The Impact of Home‐Based Child Care Provider Unionization on the Cost,Type, and Availability of Subsidized Child Care in Illinois

In February 2005, Illinois became the first U.S. state to grant home‐based child care providers (HBCPs) the right to form a labor union in order to bargain collectively with the state government. This policy inspired similar efforts across the country and represents a potentially important direction for child care policy. To date, the implications of labor unions for the cost, type, and availability of subsidized child care have not been evaluated empirically. In this study, we examine the impact of granting Illinois HBCPs the right to form a labor union on (a) the type of child care (licensed vs. license‐exempt/home‐based vs. center‐based) used by subsidy‐receiving Illinois infants and toddlers; (b) the per‐child cost of subsidized child care for infants and toddlers; and (c) the percentage of Illinois infants and toddlers who use child care subsidies. To conduct these analyses, we combine data from the Current Population Survey with Child Care and Development Fund administrative records on U.S. infants and toddlers whose families received child care subsidies during the period from 2002 to 2008. We use both a traditional difference‐in‐differences as well as a comparative case study with a “synthetic” control group approach. The synthetic control group approach improves on traditional comparative case studies by providing a transparent, empirical approach for constructing the counterfactual, documenting comparison units’ contribution to the synthetically created control group and detailing the degree to which the synthetic control group is, or is not, similar to the treated unit on preintervention measures of the outcome as well as on other selected characteristics. We find that subsidy‐receiving Illinois infants and toddlers spent an average of between 6.4 and 7 percentage points more hours in licensed care settings, as compared to license‐exempt settings, in the three years following child care unionization. We also find that between 0.7 and 1.1 percentage points fewer Illinois infants and toddlers used child care subsidies following unionization.     

关于土地归属的初步讨论——以大陆法系传统、罗马法和俄罗斯法为视角

在以罗马法为基础的大陆法系传统中,关于土地归属的法律规定对俄罗斯法产生了一定的影响。分析在罗马法以及中世纪法中土地归属法律规定的复杂性,并且就资产阶级法典化过程中,通过个人所有权和他物权体系的构建,对土地归属问题复杂性的简化需要加以说明。此外,大陆法系传统概念在苏联时期俄罗斯法中所遭受的阻力,而所有权结构在俄罗斯联邦新民法典和土地法典中的扩张也值得重视。     

Deciding on the Electoral System: Chile's Adoption of Proportional Representation in 1925

In 1925 a new electoral system was introduced in Chile. This reform changed the electoral formula from a cumulative voting system to a proportional one (d'Hondt) and established new rules about district magnitude and form of voting. It has been argued that this reform was motivated by the emergence of new parties or the expansion of the electorate. This article offers an alternative explanation: in the case of Chile, the main reason for the electoral reform was the parties' need to solve problems of strategic coordination stemming from the characteristics of the Chilean cumulative voting system. In this context, the Chilean case shows that there are many routes to proportionality.     

External Interventions in Post-Cold War Africa, 1989–2010

The study of external interventions in conflict management is critical and has implications for international relations and conflict theory. Quantitative studies of the relationship between external interventions and civil war have been prone to some conceptual limitations (understudied lower-intensity periods) and data limitations (unavailability of event battle death data). This article presents a new external interventions data set covering the period between 1989 and 2010 for Africa, building on the Regan et al. (2009) data set, which covers the period between 1945 and 1999. Novel features of this new data set are: the recoding of the overlap period; a broader range of categories of intervention, including UN and non-UN missions; and wider temporal scope, by extending the period of analysis to 2010, by lowering the civil war threshold to 25 battle deaths, and by starting the conflict period from the date of the first battle death in each civil war (based on UCDP GED version-1.5-2011). The advantages of the data set are illustrated with an analysis of the different effects interventions have on high- and low-intensity conflict periods.     

Contribution of Antemortem Computed Tomography Findings to Cause of Death Determination: An Unusual Fatal Stroke

In the case reported here, the antemortem computed tomography scan (CT scan) was essential in the forensic investigation. A 32‐year‐old man was found fully awake with a facial abrasion, after what seemed to be a car accident. He lost consciousness suddenly one hour after initial management. Successive CT scan showed a facial fracture and a metallic foreign body in the carotid canal associated with an occlusion/dissection of the left internal carotid, a pseudoaneurysm, and a carotid‐cavernous fistula. The victim died from a stroke. Autopsy confirmed that the facial abrasion was a gunshot entrance wound, the metallic foreign body being a projectile. Intracranial vascular injuries linked with gunshot wounds are most of the time isolated and due to pelet embolism. The observed vascular injury association has never been described in the existing literature. The CT scan provided a better understanding of the chronology of events that led to death.     

Realistic rehabilitation

Rehabilitation involves re-establishing livelihood security among the poorest households in order to reduce vulnerability to future disasters, re-start the local economy in a sustainable fashion, and avoid dependency. This article discusses experiences of post-war rehabilitation in Mozambique and suggests that, although many households rapidly re-started crop production, they remain vulnerable because they have not been able to rebuild reserves. The author cautions against over-rapid withdrawal from relief programmes, and suggests that distributing cash and allowing households to buy what they need most is sometimes more appropriate than distributing food, seeds, tools, and selected household goods.