Discrimination in the Workplace: Evidence from a Civil War in Peru

Few events give the opportunity to observe the full range of human behavior as wars do. In the case of civil wars in ethnically-mixed societies, the distribution of violence across various segments of the population can provide evidence on the extent and nature of discrimination. As in the case of markets, identifying discrimination in the warplace is challenging. There is uncertainty on the reconstruction of events as well as the rationale behind the violence. We use a unique data set collected by the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission on war crimes during the 1980's to show that there is evidence of taste-based discrimination by agents of the state towards ethnic minorities and women. The evidence is robust to different assumptions on the logic of repression and missing data problems. Working Paper 07-3

Use Permits: A Hedonistic Approach Applied to Farmland in the Southeastern US

In the State of Georgia, any agricultural producer who wishes to pump more than 100,000 gallons of water a day for crop irrigation is required to have an irrigation permit. The permit stays with the land and in the event of sale the permit is transferred with the property. Until recently, permits were essentially granted freely to all applicants in the Flint River water basin, without limit. In 1999, however, with increasing demand for water from growing urban Atlanta and several years of drought in the Southeast, the state of Georgia placed a moratorium on the issuance of agricultural water permits in the Flint River basin. This research exploits this policy change within a hedonic pricing framework to estimate the value of irrigation rights in the Southeast US. While the value of irrigation rights has been studied extensively in the western US, differences in property rights and legal regimes, as well as a lack of established water-rights markets in the East, leave us with little information regarding the value of irrigation rights in this setting. Working Paper 06-4

On Holiday! Policy and provision for disabled children and their families

This summary describes some findings from the On Holiday! study, carried out by the Thomas Coram Research Unit between 2004 and 2006 and funded by DfES. The study investigated the experiences of disabled children and their families outside school time and especially during the school holidays. The study took an approach informed by a social model of disability, one which emphasises the social construction of disability, rather than impairment

Incidence and outcome of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis

Background: Studies report variation in the incidence and outcomes of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS). This study reports the incidence and outcome of EPS cases in a national cohort of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Methods: The incident cohort of adult patients who started PD between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2007 in Scotland (n = 1238) was identified from the Scottish Renal Registry. All renal units in Scotland identified potential EPS cases diagnosed from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2014, by which point all patients had a minimum of 7 years follow-up from start of PD. Results: By 31 December 2014, 35 EPS cases were diagnosed in the 1238 patient cohort: an overall incidence of 2.8%. The incidence for subgroups with longer PD duration rises exponentially: 1.1% by 1 year, 3.4% by 3 years, 8.8% at 4 years, 9.4% at 5 years and 22.2% by 7 years. Outcomes are poor with mortality of 57.1% by 1 year after diagnosis. Survival analysis demonstrates an initial above-average survival in patients who later develop EPS, which plummets to well below average after EPS diagnosis. Conclusions: The incidence of EPS is reassuringly low provided PD exposure is not prolonged and this supports ongoing use of PD. However, continuing PD beyond 3 years results in an exponential rise in the risk of developing EPS and deciding whether this risk is acceptable should be made on an individual patient basis

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - CIVIL RIGHTS - FIRST AMENDMENT FREEDOMS-REFORMULATION OF THE CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER DOCTRINE

In July 1948 the apostles of Communism in America were indicted under the conspiracy provisions of the Smith Act of 1940. The tension marking both the trial and the present era has obscured the constitutional problems and policy considerations involved. It is the purpose of this comment to trace the history of this cause celebre, Dennis et al. v. United States, and to examine its effect upon our constitutional notions of the permissible bounds of utterance, primarily by an analysis of the appellate opinions

EVIDENCE-EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES-USE OF PARDONED CONVICTION TO ATTACK CREDIBILITY OF ACCUSED AS WITNESS

To attack the credibility of defendant charged with larceny of an automobile, the prosecution cross-examined him as to a prior conviction based upon unauthorized use of an automobile. Defendant had received a full pardon pursuant to a Presidential proclamation of general amnesty for federal offenders with one year or more of honorable World War II service. On appeal after conviction, held, affirmed, one judge dissenting. A full pardon does not deprive the state of the right to use a prior conviction in attacking the credibility of the accused as witness. Richards v. United States, (D.C. Cir. 1951) 192 F. (2d) 602