Debra Borie-Holtz

Reports the results of cross-sectional phone surveys, designed to assess the economic and health impact of Jersey City’s ESD ordinance, on Jersey City employers and employees in diverse industries and firm sizes.

Argues that the regulatory process and its influence on the economy is widely misunderstood by the public and policy-makers alike. Concludes that the politics of regulatory reform is much more about politics than it is about regulation.

Focuses on the strategies to accurately define the geographic parameters of disaster-impacted target populations to reduce threats to validity in order to conduct probability surveys in the aftermath of natural disasters. Estimates the population parameters that often share little in common with chartered geographical borders, as well as review non-probability sampling approaches to reach displaced populations.

Illustrates how business owners interviewed demonstrated the availability heuristic in their hatred of paperwork requirements, the bandwagon effect in seeking out reinforcement of negative reactions toward regulation, the anchoring of attitudes in particularly unpleasant interactions with governmen

Serves to capture perceptions of the quality of life in New Brunswick, as well as reactions to the changes and developments that have occurred as a result of revitalization over the past four decades.

Educates the general public about global warming and policies to mitigate how its effects have relied on the diffusion of facts. Explains how cognitive scientists have documented that psychologically distant events elicit less concern and motivation to act relative to immediate and certain events. Discusses in a quasi-experiment, after viewers were exposed to a tv campaign, they were more likely to believe global warming is happening, to accept scientific consensus, and more supportive of policy solutions.