The Development of Renewable Electricity Policy in the Province of Ontario: The Influence of Ideas and Timing

This article examines the development of policy to promote renewable electricity in the province of Ontario (Canada) between 1995 and 2006. Drawing upon both the role of ideas in policy development and a “multiple streams approach,” it is argued that changes in the problem, policy, and politics streams—and their coupling by key political entrepreneurs—account for two significant shifts in Ontario's efforts to promote the increased use of renewable electricity. The first shift occurred on July 3, 2003 when the Ontario Commissioner of Alternative Energy, Steve Gilchrist, announced that sole dependence upon free markets to support renewable electricity was being displaced by a new commitment to a renewable portfolio standard. The second shift occurred on March 21, 2006 when the Ontario Premier, Dalton McGuinty, announced that dependence upon a bidding system to promote renewable electricity was being supplemented by a commitment to feed‐in tariffs. A focus upon the evolution of ideas, combined with an appreciation for timing, continues to provide the explanation for the development of renewable electricity policy in Ontario.     

The Influence of Pubertal Timing on Alcohol Use and Heavy Drinking Trajectories

Early pubertal timing has been associated with increased alcohol use, drunkenness, and alcohol use disorders in both boys and girls during adolescence. It is not clear, however, whether the effect of early pubertal timing persists into late adolescence and young adulthood, whether its effect differs by gender, and if contextual factors (e.g., peer alcohol use) amplify such effect. This study attempts to address these questions by examining the trajectories of alcohol use and heavy drinking from early adolescence to young adulthood in males and females using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Results show that for both males and females, early pubertal timing was associated with higher alcohol use and heavy drinking trajectories. These effects persisted into young adulthood and were found to be stronger for males than for females. Moreover, there was a significant interaction effect between friends’ drinking and pubertal timing on alcohol use and heavy drinking trajectories; but the interaction effect also differed for males and females. These findings suggest that early pubertal timing is a risk factor for alcohol use and has long-term implication for individuals’ health. Michael Biehl’s research focuses on adolescent development and problem behaviors. He is particularly interested in developmental pathways leading to substance use and affective disorders and how different contexts influence these developmental pathways. Misaki Natsuaki is interested in how adolescent problem behavior changes over time. Her research focuses particularly on the effects and timing of transitional events, such as puberty, on trajectories of internalizing and externalizing behaviors in adolescence. Xiaojia Ge’s research focuses on interaction effects of biological and social contextual factors on socioemotional development. He is particularly interested in how pubertal timing affects adolescent development.     

Treated politicians,treated voters: A natural experiment on political budget cycles

Although pre-electoral political manipulation of the budget — the political budget cycle (PBC) — has been long investigated by scholars, empirical findings are mixed at best. This is partly because of the non-random nature of election timing. There also exist ongoing debates over how the budget is manipulated for electoral purposes. We address these issues by exploiting a natural experiment in Japan, where the timing of both executive and legislative elections in municipalities is fixed, staggered, and as good as random, and by using the detailed items of the municipal budget. We find that total and capital expenditures follow the PBC, but tax revenue does not. We also find that executive elections are associated with the PBC, but legislative elections are not. Against the conventional wisdom that democratic or developed countries are free from the PBC, our case of Japan offers an intriguing exception.     

Antecedents and Consequences of Psychiatric Disorders in African-American Adolescents

This study included three waves of data, collected from approximately 890 African-American children and their families. Antecedents and consequences of psychiatric disorders among this population were examined. Children’s temperament, pubertal timing, and experience of stressful life events were tested as antecedents of psychiatric disorders. Several aspects of school functioning were then tested as consequences of psychiatric disorders. In addition, children with a single psychiatric disorder and those with comorbid disorders were statistically compared. Results showed that (1) children with at least one disorder, compared to those with no disorder, exhibited significantly more difficult temperament, experienced puberty earlier, and underwent greater numbers of stressful life events; (2) those with at least one disorder had significantly poorer school outcomes than those with no disorder; (3) children with comorbid disorders, compared with those who had only one disorder, displayed lower educational aspirations and poorer school commitment.

About the authors

In recent years, afterschool programs have received support for their potential to reduce juvenile delinquency and victimization. This support stems largely from reports based on police incident data indicating that juvenile crime and victimization peak during the afterschool hours. However, prior studies of victimization surveys and self‐reports of crime suggest that delinquency is more elevated during school hours. Utilizing self‐report data from a sample of juveniles participating in an evaluation of afterschool programs in Maryland, this study shows that juvenile victimization and delinquency peak during the school hours, while substance use peaks during the weekend. Disaggregating by offense reveals, however, that the more serious violent offenses are elevated during the afterschool hours, while simple assault offenses are most elevated during school hours. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

When to Tell? : Disclosure of Concealable Group Membership,Stereotypes, and Political Evaluation

Although their group membership is normatively irrelevant to vote choice, members of politically underrepresented groups (e.g., women, nonwhites, and gays and lesbians) are often evaluated through the prism of their group memberships and related stereotypes when competing for elective office. Because membership in groups defined by gender, race, or ethnicity is easily perceptible, women and nonwhite candidates may have little control over the political effects of their group membership. Membership in groups defined by a candidate's sexual orientation is concealable, in contrast, and thus potentially gives gay and lesbian candidates some control over the impact of their homosexuality and accompanying stereotypes on voters' responses. Using an experimental design, I examine the relationships between timing of group membership disclosure, group stereotypes, candidate sex, and political responses to gay and lesbian candidates for office—taking into consideration voters' attitudes toward homosexuality and their sex.     

Pubertal Timing and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescents: The Roles of Romantic Competence and Romantic Experiences

In spite of the large literature supporting the link between early pubertal timing and depression in adolescent girls, there are some exceptions. This suggests that there may be factors that interact with pubertal timing, increasing risk for depression in some girls, but not others. This study examined two such factors, romantic competence and romantic experiences, and their role in the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between pubertal timing and depressive symptoms among 83 early adolescent females (89% Caucasian). For on-time maturing girls (but not for early- or late-), lower levels of competence were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms concurrently, but not longitudinally. In addition, for on-time maturing girls, more romantic experiences were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms both concurrently and longitudinally. The discussion focused on the need for greater conceptual and empirical clarity regarding the pubertal timing-depression association and its potential moderators.

Pubertal timing and adolescent delinquency†

Early pubertal timing (PT) increases the risk of adolescent delinquency, whereas late development reduces this risk; however, the mechanisms explaining PT effects on delinquency remain elusive. Theoretically, the PT–delinquency relationship is as a result of changes in parental supervision, peer affiliations, and body-image perceptions or is a spurious reflection of early life risk factors. Using intergenerational data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a prospective sample of children followed from infancy to age 14 years in the United Kingdom (N = 11,556 parent–child pairs), we find that for both boys and girls, early PT is associated with heightened risks of delinquency, relative to on-time puberty, whereas late PT is associated with lower risks, even after controlling for a large share of childhood confounders. Mediation test results indicate that changes in parental supervision, peer affiliations, and body-image perceptions from ages 11 to 14 partly account for associations between off-time PT and delinquency. Our findings are most consistent with criminological theories in which the psychosocial, familial, and peer group changes that accompany off-time pubertal development are emphasized. Changes in peer substance use, in particular, were the primary explanatory factor for the relationships between early and late PT and delinquency, for both boys and girls.     

Determination of Vehicle Speed from Recorded Video Using Reverse Projection Photogrammetry and File Metadata

The prevalence of security and in‐car video has increased the number of motor vehicle accidents captured on digital video. However, inconsistencies in how to accurately determine time and distance for vehicle speed has led to examinations with varying results. A potential solution for calculating time intervals is to use frame timing contained within many digital video file's metadata, recorded with 0.000001 sec precision. This paper examines a fatal motor vehicle accident where frame timing information was used with distance measurements from reverse projection photogrammetry to calculate vehicle speed. A margin of error was then calculated based on the accuracy in performing reverse projection photogrammetry distance measurements. The resulting speed calculation was then compared to event data recorder data and found to be within an average of ±1.43538 MPH. Using specific time intervals may lead investigators to more accurate speed calculations, specifically those involving variable frame rate video.     

The Strategic Timing behind Position-taking in the US Congress: A Study of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act

Roll call voting by members of the US Congress has been frequently studied. In contrast, the various decisions leading up to roll call voting are relatively unexplored. This article analyses one of those decisions: when senators announce their final passage vote intention. The authors use the same set of variables to analyse both the timing of the announcement and the final passage vote. They find that different independent variables predict these two different decisions, though the constituency and the senator's institutional setting matter in both. Furthermore, this study corroborates an assumption in the rational choice literature that those members with the most information are the first movers.