Public policy toward life saving: Should consumer preferences rule?

Needless to say, people who face risks that entail a high probability of death are willing to pay extraordinarily large sums to reduce the probability. Those that face low risks are typically unwilling to pay anything at all to reduce those risks. Accordingly, a public policy that would allocate funds to maximize the number of lives saved conflicts sharply with the willingness-to-pay criterion. Information about their survival probabilities always increases willingness of individuals to pay for life saving. Risk-aversè individuals may reject insurance for the treatment of fatal diseases that is fairly priced, even if they plan to pay for the treatment if they get sick; this result has implications regarding the choice of treatment or prevention. If the objective of public policy is to save the largest number of lives, then the allocation of funds must be made before individuals are affected by life-threatening risks.     

Comments on “Are the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) justified?”

In “Are the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Justified?” the authors conclude that the benefits delivered by the GSEs (as structured prior to conservatorship) are minimal and do not exceed their costs. While many of the arguments made in the article have merit and raise serious questions about the structure of the GSEs prior to 2008, the article overlooks several important benefits and costs. More significantly, no one is arguing for a return of the GSEs as they were structured prior to conservatorship. Rather than debate the merits of a model that has already been rejected by policymakers, we argue that the far more important question is what the housing finance market should look like in the future.     

Restrictive Emotionality,Depressive Symptoms,and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among High School Students

Depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors are prevalent among youth today. The current study sought to further our understanding of the correlates of depression and suicidality by assessing the relationship between restrictive emotionality (difficulty understanding and expressing emotions) and depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and attempts among adolescents. A large group of high school students (n = 2189, 58.3% male; 13–18 years of age) completed a self-report survey as part of a 2-stage suicide screening project. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between restrictive emotionality and depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. Those reporting high restrictive emotionality were 11 times more likely to have elevated depressive symptom scores, 3 times more likely to report serious suicidal ideation (after controlling for depressive symptoms), and more than twice as likely to report a suicide attempt (after controlling for depressive symptoms) than those reporting low restrictive emotionality. Restrictive emotionality partially mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation and behavior. The pattern of association between restrictive emotionality and the outcome variables was similar for boys and girls. Restrictive emotionality is highly associated with elevated depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among high school students, and may be a useful specific target in prevention and treatment efforts.     

PARTNERS IN THE PROCESS: HOW ATTORNEYS PREPARE THEIR CLIENTS FOR CUSTODY EVALUATIONS AND LITIGATION

We surveyed 113 family attorneys regarding what they did to prepare their clients for child custody evaluations and litigation. Findings revealed that participants saw child custody evaluations as useful on a variety of levels and effective in settling cases. In general, participants reported using professionally acceptable procedures, appropriately advocated for their clients, and dealt with complaints in a reasonable fashion. Referrals to mental health professionals in advance of a child custody evaluation were generally made to provide support rather than for evaluation or test preparation. Work product reviews by mental health consultants were infrequent, although such reviews were seen as highly useful by those who used them. Lastly, participants reported that allegations of parental alienation and domestic violence were often used to gain leverage in custody cases. Implications for practice are discussed for both attorneys and evaluators.     

Party size and policy outcomes: An empirical analysis of taxation in democracies

Taxation varies widely among democracies. Yet scholars disagree whether differences in political institutions help produce the variation. This article identifies topdown and bottom-up mechanisms by which political institutions are thought to influence taxation. It then combines political and economic data on more than 50 democracies to evaluate the impact of political institutions on government revenues. Cross-sectional and pooled time series analyses that include controls for economic conditions and partisan ideologies of governments confirm an indirect impact of these institutions: there is a curvilinear relationship between the size of political parties in a democracy and the tax revenues collected. Yet the effect of party size on policy outcomes is limited to a subset of democracies. The article opens new paths for research on the roles of electoral, constitutional, legislative, and party institutions in democratic policy making around the world. Andrew C. Gould is associate professor of government at the University of Notre Dame, where he is a Fellow of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. He recently publishedOrigins of Liberal Dominance: State, Church, and Party in Nineteenth Century Europe and the article “Conflicting Imperatives and Concept Formation,” which appeared inThe Review of Politics. For their suggestions and/or data, I thank José Antonio Cheibub, Sven Steinmo, Duane Swank, Daniel Verdier, and Michael Wallerstein. For their comments, I am grateful to Carles Boix, Delia Boylan, Lloyd Gruber, Fran Hagopian, Peter Hall, Mark Hallerberg, Gretchen Helmke, Scott Mainwaring, Paul Mueller, Dennis Quinn, Ashutosh Varshney, and two anonymous reviewers. Peter Baker and Tom Lundberg provided insights and skilled research assistance. This work was supported in part by a grant from the Faculty Research Program, University of Notre Dame. A prior version of this article was presented at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. The errors that remain are my own.     

Gentrification and Fair Housing: Does Gentrification Further Integration?

ABSTRACT

On the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, long-time residents of cities across the country feel increasingly anxious that they will be priced out of their homes and communities, as growing numbers of higher-income, college-educated households opt for downtown neighborhoods. These fears are particularly acute among black and Latino residents. Yet when looking through the lens of fair housing, gentrification also offers a potential opportunity, as the moves that higher-income, white households make into predominantly minority, lower-income neighborhoods are moves that help to integrate those neighborhoods, at least in the near term. We explore the long-term trajectory of predominantly minority, low-income neighborhoods that gentrified over the 1980s and 1990s. On average, these neighborhoods experienced little racial change while they gentrified, but a significant minority became racially integrated during the decade of gentrification, and over the longer term, many of these neighborhoods remained racially stable. That said, some gentrifying neighborhoods that were predominantly minority in 1980 appeared to be on the path to becoming predominantly white. Policies, such as investments in place-based, subsidized housing, are needed in many gentrifying neighborhoods to ensure racial and economic diversity over the longer term.     

Zero-base budgeting: some lessons from an inconclusive experiment

Abstract. This paper describes the consequences of an experiment conducted with four governmental programs intended to evaluate the utility of ZBB for improving public sector decision-making. The results of this experiment were mixed. On the one hand, we clearly observed greater participation by operating managers in the formulation of budgets. This, we were frequently told, had positive consequences for staff development and program planning. The zbb experiment also resulted in the generation of more and better information in support of budget requests. However, information has value only to the extent that it increases the probability that decision makers will choose better options than they would without it. In no case was it possible to identify changes in budget amounts or program content that might not have occurred following standard budgeting practices. We do not believe the absence of fiscal or program impact resulting from this experience is in any way conclusive evidence against zbb , but it should serve as a warning to the unwary or over-enthusiastic user. Sommaire. Cet article fait état d'une expérience conduite sur quatre programmes gouvernementaux dans le but d'évaluer l'utilité de la méthode zbb comme moyen d'améliorer le processus de décision à l'intérieur du secteur public. Les résultats de l'expérience sont partagés. D'une part, il apparaît évident que cette méthode suscite plus de participation chez les gestionnaires dans la formulation des budgets; cette participation accrue produit — nous a-t-on affirméà plusieurs reprises — des effets positifs sur le perfectionnement du personnel et sur la planification des programmes. L'expérience a eu aussi pour effet d'engendrer des informations plus nombreuses et de meilleure qualité aux fins de justification des demands budgétaires. Cependant, l'information n'a de valeur que dans la mesure où elle augmente la probabilité que de meilleurs choix seront effectués. Or, dans aucun cas, il n'a été possible d'identifier des changements dans les budgets alloués ou dans le contenu des programmes qui ne seraient pas survenus avec l'emploi des méthodes traditionnelles de préparation des budgets. Nous ne croyons pas que cette absence d'impact sur la fiscalité ou sur les programmes témoigne de façon concluante contre la méthode du zbb , mais c'est une mise en garde pour ceux qui seraient tentés de surestimer les avantages de cette méthode.