Gambling and Income Inequality in the States

Since the early 1970s, income inequality in the United States has increased dramatically. We examine the impact of gambling on income inequality in the American states from 1976 to 1995. Using state-level data over time to evaluate the effects of various types of legalized gambling, from slot machine parlors to lotteries, we find clear evidence that lotteries foster inequality but no evidence of a similar effect for other types of gambling. These results suggest that the increasing prevalence of various forms of nonlottery gambling will have little effect on income inequality.     

Prison and sacrament in the cult of saints: images of St Barbara in late medieval art

This article analyses the changing visual representation of St Barbara during the later middle ages. The article identifies a shift in St Barbara's iconography: whereas earlier medieval representations of the saint almost always show her with her prison tower, a number of fifteenth-century representations show the saint holding a chalice and host. The article traces how and why this shift occurred. In particular, the article explores the ways in which medieval thinking linking incarceration and liberation were integrated into new representations of St Barbara to stress her intercessionary, sacramental functions. Overall, the article argues that the visual transformation of St Barbara's prison tower into a liturgical vessel reveals how saints like Barbara were increasingly viewed as conduits to the inclusive sort of freedom that participation in Christianity's sacramental economy invited.     

Evaluating protein residues on Gainey phase Paleoindian stone tools

Blood protein analysis provides a method for acquiring and interpreting archaeological data bearing on human–animal relationships. The present study makes use of cross-over immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) and a large sample of stone tools (N = 130) from an early Paleoindian site pertaining to the Gainey phase (ca. 11,200 BP) of the Midwestern USA. Results are used to interpret toolkit organization and site structure, and indicate that hafted tools with longer use-life potentialities are more likely to be associated with preserved residues than are tools of a more ad hoc or situational character. Protein residues derived from cervids are the largest category of identified samples, a result consistent with an interpretation that these animals were important first-line resources of Gainey phase populations. The identification of caribou (Rangifer sp.) is notable. Interpretations of subsistence importance, however, must be tempered by an appreciation of the possible confounding effects of tool manufacture and maintenance in early Paleoindian contexts.     

Experimental evidence for lithic projectile injuries: improving identification of an under-recognised phenomenon

Between the Upper Palaeolithic and the spread of metallurgy stone-tipped projectiles were of great importance both for subsistence and as weapons. Whilst finds of embedded projectile points in human and animal bone are not uncommon, identifications of such wounds in the absence of embedded points are rare. Previous experimentation involving archaic projectiles has not examined the effects of stone-tipped projectiles on bone. This paper presents the results of experiments in which samples of animal bone were impacted with flint-tipped arrows. The results demonstrate that positive identifications can be made, both grossly and microscopically, of bony trauma caused by flint projectiles. In addition, flint projectiles are shown to often leave small embedded fragments, which can also be identified microscopically. These results compare well with archaeological examples of suspected ‘arrow wounds’ and the article demonstrates the practical application of this data in identifying such injuries. By facilitating the recognition of projectile trauma these findings will have significance both for the investigation of hunting strategies and levels of conflict amongst early human societies.     

Global Value Chains,Industrial Policy and Economic Upgrading in Ethiopia's Apparel Sector

This article examines whether low-income countries can still benefit from participating in manufacturing global value chains (GVCs) in terms of broader industrial development in a global context of greater competition and higher requirements. It contends that developing internationally competitive local firms and domestic linkages, in addition to upgrading, is crucial for participation in GVCs to drive industrialization. The study focuses on Ethiopia's recent experience with developing an apparel export industry through strategic industrial policy. Based on original empirical data collected through firm-level surveys and interviews with government officials, industry experts and buyers, the article analyses the upgrading and localization trajectories of foreign and local apparel-exporting firms. It argues that value-capture benefits in assembly positions in apparel GVCs have become more difficult. The potential for localization benefits depends on the type of global buyers and foreign producers and their levels of embeddedness, but whether this potential is realized also depends on local firm characteristics and related industrial policy. Ethiopia's industrial policy has been relatively successful regarding national economy linkages, but less successful in developing competitive local export firms due to a weak local manufacturing tradition combined with a global context that has led to a supplier squeeze.     

‘The brede of good & strong Horsis’: zooarchaeological evidence for size change in horses from early modern London

SUMMARY: Almost 200 horse bone measurements from 38 sites excavated across the city of London, dating to the period AD 1220–1900 were analysed. Results identified three main phases of size change: a reduction in size in the mid 14th to 15th century, and size increases in the mid 15th to 16th century and the 17th century. The decline in size testifies to the disruption of horse breeding in the wake of the Black Death, whilst the increases reflect purposeful attempts to increase the size of horses in England through a combination of regulated breeding and the importation of new bloodlines.