Appetite for Destruction? China,Ecologically Unequal Exchange,and Forest Loss

We test the hypothesis from the theory of ecologically unequal exchange that agricultural exports to China are related to increased forest loss in low- and middle-income nations exporting to it. We do so by analyzing data for 75 low- and middle-income nations using ordinary least squares regression. We find support for our hypothesis that flows of agricultural exports from low- and middle-income nations to China are related to increased forest loss in exporting nations. We also find that a country's total agricultural exports, proximity of forest to infrastructure, and protected areas tend to increase forest loss.     

Attitudes of welfare recipients toward marriage and childbearing

The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) put the need for attitudinal change at the center of efforts to help welfare recipients become economically independent, avoid out-of-wedlock childbearing, and embrace marriage. In this paper, we focus specifically on attitudes, analyzing both differences in values and attitudes between welfare recipients and other women on the cusp of reform, as well as the effects of TANF reforms in two states on the attitudes and behaviors of women subject to the reforms. National data reveal few differences in values and attitudes between welfare recipients and other women once background characteristics are held constant. A majority of both groups believes that prospective parents should marry, but single parents can raise a child as well as married parents. Personal aspirations for marriage and further childbearing also are fairly similar. These similarities may be one reason that the literature has shown TANF to have limited effects on marriage and childbearing. A second set of analyses investigates the degree to which welfare recipients in Delaware and Indiana report that reforms affected their aspirations for marriage and childbearing. Self-reported impacts are greater for fertility than marriage attitudes. Even among those who report their attitudes were affected by reform, recipients appear to have difficulty acting on their marital and childbearing desires, dampening any effects on behavior. These findings reinforce the current sense among researchers and policy makers that more direct reforms are needed to have a substantial effect on marriage and out-of-wedlock childbearing.     

Effects of Social Context on Deliberate Facial Expressions: Evidence from a Stroop-like Task

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior - Facial expressions contribute to nonverbal communication, social coordination, and interaction. Facial expressions may reflect the emotional state of the expressor,...     

Class,culture and politics: on the relevance of a Bourdieusian concept of class in political sociology

Even though contemporary discussions of class have moved forward towards recognizing a multidimensional concept of class, empirical analyses tend to focus on cultural practices in a rather narrow sense, that is, as practices of cultural consumption or practices of education. As a result, discussions within political sociology have not yet utilized the merits of a multidimensional conception of class. In light of this, the article suggests a comprehensive Bourdieusian framework for class analysis, integrating culture as both a structural phenomenon co‐constitutive of class and as symbolic practice. Further, the article explores this theoretical framework in a multiple correspondence analysis of a Danish survey, demonstrating how class and political practices are indeed homologous. However, the analysis also points at several elements of field autonomy, and the concluding discussion therefore suggests the need for further studies.     

Student mental health needs: survey results and implications for service.

In preparation for planning counseling and mental health services at Columbia University, the authors conducted a mental health needs assessment survey that sampled representative numbers of students. Respondents were most concerned about academic and school-related issues, followed by concerns in the area of love relationships. Multiple regression analysis revealed certain subgroups that were more likely to have these concerns and certain health and mental health problems that were significantly associated with these concerns. The study identified serious psychological problems, including suicidal/homicidal thoughts and sexual abuse, and surveyed respondents' treatment preferences. Finally, the authors discuss how the study findings contributed to sharpening and expanding focus on different aspects of program development in the collaboration between mental health and health education.     

World society and the natural environment

We review the world society approach to explaining macrohistorical change generally and as it relates to the natural environment specifically. Our review includes work describing the rise of the environmental world society as well as empirical evidence of the consequences of national ties to world society for policy adoption, practices, and individual attitudes at the national level. Additionally, we suggest the application of world society theory to state and substate structures. Throughout the review, we situate the world society literature in relationship to work in the fields of cross‐national comparative and environmental sociology from a variety of other perspectives. We take a forward‐looking approach to our review of theoretical and empirical work in the field and consider the implications for normative change and resistance to prevailing world cultural norms. We conclude with a discussion of the resurgence of nationalism especially as it relates to antienvironmentalism.     

Defend women’s rights and save the trees: a cross-national analysis of women’s immovable property rights and forest loss

Population and Environment - Since 1990, 420 million hectares of forest have disappeared worldwide with the majority being lost in low- and middle-income nations. Given this alarming trend, what...     

The impact of corporate sustainability performance on information asymmetry: the role of institutional differences

This paper empirically investigates whether corporate sustainability performance (CSP) affects information asymmetry (IA) for European firms listed in the STOXX Europe 600 from 2002 to 2013. We find a significantly negative effect of CSP on IA. By exploiting institutional differences between the European countries, we determine that the negative effect of CSP on IA is more pronounced in liberal market economies compared to coordinated market economies, thus pointing to a substitutive effect of CSP and economic coordination. Further, the impact is greater in countries with stricter disclosure requirements. In such countries, there is generally a greater appetite for company-specific information. However, disclosure requirements fulfil this need only partially because they concentrate on the corporate governance dimension of corporate sustainability. Hence, information on the social pillar especially matters to investors in a complementary manner and drives the overall effect. Our study contributes to the literature on the positive capital market effects of CSP by showing the proposed effect in European capital markets and the institutional determinants of its strength.