Guns Yield Butter? An Exploration of Defense Spending Preferences

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 1193-1221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laron K. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Defense Spending ◽  
Policy Responsiveness ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Budgetary Politics ◽  
The Government ◽  
Using Data

The popular notion of a trade-off between social and defense spending—or guns versus butter—appears often in elite discourse, popular media, and empirical studies of budgetary politics. Yet, there are good reasons to suspect that the public’s preferences for these types of spending do not reflect that trade-off. I develop a theory that whether social and defense spending preferences are competing or complementary depends on if the respondent views the government as an important contributor to job creation. Using data from fifty-nine surveys in twenty-seven countries from 1985 to 2008, I show that favoring government-financed job creation makes a respondent much more likely to view social and defense spending as complementary. Indeed, aside from the anomalous case of the United States, preferences are consistent with guns yield butter instead of guns versus butter. This theory has important implications for the thermostatic model of policy responsiveness and theories of budgetary politics.

scholarly journals Metropolitan governance structure and growth–inequality dynamics in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 598-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaewoo Cho ◽  
Jae Hong Kim ◽  
Yonsu Kim
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Metropolitan Governance ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Nonlinear Fashion

While much scholarly attention has been paid to ways in which metropolitan areas are politically structured and operated to achieve a dual goal, economic growth, and equality, relatively less is known about the complex relationship between metropolitan governance structures and growth–inequality dynamics. This study investigates how and to what extent metropolitan governance structures shape regional economic growth and inequality trajectories using data for 267 US metropolitan areas from 1990 to 2010. Findings from a two-stage least squares regression analysis suggest that economic growth is associated with governance structures in a nonlinear fashion, with relatively more rapid growth rates in both highly centralized and decentralized metropolitan areas. However, these regions are also found to experience a larger increase in income inequality, indicating an important trade-off to be considered carefully in exploring ways to reform existing governance settings. These findings further suggest that the so-called growth–inequality trade-off may exist not only in their direct interactions but through their connections via governance or other variables.

Race, Ethnicity, Risky Lifestyles, and Violent Victimization

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arelys Madero-Hernandez ◽  
Bonnie S. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Violent Victimization ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
White Youth ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Victimization Risk ◽  
Risky Lifestyles ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Criminal Opportunity

Empirical studies have established that Blacks and Hispanics are two of the most violently victimized racial/ethnic groups in the United States, but the mechanisms that underlie these disparities in victimization risk are not well understood. This study tests a mediation model developed from criminal opportunity theories that may explain the disparities. Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, the results show that Black and Hispanic adolescents were twice as likely as their White counterparts to be violently victimized, and these disparities remained after controlling for demographic characteristics and prior victimization. As to the hypothesized sources of these disparities, there was mixed evidence regarding the mediation model. Although risky lifestyles were significantly related to violent victimization and eliminated all disparities between Black and White youth, they failed to eliminate victimization disparities between Hispanics and White youth. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of theory and victimization prevention.

scholarly journals Preventive Detention of Immigrants and Non-Citizens in the United States since September 11th

Refuge ◽  
2002 ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
Kate Martin
Keyword(s):  
Civil Liberties ◽  
The United States ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Preventive Detention ◽  
Religious Activity ◽  
September 11Th ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Terrorist Activity ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post September 11

The attacks of September 11, 2002, have dramatically altered the policy andscape in Washington, but it is important to reject the notion that there is a necessary trade-off between security and civil liberties. One of the most serious threats to civil liberties has been the adoption of a policy of preventive detention that has resulted in the secret jailing of hundreds of Arabs and Muslims when there is no evidence linking them to terrorist activity. This has been done, not by using the limited new authorities granted the government in the post-September 11 terrorism legislation, but by improperly using pre-existing criminal and immigration authorities. Secret arrests are antithetical to a democratic society. A targeted investigation that focuses on actual terrorist activity and respects the legitimate political and religious activity of citizens and non-citizens would be more effective than a dragnet approach that has resulted in the secret arrests of hundreds of individuals.

scholarly journals Do Affluent Countries Face an Incomes-Jobs Trade-Off?

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1180-1209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lane Kenworthy
Keyword(s):  
Employment Growth ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comparative Assessment ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Replacement Rate ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Job Seeking ◽  
Government Benefits ◽  
Sector Service

According to an influential view, in the United States pay for less skilledworkers is lowand government benefits are stingy, but this facilitates the creation of newjobs and encourages such individuals to take those jobs. Inmuch of WesternEurope, relative pay levels are higher for those at the bottom and benefits are more generous, but this is said to discourage job creation and job seeking. This article offers a comparative assessment of this trade-off viewbased on pooled timeseries cross-section analyses of 14 countries in the 1980s and 1990s. The findings suggest that greater pay equality and a higher replacement rate do reduce employment growth in lowproductivity, private-sector service industries and in the economy as a whole. However, these effects are relatively weak. The results point to a variety of viable options for countries wishing to maintain or move toward a desirable combination of jobs and equality.

scholarly journals Testing Nonprofit State Culture: Its Impact on the Health of the Nonprofit Sector

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Pettijohn ◽  
Elizabeth T. Boris
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
State Government ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
State Culture ◽  
Nonprofit Funding ◽  
The Government ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

AbstractGovernment monitors, regulates, and funds nonprofit organizations, making it is a key player in the health of the nonprofit sector in the United States. However, not all states treat nonprofits similarly. Prior work identified three types of state nonprofit culture (Pettijohn, S. L., and E. T. Boris. 2017. State Nonprofit Culture: Assessing the Impact of State Regulation on the Government-Nonprofit Relationship. Grand Rapids, MI: ARNOVA Presentation.), or a unique set of attitudes and beliefs that shape the operating norms between state government and nonprofits. This article analyzes whether differences among state nonprofit culture are measureable in the government-nonprofit relationship. Using data from the Urban Institute’s 2013 Nonprofit-Government Contracting and Grants survey, we find there are significant differences in the government-nonprofit funding relationships, which means nonprofits operating in certain state nonprofit cultures face different types and degrees of risk to their organization’s overall health.

Training and Educational Development for “Vetrepreneurs”

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise M. Cumberland
Keyword(s):  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Government ◽  
Entrepreneurial Training ◽  
Search For Information

The Problem Over the last decade, specialized training programs have emerged to assist veterans in launching their own businesses. An initial search for information on entrepreneurship training programs for veterans, however, reveals that there has been no systematic research undertaken to summarize programs available and no comparison of what these various training efforts include. In addition, there has been no examination of whether these programs provide the requisite skills to engage in venture creation, result in the launch of veteran start-ups, and improve the odds of long-term venture success. The lack of empirical studies reporting on the assessment of these programs makes it difficult to judge the relevancy of the curriculum in meeting the nascent veteran entrepreneurs’ needs. The Solution This article brings together a wide range of information on veteran entrepreneurial training programs offered by the government, academia, and nonprofits in the United States. Data were gathered through websites and other literatures. Concern about the lack of reported results of these programs is noted, and a framework is proposed for the systematic evaluation of learning outcomes that could be used across veteran entrepreneurial education programs. The Stakeholders The article is aimed at training development professionals, universities, policy makers, veterans, and human resource development (HRD) professionals.

Social and Financial Efficiency: A Study of Indian Microfinance Institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Swati Chauhan
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Microfinance Institutions ◽  
Tobit Regression ◽  
Social Efficiency ◽  
Financial Efficiency ◽  
The Government ◽  
Using Data

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) provides savings, credit, insurance and remittance facilities to more impoverished people without any collateral. MFIs have twin goals: social outreach and financial sustainability. Outreach refers to how many people are served by MFIs while the capacity of MFIs to serve longer is financial sustainability. The social and financial performance of MFIs is the most debatable issue in the Indian microfinance industry. Social efficiency indicates MFIs’ willingness to support a higher number of poorer consumers while financial efficiency indicates how long financial services can be offered to the poor by institutions. The success of these organizations is very critical for the continuity of funding support for donor agencies and the government. Using data envelopment analysis (DEA) techniques this paper calculates the efficiency of Indian NGO–MFIs. The research also uses Tobit regression to estimate the factors of the efficiency of MFIs. The data is taken from the Microfinance Information Exchange for the period 2009 to 2015. Results indicate that NGO–MFIs are financially more efficient than social ones. Regression findings show that the critical variable for the financial and social efficiency of NGO–MFIs is operational self-sufficiency (OSS). Very few empirical studies are available in the Indian context that discuss the efficiency of Indian NGO–MFIs. The present paper provides standards for performance measures of NGO–MFIs operating in India to assist in improving the performance and growth of microfinance firms.

scholarly journals The Twin Instrument: Fertility and Human Capital Investment

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3090-3139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Bhalotra ◽  
Damian Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Labour Supply ◽  
The United States ◽  
True Parameter ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Twin Birth ◽  
Investments In Children ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Twin births are often used as an instrument to address selection of women into fertility. However, recent work shows selection of women into twin birth such that, while OLS estimates tend to be downward biased, twin-IV estimates will tend to be upward biased. This is pertinent given the emerging consensus that fertility has limited impacts on women’s labour supply, or on investments in children. Using data for developing countries and the United States to estimate the trade-off between fertility and children’s human capital, we demonstrate the nature and size of the bias in the twin-IV estimator and estimate bounds on the true parameter.

scholarly journals District Court Opinions that Remain Hidden Despite a Longstanding Congressional Mandate of Transparency – The Result of Judicial Autonomy and Systemic Indifference

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W Martin
Keyword(s):  
Joint Venture ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
National Level ◽  
Federal District ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Access ◽  
District Court ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Judicial Autonomy ◽  
The Government

The E-Government Act of 2002 directed the federal courts to provide access to all their written opinions, in text-searchable format, via a website. Ten years later the Judicial Conference of the United States approved national implementation of a comprehensive database of those opinions through a joint venture between the courts and the Government Publishing Office (GPO). Despite the promise implicit in these initiatives, public access to many thousands of federal district court decisions each year remains blocked. They are effectively hidden. Many court websites lack a clear link to opinions, only a bare majority of district courts transmit decisions to the GPO, and far too many courts and judges fail to take the steps necessary for opinion distribution beyond the parties. Using the large volume of district court Social Security litigation to measure and illustrate these failures, the article examines their dimensions, consequences, and causes. It concludes that the problem is a large one, that it poses a major challenge to those carrying out empirical studies and judicial analytics, and that the courts' radical decentralization combined with judicial autonomy will continue to frustrate goals of public access unless serious measures are taken at the national level. Finally, it argues that inclusion in the GPO database of federal judicial opinions should cease being optional.

The Effects of Politicization on Performance: The Mediating Role of HRM Practices

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 544-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Fuenzalida ◽  
Norma M. Riccucci
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Hrm Practices ◽  
Using Data

Since politicization persists, threatening public sector governance and management, there is a need to further understand this phenomenon and its consequences. Previous empirical studies conducted predominantly in the United States have found a negative impact of politicization on performance; however, the reasons behind this relationship remain elusive. In this article, we inquire into the effect of politicization on organizational performance, and we propose that such influence can be explained by a deterioration of human resource management (HRM) practices. Using data from a national survey of municipal managers and mayors in Chile, our results confirm the negative impact of politicization on the performance of public agencies, which is partially mediated by politicization’s deleterious effect on their HRM practices.

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