Where have all the heroes gone? A rational-choice perspective on heroism

Heroism emerges when individual decisions are coupled with public rewards for heroic actions, making heroism akin to the voluntary provision of a highly specialized public good. In the past 35 years, however, the number of heroes has fallen considerably as reflected by military honors such as the Congressional Medal of Honor. Our model, which seeks to explain heroism in a rational decision-making framework, suggests that an observed decline in heroism can be explained on the basis of optimal individual and social responses, rather than as an arbitrary change in the governmental rewards for heroism.     

Intimate partner violence and miscarriage: examination of the role of physical and psychological abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder

Despite research documenting high rates of violence during pregnancy, few studies have examined the impact of physical abuse, psychological abuse, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on miscarriage. Secondary analysis of data collected by the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study permitted an exploration of the relationships among physical abuse, psychological abuse, PTSD, and miscarriage among 118 primarily ethnic minority women. The interaction between maximum severity of abuse and age provided the best multivariate predictor of miscarriage rate, accounting for 26.9% of the variance between live birth and miscarriage outcome. Mean scores of psychological abuse, physical violence, forced sex, and PTSD were significantly higher in the miscarriage group than in the live birth group. Women who experience physical violence and psychological abuse during pregnancy may be at greater risk for miscarriage. Prospective studies can confirm findings and determine underlying mechanisms. Routine screening for traumatic stress and PTSD may reduce rates of miscarriage.     

Can underemployment persist in an expanding economy? Clues from a non-Walrasian OLG model with endogenous longevity

This paper aims at casting a new light on the persistence of underemployment in emerging economies, by examining the relationship between labour market imperfections and longevity changes. For that purpose, we develop a two-period OLG model where longevity depends positively on the real wage, but negatively on the underemployment level, which both result from wage negotiations between a trade-union, representing workers (i.e. young generation), and the management, representing capital-holders (i.e. old generation). The existence, uniqueness and stability of a non-trivial steady-state equilibrium are studied. The distribution of bargaining power is shown to be a major determinant of the short run and long run dynamics of employment, production and longevity. The dynamics is also shown to be significantly sensitive to the precise form under which job quality affects longevity.

Hate crimes and stigma-related experiences among sexual minority adults in the United States: prevalence estimates from a national probability sample

Using survey responses collected via the Internet from a U.S. national probability sample of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults (N = 662), this article reports prevalence estimates of criminal victimization and related experiences based on the target's sexual orientation. Approximately 20% of respondents reported having experienced a person or property crime based on their sexual orientation; about half had experienced verbal harassment, and more than 1 in 10 reported having experienced employment or housing discrimination. Gay men were significantly more likely than lesbians or bisexuals to experience violence and property crimes. Employment and housing discrimination were significantly more likely among gay men and lesbians than among bisexual men and women. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.     

Small‐Group Dynamics,Ideology, and Decision Making on the US Courts of Appeals

There is some evidence that judges who specialize in particular legal areas vote in more ideologically consistent ways than do nonspecialists. Upon replicating those individual results across multiple legal areas in the US courts of appeals, we assess how this increasing reliance on ideology by specialists affects decision making by others on a three‐judge panel. We find that judges who serve with a specialist are especially likely to vote in a manner consistent with the ideological position of the specialist with whom they serve. These results suggest that specialization has the potential to facilitate panel effects across numerous legal policy areas.