Women In or Out of American Economic History?

This viewpoint discusses the absence of women from the economic history of the USA. During the past 25 years American economic historians have been so concerned with conceptual and methodological arguments within the discipline that they have failed to examine the female factor. Though many practitioners might consider that women have had little input into marketplace activities in the past, their attitudes stem from conventional ways of examining both issues and data. A more balanced and realistic approach to writing American economic history will entail seeing women as an integral part of past economic change. To do this will involve asking different questions of the past ‐ both of new and existing sources. American economic history could greatly benefit from looking at changes in both history and economics.     

Domestic Institutional Constraints on China's Leadership in East Asian Economic Cooperation Mechanisms

The study of Chinese foreign policy has long shown that domestic politics and domestic constraints are sources of foreign policy, albeit generally considered less potent than ideology and interests. Domestic political constraints should also be explored as factors in Chinese regional policies toward East Asia, including regional economic institutions. This paper examines three domestic institutional constraints on regional foreign policy in the area of trade and economics: a fragmented decision-making structure that has difficulty with coordination, a relatively heavy reliance on top level decision-makers at a time when issues of Asian economic policy have relatively low priority for these same decision-makers, and the relatively extreme lack of autonomy for negotiators vis-á-vis top decision-makers in Beijing. These constraints are by any means unique to China. However, at a time when many observers and participants are expecting—indeed, often hoping for—Chinese leadership in the region, the paper posits that these constraints hinder the PRC's ability to fill this role. The key empirical focus is regional trade agreements and regional economic organizations.     

Benefits and burdens: Does it really matterWhat we allocate?

There is growing, evidence that allocation decisions concerning burdens and benefits are not processed equivalently. This paper suggests three dimensions on which information processing for resource allocations differs: status quo effects (individuals react more strongly to losses in status quo than to gains), resource valence effects (individuals react more strongly to resource allocations involving burdens than those involving benefits), and blame effects (individuals react more strongly to resource allocation decisions in which they exercise choice). Results of an empirical study confirm significant differences in the information processing of burdens and benefits, and also confirm the importance of psychological distance in the reactions of individuals to burdens and benefits allocations.For there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.-Hamlet (William Shakespeare)     

Mail vs. telephone surveys of criminal justice attitudes: A comparative analysis

This study compares results from surveys using two modes of administration. A subset of questions from the 1992Texas Crime Poll, a statewide poll conducted annually by mail, was replicated in telephone interviews using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing System. The phone survey yielded better participation rates but less complete responses to individual attitude questions than did the mail poll. As expected, the mail survey was less expensive but less efficient than the automated phone survey. The central finding was that all but one of the responses to five attitude questions difered significantly across the surveys. The samples differed in their demographic composition, but this did not explain differences in the substantive findings from the mail and phone surveys. The discussion considers alternative explanations for differences in the findings from the two surveys and suggests direction for further comparative research.     

Results of a curriculum intervention with seventh graders regarding violence in relationships

This research measured the effects of a violence prevention curriculum on the knowledge and attitudes of seventh grade health education students (N=239) about woman abuse using a valid and reliable inventory. Pretests, post-tests, and post-post-tests were administered to experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group received the curriculum intervention,Skills for Violence-Free Relationships. Significant differences were found between the experimental and comparison groups from pretest to post-test on both the knowledge (p=.0027) and attitude (p=.0089) sections of the inventory. This impact did not remain stable at post post-test. These results confirm those found in other studies and reinforce recommendations of the battered women’s movement to integrate violence-free principles into school curricula. Within the experimental group, significant gender differences were found only on the attitude section from post-test to post post-test (p=.0335); females showed greater change over time. Such limited change was not unexpected in a middle school population given the reported formative nature of the subjects’ gender acquisition as contrasted with those at an older age.     

Comparative measurement of cocaine and its metabolites in blood, cerebrospinal fluid and the brain

This study investigated the transfer of cocaine and its metabolites from plasma into the cerebrospinal fluid. The concentration of cocaine and its metabolites in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid was determined by radioimmunoassay because this method only, the sum of the drug and metabolites restored. In sheeps a sublethal cocaine hydrochloride dose (2,4 mg/kg b. wt.) was administered intraarterial daily for up to 8 days. In the first hours after administration the concentration of cocaine in cerebrospinal fluid was low. It is supposed that a barrier against the transport of cocaine from blood into cerebrospinal fluid exists. After intrathecal administration a delay of transport could from CSF to blood not be seen.