Alcohol involvement in violence. A study from a Danish community

All cases of assaults with violence (n = 1639) from a well defined area were registered for 1 year. A positive alcolmeter test (% greater than 0.2) was registered in 488 cases (29%). A further 216 patients (13%) were found under the influence of alcohol according to a simple clinical judgement. In nine of ten manslaughter and murder cases alcohol was involved. Young men, 19-29 years of age, comprised the majority of victims. Of the episodes of violence 66% took place during the weekend. In 250 cases the alcohol concentration surpassed 1.5%. Almost 50% of the violence episoded took place in or around restaurants. Blunt violence was concerned in 73% of the episodes. Gunshot was registered in five cases, stabbings in two cases.     

Can the two new aid-growth models be replicated?

Recent aid effectiveness literature centers on two competing models from the family of conditional models: The Good Policy Model, where the key feature is policy times aid, and the Medicine Model, where it is aid squared. Both models were reached on a sample of 1/3 of the available data. The models are simplified to be replicatable on more of the data. Within-sample the Good Policy Model proves fragile, while the Medicine Model is more robust. Both models fail in out-of-sample replications. A semi-parametric technique is used to test for an unknown functional form of the aid-growth term. It rejects that aid is statistically significant.     

Electoral Competition and Agricultural Support in OECD Countries

Agricultural trade protectionism in developed countries remains a politically charged issue, yet few studies have attempted to explain the political dynamics behind this important trade issue. We consider agricultural subsidies as a type of distributive policy that targets the agricultural sector at the expense of consumers and taxpayers. Based on Cox (1987, 1990) and Myerson (1993) , we argue that electoral systems that encourage politicians to appeal to a narrow constituency tend to have a higher level of agricultural support. We test this theoretical hypothesis using OECD agricultural support data disaggregated by commodity and country. A cross-classified multilevel model is employed to account for complex variation of agricultural support across countries, commodities, and time. Our empirical results show that electoral systems that encourage politicians to target narrow (broad) constituencies are associated with relatively high (low) levels of agricultural subsidies.     

Protesting a perceived injustice: Sex discrimination and the restoration of equity

In this paper we propose a theoretical model that examines the relationship between resources and significant others in people's attempts to restore equity. Viewing the restoration of equity as a complex process, we integrate resource mobilization and equity arguments in order to better understand how people come to dispute and settle fair terms of exchange in allocative relationships. With individual-level data, we examine sex discrimination complaints and show that protest reactions against a perceived injustice are influenced by the level of resources a person controls. We find that the more resources a person controls, the better able she or he is in managing the protest and negotiation for equity. Further, resources also protect complainants from reprisals by the source of the inequity. These findings provide insight into the process by which people attempt to restore equity, and they suggest that the examination of real-life inequitable relations enhances our understanding of reactions to inequity.     

Beyond effects: Adolescents as active media users

This is an overview of the special Issue, Adolescents Uses of Media. The articles in the special issue are described as taking the uses and gratifications approach, which emphasizes that people make choices about the media they consume and that people differ in their interpretations of media content. The common goal of the articles is to integrate this approach with developmental perspectives on adolescence. Common themes include adolescents as active media users, the developmental context of adolescence, the cultural context of media use, and integrative and innovative methodological approaches.Received Ph.D. from University of Virginia. Research interests include adolescent reckless behavior, adolescents' uses of media, and the transition to adulthood.Received Ph.D. from University of Chicago.     

Small group insurance reform: how are state programs measuring up?

In the past decade, states have responded to the health insurance needs of small businesses by launching a number of reforms. According to authors Michael Morrisey and Gail Jensen, more than 30 states have implemented "bare-bones" policies that seek to make minimum-benefit, affordable coverage available to small employers. Almost all states have enacted legislation modifying the underwriting practices that insurers may use with respect to such things as pre-existing conditions and occupational exclusions. Other states have provided tax or employer subsidies. But despite the efforts of the states, the authors found the state policies have had little success. Drawing from a survey found that the few employers who were aware of the programs found them to be unappealing. In discovering what doesn't work, the authors are able to suggest remedies for the states' small group insurance ills, such as offering long-term instead of short-term subsidies.     

The Legitimacy of Using the Harm Principle in Cases of Religious Freedom Within Education

John Stuart Mill’s famous “harm principle” has been popular in the limitation of freedoms within human rights jurisprudence. It has been used formally in court cases and also informally in legal argumentation and conversation. Shortly, it is described as a very simple principle that amounts to the notion that persons are at liberty to do what they want as long as their actions do not harm any other person or society in general. This article questions whether it is legitimate to use the harm principle in cases concerning the limitation of religious freedom within education. For example, can the exemption of a learner from sex education (based on religious objections) be denied based on the argument that such an exemption will cause harm? In order to answer this question, the meaning, origin and use of the harm principle are investigated. This article also discusses four main criticisms against the use of this principle in general and in cases of religious freedom of learners in education.