A microeconomic model of the demand of civil justice: is one institutional context better than another?

The paper analyzes how institutional elements affect the decision to file of risk neutral agents. In particular, we introduce an objective probability of winning given by the combination of a precedent-weight parameter (defining the type of legal system) and a transparency factor. 603,000 simulated trials, shaped upon our model, reveal two main findings: (1) the transparency level matters in terms of inefficient decisions; (2) a precedent driven system is not necessarily more efficient. Hence, policy makers should invest in increasing the level of information among courts and between courts and the parties both in civil and common law systems.     

Russian 1998–2007 TFP decomposed: some inspiration emerging from inherited Soviet legacy

Using a recently developed stochastic Translog production function frontier model, technical inefficiency, technological progress and returns to scale are examined during Russia’s 1998–2007 cyclical expansion at the branch level including both the market and non-market economy. The service sector plus high skill-intensive goods production is shown to be relatively more efficient than traditional Soviet era goods sectors. Technical efficiency decreases markedly over the expansion while technological progress is quite high (23 %) suggesting an expanding frontier leaving many branches behind as the economy adjusts away from the early transition era. Much greater attention to human capital policies are suggested to foster intensive growth in an environment of low oil and gas prices.     

Evolving Market Efficiency with an Application to Some Bulgarian Shares

With new technically advanced methods and computers at our disposal, the efficient market hypothesis is once again being debated. At the same time, we are witnessing an unprecedented growth in both existing and new financial markets. These new markets are often in economies which have just recently embraced free market economics; we term these stock markets infant markets. Such stock markets are obviously not efficient in allocating the supply of savings to productive capital. We do not test whether or not these infant markets are informationally efficient, but instead examine whether and how they are becoming more efficient. We propose modelling the excess returns of individual securities using a multi-factor model with time-varying coefficients and generalised auto-regressive conditional heteroskedastic (GARCH) errors. If the markets are becoming more informationally efficient or the agents are learning, we would expect this to manifest itself as the time-varying coefficients becoming more stable as time increases. We test our model using data on four Bulgarian shares. First, we estimate an AR(2) model and a GARCH-M(1,1) model for the shares. Then, we estimated our AR(2) model with time varying coefficients and GARCH type errors. We find varying levels of efficiency and varying speeds of movement towards efficiency within our sample of four shares.     

The scope of punishment: an economic theory

The harm caused by many acts is not certain but probabilistic. Current public enforcement of the law combines harm-based sanctions (usually in criminal law) with act-based sanctions (very common in administrative law and regulation). We propose an economic theory of the choice between harm-based and act-based sanctions in public enforcement. The efficiency of act-based versus harm-based sanctions is analyzed and a typology of the determinants is drawn up. Our model suggests that harm-based sanctions are more efficient when (1) acquiring information about the act is important, (2) engaging in harm avoidance activities is advisable, (3) judgment-proofness is not a very significant problem, (4) punishment is especially costly, (5) changes in law are expensive or difficult to negotiate and (6) on average, potential criminals are better informed than the government about losses for society. Legal policy implications are discussed.     

信息进入自由的纯粹工具主义分析

本文通过重新解析彼得对信息进入自由的论证过程,提出了信息进入权利的权利属性和权能结构。借助彼得的工具主义模型和彼得对知识产权哲学的独占主义信条的批判,我提出了信息法律的纯粹工具主义分析模型。我的讨论支持下列结论：（１）信息进入自由的权能结构是信息法律的主要内容,信息法律就是配置信息的权利资源的法律,追求权能结构设计的效率,就是追求这种权利资源的配置效率;（２）纯粹工具主义的分析结构中不存在普遍道德或者终极的正义命令;（３）正当程序和分权机制是维护信息法律“正义”品格的基础。     

MP Transparency,Communication Links and Social Media: A Comparative Assessment of 184 Parliamentary Websites

Parliamentary websites (PWs) can potentially enhance the quality of government by providing information and communication links that stimulate political awareness, deliberation and participation. This article focuses on two particular uses of PWs that can facilitate communication between constituents and their Members of Parliament: provision of MP contact and background information; and links to social media. Through a seminal empirical examination of all 184 functioning lower house and unicameral PWs around the world, this study found that although PWs in wealthy democracies generally provide more MP information, the majority of PWs are deficient in providing basic MP information to citizens and utilizing linkages to social media. By contrast, some non-democratic states and newly democratized countries, especially those with compulsory voting, display a relatively high level of MP transparency and social media connectivity.     

Trial for the geographical identification using JC viral genotyping in Japan

Despite progress in methods of scientific investigation, the increasing number of unidentified cadavers is a growing problem world-wide. We performed detailed statistical analysis based on reported data for Japanese JC virus (JCV) genotype distribution, and obtained two curves showing a marked north-south difference in the JC viral genotype, in spite of the frequent movement of people in Japan. This suggested the possibility of determining the origin of unidentified cadavers numerically, thus making the police investigation of unidentified cadavers much more economical and efficient. If the distribution of JC viral genotypes could be investigated in detail, it would be possible to obtain geographic information about unidentified cadavers even in a certain area.     

Validation of the technology acceptance model for police

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis (1989) was used to develop a basic theoretical model that would explain why patrol officers embraced or rejected new computer technology. Davis identified two factors of technology acceptance: ease of use and usefulness. Items representing each factor were generated in focus groups with patrol officers, and subject matter experts (SMEs) provided evidence of content validity. Exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted to assess the construct factorial validity of the factor structure. The two-factor model hypothesized by Davis (1989) was not supported. The EFA, however, identified a four-factor model that indicated a good fit to the data. The four factors were labeled as ease of use, usefulness, information quality, and timeliness. The findings suggested that the new factors of information quality and timeliness were the most important components of technology acceptance by patrol officers. Policy implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Advancing coordinated cyber-investigations and tool interoperability using a community developed specification language

Any investigation can have a digital dimension, often involving information from multiple data sources, organizations and jurisdictions. Existing approaches to representing and exchanging cyber-investigation information are inadequate, particularly when combining data sources from numerous organizations or dealing with large amounts of data from various tools. To conduct investigations effectively, there is a pressing need to harmonize how this information is represented and exchanged. This paper addresses this need for information exchange and tool interoperability with an open community-developed specification language called Cyber-investigation Analysis Standard Expression (CASE). To further promote a common structure, CASE aligns with and extends the Unified Cyber Ontology (UCO) construct, which provides a format for representing information in all cyber domains. This ontology abstracts objects and concepts that are not CASE-specific, so that they can be used across other cyber disciplines that may extend UCO. This work is a rational evolution of the Digital Forensic Analysis eXpression (DFAX) for representing digital forensic information and provenance. CASE is more flexible than DFAX and can be utilized in any context, including criminal, corporate and intelligence. CASE also builds on the Hansken data model developed and implemented by the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI). CASE enables the fusion of information from different organizations, data sources, and forensic tools to foster more comprehensive and cohesive analysis. This paper includes illustrative examples of how CASE can be implemented and used to capture information in a structured form to advance sharing, interoperability and analysis in cyber-investigations. In addition to capturing technical details and relationships between objects, CASE provides structure for representing and sharing details about how cyber-information was handled, transferred, processed, analyzed, and interpreted. CASE also supports data marking for sharing information at different levels of trust and classification, and for protecting sensitive and private information. Furthermore, CASE supports the sharing of knowledge related to cyber-investigations, including distinctive patterns of activity/behavior that are common across cases. This paper features a proof-of-concept Application Program Interface (API) to facilitate implementation of CASE in tools. Community members are encouraged to participate in the development and implementation of CASE and UCO.     

Children’s Allegations of Sexual Abuse: A Model for Forensic Assessment

It is important both clinically and forensically to gain information to provide an understanding of the veracity of a child’s allegations of sexual abuse. Even though it is reasonable to hypothesize that most allegations are true—children are not infallible and thus some allegations are false. A systematic model of pathways to false allegations—however rare or common—is important because so much depends on this question (i.e., both false positives and false negatives are harmful to children). We propose that there are two major pathways to false allegations of child sexual abuse: (1) the child is lying and (2) the child has a false memory due to his or her problems in information processing. We conclude by presenting a more detailed protocol for more formally evaluating these pathways to false allegations in specific cases.     

Welfare effects of forming a criminal organization

This paper develops a simple model to examine the economic consequences of two different criminal market structures in the private protection and extortion industry: (1) horizontal (decentralized) governance and market structure and (2) hierarchical (centralized) governance and market structure with a criminal organization. Forming a criminal organization produces positive or negative effects on its members and social efficiency. These results depend on the potential competitiveness among criminals and the ability of a criminal organization’s boss to target more valuable extortion victims.     

Criminal network vulnerabilities and adaptations

The current paper aimed to investigate the effectiveness of five law enforcement interventions in disrupting and dismantling criminal networks. We tested three law enforcement interventions that targeted social capital in criminal networks (betweenness, degree and cut-set) and two interventions that targeted human capital (actors who possess money and those who possess precursor chemicals). These five interventions are compared with each other and with random (opportunistic) removal of actors in two settings: (i) with network adaptation incorporated into the simulations and (ii) without network adaptation. Results illustrate that the removal of actors based on betweenness centrality was the most efficient strategy, leading to network disruption in the least number of steps and was relatively consistent across replications. Targeting actors who possessed money was the second most effective overall and was also relatively consistent in its disruptive effect.     

The economics of environmental law enforcement: end-of-life vehicles

Abandoned End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs) have been an environmental concern for a long time in a number of countries. This article examines different ways to address the issue by changing the incentive structure for agents. Following (Polinsky A. M., & Shavell, S. (2000). The Economic theory of public enforcement of law. Journal of Economic Literature, 38, 45–76.) a model is used to compare a fine-based system with a deposit-refund system; a combination of the two is then considered. It is shown that when the environmental harm is relatively low and constant, a deposit-refund system is preferred. When cases of high environmental harm are included, the optimal choice would be a combined system.      

Identifying the determinants of aggregate judicial performance: taxpayers’ money well spent?

There have been a sizeable number of studies trying to identify the determinants of judicial performance on the country level. Such a design is appropriate to identify underperforming individual judges or underperforming courts or court districts. However, it is not appropriate to identify institutions conducive to judicial performance. A dataset produced by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice contains very detailed information on the judicial systems of the 47 member countries of the Council of Europe. Drawing on robust regressions and using an objective variable, we find that (1) resolution rates are not a function of per capita income. In other words: poor countries can also afford them. (2) Countries belonging to the French legal tradition enjoy relatively lower resolution rates. (3) Resolution rates are negatively—and very robustly—correlated with court budget. As such, a higher budget will not “buy” more court decisions. (4) Resolution rates are never positively correlated with the presence of judicial councils. (5) Mandatory training for judges is correlated with higher resolution rates. Drawing on the subjectively perceived efficiency of the judiciary as the dependent variable we find that (6) countries belonging to both the French and the socialist legal tradition are less efficient and that (7) judicial councils are also negatively correlated with our measure of judicial efficiency, in other words: countries that do not have them should not introduce them.     

THE GUARDIAN AD LITEM FOR CHILDREN IN DIVORCE

The guardian ad litem (GAL) for children in divorce is a relatively new role in this society. However, the role definition of the GAL is vague, and little is written in the literature about this advocate. This article discusses the history and available information about advocates for children in divorce and organizes various conceptualizations of this role along two continua: lawyer—psychologist, and child liberator—child saver.     

运用项目反应理论分析不同认知特点的题目

项目反应理论和认知心理学是两个不同的研究领域 ,把它们结合起来可以得到更多的题目信息。通常人们只是利用了项目反应理论提供的项目难度、区分度等统计指标 ,本研究发现对于具有不同认知特点的题目 ,它们的项目特征曲线和差异性系数是有显著差异的。高分组和低分组在认知结构上的差异 ,也可以通过项目特征曲线反映出来     

Risk Terrain Modeling: Brokering Criminological Theory and GIS Methods for Crime Forecasting

The research presented here has two key objectives. The first is to apply risk terrain modeling (RTM) to forecast the crime of shootings. The risk terrain maps that were produced from RTM use a range of contextual information relevant to the opportunity structure of shootings to estimate risks of future shootings as they are distributed throughout a geography. The second objective was to test the predictive power of the risk terrain maps over two six‐month time periods, and to compare them against the predictive ability of retrospective hot spot maps. Results suggest that risk terrains provide a statistically significant forecast of future shootings across a range of cut points and are substantially more accurate than retrospective hot spot mapping. In addition, risk terrain maps produce information that can be operationalized by police administrators easily and efficiently, such as for directing police patrols to coalesced high‐risk areas.     

Successor Liability and Asymmetric Information

The doctrine of successor liability transfers tort liabilityarising from the seller's past conduct from the seller to thebuyer. If the buyer has as much information about the liabilityas the seller, all beneficial acquisitions take place and theseller takes the efficient level of precaution. However, ifthe seller has more information about the liability than thebuyer, not all beneficial acquisitions are consummated and theseller takes a suboptimal level of precaution. I argue that,in the presence of information asymmetry, the courts shouldincrease the damages against the (potential) seller to providebetter incentives to take precaution while decreasing the damagesagainst the buyer to encourage more beneficial asset sales.     

Exploring the forensic use of the emotional recognition test (ERT)

General "hypo-emotionality" has now become a broadly accepted concept as one of the conspicuous psychological characteristics of repetitive, violent offenders. Numerous psychophysiological studies have verified this premise. The current study sought to examine the applicability of the Emotional Recognition Test (ERT) in a sample of 85 Korean inmates in a maximum-security prison. Two additional criterion groups were included for comparison: normal controls and schizophrenic inpatients. Because the ERT consists of problem-solving items, it is relatively free from response biases and is more efficient than measuring physiological responses. Results indicated that all criterion groups scored significantly differently on the ERT total and subscale scores. Additionally, similar to the physiological emotion-specific findings, emotion-specific subscales of the ERT indicated that offenders had significantly more difficulty in recognizing negative emotional stimuli, particularly sadness.