The Effect of Risk Beliefs on Property Values: A Case Study of a Hazardous Waste Site1

Health risk beliefs of homeowners near a landfill site were assessed in a survey and compared to expert judgments of the health risks of living near the site. A bimodal distribution of health risk beliefs suggested sharp disagreement between the experts and at least some of the residents. Correlates of high risk beliefs included perception of odor from the site, exposure to media coverage of the problem, having children living at home, age (younger respondents more concerned), and gender (females more concerned). An aggregated neighborhood health risk belief predicted reductions in home prices even after controlling for home physical characteristics, such as size and other disamenities such as proximity to a freeway. In the 4100 homes near the site, the estimated depression in property values was estimated to total about $40.2 million before the site was closed and to be about $19.7 million after closure. Implications of these results for community conflict and for benefit-cost analysis of hazard site remediation are discussed.     

Strategy-proofness on Euclidean spaces

 In this paper we characterize strategy-proof voting schemes on Euclidean spaces. A voting scheme is strategy-proof whenever it is optimal for every agent to report his best alternative. Here the individual preferences underlying these best choices are separable and quadratic. It turns out that a voting scheme is strategy-proof if and only if (α) its range is a closed Cartesian subset of Euclidean space, (β) the outcomes are at a minimal distance to the outcome under a specific coordinatewise veto voting scheme, and (γ) it satisfies some monotonicity properties. Neither continuity nor decomposability is implied by strategy-proofness, but these are satisfied if we additionally impose Pareto-optimality or unanimity. Received: 18 October 1993/Accepted: 2 February 1996     

Evidence of fertility regulation among rural french villagers, 1749–1789

In this first part an econometric model describing the sequences of live births to individual couples is developed and estimated, using data for a sample of married women in rural French communes during the period 1749–1789. The main methodological objective is to devise a means of controlling for unobserved heterogeneities that result in the endogeneity of variables describing a couple's accumulated demographic experience. Without such controls it is not possible to secure unbiased estimates of responses to familial demographic events, such as the births and deaths of children. Such estimates are sought here as indirect indicators of the existence and nature of deliberate fertility control.Un modèle économétrique, décrivant la suite des naissances vivantes d'un couple donné, est développé et estimé dans cette première partie, en utilisant des données sur un échantillon de femmes mariées dans des communes rurales françaises durant la période 1749–1789. Le principal objectif méthodologique est de fournir un moyen de contrôler l'hétérogénéité non observée qui résulte de variables endogènes décrivant l'expérience cumulative d'un couple. Sans un tel contrôle il n'est pas possible d'obtenir des estimations sans biais de l'effet d'événements démographiques, tels que les naissances et les décès d'enfants. De tels estimateurs sont recherchés ici en vue de fournir des indications indirectes sur l'exercice et la nature d'une prévention des naissances délibérée.

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The second part of this article will be published in theEuropean Journal of Population, Vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 173–206.     

The selection of zero-non-zero patterned cointegrating vectors in error-correction modelling

An effective and efficient search algorithm has been developed to select from an 1(1) system zero-non-zero patterned cointegrating and loading vectors in a subset VECM, B^q(l)y(t-1) + B^q-1 (L)Ay(t) = ε( t ) , where the long term impact matrix Bq(l) contains zero entries. The algorithm can be applied to higher order integrated systems. The Finnish money-output model presented by Johansen and Juselius (1990) and the United States balanced growth model presented by King, Plosser, Stock and Watson (1991) are used to demonstrate the usefulness of this algorithm in examining the cointegrating relationships in vector time series.     

Changing Perceptions through Contact

Contact has long been the major vehicle for changing beliefs and perceptions of minority groups. However, few studies in the area of integration of people with mental retardation have examined underlying assumptions of contact situations. Contact between volunteers and people with mental retardation at a Special Olympics' state games was examined within a theoretical framework wherein mental retardation was viewed as social construct and contact conceptualized within five components of contact theory. Theoretical and empirical study indicated that instances of negative effect limit the extent of change in perceptions the general public hold of people with mental retardation. However, contact, as compared to no contact, does contribute to positive changes in perceptions.     

Do Drivers of Small Cars Take Less Risk in Everyday Driving?

Previously reported observed data on risky everyday driving are brought together and reanalyzed in order to focus on the relation between risky driving and the size of the car being driven, as indicated by car mass. The measures of risky driving include separation between vehicles in heavy freeway traffic and speed on a two lane road. Observed seat belt use provides a third measure of driver risk. Confounding effects arising from the observed association between car mass and driver age are taken into account by segmenting the data into three driver age groups. Driver risk taking is found to increase with increasing car mass for each of these three aspects of everyday driving. The implications of these results with respect to driver fatality rates are discussed in terms of a simple model relating observed risky driving to the likelihood of involvement in a severe crash.     

A sociology of hackers

Illicit computer intruders, or hackers, are often thought of as pathological individuals rather than as members of a community. However, hackers exist within social groups that provide expertise, support, training, journals and conferences. This article outlines this community to establish the nature of hacking within ‘information societies’. To delineate a ‘sociology of hackers’, an introduction is provided to the nature of computer–mediated communication and the act of computer intrusion, the hack. Following this the hacking community is explored in three sections. First, a profile of the number of hackers and hacks is provided by exploring available demographics. Second, an outline of its culture is provided through a discussion of six different aspects of the hacking community. The six aspects are technology, secrecy, anonymity, membership fluidity, male dominance and motivations. Third, an exploration of the community's construction of a boundary, albeit fluid, between itself and its other, the computer security industry, is provided. This boundary is constructed through metaphors whose central role is to establish the ethical nature of hacking. Finally, a conclusion that rejects any pathologisation of hackers is offered.     

The health of university athletes: attitudes, behaviors, and stressors

This study examined several aspects of the health of university athletes. Five areas of concern were targeted for investigation: general health background, use of drugs and alcohol, weight and eating behaviors, stress, and use of helping resources. The authors developed a questionnaire and used it to survey 27 varsity athletic teams at a major private university. The incidence of injuries was high; one third of the 247 student athletes surveyed reported sport-related injuries. Alcohol was much more frequently used than other drugs, and use tended to decrease during the competitive season. Significant differences between men and women athletes were found in off-season alcohol and marijuana use. Anabolic steroid abuse did not appear to be a major problem for this athlete population. Issues of diet, weight, and body image were found to be significantly different for women than for men. Although the incidence of bulimia and anorexia was low for both female and male athletes, it was clear that female athletes brought to their sport heightened concern for body image. The authors discuss the psychological and interpersonal implications that these findings have for the adjustment of female athletes. Injury and academics were perceived as the most stressful factors for both men and women, whereas weight and diet issues were a major stress factor for one third of the women. Given these data, specific recommendations are made for health professionals who work with college athletes.     

GOVERNMENT DEBT AND THE DEMAND FOR MONEY: AN EXTREME BOUND ANALYSIS

The article provides evidence that there is a relationship between government debt and interest rates via the demand for money. This relationship is examined through the wealth effect of government debt on money demand, and the robustness of the results is tested by the use of extreme bound analysis in addition to standard econometric techniques. We find that OLS regression shows government debt fnfecting the demand for money positively, implying that Federal government debt is net wealth. In addition, the extreme bound analysis shows that the estimates of the government debt coefficient are robust under alternative specifications of the Goldfeld model.