Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Bridging the gap between political science and public health research is an essential component of understanding the role that civil society actors play in mitigating the public health effects of armed conflict. It would seem intuitive to conclude that armed conflict creates a significant deterioration in the provision of public health services. However, this relationship appears more complex in the case of Lebanon. In Lebanon during periods of armed conflict, public health indicators of infant mortality rates (IMR) and under five mortality rates (U5MR) actually improved instead of deteriorating significantly due to the presence of civil society actors providing health resources of medications, medical supplies and services. This study will examine the role that civil society actors performed in Lebanon in mitigating the effects of armed conflict on public health by aiding in the provision of health resources to populations in conflict zones. This study predominantly analyzes the leadership role that many women’s organizations took within the NGO community to provide public health care for infants and childrenThe protocol for this study involved using research from medical literature searches and field research to collect IMR and U5MR data. To analyze the mechanisms by which civil society actors successfully provided public health services in the absence of a state identity; survey research was conducted. Quantitative analysis was also conducted by analyzing the number of civil society institutions providing public health resources of medications, physician services or medical supplies.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper examines various strategies commanded under the WTO DS system. Because of the strong legal characteristics of the WTO DS system, states' optimal strategies has changed considerably as compared with those under the GATT system.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Though adoption in China has increased as more girls were abandoned and became available for adoption in the context of the country’s strict one-child policy in the 1980s, little is known about Chinese adoption practices. This paper investigates the factors affecting adoption practices in China in the period 1950-1987 using retrospective data from China’s National Sample Survey on Fertility and Contraception. Discrete-time hazard models were estimated to analyze the hazard of adoption among childless women, while logistic regression models were used for women with biological children. The results show that the national adoption rate was 2.3 percent- but there was a difference by province. Childless women were more likely to adopt a child relative to women with biological children, and they did not show a sex preference when adopting children. Women who already had children used adoption to incorporate a child of the “missing” sex into the family. Women who had experienced the death of a child were more likely to adopt a child than those who had not. The results also suggest that women with children may have used adoption as a strategy to circumvent the strict family planning policies. Overall, the results not only shed light on factors affecting adoption in contemporary China but also provide information for policy development in the fields of adoption and population control.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Has the prison buildup over the last 20 years resulted in a major crisis of order in prison? In fact, all empirical trends point in the opposite direction. There are now far fewer riots, homicides, and escapes than there were before the prison buildup, both in absolute numbers and relative to the size of the prison population. Possible explanations for this trend include changing prisoner demographic, increase administrative repression, and improved institutional leadership. The evidence suggests improved institutional leadership is the most likely explanation.