Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver

Selected Works

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
File Type

Articles 1 - 30 of 84

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Global Climate Policy Will Have Net Benefits Larger Than Anyone Thinks (And Welfare Gains, Strangely, Are Likely To Be Much Larger Yet), Philip E. Graves Oct 2016

Global Climate Policy Will Have Net Benefits Larger Than Anyone Thinks (And Welfare Gains, Strangely, Are Likely To Be Much Larger Yet), Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

As with other public goods lacking strong special interest support, global climate policy suffers from two serious theoretical flaws. The first is failure to endogenize the labor-leisure decision when conducting benefit-cost analysis. Recognition that income generated will not remain the same pre-and-post policy results in downward bias in benefit estimation. Much more importantly, there will generally be free riding in input markets in addition to the well-known output demand revelation problem. Since even households with very high marginal values cannot individually increment public goods, too little income will be generated and too much of the income that is generated will …

Go to article

United Nations Peacekeeping And The Duration Of Post-Civil Conflict Peace, Lisa Hultman, Jacob Kathman, Megan Shannon Jul 2016

United Nations Peacekeeping And The Duration Of Post-Civil Conflict Peace, Lisa Hultman, Jacob Kathman, Megan Shannon

Megan Shannon

How do the qualities of United Nations peacekeeping operations (PKOs) influence the duration of peace after civil wars? Recent work shows that UN peacekeeping extends the duration of peace. However, this work has only been able to assess whether the presence or absence of UN missions affects post-conflict peace processes. Such analyses offer little in the way of policy prescriptions for planning and structuring PKOs to effectively pursue their goals. By employing fine-grained data on the personnel composition of PKOs, and generating expectations from rationalist bargaining models of civil war, we argue that the number and type of personnel deployed …

Go to article

Collaborative Resilience To Episodic Shocks And Surprises: A Very Long-Term Case Study Of Zanjera Irrigation In The Philippines 1979–2010, Bruce Evan Goldstein, Ruth Yabes Jan 2015

Collaborative Resilience To Episodic Shocks And Surprises: A Very Long-Term Case Study Of Zanjera Irrigation In The Philippines 1979–2010, Bruce Evan Goldstein, Ruth Yabes

Bruce Evan Goldstein

This thirty-year case study uses surveys, semi-structured interviews, and content analysis to examine the adaptive capacity of Zanjera San Marcelino, an indigenous irrigation management system in the northern Philippines. This common pool resource (CPR) system exists within a turbulent social-ecological system (SES) characterized by episodic shocks such as large typhoons as well as novel surprises, such as national political regime change and the construction of large dams. The Zanjera nimbly responded to these challenges, although sometimes in ways that left its structure and function substantially altered. While a partial integration with the Philippine National Irrigation Agency was critical to the …

Go to article

Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness In The Midst Of Fighting, Lisa Hultman, Jacob Kathman, Megan Shannon Nov 2014

Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness In The Midst Of Fighting, Lisa Hultman, Jacob Kathman, Megan Shannon

Megan Shannon

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Bargaining Power And The Arbitration And Adjudication Of Territorial Claims, Stephen E. Gent, Megan Shannon Jun 2014

Bargaining Power And The Arbitration And Adjudication Of Territorial Claims, Stephen E. Gent, Megan Shannon

Megan Shannon

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Ngos, Political Protest, And Civil Society, Carew E. Boulding Jun 2014

Ngos, Political Protest, And Civil Society, Carew E. Boulding

Carew E Boulding

This book argues that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have an important effect on political participation in the developing world. Contrary to popular belief, they promote moderate political participation through formal mechanisms such as voting only in democracies where institutions are working well. This is a radical departure from the bulk of the literature on civil society that sees NGOs and other associations as playing a role in strengthening democracy wherever they operate. Instead, Carew Boulding shows that where democratic institutions are weak, NGOs encourage much more contentious political participation, including demonstrations, riots, and protests. Except in extreme cases of poorly functioning …

Go to article

Political Competition And Local Social Spending: Evidence From Brazil, Carew E. Boulding, David Brown Jun 2014

Political Competition And Local Social Spending: Evidence From Brazil, Carew E. Boulding, David Brown

Carew E Boulding

Electoral theories of democracy imply electoral competition insures accountability. Using data on local elections, socioeconomic factors, and municipal budgets from more than 5,000 municipalities in Brazil for the years 1996, 2000, and 2004, we find that municipalities with more competitive elections allocate less to social spending compared to municipalities with little political competition. We argue that previous theory on political competition and public goods obscures the critical role that financial resources play in shaping the dynamics of social spending and political competition. Municipalities with small budgets lack the resources necessary to engineer convincing electoral victories. Where resources are negligible, voter …

Go to article

Civil Society And Support For The Political System In Times Of Crisis, Carew E. Boulding, Jami Nelson-Nunez Jan 2014

Civil Society And Support For The Political System In Times Of Crisis, Carew E. Boulding, Jami Nelson-Nunez

Carew E Boulding

How does civil society affect support for the political system during times of political crises? Some argue that civil society strengthens support for political systems by increasing trust and participation. Yet recent scholarship demonstrates that civil society can also facilitate mobilization and dissent, which may undermine support for the political system especially in times of crisis. We test these competing claims using individual level data from a country in the midst of a major political crisis: Bolivia in 2004. We find that membership in civil society organizations leads to higher levels of diffuse support for the political system even during …

Go to article

A Note On Monitoring Costs And Voter Fraud, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Gary Galles Jan 2014

A Note On Monitoring Costs And Voter Fraud, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Gary Galles

PHILIP E GRAVES

Election fraud can threaten democracy if many ineligible people are allowed to vote. The usual policy prescription is to increase monitoring cost. However, this is very costly. This paper proposes a more cost effective strategy: substitute tougher and consistent statutes across states against voter fraud.

Go to article

The Critical Difference Between Republicans/Conservatives And Democrats/Liberals, Philip E. Graves Jan 2014

The Critical Difference Between Republicans/Conservatives And Democrats/Liberals, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

There are, of course, a great many specific differences between the political positions of the two dominant political parties in America. After an introductory section characterizing those, section two suggests that the demarcation of critical importance between the parties relates to how they view the income distribution. Those self-identifying as Republican/Conservative tend to view the income distribution as an artifact of a host of individual work/leisure decisions with little policy relevance; those characterizing themselves as Democrat/Liberal tend to view the income distribution as a pure public good—in this view, private sector outcomes are expected to provide a non-optimally small amount …

Go to article

Productive Complements: Too Often Neglected In The Principles Course?, Gary Galles, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton Jan 2014

Productive Complements: Too Often Neglected In The Principles Course?, Gary Galles, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton

PHILIP E GRAVES

Many great economic thinkers, including Alfred Marshall and William Stanley Jevons discussed the importance of joint production, or productive complements, and there are important applications. Yet many students today could complete an economics major and never be introduced to this important concept.

Go to article

Coase Minus The Coase Theorem--Some Problems With Chicago Transaction Cost Analysis, Pierre Schlag Nov 2013

Coase Minus The Coase Theorem--Some Problems With Chicago Transaction Cost Analysis, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

In law as well as economics, the most well-known aspect of Coase’s “The Problem of Social Cost,” is the Coase Theorem. Over the decades, that particular notion has morphed into a crucial component of Chicago law and economics—namely, transaction cost analysis. In this Article, I deliberately bracket the Coase Theorem to show that “The Problem of Social Cost” contains far more interesting and unsettling lessons—both for law as well as for economics. Indeed, while Coase’s arguments clearly target the Pigouvian attempts to “improve on the market” through government correctives, there is, lurking in those arguments, a much more profound critique …

Go to article

United Nations Peacekeeping And Civilian Protection In Civil War, Lisa Hultman, Jacob Kathman, Megan Shannon Oct 2013

United Nations Peacekeeping And Civilian Protection In Civil War, Lisa Hultman, Jacob Kathman, Megan Shannon

Megan Shannon

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Do Political Parties Matter For Turnout? Number Of Parties, Electoral Rules And Local Elections In Brazil And Bolivia, Carew E. Boulding, David Brown Mar 2013

Do Political Parties Matter For Turnout? Number Of Parties, Electoral Rules And Local Elections In Brazil And Bolivia, Carew E. Boulding, David Brown

Carew E Boulding

Does the number of political parties influence voter turnout in developing democracies? Some scholars argue that large party systems facilitate matching voter preferences with a specific party, increasing turnout. Others argue multiparty systems produce too many alternatives, decreasing turnout. In developing democracies, there is debate over whether these institutions matter at all. We argue that party systems do matter for turnout in developing countries, but the relationship between turnout and the number of political parties is conditional on the electoral formula. Under proportional representation systems, large numbers of parties increase turnout. Under winner take all systems, large numbers of parties …

Go to article

Debating Law's Irrelevance: Legal Scholarship And The Coase Theorem In The 1960s, Steven G. Medema Feb 2013

Debating Law's Irrelevance: Legal Scholarship And The Coase Theorem In The 1960s, Steven G. Medema

Steven G Medema

The paper examines the treatment of the Coase theorem by legal scholars during the 1960s. The analysis demonstrates that it was legal scholars, rather than economists, who took the lead in applying Coase's negotiation result in the legal realm and that the early diffusion of Coase's result in the legal literature is anything but a "Chicago" story. We also observe that legal scholars were interesting in examining the applicability of Coase's result across a wide range of legal issues and, in contrast to economists, who were preoccupied with the efficiency predication of Coase's result, tended to focus on Coase's invariance …

Go to article

Narrating Resilience: Transforming Urban Systems Through Collaborative Storytelling, Bruce Evan Goldstein, Anne Taufen Wessells, Raul Lejano, William Butler Jan 2013

Narrating Resilience: Transforming Urban Systems Through Collaborative Storytelling, Bruce Evan Goldstein, Anne Taufen Wessells, Raul Lejano, William Butler

Bruce Evan Goldstein

How can communities enhance social-ecological resilience within complex urban systems? Drawing on a new urbanist proposal in Orange County, California, it is suggested that planning that ignores diverse ways of knowing undermines the experience and shared meaning of those living in a city. The paper then describes how narratives lay at the core of efforts to reintegrate the Los Angeles River into the life of the city and the US Fire Learning Network’s efforts to address the nation’s wildfire crisis. In both cases, participants develop partially shared stories about alternative futures that foster critical learning and facilitate coordination without imposing …

Go to article

Spatial Equilibrium In The Labor Market, Philip E. Graves Jan 2013

Spatial Equilibrium In The Labor Market, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

The paper discusses two approaches to spatial equilibrium in the labor market. The more traditional approach of labor economics assumes wage differentials represent arbitrageable differences in utility, with implications 1) that migration should be toward higher wage areas and 2) that migration flows will lead to convergence in wages over space. The more recent approach of urban/regional economics follows Roback in examining the implications of assumed equilibrium in utility over space. In this view wage differentials are compensatory (along with rent differentials) for amenity variation over space. The implications for wage convergence over space are complicated, but in general there …

Go to article

The Hedonic Method Of Valuing Environmental Policies And Quality, Philip E. Graves Jan 2013

The Hedonic Method Of Valuing Environmental Policies And Quality, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

Benefit-cost analysts attempt to compare two states of the world, the status quo and a state in which a policy having benefits and costs is being contemplated. For environmental policies, this comparison is greatly complicated by the difficulty in inferring the values that individuals place on an increment to environmental quality. Unlike ordinary private goods, environmental goods are not directly exchanged in markets with observable prices. In this chapter, the hedonic approach to inferring the benefits of an environmental policy is examined.

Go to article

Spatial Equilibrium In Labor Markets, Philip E. Graves Jan 2013

Spatial Equilibrium In Labor Markets, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

Over long periods of human history, labor market equilibrium involved movements from low-wage areas to high-wage areas, a form of arbitrage under the implicit view that wage differentials corresponded to utility differentials. This “labor economics” view is likely to be viable as long as movement and information costs are high, and under this view the movements would be expected to cause wage convergence over space. In recent decades, perhaps beginning as early as the 1960’s, both the out of pocket and psychological costs of movement have plummeted with advances in transportation and communication technology and innovation. In addition, these same …

Go to article

The Peculiar Immobility: Regional Affinity And The Postbellum Black Migrant, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Richard Vedder Jan 2012

The Peculiar Immobility: Regional Affinity And The Postbellum Black Migrant, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Richard Vedder

PHILIP E GRAVES

Why did newly freed slaves and their descendants wait a half a century before migrating in large numbers to the superior economic opportunities in the North? Census lifetime migration data on both movers and stayers are examined intertemporally for both whites and blacks. Regression analysis reveals that before 1920 Southern blacks had a very strong affinity for the "Southern way of life."

Go to article

Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Enviromental Projects: A Plethora Of Biases Understating Net Benefits, Philip E. Graves Jan 2012

Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Enviromental Projects: A Plethora Of Biases Understating Net Benefits, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

There are many reasons to suspect that benefit-cost analysis applied to environmental policies will result in policy decisions that will reject those environmental policies. The important question, of course, is whether those rejections are based on proper science. The present paper explores sources of bias in the methods used to evaluate environmental policy in the United States, although most of the arguments translate immediately to decision-making in other countries. There are some “big picture” considerations that have gone unrecognized, and there are numerous more minor, yet cumulatively important, technical details that point to potentially large biases against acceptance on benefit-cost …

Go to article

The Educational Choice Anomaly For Principles Students: Using Ordinary Supply And Demand Rather Than Indifference Curves, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Lauren Calimeris Jul 2011

The Educational Choice Anomaly For Principles Students: Using Ordinary Supply And Demand Rather Than Indifference Curves, Philip E. Graves, Robert L. Sexton, Lauren Calimeris

PHILIP E GRAVES

The “surprise value” of many economic observations makes our discipline quite interesting for many students. One such anomaly is that providing “free” education in an effort to reduce the number of dropouts can often result in a lower level of educational quality purchased. This result is easy to show with indifference curves, but many instructors of introductory courses do not introduce this analytical technique. As a consequence, a result that many students find quite interesting is seldom presented. We show here that it is easy to clarify the educational choice anomaly with ordinary supply and demand curves. Moreover, the exercise …

Go to article

Decision Control And The Pursuit Of Binding Conflict Management: Choosing The Ties That Bind, Stephen E. Gent, Megan Shannon Jan 2011

Decision Control And The Pursuit Of Binding Conflict Management: Choosing The Ties That Bind, Stephen E. Gent, Megan Shannon

Megan Shannon

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Bias And The Effectiveness Of Third Party Conflict Management Mechanisms, Stephen Gent, Megan Shannon Jan 2011

Bias And The Effectiveness Of Third Party Conflict Management Mechanisms, Stephen Gent, Megan Shannon

Megan Shannon

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Epistemic Mediation: Aligning Expertise Across Boundaries Within An Endangered Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Bruce Evan Goldstein Dec 2010

Epistemic Mediation: Aligning Expertise Across Boundaries Within An Endangered Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Bruce Evan Goldstein

Bruce Evan Goldstein

This paper uses videotaping and discourse analysis to study participants’ dialogue and conduct during preparation of the Coachella Valley habitat conservation plan in southern California. The research uses social worlds analysis to reveal that the plan’s technical advisors did not find facts through the collective discovery of scientific truths with unitary meanings, but instead constructed facts by aligning professional visions of space, time, and agency. The validity of the resulting plan relied on its ability to be a “boundary object”, meaning different things to different groups, while simultaneously laying claim to universality and objectivity. However, its subsequent failure to satisfy …

Go to article

The Influence Of International Organizations On Militarized Interstate Dispute Initiation And Duration, Megan Shannon, Daniel Morey, Frederick Boehmke Jan 2010

The Influence Of International Organizations On Militarized Interstate Dispute Initiation And Duration, Megan Shannon, Daniel Morey, Frederick Boehmke

Megan Shannon

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Ngos And Political Participation In Weak Democracies: Sub National Evidence On Protest And Voter Turnout From Bolivia., Carew E. Boulding Jan 2010

Ngos And Political Participation In Weak Democracies: Sub National Evidence On Protest And Voter Turnout From Bolivia., Carew E. Boulding

Carew E Boulding

How do NGOs affect political participation in weakly democratic settings? We know that NGOs can be an important part of moderate civil society by building trust, facilitating collective action, and encouraging voter turnout. This paper explores these relationships in weakly democratic settings. NGOs stimulate political participation by providing resources and opportunities for association. Where voting is seen as ineffective, new participation can take the form of political protests and demonstrations. This paper presents results from an original local level dataset from Bolivia on NGO activity, voter turnout, and political protest, showing a strong relationship between NGO activity and political protest …

Go to article

Appropriate Fiscal Policy Over The Business Cycle: Proper Stimulus Policies Can Work, Philip E. Graves Jan 2010

Appropriate Fiscal Policy Over The Business Cycle: Proper Stimulus Policies Can Work, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

Fiscal policy has become quite controversial in the post-Keynesian era, the debate over the Obama stimulus package being a contentious recent example. Some pundits go so far as to take the position that macroeconomic theory has failed to meaningfully progress in terms of providing useful recommendations for policy-makers, particularly in times of recession. Others take the laissez-faire view that policy reactions to the business cycle do not help in a rational expectations world and indeed do harm by increasing uncertainty. Still others, while not necessarily viewing themselves as in any sense ―Keynesian,‖ have a nagging feeling that sometimes doing nothing …

Go to article

Environmental Valuation: The Sum Of Specific Damages Approach, Philip E. Graves Jan 2010

Environmental Valuation: The Sum Of Specific Damages Approach, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

There is no abstract for this book chapter.

Go to article

Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Environmental Projects: A Plethora Of Systematic Biases, Philip E. Graves Jan 2010

Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Environmental Projects: A Plethora Of Systematic Biases, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

There are many reasons to suspect that benefit-cost analysis applied to environmental policies will result in policy decisions that will reject those environmental policies. The important question, of course, is whether those rejections are based on proper science. The present paper explores sources of bias in the methods used to evaluate environmental policy in the United States, although most of the arguments translate immediately to decision-making in other countries. There are some “big picture” considerations that have gone unrecognized, and there are numerous more minor, yet cumulatively important, technical details that point to potentially large biases against acceptance on benefit-cost …

Go to article

Next Last