This thesis conducts empirical analysis on the intergenerational transmission of adiposity, using various types of data from various countries; the same intergenerational transmission in China and how it varies with the family socioeconomic factors and age levels; the way in which health impinges on the decision to migrate in China. In the first empirical chapter we find that the intergenerational elasticity of adiposity is relatively constant – at 0.2 per parent, and this elasticity is comparable across time and countries. Quantile estimates suggest that this intergenerational transmission mechanism is more than double for the fattest children as it is for the thinnest children. The second empirical chapter examines the intergenerational transmission of adiposity in China: we use BMI z-score as another measure of adiposity, the longitudinal structure of CHNS data (1993-2009) allows us to control for individual fixed effects or family fixed effects and focus on changes in BMI z-score over the life cycle. We report patterns of the intergenerational relationship of BMI z-score varying by family socio-economic factors and the age of the child, the magnitude of this relationship reaches the peak over the stage between childhood and later adolescence. In the third empirical chapter, which also uses the CHNS data, we examine whether migrants are healthier than those who do not migrate in the places of origin in the context of internal migration in China. Based on the relative wage rates, costs of migration and the assumption of optimization, we set up a theoretical model and estimate the effects of health on the migration probability, we find that people self-evaluating as having “good” or “excellent” health are more likely to migrate, this health effects vary with the type of occupation, we also find evidence on the indirect health effects which operates through the education attainment.

This doctoral thesis commences with a meticulous examination on whether financial, social and institutional determinants associate with the migration performance in Europe and accordingly in Greece. Motivated by the intensity, the magnitude and the financial recession, this thesis presents three empirical chapters on the examination of the determinants that affect the phenomenon of migration. Prior to these three empirical studies a chapter introduces and defines all the variables used as well as the theoretical and methodological framework of the thesis. The first empirical chapter demonstrates a comprehensive sample of 15 European countries from 1990 – 2012, which have been divided into 3 groups (Weak-EMU, Strong-EMU and Non-EMU countries) in order to investigate the behaviour of each group during these periods. It follows a quantitative analysis of the economic and social determinants on migration, in order to comprehend their relationship with the phenomenon. The chapter concludes with the discussion of our results with an analytical review of the selected variables upon migration. Results reveal that Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain are countries that are more exposed to the financial crisis, something that consequently affects negatively the behaviour of each employed economic variable. Additionally, results detect that one significant outcome is that the GDP growth rate, inflation and the imports of goods are related to migration, while on the other hand the 10-year government bond yield is not affiliated to the phenomenon. The second empirical chapter covers the financial, social and institutional determinants that motivate Greek nationals to leave their country and emigrate to wealthier destinations during the recent financial crisis. First, it reviews the theoretical explanations for the efficiency of the factors on migration. It then provides a survey on the relevant empirical studies and subsequently an analysis of the variables, which have a significant impact on labour migration. Based on the theories presented, the study develops a model to explain how financial, social and institutional factors are correlated with the economic downturn and lead to adverse financial and social shocks such as massive migration outflows of Greek nationals. More precisely, the second chapter indicates that Greece has been very exposed to the financial crisis, thus had a strong impact on the decision of Greek natives to emigrate. As conditions deteriorate, Greece was in a severe financial situation due to the financial crisis and was dependent on the monetary policy support, something that emerged the country to experience major and drastic changes on its social cohesion. Further, we can identify, that debt to GDP, exports of goods, ln of imports of goods, long term unemployment and population growth are positively related to emigration from Greece, while on the other hand cash surplus, foreign direct investment and bank capital are negatively associated to the phenomenon. Finally, we employed advanced techniques to model the factors that motivate the existing regular immigrants in Greece to abandon the country and return to their own during the economic crisis period (return-migration). The findings reveal details on the imbalances of the economic, social and political framework of Greece that consequently affected negatively the growth rate of the country and created a fragile economy with high rates of unemployment and inflation. Hence, it compares the economic, social and institutional factors, which are related to the literature of return migration. According to the estimated results, the phenomenon of return migration is neither related in a predetermined way with unemployment rates nor poverty levels, but with tax revenue, corruption and government debt. Consequently, this situation had a strong negative impact in the behaviour of each financial, social and institutional determinant, with immediate result to the migrant families who pursue an improved quality of life back to their home country.

The overwhelming focus on causal linkages between environmental stressors and the migration decision making, disagreement among stakeholders regarding the positioning of migration within CCA discourse, and the lack of empirical evidence surrounding the role of migration as adaptation have been major impediments to mainstreaming migration in adaptation policies. There is a growing consensus among migration scholars regarding the potential contribution of migration to the lives and livelihoods of the migrants and their families left behind. However, the extent to which migration can contribute to climate change adaptation (CCA) in migrant-sending households, origin communities, or origin countries is a complex issue and requires further exploration. This thesis attempts to fill some of this knowledge gap by developing a conceptual approach to understand the effects of migration in the context of adaptation to extreme events such as drought and floods. As such, it is not concerned as to why someone migrates, but purely on its effects. This thesis shifts the focus to consequences of migration outcomes. The discourse on migration and adaptation has witnessed the same contestations of structuralism, neo-classical, and pluralist viewpoints with reference to effects of migration on development of migrant-sending households and origin communities. These lessons are pertinent for migration and adaptation discourse, and I use these lessons to build the conceptual framework of this thesis. It attempts to understand how the choices on remittance usage already made by households affects the CCA to extreme events. This thesis adopts a mixed-methods and comparative approach to validate the conceptual framework, based on case studies from Baoshan County of Yunnan Province in China and Upper Assam in India. A key component of CCA is the reduction of vulnerability of a system to climate change and variability. The vulnerability concept provides a framework to unpack the constituents of vulnerability. A reduction in vulnerability to an extreme event requires a reduction in sensitivity and enhancement of capacity to adapt. This thesis analyses the vulnerability of the remittance-recipient households compared to households that do not have access to remittances. It also characterises sensitivity and adaptive capacity of the remittance-recipient households in context of duration for which a household has received remittances and distance to destination. Results suggest that remittances affect certain sub-dimensions and attributes of vulnerability and these affects vary in different contexts. The mobility patterns and its consequences within a country are shaped by a wide range of policies and institutions. The creation of an enabling condition for adaptation remains a critical function for the governments, thus migration could not be a substitute for public investment in development and adaptation in origin communities. The availability of an enabling environment and reduction in structural constrains would reduce the risks from migration and help remittance-recipient households to leverage remittances for CCA.

This thesis is formed of three separate essays. The essays are empirical in nature and use the Kagera Health and Development Survey from Tanzania. The survey spans a 19-year period offering a unique opportunity to study many long-run dynamic processes of development in rural Africa. In the first essay, a version of which was co-authored with Joachim De Weerdt, we use these data to shed light on how mass internal migration changes the nature of informal risk-sharing. By quantifying how shocks and consumption co-move across linked households, our analysis shows that migrants unilaterally insure their extended family members who remain at home. This finding contradicts risk-sharing models based on reciprocity, but is consistent with assistance driven by social norms. Migrants sacrifice three to five per cent of their consumption growth to provide this insurance, which seems too trivial to have a stifling effect on their growth through migration. The second essay studies the role of exogenous income shocks on long-term migration decisions. The results reveal that temperature shocks cause large fluctuations in household consumption and inhibit long-term migration among men. These findings suggest that liquidity constraints are binding and prevent potential migrants from tapping into the opportunities brought about by internal migration. The final essay focuses on child nutrition and examines whether under-nourished children are able to recover the height losses later in life. The essay questions the methods used in the existing empirical literature and challenges the conventional view that recovery is nearly impossible after five years of age. The empirical part of the essay documents how puberty offers an opportunity window for recovery in the case of children in Kagera.

The effects of occupational sex segregation on wage differentials and poverty, and the factors behind the differentiation on occupational choices are analyzed in various studies. There are also recent studies analyzing Turkish case. However, there are limited attempts combining both segregation and occupational decision in Turkish labor market. This thesis wants to fill this gap and as well as contribute the literature of Turkish labor market and OSS, with analyzing the most current data of Household Labor Force Survey (HLFS) 2004-2010. It is expected to find stability in segregation in the period under consideration as verified by the thesis. It is found that the contribution of different occupations to the extent of segregation also differs. In addition, differentiation with regard to factors on occupational choices of men and women are also found. Further analysis should be carried to make relevant and effective policies to reduce occupational sex segregation.

Fertility levels are investigated in the thesis because significant changes have occurred recently in the fertility levels in Turkey. It is necessary to understand the factors related to fertility level declines to determine how people behave with regard to their fertility in Turkey. It is only after understanding people&rsquo / s behavior then it is possible to develop appropriate social and governmental policies. It is possible to evaluate the fertility level declines from different points of view. There are two opposite approaches when evaluating fertility level declines. One of the approaches explaining fertility level declines is the demographic transition theory which uses &ldquo / modernization&rdquo / as the cause of fertility level declines. The &ldquo / other&rdquo / approach is the opposite approach to the modernization theory. Both of these approaches are acceptable approaches from different views. However / this thesis is not written to prove either one of these approaches. The demographic transition or the modernization perspective is used as a tool to determine the variables which cause fertility levels to decline in Turkey. The aim is to provide an understanding of the determinants of fertility levels in Turkey by constituting an econometric model of fertility across the provinces of Turkey by using the panel data estimation. Data for the variables can be found in years from 1980 to 2000. One of the purposes of this thesis in investigating the fertility level declines is to identify which changes occurred in Turkey related to fertility levels between the years 1980-1985, 1985-1990 and 1990-2000. It is found that urbanization gained importance in effecting fertility level declines in the 1985-1990 period as compared to the 1980-1985 period. The other purpose of this thesis is to investigate how different are the fertility levels in the Provinces Prioritized in Development from the &ldquo / other&rdquo / provinces. Although contraception usage is important in effecting fertility levels in the &ldquo / other&rdquo / provinces, this factor is not important in effecting fertility levels in the Provinces Prioritized in Development.

The thesis investigates the causes and nature of return in the context of the Iraqis displaced to Syria and Jordan after the 2003 US-led war in Iraq. It combines critical International Relations theories with transnational approaches in Migration Studies to investigate: (1) how regional and international geopolitics have shaped asylum and migration regimes in the Middle East; (2) how Iraqi forced migrants have interacted with such regimes in order to reach safety, sustainable livelihoods and personal development opportunities and; (3) the decision-making processes and transnational migration practices of Iraqi individuals and families. It finds that Iraqis' returns result from the uneasy interaction between international and national asylum and migration regimes and the lack of agreement on a common legal framework for durable solutions to the Iraqi displacement. The presence and mobility of the Iraqis in Syria and Jordan are regulated within national immigration systems. The immigration and residency policies of the home and host governments confirm the historical importance of voluntary and involuntary population movements as a nation-building and governance tool in the Middle East. Regional governments and international agencies manage the Iraqi displaced and steer their return through the provision, or the lack thereof, of assistance and information. The Iraqis respond to the limited institutional assistance and information by developing independent coping strategies and informal information and communication systems based on the use of information and communication technologies and on their transnational mobility and social networks. Transnational mobility and livelihoods therefore constitute a precondition for Iraqis' sustainable return and reintegration in home societies undergoing political and socio-economic transition. In this context, return is a complex process that takes time and entails various degrees and modalities of transnational mobility, social networks and livelihoods connecting host and home societies.

In the past studies covering 1965-90, it is observed that net migration was from villages and district centers towards province centers. Although the net migration trend throughout the period was almost constant for the villages and the province centers, the role of the district centers changed in later periods. Previously, the district centers were transient settlements in terms of net migration with resultant almost zero net migration. However, in later years, they began to have net out-migration in significantly increasing numbers, because net in-migration from the villages decreased and net out-migration to the province centers increased. The increase in the net migration from district centers to province centers and the gradual loss of the importance of the district centers (towns) occurred not only in Turkey but also in the other developing countries, especially in 1990&amp / #8217 / s. The aim of this thesis is to study the net migration trends and patterns of the three different settlement types namely, province centers, district centers and villages of Turkey during 1985-90. In this study, the descriptive analyses which were carried out on the net migration rates of the provinces and three settlement types clearly indicate the regional disparities between west-east and south-north of Turkey. For all of the three settlement types, the provinces having the highest net in-migration rates are located along the Western and Southern coastal zones whereas the provinces having the largest net out-migration rates are located in the East, North East and South East regions.

Bakgrund: Varje år behöver 70 000–75 000 människor palliativ vård, varav de flesta har en cancersjukdom. Närstående har en viktig och central del i palliativ vård och kan påverka den drabbades mående innebär att lindra symtom och lidande där fokus inte ligger på att bota sjukdomen. Sjuksköterskan har en viktig roll att stötta och involvera närstående i kommunikationen.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva närståendes upplevelser av att vårda en anhörig med cancer i livets slutskede i hemmet.   Metod: Metoden som valdes var en litteraturöversikt. Tio vetenskapliga artiklar inkluderades i resultatet. Artiklarna analyserades enligt Fribergs metod. Resultatartiklarna hade kvalitativ design och hämtades från CINAHL Complete och MEDLINE.   Resultat: Litteraturöversikten presenterades i tre teman och fem underteman. Det första temat innefattar att bli en vårdare, med undertemat ansvar att ständigt vara på vakt. Det andra temat innefattar känslor av vårdandet, med underteman stress och tiden nära döden. Det sista temat innefattar behov av stöd, med underteman stöd från familj och vänner, stöd från hälso-sjukvården.   Slutsats: Resultatet visade att närstående kände ett ansvar av att vårda sin anhörig, detta ansvar medförde bland annat att tunga beslut låg i deras händer angående anhörigas autonomi. Ansvaret bidrog även med negativa effekter både psykiskt och fysiskt i form av utmattning. Förberedelser inför döden visade sig vara en viktig del för närståendes mentala hälsa samt att stöd från familj, vänner och vårdpersonal framkom som betydelsefullt. / Background: Every year, 70 000–75 000 people need palliative care, most of them have cancer. Relatives have an important and central part in palliative care and can affect the victim's mood. Palliative care involves relieving symptoms and suffering where the focus is not on curing the disease. The nurse has an important role to support and involve relatives in the communication. Autonomy is seen as a difficult ethical dilemma in palliative care as the sufferer may have difficulty being self-determined in the final stages of life.   Aim: The purpose was to describe relatives' experiences of caring for a relative with cancer in the final stages of life at home.  Method: The chosen method was a literature review linked to Friberg. Ten scientific articles were included in the results. The articles were analyzed according to Friberg's method. The result articles had a qualitative design and were taken from CINAHL Complete and MEDLINE.   Results: The literature review was presented in three themes and five sub-themes. The first theme includes becoming a caregiver, with the sub-theme responsibility to be constantly on guard. The second theme includes emotions of care, with the sub-theme of stress, the time close to death. The last theme includes need for support, with the sub-theme support from family and friends, support from health care.   Conclusion: The results showed that close relatives felt a responsibility to care for their relatives, this responsibility meant, among other things, that heavy decisions were in their hands regarding the relatives' autonomy. The responsibility also contributed with negative effects both mentally and physically in the form of exhaustion. Preparations for death proved to be an important part of the mental health of close relatives and that support from family, friends and care staff emerged as meaningful.