Tyburski, Michael D. (2012) The Resource Curse Reversed? Remittances and Corruption in Mexico. International Studies Quarterly, doi: 0.1111/j.1468‐2478.2012.00721.x 
© 2012 International Studies Association Do remittances increase corruption in recipient states? Previous research suggests that remittances allow governments to maintain policies that create corrupt state–society relations. In contrast, this paper argues that remittances mitigate corruption by increasing government accountability and providing other incentives to reform. Using data from Mexico in 2001–2007, this study shows that corruption trended downward in states receiving larger remittance sums, after controlling for political competition, divided government, and market openness. The results are robust to instrumental variable analysis testing for potential endogeneity between corruption and migration. These findings bring attention to remittances as an exogenous resource for reform‐minded groups and suggest that they may operate as the converse of the resource curse.

Keywords: adenosine receptor, breast cancer, cholera toxin, G protein-coupled receptor, protein isoprenylation, protein kinase A (PKA), Ras-related protein 1 (Rap1), b-adrenergic receptor Abbreviations: Adenosine 2B Receptor (A 2 BR), b-adrenergic receptor (bAR), Bay 60-6583 (Bay), Cholera toxin (Ctx), half time (T 1/2 ), Isoproterenol (Iso), G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), Phosphate buffered saline (PBS), Protein kinase A (PKA), Propranolol (Prop).A greater understanding of the molecular basis of breast cancer metastasis will lead to identification of novel therapeutic targets and better treatments. Rap1B is a small GTPase that suppresses the metastasis of breast cancer cells by increasing cell-cell adhesion. In breast cancer, a decrease in Rap1B prenylation and subsequent loss of Rap1B at the plasma membrane decreases cell-cell adhesion and increases cell scattering, which promotes the metastatic phenotype. Protein kinase A (PKA) was recently found to phosphorylate Rap1B and inhibit its prenylation. PKA is activated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) that stimulate Ga s . In this study, we investigated whether the general Ga s activator, cholera toxin, and agonists of the b-adrenergic receptor (bAR), which is a Ga s -coupled GPCR, promote Rap1B phosphorylation and inhibit its prenylation. We show here that cholera toxin and bAR activation phosphorylate Rap1B and inhibit its prenylation and membrane localization, reducing cell-cell adhesion and promoting cell scattering. Furthermore, we report that breast cancer cell migration is decreased by the FDA-approved b-blocker, propranolol. Pharmacological targeting of GPCRs, especially those such as the bAR that are regulated by FDA-approved drugs, to increase cell adhesion and decrease cell scattering could provide a promising therapeutic approach to reduce breast cancer metastasis.

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Several U.S. cities have turned control of their schools from elected boards to the mayor. Advocates of mayoral control have argued that this structure allows voters to hold the mayor directly accountable for the performance of local schools. Now that public schools have to report their test scores each year, it is possible for voters to attribute responsibility for test scores. This article analyzes survey data from 16 cities in the United States that have been matched with data on test scores. We find that, in general, test score changes are not associated with support for incumbent mayors, except in districts with mayoral control, where voters reward incumbents when test scores rise. Further, voters' beliefs about local schools condition their support for the incumbent. In cities with mayoral control, voters who evaluate schools positively reward mayors while voters who believe their schools are poor are not swayed by this positive information. Related Articles Related Media Baltimore Sun. . “Make the Mayor Accountable for the Schools.” February 23. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-city-schools-20170223-story.html BethFertig. . “After 12 Years of Bloomberg, Data Reigns in the Schools.” WNYC. http://www.wnyc.org/story/303900-bloombergs-schools-legacy-use-data/

Drawing on comparative resource curse literature and American literature on the determinants of corruption, we argue that the impact of natural resource extraction on corruption outcomes is state-dependent. That is, in environments where corruption is already high, natural resource windfalls allow political actors and economic elites to take advantage of state brokerage, further increasing corruption. However, in previously less-corrupt states, increased natural resource extraction will not induce corruption. We rely on hierarchical linear models to interpret federal corruption convictions data for the fifty American states between 1976 and 2012 and employ generalized method of moments estimators to account for potential endogeneity. The findings are robust to alternative specifications and have implications for the management of new resource extraction opportunities.

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