Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: A majority of Americans view news organizations as politically biased, creating a strong incentive for firms to try to present themselves as impartial. This paper argues that the desire to appear unbiased leads to information loss. In the formal model, firms withhold information in an effort to appear neutral. It is shown that information loss is exacerbated by competition, policies that regulate content are welfare reducing, and that regulating the size of the market can increase the amount of information revealed. Finally, the introduction of imperfectly informed sources of news, such as blogs, can decrease the incentives for traditional news outlets to provide information, yet they may also enhance welfare when information is being suppressed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify the association between political attitude (sense of unfairness about the current society) and social relationships with influential people using statistical analysis of survey data from Korea and Japan. Korea and Japan differ between themselves, as well as internally, in their typical relational resources and socio-political consciousness. Japanese people tend to have more relationships with influential people than do Korean people. Koreans have a stronger sense of social unfairness toward the current society. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that relationships with influential people reduce the sense of social unfairness (both within and between both countries). In rural areas in both countries, for instance, relatively many people have relational resources with influentials, which tends to reduce their sense of unfairness. In other words, rapid urbanization in both countries has increased the sense of unfairness. At the same time, many other factors also affect the sense of unfairness, including political distrust, an authoritarian attitude, and the preference for equality. We can call the combination of factors affecting social consciousness its "mechanism." The total mechanism affecting the sense of unfairness differs between residential areas in Japan, as well as across the two countries. In Korea, political distrust is a more strongly associated with the sense of unfairness.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The present study examined the relationship between students’ perceptions of distributive and procedural justice in a college course and student aggression and hostility toward their instructors and resistance of their instructors’ requests. Although perceptions of both distributive and procedural justice were negatively correlated with student aggression and hostility, hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that only perceptions of procedural justice predicted these two criterion variables at a statistically significant level. The relationships between perceptions of justice and students’ use of resistance strategies were less consistent. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that perceptions of procedural justice negatively predicted student revenge and deception, while perceptions of distributive justice positively predicted revenge. Perceptions of procedural and distributive justice also interacted to affect student aggression and deception.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Trust in the national government has declined greatly over the last fifty years, and over the past decade citizens have taken direct action to limit the actions of their politicians at both the national and state levels. Might negative feelings about national-level political actors be driving some of the punitive actions taken against state politicians? Research has long shown that governors benefit from a popular President of their party, and recent preliminary research suggests that state legislators may be rewarded when feelings about the U.S. Congress improve.

This paper extends earlier research investigating whether the public’s punitive actions against state legislatures are the result of actual state-level conditions or whether the public’s negative feelings about Congress are driving these actions. Here we investigate another possible connection between attitudes about national and state actors.

Using an augmented set of available public opinion, policy, and institutional measures, we test to see whether gubernatorial approval is affected by feelings about a state’s U.S. Senators. Controlling for many factors known to impact gubernatorial ratings, we find that the public’s feelings about their U.S. Senators (junior Senators specifically) are linked to state governor approval. In addition, this study also uncovered some interesting findings concerning state level forces. One of the more interesting findings concerned lame duck governor status. This status alone leads to a substantial decrease in gubernatorial approval. However, when combined with incumbency this effect reverses.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This article will study the EU’s policy towards state aid in the form of tax incentives and provide an effective comparison of the U.S. and EU approaches to such "state aid". With such different approaches, I am interested in the ability of the American States and the European Union Member States to provide state aid through tax policy and the consequences of the actual policies.