Welfare Costs of Crime and Common Violence: A Critical Review

This paper critically reviews a vast array of literature on the costs of crime and common violence. Using a simple economic model of crime as a theoretical benchmark, we conceptually discuss the estimates available and their potential use as inputs for public policy. We present current methodologies, explore their main results, discuss their limitations, and suggest directions for further research.crime, violence, welfare, costs, contingent valuation, willingness to pay JEL codes: K42, O17, O57

Altruism, Fertility, and the Value of Children: Health Policy Evaluation and Intergenerational Welfare*

This paper accounts for the value of children and future generations in the evaluation of health policies. This is achieved through the incorporation of altruism and fertility in a “value of life” type of framework. We are able to express adults’ willingness to pay for changes in child mortality and also to incorporate the welfare of future generations in the evaluation of current policies. Our model clarifies a series of puzzles from the literature on the “value of life” and on intergenerational welfare comparisons. We show that, by incorporating altruism and fertility into the analysis, the estimated welfare gain from recent reductions in mortality in the U.S. easily doubles.value of life, mortality, fertility, altruism, intergenerational welfare, willingness to pay

Organization and Information in the Fight against Crime: An Evaluation of the Integration of Police Forces in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

This paper explores the experience of information sharing, coordination, and integration of actions of the Civil and Military Polices in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in the context of the IGESP program. The IGESP is based on the introduction of information management systems and organizational changes akin to those associated with COMPSTAT. All the evidence presented points to a causal effect of the IGESP on crime. The most conservative estimates indicate a reduction of 24% in property crimes and 13% in personal crimes. There is also evidence that the IGESP is associated with improved police response, measured by apprehension of weapons and clearance rates. We present one of the first set of causal estimates – with a clear identification strategy – of the impact of COMPSTAT-like programs. The results suggest that the coordination and informational gains represented by the program may constitute a first-order factor in a successful policy for fighting crime.crime, police, Brazil, COMPSTAT, impact evaluation JEL Codes: H11, K00, K42

Accountability and corruption : political institutions matter

Using a cross-country panel, Lederman, Loayza, and Soares examine the determinants of corruption, paying particular attention to political institutions that increase political accountability. Previous empirical studies have not analyzed the role of political institutions, even though both the political science and the theoretical economics literature have indicated their importance in determining corruption. The main theoretical hypothesis guiding the authors?empirical investigation is that political institutions affect corruption through two channels: political accountability and the structure of the provision of public goods. The results suggest that political institutions are extremely important in determining the prevalence of corruption: democracy, parliamentary systems, political stability, and freedom of the press are all associated with lower corruption. In addition, the authors show that common findings of the earlier empirical literature on the determinants of corruption?elated to openness and legal tradition?o not hold once political variables are taken into account.Corruption&Anitcorruption Law,Decentralization,Pharmaceuticals&Pharmacoeconomics,Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,National Governance,Governance Indicators,Pharmaceuticals&Pharmacoeconomics,Corruption&Anitcorruption Law,Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures

The Demographic Transition and the Sexual Division of Labor

This paper presents a theory where increases in female labor force participation and reductions in the gender wage-gap are generated as part of a single process of demographic transition, characterized by reductions in mortality and fertility. The paper suggests a link between changes in mortality and transformations in the role of women in society that has not been identified before in the literature. Mortality reductions affect the incentives of individuals to invest in human capital and to have children. Particularly, gains in adult longevity reduce fertility, increase investments in market human capital, increase female labor force participation, and reduce the wage differential between men and women. Child mortality reductions, though reducing fertility, do not generate this same pattern of changes. The model reconciles the increase in female labor market participation with the timing of age-specific mortality reductions observed during the demographic transition. It generates changes in fertility, labor market attachment, and the gender wage-gap as part of a single process of social transformation, triggered by reductions in mortality.

Justification by Faith: A Both-And Approach

The Pauline doctrine of justification is a prevailing subject among biblical scholarship today. Especially, as a New Perspective on Pauline literature rises claiming that Luther was wrong in his view of Justification, since he was blinded by his own context forcing it into his interpretation of the Pauline text. Consequently, the reformed view cannot be right since it interprets the doctrine of justification mainly through soteriological lens, whereas the Apostle had only ecclesiological purposes in mind when addressing the subject. In light of the previous thought, the purpose of the article is to criticize the New Perspective’s exclusive method by proposing a “both-end” approach to Justification affirming the soteriological aspects of justification held by Luther, but also pointing out the reality of ecclesiological implications. The article is divided in two main sections. The first section highlights the NPP (New Perspective on Paul) definitions of key terms, such as “Works of the Law”, “the Righteousness of God”, and “Justification”, followed by important observations concerning their view of the terms. The second portion of the article provides three main arguments for Paul’s use of the doctrine of Justification having primarily in mind soteriological purposes. The hope for this work is not to solve the debate between both parties, but to demonstrate that the traditional (reformed) view concerning the doctrine of justification is not absurd, as some would say, and that it is possible to hold a soteriological position and still affirm ecclesiological implications to the Pauline doctrine

Role of double-stranded RNA binding proteins in the Arabidopsis miRNA pathway

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNAs that are produced by Dicer proteins and regulate gene expression in development and adaptive responses to the environment. The components and mechanism(s) that determine whether a plant miRNA ultimately regulates its targets by guiding transcript cleavage or translation inhibition are unknown. In this thesis I show that the form of regulatory action directed by a plant miRNA is determined by DOUBLE-STRANDED RNA BINDING PROTEIN2 (DRB2), a DICER-LIKE1 (DCL1) partnering protein. The dependence of DCL1 on DRB1 for miRNA biogenesis is well characterized, but I show that it is required only for miRNA-guided transcript cleavage. DRB2 determines miRNA-guided translational inhibition and represses DRB1 expression, thereby allowing the active selection of miRNA regulatory action. Furthermore, the results reveal that the core silencing proteins ARGONAUTE1 (AGO1) and SERRATE (SE) are regulated by miRNA-guided translational inhibition. DRB2 has been remarkably conserved throughout plant evolution, with its functional domains retaining ~80% amino acid sequence identity from mosses to eudicots, while DRB1, although also present in all multicellular plant clades, is much less conserved. This raises the possibility that translational repression is the ancient form of miRNA-directed gene regulation in plants, and that Dicer partnering proteins, such as human TRBP, might play a similar role in other eukaryotic systems. In addition, DRB1 and DRB2 have similar but functionally different domains, such as their dsRBD2 and C-terminus. The results presented here suggest that DRB1 and DRB2 act as bridging proteins that assemble different component proteins, and even different RNAs, into the core of the dicing bodies (D-bodies), thus altering the properties of the D-bodies and the functionality of the miRNA pathway as a whole. DRB1 and DRB2 are also shown to play major, but different, roles in environmental adaptation, suggesting that cleavage and translation inhibition, respectively, are independent mechanisms, an insight that has not been experimentally shown before

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers

JEL Codes: E44, G01, G21, G33This study has the objective of analyzing the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, in an attempt to discover and prevent new failures of such magnitude, and to discover what were the causes, and its respective role, in this bankruptcy. How the financial crisis affect this old investment bank, and the role of new investments and financial instruments like CDO, CDS, Synthetic CDO and other ABSs. Also, the role of the real estate bubble and how Lehman acted in this bubble, and consequent burst of it. Together, with an analyzes of the role of risk and how to manage it, and moral hazard and its dangerous role to the financial market, in special financial firms.Este estudo, tem como objectivo a análise dos diferentes factores que levaram à falência da Lehman Brothers, numa tentativa de descobrir e prevenir novas falências, de magnitude semelhante e de descobrir as suas causas, bem como os respectivos papéis nesta falência. Por um lado, tentamos perceber como a crise financeira afectou este antigo banco de investimento e o papel dos novos investimentos, instrumentos financeiros, como: CDO, CDS, Synthetic CDO e outros ABSs. Por outro lado, o papel da bolha imobiliária e como esta agiu na Lehman e seu consequente rebentamento. Desta forma realizámos uma análise do papel do risco e como geri-lo, do risco moral e o seu papel perigoso no mercado e instituições financeiras

On the determinants of mortality reductions in the developing world

This paper presents and critically discusses a vast array of evidence on the determinants of mortality reductions in developing countries. We argue that increases in life expectancy between 1960 and 2000 were largely independent from improvements in income and nutrition. We then characterize the age and cause of death profile of changes in mortality and ask what can be learned about the determinants of these changes from the international evidence and from country-specific studies. Public health infrastructure, immunization, targeted programs, and the spread of less palpable forms of knowledge all seem to have been important factors. Much of the recent debate has revolved around antagonistic approaches, which are not supported by the evidence discussed here. Finally, the paper suggests that the evolution of health inequality across and within countries is intrinsically related to the process of diffusion of new technologies and to the nature of these new technologies (public or private).