153 research outputs found
When do special interests run rampant ? disentangling the role in banking crises of elections, incomplete information, and checks and balances
No full textThe author investigates the political determinants of government decisions that benefit special interest groups - especially government decisions to deal with banking crises. He finds that the better informed the voters, the more proximate elections, and the larger the number of political veto players ( conditional on the costs to voters of relevant policy decision), the smaller the government's fiscal transfer are to the financial sector and the less likely the government is to exercise forbearance in dealing with insolvent financial institutions. The results suggest that policies thatmight be appropriate for mitigating banking crises in the United States might be less effective in settings where voters are less informed, where elections are less competitive, and where there are fewer veto players, because in these settings checks and balances are missing. These policies include: a) Disseminating information about the costs of inefficient government decisions. b) Improving the structure of legislative regulatory oversight. c) Intervening early in insolvent banks. The author concludes that the more veto players there are, the less likely policies are to favor special interest groups (contrary to previous views). Moreover, the closer the elections, the less likely policies are to favor special interest groups.
Boondoogles and expropriation : rent-sseking and policy distortion when property rights are insecure
No full textMost analyses of property rights and economic development point to the negative influence of insecure property rights on private investment. The authors focus instead on the largely unexamined effects of insecure property rights on government policy choices. They identify one significant anomaly-dramatically higher public investment in countries with insecure property rights-and use it to make the following broad claims about insecure property rights; 1) They increase rent-seeking. 2) They may reduce the incentives of governments to use tax revenues for productive purposes, such as public investment. 3) They do so whether one regards the principal problem of insecure property rights as the maintenance of law and order, which government spending can potentially remedy, or as the threat of expropriation by government itself, and therefore not remediable by government spending. The authors present substantial empirical evidence to support these claims.Environmental Economics&Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,National Governance,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Land and Real Estate Development
Steamboat “Caroline” Account book, 1834-1836
No full textAfter Williams Lyon Mackenzie’s failed rebellion in Upper Canada in December of 1837, he retreated with some of his supporters to Navy Island in the Niagara River. The American steamboat Caroline was used to provide supplies to Mackenzie and his followers on the island. When the British authorities became aware of this situation, they seized the boat, which was docked at Schlosser’s Wharf on the American shore. A scuffle ensued in which American Amos Durfee was killed. The Caroline was then released from its moorings, set on fire, and drifted downstream before sinking. Many Americans viewed the incident as a violation of their sovereignty. Tensions between the United States and England were already strained over a boundary dispute between Maine and New Brunswick, and the situation with the Caroline further escalated the tension.An account book for the American steamboat Caroline. The title page reads “Steam Boat Caroline belonging to Duncan McFarland, Port Robinson. 1st trip to Buffalo 22nd June 1834”. The book contains 164 pages and includes cash paid for expenses such as wood; lockage; food; Cooper; Blacksmith; fare for railroad; and repairs. Some of the pages are blank. Other pages contain accounts for individuals including Herman Wilcox; Charles Walton; James Ballentine; Louis Beat; Taylor Lee; Joshua Thumons; James P. Provoost; Pratt Gailor Co.; Bradley & Co.; William Hepburn; J.G. McCormick; T. Brundage; Bush & Shepherd; Daniel Moody; Henry Wysoon; Matheson [?] Mason; John Emery; Peter Burger; E.W. Stevenson; J.H. Lacy; S. Cary; N. Walker; William H. Berret; Gipson Grason; B. Sherwood; H. Bond; John Jones; Charles Clark; John B. Miller; William Duff; James Macklem; Theo. Brundidge; Dilly Coleman; James Martin; J.M. Jackson; David Graybill; Arden Weller; Jos. Quincy; Henry Bond; Jessie Lacey; James Keefer; George Rykirk & Co.; C. Brown; Edward Emery; Capt. James Balintine; Robert Goldie; John Huggan; Thomas Merritt; David Reid; John Donaldson; and William H. Merritt.
The last two pages of the book contain copies of three letters written by Duncan McFarland. Two of the letters are dated at Port Robinson, June 16,1835. The first letter is addressed to Capt. Brundage and concerns fares for passengers and luggage, and coordinating payments with other Captains when necessary. The second letter is addressed to Captain Balintine and asks whether the person who handles the bar on the steamboat [K?] sets a good table for gentlemen and keeps good order about the bar, and allows no drunkenness on board the boat.
The third letter is dated at Port Robinson, March 17, 1836, and reads “agreeable to a letter forwarded from [Sh? Dutcher] by Mr. H. Merritt for our advice we agree that it is best to submit the lawsuit pending between us the subscribers and the above company to arbitration[?].
Little Gems 2.5-09
No full textIntroductory slide for How Unhappy is He . Written by Austin Keefer and directed by Caroline Cangas.*https://digitalcommons.collin.edu/littlegems2021_gallery/1008/thumbnail.jp
The Policy Usefulness of Institutional and Political Analyses of Development
No full textTwo arguments are important: that the rule of law and the security of property rights are important for growth and that they are the product of political institutions. Professor Dixit argues that identification and other concerns undermine the second argument and inhibit the formulation of policy recommendations. Avinash Dixit reviews many of the recent contributions to the literature that examine the "big" questions in economic development, particularly those concerning the fundamental differences between countries that manage to sustain rapid economic growth and those that do not. Practitioners can nevertheless learn from the generalizations that academic research yields, but they should examine the plausibility of those generalizations, taking into account the many idiosyncrasies The Author 2007. These are based on particular historical and geographic features of countries that researchers theorize should determine the security of property rights but that should not directly affect growth. Just as important, compared with such determinants of political behavior as history and regime type, theses sources of variation in political incentives have at least somewhat more tractable policy implications for what donors and governments should and should not do. Incremental approaches that fail to take the conditions of political decision-making into account in a systematic way are no more likely to succeed than "maximalist" approaches. Less targeted programs, in which targeting is crude but easy to communicate and simple to implement, may offer a greater contribution to development by building political credibility, even at the cost of economic inefficiency. From the first Public Expenditure Tracking Philip Keefer 163 Survey in Uganda, which led to a 90 percent reduction in the diversion of capitation grants to schools, to report cards on public services, pioneered in Bangalore, India, but expanding to China and elsewhere, a variety of tactics are emerging to close the information gap between citizens and politicians. Despite this--despite the fact that such analyses are concerned with big ideas--this line of research shows considerable promise in informing both the content and the design of the reform agenda in countryspecific contexts
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South Carolina family law mediation ::a guide for attorneys and mediators (SCCLE).
No full textThe ultimate goal of this resource is to benefit SC attorneys and mediators by providing a central reference source and practical tools to utilize in family law mediations in this state. Mediation is not only mandatory, it is a critical part of the family law process. That's why a publication addressing the nuts and bolts of family law mediation, providing an overview for attorneys representing clients during a family law mediation, and including tips on how best to prepare your mediator for a productive mediation was needed. Additionally, as there was no single reference source for the SC Family Court mediator, author Sean Keefer, provides ideas on starting and building a mediation practice, addresses the ins and outs of becoming a mediator, discusses issues and challenges that frequently arise in family court mediations, and provides strategies and methods for addressing and dealing with these issues. As a matter of convenience, the book can serve as a central reference point for forms and SC ADR rules applicable to mediation and the standards of conduct for mediators
Partial Synthesis of a Spin-Labeled Nitrosamine
No full text21 p.Although many pharmacological studies have shown the ability of nitrosamines to cause tumors, the mechanism of their carcinogenic action has been a topic of debate. The author worked with the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health to partially synthesize and label such biologically active compounds to spectroscopically observe a labeled molecule interacting with physiological systems and/or biological macromolecules. The interaction of nitrosamines with nucleic acids is thought to be the crucial factor in the carcinogenic action of this family of compounds.National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, M
The meaning, practice and context of private prayer in late Anglo-Saxon England
No full textThis thesis is a detailed discussion of the relatively neglected subject of private prayer in late Anglo-Saxon England, mainly focusing on three eleventh-century monastic codices: the Galba Prayerbook (London, British Library Cotton Nero A. ii + Galba A. xiv), Ælfwine’s Prayerbook (London, British Library Cotton Titus D. xxvii + xxvi) and the Portiforium of St Wulstan (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 391). Chapter One provides a background to the following chapters by introducing a wide variety of English and Continental texts from the ninth century. This chapter demonstrates the many different prayer genres, prayer guides and attitudes to prayer which would be inherited by the late Anglo-Saxons. Chapter Two, which focuses on private adaptations of the canonical Offices, examines the different manuscript contexts in which private prayers were found. It argues that series of prayers were combined into increasingly sophisticated ordines for personal devotion, and that it was from these that the Special Offices arose. Chapter Three applies these concepts to prayers to the Holy Cross. After a discussion of the evidence for prayer before a cross, and involving the sign of the cross, it examines private prayer programmes based on the liturgy for Good Friday and those from which the Special Office of the Cross developed. Chapter Four turns to private confessions, arguing that these prayers were somewhat different from those hitherto discussed. It therefore begins with an exploration of the many kinds of confession which existed in the late Anglo-Saxon church, before examining a number of private confessional prayers in detail. Throughout this thesis, emphasis is placed on the bodily experience of prayer in its time and place, and upon the use of each text as it is found in the prayerbooks of eleventh-century England
Electronic journals, scholarly communication and libraries
No full textPodeu consultar la versió en català a http://hdl.handle.net/2445/8966The recent surge in scientific electronic journals began when libraries began having access to the WWW in the mid-1990s. The shift from paper to digital has affected the traditional alignment and role of the primary "stakeholders" -mainly authors, publishers, universities and libraries. The author offers a brief review of the history of the scholarly journal followed by the evolution of e-journals in during the past two decades. The article then focuses on the implications that these have had on traditional library processes and services such as selection, acquisitions, cataloguing, storage, preservation and user services. In the conclusion the author speculates on the long term effect of Web-based publishing on the format of the traditional scholarly journal as it has existed for over 300 years
New tools and new tests in comparative political economy - the database of political institutions
No full textThis paper introduces a large new cross-country database on political institutions: the Database on Political Institutions (DPI). The authors summarize key variables (many of them new), compare this data set with others, and explore the range of issues for which the data should prove invaluable. Among the novel variables they introduce: 1) Several measures of tenure, stability, and checks and balances. 2) Identification of parties with the government coalition or the opposition. 3) Fragmentation of opposition and government parties in legislatures. The authors illustrate the application of DPI variables to several problems in political economy. Stepan and Skach, for example, find that democracy is more likely to survive under parliamentary governments than presidential systems. But this result is not robust to the use of different variables from the DPI, which raises puzzles for future research. Similarly, Roubini and Sachs, find that divided governments in the OECD run higher budget deficits after fiscal shocks. Replication of their work using DPI indicators of divided government indicates otherwise, again suggesting issues for future research. Among questions in political science and economics, that this database may illuminate: the determinants of democratic consolidation, the political conditions for economic reform, the political and institutional roots of corruption, and the elements of appropriate and institutionally sensitive design of economic policy.Decentralization,Parliamentary Government,National Governance,Information Technology,ICT Policy and Strategies,National Governance,Parliamentary Government,ICT Policy and Strategies,Information Technology,Governance Indicators
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