bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
2006 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS WATER MARKETS IN THE WEST: PRICES, TRADING, AND CONTRACTUAL FORMS
Authors: BREWER JEDIDIAH , GLENNON ROBERT , KER ALAN , LIBECAP GARY
Published: January 2010

Rising urban and environmental demand for water has created growing pressure to reallocate water from traditional agricultural uses. The evolution of water markets has been more complicated than those for other resources. In this paper, we first explain these differences by examining water rights and regulatory issues. Second, we place our research in the context of the economics literature on water marketing. Third, we present new, comprehensive data on prices and the extent, nature, and timing of water transfers across 12 western states from 1987 to 2005. We find that prices are higher for agriculture‐to‐urban trades versus within‐agriculture trades, in part, reflecting the differences in marginal values between the two uses. Prices for urban use are also growing relative to agricultural use. Markets are responding in that the number of agriculture‐to‐urban transactions is rising, whereas the number of agriculture‐to‐agriculture transfers is not. Further, there is a shift from using short‐term leases to using multiyear leases of water and permanent sales of water rights. This pattern underscores the need to consider the amounts of water obligated over time rather than examining only annual flows in assessing the quantities of water traded as is the common practice in the literature. Considering water obligated over time, termed committed water, we find significantly more is transferred and the direction of trading is different than if the focus is on annual flows. Finally, the data reveal considerable variation in water trading across the states. (JEL Q2, N5, L5, K3)
AN ASSESSMENT OF CAUSAL INFERENCE IN SMOKING INITIATION RESEARCH AND A FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Authors: HECKMAN JAMES J. , FLYER FREDRICK , LOUGHLIN COLLEEN
Published: January 2010

Reliably identifying the causal factors underlying youth smoking initiation is an important part of developing effective smoking prevention programs and shaping other types of smoking‐related policies. The establishment of reliable scientific evidence in support of a causal link between cigarette advertising and youth smoking initiation depends on both rich longitudinal data as well as careful empirical applications. We examine basic principles of empirical scientific investigation of potential causal relationships, discuss findings of recent research on causal factors of youth smoking, and evaluate evidence from the public health literature regarding the effects of cigarette advertising on youth smoking. (JEL I18, C5)
DO CAPITAL ADEQUACY REQUIREMENTS MATTER FOR MONETARY POLICY?
Authors: CECCHETTI STEPHEN G. , LI LIANFA
Published: January 2010

Central bankers and financial supervisors can have conflicting goals. While monetary policymakers work to ensure sufficient lending activities as a foundation for high and stable economic growth, supervisors may limit banks’ lending capacities in order to prevent excessive risk taking. We show that, in theory, central bankers can avoid this potential conflict by adopting an interest rate strategy that takes accounts of capital adequacy requirements. Empirical evidence suggests that while policymakers at the Federal Reserve have adjusted their interest rate to neutralizing the procyclical impact of bank capital requirements, those in Germany and Japan have not. (JEL E52, E58, G21)
RELIEF FOR THE ENVIRONMENT? THE IMPORTANCE OF AN INCREASINGLY UNIMPORTANT INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
Authors: GASSEBNER MARTIN , GASTON NOEL , LAMLA MICHAEL J
Published: January 2010

Deindustrialization, stagnant real incomes of production workers, and increasing inequality are latter day features of many economies. It is common to assume that such developments pressure policymakers to relax environmental standards. However, when heavily polluting industries become less important economically, their political importance also tends to diminish. Consequently, a regulator may increase the stringency of environmental policies. Like some other studies, we find that declining industrial employment translates into stricter environmental standards. In contrast to previous studies, but consistent with our argument, we find that greater income inequality is associated with policies that promote a cleaner environment. (JEL Q58, P16, J31, C23)
DIFFERENTIAL DEPOSIT GUARANTEES AND THE EFFECT OF MONETARY POLICY ON BANK LENDING
Authors: OPIELA TIMOTHY P.
Published: January 2010

This paper utilizes differences in de jure deposit insurance coverage across banks and changes in coverage over time to identify a bank‐lending channel in Poland. Banks with partial guarantees have a stronger loan response to monetary policy than banks with full guarantees. Furthermore, the weak response of the fully guaranteed banks is attributed to their ability to raise low‐reserve, uninsured time deposits relative to the partially covered banks. When differential coverage is eliminated, there is no disparity in the loan response between the two groups. This lending channel has implications for credit control and financial system development in emerging markets. (JEL E52, G21, G28)
THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF MILITARY SERVICE: EVIDENCE FROM THE VIETNAM DRAFT
Authors: DOBKIN CARLOS , SHABANI REZA
Published: January 2010

There is a strong cross‐sectional association between military service and adverse health. However, veterans differ very significantly in their observable characteristics from nonveterans, suggesting that some of the association between military service and adverse health may be due to omitted variables bias. To address this problem, we use draft eligibility as an instrument for military service. Despite a very strong first‐stage relationship between draft eligibility and military service, the two‐stage least squares estimates of the difference in health between veterans and nonveterans are statistically insignificant and too imprecise to preclude the differences in health found in the cross‐sectional regressions. (JEL H56, I12, I18)
THE IMPACT OF PAYING INTEREST ON RESERVES IN THE PRESENCE OF GOVERNMENT DEFICIT FINANCING
Authors: GUZMAN MARK G.
Published: January 2010

This paper reexamines the impact that paying interest on reserves has on price level indeterminacy, volatility, and economic well‐being. Unlike the previous literature, this model includes an after‐tax deficit financed by assets (bonds and reserves) whose returns are linked. I show that the number of steady‐state equilibria and the corresponding level of indeterminacy are equal to, or greater than, those arising in the no‐interest economy. When the level of indeterminacy is the same, the economic volatility is reduced by paying interest. However, greater indeterminacy in the interest economy results in greater volatility. Finally, paying interest on reserves can enhance welfare. (JEL D6, E3, E5)
FISHES, PONDS, AND PRODUCTIVITY: STUDENT‐ADVISOR MATCHING AND EARLY CAREER PUBLISHING SUCCESS FOR ECONOMICS PHDS
Authors: HILMER MICHAEL J. , HILMER CHRISTIANA E.
Published: January 2010

We examine a unique data set containing information on a PhD recipient’s dissertation advisor, graduate program, and early career publishing success. Regressions controlling for the ranking of both the student’s graduate program and dissertation advisor confirm that, all else equal, students working with prominent advisors are significantly more likely to publish in their early careers, especially in top 36 journals, than students working with less prominent advisors. Moreover, predicted publication values suggest that students attending lower ranked programs but working with superstar faculty publish both more total and top 36 articles and more quality‐adjusted pages than students attending top‐ranked programs but working with less prominent advisors. (JEL J24, A11, A23)
MANAGERS’ COMPENSATION AND MISREPORTING: A COSTLY STATE VERIFICATION APPROACH
Authors: BAGLIONI ANGELO , COLOMBO LUCA
Published: January 2010

We look for the optimal shareholder‐manager contract leading to high effort and truthful revelation of firm performance. This twofold incentive compatibility constraint calls for a convex compensation scheme (a fixed wage plus a stock option) coupled with a state contingent audit. In order to reduce expected verification costs, an optimal stock option plan assigns the manager a large number of options with high strike price. It is suggested that focusing the audit activity (and supervision) on the exercise of stock option packages is a better solution to the problem of misreporting than giving up stock options as a compensation tool. (JEL D82, G30, M40, M52)
PRODUCTIVITY CHANGES OF ASIAN ECONOMIES BY TAKING INTO ACCOUNT SOFTWARE PIRACY
Authors: DING CHERNG G. , LIU NA‐TING
Published: January 2010

For the past two decades, the fast‐developing Asia has emerged as one of the most important economic regions. However, its economic growth is accompanied with severe software piracy. This paper analyzes productivity changes of 11 Asian economies and 4 non‐Asian industrialized economies by taking into account software piracy using the Malmquist productivity index and its two components, efficiency change and technical change over the period 1994–2002. The results indicate that when software piracy is included, productivity growth in Asian developing economies regresses, while productivity growth in the four non‐Asian industrialized economies improves. Interpretation and implications are provided. (JEL L86, O34)
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE VALUATION OF EMPLOYER‐PROVIDED HEALTH INSURANCE
Authors: DANESHVARY NASSER , CLAURETIE TERRENCE M.
Published: January 2010

We present evidence that accurate estimates of the labor‐earning/employer‐provided health insurance trade‐off must account for two different effects: the heterogeneity of jobs and the endogeneity of health insurance. The size of the trade‐off depends on employees’ contribution to premiums, health‐care needs, and valuation of insurance. We use Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data and instrumental variables/two‐stage least squares. On average, workers accept about 16.5% to 20% lower earnings in return for insurance, and married women value insurance by about 3.5 percentage points more than married men, explaining about 3% of the gender‐earning differentials. Health insurance does not contribute to the unexplained portion of the gender‐pay gap. (JEL J3, J7, I1)
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE GROWTH ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVE
Authors: WANG MIAO , WONG M. C. SUNNY
Published: January 2010

A positive relationship between FDI and economic growth under two economic conditions has been estimated: a sufficient level of human capital and well‐developed financial markets, respectively. However, these two conditions can be fundamentally different catalysts for FDI to promote economic growth in the perspective of growth accounting. Using data from 69 countries over 1970–1989, we find that FDI promotes productivity growth only when the host country reaches a threshold level of human capital; and FDI promotes capital growth only when a certain level of financial development is achieved. (JEL F21)
ON THE EFFICIENCY OF AC/DC: BON SCOTT VERSUS BRIAN JOHNSON
Authors: OXOBY ROBERT J.
Published: January 2010

We use tools from experimental economics to address the age‐old debate regarding who was a better singer in the band AC/DC. Our results suggest that (using wealth maximization as a measure of “better”) listening to Brian Johnson (relative to listening to Bon Scott) resulted in “better” outcomes in an ultimatum game. These results may have important implications for settling drunken music debates and environmental design issues in organizations. (JEL C7, C9, D6, Z1)
POPULATION GROWTH AND INDUSTRIALIZATION
Authors: ZHOU HAIWEN
Published: January 2010

The role of population growth in the process of industrialization is studied in a general equilibrium model. It provides a formal presentation of Rostow’s insight of the role of a leading sector in industrialization. Population growth may lead to a shortage of food and a breakdown of the industrialization process. However, population growth may benefit the manufacturing sector in the adoption of increasing returns to scale technologies. Elasticity of demand for agricultural goods plays an important role in determining whether an improvement of agricultural technology or an increase of population is beneficial to the manufacturing sector. A comparison of China and Britain before the Industrial Revolution shows that research and development are necessary for sustained growth. Achieving industrialization independently requires a combination of a sufficiently large market size from the demand side and a sufficiently large supply of technologies from the supply side. (JELO14, E10, N10, Q01)
RISK TAKING IN CONTESTS AND THE ROLE OF CARROTS AND STICKS
Authors: GILPATRIC SCOTT M
Published: January 2010

We study contests in which contestants choose both work effort and the variance of output (risk). Winner‐take‐all contests generate incentives for contestants to engage in costly risk taking, which is inefficient if the contest organizer values the aggregate output of all contestants. The addition of a penalty for ranking last (retaining a prize for ranking first) enables the organizer to independently control contestants’ incentives to exert productive effort and to increase output variance. In this way, the organizer can eliminate risk‐seeking behavior in settings where it is wasteful, but also control risk seeking when it is desirable, such as in research tournaments. (JEL J33, C72)
THE EFFECTS OF FINANCIAL EDUCATION IN THE WORKPLACE: EVIDENCE FROM A SURVEY OF EMPLOYERS
Authors: BAYER PATRICK J. , BERNHEIM B. DOUGLAS , SCHOLZ JOHN KARL
Published: January 2010

We examine the effects of education on financial decision‐making skills by identifying an interesting source of variation in pertinent training. During the 1990s, an increasing number of individuals were exposed to programs of financial education provided by their employers. If, as some have argued, low saving frequently results from a failure to appreciate economic vulnerabilities, then education of this form could prove to have a powerful effect on behavior. The current article undertakes an analysis of these programs using a previously unexploited survey of employers. We find that both participation in and contributions to voluntary savings plans are significantly higher when employers offer retirement seminars. The effect is typically much stronger for nonhighly compensated employees than for highly compensated employees. The frequency of seminars emerges as a particularly important correlate of behavior. We are unable to detect any effects of written materials, such as newsletters and summary plan descriptions, regardless of frequency. We also present evidence on other determinants of plan activity.
PATERNITY DEFERMENTS AND THE TIMING OF BIRTHS: U.S. NATALITY DURING THE VIETNAM WAR
Authors: KUTINOVA ANDREA
Published: January 2010

During the conflict in Vietnam, married men with dependents could obtain a deferment from the draft. In 1965, following President Johnson’s Executive Order 11241 and a subsequent Selective Service System announcement, the particulars of this policy changed substantially in a way which provided strong incentives for childless American couples to conceive a first‐born child. This study examines the effects of the intervention on the decision to start a family. In my empirical analysis, I use data from the Vital Statistics for the period 1963–1968 and employ a difference‐in‐differences methodology. The estimated magnitude of the effect is substantial. (JEL J18)
SCHOOLS, SKILLS, AND SYNAPSES
Authors: HECKMAN JAMES J.
Published: January 2010

This paper discusses (a) the role of cognitive and noncognitive ability in shaping adult outcomes, (b) the early emergence of differentials in abilities between children of advantaged families and children of disadvantaged families, (c) the role of families in creating these abilities, (d) adverse trends in American families, and (e) the effectiveness of early interventions in offsetting these trends. Practical issues in the design and implementation of early childhood programs are discussed. (JEL A12)
PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DIFFUSION THROUGH FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
Authors: WOO JAEJOON
Published: January 2010

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has dramatically increased worldwide and is the most important form of all private capital flows to developing countries. Yet, it is an important empirical question whether FDI affects total factor productivity (TFP) positively. We investigate the effect of FDI on TFP growth in a large sample of countries in 1970–2000. Our econometric results indicate that FDI has a positive and direct effect on TFP growth. However, we do not find any evidence that the impact of FDI on TFP growth is only conditional on the recipient country’s capability to absorb foreign technology. We carefully address the robustness of the empirical results. (JEL O11, O40, O47, F21)
STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF HOUSEHOLD AND FIRM CREDIT ON THE TRADE BALANCE: THE COMPOSITION OF FUNDS MATTERS
Authors: BÜYÜKKARABACAK BERRAK , KRAUSE STEFAN
Published: January 2010

In this article, we focus on distinguishing between household and corporate sector credit and investigate the effects these two types of credit have on the trade balance. A higher level of private credit indicates better developed financial markets and easier credit access for businesses and households. Yet, both types of borrowers vary in terms of the use of credit. Our model and empirical analysis suggest that the composition of credit does matter for the trade balance: lending to consumers has a negative effect on net exports, while firm loans contribute to a rise in net exports. (JEL F32, F41, G21)
DOES THE MINIMUM LEGAL DRINKING AGE SAVE LIVES?
Authors: MIRON JEFFREY A. , TETELBAUM ELINA
Published: January 2010

The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) is widely believed to save lives by reducing traffic fatalities among underage drivers. Further, the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act, which pressured all states to adopt an MLDA of 21, is regarded as having contributed enormously to this life‐saving effect. This article challenges both claims. State‐level panel data for the past 30 yr show that any nationwide impact of the MLDA is driven by states that increased their MLDA prior to any inducement from the federal government. Even in early‐adopting states, the impact of the MLDA did not persist much past the year of adoption. The MLDA appears to have only a minor impact on teen drinking. (JEL H11, K42)
Chronobiological aspects of food intake and metabolism and their relevance on energy balance and weight regulation
Authors: Ekmekcioglu C. , Touitou Y.
Published: January 2010

Overweight and obesity are the result of a chronic positive energy balance, and therefore the only effective therapies are a diet which, on the long term, provides lower calories than the daily expended energy and exercise. Because nearly every physiological and biochemical function of the body shows circadian variations it can be suggested that also different chronobiological aspects of food intake, like time of day, meal frequency and regularity, and also circadian desynchronizations like in shift work may affect energy metabolism and weight regulation. The aim of this review is therefore to summarize and discuss studies that have addressed these issues in the past and to also provide an overview about circadian variations of selected aspects of metabolism, gut physiology and also factors that may influence overall energy regulation. The results show that a chronic desynchronization of the circadian system like in shift work and also sleep deprivation can favour the development of obesity. Also, regarding energy balance, a higher meal frequency and regular eating pattern seem to be more advantageous than taking the meals irregularly and seldom. Additional studies are required to conclude whether time of day‐dependent food intake significantly influences weight regulation in humans.
Household size and residential water demand: an empirical approach*
Authors: Arbués Fernando , Villanúa Inmaculada , Barberán Ramón
Published: January 2010

The effectiveness of pricing policies depends on the price elasticity of consumption. It is well documented that residential demand for water is influenced by heterogeneity associated with differences in the size of the household and socioeconomic characteristics. In this paper, we focus on household size. Our initial hypothesis is that users’ sensitivity to changes in price is different depending on the number of household members. To this end, we carry out an empirical estimation of urban water demand in Zaragoza (Spain) distinguishing between households with different sizes using data at the individual level. As far as we are aware, this approach to urban residential water demand is new in the literature. The analysis suggests that all households are sensitive to prices regardless of size. A more relevant finding is that small households are more sensitive to price changes.
A Unified Theory of Development: A Dialectic Integration of Nature and Nurture
Authors: Sameroff Arnold
Published: February 2010

The understanding of nature and nurture within developmental science has evolved with alternating ascendance of one or the other as primary explanations for individual differences in life course trajectories of success or failure. A dialectical perspective emphasizing the interconnectedness of individual and context is suggested to interpret the evolution of developmental science in similar terms to those necessary to explain the development of individual children. A unified theory of development is proposed to integrate personal change, context, regulation, and representational models of development.
Local Additive Estimation
Authors: Park Juhyun , Seifert Burkhardt
Published: January 2010

Additive models are popular in high dimensional regression problems owing to their flexibility in model building and optimality in additive function estimation. Moreover, they do not suffer from the so-called curse of dimensionality generally arising in non-parametric regression settings. Less known is the model bias that is incurred from the restriction to the additive class of models. We introduce a new class of estimators that reduces additive model bias, yet preserves some stability of the additive estimator. The new estimator is constructed by localizing the additivity assumption and thus is named the local additive estimator. It follows the spirit of local linear estimation but is shown to be able to relieve partially the dimensionality problem. Implementation can be easily made with any standard software for additive regression. For detailed analysis we explicitly use the smooth backfitting estimator of Mammen, Linton and Nielsen.
INTO CLEANNESS LEAPING: THE VERTIGINOUS URGE TO COMMIT HISTORY
Authors: RUNIA EELCO
Published: January 2010

Surely one of the key issues in historiography is how to account for those mind‐boggling and sometimes extremely bloody events in which we enter something really, sublimely new. In this essay my point of departure is that retrospectively it is almost impossible even for the historical actors themselves to get access to the contingent, irrational, “sacrilegious” aspect of the sublime event they brought about. In order to get a grip on the evanescent essence of the historical sublime, I propose to bring to a head, instead of leveling down, the tension that characterizes all historical and biographical discontinuities: the tension between the fact that discontinuities are made by the participants, yet are portrayed by these very participants as having come as a surprise. I will argue that discontinuity is not a regrettable side‐effect of our ambition to attain goals that are in line with our identity, but that every now and then we give in to the urge to cut ourselves loose from our moorings. A key concept of the perspective that with sublime historical events “in the beginning is the deed” is vertigo. Vertigo may feel like a fear of falling, but really it is a wish to jump, covered by a fear of falling. Vertigo predisposes, as psychoanalysts say, to “counterphobic” behavior. Giving in to vertigo is a strategy for escaping from an unbearable tension by doing something—by breaking apart from what one used to cherish, by eating the apple, by committing an “original sin”. Making history—in the sense of embarking upon something that is as sublimely new as the French Revolution or the First World War—thus is not a matter of pursuing some interest but of willfully fleeing forward into the unknown.
THE TRUE FACE OF MOUNT LU: ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PERSPECTIVES AND PARADIGMS1
Authors: LONGXI ZHANG
Published: January 2010

From a hermeneutic point of view, understanding is always conditioned by one's own horizon and perspective. as the great poet Su Shi remarks, we do not know the “true face of Mount Lu” because what we see constantly changes as we move high or low, far off or up close. But the point of the “hermeneutic circle” is not to legitimize the circularity or subjectivity of one's understanding, but to make us conscious of the challenge. How do we understand China, its history and culture? What should be the appropriate paradigm or perspective for China studies? More than twenty years ago, Paul Cohen argued for a “China‐centered” approach to understanding Chinese history, but to assume an insider's perspective does not guarantee adequate understanding any more than does an outsider's position guarantee emancipation from an insider's myopia or blindness. By discussing several exemplary cases in China studies, this essay argues that neither insiders nor outsiders have monopolistic or privileged access to knowledge, and that integration of different perspectives and their dynamic interaction beyond the isolation of native Chinese scholarship and Western Sinology may lead us to a better understanding of China and its history.
HISTORY AND INCOMPLETENESS
Authors: MATSUDA MATT
Published: January 2010

Vera Schwarcz's Place and Memory in the Singing Crane Garden examines the moral, philosophical, and historical meanings of a garden built by a Manchu Chinese prince, subsequently destroyed by British imperialists, commandeered by Red Guard radicals, and finally transformed into the grounds of an art museum. Reading Singing Crane Garden in the context of Schwarcz's previous writings on Chinese intellectuals and Jewish traditions, as well as insights provided by critical philosophers and geographers, this essay explores the moral and ethical dimensions of locating history in specific “emplacements”. The argument begins by examining the phenomenology of place articulated by Edward Casey, weaves through discussions of Chinese spatiality, embodiment, and garden aesthetics, and comments on Schwarcz's study of broken monuments and stele through comparisons with Classical Chinese writers and the contemporary American poet Louise Glück. Comparisons are made between the destruction of the garden by the British forces of James Elgin, the murder of the journalist Thomas Bowlby, and the purging, imprisonment, torture, and brutality against scholars and intellectuals by the Red Guards under Mao. The essay closes with commentaries on Schwarcz's reflections concerning continuing global atrocities, and new insights into the ways that understanding landscape architecture as a form of history can bring meaning to questions of memory, loss, and the desire to evoke unrecoverable experiences.
A NEW ORIENTALISM?
Authors: BANN STEPHEN
Published: January 2010

Jean‐Louis Schefer's study takes as its point of departure Uccello's predella, Profanation of the Host. The painting in question has generally been interpreted within the context of medieval anti‐Semitism. However, Schefer argues that the meaning of the work, and of numerous other representations of this particular miracle, must be referred ultimately to the codification by Charlemagne of the dogma of the Real Presence. Uccello's painting in effect makes manifest the requirement that the profaned host should reveal its nature through the gushing of blood. This also involves a political significance, since the Carolingian theology organized around the consecrated host stands in direct opposition to the Byzantine theology of the icon. Schefer's argument leads him to make a thorough investigation not only of the many iconographic precedents, but also of some key Latin texts such as the Libri Carolini, which are published in a French translation. It also advances a methodology that is strikingly at variance with some of the more simple‐minded attempts of historians to crack the codes of a complex visual tradition. One of its most original aspects is the new light that the overall thesis casts upon extremely well‐known texts like The Merchant of Venice and Dracula. Thus the tendency to identify vampirism as an East European phenomenon, already discernible in Western sources in the eighteenth century, is shown to be closely linked to the historical extension of the myth of Profanation of the Host. In exploring the outcomes of this doctrinal split between East and West, Schefer has identified a deep fault‐line in post‐antique European history whose consequences are far from being understood at the present day.
ELECTIVE AFFINITIES AND THEIR PHILOSOPHY
Authors: CARRIER DAVID
Published: January 2010

Elective Affinities: Musical Essays on the History of Aesthetic Theory collects a selection of Lydia Goehr's recent essays. In them she traces “a history of attraction and reaction … of music to philosophy, drama, birdsong, crime, film, and nationhood” (ix). Goehr examines the ways that philosophers, the ideas that they present, and works of art display “elective affinities”. Her procedure is like that of an art historian who presents parallel slides to reveal visual affinities, even between artists who themselves were unaware of each other. Her analyses are erudite, lucid, and always suggestive, but what I found most admirable in Elective Affinities is Goehr's extraordinarily brave experimentation with a novel form of philosophy‐writing, the adumbration of which is the focus of this review. Her book is strange enough to be genuinely magnificent and lastingly influential.
BACK TO BASICS
Authors: SCOTT JOAN W.
Published: January 2010

The review argues that, while Fish's book is undoubtedly a corrective to the most extreme examples of polemical teaching, it oversimplifies the difficulties academics face in trying to create sharp distinctions between politics and scholarship. The radical disconnection he advocates does not address the most difficult situations in which lines cannot be clearly drawn between the substance of academic research and teaching and the politics of the process of knowledge production itself.
Children's services in the iron cage of performance management: street‐level bureaucracy and the spectre of Švejkism
Authors: Wastell D. , White S. , Broadhurst K. , Peckover S. , Pithouse A.
Published: January 2010

Wastell D, White S, Broadhurst K, Peckover S, Pithouse A. Children's services in the iron cage of performance management: street‐level bureaucracy and the spectre of Švejkism

Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 310–320 © 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare.

Recent UK government reforms have introduced a range of measures to regulate practice in child welfare, with professional work increasingly structured into formal processes embedded in information technology. This prompts obvious anxieties about the erosion of professional discretion. Using Lipsky's concept of the street‐level bureaucrat, we report on an ethnographical study examining how social workers organise their practice in an atmosphere of performance management. Clear indications of attenuated discretion are revealed, reflecting the shift to a managerial model of control. Of concern is the emergence of a pattern of formally conformant behaviour in which the letter of the organisational law is obeyed but without genuine commitment. Drawing on the anti‐hero of Hašek's celebrated satire, we denote this form of passive resistance ‘Švejkism’. While showing up the absurdities of excessive managerial power, such behaviours are ultimately dysfunctional for the organisation; an alternative governance paradigm, based on professional values, is briefly outlined.
New Neighbourhoods, New Citizens? Challenging ‘Community’ as a Framework for Social and Moral Regeneration under New Labour in the UK
Authors: WALLACE ANDREW
Published: January 2010

The article asserts that a model of ‘community’ was used by the UK's New Labour government as a normative rationale for the regeneration and governance of designated urban spaces. The goal of this article is to offer a critical examination of the basis and application of this rationale, arguing that it inscribed aspects of social and urban policy with an anaemic meaning of ‘community’ which foreclosed the multiplicities, tensions and differences of the local. In particular, the article will argue that in seeking to empower ‘cohesive’ and ‘sustainable’ communities, policy circumscribed local voices and obscured the complex interplay that constitutes local life worlds. It will offer a grounded three‐part critical review of the depoliticized account of ‘community’ propagated by New Labour and argue for a more nuanced analysis of the neighbourhood as an unstable field of social exchange that problematizes attempts at ‘empowerment’ and neighbourhood management.

Le gouvernement du New Labour britannique s’est servi d’un modèle de ‘communauté’ comme logique normative pour la régénération et la gouvernance d’espaces urbains définis. Offrant un examen critique du fondement et de l’application de cette logique, l’article avance que celle‐ci a marqué certains aspects des politiques publiques sociales et urbaines d’une signification anémique de la ‘communauté’ qui exclut les multiplicités, tensions et différences propres au local. En visant une autonomie de communautés ‘homogènes’ et ‘pérennes’, l’action publique a notamment limité les prises de parole locales et embrouillé les interactions complexes qui constituent les univers de la vie locale. L’article propose une étude critique motivée en trois parties du récit dépolitisé de la ‘communauté’ diffusé par le New Labour. De plus, il défend une analyse plus nuancée du quartier en tant que champ instable d’échange social, qui met en question les tentatives de gestion des quartiers et d’autonomisation par empowerment.
Two virulence determinants of type III effector AvrPto are functionally conserved in diverse Pseudomonas syringae pathovars
Authors: Nguyen Hanh P. , Yeam Inhwa , Angot Aurelie , Martin Gregory B.
Published: January 2010

Featured paper: See Editorial p877
Rating scales for dystonia in cerebral palsy: reliability and validity
Authors: MONBALIU E , ORTIBUS E , ROELENS F , DESLOOVERE K , DEKLERCK J , PRINZIE P , DE COCK P , FEYS H
Published: January 2010

Aim This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Barry–Albright Dystonia Scale (BADS), the Burke–Fahn–Marsden Movement Scale (BFMMS), and the Unified Dystonia Rating Scale (UDRS) in patients with bilateral dystonic cerebral palsy (CP).

Method Three raters independently scored videotapes of 10 patients (five males, five females; mean age 13y 3mo, SD 5y 2mo, range 5–22y). One patient each was classified at levels I–IV in the Gross Motor Function Classification System and six patients were classified at level V. Reliability was measured by (1) intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for interrater reliability, (2) standard error of measurement (SEM) and smallest detectable difference (SDD), and (3) Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency. Validity was assessed by Pearson’s correlations among the three scales used and by content analysis.

Results Moderate to good interrater reliability was found for total scores of the three scales (ICC: BADS=0.87; BFMMS=0.86; UDRS=0.79). However, many subitems showed low reliability, in particular for the UDRS. SEM and SDD were respectively 6.36% and 17.72% for the BADS, 9.88% and 27.39% for the BFMMS, and 8.89% and 24.63% for the UDRS. High internal consistency was found. Pearson’s correlations were high. Content validity showed insufficient accordance with the new CP definition and classification.

Interpretation Our results support the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the scales; however, taking into consideration the limitations in reliability, including the large SDD values and the content validity, further research on methods of assessment of dystonia is warranted.
The relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance in children with congenital hemiplegia
Authors: SAKZEWSKI LEANNE , ZIVIANI JENNY , BOYD ROSLYN
Published: January 2010

Aim  This study explores the relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance for children with congenital hemiplegia aged 5 to 16 years. It also examines the relationship between impairments and unimanual capacity and bimanual performance.

Method  Participants in this cross‐sectional study attended a screening assessment before participating in a large, randomized trial. They comprised 70 children with congenital hemiplegia (39 males, 31 females; mean age 10y 6mo, SD 3y); 18 were classified in the Manual Ability Classification System level I, 51 in level II, and one in level III. Eighteen were in Gross Motor Function Classification System, level I and 52 in level II. Sixty‐five participants had spasticity and five had dystonia and spasticity. Fifteen typically developing children (7 males, 8 females; mean age 8y 8mo, SD 2y 7mo), matched to study participants for age and sex, were recruited as a comparison group for measures of sensation, grip strength, and movement efficiency. Outcome measures for unimanual capacity were the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function (MUUL), and the Jebsen–Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT). The Assisting Hand Assessment (AHA) evaluated bimanual performance. Upper limb impairments were measured using assessments of stereognosis, moving two‐point discrimination, spasticity, and grip strength.

Results  There was a strong relationship between unimanual capacity (MUUL) and bimanual performance (AHA; r=0.83). Linear regression indicated MUUL and stereognosis accounted for 75% of the variance in AHA logit scores. Sensory measures were moderately correlated with unimanual capacity and bimanual performance. Age, sex, and grip strength did not significantly influence bimanual performance. There was no difference between children with right‐ and left‐sided hemiplegia for motor performance.

Interpretation  Findings of our study confirm a strong relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance in a cohort of children with congenital hemiplegia. However, the directionality of the relationship is unknown and therapists cannot assume improvements in unimanual capacity will lead to gains in bimanual performance.
Effectiveness of functional progressive resistance exercise strength training on muscle strength and mobility in children with cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: SCHOLTES VANESSA A , BECHER JULES G , COMUTH ANTON , DEKKERS HURNET , VAN DIJK LIESEKE , DALLMEIJER ANNET J
Published: January 2010

Aim  To evaluate the effectiveness of functional progressive resistance exercise (PRE) strength training on muscle strength and mobility in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Method  Fifty‐one children with spastic uni‐ and bilateral CP; (29 males, 22 females; mean age 10y 5mo, SD 1y 10mo, range 6y 0mo–13y 10mo; Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I–III) were randomized to the intervention group (n=26) or the control group (n=25, receiving usual care). The intervention group trained for 12 weeks, three times a week, on a five‐exercise circuit, which included a leg‐press and functional exercises. The training load progressively increased based on the child’s maximum level of strength, determined by the eight‐repetition maximum. Muscle strength (measured with hand‐held dynamometry and a six‐repetition maximum leg‐press test), mobility (measured with the Gross Motor Function Measure, two functional tests, and a mobility questionnaire), and spasticity (measured by the appearance of a catch) were evaluated before, during, directly after, and 6 weeks after the end of training by two blinded research assistants.

Results  Directly after training, there was a statistically significant effect (p<0.05) on muscle strength (knee extensors +12% [0.56N/kg; 95% confidence interval {CI} 0.13–0.99]; hip abductors +11% [0.27N/kg; 95% CI 0.00–0.54]; total +8% [1.30N/kg; 95% CI 0.56–2.54]; six‐repetition maximum +14% [14%; 95% CI 1.99–26.35]), but not on mobility or spasticity. A detraining effect was seen after 6 weeks.

Interpretation  Twelve weeks of functional PRE strength training increases muscle strength up to 14%. This strength gain did not lead to improved mobility.
Stability of motor problems in young children with or at risk of autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, and or developmental coordination disorder
Authors: VAN WAELVELDE HILDE , OOSTRA ANN , DEWITTE GRIET , VAN DEN BROECK CHRISTINE , JONGMANS MARIAN J
Published: January 2010

Aim  The aim of this study was to investigate the stability of motor problems in a clinically referred sample of children with, or at risk of, autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), attention‐deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and/or developmental coordination disorder (DCD).

Method  Participants were 49 children (39 males, 10 females; mean age 5y 6mo, SD 10mo) with various developmental problems, a Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M‐ABC) score on or below the 15th centile, and an IQ of 70 or more. Sixteen children were at risk of developing ADHD, 15 children had a diagnosis of, or were at risk of developing ASD, and 18 children had neither diagnosis. Children were reassessed 2 to 3 years later.

Results  At follow‐up (mean age 7y 11mo; SD 1y), the mean M‐ABC score was significantly increased, and in 22 children was no longer below the 15th centile. A general linear model to compare the difference in M‐ABC scores in the three groups of children demonstrated a significant difference between groups (p=0.013), with the age at the initial assessment as a significant covariate (p=0.052). The group of children with or at risk of ASD showed less improvement in motor performance.

Interpretation  Motor problems among preschool age children are not always stable, but appear to be so in most children with ASDs.
Anticipatory postural adjustments in a bimanual load‐lifting task in children with developmental coordination disorder
Authors: JOVER MARIANNE , SCHMITZ CHRISTINA , CENTELLES LAURIE , CHABROL BRIGITTE , ASSAIANTE CHRISTINE
Published: January 2010

Aim  Postural control is a fundamental component of action in which deficits have been shown to contribute to motor difficulties in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The purpose of this study was to examine anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) in children with DCD in a bimanual load‐lifting task.

Method  Sixteen children with reported motor problems (two females, 14 males; mean age 9y; SD 2y) and 16 typically developing, age‐matched children (six females, 10 males; mean age 9y; SD 2y) took part in the study. The task required the children to maintain a stable elbow angle, despite imposed or voluntary unloading of the forearm. APAs were assessed using electromyography and kinematics analysis.

Results  Although children with DCD could compensate for the consequences of unloading, the results demonstrated that APAs were less efficient in children with DCD than in typically developing children. A positive and significant coefficient of regression between the flexor inhibition latency and the postural stabilization was only found in typically developing children.

Interpretation  The impaired fine‐tuning of the muscle contribution and the poor stabilization performances demonstrate poor predictive modelling in DCD.
Regulation of MCP‐1 production in brain by stress and noradrenaline‐modulating drugs
Authors: Madrigal Jose L. M. , Garcia‐Bueno Borja , Hinojosa Ara E. , Polak Paul , Feinstein Douglas L. , Leza Juan C.
Published: January 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 113, 543–551.

While it is accepted that noradrenaline (NA) reduction in brain contributes to the progression of certain neurodegenerative diseases, the mechanisms through which NA exerts its protective actions are not well known. We previously reported that NA induced production of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP‐1/CCL2) in cultured astrocytes mediated some of the neuroprotective actions of NA. We have now examined the regulation of MCP‐1 production in vivo. Treatment of mice with the NA precursor l‐threo‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylserine induced the production of MCP‐1 in astrocytes. In contrast, exposure to stress (a process known to elevate brain NA levels) produced only a moderate increase of MCP‐1 because of the inhibitory activity of glucocorticoids released during the stress response. Similarly, corticosterone treatment of astrocytes caused a reduction of constitutive as well as the NA‐induced MCP‐1 production. When stressed rats had the production of glucocorticoids blocked by the selective inhibitor metyrapone, a large increase of MCP‐1 concentration was observed in cortex, whereas propranolol (a beta adrenergic receptor blocker) avoided modifications of MCP‐1 after stress. Desipramine (an inhibitor of NA reuptake) also caused an increase of MCP‐1 in cortex. These data suggest that some phenomena caused by the alteration of NA or glucocorticoids could be mediated by MCP‐1.
Vital role of protein kinase C‐related kinase in the formation and stability of neurites during hypoxia
Authors: Thauerer Bettina , Zur Nedden Stephanie , Baier‐Bitterlich Gabriele
Published: January 2010

J. Neurochem.(2010)113, 432–446.

Exposure of pheochromocytoma cells to hypoxia (1% O2) favors differentiation at the expense of cell viability. Additional incubation with nerve growth factor (NGF) and guanosine, a purine nucleoside with neurotrophin characteristics, rescued cell viability and further enhanced the extension of neurites. In parallel, an increase in the activity of protein kinase C‐related kinase (PRK1), which is known to be involved in regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, was observed in hypoxic cells. NGF and guanosine further enhanced PRK1 in normoxic and hypoxic cells. To study the role of PRK1 during cellular stress response and neurotrophin‐mediated signaling, pheochromocytoma cells were transfected with small interfering RNA directed against PRK1. Loss of functional PRK1 initiated a significant loss of viability and inhibited neurite formation. SiRNA‐mediated knockdown of PRK1 also completely stalled guanosine‐mediated neuroprotective effects. Additionally, the F‐actin‐associated cytoskeleton and the expression of the plasticity protein growth associated protein‐43 were disturbed upon PRK1 knockdown. A comparable dependency of neurite formation and growth associated protein‐43 immunoreactivity on functional PRK1 expression was observed in cerebellar granule neurons. Based on these data, a putative role of PRK1 as a key‐signaling element for the successive NGF‐ and purine nucleoside‐mediated protection of hypoxic neuronal cells is hypothesized.
Elections and Discretionary Accruals: Evidence from 2004
Authors: RAMANNA KARTHIK , ROYCHOWDHURY SUGATA
Published: January 2010

We examine the accrual choices of outsourcing firms with links to U.S. congressional candidates during the 2004 elections, when corporate outsourcing was a major campaign issue. We find that politically connected firms with more extensive outsourcing activities have more income‐decreasing discretionary accruals. Further, relative to adjacent periods, the evidence is concentrated in the two calendar quarters immediately preceding the 2004 election, consistent with heightened incentives for firms to manage earnings during the election season. The incentives can be attributed to donor firms' concerns about the potentially negative consequences of scrutiny over outsourcing for themselves and for their affiliated candidates.