The crisis of neoliberalism and the future of international institutions: A comparison of the IMF and the WTO

The current crisis of neoliberalism is calling into question the relevance of key international institutions. We analyze the origins, nature, and possible impacts of the crisis through comparing two such institutions: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Both originated in the post-World War II U.S.-led hegemonic order and were transformed as part of the transition to global neoliberalism. We show that while the IMF and the WTO have been part of the same hegemonic project, their distinct institutional features have put them on significantly different trajectories. Historical differences in the two institutions’ systems of rules have placed the IMF in a more vulnerable position than the WTO, which provides clues to the future contours of global economic governance.

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Child and Youth Well-Being in the United States, 1975–1998: Some Findings from a New Index

Social Indicators Research - This paper addresses the following questions: Overall, on average, how did child and youthwell-being in the United States of Americachange in the last quarter of the...     

Identifying the most successful dose (MSD) in dose-finding studies in cancer

For a dose finding study in cancer, the most successful dose (MSD), among a group of available doses, is that dose at which the overall success rate is the highest. This rate is the product of the rate of seeing non-toxicities together with the rate of tumor response. A successful dose finding trial in this context is one where we manage to identify the MSD in an efficient manner. In practice we may also need to consider algorithms for identifying the MSD which can incorporate certain restrictions, the most common restriction maintaining the estimated toxicity rate alone below some maximum rate. In this case the MSD may correspond to a different level than that for the unconstrained MSD and, in providing a final recommendation, it is important to underline that it is subject to the given constraint. We work with the approach described in O'Quigley et al. [Biometrics 2001; 57(4):1018-1029]. The focus of that work was dose finding in HIV where both information on toxicity and efficacy were almost immediately available. Recent cancer studies are beginning to fall under this same heading where, as before, toxicity can be quickly evaluated and, in addition, we can rely on biological markers or other measures of tumor response. Mindful of the particular context of cancer, our purpose here is to consider the methodology developed by O'Quigley et al. and its practical implementation. We also carry out a study on the doubly under-parameterized model, developed by O'Quigley et al. but not     

Coping,Emotion Regulation,and Self-Blame as Mediators of Sexual Abuse and Psychological Symptoms in Adult Sexual Assault

This study examined whether coping, emotion regulation, and self-blame mediate relationships of trauma histories with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression in adult sexual assault victims (N = 1863). A path analysis showed that theorized mediators partially mediated associations between trauma history variables and psychological symptoms. Specifically, child sexual abuse severity was related to greater post-traumatic stress disorder and depression indirectly through maladaptive coping and decreased emotion regulation but not self-blame. Other traumas had direct relationships with symptoms and partially mediated effects through maladaptive coping and emotion regulation. Child sexual abuse was unrelated to self-blame, but other traumas were related to greater self-blame. Results differed according to whether women had counseling post-assault. Implications are drawn for future research and clinical treatment of adult sexual assault victims.     

Oculomotor Exploration of Impossible Figures in Early Infancy

Previous studies have revealed that young infants can distinguish between displays of possible or impossible figures, which may require detection of inconsistent depth relations among local line junctions that disrupt global object configurations. Here, we used an eye‐tracking paradigm to record eye movements in young infants during an object discrimination task with matched pairs of possible and impossible figures. Our goal was to identify differential patterns of oculomotor activity as infants viewed pictures of possible and impossible objects. We predicted that infants would actively attend to specific pictorial depth cues that denote shape (e.g., T‐junctions), and in the context of an impossible figure that they would fixate to a greater extent in anomalous regions of the display relative to other parts. By the age of 4 months, infants fixated reliably longer overall on displays of impossible versus possible cubes, specifically within the critical region where the incompatible lines and irreconcilable depth relations were located, implying an early capacity for selective attention to critical line junction information and integration of local depth cues necessary to perceive object coherence.     

TAXING POLITICAL LIFE:

Previous research has shown that participation in voluntary associations, including those labeled nonpolitical, increases political participation. Using data gathered from 2,517 interviews for the American Citizen Participation Study, we complicate this understanding by exploring the relationship between voluntary association involvement and political activity in a more nuanced manner–separating association involvements according to the level of exposure to political dialogue and information, even within organizations typically considered apolitical. We find that the extent to which association involvement predicts political participation is dependent upon the level of political activity that transpires within these otherwise nonpolitical organizations. In order for participation in voluntary associations to lead to increases in political participation, participants must have exposure to political discourse. It is not the generic act of participation that supports political life but rather the opportunity to engage with politics that serves as an impetus for political activity. In light of this, we offer a critical exploration of existing federal tax policies governing nonprofit organizations.     

Contents of Volume 70

Volume contents

Contents of Volume 70     

Ecosystem services provided by urban spontaneous vegetation

Spontaneous vegetation colonizes large areas in and around cities. These unmanaged areas are considered to have low economic value or indicate dereliction, but recent research suggests that these can contribute valuable ecosystem services. This study evaluates indicators of ecosystem services in three habitats: urban spontaneous vegetation (USV), managed lawns, and semi-natural urban forest, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. USV had higher indicator values for habitat provisioning (plant species diversity, invertebrate abundance and taxonomic diversity) than the other habitats. Indicators of climatic regulatory services (albedo and leaf area index) in USV were similar to those in lawn habitats. Organic carbon content of the soils, an indicator of carbon storage, was lowest in USV but only marginally lower than in lawns. Standing biomass, an indicator of production services, was lowest in USV but lawn production may have been overestimated. While USV sites are usually transitory components of the urban landscape, they deserve further consideration due to their provision of ecosystem services, in some cases to a greater extent than conventionally valued urban habitats.     

The exchangeability and leachability of metals from select green roof growth substrates

Batch extraction and leaching studies were conducted with potential green roof substrates (e.g., Axis, Arklayte, coal bottom ash, Haydite, Lassenite, lava rock, and composted pine bark). The results indicated that these materials would not likely be sources of Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, or Zn and that Lassenite would be considered a source of Mn if the leachate concentrations were compared to USEPA drinking water standards for these elements. Lassenite would not be a source of Mn if the data was compared to a USEPA standard for Mn toxicity to aquatic life. All of the substrates tested leached Cd and/or Pb concentrations that exceeded the USEPA water quality standards at least once during the 6-month leaching study, so these materials may be potential sources of Cd and Pb in green roof storm water runoff. The leaching of Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn was differentially influenced by time and/or the presence of a single Sedum hybridum ‘immergrauch’ plant. The leaching of Cd, Cu, and Pb displayed complex, three-way interactions between main effects (substrate type and the presence or absence of a plant) and between leaching events. For all substrates except Lassenite, the presence of a S. hybridum plant decreased the leaching of Pb over time. The leaching of Cd was generally enhanced by plants for most substrates with time. Collectively the results suggest that changes in the biogeochemical conditions within green roof systems may alter metal solubility, decreasing the leaching of some elements and increasing the leaching of others.     

Parental Depression and Child Outcomes: The Mediating Effects of Abuse and Neglect

Using longitudinal data on 1,813 children and parents from a nationally representative child‐welfare sample, National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐Being (NSCAW), this study investigated physically abusive and neglectful parenting as mediating the effects of parent depression on child mental health by developmental stage. Findings from latent growth models indicated that parental depression had a significant impact on child outcomes for all youths, but of the 2 types of parenting behaviors, only neglectful parenting mediated the relationship for preschool and school‐aged children. Neither parenting behavior mediated the effects of parental depression for adolescents.