scholarly journals Algorithm Transparency through the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (04) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Schmeckpeper ◽  
Sonia Roberts ◽  
Mathieu Ouellet ◽  
Matthew Malencia ◽  
Divya Jain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dominant Role ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortgage Lending ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Credit Reporting ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Background Check ◽  
Lending Decisions

Racial discrimination in housing has long fueled disparities in homeownership and wealth in the United States. Now, automated algorithms play a dominant role in rental and lending decisions. Advocates of these technologies argue that mortgage lending algorithms reduce discrimination. However, “errors in background check reports persist and remain pervasive,” and algorithms are at risk for inheriting prejudices from society and reflect pre-existing patterns of inequality. Additionally, algorithmic discrimination is often challenging to identify and difficult to explain or prosecute in court. While the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for prosecuting this type of discrimination under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), their enforcement regime “has inadequately regulated industry at the federal and state level and failed to provide consumers access to justice at an individual level,” as evidenced by its mere eighty-seven enforcement actions in the past forty years. In comparison, 4,531 lawsuits have been brought under the FCRA by other groups in 2018 alone. Therefore, the FTC must update its policies to ensure it can identify, prosecute, and facilitate third-party lawsuits against a primary driver of housing discrimination in the 21st century: discrimination within algorithmic decision making. We recommend that the FTC issue a rule requiring companies to publish a data plan with all consumer reporting products. Currently, the FTC recommends that companies make an internal assessment of the components of the proposed data plan to ensure that they are not in violation of the FCRA. Therefore, requiring that these plans be published publicly does not place undue burden on companies and empowers consumers to advocate for themselves and report unfair practices to the FTC. Coupled together, these will reduce the costs of investigation and enforcement by the FTC and decrease the discriminatory impact of automated decision systems on marginalized communities.

State- and Individual-Level Predictors of Mexican Death Penalty Support

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 1590-1611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander H. Updegrove ◽  
Erin A. Orrick
Keyword(s):  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Mexican Immigrants ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Future Practice ◽  
Insight Into

Mexico exerts a unique influence on Texas through immigration. As immigrants bring perspectives from their country of origin when they immigrate, studying attitudes toward capital punishment in Mexico may provide insight into ways Mexican immigrants could affect its future practice in Texas. Multilevel modeling is used to examine individual- and state-level predictors of death penalty support among a nationally representative sample of Mexicans. Results indicate age and Catholic affiliation are associated with death penalty support, although not in the expected directions, whereas states bordering the United States are less likely to support capital punishment, despite experiencing less overall peace and a higher average homicide rate. Findings suggest the need for researchers to use culture-specific factors to predict death penalty support.

The Economic Roots of External Efficacy: Assessing the Relationship between External Political Efficacy and Income Inequality

2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikel Norris
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The 1960S

AbstractExternal political efficacy, the belief that government is responsive to the demands of its citizens, has been declining in the United States since the 1960s. However, scholars do not yet fully understand the reasons for its decline. Nor have they found suitable explanations for why it fluctuates within the electorate. Drawing on the growing literature on the effects of income inequality on public policy, I posit that increasing income inequality factors into the decline of external political efficacy. Using multilevel regression models accounting for individual and contextual factors, I find increasing state-level income inequality has a substantial negative effect on external political efficacy. It is greater than most state and national-level economic measures or individual-level variables on external political efficacy. These results have important implications both for research on income inequality and political participation and also for research on income inequality and distributional public policy.

scholarly journals The Partisan Mask: Political Orientation, Collectivism, and Religiosity Predict Mask Use During COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hohjin Im ◽  
Peiyi Wang ◽  
Chuansheng Chen
Keyword(s):  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Third Party ◽  
The Us ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
Strong Correlate ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Socioeconomic And Demographic Factors

In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic became an unconventional vehicle to advance partisan rhetoric and antagonism. Using data available at the individual- (Study 1; N = 4,220), county- (Study 2; n = 3,046), and state-level (n = 49), we found that partisanship and political orientation was a robust and strong correlate of mask use. Political conservatism and Republican partisanship were related to downplaying the severity of COVID-19 and perceiving masks as being ineffective that, in turn, were related to lower mask use. In contrast, we found that counties with majority Democrat partisanship reported greater mask use, controlling for various socioeconomic and demographic factors. Lastly, states with strong cultural collectivism reported greater mask use while those with strong religiosity reported the opposite. States with greater Democrat partisanship and strong cultural collectivism subsequently reported lower COVID-19 deaths, mediated by greater mask use and lower COVID-19 cases, in the five months following the second wave of COVID-19 in the US during the Summer of 2020. Nonetheless, more than the majority for Democrats (91.58%), Republicans (77.52%), and third-party members (82.48%) reported using masks. Implications for findings are discussed.

scholarly journals The new directive on an EU-wide representative action and third-party litigation funding: An opportunity for European consumers?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-117
Author(s):  
Massaro Piletta
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
The United States ◽  
Regulatory Competition ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Collective Redress ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Specific Regulation ◽  
Party Funding

After years of compensatory collective redress being left to a sort of regulatory competition among Member States, Directive 1828/2020 finally introduced an EU wide representative action scheme, aimed at strengthening the position of European consumers vis-à-vis new market dynamics such as globalisation and digitalisation. The new system, which shall run in parallel with national tools, introduces some innovations such as a cross-border action mechanism, the possibility of adopting an opt-out model and a specific regulation of third-party litigation funding in the context of collective redress. This aspect, addressed already in the 2013 Recommendation, is of particular interest, because third party funding represents a particularly powerful complement to collective redress in easing citizens' access to justice. However, the provisions introduced with Directive 1828/2020 leave some issues open. In particular, the Court's role in managing the funding agreement, with special reference to the funder's fee, and the effect of the funding agreement in case an opt-out adhesion mechanism is adopted are of paramount importance and still need to be addressed interpretatively. In this task, the comparative method will be particularly helpful in analysing the solution which Countries more familiar with third party funding, like Australia, Canada or the United States have introduced or discussed.

scholarly journals Returns to Late Aged College Degrees

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Wallace ◽  
Thomas Mroz ◽  
Alex Hathaway
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
College Education ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Individual Level

The benefits of a college education are well documented. However, the majority of existing research focuses on students who matriculate soon after high school graduation. There is little empirical evidence illustrating whether a college degree is similarly beneficial to those already in the workforce, particularly individuals over 50. Nonetheless, the coming years will see the dramatic growth of older individuals, many of whom will continue to be active in the labor force, and policymakers would benefit from effective strategies to improve the labor market outcomes of older individuals. This research proposes to evaluate the labor market outcomes of individuals in Georgia who obtain a bachelor’s degree at age 50 or older by merging state-level individual level labor force (Dpt of Labor) with individual level educational data from the University System of Georgia (USG). Specifically, we explore whether these later-age degrees result in employment opportunities with higher wages and increased retention in the labor force beyond the traditional retirement age of 65 than those who do not attain a bachelor’s degree.  The results will provide policymakers across the United States with information to make informed decisions regarding higher education incentives and policies for older students.

The Impact of State Firearm Laws on Homicide Rates among Black and White Populations in the United States, 1991–2016

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 232-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Knopov ◽  
Michael Siegel ◽  
Ziming Xuan ◽  
Emily F Rothman ◽  
Shea W Cronin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Black People ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Homicide Rates ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Author Identification ◽  
Background Check ◽  
Black Populations ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the potential differential effects of state-level firearm laws on black and white populations. Using a panel design, authors examined the relationship between state firearm laws and homicide victimization rates among white people and black people in 39 states during the period between 1991 and 2016. Authors modeled homicide rates using linear regression with year and state fixed effects and controlled for a range of time-varying, state-level factors. Results showed that universal background check laws and permit requirement laws were associated with lower homicide rates among both white and black populations, and “shall issue” laws were associated with higher homicide rates among both white and black populations. Laws that prohibit firearm possession among people convicted of a violent misdemeanor or require relinquishment of firearms by people with a domestic violence restraining order were associated with lower black homicide rates, but not with white homicide rates. Author identification of heterogeneity in the associations between state firearm laws and homicide rates among different racial groups has implications for reducing racial health disparities.

State Liability Regimes within the United States and Auditor Reporting

2016 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 1545-1575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divya Anantharaman ◽  
Jeffrey A. Pittman ◽  
Nader Wans
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Jersey ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Litigation Risk ◽  
Exogenous Shocks ◽  
Reporting Decisions ◽  
Auditor Reporting ◽  
State Liability

ABSTRACT We examine how state liability regimes within the United States affect auditor reporting decisions. We exploit variation across state-level common law in two aspects of auditor liability: the extent to which auditors can be held liable by third parties for negligence, and rules for apportioning liability across multiple defendants. We find that auditors are more likely to issue a modified going-concern (GC) report to financially distressed clients from high-liability states than to those from low-liability states. We sharpen inferences using a natural experiment that examines the causal effects of two exogenous shocks to auditor third-party liability standards, which dramatically restricted auditors' liability in New Jersey in 1995 and in California in 1992. Results from difference-in-differences tests imply that auditors' propensity to issue a modified opinion for client firms in New Jersey and California decreases significantly after the decline in auditors' litigation exposure, relative to control firms from other jurisdictions. These findings add to our understanding of how litigation risk affects auditor behavior and highlight an important source of variation in litigation risk within the U.S. that has seldom been studied to date.

Common Sense or Gun Control? Political Communication and News Media Framing of Firearm Sale Background Checks After Newtown

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma E. McGinty ◽  
Julia A. Wolfson ◽  
Tara Kirk Sell ◽  
Daniel W. Webster
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
News Media ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Background Checks ◽  
Background Check

Abstract Gun violence is a critical public health problem in the United States, but it is rarely at the top of the public policy agenda. The 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, opened a rare window of opportunity to strengthen firearm policies in the United States. In this study, we examine the American public's exposure to competing arguments for and against federal- and state-level universal background check laws, which would require a background check prior to every firearm sale, in a large sample of national and regional news stories (n = 486) published in the year following the Newtown shooting. Competing messages about background check laws could influence the outcome of policy debates by shifting support and political engagement among key constituencies such as gun owners and conservatives. We found that news media messages in support of universal background checks were fact-based and used rational arguments, and opposing messages often used rights-based frames designed to activate the core values of politically engaged gun owners. Reframing supportive messages about background check policies to align with gun owners' and conservatives' core values could be a promising strategy to increase these groups' willingness to vocalize their support for expanding background checks for firearm sales.

scholarly journals Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: quantifying the practice in Michigan – a “hotspot state” early in the pandemic – using a volunteer-based online survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea E. Cassidy-Bushrow ◽  
Mohammed Baseer ◽  
Karen Kippen ◽  
Albert M. Levin ◽  
Jia Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Executive Orders ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Potential Factors

Abstract Background Public Health policies related to social distancing efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic helped slow the infection rate. However, individual-level factors associated with social distancing are largely unknown. We sought to examine social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan, an infection “hotspot” state in the United States early in the pandemic. Methods Two surveys were distributed to Michigan residents via email lists and social media following COVID-19 related state mandates in March; 45,691 adults responded to the first survey and 8512 to the second. Staying home ≥ 3 out of 5 previous days defined having more social distancing. Logistic regression models were used to examine potential factors associated with more social distancing. Results Most respondents were women (86% in Survey 1, 87% in Survey 2). In Survey 1, 63% reported more social distancing, increasing to 78% in Survey 2. Female sex and having someone (or self) sick in the home were consistently associated with higher social distancing, while increasing age was positively associated in Survey 1 but negatively associated in Survey 2. Most respondents felt social distancing policies were important (88% in Survey 1; 91% in Survey 2). Conclusions Michiganders responding to the surveys were both practicing and supportive of social distancing. State-level executive orders positively impacted behaviors early in the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan. Additional supports are needed to help vulnerable populations practice social distancing, including older individuals.

scholarly journals Spatial aggregation choice in the era of digital and administrative surveillance data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Lee ◽  
Ali Arab ◽  
Vittoria Colizza ◽  
Shweta Bansal
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Spatial Aggregation ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Medical Claims ◽  
Individual Level

AbstractBackgroundTraditional disease surveillance is increasingly being complemented by data from non-traditional sources like medical claims, electronic health records, and participatory syndromic data platforms. As non-traditional data are often collected at the individual-level and are convenience samples from a population, choices must be made on the aggregation of these data for epidemiological inference. Our study seeks to understand the influence of spatial aggregation choice on our understanding of disease spread with a case study of influenza-like illness in the United States.MethodsUsing U.S. medical claims data from 2002 to 2009, we examined the epidemic source location, onset and peak season timing, and epidemic duration of influenza seasons for data aggregated to the county and state scales. We also compared spatial autocorrelation and tested the relative magnitude of spatial aggregation differences between onset and peak measures of disease burden.ResultsWe found discrepancies in the inferred epidemic source locations and estimated influenza season onsets and peaks when comparing county and state-level data. Spatial autocorrelation was detected across more expansive geographic ranges during the peak season as compared to the early flu season, and there were greater spatial aggregation differences in early season measures as well.ConclusionsEpidemiological inferences are more sensitive to spatial scale early on during U.S. influenza seasons, when there is greater heterogeneity in timing, intensity, and geographic spread of the epidemics. Users of non-traditional disease surveillance should carefully consider how to extract accurate disease signals from finer-scaled data for early use in disease outbreaks.

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