Crimes,arrests, and elections: Predicting winners and losers

Political candidates are frequently identified as being either “law and order” advocates or “soft” on crime; however, the importance of actual arrest and crime levels on election outcomes has not been examined empirically. One particular set of candidates for whom arrest and crime rates might be expected to be predictive is publicly elected law enforcement officials. Using 1976 Florida County Sheriff election data, this article examines the capacity for discriminating between winning and losing incumbent sheriffs by using county arrest and crime data in association with socioeconomic and political information. The findings show that a significant discrimination is obtained (significant = 0.009, canonical correlation = 0.59, and 76 percent of the counties were correctly classified) and that crimes and arrests are significant factors in determining the outcome of sheriff elections. The results indicate that although traditional political factors, such as party affiliation and number of terms in office, and socioeconomic factors, such as income, density, and unemployment rates, do well in discriminating winning from losing candidates, a sheriff-election model must also incorporate crime and arrest information, particularly information on murder and rape.     

The university and business incubation: Technology transfer through entrepreneurial development

This paper reviews university programs that seek to promote technology transfer through entrepreneurial development. It describes fourkey factors (talent, technology, capital, and know-how) that must be linked for successful transfer, and focuses on the new-business incubator as an important mechanism for synergizing these factors in the university. The paper also shows how the incubator supports the development of new technology companies by helping them build credibility, shorten the learning curve, and solve problems faster, and by providing access to entrepreneurial networks. Empirical data on selected university incubators are presented.     

Rural Community Responses to a National Mandate: An Assessment of Floodplain Land-Use Management

Rural governments face a difficult task in complying with theNational Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which requires detailedplanning, land use ordinances, and effective enforcement provisionsto reduce flood losses. This study analyzes responses from anational sample of officials in 852 nonmetropolitan NFIP communitiesand flood management officials in all fifty state governments.Rural officials perceive their overall floodplain managementprograms to be relatively effective in protecting future developmentbut less effective in protecting existing structures. Whileflood hazard mitigation is not a high priority in rural government,the national program appears to have spurred local activity.State assistance in developing local regulations and providinginformation is correlated with rural officials' perceptionsof meeting NFIP goals. Programs rated most effective are incommunities with local regulations in force, although technicalproblems and local political opposition are widely acknowledgedas obstacles to the development of land use measures.