PARTY AFFILIATION AND PUBLIC SPENDING: EVIDENCE FROM U.S. GOVERNORS

This paper investigates whether the party affiliation of governors (Democrat or Republican) has an impact on the allocation of state expenditures. Exploiting gubernatorial election results from 1960 to 2012 and a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD), we find that Democratic governors allocate a larger share of their budget to health/hospitals and education sectors. We find no significant impact of the political party of governors on total spending, only on the allocation of funds. The results are robust to a wide range of controls and model specifications. (JEL D72, H75, H72)     

Humanitarian Interorganizational Information Exchange Network: How Do Clique Structures Impact Network Effectiveness?

Humanitarian information coordination and sharing continue to challenge the international community. Interorganizational networks are believed to be a way to improve coordination and collaboration among humanitarian organizations. Although researchers have devoted a considerable amount of time exploring the influence of network structure on network performance and effectiveness, little work has been done in the humanitarian relief field. We use the theoretical lens of social network to investigate the relationship between network cliques and network effectiveness. Data were collected through multiple sources among members of GlobalSympoNet, a community of humanitarian organizations engaged in humanitarian information management and exchange. Our findings suggest that, similar to the public health service delivery sector, network effectiveness can be explained by network integration and network cliques in the humanitarian relief field. We discuss these findings and provide some implications of our research in designing interorganizational networks within the humanitarian relief field.     

Typical and Atypical Development of Visual Attention in 3‐ to 9‐Month‐Old Infants

The interactions between attention and stimulus encoding in infancy were examined using heart rate (HR) and visual habituation measures. At 3, 6, and 9 months of age, infants (N = 119) were habituated to an adult face; longest look (LL) duration was measured as an indicator of encoding speed. Three groups were formed based on LL change from 3 to 9 months: Large Decrease, Small Decrease, and Increase. Using concurrent electrocardiograph recordings, attention was measured through the percentage of looking time in orienting, sustained attention, and attention termination. We partially replicated previous findings regarding developmental patterns of attention in these three groups, notably that these patterns were different for the Increase group. Looks away from the stimulus were also assessed in each attentional phase and, as predicted, HR acceleration phases showed less visual engagement than HR deceleration phases. We also found anomalous behavior for the LL Increase group. In general, this small but distinct group showed similarities at 3 months to the presumably more mature behavior of typical 9 month olds, but by 9 months, they behaved more like typical 3 month olds regarding some, but not all, cognitive measures. These results are discussed in the context of the development of endogenous attention.     

Representativeness from Within: A Comparison between the ILO and the ISO

Representativeness has become a keyword in reform projects of global governance. While it often appears as a cure for the legitimacy deficit of international organizations, this notion has hardly been defined at the global level. This article aims at filling this void by providing a socio-historical account of the meanings and uses of this concept based on a comparison of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), two of the oldest organizations in the global arena. Looking at the genesis of both organizations, the article shows that the categories and mechanisms used by international organizations to select their members are embedded in a broader socio-historical, political, and economic context. Moreover, they are subject to contestation and transformation. Representativeness may therefore be used both as a political resource for international players and as an analytical category for the study of the multilateral system over time.     

Mutilation and metaphor: managing the Monongah dead*

This article documents the use of metaphor in coordinating ‘backstage’ responses to the greatest mine disaster in US history, which left hundreds dead, and many were mutilated beyond recognition. The use of metaphor is illustrated in the handling of the dead, from the point of discovery of carnage in the mines through to burial, including ‘identification’ of unrecognizable bodies and body parts – a system of actions that remained unintelligible for over a century. This research illustrates the importance of emergent, unprescribed, furtive, and coordinated actions in responding to an unexpected and catastrophic incident. Discussion suggests the general import of emergent order for systems of domination in history, command economies, and rational-legal administrations, including organized responses to mass death.     

How mothers perceive their own domestic violence victimization and how it impacts their children

Children’s exposure to domestic violence has been associated with various negative outcomes. This study explores the effects of children’s exposure to domestic violence through the lenses of the primary victims of abuse. Specifically, the consequences associated with their children’s exposure to domestic violence, the coping mechanisms employed, and identified preventative measures to address this social problem. Semistructured interviews were conducted to obtain the mother’s perspective. Participants for this study were randomly obtained from the database of the Legal Aid and Advisory Authority. Findings revealed that children are used as a bargaining tool by both mothers (to prevent DV) and perpetrators (to exert control). The coping mechanisms that mothers believed their children used included listening to music, adopting care taking roles, and positioning themselves away from the violence.     

Internet Communication Versus Face-to-face Interaction in Quality of Life

This study seeks to understand the role of the Internet in quality of life (QoL). Specifically, it examines the question of whether Internet communication serves, like face-to-face interactions, to enhance quality of life. It is hypothesized that the use of the Internet for interpersonal communication can improve quality of life among Internet users, just like face-to-face communication in everyday life. Sample survey data were collected in four Chinese cities, namely Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, and Wuhan, to serve as replicates to test the hypothesis. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) of Diener (1984) was used to measure quality of life in the four cities. It was found that contrary to our expectation, Internet communication cannot predict quality of life while face-to-face communication with friends and family members can. The result was the same across the four Chinese cities. Possible reasons for this finding are examined and discussed.     

Quantitative Assessment of Human MRSA Risks from Swine

The public health community, news media, and members of the general public have expressed significant concern that methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmitted from pigs to humans may harm human health. Studies of the prevalence and dynamics of swine‐associated (ST398) MRSA have sampled MRSA at discrete points in the presumed causative chain leading from swine to human patients, including sampling bacteria from live pigs, retail meats, farm workers, and hospital patients. Nonzero prevalence is generally interpreted as indicating a potential human health hazard from MRSA infections, but quantitative assessments of resulting risks are not usually provided. This article integrates available data from several sources to construct a conservative (plausible upper bound) probability estimate for the actual human health harm (MRSA infections and fatalities) arising from ST398‐MRSA from pigs. The model provides plausible upper bounds of approximately one excess human infection per year among all U.S. pig farm workers, and one human infection per 31 years among the remaining total population of the United States. These results assume the possibility of transmission events not yet observed, so additional data collection may reduce these estimates further.