THE PUBLIC LIFE OF ECONOMIC INCENTIVES

Many current proposals for policy reform call for the use of economic incentives. The growing application of economic incentives in a number of policy areas necessitates continuing critical examination of the claims for and the criticisms of their use. Early empirical evidence on the implementation of incentive schemes serves to shed light on the validity of some of the supporting and opposing arguments. By continuing the assessment of the viability of economic incentives, this study reveals that incentive alternatives face obstacles to use stemming from implementation problems, but political and philosophical issues pose greater threats. Nevertheless, the use of incentives can best be defended on political and moral grounds. Political resistance can be overcome and incentives can be employed effectively, if incentive schemes are understood as fostering one form of social interaction in a mixed regime.     

A new approach to the tympanum of Neuilly-en-Donjon

Romanesque sculpture can be profitably studied by trying to create the thought processes of those responsible for designing the programs. In particular, the thought pattern of associating various biblical stories which contain the same or similar words can be applied to the program of the little church of Neuilly-en-Donjon (Allier). It is clear that the various stories depicted are related to one another by sound - for example the Adoration of the Magi and the fall of Simon Magus and Mary Magdalen at the house of Simon the Pharisee. However, just as the genius of a monastic author such as Bernard of Clairvaux was the thematic unity he could use to organize these aural associations, so does the importance of the program at Neuilly derive from the sophisticated thematic unity of the program around the theological virtue of faith. From this study, we can learn not only to appreciate the genius of the designer of the program at Neuilly but also to attempt to unlock other secrets of Romanesque sculpure by applying this or other elements of contemporary thought processes to the parts of a program.     

When Loyalty Is Tested: Do Party Leaders Use Committee Assignments as Rewards?

Theories of parties in Congress contend that one tool that party leaders possess to induce loyalty among rank-and-file members is control over committee assignments, but conventional tests of this linkage have failed to distinguish loyalty from simply voting one's preferences in accordance with party leaders. We characterize loyal legislators as having a higher propensity for voting with party leaders when it matters, even when their preferences diverge from the mainstream of their party. Testing this strong definition of loyalty on committee assignment data for 1991–2015, we show that majority party members who support their party on the subset of votes for which party leaders have taken positions in floor speeches are more likely to be rewarded with plum committee assignments, especially those members on the ideological extremes.     

Maritime Aspects of Medieval Siraf,Iran: a pilot project for the investigation of coastal and underwater archaeological remains

Siraf is well‐known archaeologically and historically as an ancient port in the Persian Gulf that prospered during the medieval period. Siraf played a leading role in facilitating maritime and terrestrial trade, connecting long‐distance Indian Ocean and China routes with those in the Gulf region. Despite its history, no previous research has been dedicated to the maritime infrastructure of Siraf. Through the ‘2012 Siraf pilot project’ a preliminary survey of the underwater and shoreline remains of this ancient port city was conducted. The site's location is unique in many respects to trade routes and logistical considerations; however, its maritime infrastructure is difficult to assess in light of the extensive threats to the site.     

What is past is prologue: excavations at the Econfina Channel site,Apalachee Bay,Florida, USA

Offshore submerged sites can retain valuable data concerning many questions of interest to archaeology, including what form coastal occupations may have taken during periods before the establishment of modern coastlines and late Holocene climate and ecological conditions. However, submerged offshore sites experience postdepositional forces entirely unlike those in terrestrial contexts, including erosion/deflation of sediments, and degradation of artifacts and/or features caused by the marine environment. Methodological and theoretical approaches to assessing submerged marine sites, versus terrestrial ones, must be adjusted accordingly to extract valuable data and interpretations from them. This study demonstrates the application of these different approaches at the Econfina Channel site (8TA139) in Apalachee Bay, Florida, USA. The site appears to contain significant evidence for coastally adapted occupation during the final part of the Middle Archaic period (～8600–5000?cal?BP), but we needed to address marine site formation processes before we could assess human activities at the site. Sedimentological and archaeological traces of human activities can be teased out using geoarchaeological methods, which differentiate between nonhuman postdepositional processes and the cultural material remains left behind by those who used the site before it was abandoned and subsequently submerged.