Majlinda Joxhe

Gender Gaps in Social Capital: A Theoretical Interpretation of Evidence from Italy

ABSTRACT This study uses the Italian data from the Multiscopo surveys of 1997 and 2011 to assess differences in life-cycle accumulation of social capital by sex and age. First, the study identifies some crucial aspects regarding the definition and measurement of social capital: individual versus collective dimension, different typologies of social capital, and the fact that the literature often deals with women in social capital but seldom with gender. Second, using a regression analysis with cross-sectional data, it shows that social capital accumulation along the life cycle is different for men and women, with men accumulating more social capital at all ages, with a different peak and overall profile. The study also shows that, over fifteen years, the gap in social capital by sex narrowed. Finally, it introduces a model of social capital structure compatible with the empirical evidence and with notions of gender as defined in feminist literature.

The Effect of Survey Design on Extreme Response Style: Rating Job Satisfaction

This paper explores the relationship between survey rating scale and Extreme Response Style (ERS) using experimental data from Understanding Society (Innovation Panel 2008), where a self-assessment questionnaire measuring job satisfaction uses two alternative (7 and 11 points) rating options. Our results suggests that when shifting from a shorter to a longer scale, the survey design generates a tendency to choose response scales at the extreme of the distribution, thus creating a misleading quantification of the variable of interest. The experimental design of the data enables us to test our hypothesis using a non-linear estimation approach where age, gender and education level are shown to affect ERS.

Do ethnic networks influence circular migration? Evidence from the UK

ABSTRACT This article identifies ethnic network effects among temporary migrants in the UK. Using microdata from Understanding Society and the UK Census, the empirical results show that ethnic networks change the individual probability for circular migration. These effects are strong and significant only for some ethnicities, when controlling for a set of socio-economic characteristics and when adding spatial variability