THE EFFECT OF CONCEALED WEAPONS LAWS: AN EXTREME BOUND ANALYSIS

Lott and Mustard [1997] provide evidence that enactment of concealed handgun ("right-to-carry") laws deters violent crime and induces substitution into property crime. A critique by Black and Nagin [1998] questions the particular model specification used in the empirical analysis. In this paper, we estimate the "model uncertainty" surrounding the model specified by Lott and Mustard using an extreme bound analysis (Leamer [1983]). We find that the deterrence results are robust enough to make them difficult to dismiss as unfounded, particularly those findings about the change in violent crime trends. The substitution effects are not robust with respect to different model specifications. (JEL K42)     

Sex preference for children in a Meifu Li community in Hainan,China

Sex preferences for children are contingent on institutional and economic contexts, including family system. While the patrilineal joint family system of the Han Chinese tends to devalue daughters, the family systems of many of China's southern minorities are conducive to female autonomy and more equal sex preferences. The Li of Hainan Island provide an example. We examined household registers and surveyed women in a relatively isolated highland township inhabited by the Meifu, a Li sub-group. The Meifu depend largely on swidden agriculture, permit considerable sexual freedom to adolescent females, and, as expected, have more equal sex ratios among their children than other Hainan populations. There was a tendency for a preference for males in the one hamlet in the community with an exceptional endowment of irrigated land, suggesting that sex preferences are sensitive to local economic circumstances.     

Strong or weak ties? British and Indian expatriate scientists finding jobs in Boston

In this article I analyse the different social networks that British and Indian scientists use to obtain job information in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector around Boston, Massachusetts. I argue that individuals' social networks are critical in helping highly skilled migrants find jobs. The research finds that British and Indian scientists use both strong and weak ties to obtain jobs and there is no significant difference between senior and junior workers in terms of whether they relied on strong or weak ties. I argue, nonetheless, that the terms strong ties and weak ties are problematic because they are not clearly understood or mutually exclusive.     

BATTER UP! MORAL HAZARD AND THE EFFECTS OF THE DESIGNATED HITTER RULE ON HIT BATSMEN

American League batters have been hit by pitches 10% to 15% more frequently than National League batters since the designated hitter rule was introduced in 1973. This evidence is consistent with the idea that the American League s adoption of the designated hitter rule created a classic moral hazard problem. Because they are not required to appear at the plate, American League pitchers can throw at opposing hitters with greater impunity (i.e., at lower cost) than National League pitchers who must take their turns at bat and, hence, bear more of the costs of their own actions. (JEL D81, J28)     

The NDP Regime in British Columbia, 1991–2001: A Post‐Mortem*

Cette étude porte sur les relations entre la social‐démocratie, les mouvements sociaux et l'État au cours d'une période de dix ans dans la province de Colombie‐Britannique, au Canada. À l'aide d'une analyse de textes d'interviews en profondeur de représentants de l'État de six ministères importants et de membres du Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Assemblée législative, les auteurs examinent de façon approfondie les difficultés rencontrées par le régime social‐démocrate. Celui‐ci tente de remplir un mandat de réforme sociale en partie inspirée par les programmes de militants de mouvements sociaux, mais il est également limité par les contraintes imposées par la mondialisation économique et par les politiques budgétaires néolibérales. En étudiant les dilemmes et les obstacles structurels, les auteurs tentent de clarifier les profonds défis auxquels sont confrontés les mouvements sociaux à l'époque actuelle. This study focuses on the relationship between social democracy, social movements and the state over a ten‐year period in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Through textual analysis of in‐depth interviews with state officials from six key ministries and New Democratic Party members of the Legislative Assembly, we probe the difficulties faced by a social democratic regime attempting to carry out a mandate for social reform partly driven by the agendas of social movements supporters but also bounded by the constraints imposed by economic globalization and neo‐liberal fiscal policies. In examining the dilemmas and structural obstacles, our study clarifies the profound challenges confronting social movements in the current era.     

PAYOFF DOMINANCE VS. COGNITIVE TRANSPARENCY IN DECISION MAKING

This paper reports on three laboratory experiments designed to investigate the roles of decision costs and rewards on the accuracy of economic decisions. The experimental vehicle is a purchase decision employing the Becker-DeGroot-Marshak (BDM) mechanism. The first experiment verifies the incentive-compatibility of the BDM in a pure induced-value setting; the second tests its performance under different information regimes and payoff schedules; the third addresses the role of feedback information. Steep payoff schedules are found to be necessary to optimizing behavior only in cases where subjects must search out an optimal strategy rather than being able to deduce it from information provided. (JEL C91, D83)     

SUBSTANCE USE ESTIMATES FROM RDD AND AREA PROBABILITY SAMPLES: IMPACT OF DIFFERENTIAL SCREENING METHODS AND UNIT NONRESPONSE

Survey mode effects linked to unit nonresponse and screeningprocedures were estimated in a study of self-reported to bacco,alcohol, and illicit drug use. Two samples of the same population were drawn: a random digit dial (RDD) sample with telephonescreening and a multistage area probability sample with in-personscreening. Respondents in both samples were interviewed by telephoneto control mode of communication effects. Households with outtelephones were excluded from both samples to control samplecoverage effects. Although results show substantially lowerresponse rates in the telephone survey due to screening refusals,the two survey procedures produced samples that were very similarin demographic characteristics and in substance use profiles.Differential screening operations and differential nonresponserates between the RDD and area probability designs did not appearto be a major source of mode effects in comparing telephoneand face-to-face surveys of substance use.