How soon is now? The effects of the IMF on economic reforms in Latin America

This study assesses the effects of IMF loans on economic liberalization in Latin America. Specifically, we are interested in whether the Fund receives greater cooperation from Latin American borrowers in the initiation of some economic reforms over others. Using a two-stage treatment effects model as well as panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) regression for 15 Latin American countries from 1980 to 2003, we find that IMF participation tends to lead to greater trade and capital reforms and less reform in privatization. These relationships are tempered by the country??s relationship with the United States along with domestic group pressures.     

Comparison of bulk and compound-specific δ13C isotope ratio analyses for the discrimination between cannabis samples

Five marijuana samples were compared using bulk isotope analysis compound-specific isotope ratio analysis of the extracted cannabinoids. Owing to the age of our cannabis samples, four of the five samples were compared using the isotope ratios of cannabinol (CBN), a stable degradation product of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Bulk δ(13)C isotope analysis discriminated between all five samples at the 95% confidence level. Compound-specific δ(13)C isotope analysis could not distinguish between one pair of the five samples at the 95% confidence level. All the measured cannabinoids showed significant depletion in (13)C relative to bulk isotope values; the isotope ratios for THC, CBN, and cannabidiol were on average 1.6‰, 1.7‰, and 2.2‰ more negative than the bulk values, respectively. A more detailed investigation needs to be conducted to assess the degree fractionation between the different cannabinoids, especially after aging.     

Issues and Institutions: "Winnowing" in the U.S. Congress

“Winnowing” is the pre‐floor process by which Congress determines the small percentage of bills that will receive committee attention. The vast majority of proposals languish in this vital agenda‐setting stage, yet our understanding of winnowing is nascent. Why do some bills move forward while most fail? I examine that question here by developing and testing a theoretical framework of winnowing grounded in bounded rationality, which includes institutional and sponsor cues and also incorporates the unique issue milieu. A heteroskedastic probit model is utilized to analyze the winnowing fate of all bills introduced across five issue areas in the House and Senate from 1991 to 1998. The findings counter much received wisdom and suggest that the process is indeed cue based. The majority party helps structure this critical process in both chambers, though party effects appear stronger in the House. Contrary to recent work on the rise of Senate individualism, the seniority of the sponsor has significant effects in both the Senate and House, but again exhibits a stronger effect in the House. Surprisingly, presidential proposals are no more likely to survive than typical bills. The findings further suggest that the entrepreneurial efforts of bill sponsors breathe life into this process.     

The Nature of Real,Implanted, and Fabricated Memories for Emotional Childhood Events: Implications for the Recovered Memory Debate

A central issue in the recovered memory debate is whether it is possible to remember a highly emotional incident which never occurred. The present study provided an in-depth investigation of real, implanted, and fabricated (deceptive) memories for stressful childhood events. We examined whether false memories for emotional events could be implanted and, if so, whether real, implanted, and fabricated memories had distinctive features. A questionnaire was sent to participants' parents asking about six highly emotional, stressful events (e.g., serious animal attack) which the participant may have experienced in childhood. Next, across three sessions, interviewers encouraged participants (N = 77) to recover a memory for a false event using guided imagery and repeated retrieval attempts. In the first interview, they were asked about one real and one false event, both introduced as true according to their parents. In two subsequent interviews, they were reinterviewed about the false event. Finally, after the third inquiry about the false event, participants were asked to fabricate a memory report. Results indicated that 26% of participants recovered a complete memory for the false experience and another 30% recalled aspects of the false experience. Real, implanted, and fabricated memories differed on several dimensions (e.g., confidence, vividness, details, repeated details, coherence, stress). These findings have important implications for the debate over recovered and false memories.     

Linking economic hardship to adolescent aggression

The relationship between economic hardship and adolescent aggression has been explored from various perspectives. Using survey and observational data on two-parent families in a midwestern rural county, the study identifies four important mechanisms that link economic hardship to the aggressive behavior of adolescents. Economic pressure stemming from low income, financial loss, and unstable work, adversely affects the marital relationship through the negativity of fathers. Negative marital interactions increase irritable parenting, making adolescent aggression more likely.This paper is based on collaborative research involving the Iowa Youth and Families Project at Iowa State University, Ames, and the Social Change Project at University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill. The combined research effort is currently supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (MH43270), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA05347), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Program for Successful Adolescence, the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health (MCJ-109572), and a Research Scientist Award (MH00567).Ph.D. in sociology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Research focuses on the experience of adolescents in the changing rural economy.Ph.D. in sociology from University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill. Research focuses on life course development, particularly the short- and long-term consequences of economic hardship and military service on individual lives.Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Washington. Research focuses on family relationships in the context of social change.     

Adolescents' self-perceptions of competence in life skill areas

The perceptions of a sample of 1061 adolescents of their own competence in a number of life-skill areas were assessed. Three sets of scales were used—those concerned with competence viewed as efficacy in various life areas and situations, those concerned with competence as the satisfaction of goals based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and assessments of the structural complexity of performance on a short essay task. In addition to comparisons among self-perceptions for different areas, a number of major comtextual and personal variables was studied for differences in self-perceptions—course type, school type, state, career aspirations and expectations, major life concerns, age, and gender. There were strong gender differences that suggested that females generally underrated their own competence. The major educational or work contexts reflected important differences in patterns of self perceptions of skill. Differences between those with different major life concerns and career hopes and expectations aligned with course type differences. Finally, there were strong indications that the self-perceptions of competence that were reported formed a strong general factor, favoring the notion of generic over domain specific self-perceptions.Reveived Ph.D. in Socio- and psycholinguistics from La Trobe Unitersity. Research interests include youth and adolescence and social policy.Received Ph.D. in educational psychology from University of Queensland. Research interests include adolescent life skills and learning and cognition.     

Health‐care reform and the dimensions of professional autonomy

Abstract: A “managed competition” model was introduced in the Canadian province of Ontario as part of the government's reform of home care. With this model, it was assumed that competitive forces would encourage quality while driving down costs. While such reforms often achieve cost controls by constraining the incomes and practices of health‐care workers, there has been relatively little analysis of the extent to which self‐governing health‐care professionals, particularly those outside of medicine and nursing, may experience a decline in their ability to control the content and context of their professional work. In this article, the authors analyse the results of thirty‐six in‐depth interviews with representatives of Community Care Access Centres (CCACs), the organizations that purchase and coordinate the delivery of home‐care services, and rehabilitation provider agencies to examine the impact of Ontario's managed competition reform on rehabilitation professionals. Findings suggest that the impact of the reform varied across the economic, political, and clinical dimensions of professional autonomy and that, despite a general loss of autonomy under the managed competition model, market forces also served to mitigate the loss of autonomy, thus contributing to a remarkable resilience of professional autonomy. Sommaire: Un modèle de « concurrence dirigée » a été introduit récemment dans la province canadienne de l'Ontario dans le cadre de la réforme gouvernementale des soins à domicile. Avec ce modèle, il était présumé que les forces de la concurrence encourageraient la qualité tout en faisant baisser les coûts. Alors que de telles réformes parviennent souvent à maîtriser les coûts en réduisant les revenus et les pratiques des travailleurs de la santé, il y a eu relativement peu d'analyses de faites sur la mesure dans laquelle les professionnels de la santé autonomes, particulièrement ceux qui exercent en dehors de la médecine et de la profession infirmière, connaissent une perte de contrôle sur le contenu et le contexte de leur travail professionnel. Dans le présent article, les auteurs analysent les résultats de trente‐six entrevues en profondeur menées auprès de représentants des Centres d'accès aux soins communautaires (CASC), organismes qui achètent et coordonnent la prestation des services de soins à domicile, et organismes de prestation de soins de réadaptation, afin d'examiner les conséquences de la réforme de la concurrence dirigée de l'Ontario sur les professionnels de la réadaptation. Les résultats laissent entendre que l'effet de la réforme a varié en fonction des dimensions économiques, politiques et cliniques de l'autonomie professionnelle et que, malgré une perte d'autonomie générale liée au modèle de concurrence dirigée, les forces du marché ont également permis d'atténuer la perte d'autonomie, contribuant ainsi à la remarquable résilience dont font preuve ces professionnels en la matiére.