Gun violence and police problem solving: A research note examining alternative data sources

This article uses gun seizure data from the gun lab of the St. Louis Police Department to examine a problem-solving approach to seizing illegal firearms. Further, it explores narrative data from the police reports to understand the context surrounding 113 firearms seizure. The most important findings are that most illegal firearms are seized by the police department in the course of routine patrol, and that many seemingly nonviolent technical law violations (e.g., the unlawful carrying, use, or concealment of a firearm) often occur under violent circumstances. Given the paucity of gun research, future studies should use multiple data sources to further explain the gun/crime relationship. These findings are discussed in the context of routine policing.     

Greece

European Journal of Political Research -     

Strategy Content and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Analysis

This study presents the first empirical test of the proposition that strategy content is a key determinant of organizational performance in the public sector. Strategy content comprises two dimensions: strategic stance (the extent to which an organization is a prospector, defender, or reactor) and strategic actions (the relative emphasis on changes in markets, services, revenues, external relationships, and internal characteristics). Data were drawn from a multiple-informant survey of 119 English local authorities. Measures of strategy content are included in a multivariate model of interauthority variations in performance. The statistical results show that strategy content matters. Organizational performance is positively associated with a prospector stance and negatively with a reactor stance. Furthermore, local authorities that seek new markets for their services are more likely to perform well. These results suggest that measures of strategy content must be included in valid theoretical and empirical models of organizational performance in the public sector.     

Environmental education and awareness: the present and future key to the sustainable management of Ramsar convention sites in Kenya

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - The Ramsar wetland sites are important habitats for biodiversity and provide ecological services to communities that otherwise...