THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION AND RISK PERCEPTION ON THE HURRICANE EVACUATION DECISION-MAKING OF GREATER NEW ORLEANS RESIDENTS

This article contributes to the current discussion on how residents living in vulnerable areas make the decision to evacuate when they are in harms way. Key in this discussion is the question, what role does information and risk play in shaping evacuation behavior? This study used a sample of respondents from the greater New Orleans region (Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard Parishes) of the Twelve Parish Survey (N = 1,207) conducted prior to Hurricane Katrina. The findings indicate that information sources are vitally important in the evacuation process. By examining the role of information from authorities, family, and friends; visual imagery; and the media we found that individuals use a variety of sources when they decide to evacuate. Further, the importance of visual imagery in the evacuation process is discussed. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of information dissemination and its importance to members of the media and public policy makers.     

THE SOCIAL AND COGNITIVE STRUCTURE OF LEGAL DECISION-MAKING

This conceptual article uses an interpretive approach to legal decision-making to explain the operation of crime stereotypes in the courts. A model is proposed to address the social psychological dynamics involved in assessing both conforming and exceptional cases. Evaluated against the backdrop of prevailing stereotypes, conforming cases may be disposed of routinely, while exceptional cases present cognitive dilemmas for court actors. In that stereotypes are internalized as enduring mental structures, the latters' dispositions require a more probing search for an explanation of the crime than is necessary with more typical offenses. Legal decisions in exceptional cases are influenced by the meaning court actors attribute to the offense within the context of the offender's alternative (i.e., noncriminal) social statuses. A series of interrelated propositions based on these arguments is formulated.     

IS THERE MORE TO COUNTING THAN WHAT MEETS THE EYE? COMMENT ON SNYDER AND RICE

Snhyder and Rice (1994) comment that Shortz, Worthington, McCullough, DeVries, and Morrow (1994) failed to use sophisticated methods in their identification of prolific authors, institutions, and journals within the field of mari-tal therapy. This article is a response to Snyder and rice. We argue that Snyder and Rice's suggested methods emphasize a different research question that ouroriginal question, We investigated productivity of authous and institutions, not im-pact of scholars on the fiels of marital therapy. furthermore, we demonstrate that the results obtained from Snyder and Rice's suggested methodologies are nor appreciably different from our original results.     

GENDER AND THE BODY OF MEDICINE OR AT LEAST SOME BODY PARTS:

Understanding the disproportionate location of women physicians in lower status medical specialties necessitates knowing how women and men view the prestige hierarchy of specialties. Previous research on status ranking has been largely quantitative and based upon male respondents. Using narratives from face-to-face interviews with male and female resident physicians, this study finds that, although residents are fairly consistent in their rankings, women were more likely to resist the concept of a prestige hierarchy. In addition to explicit dimensions conferring prestige are implicit justifications grounded in the physician's body. Specifically, high prestige is associated with active interventionist hands and "balls," body parts that I argue are not gender neutral. The findings shift the focus from individual-level gender differences toward a gendered examination of the medical specialty hierarchy. The physicians interviewed here give voice to the silent, symbolic, embodied work of gender that shapes the structure of medical specialties into a ladder with a masculine top and a feminine bottom, regardless of whether male or female bodies occupy the rungs.     

谁是书画市场的终极赢家

在艺术品持续调整的背景下,书画市场显得冷清,当有人感叹市场冷落的时候容易忽略这样一个事实：其实此时正是买画的好时机,在书画的价格显得平稳甚至低落时,正是立志于书画收藏的人买好画买精品的时候。     

FEMALE CAREGIVERS’ REFLECTIONS ON ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING: THE INTERSECTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ELDER CARE

As our population ages, increasing numbers of social workers and other therapists will provide counseling to women who are caregivers of frail elders. These female caregivers often face complex ethical dilemmas in caring for a frail elder. Furthermore, these dilemmas are compounded by domestic violence in the caregiver/frail elder relationship initiated before the onset of caregiving. Illustrated with case examples, this article presents an ethical decision-making model based on an empowerment framework for helping practitioners work with caregivers who face difficult dilemmas impacted by domestic violence. Implications for strengthening clinical practice with these caregivers are discussed.     

BLACK IS,BLACK AIN'T: BIRACIALS,MIDDLE-CLASS BLACKS,AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF BLACKNESS

Several scholars claim that group cohesion among black Americans is necessary for black advancement. Our research examines the extent to which group cohesion is possible given the increasing diversity of Black America, particularly with regard to race and class. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 33 middle-class blacks and 40 black-white biracials, we explore (1) the similarities and differences in the experiences of both groups, (2) their encounters with marginalization, (3) how they negotiate perceived marginalization, and (4) the extent to which all of the above are shaped by socially constructed ideas of blackness. We find that narrow notions of “authentic” blackness challenge group cohesion and threaten to splinter the black community along class and ethnic/racial lines. However, we find evidence of greater tolerance for the community's racial diversity than its class diversity. Nevertheless, the data presented here suggest that the increasing heterogeneity of Black America poses significant challenges to group cohesion.     

THE OPTIMAL TAXATION OF ASSET INCOME WHEN GOVERNMENT CONSUMPTION IS ENDOGENOUS: THEORY,ESTIMATION AND WELFARE

This paper derives the Ramsey optimal fiscal policy for taxing asset income in a model where government expenditure is a function of net output or the inputs that produce it. Extending work by Kenneth L. Judd, I demonstrate that the canonical result that the optimal tax on capital income is zero in the medium to long term is a special case of a more general model. Employing a vector error correction model to estimate the relationship between government consumption and net output or the factor inputs that generate it for the United States between 1948Q1 and 2015Q4, I demonstrate that this special case is empirically implausible, and show how a cointegrating vector can be used to determine the optimal tax schedule. I simulate a version of the model using the empirical estimates to measure the welfare implications of changing the tax rate on asset income, and contrast these results with those generated in a version of the model where government consumption is purely exogenous. The shifting pattern of welfare measurements confirms the theoretical results. I calculate that the prevailing effective tax rate on net asset income in the United States between 1970 and 2014 averaged 0.449. Hence abolishing the tax completely does generate welfare improvements, though only by the equivalent of between 1.103% and 1.616% permanent increase in consumption—well under half the implied welfare benefit when the endogeneity of the government consumption is ignored. The maximum welfare improvement from shifting part of the burden of tax from capital to labor is the equivalent of a permanent increase in consumption of between only 1.491% and 1.858%, and is attained when the tax rate on asset income is lowered to between 0.148 and 0.186. Allowing the tax rate to vary over time raises the maximum welfare benefit to 1.865%. All the results are very robust to a wide range of elasticities of labor supply. (JEL E62, H21, H50)     

POVERTY,PRICES, AND PLACE: HOW SENSITIVE IS THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF POVERTY TO COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENTS?

This article examines how accounting for cost-of-living differences across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas affects measured rates of poverty. The spatial price index used is based on the Fair Market Rent data and was developed by the Census Bureau for use in its experimental poverty research program. Following U.S. federal definitions, poverty in nonmetro areas has been consistently higher than it has been in metro areas. Using the Fair Market Rent index to adjust for differences in cost of living results in a complete reversal of nonmetro-metro rankings in terms of prevalence, depth, and severity of poverty for every year examined (1991 to 2002). (JEL I32 , R1 , C81 )     

WHO IS AFRAID OF THE FRIEDMAN RULE?

We explore the connection between optimal monetary policy and heterogeneity among agents in a standard monetary economy with two types of agents where the stationary distribution of money holdings is nondegenerate. Sans type-specific fiscal policy, we show that the zero-nominal-interest rate policy (the Friedman rule) does not maximize type-specific welfare; it may not maximize aggregate ex ante social welfare either. Indeed, one or, more surprisingly, both types may benefit if the central bank deviates from the Friedman rule. ( JEL E31, E51, E58)     

THE EXPANSION OF COLLEGE EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES: IS THERE EVIDENCE OF DECLINING COHORT QUALITY?

This article documents the expansion of college education in the United States and examines to what extent the increase in the number of college graduates may have lead to a decline in the average quality of college graduates. Using the 1940–90 Census, we compare across birth year cohorts with varying levels of college completion. We find some weak evidence that college graduate men from highly educated cohorts earn a relatively smaller wage premium even controlling for the relative supply effect. However, these cohort quality effects account for only a small fraction of the recent fluctuation in the college wage premium.(JEL I20 , J24 , J31 )     

INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR AND BIDDING HETEROGENEITY IN SEALED BID AUCTIONS WHERE THE NUMBER OF BIDDERS IS UNKNOWN

This article uses laboratory data from a series of first‐price (FP) and second‐price (SP) sealed bid auctions in which the number of bidders is unknown to test for possible deviations of individual behavior from theory and study the source of heterogeneity in bidding. In SP auctions we find a substantial amount of coincidence with theory. We observe systematic deviations from risk neutral bidding in FP auctions and show theoretically that these deviations are consistent with risk averse preferences. We find essentially no heterogeneity in bidding in SP auctions where risk preferences and the number of bidders do not affect the optimal bid, while in the FP auctions heterogeneity in bidding persists with experience. We find that heterogeneity in bidding in FP auctions is consistent with heterogeneity in risk preferences, the attempt to count the number of bidders in the auction, and bidder specific noise. (JEL D44, C91)     

DO MEN “NEED” A SPOUSE MORE THAN WOMEN?: PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE FOR MEN AND WOMEN

This study examines how important men and women feel marriage is for men and for women. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we find that both men and women feel that men need to be married more than women do. Women are more likely than men to think that both men and women can have satisfying lives without marriage, but they are also more likely to think that only women can have satisfying lives without marriage. Younger, more educated people are less likely to emphasize marriage. On the other hand, religious people and those who are married with children are particularly likely to think that neither men nor women can have satisfying lives without marriage.     

MORE INFORMATION IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER: THE CASE OF VOLUNTARY PROVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

We use a new U.S. survey on pro‐environmental behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge and find that individuals engage in activities that they believe are more effective in reducing carbon emissions, regardless of whether or not these beliefs are accurate. We find that low provision of the public good is greater among people who believe they cannot do much for the environment and do not consider themselves environmentalists. A policy implication of our results is that the effect of more accurate information on the provision of the public good is ambiguous. (JEL Q50, Q54, C10)     

RULES OR POLITICS?: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF ITC ANTI-DUMPING DECISIONS

This research analyzes the International Trade Commission's anti-dumping decisions from 1980 to 1986. The results suggest that commissioners use criteria consistent with the instructions set forth in U.S. legislation. The analysis also indicates that political variables help predict commissioner decisions. Petitions involving Senate oversight committee members' constituencies may be systematically favored in the process. Evidence of possible bias toward less-developed-country exports is presented as well. The methodology also yields estimates of commissioner-specific fixed effects.