Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Size And Development Of The Shadow Economy: An Empirical Investigation From States Of India, Kausik Chaudhuri, Friedrich Schneider, Sumana Chattopadhyay

Sumana Chattopadhyay

Using the state level data from India, this paper investigates the size of the hidden economy in Indian states over the period 1974/75 to 1995/96. Our analysis has shown that after liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991/92, the growth in the size of the hidden economy has decreased on an average. Our results show that the growth in the size of the hidden economy is approximately 4% less in scheduled election years than in all other years. We also demonstrate that the growth is significantly lower in those states where the coalition government is in power. An increased growth …

Sizing Of Header And Flushing Manifolds For Row Crop Drip, Charles M. Burt, Stuart W. Styles

Charles M. Burt

No abstract provided.

Examining The Scope Of Channel Expansion: A Test Of Channel Expansion Theory With New And Traditional Communication Media, Scott C. D'Urso, Stephen A. Rains

Scott D'Urso

This article draws on channel expansion theory to explore the selection and use of communication media by organizational members. Channel expansion theory scholars posit that media richness perceptions are dependent on experiences with communication partners, the message topic, and the communication media utilized. This study tests channel expansion theory in the context of new and traditional communication media. Respondents (N = 269) completed questionnaires regarding their use and perceptions of face-to-face, telephone, e-mail, or instant-messaging interactions. Results indicate that experience with channel, topic, partner, and social influence are all significant predictors of richness perceptions, when controlling for age and media …

Effects Of Icts On Media Transformation, Education And Training In Vietnam, Laos And Cambodia, Eric Loo, D. T. T. Hang

Eric Loo

Journalists in the affluent industrialised world have since the mid-80s adopted information and communication technology (hereafter referred to as the internet) as part of their daily work. The internet has also enabled geographically isolated journalists to build an extensive network of contacts and access diverse information sources. Journalists, and citizens alike, are increasingly publishing their work for access by a global audience. This has effectively forced a redefinition of what constitutes professional practice in journalism. We hear varied claims of how the internet have transformed mainstream journalism practices and empowered citizens to tell their own stories via alternative online news …

Who Is A Journalist And Why Does It Matter? Disentangling The Legal And Ethical Arguments, Erik Ugland, Jennifer Henderson

Erik Ugland

The contemporary debate about "who is a journalist" is occurring in two distinct domains: law and professional ethics. Although the debate in these domains is focused on separate problems, participants treat the central question as essentially the same. This article suggests that the debates in law and professional ethics have to be resolved independently and that debate within those domains needs to be more nuanced. In law, it must vary depending on whether the context involves constitutional law, statutory law, or the distribution of informal privileges by government officials. In professional ethics, the debate should not be oriented around a …

Cable Television, New Technologies And The First Amendment After Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. V. F.C.C., Erik Ugland

Erik Ugland

No abstract provided.

A Meta-Analysis Of Political Advertising, William L. Benoit, Glenn M. Leshner, Sumana Chattopadhyay

Sumana Chattopadhyay

Political advertising is one of the dominant media for reaching voters. Previous metaanalyses (Allen & Burrell, 2002; Lau, Sigelman, Heldman, & Babbitt, 1999) found little or no net benefit to negative versus positive ads. However, this finding does not reveal whether ads have effects (both or neither could be persuasive). A meta-analysis revealed that political spots increased issue knowledge, influenced perceptions of the candidates’ character, altered attitudes, and affected candidate preference; influenced agenda-setting, and altered vote likelihood (turnout). One moderator variable was detected: The effect size for learning was larger for studies of students than non-students; however, the effect size …

Political Engagement Through Debates: Young Citizens’ Reactions To The 2004 Presidential Debates, Mitchell S. Mckinney, Sumana Chattopadhyay

Sumana Chattopadhyay

This study examines how exposure to a televised debate affects young citizens’ normative democratic tendencies, attitudes that have been linked to increased civic and political participation, including voting behavior. The authors also are interested in the confidence young citizens express in the political knowledge they possess—their political information efficacy—and specifically how confidence in one’s knowledge may be affected by exposure to such a sustained and “information-rich” source of campaign information as a 90-minute candidate debate. Findings reveal that debates strengthen, at least in the short term, democratic attitudes and also strengthen young citizens’ levels of political information efficacy.

Symptom Information In Direct-To-Consumer Antidepressant Advertising And College Students' Perception Of The Lifetime Risk Depression, Jin Seong Park, Jean M. Grow

Jean Grow

While consumers’ health cognition and behavior are likely formed through multiple influences, the current study focused on the effects of exposure to specific content elements in direct-to-consumer advertising. The study revealed that consumers’ exposure to the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) diagnostic guideline has potential to reduce their perceived lifetime risk of depression and intention to consult a health professional to discuss the health issue. The study further revealed when an antidepressant ad mentioned a long list of symptoms, exposure to the diagnostic guideline reduced risk perception and consultation intention significantly, whereas in the presence of a short list of symptoms, …

"Your Life Is Waiting!": Symbolic Meanings In Direct-To-Consumer Antidepressant Advertising, Jean M. Grow, Jin Seong Park, Xiaoqi Han

Jean Grow

This semiotic analysis demonstrates how pharmaceutical companies strategically frame depression within the hotly contested terrain of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. The study tracks regulation of the pharmaceutical industry, relative to DTC advertising, including recent industry codes of conduct. Focusing on the antidepressant category, and its three major brands—Paxil (GlaxoSmithKline), Prozac (Eli Lilly), and Zoloft (Pfizer)—this comparative study analyzes 7 years of print advertising following deregulation in 1997. The authors glean themes from within the advertising texts, across the drug category and within individual-brand campaigns. The findings indicate that DTC advertising of antidepressants frames depression within the biochemical model of causation, privileges …

The Social Reality Of Depression: Dtc Advertising Of Antidepressants And Perceptions Of The Prevalence And Lifetime Risk Of Depression, Jin Seong Park, Jean M. Grow

Jean Grow

This study is rooted in the research traditions of cultivation theory, construct accessibility, and availability heuristic. Based on a survey with 221 subjects, this study finds that familiarity with direct-to-consumer (DTC) print advertisements for antidepressant brands is associated with inflated perceptions of the prevalence and lifetime risk of depression. The study concludes that DTC advertising potentially has significant effects on perceptions of depression prevalence and risk. Interpersonal experiences with depression coupled with DTC advertising appear to significantly predict individuals' perceived lifetime risk of depression. The study ultimately demonstrates that DTC advertising may play a role in constructing social reality of …

Academic Library Seating: A Survey Of Usage, With Implications For Space Utilisation, Michael K. Organ, Margie H. Jantti

Margie Jantti

Between June and October 1996 the University of Wollongong Library conducted a survey of patron seating usage with the aim of a) quantifying such use; and b) identifying areas where seats could be removed to accommodate the growth of the collection. The survey indicated that maximum usage of the 648 seats available for study was 66%. This supported a conservative reduction of seating numbers by 12%, resulting in minimal impact on patron usage. The removal of seats enabled the installation of additional shelving and a compactus. The findings have facilitated collection expansion for a further five year period.

Major Changes Lead To Customer Satisfaction At Wollongong Uni, Margie H. Jantti, Claire Collett

Margie Jantti

Sustaining Satisfaction, a Quality and Service Excellence program (QSE), conceived in 1994, revitalised the University of Wollongong Library’s approach to the design and delivery of client service. Results of extensive ongoing market research reveal what our clients want and expect from their Library, namely friendly, knowledgeable and responsive staff, and seamless access to information resources. This has driven major change throughout all levels of the organisation, with dramatic and most importantly, sustained service improvements for clients.

Investing In People To Develop The Ideal Culture, Margie H. Jantti

Margie Jantti

While technical skills and professional qualifications will continue to play an important role in the identification and selection of people to join our organisations, the development of life-long learning skills will be the corner-stone of an organisation’s ongoing success and capacity to develop and adapt in a constantly shifting market place. Change is the only constant is the catch phrase of the moment. In a climate of ever-accelerating, and often overwhelming change, the ability of individuals to develop suites of skills and knowledge that promote flexibility, innovation and creativity will be a key determinant of an organisation’s future success or …

Stories Of Community: The First Ten Years Of Nike Women's Advertising, Jean M. Grow

Jean Grow

This semiotic analysis of early Nike women's advertising explores the evolution of the women's brand from its launch in 1990 through 2000, and includes twenty-seven print campaigns. The semiotic analysis is enhanced by in-depth interviews of the creative team. The study is framed by a single research question. What symbolically ties these ten years of advertising into a cohesive whole and how? Ultimately, three distinct mediated communities emerge. The story behind these communities, expressed semiotically and orally, suggests that the power of this advertising lies in its mediated construction of community life. The resonance of these ads is rooted in …

Breaking The Silence Surrounding Hepatitis C By Promoting Self-Efficacy: A Study Of Hepatitis C Public Service Announcements, Jean Grow, Stephanie Christopher

Jean Grow

Hepatitis C (HCV) is the most common chronic blood borne virus in the United States. Despite this fact, there is a startling lack of awareness about HCV among individuals who may have contracted the virus. This study, grounded in self-efficacy theory, analyzes public service announcements (PSAs) for HCV. Using focus groups to contextualize the responses of individuals living with HCV, the authors conclude that stigma and structural barriers pose the greatest challenges for health communicators trying to reach at-risk populations. The findings suggest that expanded use of celebrity appeals, realistic drug portrayals, more extensive use of social networking in tandem …

Living Our Mission: A Study Of University Mission Building, Sarah Bonewits Feldner

Sarah Feldner

At the same time that organizational communication and management scholars are focusing attention on trends of spirituality in the workplace, faith-based organizations are taking up the question of how they might maintain a distinct spiritual identity. For these institutions, communicating mission becomes the defining feature of institutional identity. Explicitly religious organizations provide a venue for understanding the implications of incorporating spirituality in organizational discourse. This empirical study explores a mission-building conference and examines the ways in which communicating a spiritual mission simultaneously enriches and constrains both the individual members and the organizations as a whole.

Transparency In Communication: An Examination Of Communication Journals’ Conflicts-Of-Interest Policies, Lawrence Soley, Sarah Bonewits Feldner

Sarah Feldner

Increased corporate-sponsored university research and professorial consulting has caused medical, psychological, and other scientific journals to adopt conflicts-of-interest disclosure policies. This study examines editorial policies concerning conflicts of interest at communication journals in the context of Habermas’s theory of communicative action. The results show that communication journals do not have the same mandatory disclosure requirements that journals of other disciplines have. In this regard, communication research journals are similar to the mass media. Consequently, the article suggests that disclosure policies are needed if communication research journals are to function as part of a larger dialogic process. Moreover, communication researchers are …

Service Use And Costs For Persons Experiencing Chronic Homelessness In Philadelphia: A Population-Based Study, Stephen R. Poulin Ph.D, Marcella Maguire Ph.D, Stephen Metraux Ph.D, Dennis P. Culhane Ph.D

Stephen Metraux

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Lobbying: Testing An Ethical Framework For Advocacy In Public Relations, Kati Tusinski Berg

Kati Berg

This study evaluates the ethical criteria lobbyists consider in their professional activities using Ruth Edgett’s model for ethically-desirable public relations advocacy. Data were collected from self-administered surveys of 222 registered lobbyists in Oregon. A factor analysis reduced 18 ethical criteria to seven underlying factors describing lobbyists’ ethical approaches to their work. Results indicate that lobbyists consider the following factors in their day-to-day professional activities: situation, strategy, argument, procedure, nature of lobbying, priority, and accuracy. This framework, derived from Edgett’s 10 criteria, illustrates the importance of context while incorporating ideas from recognized ethical theories.

Analysis Of The Regulatory Effects Of California Specialty Crops: An Examination Of Various Issues Impacting Selected Forest Products, Tree Fruit, Nut, And Vegetable Crop Industries, Sean P. Hurley, Richard Thompson, Christopher Dicus, Lori Berger, Jay E. Noel

Christopher Dicus

In a research report for the California Institute for the Study of Specialty Crops, Hurley provided a broad overview of the web of regulatory bodies affecting California agricultural producers. He found that California specialty crop producers must comply with multiple regulations from multiple local, state, and federal agencies. Locally, producers must comply with county land use regulations developed by the county, as well as, regulations established by the County Agricultural Commissioner. At the state level, producers must follow the regulations established by California Environmental Protection Agency (CALEPA), the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), and the California Department of Food and …

An Analysis Of The Tradeoffs Between Policy Instruments To Induce Dairy Producers In California To Participate In A Centralized Digester, Sean P. Hurley, James J. Ahern, Douglas Williams

James J. Ahern

Tradeoff between different utility rates and policy intervention to induce dairy producer to join a regional digester are studied. Results demonstrate that a regional digester for the dairy industry in California is feasible given the digester receives $0.05 per kWh and government intervention or $0.0925 per kWh with no intervention.

Law Protects Domestic Workers, Aisha Al-Muslim

Aisha Al-Muslim

No abstract provided.

Cigarette Tax Hike Bad For Bodegas, Aisha Al-Muslim

Aisha Al-Muslim

No abstract provided.

Grading Error Reduces Grower Incentive To Increase Prune Quality, Jennifer S. James, James A. Chalfant, Nathalie Lavoie, Richard J. Sexton

Jennifer S. James

Grading is important to ensure the production of high-quality foods, but It Is usually done with error, distorting market signals and diminishing Incentives to produce high-quality products. Size is the main quality criterion for dried prunes and the crucial characteristic In determining prune value. We studied the economic effects of errors In commodity grading, focusing In particular on the Implications of one-way (asymmetric) grading errors, namely when small, low quality product Is erroneously classified as high quality, but not vice versa. In an application to the California prune Industry, we estimated the extent to which large prunes are undervalued and …

The Impact Of Mental Illness Status On The Length Of Jail Detention And The Legal Mechanism Of Jail Release, Jeffrey Draine, Amy Blank Wilson, Stephen Metraux, Trevor Hadley, Arthur C. Evans

Stephen Metraux

A Note On Entrepreneurial Risk, Capital Market Imperfections, And Heterogeneity, Yulei Luo, Liutang Gong, Heng-Fu Zou

Yulei Luo

Empirical evidence shows that entrepreneurs hold a large fraction of wealth, have higher saving rates than workers, and face substantial uninsurable entrepreneurial and investment risks. This paper constructs a heterogeneous-agent general equilibrium model with uninsurable entrepreneurial risk and capital market imperfections to explore the implications of uninsurable entrepreneurial risk for wealth distribution and aggregate activity in an incomplete market economy. It is shown that entrepreurial risk can substantially affect both the wealth distribution and the macroeconomy.

International Soft Law, Andrew T. Guzman, Timothy L. Meyer

Timothy Meyer

Although the concept of soft law has existed for years, scholars have not reached consensus on why states use soft law or even whether “soft law” is a meaningful analytic category. In part, this confusion reflects a deep diversity both in the types of international agreements that states employ, and in the strategic situations that produce these agreements. In this paper, we advance four complementary explanations for why states use soft law. Our explanations account for a much broader range of state behavior than the existing literature is able to explain.

First, and least significantly, states may use soft law …

U.S. Government Electronic Information Resources: A Start-Up Kit For Small And Medium-Sized Libraries, Cheryl B. Truesdell

Cheryl B. Truesdell

The U.S. Government is the largest producer of information in the world. These include some of the most useful reference sources at the information desk – the Occupational Outlook Handbook, Statistical Abstract of the United States, and the World Factbook. Since 1994 G.P.O. and other federal agencies have been moving steadily toward electronic production of information. Virtually all of these information sources are now freely available on the Internet. With the exponential proliferation of electronic government information resources, choosing which resources to add to the collection or highlight on library web sites can be a daunting task. Fortunately, G.P.O. and …

The Cost Of Crime To Society: New Crime-Specific Estimates For Policy And Program Evaluation, Michael French, Kathryn Mccollister, Hai Fang

Michael T. French

Estimating the cost to society of individual crimes is essential to the economic evaluation of many social programs, such as substance abuse treatment and community policing. A review of the crime-costing literature reveals multiple sources, including published articles and government reports, which collectively represent the alternative approaches for estimating the economic losses associated with criminal activity. Many of these sources are based upon data that are more than 10 years old, indicating a need for updated figures. This study presents a comprehensive methodology for calculating the cost to society of various criminal acts. Tangible and intangible losses are estimated using …