Large Jurisdictions Research Articles

A framework for improving the cross‐jurisdictional governance of a marine migratory species

AbstractMarine migratory species require collaborative decision‐making because individuals move across jurisdictional boundaries within and between countries. However, governance of these species is not always harmonized or truly collaborative. We analyzed the Recovery Plan for Marine Turtles in Australia 2017 (the Plan) and three of its subsidiary plans for evidence of collaborative governance using a two‐part gap analysis and interviews with environmental managers, scientists, and other stakeholders involved in the development of the Plan and in managing marine migratory species in Australia more generally. We applied existing adaptive and collaborative governance frameworks, which focused mainly on the social components of collaborative governance, and identified a need for a new, interdisciplinary framework for the collaborative governance of marine turtles in Australia. We applied our new framework to the Plan and identified that while the biological components of the Plan were well‐developed, stakeholder analysis and engagement details were largely missing. We recognize that recovery plans are inevitably silent about certain issues but suggest that plans would benefit from including better guidance on stakeholder engagement and analysis. Our framework is directly relevant to harmonizing the management of marine turtles across jurisdictions in Australia but it could also be applied to managing threats towards other migratory species that inhabit large marine jurisdictions.

Can Justice System Interventions Prevent Intimate Partner Homicide? An Analysis of Rates of Help Seeking Prior to Fatality.

When women are killed, they are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than anyone else, and a substantial number of women who are killed by an intimate were abused by that intimate partner before their death. The proportion of men killed by an intimate partner is much lower and prior research indicates that male intimate partner homicide victims are likely to abuse their partners prior to their deaths. However, limited research has examined the criminal and civil justice help seeking of intimate partner homicide victims. This study examines administrative data from one large urban police jurisdiction to understand rates of help seeking by homicide victims in the 1 to 3 years prior to the homicide. Over 4 years (2010-2014), 197 women and 776 men were killed. The proportion of women killed by an intimate or ex-intimate partner was 39.6%, and the proportion of men killed by an intimate or ex-intimate partner was 3.9%. Police had been in contact with the victim of intimate partner femicides for a domestic violence complaint in 91% of cases in the 3 years prior to the femicide (44.9% resulted in arrest), with an average of 6.2 visits per contacted victim. Among male intimate partner homicide victims, 73.3% had been the complainant on a domestic violence case (38.1% resulted in arrest). Few (<10%) victims sought protection orders before the homicide. Over the 3 years prior to their deaths, 36.7% of male homicide victims and 9.0% of femicide victims had been the suspect in a domestic violence case. Results indicate high rates of engagement of police officers with intimate partner homicide victims before their deaths, and highlight the opportunity for homicide prevention through integration of risk assessment (to identify high-risk cases) and enhanced criminal justice and social service interventions in high-risk cases.

Variation in Hospital Use at the End of Life Among New South Wales Residents Who Died in Hospital or Soon After Discharge.

Objective: Hospital use increases in the last 3 months of life. We aimed to examine its association with where people live and its variation across a large health jurisdiction. Methods: We studied a number of emergency department presentations and days spent in hospital, and in-hospital deaths among decedents who were hospitalized within 30 days of death across 153 areas in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, during 2010-2015. Results: Decedents' demographics and health status were associated with hospital use. Primary care and aged care supply had no or minimal influence, as opposed to the varying effects of areal factors-socioeconomic status, remoteness, and distance to hospital last admitted. Overall, there was an approximate 20% difference in hospital use by decedents across areas. In all, 18% to 57% of areas had hospital use that differed from the average. Discussion: The observed disparity can inform targeted local efforts to strengthen the use of community care services and reduce the burden of end-of-life care on hospitals.

Community policing and youth offending: a comparison of large and small jurisdictions in the United States

ABSTRACT Over the last two decades, the implementation of community-oriented practices has been a primary focus of American policing. Supporters of this approach suggest that a partnership between police, community members, and service agencies can strengthen the welfare of young individuals in the community. Relying on Census, Uniform Crime Report, and Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics data, the current study aims to identify the association between community policing practices and arrests of young individuals for violent offences. Findings suggest that the relationship between violent crime arrest counts and implementation of COP strategies is relative to the size of the jurisdiction and age group being examined. These effects are inversely related to violent crime arrest counts among juveniles and young adults in large jurisdictions, suggesting the implementation of COP is successful in reducing levels of violence in urban settings. Based on these results, policy implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Understanding the Density and Distribution of Restaurants in Los Angeles County to Inform Local Public Health Practice.

IntroductionTo describe the potential reach of restaurant-based strategies that seek to improve the healthfulness of menu options, it is important to understand the local restaurant environment, including the extent to which restaurants subject to policy mandates are located in communities disproportionately affected by diet-related diseases.MethodsThis cross-sectional study examined the restaurant environment in Los Angeles County, a large jurisdiction with diverse geographic and socioeconomic characteristics, specifically 1) the number and characteristics of restaurants; 2) the association between neighborhood sociodemographics and restaurant density; and 3) the association between neighborhood sociodemographics and restaurant characteristics, including chain status (large chain, small chain, independent restaurant). Data sources were 1) industry data on restaurant location and characteristics (N = 24,292 restaurants) and 2) US Census data on neighborhood sociodemographics (N = 247 neighborhoods). We conducted descriptive and bivariate analyses at the restaurant and neighborhood level.ResultsCountywide, only 26.5% of all restaurants were part of a large chain (a chain with ≥20 locations). We found positive associations between restaurant density and neighborhood proportions of non-Hispanic white residents and residents with more than a high school education. We found limited support to suggest a greater density of large chains in neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status.ConclusionResults highlight the potentially limited reach of strategies targeting chain restaurants and point to the importance of including small chain restaurants and independent restaurants in public health efforts to improve the healthfulness of restaurants. Understanding where restaurants are in relation to priority populations is a critical step to planning strategies that address diet-related disparities.

Sales Taxation, Spatial Agglomeration, and the Internet

Technological innovations facilitating e-commerce have well-documented effects on consumer behavior and firm organization in the retail sector, but the effects of these new transaction technologies on fiscal systems remain unknown. By extending models of commodity tax competition to include urban spatial structure (agglomeration) and online commerce, one can analyze strategic tax-policy interactions among neighboring localities. Consumers buy different types of commodities, sold either by traditional or by online vendors. When the cost of online shopping falls, we show that equilibrium tax rates and revenues increase in small jurisdictions and decrease in large jurisdictions with retail shopping centers. Policy commentators warn that e-commerce erodes tax revenue - true enough for some localities - but, more accurately, changing transaction costs can generate entirely new commercial and fiscal equilibria that ultimately “redistribute” tax revenues from localities with concentrations of traditional vendors toward other, typically smaller, localities.

Citizens’ Trade-offs in State Merger Decisions: Evidence from a Randomized Survey Experiment

Voters dealing with jurisdictional merger decisions face a trade-off between economies of scale and preference costs. Larger jurisdictions may offer cost advantages, yet the downside is that policies in larger units may be less aligned to voter preferences. Our study is the first to provide evidence on this trade-off on the individual level in an experimental set-up. For this purpose, we designed a randomized survey experiment and inquired about preferences on state mergers on a representative sample of the German population. In line with the decentralization theorem, the support for mergers increases with cost savings and falls with preference costs measured as political alignment, respectively. The effects of the cost treatments on merger support are lower for respondents from states that are actually discussed as merger candidates. Effects are also weaker for citizens who have a positive view of their own political participation under the status quo.

Adjusting the size of nations: Empirical determinants of separatism and the Soviet breakup

Little is known about the empirical determinants of state formation and dissolution, despite a rich theoretical literature on the subject. This paper exploits large variation in separatist protests across the 183 provinces of the Soviet Union between 1987 and 1992 to measure the demand for autonomy and secession. This enables an investigation into the theoretical prediction that the incentive to separate should be influenced by the trade-off between the size of the potentially separating jurisdiction and preference heterogeneity. I find evidence consistent with the existence of this trade-off: Regions that are more different from the center along some dimension of heterogeneity see a higher incidence of separatist protests per capita. Likewise, proposals to grant autonomy to large jurisdictions attract disproportionately more popular support. These results persist after controlling for various factors influencing general protest turnout, including repression by the authorities.

Habitat use of adult male South American fur seals and a preliminary assessment of spatial overlap with trawl fisheries in the South Atlantic

Little is known about the movement ecology of male South American fur seals (SAFS; Arctocephalus australis). To begin to address knowledge gaps we used satellite telemetry to track four adult male SAFS at the Falkland Islands over the non-breeding period, from May to December. Our aims were to describe adult male SAFS habitat use and quantify spatial overlap between male SAFS and commercial trawl fisheries. Foraging trip duration ranged from an individual mean of 8.6 ± 6.7 days to 39.2 ± 9.7 days. Adult males typically behaved like central place foragers and foraging trips were restricted to the Patagonian Shelf and shelf slope (mean distance 251 ± 239 km). However, some males ventured as far as 990 km to the north of the Falkland Islands. Overall, male SAFS spent 64% of their time in areas of trawl fishing activity, with the majority of overlap occurring within the Argentinean Exclusive Economic Zone (56%) and the Falkland Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (43%). Although overlap does not necessarily equate to interaction, the extent to which SAFS and fisheries interact is currently poorly understood. The emerging picture from our study is that SAFS and fisheries overlap and potentially interact across large spatial scales and multiple fishery jurisdictions.

PrEP implementation by local health departments in US cities and counties: Findings from a 2015 assessment of local health departments.

ObjectiveThe United States Public Health Service released clinical practice guidelines for daily oral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in May 2014. Local health departments (LHDs) are expected to play a critical role in PrEP implementation. We surveyed LHDs to assess awareness of and interest in supporting PrEP implementation, what roles they were taking, or believed they should take, in supporting PrEP, and what resources would be required to do so.MethodsLHDs were surveyed in 2015 to assess their engagement in PrEP implementation (n = 500). The study employed a cross-sectional survey design with a randomly selected stratified sample.ResultsAmong responding LHDs (n = 284), 109 (29%, weighted proportion) reported engagement in PrEP implementation. LHDs serving large jurisdictions (population 500,000+) and located in the West were more likely to be engaged in PrEP implementation. Making referrals for PrEP (74%) and conducting education and outreach to community members (51%) were the activities most frequently reported by LHDs engaged in PrEP implementation; 45% anticipated expanding their level of engagement. Among LHDs not engaged in PrEP implementation, 13% expected to become engaged over the next four years, 46% were undecided, and 41% reported it was unlikely. Information about PrEP for health care providers and information about PrEP for health department staff were the most frequently reported resource needs for LHDs engaged and not engaged in PrEP implementation, respectively.ConclusionsPrEP implementation by LHDs was limited in 2015, three years after Food and Drug Administration approval and one year after the U.S. Public Health Service issued clinical practice guidelines. PrEP is a recently available intervention that is requiring LHDs to adjust existing HIV prevention efforts and service delivery models. Additional resources and implementation research is needed to effectively support PrEP scale-up by LHDs. Efforts must also be undertaken to increase PrEP awareness, knowledge, and implementation capacity among LHDs.

The social costs of gun ownership: a reply to Hayo, Neumeier, and Westphal

We respond to the new article by Hayo, Neumeier, and Westphal (HNW), which is a critique of our 2006 article. The principal contribution of that article was to use a greatly improved proxy for gun prevalence to estimate the effect of gun prevalence on homicide rates. While the best available, our proxy, the ratio of firearms suicides to total suicides in a jurisdiction (FSS), is subject to measurement error which limits its use to larger jurisdictions that have enough suicides to stabilize the ratio. In this response, we report estimates for four different specifications and two data sets, the 200-county data and the data for the 50 states. We develop the claim that measurement error in FSS helps explain the observed pattern of results. Adopting the assumption that FSS follows a binomial process with a number of trials equal to the number of suicides, we characterize the relationship between measurement error and size of the jurisdiction, and thereby justify our conclusion that restricting the estimation to large jurisdictions reduces measurement error in FSS and hence the attenuation bias in the key coefficient estimate. We conclude that for the county-level data, the measurement error in FSS is of greater concern than using a specification that is flexible with respect to population. HNW focus on the latter but at the cost of increasing the effects of the former. We then demonstrate that the state-level data provide a robust case that more guns lead to more homicides.

Environmental standards in a large open economy revisited

Oates and Schwab (J Public Econ 35:333–354, 1988) consider an economy with mobil capital and jurisdictions that suffer from local pollution. They show that welfare-maximizing jurisdictions implement the first-best, if they take prices as given and have at their disposal a capital tax and an environmental standard. Petchey (J Public Econ Theory 17:461–467, 2015) claims that the efficiency result of Oates and Schwab can be extended to a large price-influencing jurisdiction. To enable efficiency comparisons, we expand his model by a second jurisdiction with price-elastic excess supply of capital and prove that his large price-influencing jurisdiction sets an environmental standard and a capital tax that fail to be (Pareto) efficient. Thereby we clarify that and why the allocation of emissions is inefficient, in general, although the allocation rule for emissions is not.

The Changing Geography of Finance - Shifting Financial Flows, and the New Financial Hubs: Shanghai and Paris?

The gyrations of capital flows during and after the recent financial crisis have declined somewhat, as shown by the weakening of uphill flows of capital to US Treasury bonds. Financial flows to emerging economies have stabilised, and reserve managers in central banks are taking a few credit risks compared to the usual “flight to quality”, as the economy emerges from a structural reduction in US Treasury bonds. These themes are reflected in the new geography of capital markets, which is beginning to see new large continent-sized jurisdictions taking centre stage. The purpose of this Report is to provide, through an overview of the structural factors that are shaping the new geography of finance, the rationales behind the emergence of new Financial Hubs in Asia-China and Europe.

Process of Development of a County-wide Crisis Care Plan - Riverside County, California, 2016-7.

Introduction: Disasters with substantial impacts to the health care and public health systems can have multiple reverberating effects, including the need to alter the medical standard of care as well as centrally control scarce medical resources. A current crisis care plan can help to establish an ethical and operational framework for stakeholders before such a disaster takes place. However, there are few examples of such a plan that cover large areas and health jurisdictions. This article describes the process of developing such a “Crisis Care Plan.”Methods: Plan developers from the Riverside County Department of Public Health and Riverside County Emergency Management Department first developed an ethical framework for decision making, followed by the development of a full operational crisis care plan with conditions for activation, life cycle and deactivation. The plan was then reviewed by major county stakeholders, including local emergency medical services, the county medical association and the hospital association, and additional comments incorporated. Before the final plan is implemented it will be submitted for public review and provider training materials will be developed.Results: The development of a prerequisite ethical framework helped to reduce the risk that the operational plan would cause or exacerbate care disparities by informing a blinded, objective process for evaluating resource requests centrally prior to distribution. The ethical framework served to establish the grounding principle of all lives having an equal claim on value. Stakeholders recognized the need for such a Crisis Care Plan and agreed with the underlying ethical principles. Stakeholders also contributed useful recommendations to enable the plan to operate in as successful a manner as possible under the difficult conditions within which it would exist.Discussion: The development of a clear ethical framework and the early identification and involvement of stakeholders can enable even very large health jurisdictions to construct crisis care plans that enable the best care under difficult circumstances, while protecting individual rights and incorporating the concerns of the public and the health care community.

Can Justice System Interventions Prevent Intimate Partner Homicide? An Analysis of Rates of Helpseeking Prior to Fatality

When women are killed, they are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than anyone else, and a substantial proportion of women who are killed by an intimate were abused by that intimate partner before their death. The proportion of men killed by an intimate partner is much lower and prior research indicates that male homicide victims are likely to abuse their intimate partners prior to their deaths. Yet, limited research has examined the criminal and civil justice help-seeking of intimate partner homicide victims. This study examines administrative data from one large urban police jurisdiction to understand rates of help-seeking by homicide victims in the 1-3 years prior to the homicide. Across all intimate partner femicide victims, in the three years prior to the homicide, police had been in contact with the victim for a domestic violence complaint in 91% of cases (44.9% resulted in arrest), with an average of 6.2 visits per contacted victim. Among male intimate partner homicide victims, 73.3% had been the complainant on a domestic violence case (38.1% resulted in arrest). Fewer than 5% of victims sought protection orders before the homicide. The findings of this paper outline the high rate of engagement of police officers with intimate partner homicide victims before their deaths, and highlight the opportunity for homicide prevention through integration of risk assessment (to identify high risk cases) and social service interventions.

Competition in emissions standards and capital taxes with local pollution

This paper analyzes the competition in emissions standards and capital taxes when production causes local pollution and large jurisdictions act strategically. It is shown that emissions standard competition both with and without capital tax competition results in inefficient outcomes. The more productive jurisdiction imports capital and sets inefficiently tight emissions standards, whereas the less productive jurisdiction chooses inefficiently lax emissions standards. Adding capital tax competition improves local pollution, but exacerbates the capital distortion and the efficiency loss of emissions standard competition.

A Carbon-Neutral California: Social Ecology and Prospects for 2050 GHG Reduction

How might a large jurisdiction approach carbon neutrality by 2050, and what initiatives might increase the chances of success? This article explores these questions using California as a case study. Current trends as well as multiple modeling studies show that existing policy directions for the state will not be sufficient. Additional initiatives appear needed to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles, reduce driving, reach 100 percent renewable electricity, convert existing buildings to zero-net-carbon status, change diet, and reduce consumption. The state’s social ecology does not currently support such changes. Consequently, planners and other professionals need to consider strategic actions to change social ecology as well as climate policy. Potential steps to do this include raising the price of carbon; revising the state’s tax system so as to increase public sector capacity; developing a stronger framework of incentives, mandates, and technical support between levels of government; and expanding educational and social marketing programs aimed at behavior change. A main implication of this analysis is that in many contexts worldwide sustainability planners should consider action on both policy and social ecology levels to maximize chances of success.

A Framework for Implementing the National Diabetes Prevention Program in Los Angeles County.

IntroductionPreventing type 2 diabetes is a public health priority in the United States. An estimated 86 million Americans aged 20 years or older have prediabetes, 90% of whom are unaware they have it. The National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) has the potential to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes; however, little is known about the best way to institutionalize such a program in a jurisdiction with a racially/ethnically diverse population. The objective of this study was to develop a practice-grounded framework for implementing the NDPP in Los Angeles County.MethodsIn 2015, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) partnered with Ad Lucem Consulting to conduct a 3-stage formative assessment that consisted of 1) in-depth interviews with key informants representing community-based organizations to learn about their experiences implementing the NDPP and similar lifestyle-change programs and 2) 2 strategic planning sessions to obtain input and feedback from the Los Angeles County Diabetes Prevention Coalition. LACDPH identified core activities to increase identification of people with type 2 diabetes and referral and enrollment of eligible populations in the NDPP.ResultsWe worked with LACDPH and key informants to develop a 3-pronged framework of core activities to implement NDPP: expanding outreach and education, improving health care referral systems and protocols, and increasing access to and insurance coverage for NDPP. The framework will use a diverse partner network to advance these strategies.ConclusionThe framework has the potential to identify people with prediabetes and to expand NDPP among priority populations in Los Angeles County and other large jurisdictions by using a diverse partner network

The impact of worker and agency characteristics on FGC referrals in child welfare

Guided by the Decision Making Ecology framework, this study examined data from a large urban child welfare jurisdiction consisting of two neighboring counties to explore reasons behind substantial variation in caseworkers' rates of referrals to Family Group Conferences (FGC), a common practice in child welfare both nationally and internationally. The results indicate that time in current position and perceptions of supervisor competence and leadership support were significantly associated with a worker's propensity to refer to FGC. Specifically, caseworkers with fewer years in their current position and those who reported lower ratings on their supervisor's competence and leadership's support made a higher number of referrals. The results reinforce the notion that even in the presence of policy mandates, such factors should be monitored and addressed by agencies concerned with consistent program implementation. Future studies should seek to replicate these findings in other jurisdictions and test for effective interventions to mitigate the impact of individual worker characteristics on actual implementation of mandated practices.

Seasonal Influenza Forecasting in Real Time Using the Incidence Decay With Exponential Adjustment Model

BackgroundSeasonal influenza epidemics occur frequently. Rapid characterization of seasonal dynamics and forecasting of epidemic peaks and final sizes could help support real-time decision-making related to vaccination and other control measures. Real-time forecasting remains challenging.MethodsWe used the previously described “incidence decay with exponential adjustment” (IDEA) model, a 2-parameter phenomenological model, to evaluate the characteristics of the 2015–2016 influenza season in 4 Canadian jurisdictions: the Provinces of Alberta, Nova Scotia and Ontario, and the City of Ottawa. Model fits were updated weekly with receipt of incident virologically confirmed case counts. Best-fit models were used to project seasonal influenza peaks and epidemic final sizes.ResultsThe 2015–2016 influenza season was mild and late-peaking. Parameter estimates generated through fitting were consistent in the 2 largest jurisdictions (Ontario and Alberta) and with pooled data including Nova Scotia counts (R0 approximately 1.4 for all fits). Lower R0 estimates were generated in Nova Scotia and Ottawa. Final size projections that made use of complete time series were accurate to within 6% of true final sizes, but final size was using pre-peak data. Projections of epidemic peaks stabilized before the true epidemic peak, but these were persistently early (~2 weeks) relative to the true peak.ConclusionsA simple, 2-parameter influenza model provided reasonably accurate real-time projections of influenza seasonal dynamics in an atypically late, mild influenza season. Challenges are similar to those seen with more complex forecasting methodologies. Future work includes identification of seasonal characteristics associated with variability in model performance.