Comparison of 12-Year-Old Children with Prenatal Exposure to Cocaine and Non-Exposed Controls on Caregiver Ratings of Executive Function

Differences in caregiver reported executive function in 12-year-old children who were prenatally exposed to cocaine (PCE) compared to children who were not prenatally exposed to cocaine (NCE) were assessed. One hundred and sixty-nine PCE and 169 NCE, primarily African-American, low socioeconomic status children participated in a prospective longitudinal study. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) Parent Form was administered. Two broadband BRIEF scores (Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) and Metacognition Index (MI)) and a summary Global Executive Composite (GEC) were computed. Multiple and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effects of amount of PCE on executive function, controlling for covariates including caregiver (rater) psychological distress, child’s gender and other prenatal drug exposure variables. After adjustment for covariates, amount of PCE was associated with the GEC and two MI subscales, Plan/Organize and Monitor, with heavier exposure associated with more problems of executive function. An amount of PCE by gender interaction revealed amount of PCE effects in other remaining subscales of the MI (Initiate, Working Memory, and Organization of Materials) only among girls. Head circumference did not mediate the effects of cocaine on outcomes. Higher current caregiver psychological distress levels were independently associated with poorer ratings on the executive function scales. Assessment and targeted interventions to improve metacognitive processes are recommended for girls who were prenatally exposed to cocaine.     

Citizen Participation in German and Spanish Local Governments: A Comparative Study

In recent decades, citizens have become more and more disenchanted with the traditional institutions of representative government, detached from political parties, and disillusioned with old forms of civic engagement and participation. This has favored a renewed interest in citizen engagement and citizen participation and a growing re-emergence in academic and political discourse of ideas and values of community, localism, and citizen participation. This article analyzes the main objectives and the actual implementation of citizen participation initiatives in the local governments of two European Continental countries, Germany and Spain. The aim is to find out the factors that affect the possible decoupling between the objectives and the “real” uses of citizen participation. Our results show that most local governments in these two countries are using citizen participation only to increase the level of perceived legitimacy or to comply minimally with legal requirements, without really taking advantage of citizen participation to enhance decision-making processes. These findings confirm that institutional theory becomes the rationale to explain the implementation of citizen participation in these two European Continental countries.     

The Effect of New Legislation on the Disclosure of Performance Indicators: The Case of Spanish Local Governments

This article analyzes the effect of new accounting legislation on the disclosure of performance indicators in the financial statements of Spanish local governments. Based on agency and institutional theories, the article also assesses whether the disclosure of performance indicators is used to make the monitoring of local government performance easier for stakeholders or merely to project an image of good management. The results show that the enactment of new legislation has only led to a partial implementation, most local governments disclosing financial and budgetary indicators but very few providing indicators related to the performance of public services. The institutional theory (symbolic value) seems to be the rationale that best explains this pattern of disclosure.     

Reducing the risk of insurance fraud by appearances of online surveillance

The efforts to tackle the growing problem of insurance fraud have focused primarily on examining suspicious claims and claimants after the accident has happened, ignoring a risk-reduction opportunity that exists even before the policy is purchased. The current paper aims to address this gap. In Study 1, a group of 40 participants were asked to input their personal details on a simulated comparison site. It showed that the numbers of obtained online quotes (i.e., how many times participants obtained them) and time spent to produce them by completing all the relevant information were positively correlated with misrepresentation of personal details for financial gain. In Study 2, a separate group of 120 participants took part in navigating a different simulated comparison site. The results suggest that equipping the site with mere appearances of online surveillance reduced the time that they took to input their details and minimized their manipulation for financial gain. Elaborating on the important theoretical and practical implications, the paper identifies a relatively easy and effective method of discouraging prospective policyholders from misrepresenting their details online.     

Poverty and Survival

A recent literature highlights the uncertainty concerning whether economic growth has any causal protective effect on health and survival. But equal rates of growth often deliver unequal rates of poverty reduction and absolute deprivation is more clearly relevant. Using state-level panel data for India, we contribute the first estimates of the impact of changes in poverty on infant survival. We identify a significant within-state relationship which persists conditional upon state income, indicating the size of survival gains from redistribution in favour of households below the poverty line. The poverty elasticity declines over time after 1981. It is invariant to controlling for income inequality but diminished upon controlling for education, fertility and state health expenditure, and eliminated once we introduce controls for omitted trends.     

Collective Leadership and Context in Public Administration: Bridging Public Leadership Research and Leadership Studies

This article challenges the view that public leadership research should maintain a separate perspective in the study of public leadership. It discusses the benefits of further embedding the public leadership research domain within leadership studies, constructing a cross‐fertilization that contributes to advance both. The article maps key concerns in relational leadership theories, contrasting them with current work in the public leadership research domain and offering suggestions to close the gap. It highlights public leadership scholarship's competitive advantage to contribute to theorizing about leadership, given the importance of context for building contemporary theories of relational leadership.