How interest groups influence public opinion: Arguments matter more than the sources

Through what mechanism do interest groups shape public opinion on concrete policies? In this article, three hypotheses are proposed that distinguish between the effect of the arguments conveyed by interest groups and the effect of interest groups as source cues. Two survey experiments on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TIPP) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change allow the testing of these hypotheses. The resulting evidence from several countries shows that, with respect to interest groups’ attempts at shaping public opinion, arguments matter more than their sources. This is so even when accounting for people's trust in the interest groups that serve as source cues and for people's level of information about a policy. The finding that interest groups affect public opinion via arguments rather than as source cues has implications for the literature on elite influence on public opinion and the normative evaluation of interest group activities.     

Venue Preference and Earthquake Mitigation Policy: Expanding the Micro‐Model of Policy Choice

Seismologists have reported that a majority of recent earthquakes in Oklahoma have been triggered by the activities of oil and gas companies. Despite this fact, there is evidence of strong opposition toward earthquake mitigation policy. In this article, we argue that how individuals define issues affect their policy choice. Furthermore, we incorporate the concept of venue shopping from the literature on macro theories of the policy process to investigate the effect of problem definition in shaping individual venue preference for policy choice. Using unique survey data, we find that problem definition, particularly issue causality and issue image, is strongly related to individual support for earthquake mitigation policy. However, a more nuanced relationship between individual problem definition and venue preference is observed. Our findings contribute to scholarly endeavors to understand the politics of problem definition at an individual level, which may be the precursor of understanding policy choices at the institutional level.     

Does intellectual property lead to economic growth? Insights from a novel IP dataset

While policymakers often make bold claims as to the positive impact of intellectual property (IP) rights on both developed and developing country economies, the empirical literature is more ambiguous. IP rights have both incentive and inhibitory effects that are difficult to isolate in the abstract and are dependent on economic context. To unravel these contradictory effects, this article introduces an index that evaluates the strength of IP protection in 124 developing countries for the years 1995 to 2011. We illustrate the value of this index to economics study and show evidence that is consistent with IP leading to increased growth. Our results are further consistent with two causal pathways highlighted in the literature: that IP leads to greater levels of technology transfer and increased domestic inventive activity. Yet other aspects of our study fit uneasily with this simple story. For example, we find evidence suggesting that increased levels of growth lead to greater levels of IP protection, contradictory evidence in the literature linking IP with growth, a lack of evidence that increased levels of IP protection lead to actual use of the IP system, and problems with what IP indexes measure. Because of this, we suggest another – and so far undertheorized – explanation of the links between IP and growth: that IP may have few direct effects on growth and that any causality is a result of belief rather than actual deployment of IP.     

Automated DNA casework workflow: A retrospective study of the first implementation of FIDL at the Netherlands Forensic Institute

FIDL is a fast and automated DNA identification line which represents a series of software solutions automating the process from raw capillary electrophoresis data to reporting. This retrospective study provides insight in the numbers of cases, turnaround time, results compared to the standard workflow and the benefits automation has in a large volume workflow.     

海峡两岸农业生产率比较研究——基于DEA的Malmquist指数方法

运用DEA—Malmquist生产率指数测算了1995—2009年的海峡两岸农业全要素生产率变化指数,并分析了其时序增长和差异演化趋势。结果显示：虽然两岸农业生产率增长差距缩小,但增长的动力源不同,两岸农业增长方式仍存在根本区别。另外,大陆各省份吸引台商农业投资状况是导致其区域农业生产率不平衡增长的主要因素。未来,大陆应进一步密切两岸在农技创新和推广上的合作,加强两岸农业合作组织间的交流,同时引导台商在大陆农业投资由东部地区向中西部地区扩散。     

关于提升法学（医药卫生）专业社会效益的思考

随着社会的需求，法学（医药卫生）这一专业应运而生。然而，缺乏实践性的法学教育使得培养出的大量法科毕业生无法满足现实法律实务工作的要求，那么本期待能弥补法学教育实践性缺乏这一困境的法学（医药卫生）教育能否带来很好的社会效益呢？本文将针对如何提升法学（医药卫生）专业的社会效益这一新的现实问题，从几个方面提出自己的一些思考。     

TST碎石弹性材料在桥梁接缝中的应用

对 TST碎石弹性材料在桥梁接缝中的应用效果和表现出的特点进行阐述 ,从施工过程、工程资金、工程质量、工程效益方面对比 ,提倡推广应用 TST碎石弹性新材料。     

美国REITs对完善中国房地产信托法律的启示

采用资金型REITs发展模式的美国,经过近50年的发展已经成为全球最成熟的市场.本文在对我国房地产金融市场和初期REITs过程存在问题进行探讨的基础上,分析美国REITs成长性的成功原因,并探讨有利于我国REITs可持续发展的外延式扩张模式.     

论人民政协的政治资源

人民政协政治资源是人民政协事业发展的根本基础。人民政协政治资源已经形成一定的规范和特色,但还存在着配置不足、运作不好和作用不够等问题。建设人民政协政治资源,需要遵循资源要素发育规律、质量规律和作用规律,健全政治资源生成机制、作用机制和管理机制,全方位加以推进,实现体系健全、结构合理、功能完善的发展目标。     

我国科技人力资源总量测算方法的研究

本文以我国的科技人力资源为研究对象,对中国科技人力资源发展研究报告中关于科技人力资源的测算方法进行了分析和解读,认为中国科技人力资源总量的测算需从深化理论研究、建立评价体系、构建专门的数据库这几个方面进行完善。