The state must compete: Optimal pricing of legal cannabis

We examine the socially optimal pricing strategy for the legal cannabis industry that faces significant competition from an illicit market. We explore the impact of different preferences for legal and illicit cannabis using a constant elasticity of substitution utility function. We find that under a range of policy objectives and other circumstances, the socially optimal pricing strategy is for the legal market price to be dramatically lower than the illicit market price. This contradicts the approach taken across Canada in the year since legalization. These findings suggest that governments should adopt policies to reduce the price of legal cannabis.     

A Comparative Analysis of Foiled and Completed Mass Shootings

American Journal of Criminal Justice - This study provides a comparative analysis of foiled and completed mass shootings in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Specifically, this work...     

Factor Structure and Reliability of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales for Incarcerated Female Substance Abusers

Incarcerated women with a history of substance abuse often experience intimate partner violence (IPV), both as victims and as perpetrators. The issues surrounding partner violence and substance abuse are complex, and accurate assessment of this population's experience is critical to ensure proper treatment planning and program development. One of the most common instruments with which to measure IPV is the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS). Unfortunately, very little published data exist on the revised version of the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2), and no data could be located in the literature using this scale with incarcerated women. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the underlying factor structure and reliability of the CTS2 for 359 incarcerated women who had voluntarily participated in a 1–year long substance abuse treatment program. Item analysis revealed a high level of reliability for the overall scale as well as for the individual subscales. Additionally, results from the confirmatory multiple group factor analysis support the 5 underlying subscales, and taken together indicate that the scale is acceptable to use with this population.     

Seeking ontological security through the rise of China: New Zealand as a small trading nation

Maintaining global peace as China rises is a key strategic goal of Western liberal democracies. Compared to other western liberal democracies, New Zealand's response to the ‘rise of China’ is notable for its absence of security and political frictions and for the achievement of a series of diplomatic ‘firsts’. Can this be explained only by material concern over the national economic interest as China's role in the global economy increases or do ideational factors also underlay how New Zealand engages China? This paper employs the ontological security framework to demonstrate how New Zealand identity as a ‘small trading nation’ and ‘good international citizen’ has shaped its turn to Asia and response to the ‘rise of China'. It first analyses the origins of New Zealand's outward facing identity and resultant foreign policy positions long before China became an important aspect of New Zealand trade policy. It then shows how New Zealand seeks ontological security as a ‘small trading nation’ and ‘good international citizen’ in its relations with China and how China has responded to this type of engagement. The paper illustrates the importance of ideational factors in Western liberal democracies’ responses to the ‘rise of China’.     

Is global inequality getting better or worse? A critique of the World Bank’s convergence narrative

The dominant narrative of global income inequality is one of convergence. Recent high-profile publications by Branko Milanovic and the World Bank claim that the global Gini coefficient has declined since 1988, and that inter-country inequality has declined since 1960. But the convergence narrative relies on a misleading presentation of the data. It obscures the fact that convergence is driven mostly by China; it fails to acknowledge rising absolute inequality; and it ignores divergence between geopolitical regions. This paper suggests alternative measures that bring geopolitics back in by looking at the gap between the core and periphery of the world system. From this perspective, global inequality has tripled since 1960.     

Indigenous Autonomy and the Contradictions of Plurinationalism in Bolivia

The government of Bolivia led by President Evo Morales and the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party claims to be constructing a new postliberal or plurinational state. However, this alleged experiment in plurinationalism conflicts with two central elements of government and MAS party strategy: the expansion of the economic development model based on the extraction of non‐renewable natural resources, and the MAS's efforts to control political space, including indigenous territories. This article analyzes these contradictions by examining how Bolivia's constitution and legal framework appear to support indigenous autonomy while simultaneously constraining it. Specifically, it explores how political and bureaucratic processes have seriously limited opportunities to exercise indigenous rights to autonomy. The article makes a comparative analysis of the implications of Bolivia's experience for indigenous autonomy and plurinationalism for other resource extraction–dependent states.     

Testing a Financial Incentive to Promote Re‐employment among Displaced Workers: The Canadian Earnings Supplement Project (ESP)

This article presents findings from a randomized experiment conducted in four Canadian provinces to measure the effects of a generous financial incentive that was designed to promote rapid re‐employment among workers who were displaced from their jobs by changing economic conditions. The incentive tested was an earnings supplement which, for as long as 2 years and as much as $250 weekly, would replace 75 percent of the earnings loss incurred by displaced workers who took a new lower‐paying full‐time job within six months of receiving a supplement offer. Findings from the experiment indicate that although persons offered the supplement understood its terms and conditions, only 2 out of 10 actually received supplement payments. Furthermore, the supplement offer had little effect on job‐search behavior, employment prospects, or receipt of unemployment insurance. Nevertheless, persons who received supplement payments benefited from them substantially. On average, they received payments for 64 weeks, totaling $8,705. © 2001 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

The politics of beer: analysis of the congressional votes on the beer bill of 1933

Nine days after he took office in March 1933, Franklin Roosevelt asked Congress to amend existing federal Prohibition policy so as to allow for the sale and consumption of 3.2% alcohol beer. Over the following 8 days, the so-called “beer bill” was proposed, debated, passed and signed into law. This study analyzes the political decision making behind one of FDR’s earliest New Deal policies. Specifically, we consider how voter preferences, representatives’ ideologies, national party affiliations, and the influence of special interests affected legislative decision making. We find that special interests and party affiliations were particularly important drivers of congressional voting behavior.