What’s the Monetary Value of Distributive Justice?

This paper proposes a model that can be implemented to estimate the willingness to pay for distributive justice. A formula is derived that allows one to recover the willingness to pay for distributive justice from the estimated coefficients of a probit regression and fiscal data. Using this formula and data from a 1998 Gallup Social Audit, we find that the monetary value of justice in the United States is about one fifth of GDP. We find no evidence that the value of justice varies across types of people.distributive justice, governmental redistribution, fairness

What´s the monetary value of distributive justice

This paper proposes a model that can be implemented to estimate the willingness to pay for distributive justice, defined as distribution according to desert. We derive a formula that allows one to recover the willingness to pay for distributive justice from fiscal data and the estimated coefficients of a probit regression. Using this formula and data from a 1998 Gallup Social Audit, we find that on average the monetary value of justice for US households amounts to about one fifth of their disposable income. Moreover, we find evidence of markedly heterogeneous preferences for justice along the lines of race and education. --Distributive Justice,Governmental Redistribution,Fairness

What Determines Giving to Hurricane Katrina Victims? Experimental Evidence on Income, Race, and Fairness

We investigate determinants of private and public generosity to Katrina victims using an artifactual field experiment. In this experiment, respondents from the general population viewed a short audiovisual presentation that manipulated respondents' perceptions of the income, race, and deservingness of Katrina victims in one of two small cities. Respondents then decided how to split $100 between themselves and a charity helping Katrina victims in this small city. We also collected survey data on subjective support for government spending to help the Katrina victims in the cities. We find, first, that our income manipulation had a significant effect on giving; respondents gave more when they perceived the victims to be poorer. Second, the race and deservingness manipulations had virtually no effect on average giving. Third, the averages mask substantial racial bias among sub-groups of our sample. For instance, the subgroup of whites who identify with their ethnic or racial group strongly biased their giving against blacks. Finally, subjective support for government spending to help Katrina victims was significantly influenced by both our race and deservingness manipulations, but not by the income manipulation. White respondents supported significantly less public spending for black victims and significantly more for victims who were described in more flattering terms, such as being helpful and law-abiding.

Do Race and Fairness Matter in Generosity? Evidence from a Nationally Representative Charity Experiment

We present a dictator game experiment where the recipients are local charities that serve the poor. Donors consist of approximately 1000 participants from a nationally representative respondent panel that is maintained by a private survey research firm, Knowledge Networks. We randomly manipulate the perceived race and worthiness of the charity recipients by showing respondents an audiovisual presentation about the recipients. The experiment yields three main findings. First, we find significant racial bias in perceptions of worthiness: respondents rate recipients of their own racial group as more worthy. Second, respondents give significantly more when the recipients are described as more worthy. These findings may lead one to expect that respondents would also give more generously when shown pictures of recipients belonging to their own racial group. However, our third result shows that this is not the case; despite our successfully manipulating perceptions of race, giving does not respond significantly to recipient race. Thus, while our respondents do seem to rate ingroup members as more worthy, they appear to overcome this bias when it comes to giving.

What’s the monetary value of distributive justice

This paper proposes a model that can be implemented to estimate the willingness to pay for distributive justice, defined as distribution according to desert. We derive a formula that allows one to recover the willingness to pay for distributive justice from fiscal data and the estimated coefficients of a probit regression. Using this formula and data from a 1998 Gallup Social Audit, we find that on average the monetary value of justice forUS households amounts to about one fifth of their disposable income. Moreover, we find evidence of markedly heterogeneous preferences for justice along the lines of race and education

Do Race and Fairness Matter in Generosity? Evidence from a Nationally Representative Charity Experiment

We present a dictator game experiment where the recipients are local charities that serve the poor. Donors consist of approximately 1000 participants from a nationally representative respondent panel that is maintained by a private survey research firm, Knowledge Networks. We randomly manipulate the perceived race and worthiness of the charity recipients by showing respondents an audiovisual presentation about the recipients. The experiment yields three main findings. First, we find significant racial bias in perceptions of worthiness: respondents rate recipients of their own racial group as more worthy. Second, respondents give significantly more when the recipients are described as more worthy. These findings may lead one to expect that respondents would also give more generously when shown pictures of recipients belonging to their own racial group. However, our third result shows that this is not the case; despite our successfully manipulating perceptions of race, giving does not respond significantly to recipient race. Thus, while our respondents do seem to rate ingroup members as more worthy, they appear to overcome this bias when it comes to giving.

Plant-associated symbiotic Burkholderia species lack hallmark strategies required in mammalian pathogenesis

Burkholderia is a diverse and dynamic genus, containing pathogenic species as well as species that form complex interactions with plants. Pathogenic strains, such as B. pseudomallei and B. mallei, can cause serious disease in mammals, while other Burkholderia strains are opportunistic pathogens, infecting humans or animals with a compromised immune system. Although some of the opportunistic Burkholderia pathogens are known to promote plant growth and even fix nitrogen, the risk of infection to infants, the elderly, and people who are immunocompromised has not only resulted in a restriction on their use, but has also limited the application of non-pathogenic, symbiotic species, several of which nodulate legume roots or have positive effects on plant growth. However, recent phylogenetic analyses have demonstrated that Burkholderia species separate into distinct lineages, suggesting the possibility for safe use of certain symbiotic species in agricultural contexts. A number of environmental strains that promote plant growth or degrade xenobiotics are also included in the symbiotic lineage. Many of these species have the potential to enhance agriculture in areas where fertilizers are not readily available and may serve in the future as inocula for crops growing in soils impacted by climate change. Here we address the pathogenic potential of several of the symbiotic Burkholderia strains using bioinformatics and functional tests. A series of infection experiments using Caenorhabditis elegans and HeLa cells, as well as genomic characterization of pathogenic loci, show that the risk of opportunistic infection by symbiotic strains such as B. tuberum is extremely low

Free H_2 Rotation vs Jahn−Teller Constraints in the Nonclassical Trigonal (TPB)Co−H_2 Complex

Proton exchange within the M–H_2 moiety of (TPB)Co(H_2) (Co–H_2; TPB = B(o-C_6H_4PiPr_2)_3) by 2-fold rotation about the M–H_2 axis is probed through EPR/ENDOR studies and a neutron diffraction crystal structure. This complex is compared with previously studied (SiP^(iPr)_3)Fe(H_2) (Fe–H_2) (SiP^(iPr)_3 = [Si(o-C_6H_4PiPr_2)_3]). The g-values for Co–H_2 and Fe–H_2 show that both have the Jahn–Teller (JT)-active ^2E ground state (idealized C_3 symmetry) with doubly degenerate frontier orbitals, (e)^3 = [|m_L ± 2>]^3 = [x^2 – y^2, xy]^3, but with stronger linear vibronic coupling for Co–H_2. The observation of ^1H ENDOR signals from the Co–HD complex, ^2H signals from the Co–D_2/HD complexes, but no ^1H signals from the Co–H_2 complex establishes that H_2 undergoes proton exchange at 2 K through rotation around the Co–H_2 axis, which introduces a quantum-statistical (Pauli-principle) requirement that the overall nuclear wave function be antisymmetric to exchange of identical protons (I = 1/2; Fermions), symmetric for identical deuterons (I = 1; Bosons). Analysis of the 1-D rotor problem indicates that Co–H_2 exhibits rotor-like behavior in solution because the underlying C_3 molecular symmetry combined with H_2 exchange creates a dominant 6-fold barrier to H_2 rotation. Fe–H_2 instead shows H_2 localization at 2 K because a dominant 2-fold barrier is introduced by strong Fe(3d)→ H_2(σ^*) π-backbonding that becomes dependent on the H_2 orientation through quadratic JT distortion. ENDOR sensitively probes bonding along the L_2–M–E axis (E = Si for Fe–H_2; E = B for Co–H_2). Notably, the isotropic ^1H/^2H hyperfine coupling to the diatomic of Co–H_2 is nearly 4-fold smaller than for Fe–H_2

Knowledge of the health risks of smoking and impact of cigarette warning labels among tobacco users in six European countries: Findings from the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to examine knowledge of health effects of smoking and the impact of cigarette package warnings among tobacco users from six European Union (EU) Member States (MS) immediately prior to the introduction of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) in 2016 and to explore the interrelationship between these two factors. METHODS Cross-sectional data were collected via face-to-face interviews with adult smokers (n=6011) from six EU MS (Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Spain) between June-September 2016. Sociodemographic variables and knowledge of health risks of smoking (KHR) were assessed. Warning salience, thoughts of harm, thoughts of quitting and foregoing of cigarettes as a result of health warnings were assessed. The Label Impact Index (LII) was used as a composite measure of warning effects. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to examine sociodemographic predictors of KHR and LII and the inter-relationship between knowledge and LII scores. RESULTS The KHR index was highest in Romania and Greece and lowest in Hungary and Germany. While the majority of smokers knew that smoking increases the risk for heart diseases, lung and throat cancer, there was lower awareness that tobacco use caused mouth cancer, pulmonary diseases, stroke, and there were very low levels of knowledge that it was also associated with impotence and blindness, in all six countries. Knowledge regarding the health risks of passive smoking was moderate in most countries. The LII was highest in Romania and Poland, followed by Spain and Greece, and lowest in Germany and Hungary. In almost all countries, there was a positive association between LII scores and higher KHR scores after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Several sociodemographic factors were associated with KHR and LII, with differences in these associations documented across countries. CONCLUSIONS These data provide evidence to support the need for stronger educational efforts and policies that can enhance the effectiveness of health warnings in communicating health risks and promoting quit attempts. Data will serve as a baseline for examining the impact of the TPD

Skeletal muscle metastases in neuroblastoma share common progenitors with primary tumor and biologically resemble stage MS disease

IntroductionWhile subcutaneous metastases are often observed with stage MS neuroblastoma, an entity that usually resolves spontaneously, skeletal muscle metastases (SMM) have been rarely described. The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the significance of SMM in neuroblastoma.Patients and methodsSeventeen patients with neuroblastoma SMM were diagnosed at a median age of 4.3 (0.1-15.6) months. All had SMM at diagnosis and metastases at other sites. Fifteen (88%) had ≥ 2 SMM in disparate muscle groups. One, 14, and 2 patients had low, intermediate, and high-risk disease respectively. Fifteen tumors had favorable histology without MYCN amplification, and 2 were MYCN-amplified. Most SMM (80%; n=12/15 evaluated) were MIBG-avid.ResultsOnly 1 patient (with MYCN-non-amplified neuroblastoma) had disease progression. All survive at median follow-up of 47.9 (16.9-318.9) months post-diagnosis. Biological markers (histology, chromosomal and genetic aberrations) were not prognostic. Whole genome sequencing of 3 matched primary and SMM lesions suggested that both primary and metastatic tumors arose from the same progenitor. SMM completely resolved in 10 patients by 12 months post-diagnosis. Of 4 patients managed with watchful observation alone without any cytotoxic therapy, 3 maintain complete remission with SMM resolving by 5, 13, and 21 months post-diagnosis respectively.ConclusionsChildren with neuroblastoma SMM have an excellent prognosis, with a clinical course suggestive of stage MS disease. Based on these results, the initial management of infants with non-MYCN-amplified NB with SMM could be watchful observation, which could eliminate or reduce exposure to genotoxic therapy