scholarly journals So Close, So Far. The Cultural Distance of Foreigners in Italy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo De Santis ◽  
Mauro Maltagliati ◽  
Alessandra Petrucci
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Cultural Convergence ◽  
Contentious Issue ◽  
Foreign Origin

AbstractThe presence of foreigners in a host country is a contentious issue: opponents claim, among other things, that the cultural distance between them and natives is too large to permit integration. However, it is impossible to ascertain whether this is true in the absence of a clear, standardised system for measuring cultural distance (whether it be by nationality, length of stay, educational level, etc.). In this paper, we argue that a recently proposed method, called DBS or Distance Between Strata, fits this scope. We present the methodology under a new light, investigate several of its properties, and apply it to two Italian surveys of 2011–13. Results indicate, first, that no group is homogeneous: Italians, for instance, display a clear North to South gradient. Second, foreigners are not all equally culturally distant from Italian natives: the ranking of their cultural distances largely conforms to expectation. Finally, Italians with a foreign origin are, as expected, close to Italians tout court, which suggests that cultural convergence is taking place.

scholarly journals Determinants of Staff Localization in Headquarters-Subsidiary-Subsidiary Relationships

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Chan Bok Kim ◽  
Seong-Jin Choi ◽  
Luyao Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Foreign Subsidiary ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Local Competition ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Local Experience ◽  
Relationship Structure ◽  
The Impact

This paper investigates how cultural distance, the local experience of a foreign subsidiary, and the intensity of local competition jointly affect the staff localization of MNEs’ subsidiaries. While previous studies on the effects of cultural distance have mainly focused on the gap between home and host countries, we extend the existing “home-host” country perspective to the home-intermediary-host country relationship. This study regards Korea as an intermediary country and utilizes 520 observations from a unique survey conducted by the Export-Import Bank of Korea from 2006 to 2013. The results suggest that the impact of cultural distance on staff localization is a function of local experience and competitive environment in the home-intermediate-host relationship structure. This paper makes a theoretical contribution to our understanding of the behavior of multinational corporations by expanding the cultural distance perspective between the home and host countries explored in previous research to the home-subsidiary-subsidiary structure.

scholarly journals Self-Perceived Health Among Migrants Seen in Médecins du Monde Free Clinics in Europe: Impact of Length of Stay and Wealth of Country of Origin on Migrants’ Health

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Jean-Baptiste Combes ◽  
Nathalie Simonnot ◽  
Fabienne Azzedine ◽  
Abdessamad Aznague ◽  
Pierre Chauvin
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Perceived Health ◽  
Migrant Health ◽  
Free Clinics ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Unique Dataset

Health of migrant is a widely studied topic. It has been argued that migrant health may deteriorate over time. Though migrants are ‘a hard to reach’ population in survey data, this paper builds on a unique dataset provided by Médecins du Monde from five countries. We study self perceived health (SPH) in connection with socio-economic and demographic factors and length of stay. Results show different results for men and women. Asylum seekers compared to other documented migrants have a worse health. Migrants with better living conditions tend to be in better health. Employment and stable accommodation has a positive effect on SPH. Women from poorer countries have a better physical SPH after 3 months of residing in the host country. This paper contributes widely to knowledge of health of migrants. Contrarily to other evidence, health of migrants tends to improve for some migrants.

scholarly journals United in Diversity? The Consolidation of Cultural Values among EU Member States and Candidates

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Plamen Akaliyski
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Member States ◽  
Cultural Convergence ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is considered a unique economic and political union that integrates most European countries. This article focuses on the cultural aspect of European integration, which has been increasingly debated over the course of deepening and widening integration and in the context of the legitimation crisis of the EU. Among the main goals of the EU is to promote certain values, which raises the question of whether it has been efficient in (or enabled) reducing cultural value gaps among the participating countries. World polity and institutional isomorphism theories suggest that cultural values may trickle down in a vertical manner from the institutions of the EU to its member states and candidates. Furthermore, hybridization theory postulates that values diffuse horizontally through intensified interactions enabled by the EU. These two perspectives imply the possibility of cultural convergence among countries associated with the EU. By contrast, the culture clash thesis assumes that differences in cultural identity prevent value convergence across countries; growing awareness of such differences may even increase the pre-existing cultural value distances. To test these different scenarios, I compare distances in emancipative and secular values across pairs of countries (Welzel 2013) using combined repeated cross-sectional data from the EVS and WVS gathered between 1992 and 2011. I find that the longer a country has been part of the EU, the more closely its values approximate those of the EU founding countries, which in turn are the most homogenous. Initial cultural distance to the founders’ average values appears irrelevant to acquiring membership or candidacy status. However, new member states experienced substantial cultural convergence with old member states after 1992, as did current candidates between 2001 and 2008. Since 1992, nations not participating in the integration process have diverged substantially from EU members, essentially leading to cultural polarization in Europe. The findings are independent of (changes in) economic disparities and suggest the importance of cultural diffusion as one of the fundamental mechanisms of cultural change. This empirical study contributes to the literature on European integration, political and sociological theories of globalization, and cross-cultural theories of societal value change.

scholarly journals Social Capital Formation among Turkish Women

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gizem Arat ◽  
Arzu Icagasıoglu-Coban ◽  
Gonca Polat
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Capital Formation ◽  
Turkish Women ◽  
Community Centers

The purpose of the current study was to identify Turkish women’s social capital formation. This study consisted of 170 women with low SES residing closer to shantytowns. The authors performed the Logistic regression analysis to examine the social capital formation (civic engagement, trust, social participation, and social networks) of women in terms of six variables (age, educational level, employment and marital status, homeownership, community centers, and the length of stay in the same neighborhood) in four different community centers in Ankara, Turkey. Logistic regression results suggest that the length of stay in the same neighborhood was associated both with staying in touch with neighbors (social networks) and trust in municipal service provision (trust), and women’s educational level was associated with voting (civic engagement) and the utilization of municipal services (social participation). Further research should be conducted by comparing men’s and women’s social capital creation by adding other variables.

scholarly journals Refugee Reception Re-examined: a Quantitative Study on the Impact of the Reception Period for Mental Health and Host Country Language Proficiency Among Syrian Refugees in the Netherlands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxy Elisabeth Christina Damen ◽  
Jaco Dagevos ◽  
Willem Huijnk
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn many European countries, refugees spend their first period after arrival in the receiving country in reception centers. Though this reception period has been heavily criticized, especially in relation to mental health, few scholars examined its impact on refugee integration. Since host country language learning is the main focus for most recent arrivals, this study re-examines the impact of the (renewed) reception period on both refugee mental health and host country language proficiency. Using a unique dataset including 3209 Syrian permitholders in the Netherlands, we test a structural equation model to examine those relations directly and indirectly. Results partly replicate previous findings, showing the negative impact of the number of relocations on mental health as well as the negative impact of both length of stay and relocations on host country language proficiency. Nevertheless, we did not find support for a negative relationship between length of stay and mental health. Moreover, the image of the reception period is not as gloomy as before; activities asylum seekers can engage in during their stay is positively related to both mental health and host country language proficiency. The relationships between both relocations and activities and host country language proficiency can partially be explained by mental health. These results indicate that the reception period can be seen as both an obstacle and a facilitator. Since the context of reception is a post-migration stressor, these findings should inform receiving societies and inspire them to accommodate their refugee reception accordingly, ensuring a smooth(er) start for future refugees.

scholarly journals Determinants of Migrants’ Savings in the Host Country: Empirical Evidence of Migrants living in South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-74
Author(s):  
Daniel Makina
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Return Migration ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Home Visits ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Banking Services

The paper uses a data set of Zimbabwean migrants living in South Africa to investigate the saving behaviour they exhibit in the host country. Having observed that these migrants comprise those that do save in the host country and those that do not save at all, the paper employs a Tobit function that is capable of modelling the savings level as function of migrant characteristics. The results observed are that the level of migrant savings in the host country is positively related to migrant income level, return migration intentions, number of dependents in the host country, remittance level and access to banking services, and is negatively related to the age of the migrant, number of dependents in the home country, migrant length of stay, migrant legal status, and frequency of home visits. Interestingly, the savings behaviour of migrants in the host country mirrors the remittance behaviour in many respects.

Strategic Recruitment Across Borders: An Investigation of Multinational Enterprises

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 476-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
George C. Banks ◽  
Haley M. Woznyj ◽  
Ryan S. Wesslen ◽  
Katherine A. Frear ◽  
Gregory Berka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Country ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
International Operations ◽  
Fortune 1000 ◽  
Recruitment Activities

As a result of globalization, large-scale modern-day businesses extend across borders as they engage in multinational enterprises. Such enterprises must conduct operations in disparate, culturally diverse contexts, which present challenges for implementing human resource management activities, such as whether to standardize or localize activities across borders. The current study focuses on recruitment activities, as they represent firms’ initial efforts to attract highly qualified talent. However, the extant recruitment literature has primarily been conducted in a single context or in Westernized societies; thus, it is unclear how organizations recruit across borders. Drawing on signaling theory, we explore how Fortune 1000 firms use recruiting signals in their domestic and international operations. In general, we find that firms standardize the recruiting signals across their domestic and international operations. Yet, the amount that each signal is emphasized differs in domestic and international operations and is contingent upon language. Furthermore, cultural distance between the home and host country largely does not explain the standardization of the recruiting signals. We summarize the findings and provide direction intended to guide future research.

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