Effects of U.S. States' Social Welfare Systems on Population Health

Social scientists have studied the welfare state extensively. Many studies seek to understand the determinants of the welfare state; however, a few have explored the social consequences of social welfare systems, especially on health outcomes of the population. Even though cross-national comparative studies support the thesis that the welfare state regime type, which represents different levels of commitment on social welfare, is closely linked to population health, there is little research to support this argument at a sub-national level. To fill the gap, this study explores the effects of the U.S. states' social welfare systems on health using age-adjusted mortality rates as a proxy for population health. By operationalizing social welfare systems as three dimensions—public expenditures, tax structures, and welfare program rules—we find that more generous education spending, progressive tax systems, and more lenient welfare program rules help to improve population health. The model corrects for first-order serial correlation using Prais-Winsten regression methods and is estimated with state and year-fixed effects.     

Population growth among U.S. regions and metropolitan areas: a test for causality

ABSTRACT This paper explores theories of population growth, and implied economic growth, among the major U.S. metro areas and regions. One set of theoretical arguments favor the growth of large cities, while an alternative set of arguments favor the growth of the smaller urban areas. Still another set of arguments combine economic space and urban size in the concept of regional growth centers as the engines of regional growth. Granger causality tests are applied to determine the role of urban size or growth centres as engines of regional growth. The test results indicate no causal relationship exists.     

20世纪中美两国专家政治的缘起与演变--科学介入政治的一个历史比较

20世纪30年代专家政治的浪潮在美国达到一个峰巅。技术统治论的思潮与运动以物理学原理深刻反思资本主义制度,罗斯福新政时期也大量吸收专家参与政权。在此前后。《东方杂志》、《国闻周报》等将技术统治论作为新的思潮与运动加以介绍,一些参政知识分子则更多地从美国政府的政策调整中吸取经验。南京政府一定程度地吸收专家参政,在行政技术化、立法科学化等方面有一定改进,但未改变蒋介石专制政权的性质。美国的技术统治论经历复杂的转变,其中一部分为主流社会所吸收,一部分则趋向偏激,进一步产生对美国社会的深刻怀疑,成为当今美国社会的另类选择。美中两国历史发展说明,科学进入政治领域,有利于技术层面的科学化;科学主宰政治。却是技术乌托邦之梦。     

城市化下的“卫生”困境与突破--论19世纪后半期美国城市公共卫生改革

19世纪后半期迅猛发展的美国城市化,使美国社会经济生活出现全方位的变化。同时,人口高度密集的城市环境导致公共卫生问题恶化,出现所谓的卫生危机,从而促发了城市公共卫生改革。此后,在美国城市的环境治理和疫病防治方面都出现系列性变化,城市公共卫生开始走上正轨。在此过程中,政府开始直接干预公共卫生,大众卫生意识得以强化,为美国城市卫生事业留下了宝贵遗产。     

试论美国新宗教右翼

20世纪下半叶是美国新保守主义崛起和活跃于美国政坛的时期。当代美国新保守主义力量主要由新型保守派（Neo—cons）、新右翼（New Right）和新宗教右翼（New Religious Right）所组成。作为以福音派和基要主义派等宗教组织为主体的当代美国宗教右翼,针对美国日益严重的社会问题和急剧下滑的道德价值观,假借“电子牧师”和“超级教会”等方式,以犹太-基督教传统价值观为基准,动员和组织了数千万福音派和基要主义派教徒,掀起了一场规模相当可观的宗教右翼运动,为美国保守主义的复兴和重返政坛立了大功。探讨当代美国保守主义时,新宗教右翼是一个不可或缺的部分。     

Government, Business, and U.S. Economic Expansion in the Americas in the Late Nineteenth Century: A Reappraisal

Books reviewed in this article:
Pletcher, David M. The Diplomacy of Trade and Investment: American Economics expansion in the Hemisphere, 1865-1900     

A Dynamic Analysis of Interaction Data: U.S. Rail Freight Flows, 1972-81

The purpose of this paper is to extend Poisson regression to the analysis of spatial interactions over time. The methodology involves derivation of models using information methods and calibration using Poisson regression. Poisson regression is then used to analyze interannual variation in U.S. rail freight flows, 1972-81. Findings indicate that import and export variability is less important than is flow variability. Import and export variability is highest for the northeastern United States, but flow variability is highest for the southern and western United States. This has implications for the specification of dynamic models of commodity flow.     

Frozen Film and FOSDIC Forms: Restoring the 1960 U.S. Census of Population and Housing

In this article, the authors describe a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center (MPC), the U.S. Census Bureau, and the National Archives and Records Administration to restore the lost data from the 1960 Census. The data survived on refrigerated microfilm in a cave in Lenexa, Kansas. The MPC is now converting the data to usable form. Once the restored data are processed, the authors intend to develop three new data sources based on the 1960 census. These data will replace the most inadequate sample in the series of public-use census microdata spanning the years from 1850 to 2000, extend the chronological scope of the public census summary files, and provide a powerful new resource for the Census Bureau and its Research Data Centers.     

Spatial Aspects of Capacity Change by U.S. Integrated Steel Producers

This paper examines changes in the location of ore-based steel-makingcapacity in the U.S. over the period 1974 to 1991 using data on each of the 45 ore-based mills that were in operation in 1974. We find that the geographic ddistributions of demand and of competition from minimills and imports were important in determining where capacity reductions occurred and which plants were closed. Technology in use at the plant also affected capacity adjustment. However, we find that regional variation in prices of raw materials were notimportant factors in determining where steel-making capacity was reduced.