Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Why do states agree to establish legalized dispute resolution mechanisms? One of my arguments about the incentives of legalization is that states intend to reduce the risk/uncertainty involved in dispute settlement, and to increase the utility of dispute outcomes. This paper explores three aspects of risk/uncertainty problems that are related to the legalized dispute settlement (DS) mechanism of the WTO: risk reduction, risk creation, and risk management. Although existing studies have discussed risk/uncertainty problems in the context of international institutions, there has been no systemic analysis regarding the different aspects of risk/uncertainty problems and their relationships with international legalization.
The first argument in this paper is that states can reduce risk/uncertainty and increase utility by arranging their relations through international law. Focusing on dispute settlement mechanisms of the WTO, I contend that clarified substantive rules, well-established procedural rules, independent legal bodies, and legal precedents ?the four components of the legalized DS mechanism ?can reduce the risk/uncertainties involved in dispute resolution. As compared with the non-legal bargaining mechanisms of dispute resolution, the legalized DS system tends to produce dispute outcomes with narrow variations and smaller fluctuations. Assuming the risk-averse utility function of rational actors, we can understand how the legalized DS system improves utility among disputing states by reducing uncertainties.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: A growing body of evidence suggests that the predictive utility of several risk assessment tools may be based on their shared assessment of problematic personality traits that emphasize risk status. In this study of 221 parolees with- and without- mental disorder, we assess the association between these traits and instruments that are designed to go beyond risk status to capture risk state (the HCR-20 and LS/CMI). We also determine whether these associations differ as a function of mental disorder, and test the incremental utility of each instrument in predicting recidivism after controlling for personality. Implications for risk management are discussed.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: There is concern that use of antibiotics in cattle may lead to antibiotic resistance, which in turn, might jump to the human population. The degree of perceived risk varies with the type of problem to which the antibiotic in question is use. Using a random sample of 103 feedlot cattle veterinarians and variables drawn from the theory of planned behavior, we predict differences in risk perception by type of use with differences in perceived efficacy of antibiotics, social pressures to use antibiotics, and moral obligations to use antibiotics by type of use. Veterinarians who believed that using antibiotics for acutely sick cattle versus chronically sick cattle were more likely to believe that it was less likely that antibiotic resistance was likely in acutely sick cattle. Other models show the importance of moral obligations and significant other influences to be significant predictors of differences in perceived risk.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The search for protective factors for crime and delinquency is an important topic in crime prevention research. Researchers seek to identify factors that can be manipulated to protect against or prevent delinquency and crime among those at risk for delinquency and crime. This line of research corresponds with the work of criminal justice agencies that first must assess risk and then decide on a response that can ameliorate or “treat” that risk. Identification of people at risk is usually done using scales measuring risk across different life dimensions. However, lifecourse criminologists have been developing other methods to define risk as they explore whether life events have a differential impact on individuals with different levels of self-control/risk. The two main alternative descriptions of risk are a measure of the latent propensity to offend based on past performance (such as trajectory methods using longitudinal data) and propensity scoring. In this paper, we use the Rochester Youth Development Study to explore whether the three methods used to define individual risk identify different groups of people at risk. We then explore whether these different conceptualizations of risk affect the identification of protective factors that can reduce the risk of crime and delinquency.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Working from the claim that U.S. involvement in the affairs of other nations, particularly those in the Middle East, is a type of manufactured risk, with terrorism or "blowack" being the possible outcome, this paper examines the role of the mass media in managing this risk.

A rich collection of empirical evidence from media coverage, military documents, administration tactics, and research studies are marshalled to specify this hypothetical process. This data is then considered in the context of theories of social systems and individual agency from Talcott Parsons and Anthony Giddens. Careful attention is given to possible mechanisms of media influence on individual action, examined through the lens of each theorist's work.

A surprisingly influential role for the mass media is suggested in the works of both writers, though to differing degrees. Specifically, the research indicates a high probability of media continuing to informally partner with the state to manage the risks that accompany globalization.