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Articulating thoughtful learning outcome statements for courses and majors improves teaching and learning and satisfies accreditation requirements. After reading this paper, economists will be able to construct learning outcome statements that guide and enhance teaching and learning in their courses and programs. We present a framework for developing learning outcomes based on a set of five fundamental competencies in economics. We then provide another public good, offering a complete set of learning outcomes for an introductory microeconomics course, which instructors can include in their syllabi. For additional guidance, we construct examples of lesson-specific learning outcomes as well.

AbstractWhy do some actors in international politics display remarkable persistence in wartime, while others "cut and run" at the first sign of trouble? I offer a behavioral theory of resolve, suggesting that variation in time and risk preferences can help explain why some actors display more resolve than others. I test the theory experimentally in the context of public opinion about military interventions. The results not only help explain why certain types of costs of war loom larger for certain types of actors but also shed light on some of the behavioral revolution's contributions more broadly.

AbstractThis paper uses an empirical approach to test the specific causal relationship between debt and growth in the UK, in the context of the debate surrounding the use of a policy known as austerity measures. This time series perspective makes use of more recent Granger causality and cointegration tests that allow for non‐stationarity in macroeconomic time series data in the presence of structural breaks. Controlling for exogenous shocks associated with the period around the financial crisis, we find no evidence of a causal relationship between economic growth and public debt for the UK.

This article shows how the interplay of different function systems creates distrust and paradoxes in complex polycentric transition processes. This issue is captured by an abductive, qualitative, single‐case study on a highly polycentric pilot project in a Danish public job centre. The results suggest that the emergence of a multifunctional semantic reservoir is crucial for navigating function‐systemic blind spots by stimulating higher‐order observation and reflection and building trust in polycentric settings. This is a prerequisite for allowing paradoxes to drive transition and not become barriers. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The study tries to evaluate the workability of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) in a corrupt-riddled bureaucracy in Nigeria. Using empirical evidence from primary and secondary sources, which build upon the organizational and public choice models of bureaucracy, the study unravels inundation of complaints from some government parastatals about difficulty in making simple payments and procurements since the implementation of TSA and suggest that Nigerian government should review TSA to work in all banks for easy accessibility to government, her agencies, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the multiplier effect of money.

Abstract
Firms often invest resources in acquiring scientific evidence to evaluate the actual (more accurate) risk (i.e., the probability of occurrence) of any potential environmental hazards that might result from their own production processes and use this information in taking optimal preventive measures. In a symmetric duopoly where the acquired information about environmental risk is observed privately by the firms, I show that requiring firms to publicly report this information increases the strategic incentive of firms to invest in information acquisition. However, the net expected environmental damage of an investing firm is lower if there is no public disclosure.

The article reflects the main aspects that should be taken into account in developing and changing the regulation of intellectual property sphere. Being harmful in some aspects, piracy also has a number of properties that can be useful for copyright owners: information, network and indirect effects. The paper presents a mathematical model showing the case where the protection of intellection activity result can cause more damage to public welfare than piracy itself. The findings show a need for tools more flexible than the intellectual property system so that every copyright owner can choose the required level of protection.

The Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction is used to assess how, through shaping people's attitudes, perceived norms, and self-efficacy, acculturation affects the intent to use a condom with casual sex partners among U.S.-dwelling Chinese/Taiwanese men who have sex with men. Results suggest that only acculturation to both American and Chinese cultures leads to a more favorable attitude toward using a condom, which eventually determines the intent to do so. The study contributes to the literature on acculturation and safe sex practice and provides theoretical and practical implications for public health researchers and practitioners.

This review essay illustrates the importance and utility of studying political equality among rich and poor citizens at the state level, reviews what is known in three key areas of political equality research in the states (unequal rates of political participation, unequal government responsiveness to citizens' political opinions, and public policy and inequality), and suggests possible future avenues of inquiry. The ultimate aim is to organize and integrate existing knowledge about political equality in the American states and spur future investigations that will further extend understanding among researchers and practitioners of state politics.

Political misperceptions can distort public debate and undermine people's ability to form meaningful opinions. Why do people often hold these false or unsupported beliefs, and why is it sometimes so difficult to convince them otherwise? We argue that political misperceptions are typically rooted in directionally motivated reasoning, which limits the effectiveness of corrective information about controversial issues and political figures. We discuss factors known to affect the prevalence of directionally motivated reasoning and assess strategies for accurately measuring misperceptions in surveys. Finally, we address the normative implications of misperceptions for democracy and suggest important topics for future research.

ABSTRACT
Striving better to uncover causal effects, political science is amid a revolution in micro-empirical research designs and experimental methods. This methodological development—although quite promising in delivering new findings and discovering the mechanisms that underlie previously known associations—raises new and unnerving ethical issues that have yet to be confronted by our profession. We believe that addressing these issues proactively by generating strong, internal norms of disciplinary regulation is preferable to reactive measures, which often come in the wake of public exposés and can lead to externally imposed regulations or centrally imposed internal policing.

Unlike politicians in many other sectors, school board trustees more often are novices in public affairs than they are seasoned political activists. As a consequence, otherwise normal citizens must quickly acquire political and other policy-related skills, most often after election and while serving. This study is an analysis of the first year of service of newly-elected school trustees in Alberta. Interviews with the trustees allows a discussion of their experiences and the people and events which they encountered and which they say had influence on them while they learned opportunities and obligations attaching to trusteeship.

Unlike politicians in many other sectors, school board trustees more often are novices in public affairs than they are seasoned political activists. As a consequence, otherwise normal citizens must quickly acquire political and other policy-related skills, most often after election and while serving. This study is an analysis of the first year of service of newly-elected school trustees in Alberta. Interviews with the trustees allows a discussion of their experiences and the people and events which they encountered and which they say had influence on them while they learned opportunities and obligations attaching to trusteeship.

Social impact bonds (SIBs) have been welcomed enthusiastically as a new funding tool for social innovation, yet also condemned as an instrument that neglects beneficiaries' and taxpayers' interests, opening profit opportunities in the field of social politics for smart private investors. We will shed a more analytical light on SIBs, assuming that, like any contract, SIBs try to align interests between partners with partly converging, partly diverging goals. Thus, it remains mainly a matter of negation, and non-profit social service providers as well as public agencies should avoid particular perils and pitfalls.

This project was conducted by the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute's Research Shop in partnership with the Guelph Chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women. It was conducted to inform the Federation's programs to support women in Guelph -Wellington in seeking public leadership roles and running for political office. The report builds on a literature review produced through the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph. It shares findings from 16 interviews and 3 focus groups looking at obstacles and motivations for the participation of women in politics, as well as possible solutions and supports.