education. The rise in voter turnout over the past two decades could be attributed to this increase in the absolute level of education.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-23"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10225039/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9692308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sabina Alkire, Fanni Kövesdi, Elina Scheja, Frank Vollmer
{"title":"Moderate Multidimensional Poverty Index: Paving the Way Out of Poverty.","authors":"Sabina Alkire, Fanni Kövesdi, Elina Scheja, Frank Vollmer","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03134-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03134-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Eradicating poverty in all its forms, everywhere, requires indicators that measure sustainable pathways out of poverty, and not only the absence of acute poverty. This paper introduces a trial Moderate Multidimensional Poverty Index (MMPI) that reflects moderate rather than acute levels of multidimensional poverty. The MMPI adjusts nine of the 10 indicators of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (global MPI) to reflect moderate poverty and create a meaningful superset of the acutely poor population. Although data-constrained, the trial MMPI outlines a methodology and potential indicators for a measure that would: (i) be meaningful and comparable across populations at higher levels of development; (ii) align with higher standards defined in Agenda 2030; and (iii) provide insight into aspects of intrahousehold deprivation. The MMPI is illustrated empirically using nationally representative household surveys from Bangladesh, Guatemala, Iraq, Serbia, Tanzania and Thailand. The results confirm the added value of having three nested measures of destitution, acute, and moderate multidimensional poverty. The MMPI also complements monetary measures with informative differences in poverty levels observed. The results demonstrate that a Moderate MPI is a desirable global poverty index, which is likely to illuminate thus far hidden aspects in of multidimensional poverty, such as intrahousehold deprivations in education. Challenges remain regarding data availability, and further study across additional countries is required before the MMPI structure can be finalised.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-37"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10220327/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10075324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Integrated Approach to the Conceptualisation and Measurement of Social Cohesion.","authors":"Bujar Aruqaj","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03110-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03110-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The core sociological subject of 'social cohesion' (hereafter SC) has re-emerged as a key concept in the social sciences. On the one hand, SC is thought to be influenced by a society's degree of inequalities and the quality of its welfare state. On the other hand, SC is thought to be instrumental in its own right to other factors such as economic growth, institutional quality, and individual well-being. In recent years, a few attempts have been made to measure SC empirically. Many current indices have not been sufficiently theoretically substantiated, and do not consider the importance of different 'social levels' when explaining and measuring SC as both cause and effect of other correlates. Very often, SC is simply defined as a 'social quality' or a quality of a collective. As a result, measures are often aggregate macro-indices leading to a loss of the information base of any social 'units' below the macro-societal-level. Contributing to this important methodological debate, this paper provides a conceptual reformulation of SC. Hence, when assessing SC based on a multi-dimensional index, it is insightful and feasible to evaluate both its internal variation as well as its holistic validity. In fact, it is proposed that these two aspects of measurement stand in direct relationship to one-another. The paper starts out with a discussion of SC as a 'social fact' in the Durkheimian sense. In addition, three bridging propositions on the measurement of SC are advanced: (a) SC as outcome or consequence at the level of individual attitudes and orientations ('micro'); (b) SC as degree of dissimilarity and presence of latent conflict within a society at the level of salient social categories ('meso'), and (c) SC as predictor, social determinant and hence antecedent at the societal-level ('macro'). Using all rounds of the European Social Survey with a very large sample size, the advantages of this approach are illustrated by singling-out the important link between socio-economic inequalities, social cohesion and individual subjective well-being in a path of action.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-37"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10212225/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9716449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of Technology on Macro-Level Employment and the Workforce: What are the Implications for Job Creation and Job Destruction in Ghana?","authors":"Richard Kofi Asravor, Frank Gyimah Sackey","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03109-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03109-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Technology whilst creating jobs has destroyed many jobs. The destructive power of technology has led many workers in developing countries, especially Ghana to fight against its introduction. We investigate the effect of technological change on job creation and destruction in Ghana using longitudinal data from the World Development Indicator covering 1990 to 2018. By running the ARDL model, the summative technology-related job destruction is higher in the short run whilst job creation is higher in the long run. Thus, technology has a compensation effect on job destruction and job creation, due to its labour-saving nature. The short and long-run job destruction is higher with increasing importations, interest rate, and minimum wages, however, economic growth, FDI, and exportation increase job creation. Since technology results in higher job destruction, it is important to equip workforce with the technological knowledge before the introduction of new technology.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-19"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10211284/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9692309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the Gender Gap in Teleworking from Home. The Roles of Worker's Characteristics, Occupational Positions and Gender Equality in Europe.","authors":"Stefanie Kley, Thordis Reimer","doi":"10.1007/s11205-023-03133-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11205-023-03133-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous research suggests an under-representation of women among teleworkers before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we know little about whether such a gender gap was substantial, and whether it could be explained by occupational gender segregation. We explore whether a gender gap in regularly teleworking existed in the EU-28 and analyse its possible constituents, drawing on data from the European Working Conditions Survey 2015. To form a group of potential teleworkers, the analytical sample was restricted to employees who made use of information and communication technology (N ≈ 16,000). Country fixed effects regression and multilevel models were applied. The results show that women were under-represented among teleworkers compared to men, also when occupational gender segregation is taken into account; the remaining gender gap in telework is estimated at 10%. For women, working part-time and working in the private sector was associated with lower incidences of telework, but not for men. Country characteristics explain a small but significant share of telework incidence. In countries that rank high on the Gender Equality Index and have a large public sector, telework was widespread, whereas it was less present in countries with higher shares of women in the fields of science and engineering. The findings support the view that the gender gap in teleworking from home is a matter of historically grown gender inequality.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11205-023-03133-6.</p>","PeriodicalId":21943,"journal":{"name":"Social Indicators Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10206342/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9707648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}