Do minimum wages raise employment? Evidence from the US retail-trade sector

This paper examines the impact of minimum wages on earnings and employment in selected branches of the retail-trade sector, 1990-2005, using county-level data on employment and a panel regression framework that allows for county-specific trends in sectoral outcomes. We focus on specific subsectors within retail trade that are identified as particularly low-wage. We find little evidence of disemployment effects once we allow for geographic-specific trends. Indeed, in many sectors the evidence points to modest (but robust) positive employment effects. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Who We Are and Who Can Join Us: National Identity Content and Entry Criteria for New Immigrants

We argue that attitudes about immigration can be better understood by paying closer attention to the various ways in which national group boundaries are demarcated. We describe two related lines of work that address this. The first deals with national group definitions and, based on evidence from studies carried out in England and analyses of international survey data, argues that the relationship between national identification and prejudice toward immigrants is contingent on the extent to which ethnic or civic definitions of nationality are endorsed. The second, which uses European survey data, examines support for ascribed and acquired criteria that can be applied when determining who is permitted to migrate to one's country, and the various forms of national and individual threat that affect support for these criteria. We explain how the research benefits from a multilevel approach and also suggest how these findings relate to some current policy debates.

Concomitant and antecedent deep venous thrombosis and cancer survival in male US veterans

Survival is reportedly worse in patients with cancer concurrently diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis. However, information on specific malignancies is limited. From a cohort study of male US veterans we identified incident cancer cases (n aEuroS== aEuroS412 008) and compared survival patterns among those with versus without a history of deep venous thrombosis. Using Cox proportional hazard models, we estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95%% confidence intervals as measures of the relative risk of dying. Individuals with (versus without) a concomitant deep venous thrombosis and cancer diagnosis had a higher risk of dying (HR aEuroS== aEuroS1.38; 1.28--1.49). The most prominent excess mortality (HR aEuroS== aEuroS1.29--2.55) was observed among patients diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis at the time of diagnosis of lung, gastric, prostate, bladder, or kidney cancer. Increased risk of dying was also found among cancer patients diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis 1 year (HR aEuroS== aEuroS1.14; 1.07--1.22), 1--5 years (HR aEuroS== aEuroS1.14; 1.10--1.19), and > 5 years (HR aEuroS== aEuroS1.27; 1.23--1.31) before cancer; this was true for most cancer sites (HR aEuroS== aEuroS1.17--1.64). In summary, antecedent deep venous thrombosis confers a worse prognosis upon cancer patients. Advanced stage at diagnosis, treatment effects, lifestyle factors, and comorbidity could explain differences by cancer site and time frame between a prior deep venous thrombosis diagnosis and cancer outcome.