The Effect of Electoral Institutions on Tort Awards

We argue that partisan elected judges have an incentive to redistributewealth from out-of-state defendants (nonvoters) to in-stateplaintiffs (voters). We first test the hypothesis by using cross-statedata. We find a significant partisan effect after controllingfor differences in injuries, state incomes, poverty levels,selection effects, and other factors. One difference that appearsdifficult to control for is that each state has its own tortlaw. In cases involving citizens of different states, federaljudges decide disputes by using state law. Using these diversity-of-citizenshipcases, we conclude that differences in awards are caused bydifferences in electoral systems, not by differences in statelaw.     

Economic Nationalism as a Challenge to Economic Liberalism? Lessons from the 19th Century

What kind of challenge does economic nationalism pose to economic liberalism in today's global political economy? Conventional wisdom holds that economic nationalism is an outdated ideology in this age of globalization and economic liberalization. But this argument rests on understandings of economic nationalism that are increasingly being called into question by recent scholarship. In this article, I show how the history of economic nationalism in the 19th century provides strong support for two important but potentially controversial arguments made in recent literature about the nature of economic nationalism: (1) that this ideology is most properly defined by its nationalist content (rather than as a variant of realism or as an ideology of protectionism), and (2) that it can be associated with a wide range of policy projects, including the endorsement of liberal economic policies. With these two points established through historical analysis, I conclude that economic nationalism should be seen still to be a powerful ideology in the current period, but that its relationship to the policy goals of economic liberals is an ambiguous one, just as it was in the 19th century.     

Technology licensing contracts features and diversity

Given the nature of knowledge and characteristics of the intellectual property rights system, technological transactions tend to be governed by contracts that are costly and not highly profitable. This explains why there are so few technology licensing agreements. However, in some situations, private and specific institutions tend to enable property rights to be more precise, knowledge transfers to be easier, and technology licensing agreements to be less complex to design and to run. This explains why there is a concentration of technology licensing agreements in some industries and in some relational situations. These shed light on the design of firms’ strategies to valorize intellectual assets and of public policies to stimulate innovation and diffusion.     

High Costs and Segregation in Subsidized Housing Policy

This article examines the public policies determining the distribution of subsidized housing in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota, the resulting distribution of subsidized housing, and the comparative costs associated with building in the region's central cities or in suburbs. The analysis concludes that current policies are clearly not meeting the region's responsibility to affirmatively further fair housing. The metropolitan area abandoned its role as a national leader in this area decades ago. The result is an affordable housing system that concentrates subsidized housing in the region's poorest and most segregated neighborhoods. This increases the concentration of poverty in the two central cities, in the region's most racially diverse neighborhoods, and in the attendance areas of predominantly nonwhite schools. In the long run, this hurts the regional economy and exacerbates the racial gaps in income, employment, and student performance that plague the Twin Cities.     

The correctional staff burnout literature

Correctional staff job burnout is costly to all involved. As such, it has generated a growing body of research. This study reviewed 53 empirical studies of correctional staff burnout and two review articles published between 1981 and 2014. The majority of studies focused on staff working in a variety of institutional positions, fewer studies focused exclusively on the subgroup of correctional officers, and even fewer focused on a different subgroup. The majority of studies also involved staff at US government-run adult prisons. Most but not all studies utilized Maslach’s Burnout Inventory. Research on the antecedents of job burnout among correctional staff is more common than research on the possible consequences or outcomes of job burnout. Interestingly, despite the empirical emphasis on antecedents of burnout, there has been almost no research on effective interventions designed to deal with correctional staff burnout. Based on this narrative review, significant gaps remain in the research on correctional staff burnout.     

A Silver‐Stain Modification of Standard Histological Slide Preparation for Use in Anthropology Analyses

The traditional histology method typically employed by forensic anthropologists involves plastic embedding of undecalcified bone. The embedded sample is then cut by a diamond blade saw and ground to the required thickness of ~50–100 microns using a grinder. There are several limitations to this method: Cement lines may be blurred; depth‐of‐field artifacts may result from viewing thick sections; and medicolegal offices with limited budgets may not be able to invest in additional equipment or training for this method. A silver nitrate stain modification of the standard histology preparation technique of decalcified bone is presented. The benefits of this technique are that: Cement lines are viewed clearly; no depth‐of‐field artifacts are present; and because this is a modification of the standard technique used by histology laboratories typically employed by medicolegal offices, no additional equipment or training is required.