21st century trade agreements: implications for long-run development policy

This repository item contains a single issue of The Pardee Papers, a series papers that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The Pardee Papers series features working papers by Pardee Center Fellows and other invited authors. Papers in this series explore current and future challenges by anticipating the pathways to human progress, human development, and human well-being. This series includes papers on a wide range of topics, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives and a development orientation.This paper examines the extent to which the emerging world trading regime leaves nations the “policy space” to deploy effective policy for long-run diversification and development and the extent to which there is a convergence of such policy space under global and regional trade regimes. We examine the economic theory of trade and long-run growth and underscore the fact that traditional theories lose luster in the presence of the need for long-run dynamic comparative advantages and when market failures are rife. We then review a “toolbox” of policies that have been deployed by developed and developing countries past and present to kick-start diversity and development with the hope of achieving longrun growth. Next, we examine the extent to which rules under the World Trade Organization (WTO), trade agreements between the European Union (EU) and developing countries, trade agreements between the United States (US) and developing countries, and those among developing countries (South-South, or S-S, agreements) allow for the use of such policies. We demonstrate that there is a great divergence among trade regimes over this question. While S-S agreements provide ample policy space for industrial development, the WTO and EU agreements largely represent the middle of the spectrum in terms of constraining policy space choices. On the far end, opposite S-S agreements, US agreements place considerably more constraints by binding parties both broadly and deeply in their trade commitments. Rachel Denae Thrasher holds a master’s degree in International Relations and a law degree, both from Boston University, and she is a Research Fellow at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. Her recent research has focused on policy issues related to regional trade agreements, multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and on global forests governance. Kevin P. Gallagher is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations and Research Fellow at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, both at Boston University. He is also a fellow at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University. He has written extensively on trade and global development. Also see related publication The Future of the WTO, by Kevin Gallagher

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: Understanding the influence of psychosocial risk factors and mothers’ help-seeking behaviour on the experience of depressive symptoms

Research has shown that adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at an increased risk for experiencing depressive symptoms (DS) resulting in poor quality of life and further vulnerability for the recurrence of DS in adulthood. Adolescence is a complex developmental period marked by dynamic social contexts that must be effectively navigated for the maturation processes associated with psychological wellbeing. This period is particularly challenging for individuals with ASD due to deficits in social communication skills leading to atypical social functioning. Consequently, psychosocial risk factors of DS for ASD adolescents are likely to be multiple and complex, and prominent risk factors need to be identified to address their role in the development of DS. Whilst many factors, including the impact of multiple psychosocial causes, may play an ongoing role in the trajectory of DS, what is unique to ASD adolescents when it comes to accessing formal support is their reliance upon maternal help-seeking. Mothers are considered the drivers for accessing treatment for their ASD adolescent due to their age-based dependency and the complexity of their ASD symptomatology. However, due to symptom overlap between ASD and DS, as well as the biopsychosocial challenges associated with adolescence, identification of DS can be difficult for mothers. In order to understand the experience of DS for ASD adolescents, the overall focus of the current project was to examine, in the context of two quantitative investigations, the impact of multiple psychosocial risk factors of DS as well as assess the role of mothers as help-seekers for adolescent’s DS. With a focus on understanding the link between psychosocial risk factors and DS and mothers’ help-seeking behaviour, it is hoped that the current research will minimise the occurrence of DS and expedite recognition and subsequent treatment when symptoms present. The objective of Investigation 1 was to explore the relationship between a number of psychosocial risk factors and adolescent’s self-report of DS. An initial review of the literature identified that the most commonly researched psychosocial risk factors of DS in adolescents with ASD (age 12-17) were life events, peer victimisation (lack of recipient of pro-social behaviour, overt and relational), attributional style, and ASD symptoms. When the effect of these factors were examined concurrently using multiple regression analysis on DS for a sample of 102 adolescents (age 12-17), it was found that the adolescents who experienced higher frequency of life events in the 3-months prior to completing the survey and who experienced fewer examples of pro-social behaviour from peers were more likely to develop higher levels of DS when controlling for age, medication and anxiety symptoms. Whilst the impact of life events and pro-social behaviour from peers on DS was anticipated, what was not expected was the lack of impact of ASD symptoms, attributional style and overt and relational peer victimisation on DS. The overall aim of Investigation 2 was to understand the impact of mother’s helpseeking behaviour on the adolescent’s experience of DS using the same adolescent sample and their mothers from Investigation 1. The aims of Investigation 2 were to examine a mother’s capacity to recognise DS and the factors linked with how mothers sought formal services. Based on a correlational analysis it was found that there was moderate agreement between mother and adolescent rated DS with mothers over-reporting DS. Of those mothers who identified DS, a frequency analysis revealed that less than half of mothers sought help for their adolescent. A further frequency analysis identified that mother’s opted not to access formal services if they held views that their own support was sufficient in meeting their adolescents’ mental health needs. A logistical regression revealed that mothers were more likely to help-seek if they had a family history of mental health disorder and elevated levels of stress. It was also found that more than half of mothers reported low levels of satisfaction for services their adolescent had finished. Overall, Investigation 1 and 2 highlight that the experience of DS for adolescents with ASD is associated with both psychosocial influences and mother’s help-seeking behaviour. Based on the findings of Investigation 1, parents may be mindful that youth with ASD may be at greater risk of developing DS if they experience an increase in life events and peer’s lack of pro-social behaviour. The findings of Investigation 2 indicate that it would be useful to provide support to mothers so that they can better recognise DS in their adolescent and assist them to more effectively seek-help from formal services. Overall, it is concluded that multiple psychosocial risk factors influence the mental health of adolescents with ASD and preventative programs require the inclusion of mothers. Moreover, a multi-level biopsychosocial approach regarding the mental health of adolescents with ASD is warranted

Democracy\u27s Shield: Voices of WWII

Based on a body of 700 oral history interviews archived at Gettysburg College, Democracy\u27s Shield relates the American military experience through the voices of those who served – from early awareness of the conflict in Europe and East Asia to the dropping of the atomic bomb, victory, occupation and homecoming. The text is illustrated with images of artifacts from the library\u27s Special Collections. Table of Contents ForewordIntroduction Portents of War Pearl Harbor Draft Status and Volunteering Exams, Induction, Training Heading to the Front Attitudes about the Enemy Race, Gender and the War Effort GI Joe Aboard Ship Up in the Air Medical Experience Leisure Activity Connections with Home European Theater D-Day Pacific Theater Experience of Battle POWs Death Camps Atomic Bomb Occupation Going Home Reflections The Interviewees Note on Sources Acknowledgments About the Editors The Dwight D. Eisenhower Society War in Focus Credits and Illustrations Donorshttps://cupola.gettysburg.edu/books/1180/thumbnail.jp

The Role of Music Therapy with Infants with Perinatal Brain Injury

Perinatal brain injury occurs in 5.14/1000 live births in England. A significant proportion of these injuries result from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) in term infants and intracranial haemorrhage (IVH) or periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) in preterm infants. Standardised care necessitates minimal handling from parents and professionals to reduce the progression of injury. This can potentially increase parental stress through the physical inability to bond with their baby. Recent research highlights the ability of music therapy (MT) to empower parental bonding without handling, through sharing culturally informed personal music with their infant. This review therefore aimed to systematically evaluate the use of MT with infants diagnosed with perinatal brain injury in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Search terms were combined into three categories (audio stimulation (MT), population (neonates) and condition (brain injury), and eight electronic databases were used to identify relevant studies following PRISMA guidelines. Eleven studies using music or vocal stimulation with infants diagnosed with perinatal brain injury were identified and quality assessed using Cochrane ROB2, the ROBINSI Tool and the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. Studies used either voice as live (n = 6) or pre-recorded (n = 3) interventions or pre-recorded instrumental music (n = 2). Studies had two primary areas of focus: developmental outcomes and physiological effects. Results suggested the use of music interventions led to a reduction of infants’ pain scores during procedures and cardiorespiratory events, improved feeding ability (increase oral feeding rate, volume intake and feeds per day) and resulted in larger amygdala volumes than control groups. Additionally, MT intervention on the unit supported long-term hospitalised infants in the acquisition of developmental milestones. Vocal soothing was perceived to be an accessible intervention for parents. However, infants with PVL showed signs of stress in complex interventions, which also potentially resulted in an increase in maternal anxiety in one study. MT with infants diagnosed with perinatal brain injury can have positive effects on infants’ behavioural and neurological parameters and support parental involvement in their infants’ developmental care. Further feasibility studies are required using MT to determine appropriate outcome measures for infants and the support required for parents to allow future comparison in large-scale randomised control trials

Indiana Government Officials and Trust in Nonprofits

This briefing analyzes the extent to which local government officials (LGOs) -- individuals in strategic positions to assess the contribu-tions of Indiana nonprofits -- say they trust local charities and other nonprofits to do the "right thing" and what may explain such trust. It is the fourth in a series of briefings focusing on non-profit-government relations in Indiana from the Indiana Nonprofits: Scope and Community Di-mensions project. The first three briefings ex-plored LGOs' attitudes toward 2-1-1 services, payments in lieu of [property] taxes or PILOTs, and collaboration between local government and nonprofits. Subsequent briefings will up-date our analysis of attitudes towards PILOTs and other topics. All briefings are available at the project website: www.indiana.edu/~non-pro

“Mental health day” sickness absence amongst nurses and midwives: Workplace, workforce, psychosocial and health characteristics

Aim To examine the workforce, workplace, psychosocial and health characteristics of nurses and midwives in relation to their reported use of sickness absence described as ‘mental health days’. Background The occupational stress associated with the nursing profession is increasingly recognized and nurse/midwifery absenteeism is a significant global problem. Taking a ‘mental health day’ as sickness absence is a common phenomenon in Australian health care. No previous studies have empirically explored the characteristics of nurses and midwives using such sickness absence. Design Online cross-sectional survey. Methods Survey comprising validated tools and questions on workplace and health characteristics was distributed to nurses and midwives in New South Wales, Australia, between May 2014 - February 2015. Sample characteristics were reported using descriptive statistics. Factors independently predictive of ‘mental health day’ reportage were determined using logistic regression. Results Fifty-four percentage of the n = 5041 nurse and midwife respondents took ‘mental health days’. Those affected were significantly more likely to be at younger ages, working shifts with less time sitting at work; to report workplace abuse and plans to leave; having been admitted to hospital in previous 12 months; to be current smokers; to report mental health problems, accomplishing less due to emotional problems and current psychotropic medication use. Conclusion Specific characteristics of nurses and midwives who report taking ‘mental health day’ sickness absence offer healthcare administrators and managers opportunities for early identification and intervention with workplace measures and support frameworks to promote well-being, health promotion and safety