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<p>The conventional life-cycle model predicts that households save prior to retirement and use their savings to finance consumption during retirement. Thus whether households dissave after retirement or at older ages is critical to the validity of life-cycle theory. This question is also of concern to policy makers as aggregate saving and investment, in Canada and elsewhere, may fall as the population ages. Many studies based on aggregate data for a cross-section of OECD countries provide support for the life-cycle hypothesis, since the data suggest that countries with a greater proportion of elderly people have lower household saving rates. On the other hand, most empirical research directed at household consumption and saving behaviour based on household data has found little evidence that supports the life-cycle hypothesis.</p> <p>The three essays comprising this thesis attempt to establish and explain the micro evidence on saving behaviour of older households, and also try to overcome some of the usual barriers to using cross-section survey data in empirical research in the field. All three essays employ Canadian FAMEX data from 1969 to 1992.</p> <p>Like much other research in the field, the empirical work reported in Essay 1 in this thesis provides evidence against the prediction of life-cycle theory that households dissave at older ages. It is found that the median saving rate for older households exhibits a distinct age pattern: it drops sharply at retirement age, but then rises, thereby forming a saving dip. The most important contribution of Essay 1 is to address two wellknown problems, cohort bias and differential mortality bias, arising from using crosssection survey data. Cohort bias is dealt with by forming a synthetic longitudinal sample from repeated cross-section data, and a new method is developed to correct the differential mortality for the age profile of the saving rate. However, the puzzle in the saving pattern of the elderly still remains after the corrections; the median saving rates are positive and rising with age after retirement.</p> <p>Essay 2 focuses on the estimation of the saving rate as a function of various income sources as well as age. During the transition from work to retirement, households experience a dramatic change in composition as well as in the level of their income. Following the permanent income hypothesis, if consumers have different perceptions of the permanence of different income sources, they would react differently to income changes, depending on which income component changed. The main finding of the essay is that, in the after-retirement period, the "pure" aging effect is solely responsible for the rising trend of the saving rate. However, for a given level of total income, higher pension income is associated with a higher saving rate, while higher transfer income is associated with higher consumption.</p> <p>Essay 3 examines the change in the composition of consumption demands as households age, and how the effects of three factors - age, total expenditure and retirement - contribute to this change. It is found that the "savings puzzle" comes largely because reductions in food consumption at home, private transportation expenditure and perhaps tobacco/alcohol spending due to age alone are larger than the offsetting age effect associated with an increase in gifts to other households by the elderly. On the other hand, for some reason, older households largely "obey" the cross-section income elasticities in reducing their consumption of most goods as their incomes fall with age.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous in the environment and found in drinking water distribution systems and household plumbing. They are opportunistic pathogens of humans, causing lung disease. Their ability to adhere and form biofilm is attributed to a waxy, lipid-rich, cell envelope. This highly hydrophobic envelope also contributes to the characteristic antibiotic-, chlorine-, and disinfectant- resistance of NTM. NTM in household plumbing reside primarily in biofilms and the ability to form biofilm has been linked to virulence. Shedding of cells from biofilm and the subsequent aerosolization of microorganisms through showerheads presents a significant public health risk, particularly to those individuals with associated risk factors. Three species of NTM, Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium intracellulare, and Mycobacterium abscessus, were examined for adherence and biofilm formation on surfaces common to household plumbing systems, including glass, copper, stainless steel, polyvinyl chloride, and galvanized steel. All experiments were conducted with sterile, Blacksburg tap water in a CDC Biofilm Reactor. Highest adherence was observed by M. avium on galvanized steel surfaces, reaching 15,100 CFU/cm2 surface at 6 hours incubation at room temperature. After 3 weeks incubation at room temperature, biofilm formation of M. avium was also highest on galvanized steel surfaces, reaching 14,000,000 CFU/cm2 surface. Lowest adherence was observed by M. abscessus on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) surfaces, reaching 40 CFU/cm2. Lowest biofilm formation was observed by M. intracellulare on glass surfaces, reaching 5,900 CFU/cm2. Surfaces, such as galvanized (zinc), on which high adherence and biofilm formation was observed, should be avoided in household plumbing systems of NTM patients and individuals at risk for developing NTM disease. Additionally, surfaces such as copper, harbor fewer NTM and may provide a safer alternative for household plumbing of NTM patients. / Master of Science

Yes / We consider the readability of payday loan websites against conventional lenders. Our findings show that credit card websites are harder to read and contain more complex terminology. Our central contribution is to provide the first known measurement of readability in consumer finance — something regulators have found helpful in other domains.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of household appliances and the division of labor in accomplishing household tasks in the family. It investigated the relationship between ownership of specific items of household equipment and the performance of directly related household tasks and the overall ownership of household equipment and the overall division of labor in the family. Data for this study came from "Determinants and outcomes of Household Time Use," which is part of the S-206 Regional Research Project. Data from 214 two-parent, two-child households were analyzed to determine the relationship between ownership of household equipment and time spent in three categories of household tasks by husbands, wives and children. Ownership of household equipment was determined by means of an equipment inventory. The ownership of appliances and their relationship to the performance of directly associated tasks included: (microwave oven and time spent in food preparation; (2) dishwasher and garbage disposal and time spent in dishwashing; and (3) power garden and/or yard equipment and power shop tools and time spent in maintenance of home, yard, car, and pets. The total time spent in household production by husbands, wives, children and its relationship to the total number of household appliances owned was also studied. The t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis were used to analyze the differences in proportion of time spent in the various household tasks by wives, husbands, and children by ownership of related household equipment. No significant differences were found in the proportion of time spent in food preparation, dishwashing, and maintenance by wives, husbands, and children in households that did and did not own the related household equipment. The correlation between level of equipment ownership and husbands' and children's proportion of total family time spent in household work was not significant indicating that as more equipment is acquired husbands and children do not contribute a smaller proportion of total family time in household work.

Time has changed. The police can no longer take it for granted that they can conduct ¡§household investigation¡¨ simply on the basis of the 9th article of Police Law. After lifting of the martial law in July 15, 1987, Taiwan government observed its constitution and instituted a new system, Police House Visitation Practice, by the Interior Ministry to continue the practice of monitoring its citizenry. However, the 5th and 6th articles of this law which stipulated the citizens¡¦ obligations and penalties were apparently in violation of a higher law, Administrative Procedure Law. In particular they are against the 150th and the 158th articles of Administrative Procedure Law which maintains that acts or regulations should have their bases on law and should not against the spirit of this law (150th article) and these acts and regulation should be nullified if they have no basis of law and they infringe the rights and freedom of movement of its citizenry (158th article). Based on these principles, the 9th article of Police Act was therefore abolished by the Interior Ministry in October 31, 2000. In July of 2007, the 1st item of the 11th article of Police Operation Practice was amended and specifies that: ¡§The Interior Ministry should stipulate the policies for police officers in their beats to visit households, to provide service, to investigate and to maintain the social order.¡¨ The 60-year practice of police ¡§household investigation¡¨ becomes a history. Household investigation is no long the main theme of police activities, instead other major functions such as crime prevention, service and social security survey are the main focuses of police operations. This study examines and evaluates the soundness of police beat investigation from the perspectives of the basic theories of administrative law including five (5) major frameworks of administration: principles, organizations, authorities, remedies and supervision. This study also seeks to identify the potential problems and discuss the feasible remedies for any deficiency of this act. And finally policymakers can make good use of the findings and recommendations of this study to enact sound police polices to promote and protect the well-being of their constituents.

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (doctoral)--University of Duisburg-Essen. / Title from e-book title screen (viewed July 28, 2008). Description based on print version record.

Sexual violence and in particular sexual harassment is an unfortunate reality in the lives of millions of Mexican women. We encounter this problem in all areas of our life: on the streets, within our families, and at work. Interestingly, some women's experiences of sexual harassment are less visible than others. This is the case of women in the occupation of paid household work. In Mexico, the fact that women household workers are sexually harassed or raped by their male employers has been silenced and at best kept as an open secret. In addition, researchers who have studied the lives of household workers barely mention it. Consequently, this master's thesis answers the following research questions: (1) Are women domestic workers vulnerable to sexual harassment? Why? and, (2) What are the social and cultural factors responsible for such vulnerabilities? I engage with these research questions by exploring the life histories of 11 women from Monterrey, Nuevo León and who have at least 5 years of working experience in the occupation, through in-depth interviews. Based on what the women shared with me I offer a collection of individual life stories followed by a feminist informed analysis of their experiences. Each story is unique and presents their views and perceptions of sexual harassment in the occupation and elsewhere. The analysis is divided in five mayor themes, which emerged in all of the interviews and explain the problematic. Although they enter the occupation knowing there are potential risks, one of which is sexual harassment, they are unable to change occupations due to limited work options. I argue that their social positionalities stemming from their gender, race, and class puts these women in a vulnerable position vis-a-vis their employers. As working class women, some from indigenous backgrounds, their employers engage in different types of discrimination, all of which construct women household workers as the other and their bodies as rapeable. At last, women blame themselves and others who have been targets of sexual harassment while freeing men from any type of accountability. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.