Self-legitimation in the face of politicization: Why international organizations centralized public communication

International organizations (I0) have centralized their public communication to a large extent over recent decades by undertaking a broader codification of communication tasks as well as a departmentalization of these tasks within units of IO bureaucracies. The paper provides the first systematic analysis of this important development in institutional design using a novel data set on the organization of public communication in 48 IOs between 1950 and 2015. It identifies self-legitimation as a key driver of centralization in the face of increased levels of politicization, that is, public awareness and activism directed at IOs. Empirically, the study suggests that the centralization of public communication significantly increases as transnational civil society organizes and gains access to IO decision-making. Further, politicization in terms of contentious activism and public scandals substantially accounts for varying levels of centralization across IOs.     

Tragedy of the Fiscal Common?: Fiscal Stock Externalities in a Leviathan Model of Federalism

The paper deals with vertical tax competition between self-interested governments in a dynamic environment. In a federation, competition between the federal and the state governments arises when tax sources are not separated but pooled. Since dynamic inefficiencies will be stressed, the focus is on fiscal stock externalities rather than on flow externalities. The paper shows that the Leviathans in a federation tax the fiscal common resource more extensively than the single Leviathan in a unitary state. Furthermore, the positive impact of political stability on public consumption of the fiscal common will be discussed.     

Fine Art, High Finance

正China becomes the art market's boomtown in the emerging East Buying art can be as prestigious as owning a downtown luxury apartment, a high-powered Mercedes-Benz or other pricy toys the rich use to fight ennui and establish status. In China's modern times, the main difference between a fancy limousine and a painting is that the limousine     

Informationsverein Lentia und die Folgen

Der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte hat mit dem berühmten "Lentia"- Urteil Ende 1993 die österreichische Rundfunkrechtslage als konventionswidrig qualifiziert. Die Öffnung des Rundfunkmonopols erfolgte daraufhin nur zögerlich und war zudem durch mehrere Aufhebungen der Rechtslage durch den VfGH begleitet. Seit dem Jahr 2001 hat sich der rechtliche Rahmen für das duale Rundfunksystem dynamisch entwickelt und stark wettbewerbsrechtliche Züge angenommen. Michael Holoubek hat sowohl als Wissenschaftler, als auch als Mitglied der Rundfunkbehörden maßgeblich zur Entwicklung dieses Rechtsgebiets beigetragen.     

Post-mortem radiological CT identification based on classical ante-mortem X-ray examinations

Radiological identification is important in forensic medicine. Identification using comparison of individualising structures with ante- and post-mortem conventional radiographs has been known for a long time. New radiological procedures such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are being increasingly used for identification. In this paper, a new comparative approach using various radiological methods is described and its application demonstrated. This new approach is the comparison of ante-mortem conventional radiographs with projected images calculated from post-mortem CT data. The identification procedure will be illustrated with reference to the frontal sinus and the pelvis.