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Begin New Search Political Geography Global Focus Publication Year within 10 Years

581. The Intergenerational Effects of Parental Incarceration

Author:
Will Dobbie
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
We estimate the causal effects of parental incarceration on children’s short- and long-run outcomes using administrative data from Sweden. Our empirical strategy exploits exogenous variation in parental incarceration from the random assignment of criminal defendants to judges with different incarceration tendencies. We find that the incarceration of a parent in childhood leads to a significant increase in teen crime and significant decreases in educational attainment and adult employment. The effects are concentrated among children from the most disadvantaged families, where criminal convictions increase by 10 percentage points, high school graduation decreases by 25 percentage points, and employment at age 25 decreases by 29 percentage points. In contrast, there are no detectable effects among children from more advantaged families. These results suggest that the incarceration of parents with young children may significantly increase the intergenerational persistence of poverty and criminal behavior, even in affluent countries with extensive social safety nets.
Topic:
International Political Economy, International Affairs, and Prisons/Penal Systems
Political Geography:
Global Focus

582. Measuring Bias in Consumer Lending

Author:
Will Dobbie
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper tests for bias in consumer lending using administrative data from a high-cost lender in the United Kingdom. We motivate our analysis using a new principal-agent model of bias, which predicts that profits should be higher for the most illiquid loan applicants at the margin if loan examiners are biased. We identify the profitability of marginal applicants using the quasi-random assignment of loan examiners. Consistent with our model, we find significant bias against immigrant and older applicants when using the firm’s preferred measure of long-run profits, but not when using the short-run measure used to evaluate examiner performance. Keywords: Discrimination, Consumer Credit
Topic:
Debt, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

583. Using Behavioral Insights to Improve Truancy Notifications

Author:
Todd Rogers
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Many states mandate districts or schools notify parents when students have missed multiple unexcused days of school. We report a randomized experiment (N = 131,312) evaluating the impact of sending parents truancy notifications modified to target behavioral barriers that can hinder effective parental engagement. Modified truancy notifications that used simplified language, emphasized parental efficacy, and highlighted the negative incremental effects of missing school reduced absences by 0.07 days compared to the standard, legalistic, and punitively-worded notification—an estimated 40% improvement. This work illustrates how behavioral insights and randomized experiments can be used to improve administrative communications in education.
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

584. The Roaring of the Alpha Males (and the Silence of the Lambs)

Author:
Mira Oklobdzija
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Self-restraint is one of the most important litmus tests for distinguishing between humans and other social animals. Major human leaders, both past and present, often fall short in this regard. Instead, particularly as they mobilize their countries for war, these leaders compete for the distinction of being the alpha male.
Topic:
Gender Issues and Gender Based Violence
Political Geography:
Global Focus

585. Creating Fossil-Fuel-Free Communities Globally

Author:
Emanuel Pastreich
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Now that the movement to address climate change at the systemic and cultural level has gained unprecedented momentum, it is critical for us to establish a viable alternative economy that committed citizens around the world can join. The basic unit of that economy should be fossil-fuel-free (FFF) communities. In these FFF (fossil-fuel-free) communities, to be built from the ground up, nothing eaten or consumed, no form of transformation or communication employed, and no aspect of housing, furniture or utensils will contain fossil fuels (including plastics or fertilizers). Nor will any of these items be produced, transported, or manufactured using fossil fuels.
Topic:
Climate Change, International Affairs, and Social Movement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

586. Trump Isn’t Really Trying to End America’s Wars

Author:
Andrew J. Bacevich
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Let us stipulate at the outset that President Trump is a vulgar and dishonest fraud without a principled bone in his body. Yet history is nothing if not a tale overflowing with irony. Despite his massive shortcomings, President Trump appears intent on recalibrating America’s role in the world. Initiating a long-overdue process of aligning U.S. policy with actually existing global conditions just may prove to be his providentially anointed function.
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
America and Global Focus

587. Why I Cry at Work: Drone War Burnout

Author:
Allegra Harpootlian
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
America’s drone wars have gotten deadlier under Trump, but the Trump-first news cycle makes highlighting the human cost extremely difficult.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

588. How the Judiciary is Chipping Away at the War on Terror

Author:
Harry Blain
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Lower courts are slowly but steadily eroding the legal basis for some of the most reactionary war on terror policies.
Topic:
International Law, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

589. The NBA’s China Fiasco Shows What Businesses Really Value

Author:
Brian Wakamo
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Abstract:
Companies willingly censor or condemn free speech to retain market share in authoritarian countries. Just ask Daryl Morey
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

590. How to Displace the Great Replacement

Author:
John Feffer
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The far right is on a roll. Just a few years ago, liberals and conservatives would have considered its recent political victories a nightmare scenario. Right-wing extremists have won elections in the United States, Brazil, Hungary, India, and Poland. They pushed through the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom. In the most recent European Parliament elections, far-right parties captured the most votes in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Hungary.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus