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Examining the economic value of education has been a central research agenda of social scientists for decades. However, prior research inadequately accounts for the discrepancy between educational credentials and skills at both the individual and societal levels. In this article, I investigate the link between credentials, skills, and labor market outcomes against a background of societal-level educational expansion and skills diffusion. Using internationally comparable OECD data for approximately 30,000 individuals in 26 countries, I find that both credentials and skills generally contribute to occupational and monetary rewards. In particular, the premium for credentials far outweighs that for skills. This is in contrast to recent arguments that skills are the key to economic success. Nevertheless, returns to credentials decline in tandem with educational expansion, whereas skills retain their premium even as they diffuse in a given society. Furthermore, skills diffusion also leads to the diminishing monetary return to high credentials. These findings suggest that skills diffusion promotes more meritocratic reward allocation via devaluing high credentials without explicit depreciation of high skills.

The association between education and subjective well-being has long been investigated by social scientists. However, prior studies have paid inadequate attention to the influence of societal-level educational expansion and skills diffusion. In this article, multilevel regression analyses, using internationally comparable data for over 48,000 individuals in 24 countries, detect the overall positive linkage between educational attainment and life satisfaction. Nevertheless, this relationship is undermined due to the larger degree of skills diffusion at the societal level, and no longer confirmed once labor market outcomes are accounted for. Meanwhile, the extent of skills diffusion per se is positively and substantially associated with people’s subjective well-being even after adjusting for key individual-level and country-level predictors, whereas other societal conditions including GDP, Gini coefficients, safety, civic engagement, and educational expansion do not indicate significant links with life satisfaction in the current analysis. Given that recent research suggests skills diffusion promotes the formation of meritocratic social systems, one may argue it is the process of fairer rewards allocation underpinned by skills diffusion, rather than the status quo of macroeconomy, economic inequality, social stability, and educational opportunities as such, that matters more to people’s subjective well-being.

A vast literature shows parental education significantly affects children’s chance of attaining higher education even in high participation systems (HPS). Comparative studies further argue that the strength of this intergenerational transmission of education varies across countries. However, the mechanisms behind this cross-national heterogeneity remain elusive. Extending recent arguments on the “EE-SD model” and using the OECD data for over 32,000 individuals in 26 countries, this study examines how the degree of educational inequality varies depending on the levels of educational expansion and skills diffusion. Country-specific analyses initially confirm the substantial link between parental and children’s educational attainment in all HPS. Nevertheless, multilevel regressions reveal that this unequal structure becomes weak in highly skilled societies net of quantity of higher education opportunities. Although further examination is necessary to establish causality, these results suggest that the accumulation of high skills in a society plays a role in mitigating intergenerational transmission of education. Potential mechanisms include (1) skills-based rewards allocation is fostered and (2) the comparative advantage of having educated parents in the human capital formation process diminishes due to the diffusion of high skills among the population across social strata. These findings also indicate that contradictory evidence on the persistence of educational inequality in relation to educational expansion may partially reflect the extent to which each study incorporates the skills dimension. Examining the roles of societal-level skills diffusion alongside higher education proliferation is essential to better understand social inequality and stratification mechanisms in HPS.

Drawing upon data from the largest cross-country study of labor market concentration to date, this Essay analyzes the level of concentration of labor-input markets in Europe and North America and provides a comparative perspective on employers' monopsony power. It explores the characteristics of monopsony in labor markets and documents its impact by looking at the magnitude of employer concentration in selected jurisdictions. Using a harmonized dataset of online vacancies, this Essay shows that European labor markets are no more competitive than North American ones. It also supports the view that the effects of concentration on labor markets are broadly similar in both Europe and North America, despite the much stronger labor market institutions in Europe. The Essay shows that there is no apparent economic or legal justification for a lack of enforcement activity by European competition authorities in labor markets relative to the United States. While enforcement action has picked up in the last two years in Europe, there is likely still scope for a significant increase in the role of competition enforcement in labor markets. The Essay identifies sectors and practices that may be scrutinized with priority by European competition authorities and proposes a mix of enforcement, merger control, and well-targeted policy and regulatory solutions to address employers' monopsony power.

Over the decades, higher education has markedly expanded worldwide. Alongside its trajectory, scholars have investigated how such high participation systems (HPS) affect social stratification, with close attention to (in)equality in educational opportunities and heterogeneous/declining returns to tertiary degrees. While HPS have thus been the fundamental concept for education and social science research, recent studies argue that the accumulation of highly skilled human resources, or skills diffusion, operates as a distinct societal trait for stratification. However, we know little about how higher education expansion (EE) and skills diffusion (SD) have progressed within societies and how such pathways differ cross-nationally. Using the large-scale OECD data for 27 countries in tandem with the typological framework “EE-SD Model,” this study detects five distinctive societal clusters according to heterogeneous trends of EE and SD: (1) reaching universal higher education with mid-high skills (universal escalator); (2) moving towards universal escalator with mass higher education (mass escalator); (3) improving skills with relatively limited higher education expansion (mass elevator); (4) enhancing higher education without explicit skills development (mid-skilled travelator); and (5) rising from low levels of education and skills (emerging). These frameworks/findings, along with the HPS model, will advance comparative studies on (1) the qualitative differences in higher education and related social systems that affect the process of EE and SD; (2) social inequality in educational attainment and skills acquisition; (3) returns to higher education and skills including their distribution across individuals with diverse socio-demographic attributes; (4) the societal-level consequences; and (5) typologies of societies.

BackgroundAlthough sarcopenic obesity is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events compared with obesity without sarcopenia, it is difficult to diagnose sarcopenia in daily clinical settings. Recently, a simple scoring system has been developed to identify sarcopenia patients based on three variables (age, hand grip strength, and calf circumference). However, the utility of this score for cardiovascular risk stratification in patients with abdominal obesity is unknown.MethodsWe calculated the sarcopenia score in 262 patients with abdominal obesity, defined as a waist circumference ≥90 cm in women or ≥85 cm in men. The composite endpoint of this study was cardiovascular mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, stroke, unstable angina, and heart failure hospitalization.ResultsOf the 262 patients, 108 had a high sarcopenia score based on previously established criteria (≥105 in men and ≥120 in women). The patients with a high sarcopenia score had a significantly higher plasma level of B-type natriuretic peptide compared with those with a low sarcopenia score (median 56.7, interquartile range [28.2–142.9] vs. 37.9 [13.8–76.1] pg/mL; p < 0.0001). Kaplan–Meier curves revealed a significantly lower event-free survival rate in those with a high compared with a low sarcopenia score (log-rank test p = 0.001), even after adjustment for confounding factors using propensity score matching (log-rank test p = 0.009). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis identified a high sarcopenia score (hazard ratio: 2.46; 95% confidence interval: 1.31–4.64, p = 0.005) as an independent predictor of the primary endpoints. The combination of a high sarcopenia score and low body mass index (<25 kg/m2) predicted a significantly higher risk of future adverse events (p = 0.005). Furthermore, patients with a high sarcopenia score and high B-type natriuretic peptide level (≥200 pg/mL) had the poorest prognosis (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsThis simple screening test for sarcopenia can predict future adverse cardiovascular events in patients with abdominal obesity.

ObjectivesTo compare the effects of hybrid iterative reconstruction (HIR) and model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) that incorporates a beam-hardening model for myocardial extracellular volume (ECV) quantification by cardiac CT using MRI as a reference standard.MethodsIn this retrospective study, a total of 34 patients were evaluated using cardiac CT and MRI. Paired CT image sets were created using HIR and MBIR with a beam-hardening model. We calculated mean absolute differences and correlations between the global mid-ventricular ECV derived from CT and MRI via Pearson correlation analysis. In addition, we performed qualitative analysis of image noise and beam-hardening artifacts on postcontrast images using a four-point scale: 1 = extensive, 2 = strong, 3 = mild, and 4 = minimal.ResultsThe mean absolute difference between the ECV derived from CT and MRI for MBIR was significantly smaller than that for HIR (MBIR 3.74 ± 3.59%; HIR 4.95 ± 3.48%, p = 0.034). MBIR improved the correlation between the ECV derived from CT and MRI when compared with HIR (MBIR, r = 0.60, p < 0.001; HIR, r = 0.47, p = 0.006). In qualitative analysis, MBIR significantly reduced image noise and beam-hardening artifacts when compared with HIR ([image noise, MBIR 3.4 ± 0.7; HIR 2.1 ± 0.8, p < 0.001], [beam-hardening artifacts, MBIR 3.8 ± 0.4; HIR 2.6 ± 1.0, p < 0.001]).ConclusionsMBIR with a beam-hardening model effectively reduced image noise and beam-hardening artifacts and improved myocardial ECV quantification when compared with HIR using MRI as a reference standard.Key Points• MBIR with a beam-hardening model effectively reduced image noise and beam-hardening artifacts.• The mean absolute difference between the global mid-ventricular ECV derived from CT and MRI for MBIR was significantly smaller than that for conventional HIR.• MBIR provided more accurate myocardial CT number and improved ECV quantification when compared with HIR.

This study investigates the effect of the α/C14 interface on the creep strength of α-Mg/C14–Mg2Ca eutectic alloy at 473 K under a stress of 40 MPa. The α/C14 interface is composed of terraces and steps, with terraces parallel to the (1101)α pyramidal plane of the α-Mg lamellae and to the (1120)C14 columnar plane of the C14–Mg2Ca lamellae. The creep curves of the alloy exhibit three stages: a normal transient creep stage, a minimum creep rate stage, and an accelerating stage. The minimum creep rate is proportional to the lamellar spacing, indicating that the α/C14 lamellar interface plays a creep-strengthening role. In the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy image captured of the specimen after the creep test, dislocations can be mainly seen within the soft α-Mg lamellae, and they are randomly distributed at the α/C14 interface. In contrast, dislocations are rarely introduced in the hard C14–Mg2Ca lamellae. It is deduced that the α/C14 interface presents a barrier to dislocation gliding within the α-Mg lamellae and does not help rearrange the dislocations.

Aims The focus on wild‐type transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTRwt‐CM) is increasing because of novel treatment options. There is currently no report on a large number of Japanese patients with ATTRwt‐CM. The study aimed to examine the characteristics and prognosis of ATTRwt‐CM in Japan. Methods and results Consecutive patients (78.5 ± 6.4 years old at diagnosis) with ATTRwt‐CM diagnosed at Kumamoto University Hospital between December 2002 and December 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Data, including demographic characteristics, co‐morbidities, clinical manifestations at diagnosis, laboratory results, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic data, imaging and pathological findings, and treatment were obtained. Of 129 patients included in this study, 110 patients (85%) were male. The median period from initial symptom onset to diagnosis was 15.5 (2–75) months. Heart failure was the most common clinical manifestation leading to diagnosis (61%) and initial manifestations (49%). Of 106 patients, carpal tunnel syndrome was observed in 57 patients (54%), and the median period from initial symptom onset to diagnosis was 96 (48–120) months. Histopathological confirmation of transthyretin amyloid was achieved in 94 patients (73%), including 66 (51%) and 28 cases (22%) with endomyocardial and extracardiac biopsies. During the observation period (median 15.0 [inter‐quartile range, 5.4–33.2] months after diagnosis), 34 patients (26%) died. Of these, 27 patients (79%) had cardiovascular deaths (heart failure, 25; sudden death, two). The median survival duration was 58.9 months and the 5 years' survival rate was 48%. According to a multivariate Cox hazard analysis, age [hazard ratio (HR), 1.14; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05–1.23, P = 0.002] and low serum sodium levels (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.79–0.996; P = 0.04) contributed to all‐cause mortality, and low serum sodium levels contributed to hospitalization for heart failure (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.77–0.96; P = 0.005). Conclusions Clinical characteristics and prognosis of ATTRwt‐CM patients in Japan were examined. Carpal tunnel syndrome can be considered an indication for diagnosis of ATTRwt‐CM. Age and low serum sodium level were significant predictive factors of all survival outcomes. The clinical features of ATTRwt‐CM should be recognized to provide appropriate treatment.

Scholars have long investigated the positive link between income and well-being, including its gender difference. However, little is known about (1) how low income is linked to ill-being among women and men; and (2) how their association varies depending on societal-level gender (in)equality. Filling this knowledge gap is crucial not only for scholarship but for social policy to tackle income-based disparities of ill-being. In this study, using the European Social Survey and the joint European Values Study-World Values Survey data, we conduct country-specific regressions and cross-national multilevel analyses to examine the relationship between low income, subjective ill-being (SIB), and macro-level gender parity. We first confirm that low-income individuals, regardless of gender, are more likely than their affluent counterparts to suffer from SIB in many countries. This indicates the applicability of implications derived from conventional approaches focused on the positive association between higher income and better well-being to the studies on low income and SIB. Nevertheless, the SIB risk significantly differs depending on the degree of gender inequality in that (1) both women and men face a higher likelihood of SIB in gender-inegalitarian societies; and importantly, (2) the psychological penalty for the poor is intensified under such gendered circumstances, especially among men. These results suggest that gender inequality not merely induces women’s ill-being but punishes low-income men possibly by exacerbating pressure as a breadwinner and imposing stigmas when they cannot meet gendered social expectations.