The utilitarian contract: A generalization of Rawls' theory of justice

In a series of major papers culminating in A Theory of Justice, John Rawls constructs an alternative to utilitarianism by developing a social contract theory of moral and political philosophy. Unfortunately, Rawls formulates the two basic principles upon which the theory rests in such a way as to restrict (unduly) the contract theory's applicability (see Section I). In this paper we present a more general discussion of the theory of justice that avoids the problems of Rawls' formulation and yet retains the important idea of justice as fairness and the contractarian approach (Section II). Later it is argued that this more general theory constitutes a bridge between the pure utilitarian theories and the social contract doctrines (Sections V and VI). The theory's advantages are demonstrated by applying it to a problem discussed by Rawls, intergenerational equity, and comparing the two solutions (Section III). Further comparisons are made and inferences drawn in the concluding three sections.Without implicating them, we would like to thank James M. Buchanan and David Lyons for comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

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Predicting distances using a linear model: the case of varietal distinctness

Differences between plant varieties are based on phenotypic observations, which are both space and time consuming. Moreover, the phenotypic data result from the combined effects of genotype and environment. On the contrary, molecular data are easier to obtain and give a direct access to the genotype. In order to save experimental trials and to concentrate efforts on the relevant comparisons between varieties, the relationship between phenotypic and genetic distances is studied. It appears that the classical genetic distances based on molecular data are not appropriate for predicting phenotypic distances. In the linear model framework, we define a new pseudo genetic distance, which is a prediction of the phenotypic one. The distribution of this distance given the pseudo genetic distance is established. Statistical properties of the predicted distance are derived when the parameters of the model are either given or estimated. We finally apply these results to distinguishing between 144 maize lines. This case study is very satisfactory because the use of anonymous molecular markers (RFLP) leads to saving 29% of the trials with an acceptable error risk. These results need to be confirmed on other varieties and species and would certainly be improved by using genes coding for phenotypic traits.     

论高海拔地区人类生殖能力的研究:回应霍夫

霍夫的评论表明,那些叙述高海拔缺氧影响人类生育力和生殖能力的文献中弥漫着方法论和概念的迷雾.我们去年的文章主题也谈到了这一点(见<美国人类学家>85:28-49,1983).我们的论文尽力阐述了喜马拉雅山脉的高海拔地区,藏语族群中普遍存在的不同生育力水平,是与某些文献的报道一致的.     

A GENERALIZED EMERSON RECURRENCE RELATION

The Emerson (1968, Biometrics 24 , 695–701) recurrence relation has many important applications in statistics. However, the original derivation applied only to discrete distributions. In the following, a simple derivation is given that generalizes the Emerson recurrence relation to any distribution for which the necessary expectations exist. A modern application is outlined.     

What does the pursuit of a high quality of life entail?: Grounding a theoretical model in lived experience

In response to calls for a better understanding of quality of life, we draw upon working professionals’ perspectives and experiences to introduce a theoretical model that emerged from an inductive analysis of respondents’ language. A key element of this model includes a collective picture of factors representing quality of life. Further, this model suggests interrelatedness among these factors with pursuit of a high quality of life emerging as a dynamic process with a tensional nature. Our proposed model extends existing research by more fully capturing the complex ways in which people from the United States describe quality of life and its pursuit.     

Children of Adolescent Mothers: Cognitive and Behavioral Status at Age Six

The cognitive and behavioral status at age six years of 185 children of adolescent mothers (60.5% boys) were assessed using the mother (CBCL) and teacher (TRF) report forms of the Child Behavior Checklist and the Bracken Basic Concepts Scale. There was evidence for impairment in all areas of functioning. More than half of the sample exceeded the borderline clinical cutoff (T = 60) on either the CBCL or TRF Total Problem score, and nearly half the sample had Bracken scores that were more than 1 SD below the normative mean. Only 26.9% of the children were in the normal range on all three measures. These results are discussed in terms of implications for social work practice with children and adolescent mother families.     

Gender Competition and the Preservation of Community in the Allocation of Administrative Positions in Small Rural Towns in Montana: A Research Note1

Abstract Assignment of administrative positions in a sample of rural towns is demonstrated to be significantly associated with gender. Most civil administrators are women, while most legal and educational administrators are men. The difference indicates structural assignment of positions by gender. Gender and administrative position are demonstrated to have zero-order correlations with perceptions of two important behaviors for community: migration and social problems. The characteristics of the occupation and of the administrators are qualitatively different. The data are compiled from interviews with seventy administrators in five pairs of small towns in Montana, ranging in size from about 200 to approximately 7,000 residents. Each pair contains one agricultural and one scenic recreational town. Comparatively, more women were employed in agricultural towns. Many rural women who become administrators, particularly long-term administrators, may be selected for reasons that help preserve the community by providing opportunities for themselves and their families.