Freedom and innovation: a country and state level analysis

Research underlines the importance of socio-cultural factors when establishing a supportive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship growth. Scholars discuss different aspects, ranging from cultural attitudes and religious norms, to aspects of tolerance and social freedom. Following on research tradition, this paper analyzes the freedom-innovation relationship using a hand collected data set of 57 countries and the 50 U.S. states over a 3 year period. We argue and test whether the slope of the freedom-innovation link is shaped by and trades-off the costs and benefits of either weak or strong social ties within a country. Our empirical findings support a positive relationship between the freedom-innovativeness-slope, but not a negative or inverted U-shaped relationship.     

An opportunity lost: Escobar's deconstruction of development

Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. By Arturo Escobar. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995. Pp.ix+290. £40/$49.50 and £13.95/$15.95. ISBN 0 691 03409 5 and 00102 2     

The Challenge of Talking about Terrorism: The EU and the Arab Debate on the Causes of Islamist Terrorism 1

The Arab “hegemonic debate” on the causes of Islamist terrorism nurtures (pan-) Arab, anti-Western sentiments and delegitimizes criticism of the political status quo. The European Union's emphasis on multilateral means of conflict resolution and trade promotion leads to official pronouncements that barely address the Arab world's domestic problems, instead referring to international tensions such as the Arab-Israeli conflict as a particular cause of Islamist terrorism and the need for cooperation with Arab governments. By failing to challenge the official narratives of authoritarian Arab regimes the EU obstructs interests in the democratization of the region and the delegitimization of Islamist violence.     

Women arrested for partner violence and substance use: an exploration of discrepancies in the literature

Discrepancies exist in research examining substance problems within groups of women arrested for intimate partner violence (IPV). In some studies women IPV arrestees have been found to be at high risk for substance-related problems, whereas in others they are found to be at low risk for substance-related problems. The current study explores these discrepancies then compares a sample of women court ordered to a domestic violence diversion program (n = 78) to a matched sample of men (n = 78) in the same program using police report information, self-report measures, the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-3, and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III alcohol and drug subscales. Women IPV arrestees had a low occurrence of substance use during the arresting incident, a low incidence of substance-related diagnoses, and fewer substance-related problems than did men IPV arrestees. However, women demonstrated personality structures susceptible to nondiagnosable, hazardous drinking patterns.     

Forty Years of German Federalism: Past Trends and New Developments

This article traces the major developments in German federalismfrom 1949 to the present. From a system based on a concept of"dual federalism," which was different in important ways fromthe American system, German federalism became somewhat morelike the postwar American cooperative federalism. Criticismof this system in the 1970s led to various reform efforts, whichmade little headway until the 1980s and the formation of a CDU/CSU-FDPcoalition government under Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The "turnabout"promised by this government and carried out to some extent includedplans and policies to strengthen the Länder by some sortingout of functions. These efforts were successful at first, butthe federal government has oriented its policies more towardthe national arena. Financial constraints, the nationalizationof basic rights, technological concerns, and pressures by theEC have led to new tendencies toward intergovernmentalizingand centralizing the relations between the federation and Landgovernments.     

Islam and Ethnicity in the Republics of Russia

An American sociologist reports results of survey research conducted in 1993 among Muslims in the five Islamic Autonomous Republics of Russia (N = 4,955). The data demonstrate that the strength of Islam as both a religious and social institution varied regionally despite the shared experience of Soviet anti-religious policies. Muslims in Chechnya and Dagestan were much more likely to report that they actively practiced Islam than Muslims living in Kabardino-Balkariya, Tatarstan, and Bashkortostan. Moroever, religious practice was high among non-traditional groups of Chechentsy and Avartsy. The young, the urban migrants, the highly educated, and men reported high levels of active worship. In Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and Kabardino-Balkariya, in contrast, active religiosity was primarily confined to old, rural women with low levels of education. These differences, it is argued, are linked to the Sufi Islam tradition present in Chechnya and Dagestan but absent in the other Muslim autonomous republics. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O50, R10, Z1.     

The consents of The Calculus

I study a game where two agents bargain on an agreement to replace the status quo. For their agreement to come into effect, they need the approval of a third agent. The preferences of this third agent is private information, but there is communication among agents. I study this game in the context of international agreements to provide an explanation for involuntary ratification failures. I show that under certain assumptions, the informational deficiency is incurable due to incentives to misrepresent preferences, and that a parliament whose majority is more hawkish than their executive prefers the executive to be risk averse.     

From Victim to Offender: The Effects of Male Initiated Violence on Women Arrested for Using Intimate Partner Violence

A number of theorists posit that most women who are arrested for using violence against their intimate partners are in-fact victims of IPV themselves and should be treated as such. However, in this population of women IPV arrestees empirical investigation has yet to explore how physical and emotional victimization experiences are associated with arrest related factors, propensity to be abusive or attitude toward using relationship violence. The current study explores these factors finding no difference in arrest factors between women who (a) deny abuse, (b) report rare/occasional abuse and (c) report frequent/very frequent abuse. However, mixed results were found with regard to participants’ responses on scales measuring propensity to be abusive and attitudes about using violence in marriage. Theoretical and practical related issues are addressed.