Neonatal euthanasia: attributions of students and nurses

An attributional analysis of neonatal euthanasia was undertaken in two studies to compare the responsibility attributions of nursing and non-nursing students (Study 1) and nurses (Study 2) toward a physician for a critically ill neonate's death. In both studies, vignettes about a newborn's death differed with respect to the physician's treatment of the critically ill newborn. In the student study, the physician was attributed the least responsibility for the newborn's death when cardiopulmonary resuscitation was attempted but failed, followed by the physician's issuance of either a "Do Not Resuscitate" order or an order to turn off the infant's respirator. Greatest responsibility was attributed to the physician when he ordered the infant's nutritional and hydration support to be terminated. In addition, the student's major (nursing vs. non-nursing) and the nursing student's educational cohort impacted the level of physician responsibility attributed. In contrast, the nurses' study found that the termination of nutritional and hydrational support was viewed as different from the physician's other three actions.     

Practical reasons and reasonable practice: the case of euthanasia in The Netherlands

Since the early 1970s the issue of euthanasia has been intensely debated in The Netherlands. Through these debates knowledge about medical practices involving the end of life was no longer confined to medical or legal quarters, but became public to a large extent. Following public opinion changes, the legal reaction to euthanasia changed. By prosecuting test cases the public prosecutors allowed the Dutch Supreme Court to formulate specific conditions in which euthanasia would go unpunished. The political debate about changing the criminal law, which still holds that euthanasia is a serious crime, developed at a much slower pace. Several extensive empirical studies were undertaken to gain valid knowledge about the medical practices. This article is concerned with a presentation of the various debates and the changes that took place in the fields of criminal law, politics, and medicine. The main conclusion is the hypothesis that a more open climate for medical practices concerning the end of life allows society to better control these practices.     

Structural reforms and labor markets in Argentina

Argentina is considered to be one of the most successful cases of structural reforms in Latin America, because of the extent and rapid pace of the reforms after the hyperinflationary process of 1989–1990. At the beginning of 1991, the convertible plan was launched and inflation fell sharply. However, even when the economy is growing fast, the problems in the labor market seem to worsen. Unemployment and underemployment have risen, and an increasing number of people have fallen out of normal work. The article analyzes how changes in labor markets are closely related to the transformation process in the economic system. After a summary of the situation before the crisis of the 1980s, the article analyzes the stabilization plans applied and then discusses the current dynamics of labor markets and the policies implemented to change labor regulations. Finally, some hypotheses about future scenarios are presented.     

Sources of growth and cyclical stability for Nevada counties: Transfer payments and property income

The growing relative number, the improved economic well-being, and the migration of elderly retirees is not only reshaping the social and economic structure of many areas, it is also modifying both long-term and short-run patterns of economic growth. Transfer payments and property incomes, two of the most important source of elderly income, have been among the leading sources of national income growth over the past several decades. Unlike most labor-related industry sources of earnings, the level of transfer payments and property incomes received by the residents of the region is not directly dependent upon local economic activity. Consequently, as transfer payments and property incomes of elderly retirees become increasingly important sources of income and purchasing power within a region, they also can alter regional short-run cyclical patterns of income growth. This article examines the pattern of growth of transfer payments and property incomes in the context of national economic cycles, and explores the implication of those findings on metropolitan and nonmetropolitan Nevada economies.     

Commodity prices and the world distribution of income

Some advocates of a new international economic order recommend raising prices of commodities exported by developing countries as a means of reducing the inequality of world income distribution. A simulation model using commodity trade data and income distribution data for 68 industrial and developing countries examines this policy alternative. Initial data compilation reveals that internal inequality is as important as international: The world income share of the poorest 40% of people would be twice as high in the absence of intracountry inequality. Calculations using actual price experience in the “great inflation” of 1972–1975 show that despite the large relative price changes for some commodities (especially oil), these changes left the world size distribution of income virtually unchanged. Separate policy simulations show that even a quadrupling of the price of ali “equalizing” commodities (those mainly exported by LDCs) would leave the size distribution of world income practically unaltered (even under optimistic assumptions about intracountry distributional incidence), although some individual LDCs would gain. Increasing commodity prices therefore appears to be an ineffective means of increasing international equity, quite apart from questions about the feasibility of cartels or commodity agreements.     

A note on Marshallian and von Neumann-Morgenstern utility

The curvature of a decision maker's utility function is often used to measure his risk preference. In order to comprehensively describe an individual's decision making behaviour, however, it would also seem desirable to measure the gain in utility from an increase in wealth or income before accounting for risk. If a small increase in wealth leads to a large utility gain, then it could be said that the individual's aspiration to achieve the wealth increase would be high. This aspiration, however, may be more than offset by the risk involved in obtaining this extra wealth and the individual's attitude towards risk. In the following paper it is shown how the marginal utility of Marshall can be used in a measure of aspiration with this measure then combined with the usual measure of risk preference to explain the shape of any individuals utility curve. Using these measures, a general utility curve for all income or wealth classes is postulated.The author would like to thank Professor I. Horowitz for providing the inspiration that led to his note. Any errors are the responsibility of the author.     

The Development of Urban Neighbourhoods and the Benefit of Indication Systems

The last few years much use is being made ofso-called indication systems to map the development ofneighbourhoods. It is hoped that these systems quicklybring possible livability problems to light, so thatpeople can intervene in accordance with policy.In this article the advantages and pitfalls of such anindication system are gone into. Such a system has totake into account the fact that the development ofneighbourhoods does not have a fixed pattern.Furthermore the much-used objective indicators oftendo not mesh with the subjective perception ofresidents and the appraisal processes ofprofessionals. Also much more consideration will haveto be given to social characteristics, which in ourday have become increasingly more determining for thelivability of neighbourhoods. It is also importantthat the action of managers be part of acharacterization of neighbourhoods. It is being arguedthat an indication system cannot be confined toregistering indicators and other data, for it has todirectly contribute to policy interventions. That iswhy a good indication system takes both facts and creation of an image into account, as well aslivability characteristics and theconsiderations of residents and managers. In a fewbrief concluding observations, the different functionsan indication system can have as a policy instrumentare gone into.     

Construction and Validation of an Observational Scale of Neighborhood Characteristics

This paper reports the development and validation of the Neighborhood Observation Scale, a 41 item measure of neighborhood physical appearance, social appearance, safety, and amenities. Three independent ratings were collected on each of 244 neighborhoods in 132 census block groups in five South Carolina counties, for a total of 732 observations. Inter-rater reliability analysis showed 92.6% agreement among at least two raters and an intraclass correlation of .54, indicating acceptable reliability. Exploratory factor analysis extracted eight factors for neighborhood physical appearance, school/park/public space physical appearance, neighborhood social appearance, indicated social engagement, observed social engagement, park/public space social engagement, resident watchfulness, and neighborhood safety risk. A follow-up confirmatory factor analysis supported the eight factor structure. Reliability analysis produced alpha coefficients ranging from .55 to .94 for the eight factors, indicating reliability for use as sub-scales. Convergent validity was determined by generally acceptable correlations of the factor sub-scales with measures of neighborhood distress, rates of child maltreatment and ICD-9-CM coded child injuries, and resident perceptions of neighboring, collective efficacy, reciprocal helping, and children’s safety in the home. Implications for research and policy and program development are discussed.     

The effects of motherhood timing on career path

This paper estimates the effects of motherhood timing on female career path, using biological fertility shocks to instrument for age at first birth. Motherhood delay leads to a substantial increase in earnings of 9% per year of delay, an increase in wages of 3%, and an increase in work hours of 6%. Supporting a human capital story, the advantage is largest for college-educated women and those in professional and managerial occupations. Panel estimation reveals both fixed wage penalties and lower returns to experience for mothers, suggesting that a “mommy track” is the source of the timing effect.     

China's Below‐Replacement Fertility: Recent Trends and Future Prospects

Between 1970 and 1990, China experiencoed a rapid and sharp fertility decline—from total fertility rates of approximately six births to two. The degree to which Chinese fertility has continued to fall after 1990 is controversial. We use survey data from the 1997 National Population and Reproductive Health Survey and from the 2001 Reproductive Health and Family Planning Survey to document recent trends in Chinese fertility. Our estimates provide further evidence that China's fertility is well below‐replacement level at the turn of the twenty‐first century—with TFR levels of approximately 1.5 children per woman. Trends in parity‐specific cohort fertility by age also suggest below replacement completed fertility for cohorts still in the childbearing years. In the article's second section, we identify key components of low period fertility in order to frame our discussion of two questions: 1) in what ways is Chinese low fertility different from/similar to that in other low‐fertility countries? And 2) what are the likely future trends in Chinese fertility?