The Policy Constraints of Deficit Reduction: President Clinton's 1995 Budget

The federal budgeting process is now limited by deficit reduction policy constraints. This article examines the FY 1995 budget requests within the context of long term budget trends, changes in the federal budget process, and the recently established political and fiscal budget constraints. It further examines enactment of the Omnibus Budget Enforcement Act of 1993, the policy changes it contained, and its further tinkering with the process of budgeting. Finally the article evaluates the first budgeting process of the Clinton administration and their initiatives in deficit reduction following these policy constraints.     

High prevalence of 6-acetylmorphine in morphine-positive oral fluid specimens

Identification of 6-acetylmorphine, a specific metabolite of heroin, is considered to be definitive evidence of heroin use. Although 6-acetylmorphine has been identified in oral fluid following controlled heroin administration, no prevalence data is available for oral fluid specimens collected in the workplace. We evaluated the prevalence of positive test results for 6-acetylmorphine in 77,218 oral fluid specimens collected over a 10-month period (January-October 2001) from private workplace testing programs. Specimens were analyzed by Intercept immunoassay (cutoff concentration=30 ng/ml) and confirmed by GC-MS-MS (cutoff concentrations=30 ng/ml for morphine and codeine, and 3 ng/ml for 6-acetylmorphine). Only morphine-positive oral fluid specimens were tested by GC-MS-MS for 6-acetylmorphine. A total of 48 confirmed positive morphine results were identified. An additional 107 specimens were confirmed for codeine only. Of the 48 morphine-positive specimens, 32 (66.7%) specimens were positive for 6-acetylmorphine. Mean concentrations (+/-S.E.M.) of morphine, 6-acetylmorphine and codeine in the 32 specimens were 755+/-201, 416+/-168 and 196+/-36 ng/ml, respectively. Concentrations of 6-acetylmorphine in oral fluid ranged from 3 to 4095 ng/ml. The mean ratio (+/-S.E.M.) of 6-acetylmorphine/morphine was 0.33+/-0.06. It is suggested that, based on controlled dose studies of heroin administration, ratios >1 of 6-acetylmorphine/morphine in oral fluid are consistent with heroin use within the last hour before specimen collection. The confirmation of 6-acetylmorphine in 66.7% of morphine-positive oral fluid specimens indicates that oral fluid testing for opioids may offer advantages over urine in workplace drug testing programs and in testing drugged drivers for recent heroin use.     

The Transfer of Manufacturing Processes and Standards in U.S. Plants Operating in the U.K.

This paper finds that U.S. firms tend to utilize their manufacturing processes when operating in the U.K. but that they adopt the production standards of the host country. Three process technology variables are examined: MRP I (materials requirements planning), JIT (just in time), and TQM (total quality management). While significant differences are found between indigenous plants in each of the two countries, the adoption of these manufacturing technologies is similar for American firms operating in either country. In contrast, U.S. transplants are found to be enthusiastic adopters of ISO 9000, suggesting that host country effects are large when it comes to conforming to regional standards.     

Developmental Trajectories of Aggressive and Non-Aggressive Conduct Problems

Modeling the heterogeneous trajectories along which antisocial behaviordevelops in childhood and adolescence may contribute in important waysto understanding antecedents of offending in adult life. This paperexamines the development of aggressive and non-aggressive conduct problemsin the Great Smoky Mountains Study of Youth, a longitudinal study in thesoutheastern United States. Aggressive and non-aggressive conduct problemsof clinical severity, police contact and arrest, and family andenvironmental correlates were assessed in four annual interviews for789 boys and 630 girls aged 9–13 at first interview. The bestfitting latent class model identified three developmental trajectories:stable low problem levels, stable high problem levels, and declining levelsof conduct problems, for both aggressive and non-aggressive behaviors. Boyswere over-represented in the stable high trajectory class on the aggressivetrajectory, but sex differences in non-aggressive trajectories were lessmarked. The overlap between aggressive and non-aggressive trajectory classeswas quite limited. Both classifications showed strong associations withrisks of police contact and arrest in early adolescence, and with measuresof family adversity. The results are discussed in relation to developmentalmodels of conduct disorder and delinquency.     

Discrepancies Between Youth and Mothers’ Perceptions of Their Mother–Child Relationship Quality and Self-Disclosure: Implications for Youth- and Mother-Reported Youth Adjustment

Recently, researchers have devoted greater attention to understanding how disagreement between mothers and their children regarding parent-child relationship quality and functioning impacts youth adjustment. While some view discrepancies as indices of developmentally appropriate individuation, discrepancies regarding family functioning also have been found to predict problematic youth functioning. This study examined the effects of mother-child discrepancies for mother-child relationship qualities and youth self-disclosure on youth- and mother-reported youth internalizing and externalizing adjustment. 232 fifth, eighth, and 11th grade youth (55?% female) and their mothers completed measures of mother-child relationship quality, youth self-disclosure, and youth internalizing and externalizing adjustment. For internalizing adjustment, few effects of discrepancy on adjustment were evident. Instead, informant-specific perceptions of mother-child relationship functioning were most relevant for informant-specific reports of youth adjustment. For youth externalizing adjustment, the magnitude of mother-child discrepancies for negative relationship quality and for youth self-disclosure predicted lower levels of problematic externalizing behavior from both the children's and the mothers' perspectives, which could indicate a lack of parent-child communication. Future research is needed to fully understand how discrepancies in negative or maladaptive aspects of mother-child relationships are formed (e.g., low disclosure), are understood by the members of the dyad, and contribute to the onset, maintenance, and treatment of problematic behavioral outcomes.     

Trade unions,NGOs, and corporate codes of conduct

The proliferation of corporate codes of conduct generates both alliance and tension between trade unions and NGOs that deal with workers' rights in the global economy. Alliance, because trade unions and NGOs share a common desire to halt abusive behaviour by multinational companies and a broader goal of checking corporate power in the global economy. Tension, because unions and NGOs have differing institutional interests, different analyses of problems and potential solutions, and different ways of thinking and talking about social justice in the global economy. There are fears that codes of conduct may be used to undermine effective labour law enforcement by governmental authorities and undermine workers' power in trade unions. The substance behind the rhetoric on this new generation of corporate codes of conduct is certainly open to question. However, this paper argues that, given unions' weak presence in the global assembly line and the rapid‐response capabilities of many NGOs, such codes are a valuable asset. Trade unions and NGOs still have more in common with each other than either has with corporations, governments, or international organisations that see free trade and free‐flowing capital as the solution to low labour standards. But both need to be clear‐eyed about their differences and their proper roles as they navigate the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.     

Welfare gains from optimization in dynamic planning models

This paper compares the results of two multisectoral models used to plan the dynamic consistency of sectoral investment. Solution of an optimizing model forecasts a frontier of the economy's future choice set. This frontier represents a ten year welfare gain only 2 or 3 percent greater than any investment program simulated by a dynamic Leontief system. The paper explains what efficient behavior accounts for the “better” performance of the optimizing model. Developing dynamic programming models is costly in terms of data, computational complexity, man-machine interaction, and solution interpretation. Therefore, it is recommended that the lessons derived by working with the dynamic LP be applied to improve the planner's control of the less expensive input/output simulation model.