Bowling Green State University

About: Bowling Green State University is a education organization based out in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 8315 authors who have published 16042 publications receiving 482564 citations. The organization is also known as: BGSU.

Union Formation and Depression: Selection and Relationship Effects

Abstract: Many studies have established that married people fare better than their never-married counterparts in terms of psychological well-being. It is still unclear, however, whether this advantage is due primarily to beneficial effects of marriage or to the selection of psychologically healthier individuals into marriage. This study employs data on young adults from both waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to test hypotheses based on both selection (N = 878) and relationship (N = 722) effects. Further, we differentiate union formation into cohabitation and marriage with and without prior cohabitation. Results indicate no evidence of selection of less depressed persons into either marriage or cohabitation, but a negative effect of entry into marriage on depression, particularly when marriage was not preceded by cohabitation. Key Words: cohabitation, depression, marriage, selection effect, union formation. Many studies have demonstrated that married persons fare better than the never-married on psychological well-being (Glenn & Weaver, 1988; Gove, Style, & Hughes, 1990; Kim & McKenry, 2002; Lee, Seccombe, & Shehan, 1991; Marks & Lambert, 1998; Simon, 2002; Stack & Eshleman, 1998); physical health (Waite, 1995; Waite & Gallagher, 2000); and life expectancy (Lillard & Waite, 1995; Murray, 2000). Two types of explanations have been proposed for the advantages of the married over the never-married. The first is the straightforward argument that married persons benefit directly from their relationships with their spouses, in terms of support, intimacy, mutual caring, companionship, and the financial advantages that come from pooling resources (Gove et al., 1990; Marks & Lambert, 1998; Ruvolo, 1998; Simon & Marcussen, 1999). Marriage also has a buffering effect against adverse life events or situations such as illness, poverty, or the loss of loved ones (Pearlin & Johnson, 1977). This argument implies that marriage improves psychological well-being, either directly or by moderating the effects of events and circumstances that would result in lower well-being for unmarried persons. This is often termed the social causation explanation (e.g., Simon, 2002), but we prefer the more specific term relationship effect. The second type of explanation is the selection effect, which postulates that happier, healthier people are more likely to be selected into marriage (Glenn & Weaver, 1988; Horwitz, White, & Howell-White, 1996; Mastekaasa, 1992). The selection effect implies an advantage of the married over the never-married in cross-sectional data, because those with the highest levels of well-being would be most likely to migrate from the never-married to the married category. The selection effect does not imply change in well-being for individuals accompanying the transition to marriage. The selection effect and relationship effect explanations are not at all mutually exclusive, however; both processes could operate simultaneously. Although it is possible to employ cross-sectional or cohort data to address the issue of relationship versus selection effects indirectly (e.g., Glenn & Weaver, 1988), panel data are obviously more useful. Several longitudinal studies have addressed this issue. The general consensus is that relationship effects are more powerful and more important than selection effects, although there is some evidence on each side. Mastekaasa (1992) found that a measure of life satisfaction predicted subsequent marriage for a sample of young adults in Norway, thus supporting the selection effect. Horwitz et al. (1996) reported that depression predicted subsequent marriage (negatively) for women, but not men, in a sample of never-married New Jersey residents. Several studies using the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH; Kim & McKenry, 2002; Simon, 2002; Simon and Marcussen, 1999), however, observed no differences in depression at Time 1 between those who later married and those who remained single. …

Future agriculture with minimized phosphorus losses to waters: Research needs and direction

Abstract: The series of papers in this issue of AMBIO represent technical presentations made at the 7th International Phosphorus Workshop (IPW7), held in September, 2013 in Uppsala, Sweden. At that meeting, the 150 delegates were involved in round table discussions on major, predetermined themes facing the management of agricultural phosphorus (P) for optimum production goals with minimal water quality impairment. The six themes were (1) P management in a changing world; (2) transport pathways of P from soil to water; (3) monitoring, modeling, and communication; (4) importance of manure and agricultural production systems for P management; (5) identification of appropriate mitigation measures for reduction of P loss; and (6) implementation of mitigation strategies to reduce P loss. This paper details the major challenges and research needs that were identified for each theme and identifies a future roadmap for catchment management that cost-effectively minimizes P loss from agricultural activities.

Ethnicity Effects on Sentence Outcomes in Large Urban Courts: Comparisons Among White, Black, and Hispanic Defendants*

Abstract: Objective. This study examines Hispanic-black-white differences in sentences imposed on offenders appearing in state felony courts. Methods. The present study uses data collected by the State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program of the Bureau of Justice Statistics for the years 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996. Results. Hispanic defendants are sentenced more similarly to black defendants than white defendants. Both black and Hispanic defendants tend to receive harsher sentences than white defendants. Also, ethnicity effects are the largest in the sentencing of drug offenders, whereas race effects are largest in the sentencing of property offenders. Furthermore, the present study demonstrates that the failure to consider defendants' ethnicity in comparing black-white sentence outcomes is likely to result in findings that misrepresent black-white differences. Conclusions. The results clearly demonstrate the necessity of considering not only defendants' race (i.e., black-white differences) in sentencing but expanding our focus to also include defendants' ethnicity (i.e., Hispanic-white and Hispanic-black differences).

Firm size and the information content of bank loan announcements

Abstract: We examine share price responses to announcements of bank credit agreements for exchange listed and NASDAQ firms and test whether there are systematic differences between large and small capitalization firms. For small firms both renewals and initiations of loan agreements generate significantly positive share price effects. In contrast, for large firms there is little evidence that bank credit announcements convey information to the capital market. Our results are consistent with arguments of Fama and Diamond that it is primarily small, less prestigious firms that receive benefits from screening and monitoring services associated with bank loans.