Reassessing the WIC effect: evidence from the Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System.

Recent analyses differ on how effective the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is at improving infant health. We use data from nine states that participate in the Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System to address limitations in previous work. With information on the mother's timing of WIC enrollment, we test whether greater exposure to WIC is associated with less smoking, improved weight gain during pregnancy, better birth outcomes, and greater likelihood of breastfeeding. Our results suggest that much of the often reported association between WIC and lower rates of preterm birth is likely spurious, the result of gestational age bias. We find modest effects of WIC on fetal growth, inconsistent associations between WIC and smoking, limited associations with gestational weight gain, and some relationship with breastfeeding. A WIC effect exists, but on fewer margins and with less impact than has been claimed by policy analysts and advocates.     

Learning from Technology Transfer in the Greek Context: The Case of Digital Telecommunication Switches

This paper examines the process of technology transfer and associated learning effects experienced by the Greek telecommunication equipment manufacturer INTRAKOM as a result of its involvement in public procurement processes and the technological shift towards software-driven digital switching and transmission systems. Drawing upon the role of Government procurement as an instrument for industrial policy and the learning potential of a technology transfer process, the paper argues that the Public sector's industrial policy considerations, exercised through the procurement practices of the Greek Public Telecommunication Operator (OTE), as well as INTRAKOM's own timely focus in establishing a long-term collaboration agreement with a leading international vendor (ERICSSON) played a catalytic role in the accumulation of domestic capabilities in the manufacturing of selected telecommunication equipment products.     

Victims' evaluation oof police performace

The findings of a study aimed at measuring citizen satisfaction with police performance in victimization situations and analyzing the variation in this performance indicator are reported here. Evaluation of the police from this perspective is recognized as being important as an indication of responsiveness to citizens' needs and desires, in part because improved police effectiveness will require citizen cooperation and participation.The analysis used data on members of victimized households drawn from a community survey in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The line of questioning on victimization incidents moved from perceptions of response time and investigations to whether a suspect was arrested or convicted, with respondents also being asked about their satisfaction at various stages in this process as well as their satisfaction with overall police performance. The analysis indicates (1) that overall satisfaction varies with type of crime and response time more than with socioeconomic characteristics, (2) that follow-up investigations and arrests influence overall satisfaction beyond satisfaction with the initial investigation, (3) that satisfaction with the police decreases at later stages of the process, and (4) that for those cases involving a follow-up investigation, overall satisfaction is more closely tied to satisfaction with the way in which the follow-up was conducted than to satisfaction with response time or the initial investigation.     

An alternative industrial extension model: The experience of the food manufacturing industry

The ability to reach small manufacturers with productivity enhancing technology requires implementation of alternative industrial extension strategies. We describe one such strategy being pursued in the food manufacturing industry. Given the large numbers of small manufacturers and of potential technology suppliers, the challenge is to create an effective approach that takes advantage of the market aggregation capacity of food industry trade associations. Through a food manufacturing coalition, this extension effort will identify common industry needs for technology; assess and adapt existing technology;stimulate vendors to capitalize on the technology; and rely upon market forces to encourage innovative problem solving.     

A provisional typology of lawyer attitudes towards divorce practice

To test the proposition that attorneys in divorce may be classified into distinctive types, 46 members of the Family Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association completed a 61 item Lawyer Role Questionnaire (LRQ). The LRQ assessed attitudes regarding goals of and obstacles to a constructive settlement, sources of professional satisfaction, usefulness of mental health professionals, and general attitudes towards divorce and divorce clients. The modal responses on the LRQ portrayed the attorney as a fair, but tough-minded professional, primarily concerned with the welfare of children and ensuring equity. Factor analysis identified four principal attitudinal components of the LRQ: aPsychological factor, anAdvocacy factor, aSocial Work factor, and aClient as Problem factor. Hierachial cluster analysis utilizing the mean factor scores yielded two highly distinguishable attorney subgroups:Counselors (n=24), oriented to psychological and interpersonal issues and disinclined towards the use of adversarial tactics, andAdvocates (n=22), with the reverse orientation. Two subclusters of these main groups were also identified:Gladiators (n=4), with a strongly combatative stance and a highly negative attitude toward the client, andJourneymen (n=10), best characterized by their lack of enthusiasm for any of the dimensions popular with the other types. The results correspond well to the previous, but scanty, literature on lawyer dispositions. Methodological and conceptual issues raised by the study are considered and the possible relationship between lawyer type and the process and outcome of settlement negotiations is discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Baltimore, Maryland, October, 1979.     

A comparative view of indigenous citizenship issues

Following the Wik decision it is being suggested that Australia ought now to revisit the translation of special legal norms formulated in international law with respect to the human rights of indigenous citizens. These have previously underpinned developments in both Australia and Scandinavia with respect to indigenous people. Recent Australian developments, particularly the struggle over indigenous property rights, exemplify the argument of O'Neill (1997) in the first volume of Citizenship Studies, which points to the absorption of civic autonomy by market sovereignty. O'Neill is correct to suggest that the dominance of market sovereignty reduces the political participation of those incapable of the competitive struggle for private affluence and that this has a squalid dimension. Central to this is the denial of the notion of community and dominance of the market. This dominance has obscured the significance of the Australian High Court's recognition of aboriginal land rights in Mabo. The decision put the incorrect application of terra nullius—or no man's land—to Australia to rights. It made it possible for the nation to contemplate indigenous sovereignty consequent upon the recognition of native title property rights. Australia's translation of those rights with the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) looked to international law for its rationale. The rights of the Sami people have been developed in Scandinavia largely with reference to the evolution of international law on indigenous peoples. As we approach 2000, Australia cannot continue to ignore the special legal norms in international law relating to citizenship of indigenous peoples. International law informs attempts by indigenous people in modern times to regain some of what they lost in the past.