Nationality and Multinationals in Historical Perspective

"This paper provides a historical perspective to current debates whether large global firms are becoming 'stateless.' Robert Reich among others suggested that historically the nationality of multinationals was clear, while for contemporary multinationals corporate nationality is both unclear and increasingly irrelevant. However the historical evidence shows that a great deal of international business in the nineteenth century was not easily fitted into national categories. The place of registration, the nationality of shareholders, and the nationality of management often pointed in different directions. During the twentieth century such cosmopolitan capitalism was replaced by sharper national identities. The interwar disintegration of the international economy also led to the national subsidiaries of multinationals taking on strong local identities. Over the past two decades, as the pace of globalization quickened, ambiguities increased again. Yet in the early twenty first century, ownership, location and geography still mattered enormously in international business. They may matter more than in the past." Source: Harvard Business School Working Papers

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Trafficking in Persons Report 2006

The Department of State is required by law to submit a Report each year to the U.S. Congress on foreign governments’ efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons. This Report is the sixth annual TIP Report. It is intended to raise global awareness, to highlight the growing efforts of the international community to combat human trafficking, and to encourage foreign governments to take effective actions to counter all forms of trafficking in persons. The Report has increasingly focused the efforts of a growing community of nations on sharing information and partnering in new and important ways. A country that fails to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons, per U.S. law, receives a "Tier 3" assessment in this Report. Such an assessment could trigger the withholding of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance from the United States to that country.

In assessing foreign governments’ efforts, the TIP Report highlights the "three P’s"— prosecution, protection, and prevention. But a victim-centered approach to trafficking requires us equally to address the "three R’s"— rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration. The U.S. law that guides these efforts, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, as amended, makes clear from the outset that the purpose of combating human trafficking is to ensure just and effective punishment of traffickers, to protect their victims, and to prevent trafficking from occurring.

More than 150 years ago, the United States fought a devastating war that culminated in the elimination of slavery in this country. Although most nations have eliminated servitude as a state-sanctioned practice, a modern form of human slavery has emerged. It is a growing global threat to the lives and freedom of millions of men, women, and children. Today, only in the most brutal and repressive regimes, such as Burma and North Korea, is slavery still state sponsored. Instead, human trafficking often involves organized crime groups who make huge sums of money at the expense of trafficking victims and our societies. Source: U. S. Department of State

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Rebuilding Housing Along the Mississippi Coast: Ideas for Ensuring an Adequate Supply of Affordable Housing

In October 2005, RAND Corporation researchers traveled to Mississippi to assist the Governor’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal and, more specifically, to provide assistance to the Affordable Housing Subcommittee of the Infrastructure Issues Committee. RAND researchers provided support in identifying and developing a list of policy and implementation options that could be useful to local communities in considering how to address affordable-housing issues. In developing this list of options, RAND researchers considered how affordable housing is defined, what affordable-housing issues different U.S. regions face, what the critical challenges are in providing affordable housing, and what strategies are available to deal with those challenges. They investigated how affordable-housing issues have been addressed in the wake of other natural disasters in this country, what lessons have been learned, and what best practices can be taken away from previous natural disaster experiences. They examined the extent and scope of damage to affordable housing that Mississippi sustained, what types of affordable-housing needs that Mississippi might consider addressing during rebuilding, and on what scale. Finally, they studied options available to deal with affordable-housing issues. This report describes affordable-housing issues and myriad rebuilding options. Source: RAND Corporation

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Strategic Intersectionality: Gender, Ethnicity, and Political Incorporation

"We examine whether Latina elected officials, relative to their co-ethnic male counterparts, are more effective advocates for working class communities of color. Building upon the literature on political incorporation, gender politics, and ethnic politics, we hypothesize that Latina legislators are better positioned to be such advocates due to their unique capacity to leverage three primary resources: substantive policy focus, a multiple identity advantage, and a gender inclusive advantage. We refer to the combination of these three factors as strategic intersectionality. We test our model of strategic intersectionality using the National Latina/o State Legislator Survey (NLSLS), an original data set of thirty-minute telephone interviews with over half of all Latinos and Latinas who served in state legislatures during 2004. We find evidence for the presence of strategic intersectionality. However, its presence is not the same in all policy contexts. We conclude that strategic intersectionality is comprised of complex, multi-layered patterns of advocacy, representation, and policy influence." Source: Institute of Governmental Studies. Paper WP2006-32. University of California, Berkeley

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Islam and the West: A Conversation with Bernard Lewis

Event Transcript of The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life interview of Professor Bernard Lewis, Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University.

"The relationship between Islam and the West will be a defining feature of the 21st century, particularly in the Middle East. How should U.S. policymakers engage with the Muslim world? Will the spread of democracy throughout the Muslim world blunt the militant forces generating terrorism? How will European governments and populations deal with their burgeoning Muslim populations, and how will this affect U.S. foreign policy priorities and alliances?

The Pew Forum hosted a discussion of these and other issues with Professor Bernard Lewis, who for 60 years has helped interpret the world of Islam to the West. In addition to authoring more than two dozen books, including What Went Wrong and The Crisis of Islam, Professor Lewis has advised government officials and policymakers in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Middle East on the intricacies of the relationships between Islam and the West. "


Link to full transcript

Tobacco industry litigation strategies to oppose tobacco control media campaigns

"Objective: To document the tobacco industry's litigation strategy to impede tobacco control media campaigns. Methods: Data were collected from news and reports, tobacco industry documents, and interviews with health advocates and media campaign staff. Results: RJ Reynolds and Lorillard attempted to halt California's Media Campaign alleging that the campaign polluted jury pools and violated First Amendment rights because they were compelled to pay for anti-industry ads. The American Legacy Foundation was accused of violating the Master Settlement Agreement's vilification clause because its ads attacked the tobacco industry. The tobacco companies lost these legal challenges. Conclusion: The tobacco industry has expanded its efforts to oppose tobacco control media campaigns through litigation strategies. While litigation is a part of tobacco industry business, it imposes a financial burden and impediment to media campaigns' productivity. Tobacco control professionals need to anticipate these challenges and be prepared to defend against them." Source: Tobacco Control. 15 (1), pp. 50-58.[via California Digital Library Postprints]

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The Waning of America's Higher Education Advantage

"The United States has long enjoyed being on the cutting edge in its devotion to building a vibrant higher education sector. After a century of leading the world in participation rates in higher education, however, there are strong indications that America's advantage is waning. The academic research enterprise remains relatively vibrant. However, participation and degree attainment rates have leveled off and are showing signs of actual decline in a number of major states with large populations--and this seems to be more than just a bump or short-term market correction. Other competitive nations, and in particular key members of the European Union, along with China, India and other developing economies, are aggressively nurturing their higher education systems, expanding access, and better positioning themselves in the global economy. They have been trying harder, while in the US public funding for higher education has declined. The nation's international and domestic concerns lie elsewhere. In addition to outlining these reasons that America's higher education advantage is waning, this article also discusses the possible consequences." Source: Center for Studies in Higher Education. Paper CSHE-9-06. U.C. Berkeley.

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The Power of Work

"Ex-prisoners face a daunting set of obstacles to reentry, but securing employment may be the biggest challenge of all. The unemployment rate of formerly incarcerated people one year after release may be as high as 60 percent, and there is an increasing reluctance among employers to hire people with criminal histories. Further, studies show that inmates reentering communities are most vulnerable to failure in the early stages after release from jail or prison. Since the late 1970s, New York City’s Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) has addressed the relationship between work and crime. Through a highly structured program of pre-employment training, immediate short-term transitional employment, and full-time job placement services, CEO helps close to 2,000 men and women each year to take the crucial first steps toward staying out of prison and returning to their families and communities. MDRC is conducting a rigorous evaluation of CEO’s program as part of a multi-site project, Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Labor. Results from this study are expected by 2007.

With generous support from the JEHT Foundation, MDRC and CEO have written this overview of the CEO program. First, it discusses the link between unemployment and recidivism. Second, it lays out the “what” of the program: CEO’s company philosophy and the four phases of the CEO program. Then it discusses the “how” of the program: how it came to be, how it appeals to key stakeholders (including government agencies and private employers), and how its financial and organizational structures keep it strong. The document concludes with case studies to illustrate early examples of how CEO’s model is being replicated and adapted for use in other jurisdictions or with other populations." Source: MDRC

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Affirmative Action in Higher Education in India and the US: A Study in Contrasts

Abstract: The 21st century has brought new challenges and opportunities for higher education. In the wake of the transition from elitist to mass education, universities worldwide are under pressure to enhance access and equity, on the one hand, and to maintain high standards of quality and excellence, on the other. Today the notion of equity not only implies greater access to higher education, but also opportunities for progress. In recent debates on higher education, the notions of equity and access go beyond minority to diversity. Affirmative action, too, has become race-exclusive and gender-neutral. The following paper makes an attempt to understand the nuances of a caste-based reservation policy in higher education in light of recent controversies, court verdicts, a subsequent amendment to the constitution in India; and affirmative action policies, court verdicts, and alternatives to affirmative action in certain universities in the US. The objective is to bring out commonalities and contrasts between the two countries in terms of legal, political, socio-cultural, economic, and psychological perspectives. Source: Center for Studies in Higher Education. Paper CSHE-10-06. University of California, Berkeley

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There Goes the Neighborhood? Estimates of the Impact of Crime Risk on Property Values From Megan's Laws.

Abstract: We combine data from the housing market with data from the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry to estimate how individuals value living in close proximity to a convicted criminal. We use the exact location of these offenders to exploit variation in the threat of crime within small homogenous groupings of homes, and we use the timing of sex offenders’ arrivals to control for baseline property values in the area. We find statistically and economically significant negative effects of sex offenders’ locations that are extremely localized. Houses within a one-tenth mile area around the home of a sex offender fall by four percent on average (about $5,500) while those further away show no decline. These results suggest that individuals have a significant distaste for living in close proximity to a known sex offender. Using data on crimes committed by sexual offenders against neighbors, we estimate costs to victims of sexual offenses under the assumptions that all of the decline in property value is due to increased crime risk and that neighbors’ perceptions of risk are in line with objective data. We estimate victimization costs of over $1 million—far in excess of estimates taken from the criminal justice literature. However, we cannot reject the alternative hypotheses that individuals overestimate the risk posed by offenders or view living near an offender as having costs exclusive of crime risk. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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After-School Programs and Activities

This report presents data on participation in after-school activities and programs in the United States. The data are from the After-School Programs and Activities Survey (ASPA) of the 2005 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2005). The data presented in the report are based on a nationally representative sample of students in kindergarten through grade 8. In 2005, 40 percent of students in kindergarten through eighth grade participated in after-school care arrangements that occurred at least once each week. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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Political Support: Social Capital, Civil Society, and Political and Economic Performance

This paper assesses two main theories of the decline of political support that is found in many western democracies. The first is society-centred and built on the concepts of social capital, trust and civil society. The second is politics-centred and focuses on the performance of government and the economy. The two theories are not necessarily incompatible, but they are usually treated in a mutually exclusive way. In this article they are tested against a combination of aggregate cross-national comparative data and detailed case studies of four countries that have suffered exceptional decline of political support for politicians, political institutions, and the systems of government. The puzzle is that cross-national comparative evidence about a large and diverse number of nations supports social capital theory, whereas in-depth study of four countries that have experienced substantial decline of political support does not. The erosion of support coincides in all four with poor economic and/or political performance. A way of reconciling the two theories and their supporting evidence is suggested that argues that while social capital is a necessary foundation for democratic support, it is not a sufficient cause. Source: Center for the Study of Democracy. World Values Survey Research Papers. Paper 06-04. University of California, Irvine

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The Condition of Education 2006

"The Condition of Education 2006 summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 50 indicators on the status and condition of education and a special analysis on international assessments. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The 2006 print edition includes 50 indicators in five main areas: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education." Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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En-Gendering Choice in Congressional Leadership Elections

Abstract: Women today serve in the U.S. Congress in greater numbers than ever before and congresswomen are climbing the leadership ladder with greater frequency. In spite of this apparent progress, signs of resistance and the problem of invisibility persist both in the institution and the political science literature. Women in congressional leadership are exceptional, in three senses of the word being a rare occurrence, deviating from the norm, and being held to higher standards and expectations.

The goals of this paper are: 1) to recount the status of and obstacles for women in congressional leadership, 2) to analyze the media coverage of recent elections involving contested Democrat and Republican Party congressional leadership elections, 3) to pose some questions and implications for the study of women in congressional leadership, and 4) to argue for more analyses of gender in congressional leadership elections. Institute of Governmental Studies. Paper WP2006-26. University of California, Berkeley

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The Committee Assignments of State Legislators: An Underexplored Link in Understanding Gender Differences

Abstract : "This paper examines gender differences in committee assignments of state legislators serving throughout the country in 1988 and 2001. Fewer gender differences in committee assignments were apparent in 2001 than in 1988. Nevertheless, in 2001 women continued to be significantly more likely than men to serve on two types of committees–education committees and health and human services committees. However, women seem largely to serve on these committees by choice; they want to be on these committees. And once on these committees, they work on legislation relevant to the substantive focus of these committees. This cluster of findings suggests that women legislators are, in fact, using their committee appointments as a means to pursue their interests in education and in health care and human services. And the end result is that women legislators give more attention and priority to these issues than their male colleagues do." Source : Institute of Governmental Studies. Paper WP2006-27. University of California, Berkeley

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Parties, Money, and Sex

Abstract: "This paper reflects on the fundraising abilities of women candidates for the U.S. Congress in the most recent elections and party activities on behalf of these candidates. It speculates about the likelihood of 2006 being another Year of the Woman. Women have become formidable fundraisers and party organizations are often very supportive of their campaigns and even engage in recruiting women in winnable races. At the same time, this paper reflects on the implications of the contemporary stress on fundraising prowess in the recruitment and support of candidates for women expanding their presence as candidates for public office up and down the ballot." Institute of Governmental Studies. Paper WP2006-25. University of California, Berkeley

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Female Candidates, Issues, and Political Proselytizing: Understanding Why Women Talk About Politics

Abstract: "Previous research has demonstrated that the presence of a woman on a major party ballot is linked to increased attempts at political persuasion among women (Hansen 1997). Yet, this type of political engagement is enhanced when certain contextual conditions are met (e.g. Atkenson 2003). In this study, we hypothesize that female citizens are more likely to engage in political persuasion when female candidates are on the ballot and when female candidates on the ballot stress women s issues. Using 2002 and 2004 NES, we find that the presence of a woman on the ballot increases proselytizing overall but does not significantly increase political influence attempts among women. We also find that while the combined effect of candidate gender and candidate issues is positively related to proselytizing among women, economic issues, not women s issues increase women s attempts to influence others votes." Source: Institute of Governmental Studies. Paper WP2006-24. University of California, Berkeley.

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Copyright and the Role of Institutions in a Peer-to-Peer World

Today's technology turns every computer every hard drive into a type of library. But the institutions traditionally known as libraries have been given special consideration under copyright law, even as commercial endeavors and filesharing programs have begun to emulate some of their functions. This Article explores how recent technological and legal trends are affecting public and school affiliated libraries, which have special concerns that are not necessarily captured by an end-consumer-oriented analysis. Despite the promise that technology will empower individuals, we must recognize the crucial structural role of intermediaries that select and distribute copyrighted works. By exploring how traditional libraries are being affected by developments such as filesharing services, the iTunes Music Store, and Google's massive digitization project, this Article examines the implications of legal and technological changes that are mainly not directed at libraries, but are nonetheless vital to their continued existence. Source: My Library: Copyright and the Role of Institutions in a Peer-to-Peer World, 53 UCLA L. REV. 977 (2006) [via tushnet.com]

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Asia Foundation Releases New Human Trafficking Research

As demonstrated this week in Washington with the State Department's expected release of the 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report, human trafficking is one of the most urgent human rights problems in Asia. With Cambodia being a known source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation or forced labor, The Asia Foundation released a comprehensive assessment of research on human trafficking in Cambodia titled, The Review of a Decade of Research on Trafficking in Persons, Cambodia.

The Review provides a comprehensive assessment of more than 70 research studies, highlighting what is and what is not known about human trafficking in Cambodia. It analyzes past studies, identifies gaps in information, offers suggestions for future research, and calls upon the counter-trafficking community to work together to create a solid base of knowledge that will inform and strengthen future efforts to counter trafficking in Cambodia. Later this month, a companion e-database, featuring 72 studies analyzed in the review, will launch and allow counter-trafficking stakeholders in Cambodia to share their own research and findings.

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The Impact of Group Diversity on Performance and Knowledge Spillover -- An Experiment in a College Classroom.

"An important yet under-explored question in the teamwork literature concerns how group characteristics affect productivity. Within a given teamwork setting, it is not obvious how group member diversity affects the performance of the individual and the group. The group may gain from knowledge transfer and sharing while it may be crippled by communication and coordination problems that are prevalent in heterogeneous groups. In this study, we combine class performance data from an undergraduate management class with students’ personal records to explore diversity and knowledge spillover effects. A major advantage of our dataset is the exogenous assignment of groups, which rules out the troublesome yet common self-selection issue in team literature. Our results indicate that male-dominant groups performed worse both in group work and in individually taken exams than female-dominant and equally-mixed gender groups after controlling for other group characteristics. Individual members from a group with more diversity in age and gender scored higher in exams. However, we did not find any significance of a group’s racial composition over group and individual performances. Another novel aspect of this natural experiment is that each group chooses their own group contract form – members of “autonomous” groups receive equal grade for their group work while those in "democratic" groups can adopt differentiated point allocation, thus, providing a proper mechanism to punish free riders. Our estimation results show a significant correlation between the choice of a democratic contract and the group and individual performance. To address the endogeneity problem in groups’ contract choices, we use a maximum likelihood treatment effect model and found that the democratic group contract has a positive and significant effect on group performance." Source : National Bureau of Economic Research

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Division of Labor and the Rise of Cities: Evidence from U.S. Industrialization, 1850-1880.

Industrial revolution in the United States first took hold in rural New England as factories arose and grew in a handful of industries such as textiles and shoes. However, as factory scale economies rose and factory production techniques were adopted by an ever growing number of industries, industrialization became concentrated in cities throughout the Northeastern region which came to be known as the manufacturing belt. While it is extremely difficult to rule out other types of agglomeration economies such as spillovers, this paper suggests that these geographic developments associated with industrial revolution in the U.S. are most consistent with explanations based on division of labor, job search and matching costs. Source : National Bureau of Economic Research

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Are Elite Universities Losing Their Competitive Edge?

We study the location-specific component in research productivity of economics and finance faculty who have ever been affiliated with the top 25 universities in the last three decades. We find that there was a positive effect of being affiliated with an elite university in the 1970s; this effect weakened in the 1980s and disappeared in the 1990s. We decompose this university fixed effect and find that its decline is due to the reduced importance of physical access to productive research colleagues. We also find that salaries increased the most where the estimated externality dropped the most, consistent with the hypothesis that the de-localization of this externality makes it more difficult for universities to appropriate any rent. Our results shed some light on the potential effects of the internet revolution on knowledge-based industries. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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An Evaluation of Process Rights Applying the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice and U.N. Convention on the Rights

Abstract:
The aim of this study was to analyze and compare process rights of minors applying the Beijing Rules and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and Juvenile Justice Law for minors in the (Mexico- U.S.) border state of Sonora. In order to determine what due process rights were enforced during juvenile process, a study was undertaken of the minors subject to process in January 2001. In this study, a checklist was used to determine variables regarding: the type and severity of the crime committed by the juvenile; the number and type of acts charged by the prosecuting attorney; the number of hours that the juvenile was kept under arrest before (s)he was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Council; the process in the Council; the actions of the defense attorney in the tutelary process; the existence of legal, psychological, social, and family foundations determining the initial and final resolutions; and the resolution issued by the Council. Results of this study show that under the State Juvenile Law, minors are not accorded basic procedural safeguards. Secondly, they are not afforded the care or treatment provided for by the parens patriae principle during the process, sentencing, or placement. Investigating, processing, and sentencing minors for offenses committed are all the responsibility of one organ, and any appeal must be filed to this same organ.

Thus minors are denied the essential elements for a fair and just trial. In all the reviewed cases, a defense attorney was named in the initial transcripts, but signatures and promotions were nonexistent in most of the cases. This could mean that the right to counsel was formally satisfied but practically nonexistent. Upon initial contact with the prosecuting attorney, interviews were extracted from the minors without the presence of a parent or guardian. Minors are submitted to process for committing any antisocial behavior even when it is not punishable under the state or federal criminal code.

In brief, these results show that despite the signed agreement with the United Nations, minors’ rights in this Mexican state are not respected in accordance with the U. N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Beijing Rules.

Source: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies. Project on Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico. U. C. San Diego

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Neighborhood Organizations, Local Accountability and the Rule of Law in Two Mexican Municipalities

Abstract : "Little is known about the way that residents interact with local government authorities as they express their concerns about public safety and policing, as well as their ideas and demands for responses to these issues. The proposed paper draws from fieldwork in two metropolitan municipalities of the State of Mexico to understand these processes. It focuses in particular on the role of neighborhood associations as the primary intermediaries between residents and the municipality, including its department of public security. The findings from this field research have important implications for all three of the aspects of the rule of law suggested for this project. It touches on the ways in which leaders of neighborhood associations perceive and act on issues of public order within their jurisdictions; it considers the everyday aspects of accountability of local officials to their constituents; and, by comparing conditions and patterns in two sharply contrasting localities (Huixquilucan and Nezahuacoyotl), it encompasses questions of access to justice, both on individual and neighborhood bases." Source : Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies. Project on Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico. U. C. San Diego

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Social Unrest in China

"In the past few years, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has experienced rising social unrest, including protests, demonstrations, picketing, and group petitioning. According to PRC official sources, "public order disturbances" have grown by nearly 50% in the past two years, from 58,000 incidents in 2003 to 87,000 in 2005. Although political observers have described social unrest among farmers and workers since the early 1990s, recent protest activities have been broader in scope, larger in average size, greater in frequency, and more brash than those of a decade ago. Fears of greater unrest have triggered debates with the Communist Party leadership about the pace of economic reforms and the proper way to respond to protesters. Workers in state-owned enterprises and the special economic zones producing goods for export, peasants and urban residents who have lost their farmland or homes to development projects, and others have engaged in mass protests, some of them violent, often after having exhausted legal channels for resolving grievances." Source : Congressional Research Service

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The Overstayers

"Nearly half of all the unauthorized migrants now living in the United States entered the country legally through a port of entry such as an airport or a border crossing point where they were subject to inspection by immigration officials, according to new estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center.

As much as 45% of the total unauthorized migrant population entered the country with visas that allowed them to visit or reside in the U.S. for a limited amount of time. Known as "overstayers," these migrants became part of the unauthorized population when they remained in the country after their visas had expired.

Another smaller share of the unauthorized migrant population entered the county legally from Mexico using a Border Crossing Card, a document that allows short visits limited to the border region, and then violated the terms of admission." Source : Pew Hispanic Center

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Gambling: As the Take Rises, So Does Public Concern

"A modest backlash in attitudes towards legalized gambling has taken hold among an American public that spends more money on more forms of legal gambling now than at any time in the nation's history.

Seven-in-ten (70%) Americans say that legalized gambling encourages people to gamble more than they can afford, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. By contrast, 62% expressed that concern in 1989 when the same question was posed in a Gallup survey.

Similarly, 71% of the public today - down from 78% in 1989 - approves of lotteries as a way for states to raise revenue. Public support for other forms of legalized gambling, such as casino, off-track betting on horse racing and pro sports betting, has either been stable or declined since 1989.

These findings come at a time when gambling has become more pervasive in the popular culture, with a record number of casinos operating across the country, with online gambling gaining fast in popularity (albeit from a small base), with several celebrities going public with their gambling problems and exploits, and with poker tournaments having become a new form of television entertainment."
Source: Pew Research Center

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National Indian Education Study : A report from NCES

"The National Indian Education Study (NIES) is a two-part study designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian/Alaska Native students in the United States. The study was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the U.S. Department of Education, with the support of the Office of Indian Education (OIE). The study was designed in consultation with a Technical Review Panel whose members include American Indian and Alaska Native educators and researchers from across the country.

Part I of the study presents the performance results of American Indian/Alaska Native students at grades 4 and 8 on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading and mathematics. Part II, the survey portion of the report, presents findings on the educational experiences of American Indian/Alaska Native students, based on responses to a combination of student, teacher, and school questionnaires. The questionnaires used in the Part II survey are not linked to the NAEP student performance results. Part II will be released on this website in the summer of 2006. To read all of the study results, download a copy of the report." Source : National Center for Education Statistics

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The State of American Public Opinion on Immigration in Spring 2006: A Review of Major Surveys

"This fact sheet reviews findings on attitudes towards immigration and immigration policy options from a variety of major surveys of the American public taken this spring by several different media and research organizations. Looking at this body of data as a whole indicates that the American public has generally consistent views. The polls do not suggest major shifts in public opinion over the spring as a result of either the immigrant marches or the policy debate with one important exception: The share of Americans who see immigration as a major problem has been increasing rapidly, and the growing concern is especially notable among Republicans." Source: Pew Hispanic Center.

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Jumping into the Political Fray: Academics and Policy-Making

"Daniel Cohn examines the role academics can play in the policy-making process. Through an examination of the impact academics have had on areas such as environmental, social and economic policy Cohn reaches several conclusions: He argues that academics have substantial opportunities to influence public policy but that this influence is usually indirect, and it is achieved by convincing those with power to advocate for and/or act on their ideas. He then examines how such opportunities arise and can be generated by academics. Finally the study looks at the ways in which state actors can best make use of scholarly advice." Source: Canadian Institute for Research on Public Policy

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Cost Estimate for S. 2611, Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006

"The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 would amend laws governing immigration, authorize numerous initiatives to improve enforcement of those laws, and increase the limits on legal immigration. Implementing those changes would increase both direct spending (i.e., mandatory spending) and discretionary spending (i.e., spending subject to annual appropriation action). S. 2611 also would affect federal revenues, directly through enactment of the bill's provisions, by increasing the size of the labor force, and through other effects of the legislation on the U.S. economy." Source: Congressional Budget Office

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Government Access to Phone Calling Activity and Related Records

"Recent media disclosures regarding an alleged National Security Agency (NSA) program designed to collect and analyze information on telephone calling patterns within the United States have raised interest in the means by which the Government may collect such information. The factual information available in the public domain with respect to any such alleged program is limited and in some instances inconsistent, and the application, if at all, of any possibly relevant statutory provisions to any such program is likely to be a very fact specific inquiry. It is possible that any information provided to the NSA from the telephone service providers was provided in response to a request for information, not founded on a statutory basis. If this were the case, such a request would not necessarily be limited by the statutory structures discussed below, but in some instances, depending upon the facts involved, might expose the telephone companies to some civil remedies or criminal sanctions. In addition, a request, not founded upon a statutory scheme, would appear to lack a means of compelling production of the information requested. This would seem to be consistent with the statement in the USA Today article that one of the companies refused to comply with NSA’s request for calling detail records, while at least one other company appears to have complied. This report will summarize statutory authorities regarding access by the Government, for either foreign intelligence or law enforcement purposes, to information related to telephone calling patterns or practices. Where pertinent, we will also discuss statutory prohibitions against accessing or disclosing such information, along with relevant exceptions to those prohibitions. Source: Congressional Research Service

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The State of the World's Refugees 2006

"The State of the World's Refugees: Human Displacement in the New Millennium presents the challenges to refugee protection and assesses the response of the international community. The fifth edition in the series, it provides an overview of key developments related to forced displacement from 2001 to September 2005. The period covers the tenure of Ruud Lubbers as UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the start of António Guterres' term. Produced by UNHCR with input from other international organizations, NGOs, academics and independent experts, the book is divided into eight chapters, each focusing on a particular theme. Besides the main text, boxes in each chapter highlight specific issues." Source: United Nations

Report is available for download in individual chapters

Link to Table of Contents

New Digest of Education Statistics Available

"The primary purpose of the Digest of Education Statistics is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest includes a selection of data from many sources, both government and private, and draws especially on the results of surveys and activities carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). To qualify for inclusion in the Digest, material must be nationwide in scope and of current interest and value. The publication contains information on a variety of subjects in the field of education statistics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances, federal funds for education, libraries, and international education. Supplemental information on population trends, attitudes on education, education characteristics of the labor force, government finances, and economic trends provides background for evaluating education data." Source : National Center for Education Statistics

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Corresponding Lives: Women Educators of the Alliance Israélite Universelle School for Girls in the City of Tunis, 1882-1914

Abstract:
The multiple roles of women educators as cross-cultural intermediaries in the realm of language, literacy, dress, employment, and social action are examined in the hybrid Muslim-Jewish culture of Tunisia. Educated in Paris, the women served as catalysts of change at the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU) School for Girls in Tunis for the students, parents, and the community. Sources are based on the correspondence of the women educators, supplemented by that of their male colleagues at the School for Boys. The pioneering initiatives of the women in education, apprenticeships, health, and post-graduate voluntary associations, were closely followed by the Director of Public Education for the schools of the French Protectorate and by the French patroness of the first Muslim School for Girls in Tunis. The model of female secular education advocated by the Alliance, with its emphasis on academic skills and productivity, set important precedents for similar ventures by other religious and ethnic communities.

Discussion of female educators and the education of females in the AIU School for Girls is intertwined with the themes of the “civilizing mission,” the educator-mother, and colonialism in an emerging modernity. Parallels are drawn to the education of girls in Muslim Tunisia, France, or other regions, as appropriate. Evidence has revealed that the work of the women educators extended beyond the classroom to the local community. The goal of the teachers was to form a new role for women in the private realm of the household and the public place of employment. The Middle East and North Africa continue to be confronted by these issues today, as first recognized by the women educators of the Alliance more than a century ago. Source: G E von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies, University of California

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Rural Latino families in California are missing earned income tax benefits

Abstract: "When properly accessed, the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can boost a family’s yearly income by more than $4,000. A study in Kern and Madera counties indicated that many, perhaps most, qualified low-income Latino families living in rural California communities may not be receiving the EITC. About 80% to 86% of eligible households nationwide receive the EITC, compared with about 36% of eligible California families in the study. The primary reason appears to be lack of accurate information and limited access to tax-preparation assistance. UC Cooperative Extension advisors and staff are well situated to provide information about the EITC." Source: California Agriculture (University of California)

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Public Worried about Iran but Wary of Military Action

"Most Americans believe that Iran wants to possess nuclear technology in order to develop nuclear weapons, not energy. But there is broad public opposition to launching U.S. air strikes against military targets in Iran, with multilateral sanctions by far the preferred option approach for dealing with the situation." Source: Pew Research Center

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Boomers' Financial Help to Parents

Nearly three-in-ten baby boom generation members with a living parent say they provided financial assistance to a parent in the past year. But the flows go both ways: 19% report that they received financial help from a parent. Thanks to advances in life expectancy, 71% of today's boomers have at least one living parent, a Pew Research Center survey found. Source: Pew Research Center

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Increasingly, Americans Prefer Going to the Movies at Home

"The start of the summer blockbuster movie season has Hollywood hoping for the usual stampede to the theaters, but now more than ever, the place that most Americans would rather watch movies is under their own roof.

Three-quarters of all adults say they would prefer watching movies at home rather than in a theater, according to a Pew Research Center survey, up from 67% in 1994.

The survey finds that more than seven-in-ten adults (71%) watch at least one movie a week, but the great bulk of this viewing occurs at home rather than in a theater.

While the most popular way to watch movies at home is on broadcast, cable or satellite television programming, fully half of the public says that at least once a week they a watch a movie on a DVD or by pay-per-view."

Source: Pew Research Center

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Bush immigration reform address [White House]

Address to the Nation on Immigration Reform, President George W. Bush, May 15, 2006 [announcing the deployment of up to 6000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border as a prime element in a wide-ranging plan to 'fix' problems created by illegal immigration].

Link to full text. Site includes link to video, and other government immigration resources.

Health Savings Accounts: Some Current Policy Issues

President Bush is urging Congress to expand the availability and attractiveness of health savings accounts (HSAs). Among other things, his FY2007 budget proposes (1) new tax deductions and refundable income tax credits for purchasing individual insurance policies that allow one to have an HSA, (2) increases in allowable HSA contributions, (3) a refundable income tax credit for contributions not made by employers, and (4) permission for employers to make larger contributions on behalf of employees and family members who are critically ill. The Administration argues that the proposed changes, which would have a 10-year revenue cost of $156 billion, would slow rising health care costs by enabling additional consumers to play a more direct role in their health care decisions. In considering the proposals, Congress might review three important issues in light of recent developments and the likelihood, given the initial market response, that HSAs are here to stay. One is the tax treatment of contributions, which now favors higher income individuals and families. A second is the purpose of health care savings, for which it appears there are multiple and sometimes competing objectives. Finally, there is the question whether HSA policies should favor or be neutral towards employmentbased and individual market insurance. This report may be updated to reflect further analysis and debate. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are one way that people can pay for their unreimbursed medical expenses (deductibles, copayments, and services not covered by insurance) on a tax-advantaged basis. The basic rules for 2006 are straight-forward, though some aspects are complex. Source: Congressional Research Service [via OpenCRS]

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Business Behaving Badly : The impact of corporate courtesy on business success

"Many organisations already understand the importance of corporate courtesy, of clear standards of behaviour in how we treat clients and customers, suppliers and colleagues. But our research indicates that others are letting go of the courtesies that make our working lives pleasant: punctuality reliability, support, clear communication, discreet advice in preference to a public dressing-down. Rude companies inevitably experience poor engagement and motivation, high stress levels and absenteeism, so discourtesy is costly to the organisations that fail to contain it. For those yet to be persuaded of their moral duty to contribute to a civilised society, this may prove the most powerful argument. Source: CHA Corporate Communications Survey


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Bridging the Gender Gap: Opportunities and Challenges

"A new World Bank report finds concern about family honor is a major factor behind why many parents don't send their girls to school – particularly in rural areas where villages may have no school facilities and the girls would be forced to travel outside of their communities. The Bank's Country Gender Assessment (CGA) on Pakistan finds overall concern about security and reputation is restricting women's movement outside the home in Pakistan – and limiting their access not only to education, but also to medical care, opportunities for paid work, voting and other forms of political and community participation. The net primary enrollment rate for girls is only about 42 to 45 percent, and among rural women that participate in the workforce – 60 percent are in unpaid work." Source : World Bank

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Financial Access for Immigrants: Lessons from Diverse Perspectives

"Financial access—knowing what one's financial options are and having products and services to choose from—is closely linked to economic prosperity. The success of today's immigrants—who come to the United States largely seeking to improve their own prospects for prosperity—depends on their access to mainstream financial institutions that can help them save money, buy homes, access credit, start businesses, and otherwise build wealth. As immigrant settlement has become a widespread phenomenon across the United States, more communities are concerned with the prospects for their full social and economic integration. Strategies that help immigrants participate fully in the financial mainstream benefit not just immigrants, but all residents of the communities where they live. This monograph presents new research on the financial practices of immigrants, and describes both industry approaches to reaching the immigrant market and community innovations in moving immigrants into the financial mainstream." Source: Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program

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Berkeley and Stanford iTunes

Download talks, lectures, and classes from U.C. Berkeley and Stanford through iTunes. Berkeley's selections cover various subjects including Journalism, Politics & Public Policy, and Global Affairs. Stanford's itunes U has many interviews, speeches, performances and discussions from around the campus. Many former fellows can be heard in downloads from both universities and current fellow Sepp Gumbrecht can be heard in Stanford's Aurora Forum "True colors" download.

iTunes Berkeley
iTunes Stanford

Do High School Exit Exams Influence Educational Attainment or Labor Market Performance?.

State requirements that high school graduates pass exit exams were the leading edge of the movement towards standards-based reform and continue to be adopted and refined by states today. In this study, we present new empirical evidence on how exit exams influenced educational attainment and labor market experiences using data from the 2000 Census and the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data (CCD). Our results suggest that the effects of these reforms have been heterogeneous. For example, our analysis of the Census data suggests that exit exams significantly reduced the probability of completing high school, particularly for black students. Similarly, our analysis of grade-level dropout data from the CCD indicates that Minnesota's recent exit exam increased the dropout rate in urban and high-poverty school districts as well as in those with a relatively large concentration of minority students. This increased risk of dropping out was concentrated among 12th grade students. However, we also found that Minnesota's exit exam lowered the dropout rate in low-poverty and suburban school districts, particularly among students in the 10th and 11th grades. These results suggest that exit exams have the capacity to improve student and school performance but also appear to have exacerbated the inequality in educational attainment. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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NHES Early Childhood Program Participation Survey

Abstract: This report presents selected data on the nonparental care arrangements and educational programs of preschool children, consisting of care by relatives, care by persons to whom they were not related, and participation in day care centers and preschool programs including Head Start or Early Head Start. It focuses on children under age 6 who have not yet entered kindergarten. For example, the report shows that 60 percent of such children were in some type of nonparental care arrangement on a weekly basis in 2005. The data are drawn from the Early Childhood Program Participation Survey (ECPP) of the 2005 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:2005). Source: National Bureau of Education Statistics

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Are Levels of Democracy Influenced by Mass Attitudes? Testing a Central Premise of the Political Culture Approach

Abstract: "Most research on political culture is driven by the assumption that mass attitudes impact on democracy. Despite the centrality of this premise, evidence showing that attitudes affect the level of democracy a society attains and sustains is rare and inconclusive in major points. This article presents the most comprehensive such evidence to date, testing attitudinal variables from three main schools in the political culture literature, as predictors of six different measures of democracy, using data from almost 70 societies. The results are remarkably consistent. Regardless of which measure of democracy is used, emancipative attitudes outperform other types of attitudes, giving the best predictions of later measures of democracy. This finding holds controlling for the impact of structural societal factors, such as economic development, world market integration, ethnic fractionalization, and prior democracy. Further specifications of the causal mechanism show that emancipative attitudes help both to attain and to sustain high levels of democracy. I conclude that a pro-democratic political culture is most firmly rooted in emancipative attitudes." Author: Christian Welzel Source: Center for the Study of Democracy. World Values Survey Research Papers. U.C. Irvine

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The Effects of Health on Health Insurance Status in Fragile Families

"We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study to estimate the effects of poor infant health, pre-pregnancy health conditions of the mother, and the father's health status on health insurance status of urban, mostly unmarried, mothers and their one-year-old children. Virtually all births were covered by health insurance, but one year later about one third of mothers and over 10 percent of children were uninsured. We separately examine births that were covered by public insurance and those that were covered by private insurance. The child's health status had no effect, for the most part, on whether the mother or child became uninsured. For publicly insured births, a maternal physical health condition made it less likely that both the mother and child became uninsured, while maternal mental illness made it more likely that both the mother and child lost insurance coverage. For privately insured births, the father's suboptimal physical health made it more likely that the mother, but not the child, became uninsured." Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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Essays on Indian Economic Policy and Institutional Reform

Abstract: "These essays first appeared as columns in the Financial Express, one of India’s leading financial dailies. Together, they provide what I hope is an integrated perspective on where Indian policy and institutional reform is going, and what remains to be accomplished. Each piece is self-contained, but several themes of institutional reform, especially of governance, run through them. Many of the issues raised are long run problems that transcend the specific time at which the pieces may have been written. These articles also draw on academic empirical and theoretical research wherever possible. Thus, I hope these essays together have some lasting value."

Author: Nirvikar Singh, University of California, Santa Cruz
Center for Global, International and Regional Studies

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How London has changed in the past 108 years - and how it hasn't

"In many ways, London has changed dramatically in the past century. It has sprawled far beyond its 1898 boundaries. The network of underground transport has expanded, and cars have appeared. The city has been bombed in two world wars. The middle classes fled, then returned. Yet when Booth's maps are updated using data from the last census, the changes are less striking than what has stayed the same. Not only do the broad patterns found in the 19th century hold—the East End is still poor, the West End still rich—but so do many local ones." Source: The Economist

Link to online article | link to survey methodology

Once Again, the Future Ain't What It Used to Be

"The idea that each generation of children will grow up to be better off than the one that preceded it has always been a part of the American dream. But barely a third of adults expect things to work out that way for today s children, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

About hald of adults (50%) say that today's children will grow up to be worse of than people are now. A third (34%) say they'll be better off and most of the rest say they aren't sure.

The only major racial or ethnic group which doesn't buy into this pessimistic view of the next generation's future is one that has been much in the news lately - Hispanics."

Source: Pew Research Center

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Tax-Exempt Organizations: Political Activity Restrictions and Disclosure

"Recently, significant attention has been paid to the political activities of tax exempt organizations. In particular, the activities of IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, § 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, § 501(c)(5) labor unions, § 501(c)(6) trade associations, and § 527 political organizations have been scrutinized. This report discusses the limitations that the Internal Revenue Code places on political activity, including lobbying and campaign intervention, by tax exempt organizations. It focuses on the above organizations, but also discusses the restrictions on the other types of tax-exempt organizations. The report ends with a summary of the information that tax-exempt organizations must report to the Internal Revenue Service about their political activities and whether the information must be made publicly available." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Public Preschool and Maternal Labor Supply: Evidence from the Introduction of Kindergartens into American Public Schools.

Abstract: Beginning in the mid-1960s, many state governments, particularly in the South and West, began to subsidize kindergartens for the first time. These initiatives generated wide variation across states over time in the supply of seats for five year olds in public schools. This paper uses the staggered timing and age-targeting of these preschool expansions to examine how the provision of universal child care through public schools affects maternal labor supply. I find that single women with five year olds but no younger children were more likely to be employed once kindergartens were available. The estimated effect is large, implying that three mothers entered the labor force for every ten children enrolled in public school. By contrast, I detect no significant labor supply response among other single women with eligible children or among married mothers of five year olds. These findings complement other research suggesting that preschools targeted toward at-risk populations, such as children in single-parent families, are more cost effective than universal programs. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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The Diffusion of the Internet and the Geography of the Digital Divide in the United States.

Abstract: "This paper analyses the rapid diffusion of the Internet across the United States over the past decade for both households and firms. We put the Internet's diffusion into the context of economic diffusion theory where we consider costs and benefits on the demand and supply side. We also discuss several pictures of the Internet's physical presence using some of the current main techniques for Internet measurement. We highlight different economic perspectives and explanations for the digital divide, that is, unequal availability and use of the Internet." Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006

From the FAQ (pdf):"This bill requires that federal agencies with extramural research expenditures of over $100 million make publicly available via the Internet an electronic version of published articles whose research has been funded by that agency. The manuscript will be maintained and preserved in a digital archive. Through this process, taxpayer funded research will be publicly available via the Internet." Source: U.S. Senator Cornyn [via Online Insider]

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A Comparable Wage Approach to Geographic Cost Adjustment

"In this report, NCES extends the analysis of comparable wages to the labor market level using a Comparable Wage Index (CWI). The basic premise of a CWI is that all types of workers—including teachers—demand higher wages in areas with a higher cost of living (e.g., San Diego) or a lack of amenities (e.g., Detroit, which has a particularly high crime rate) (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2003). This report develops a CWI by combining baseline estimates from the 2000 U.S. census with annual data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Combining the Census with the OES makes it possible to have yearly CWI estimates for states and local labor markets for each year after 1997. OES data are available each May and permit the construction of an up-to-date, annual CWI. The CWI methodology offers many advantages over the previous NCES geographic cost adjustment methodologies, including relative simplicity, timeliness, and intrastate variations in labor costs that are undeniably outside of school district control. However, the CWI is not designed to detect cost variations within labor markets. Thus, all the school districts in the Washington, DC metro area would have the same CWI cost index. Furthermore, as with other geographic cost indices, the CWI methodology does not address possible differences in the level of wages between college graduates outside the education sector and education sector employees. Nor does the report explore the use of these geographic cost adjustments as inflation adjustments (deflators.) These could be areas for fruitful new research on cost adjustments by NCES." Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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Immigration Statistics on the Web

"As immigration legislation is considered by Congress, the need for accurate information relating to immigration and immigrants has increased. This report identifies selected websites that provide general and statistical information on immigration topics. Selected government and organizational website addresses are included. As with all statistics, it is important to note the source and methodology when consulting immigration statistics, taking into account any organizational bias. This report will be updated periodically as new information becomes available and to ensure the currency of the Web addresses." Source: Congressional Research Service.

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Finding Answers Online in Sickness and in Health

"Recent research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that, as more Americans come online, more rely on the internet for important health information. Many Americans are deepening their connections to the internet, whether for entertainment or to help a loved one through a crisis. And though the audience for the latest DVD may be larger than the audience for clinical trial information, the impact on someone’s life in the latter case may be dramatically different in scale. Fully 58% of those who found the internet to be crucial or important during a loved one’s recent health crisis say the single most important source of information was something they found online." Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

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Trafficking In Persons: Global Patterns

The report on "Trafficking In Persons: Global Patterns," published on Monday, April 22, 2006 identifies 127 countries of origin, 98 transit countries and 137 destination countries. It shows that global efforts to combat trafficking are being hampered by a lack of accurate data, reflecting the unwillingness of some countries to acknowledge that the problem affects them.

"It is extremely difficult to establish how many victims there are world-wide as the level of reporting varies considerably, but the number certainly runs into millions," said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. "It is difficult to name a country that is not affected in some way."

The absence of reliable global data, such as UNODC compiles every year on the illegal drugs trade, makes it more difficult for governments and international organizations to fight trafficking effectively.

"Our experience in compiling this report has been that some countries of destination have great difficulty in acknowledging the level of trafficking within and across their borders," Mr Costa said.

"Efforts to counter trafficking have so far been uncoordinated and inefficient. The lack of systematic reporting by authorities is a real problem. Governments need to try harder."

Source: United Nations

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Uniting against terrorism: recommendations for a global counter-terrorism strategy

Report from United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on recommendations for a global counter-terrorism strategy.

"These recommendations stem from a fundamental conviction which we all share: that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, is unacceptable and can never be justified."

"I promote a comprehensive global strategy against terrorism, one that would strengthen the ability of responsible States to counter terrorism and promote the rule of law, all while protecting human rights." Source: United Nations

Link to Uniting against terrorism website


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American Academy of Arts & Sciences 2006 Class of Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members

Academy Announces 2006 Class of Fellows
"The 195 scholars, scientists, artists, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders come from 24 states and 13 countries, and range in age from 37 to 83. Represented among this year's newly elected members are more than 60 universities, a dozen corporations, as well as museums, research institutes, media outlets and foundations."

Link to full list

The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting.

Does media bias affect voting? We address this question by looking at the entry of Fox News in cable markets and its impact on voting. Between October 1996 and November 2000, the conservative Fox News Channel was introduced in the cable programming of 20 percent of US towns. Fox News availability in 2000 appears to be largely idiosyncratic. Using a data set of voting data for 9,256 towns, we investigate if Republicans gained vote share in towns where Fox News entered the cable market by the year 2000. We find a significant effect of the introduction of Fox News on the vote share in Presidential elections between 1996 and 2000. Republicans gain 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points in the towns which broadcast Fox News. The results are robust to town-level controls, district and county fixed effects, and alternative specifications. We also find a significant effect of Fox News on Senate vote share and on voter turnout. Our estimates imply that Fox News convinced 3 to 8 percent of its viewers to vote Republican. We interpret the results in light of a simple model of voter learning about media bias and about politician quality. The Fox News effect could be a temporary learning effect for rational voters, or a permanent effect for voters subject to non-rational persuasion. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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Narrowing Digital Divide

BERLIN (Reuters) - The digital divide is narrowing as citizens in emerging markets get online via computers and mobile phones, with some regions now on a par with developed nations, a ranking of Web-savvy nations showed on Wednesday.

"Encouraging is the apparent narrowing of the digital divide," said the annual study published by U.S. computer company International Business Machines Corp. and the intelligence unit of British magazine The Economist.

"This is particularly evident in basic connectivity: emerging markets are providing the vast majority of the world's new phone and Internet connections," the study found.

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The Study:
The 2006 e-readiness rankings
A white paper from the Economist Intelligence Unit
Written in co-operation with the IBM Institute for Business Value

"With over 1bn Internet users and 2bn mobile-phone users worldwide, and continual progress in most qualitative indicators of technology-related development, the world in early 2006 may be proclaimed ever more “e-ready”. This year’s e-readiness rankings reflect such progress, as all but two countries have improved their scores from the previous year. Most of the rankings’ top players have moved upwards in lock step, and there has been little real movement in the broader ranks from 2005 to 2006 (although the addition of three new countries this year has pushed some down the list)."

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Understanding Iran: People, Politics and Power

"The Foreign Policy Centre this week launched Understanding Iran: People, Politics and Power, a report authored by Hugh Barnes and Alex Bigham of the Foreign Policy Centre. The report seeks to map out the diverse and diffuse power structures in Iran, analyse some of the personalities involved, and look at the potential for civil society." Source: The Foreign Policy Centre (UK)


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Gender Equity in the Academic Labor Market: An Analysis of Academic Disciplines

"Women faculty earn less than men do, even after controlling for an array of individual characteristics and disciplinary labor market conditions and structural characteristics. As previous research has suggested, simply controlling for human capital greatly reduces the wage gap. In the uncontrolled model, females earned approximately 22% less than did males. After including controls for experience, seniority, research productivity, teaching, and education, the wage gap dropped to slightly less than 8%. Labor market effects reduced the gap even further to 6.8%. However, the 6.8% gap found in the final models is not trivial and translates to approximately $5,400 in annual salary." Source: American Educational Research Association

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Time to Degree of U.S. Research Doctorate Recipients

"This InfoBrief looks at the relationship between doctorate field and average time-to-degree differences. Broad field of study differences in time to degree are first examined over a 25-year span, then differences across more detailed fields are described in terms of standard Carnegie classifications of doctorate-granting institutions for the 2002–03 academic year, hereafter referred to as 2003. Data are also broken down within fields of study by the recipients' primary source of financial support while earning their doctorate, and by whether the recipient earned a master's degree in the same field." Source: National Science Foundation

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Groups Perform Better Than the Best Individuals on Letters-to-Numbers Problems: Effects of Group Size

"Groups of three, four, or five perform better on complex problem solving than the best of an equivalent number of individuals, says a new study appearing in the April issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA). This finding may transfer to scientific research teams and classroom problem solving and offer new ways for students to study and improve academic performance, according to the study authors."

"We found that groups of size three, four, and five outperformed the best individuals and attribute this performance to the ability of people to work together to generate and adopt correct responses, reject erroneous responses, and effectively process information," said lead author Patrick Laughlin, PhD., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Source: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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The Devaluing of Higher Education: The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2005–06.

For the second consecutive year, the increase in overall average salaries for college and university professors failed to keep up with the rate of inflation. That is one of the central findings of “The Devaluing of Higher Education: The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2005–06.”

The AAUP’s annual report has been an authoritative source of data on faculty salaries and compensation for decades. This year’s findings call into question assertions contained in an issue paper on college costs prepared recently for the U.S. Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The paper, by commission consultant Robert C. Dickeson, claims that “faculty salaries are especially expensive,” and that “the time-honored practice of tenure is costly.” AAUP data, however, indicate that overall average faculty salaries remain depressed as a result of a long-term pattern of insufficient investment in faculty. Source: American Association of University Professors

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Prevalence of deliberate self harm and attempted suicide within contemporary Goth youth subculture: longitudinal cohort study

"Identification by youth aged 19 as belonging to the Goth subculture was the best predictor of self harm and suicide attempt. This effect was not attenuated by adjusting for identification with any other youth subculture. Self harm could be a normative component of Goth subculture including emulation of subcultural icons or peers who self harm (modelling mechanisms). Alternatively, it could be explained by selection, with young people with a particular propensity to self harm being attracted to the subculture." Source: British Medical Journal


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Is there a Human Right to Free Movement? Immigration and Original Ownership of the Earth

Abstract: To what extent is a country allowed to regulate immigration into its territory, and thus to determine who lives there? Acts of immigration amount to changes in two distinct relationships. They amount to a change in political relationships, since the immigrant alters her political standing within one community and acquires a new political status in her country of admission. Immigration represents, however, also an alteration in physical relationship, since the individual acquires a relationship to a particular piece of territory, making a life for herself with the resources offered by a specific part of the earth. This last form of relationship, we contend, is worthy of independent examination from the standpoint of justice, and opening up that line of inquiry is what this study seeks to do. This inquiry begins from the relationship of people to property, and asks whether that relationship imposes independent moral constraints on immigration controls. Source: Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University working paper series

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A Formula for Successful Grant Writing: Four Proven Keys

"Like fund-raising, grant writing can be an effective means of acquiring resources beyond institutional allocations. Unlike fund-raising, however, grant writing is largely nonverbal, based instead on formal writing skills."

Article goes on to provide information on reviewers' expectations and outlines keys for success.

Source: Academic Leader : Newsletter for academic deans and department chairs.

Link to online article

Self-Enforcing Democracy

Abstract : If democracy is to have any of the good effects said to justify it, it must be self-enforcing. Those who control the government must want to hold regular, competitive elections for the highest offices, and all parties must be willing to comply with the results. I consider a model in which citizens can always protest or rebel against the current ruler, but can unseat the ruler only if enough people rebel. When individuals privately observe a signal of the government's performance (e.g. their own welfare), they face a difficult problem of how to coordinate to pose a credible threat of rebellion necessary to keep the ruler from stealing. Further, if the signals are noisy, inefficient rebellions must occur in equilibrium to keep the ruler honest. Allowing for the possibility of elections makes for equilibria that eliminate both problems. The convention of holding elections at particular times provides a public signal for coordinating rebellion in the event that elections are suspended of blatantly rigged. The electoral results themselves aggregate private information about the ruler's performance, providing the ruler an incentive to stick to the terms. Int he case of noisy signals of government performance, the electoral results act as a cheap talk signal that allows the public to commit to rebel if a losing ruler does not step down, avoiding the need for costly rebellions. These arguments pose an explanation for self-enforcing democracy, whereas the several models in the literature do not because they do not explain why anyone would want to use elections to allocate power. Author/Source: James Fearon, "Self-Enforcing Democracy " (April 19, 2006). Institute of Governmental Studies, U.C. Berkeley.

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On Wars and Political Development. The Role of International Conflicts in the Democratization of the West

Abstract: We investigate the role played by international conflicts in the processes of national political development with particular attention to the transition from autocracy toward democracy. We argue that, if a country is endangered by some outside threat, its elite may find optimal to concede democracy or income redistribution to the masses in order to increase their patriotism and their war effort. This in turn increases the chances of victory of the country so avoiding to the elite severe income losses. We provide historical evidence for some Western countries that confirms this theory. Source: Institute of Governmental Studies, U.C. Berkeley

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The Internet’s Growing Role in Life’s Major Moments

The internet has become increasingly important to users in their everyday lives. It is also the case that for many of online Americans, the internet has become a crucial source of information at major moments and milestones in their lives.

Our surveys show that 45% of internet users, or about 60 million Americans, say that the internet helped them make big decisions or negotiate their way through major episodes in their lives in the previous two years.

To explore this phenomenon, we fielded the Major Moments Survey in March 2005, that repeated elements of an earlier January 2002 survey. Comparison of the two surveys revealed striking increases in the number of Americans who report that the internet played a crucial or important role in various aspects of their lives. Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project

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Cooperation with Rivals

Abstract: The common characteristic of R&D joint ventures between oligopolistic competitors, arms reduction talks, and study groups in law school is cooperation with rivals. Players benefit from cooperation, but any gain by their partner weakens their own position when competing for profits, security, or a high class ranking. I construct a model in which players have different resource endowments and can increase them through bilateral cooperation. The final allocations enter a contest success function and determine each player’s probability of winning a fixed prize. A refinement of Nash equilibrium, Pairwise Stable Nash Equilibrium (PSNE), is defined to deal with the need for mutual consent to establish cooperation. Results show that universal full cooperation is a PSNE in this zero-sum game without repeated play if no player predominates, and the only PSNE if players are free to negotiate side-payments. The model is then applied to trade between the US and China. Source: Department of Economics, UCSC

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State Finances in India: A Case for Systemic Reform

This paper provides a self-contained overview of the present problems of state finances in India. It begins with an overview of historical evolution and current institutional structures, including economic, political, administrative and fiscal aspects of India’s federal system. The paper then reviews the current situation of India’s state government finances, going on to consider various developments that have shaped the states’ current fiscal situation, including the roles of national economic reform, the intergovernmental transfer system, tax reform, and local government reform. Policy options for reforming institutions of fiscal federalism system, borrowing mechanisms for the states, and governance are then discussed, with an emphasis on the principle that states should have appropriate incentives for fiscal discipline at the margins of revenue and expenditure. Source: Department of Economics, UCSC

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Lost, Dysfunctional or Evolving? A View of Business Schools from Silicon Valley

ABSTRACT:
Recent articles have rekindled discussions around the direction and relevance of US business schools. The two main viewpoints are distinct but equally critical. On one hand, business schools are considered overly focused on “scientific research” and having lost their connection to “real world” and management issues. On the other hand, schools are considered “dysfunctionally” focused on media rankings and short-term superficial marketing fixes. Our study of educational opportunities and workforce development in Silicon Valley suggests a different viewpoint. We agree that both approaches correctly identify the challenge of preparing managers in globalized world. However, we believe they misdiagnose the cause of the failure. Rather than being lost or dysfunctional, we believe business programs — like the firms and students they serve — are in the process of evolving to meet a shifting global and local environment. Our findings indicate that business schools face structural, content, and program shifts. Educationally, business programs continue to be seen as doing a good job of educating their students in core functional areas and processes. However, they do less well in teaching their graduates interpersonal skills, real-time decision-making, recognition of contexts, and integration across functional areas. These are increasingly the skills demanded by the global business environment. Even more challenging is meeting the demand for both sets of skills within very specialized fields like technology management. Structurally, new types of students and learning demands are placing stresses on traditional full-time two-year programs and their business models. Women and minority groups increasingly form the majority of the future student population, with distinct needs and demands for part-time and executive education. This shift is also evident in demands for life-long learning and engagement as opposed to a fixed, one-shot program experiences. These challenges require business schools to build upon what they do well, while innovating to serve new business and student needs. Source: Department of Economics, UCSC

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Immigration Enforcement Within the United States

"Many divergent tasks are incorporated under the banner of immigration enforcement. These include removing aliens who should not be in the United States, investigating alien smuggling and trafficking, patrolling between and at ports of entry, combating document and benefit fraud, and enforcing the prohibitions against employers hiring aliens without work authorization. Historically, more resources (measured in staff hours) have been allotted to enforcement at the border than enforcement within the United States. While the amount of U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) resources almost doubled between FY1997 and FY2003, time spent on other enforcement activities increased only slightly, while the number of inspection hours decreased. Furthermore, focusing on "interior" enforcement, in FY2003, the largest amount of staff time was devoted to locating and arresting criminal aliens (39%), followed by administrative and non-investigative duties (23%) and alien smuggling investigations (15%). Only 4% was devoted to worksite enforcement (i.e., locating and arresting aliens working without authorization, and punishing employers who hire such workers)."

"The 109th Congress has spent much time debating immigration enforcement and the unauthorized alien population. Congress could allocate more resources to immigration enforcement activities, raising the question of what is the most efficient allocation of resources among the different enforcement tasks. For example, some assert that the United States has not truly tried immigration enforcement, arguing that most of the resources have been devoted to border enforcement, instead of fully engaging in other types of immigration enforcement; others contend that only a legalization program can reduce the unauthorized population. In addition, Congress could expand the immigration enforcement role of other federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. Many fear, however, that this option will distract the agencies and local law enforcement from their primary missions. Since many of the unauthorized aliens come to the United States for economic opportunities, some argue that a guest worker program, creating opportunities for a large number of aliens to come to the United States to work, could significantly reduce unauthorized migration. Others argue that an increase in the enforcement of the prohibition against hiring illegal alien workers and the use and manufacturing of fraudulent documents would make it more difficult for unauthorized aliens to find work, resulting in a decrease in the unauthorized population." Source: Congressional Research Service

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The Politics of the Millennial Generation: A New Survey Comparing Political Attitudes Between Generations

"Our research suggests that, as in other areas of individual and societal life, the social and political environment into which each generation emerged influenced the political beliefs and perceptions of that generation. While it is true that generational variations in political attitudes, perceptions, and behavior are not as sharp as those based on strictly political variables such as self-perceived party identification and political ideology, generational political differences do exist. These generational political differences have the potential to influence election results, the style and tone of political discussion, and public policy direction as each succeeding generation emerges to shape and even dominate the political process as voters and office holders." Source: New Politics Institute

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Improving Opportunities and Incentives for Saving by Middle- and Low-Income Households

"First, we would require every firm (with possible exceptions for the smallest businesses) to enroll its new workers automatically in at least one plan: a traditional defined benefit plan, a 401(k), or an IRA. Businesses also would be required to set various features of the plans in a "pro-saving" manner, although workers always would have the option to override those "pro-saving" defaults. Second, our proposal would replace current tax deductions for contributions to tax-preferred retirement accounts with a new program providing universal matching contributions from the government for household deposits to 401(k)s and IRAs. Unlike the current system under which low-income households enjoy much weaker immediate incentives to contribute than high-income households, all households making a qualified contribution to a 401(k) or IRA would receive the same 30 percent match from the government. We also propose other changes to the retirement system to promote lifetime annuities." Source: The Brookings Institution (Hamilton Project)

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Looking at Act II of Women’s Lives: Thriving & Striving from 45 On

"Much of the research revealed a sense of false confidence among many women 45+ as it explored perceptions alongside day-to-day realities of financial issues such as savings, retirement planning and emergency funds." Source: AARP Policy & Research

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No country in the world treats its women as well as its men

"Gender equity is far from being achieved. The opportunities available to men and women are unequal in every country in the world. Almost 70% of the world's poor are women. The most obvious inequities are seen in the economic and political spheres. The exclusion of women is clearly visible in the political sphere. Although they account for more than half of the world's population, women occupy only 15% percent of seats in the world's parliaments on average. According to international studies, in order for women to exercise real influence on political processes, they would have to hold at least 30% of political positions." Source: Social Watch

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Life expectancy: women now on top everywhere

"The year 2006 should not be allowed to pass without at least a quiet celebration that this is the first year in human history when -- across almost all the world -- women can expect to enjoy a longer life expectancy than men. That the trend is moving in this direction will probably be confirmed this week in the 2006 world health report." Source: British Medical Journal

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U.S. Occupation Assistance: Iraq, Germany and Japan Compared

"This report provides aggregate data on U.S. assistance to Iraq and compares it with U.S. assistance to Germany and Japan during the seven years following World War II. U.S. aid allocations (all grant assistance ) for Iraq appropriated from 2003 to 2006 total $28.9 billion. About $17.6 billion (62%) went for economic and political reconstruction assistance. The remaining $10.9 billion (38%) was targeted at bolstering Iraqi security. A higher proportion of Iraqi aid has been provided for economic reconstruction of critical infrastructure than was the case for Germany and Japan. Total U.S. assistance to Iraq thus far is roughly equivalent to total assistance (adjusted for inflation) provided to Germany — and almost double that provided to Japan — from 1946-1952." Source: Congressional Research Service

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TRAC Immigration Info Web Site

"Developed with the support of the JEHT Foundation, the Ford Foundation and Syracuse University, the site offers one-stop shopping for a broad array of authoritative information about what is now one of the largest single enforcement and control efforts in the United States. The first edition of TRAC's new site, among other features, includes: (1) separate clearly written reports on important immigration matters, (2) a special TRAC tool that provides one-click access to the very latest monthly data on criminal enforcement of the immigration laws, along with a clear explanatory text, (3) an extensive library of immigration reports by the GAO, CRS and inspectors general, (4) a plain English glossary of frequently used words and acronyms and much more." Source: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)/Syracuse University.

link to TRAC Immigration Info Web Site

Ex-Aide to Tom DeLay’s Plea Agreement

"The purpose of the conspiracy was for defendant Rudy and his coconspirators to unjustly enrich themselves by corruptly accepting and providing a stream of things of value with the intent to influence and reward official acts, making misrepresentations to their own clients and attempting to influence Members of Congress in violation of the law."

Source: U.S. Courts (via FindLaw)

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America's Immigration Quandary

"Americans are increasingly concerned about immigration. A growing number believe that immigrants are a burden to the country, taking jobs and housing and creating strains on the health care system. Many people also worry about the cultural impact of the expanding number of newcomers in the U.S. Yet the public remains largely divided in its views of the overall effect of immigration. Roughly as many believe that newcomers to the U.S. strengthen American society as say they threaten traditional American values, and over the longer term, positive views of Latin American immigrants, in particular, have improved dramatically. Reflecting this ambivalence, the public is split over many of the policy proposals aimed at dealing with the estimated 11.5 million-12 million unauthorized migrants in the U.S. Overall, 53% say people who are in the U.S. illegally should be required to go home, while 40% say they should be granted some kind of legal status that allows them to stay here." Source: Pew Hispanic Center

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Working Against the Clock: The Implementation of Welfare Time Limits in California

"This report is the first in a series aimed at fully understanding the effects of the 60-month CalWORKs time limit. It describes the state’s and counties’ early efforts to implement CalWORKs timelimit policies." Source: Welfare Policy Research Project, U.C. Berkeley

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