Googling the requester: Identity‐questing and discrimination in public service provision

Innovating upon previous field experiments and theories of identity‐based discrimination, we test whether public officials are using searches (“identity‐questing”) to profile citizens and acting on latent biases. Pairs of “institutional” and “noninstitutional” requesters send lower and moderate burden freedom of information (FOI) requests—providing no identity cues apart from undistinctive names, e‐mails, and ID numbers—to nearly 700 of Brazil's largest municipalities. Results show institutional requesters receive one‐fifth more responses than noninstitutional comparators. For moderate versus lower burden requests, noninstitutional requesters are 11% less likely to receive a compliant response than their institutional comparators. The only plausible explanation for these results is identity‐questing, a phenomenon that has far‐reaching policy implications. Most of the world's FOI laws, for example, contain vague ID obligations, which translate incoherently from laws to regulation and practice. Results enjoin public service providers to protect the identities of citizens by default or upon request.     

Emotional Coregulation in Mexican-Origin Parent–Adolescent Dyads: Associations with Adolescent Mental Health

Research on the health benefits and consequences of close relationships has suggested the linkage in daily emotions (i.e., coregulation) between close partners is an important relationship dynamic. While the coupling of daily emotions among family members (parent–child and marital dyads) has been widely documented, research examining emotional coregulation among ethnic minority youth during adolescence, a period marked by heightened emotion and risk for psychopathology, remains an important area in need of exploration. This study examined correlates of emotional coregulation in a sample of Mexican-origin adolescents (M_age?=?15.02, SD?=?.83) and their parents (M_age?=?41.93, SD?=?6.70). Dyads reported on daily levels of distress and happiness for 14 consecutive days across two waves of data collection a year apart (n_wave1?=?428 dyads, n_wave2?=?336 dyads). Dyads who reported getting along were more likely to coregulate their daily happiness. Importantly, coregulation of distress was only present in older adolescents who reported above average levels of internalizing symptoms. The results suggest coregulation of distress may shape or be shaped by poor mental health during the later years of adolescence, a time when youth may be establishing a degree of emotional autonomy from parents.

     

Aid vs. “Aid”: Foreign Aid in Mao‐Era China's Public Diplomacy

Historicising Chinese foreign‐aid thinking has become indispensable given China's increasing global role. This article examines a key aspect of this context: the Great Leap Forward and the emerging Sino‐Soviet split period (1958‐1961). The Peking Review is utilised as a window into official aid‐related discourses of the time. The article is organized around an aid vs. “aid” rhetorical and conceptual symmetry within the magazine. Aid is ultimately what Mao Zedong and other leaders intend audiences to code as pro‐development and prestigious. The greater the unreciprocated cost to the donor and the higher the embodied technology, the more helpful and prestigious the donor. At the same time, the more ideologically correct the recipient or donor, the greater its relative prestige in the equation. An ideologically correct recipient such as China deserves more help but needs it less, and accrues more prestige even as it gives comparatively less aid. “Aid” is the reverse image of aid in that it is harmful rather than helpful. But instead of being the opposite of prestigious, “aid” is powerful in a predatory, paper tiger‐like way. While this discourse reflects parochial concerns of the period, the underlying concepts are likely to continue to influence contemporary Chinese aid thinking and practices.     

Virginia's Revenue Forecasting Process and Models

In Virginia, major differences between revenue forecasts and actual revenue collections raised questions from legislators about the adequacy of the state's econometric forecasting models and the forecasting process itself. Consequently, Virginia's process and models were examined by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), a legislative watchdog agency. The review found most of the differences could be attributed to declining economic factors and not poor forecasting. However, a surprisingly large component of the forecast was based on undocumented judgmental inputs that required greater oversight. Other states in similar circumstances may wish to evaluate their own forecasting process and econometric models using the JLARC approach.     

Military combat, posttraumatic stress disorder, and criminal behavior in Vietnam veterans

Although data are inconclusive, popular perception has linked military combat, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and criminal behavior. This paper discusses the multifactorial elements of this association that include both conscious and unconscious parameters of psychologic functioning. Testimony on combat-related PTSD has been presented in the courtroom to support veterans' claims of not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) and diminished capacity and for consideration during judicial sentencing. Because there is a known connection between the degree of combat involvement and PTSD, verification through collateral sources of the veteran's report of combat experiences is an important component of forensic assessment. The DSM-III-defined diagnosis of PTSD and the presence of a dissociative state have particular relevance in NGRI determinations. In other aspects of the judicial process demonstration of the absolute presence or absence of PTSD is often irrelevant and should be replaced by efforts to establish plausible links between provable combat experiences and the circumstances of the crime.     

On the prospects for industrial policy in Canada

A Primer on the Economics of Industrial Policy . By W.C. Watson . The Challenge of Diversity: Industrial Policy in the Canadian Federation .; By Michael Jenkin . Public Money in the Private Sector . By Allan Tupper . Partners in Industrial Strategy: The Special Role of the Provincial Research organizations . By Donald J. Leroy and Paul Dufour .