Discussion of 'International Political Economy from a Chinese Angle'

According to Zhu Wenli, Chinese scholars of political economy have been examining many of the same issues as their American counterparts, but have reached quite different conclusions. Chinese scholars accept the importance of globalization, but do not believe that globalization is making the nation-state less relevant or international regimes more powerful. They concede that economic and other transnational issues are becoming increasingly salient in international affairs, but conclude that they are simply altering the ways in which nations compete for power rather than making the international system more cooperative. They agree that much of today's world order is rooted in American hegemony, but do not consider that US foreign policy can be characterized as 'benign'. These conclusions have troubling implications for US‐China relations. They suggest that China will not agree to be integrated into an international community led by the United States, and that the relationship between Beijing and Washington is more likely to be competitive than cooperative.     

Empowering Consumers Through Data and Smart Technology: Experimental Evidence on the Consequences of Time‐of‐Use Electricity Pricing Policies

This paper investigates the extent to which technology used to automate household responses to time‐of‐use pricing for electricity leads to higher energy savings than simply providing households with information on current prices and quantities. Using a large randomized field trial, we find that informed households with “smart” thermostats achieve impressive reductions in consumption during on‐peak periods of up to 48 percent, but also engage in substantial load shifting to off‐peak hours. We also document the extent to which household responses to time‐of‐use pricing are heterogeneous and vary significantly by demographics, weather, and across the usage distribution.     

Making Ends Meet After Prison

Former prisoners are at high risk of economic insecurity due to the challenges they face in finding employment and to the difficulties of securing and maintaining public assistance while incarcerated. This study examines the processes through which former prisoners attain economic security, examining how they meet basic material needs and achieve upward mobility over time. It draws on unique qualitative data from in‐depth, unstructured interviews with a sample of former prisoners followed over a two‐ to three‐year period to assess how subjects draw upon a combination of employment, social supports, and public benefits to make ends meet. Findings reveal considerable struggle among our subjects to meet even minimal needs for shelter and food, although economic security and stability could be attained when employment or public benefits were coupled with familial social support. Sustained economic security was rarely achieved absent either strong social support or access to long‐term public benefits. However, a select few were able to leverage material support and social networks into trajectories of upward mobility and economic independence. Policy implications are discussed.     

Beyond cognition: the role of disordered affective states in impairing competence to consent to treatment.

Most of the criteria for competence in current use emphasize cognitive rather than affective dimensions. Our clinical experience indicates that affective disorders may impair competence in a detectable and identifiable way. In particular, patients with major affective disorders can retain the cognitive capacity to understand the risks and benefits of a medication, yet fail to appreciate its benefits. A case study of a pathologic grief reaction is introduced to illustrate how cognitive and affective impairments may coexist and require separate remedial strategies for restoration. Further empirical work on the role of affective disorder in impairing competence is warranted and planned.     

Intergenerational Continuity of Risky Parenting: A Person-Oriented Approach to Assessing Parenting Behaviors

Limited research has investigated the long-term effects of childhood emotional abuse on later forms of parenting. This study utilized a person-centered approach to explore the relation between retrospectively-reported maternal childhood emotional abuse and observed parenting behaviors during a conflict discussion. Data were collected from 53 caregiver-child dyads with children ages 8–11. Results of a model-based clustering procedure (Mclust; Fraley and Raftery 2006) identified three parenting styles (negative, at-risk, positive) that were based on five observed parenting behaviors (emotion regulation, anger, hostility, psychological control, and psychological unavailability). Results indicated that higher levels of childhood emotional abuse were reported by women in the at-risk and negative parenting subgroups. Mothers in the negative parenting and at-risk parenting clusters exhibited greater levels of emotional abuse when compared to the positive parenting cluster. Possible implications are discussed, and results underscore the importance of emotionally abusive developmental experiences in the understanding of risk for maladaptive parenting behaviors.     

Exposure to Maternal- and Paternal-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence, Emotion Regulation, and Child Outcomes

The current study examined the relationship of maternal- and paternal-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) to children’s internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Mother-child dyads (N?=?53; child ages 8–11) reported maternal- and paternal-perpetrated IPV exposure and measures of child symptomatology. Results demonstrated that: (a) maternal- and paternal-perpetrated IPV have similar but not identical relations with child outcomes, (b) mothers’ and children’s reports of paternal-perpetrated IPV were positively related, (c) mother and child report of maternal- and paternal-perpetrated IPV related to child emotional and behavior problems, and (d) emotion dysregulation mediated the link between IPV exposure and child outcomes. Notably, findings differed by reporters. Results support emotion dysregulation as one mechanism through which IPV exposure may lead to child behavior problems, with implications for clinical intervention.