Industrial application of a government laboratory's research — The SIROTECH experience

CSIRO — Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization — is a large federal government research body with a central role in generating technology for the country's industrial development in the broad. The Organization has recently developed and reoriented its policies, procedures and mechanisms to provide stronger technological support for Australia's manufacturing industries: industries which are generally accepted to be badly in need of technological innovation. This article discusses the background to the changes made and the alternative pathways that were available to the Organization to effect the changes. It concentrates on the decision to establish a free-standing technology transfer and commercial assessment company, SIROTECH Limited. The article identifies the steps taken to bring the company to be, even after only two years' operation, a vital and valued part of CSIRO's system for planning, pursuing and applying industrial research with, and for, Australian industry. The main principles underlying the apparent success of the SIROTECH experience are identified.     

Hate Crimes: The legality and Practicality of Punishing Bias—A Socio-Legal Appraisal

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - This paper assesses the extent to which enhancing a penalty for hate crimes is a necessity. It...     

A Great Exploitation: The True Legacy of Property—A Review Essay

This review essay contains four parts. The first briefly recounts the contours of Rafe Blaufarb’s thesis in The Great Demarcation: The French Revolution and the Invention of Modern Property (Oxford University Press, New York, 2016). The review is not intended to be a full assessment of the book; rather, Blaufarb’s work sets the stage for the focus of my reflections, which begin in Part 3. Using Louis Althusser’s understanding of law, we can see how the demarcation identified by Blaufarb made possible a further deployment of bourgeois law, which perpetuates the dominant ideology ensuring the concentration of resources in a small number of people, seemingly without obligation to the great majority who hold no power in relation to any resources. Part 4 explains the true inequity which this demarcation has wrought, establishing and perpetuating deep divisions between those who hold the ‘social function’ inherent in property—the power unilaterally to alter social relationships—and those who do not—those who suffer the alteration of social relationships to their detriment. In short, property itself is an ideology of power, the legacy of which is not equality, but exploitation. Part 5 concludes that the great demarcation, which Blaufarb so skilfully explicates, turns out to be nothing in which humankind ought to take any pride. Rather, it has served and serves the purposes of the few to work untold misery and hardship upon the many.     

The experience of civil partnership dissolution: not ‘just like divorce’

Between 2012 and 2014 I interviewed some of the earliest civil partners to dissolve their partnerships about their experience of dissolution. When I presented my findings, most family lawyers responded that dissolution was ‘pretty much like divorce’. And so it was, in many respects; but I thought that such comments missed an important difference. This article focuses on the legal understandings of gays and lesbians who have undergone dissolution of their civil partnerships, and on their experiences of it. This seemed to me significant for three reasons. First, the experiences of lesbians and gay men have historically been marginalised, pathologised or absent from legal accounts and the dominant legal consciousness. In this research they would be put centre-stage. Second, the institution of civil partnership – transient though it may turn out to be – deserves study as the point of entry into legal recognition and regulation of same-sex couples’ relationships in the UK. And, third, it is this precise history that makes it different from marriage, and dissolution different from divorce, whatever the similarities in legal treatment.     

A case of mistaken identity: George Stigler, “The Problem of Social Cost,” and the Coase theorem

“The Problem of Social Cost” is rightly credited with helping to launch the economic analysis of law. George Stigler plays a central role in the professional reception of Coase’s work and, in particular, of the idea that came to be known as the Coase theorem. While Coase’s negotiation result was taken up in the scholarly literature not long after the publication of “The Problem of Social Cost,” it was Stigler who gave the theorem its name and introduced it to scores of readers in The Theory of Price (1966). His remaking of Coase’s idea into a “theorem” had significant rhetorical force, which, combined with the challenge that it pose to received thinking about externality problems, both lent credibility to the idea and made it a force to be reckoned with. The present paper analyzes Stigler’s various commentaries on the Coase theorem with a view to getting at both how Stigler understood the theorem and its import and why he exhibited such a fascination with it over the last 30 years of his life.     

The multi-level process of trust and learning in university–industry innovation collaborations

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Successful university–industry collaborations require high levels of trust among participants, yet achieving this goal is complex. In this study, we...     

The complementarities between formal and informal channels of university–industry knowledge transfer: a longitudinal approach

In this paper we study the interplay between formal and informal channels of university–industry knowledge transfer (UIKT) over time. To do so, we rely on longitudinal and qualitative interview data analysis allowing us to observe the notable research and valorization trajectories of two reputable researchers in the fields of robotics and pharmacy at the University of Strasbourg. Our findings show that: (1) dynamic complementarities between formal and informal UIKT are important; (2) at the individual and team level, such interactions contribute to creating a strong cumulative effect with regard to valorization activity; (3) They also reinforce the collective dimension of valorization, which is performed by teams rather than by isolated individuals; and (4) the best academic entrepreneurs make use of the different UIKT channels in an entrepreneurial way with a clear long-run valorization strategy in mind. These results have strong managerial and political implications with regard to the valorization of academic research.

     

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea? A Critique of the Ability of Community Mediation to Suppress and Facilitate Participation in Civil Life

This article revisits debate between academics and practitioners about the potential of community mediation. While mediation evangelicals make bold claims about the possibility of mediation helping to rebuild communities, academic critics have been suspicious of such contentions and claimed instead that mediation has provided just another route through which the state can interfere in the life of its citizens. It is argued here that debate on the topic has been clouded by unduly high expectations of disputes as agents of social change. Their importance has been understood by reference to their ability to rebuild communities or their potential to become test cases. It is argued here that mediated disputes make much more modest challenges to state authority but that they can be aided in this by the intervention of mediators prepared to take a pragmatic approach to the unachievable ideal of neutrality. The article does not conceive of community mediation as an alternative of the state or its agent. Rather, it suggests that mediators can be embedded within both worlds and act as message-bearers between them.     

The Politics of Punishment and Protection: A Comparative Historical Analysis of American Immigration Control, 1990–2017

This article examines the construction of immigration control in two US states with contrasting approaches to immigration: the rise of crimmigration and governing through crime in Arizona, and the development of immigrant protection and governing through support in Illinois. Analysis of state-level immigration control practices reveals that three interrelated processes play a critical role in formulating these divergent approaches to managing immigrants: the state's cultural orientation, structural relations, and institutional dynamics. These factors interact with each other in complex, multidirectional ways that condition and shape the respective states’ political choices and administrative decisions. I highlight the significance of coalitions of local organizations who work in collaboration with state actors and mobilize state institutions in order to shape state legal regimes of immigration control. In illuminating the variegated trajectories of the construction of immigration control fields, and their use (or nonuse) of penal power as a response, this article provides a more nuanced understanding of the hybrid, dynamic, and contingent nature of immigration control in contemporary America.     

The police,social services and psychiatry cooperation in Denmark—A new model of working practice between governmental sectors. A description of the concept,process, practice and experience

In 2004 a new model of working practice between three public sectors, the local Police Department, Social Services and Psychiatry/Mental Health Services (PSP) was introduced in the municipality of Frederiksberg, Denmark. The aim of this cooperation was to enhance support to vulnerable citizens, who do not belong solely to one of the three sectors and thereby often get lost in the system. The PSP cooperation was introduced to ensure that relevant information concerning vulnerable citizens was shared between the three sectors and to improve collaboration between the sectors involved in order to provide the needed support to the individual citizen. Due to the success of the PSP cooperation in Frederiksberg, the PSP model was implemented by law in Denmark in 2009.In order to evaluate the model, a qualitative study based on structured interviews, focus group discussions and observations, was performed in four selected municipalities in Denmark: Frederiksberg, Odense, Amager and Esbjerg. The evaluation was undertaken by the Danish National Centre for Social Research.It is concluded that the PSP cooperation draws attention to marginalized groups of citizens and helps to prevent social downfall and crime. Participants of the PSP cooperations further highlight positive changes in the cooperation between the involved sectors, which is thought to further improve the support to vulnerable citizens and thereby enhance both prevention and follow up of cases. Furthermore, the recommendations drawn from the evaluation are to adapt PSP cooperations to local conditions, avoid unnecessary red-tape, keep a constant focus on citizens' ethics, as well as involve the frontline workers in the individual sectors, i.e. those who are actually in contact with marginalized citizens.     

Structural Reform Policy: Privatisation and Beyond—The Case of Greece

Privatisation, coupled with liberalisation and competition, constitutes one of the most popular policy options to improve the performance of state-owned enterprises. However, in Greece, it was only after 1991 that privatisation started to gain ground in the political and economic agendas of governments. Drawing upon the theoretical underpinnings of privatisation, the paper overviews and critically analyses the new legal framework on denationalisation in Greece. The paper argues that, though the modernisation of the legal regime is welcomed, the Greek government has failed to treat privatisation as part of wider structural reforms aiming at enhancing competition and foreign investment. The paper concludes that wider structural reforms, including regulatory reform and liberalisation, as well as combating corruption and bureaucracy and promoting transparent capital markets, are absolutely necessary in order to create a competitive environment, which would both complement and support privatisation efforts.     

The Establishment and Renovation of Independent Director Institution:Experience and Learn——Around the centre of mutual fund

美国历来有重视独立董事作用的传统,其共同基金的运作也多采用“公司模式”以充分发挥独立董事的监督职能.美国1940年《投资公司法》确立了独立董事制度的基本框架,随后历经五次修改,形成了今天较为完善的制度架构,凸显了对独立董事监督功能的深度强化.较之美国而言,我国采用“契约模式”运作的共同基金存在着诸多自身难以克服的缺陷,基于我国国情,借鉴美国的相关经验,在共同基金中引入“公司模式”,充分发挥独立董事的监督功能,不失为一个革除上述弊病的明智选择.     

The Consequences of Social Inequality for the Health and Development of India’s Children: The Case of Caste,Sanitation, and Child Height

Social Justice Research - The links among social inequality, economic inequality, and health have long been of interest to social scientists, but causal links are difficult to investigate...     

Crime: The amount and disparity of sentencing – A comparison of corporate and occupational white collar criminals

Research carried out previously, aimed at examining differences in the length of the sentencing and type of offence, have typically compared white collar and street criminality. The main aim of the current study is to examine the differences in sentence length for white collar occupational and corporate offenders from street crime offenses and to identify which factors eventually could explain such differences. The crime amount was smaller in occupational convictions despite the fact that the average crime amount was significantly less in this group compared to the crime amount among corporate criminals. Socioeconomic status and company size were not found to be associated with the length of the sentence. We discuss whether the difference in length of the sentence could be explained by the fact that occupational crime is committed for the criminals' own purposes or enrichment, while this is often not the case among corporate criminals.     

A bird bereaved: The Identity and Significance of Valmiki's Krauñca

The key event at the start of the Sanskrit Ramayana attributed to Valmiki is the death of a bird at the hands of a hunter. In Sanskrit, that bird is termed krauñca. Various identifications have been offered in the past but uncertainty persists. Focusing on the text of the critical edition and drawing on ornithological data regarding the birds commonly suggested, this article establishes beyond doubt that Valmiki's krauñca bird is the Indian Sarus Crane. It then considers a key verse in the southern recension, omitted by the editors of the critical edition, which supports this identification. Finally, the article explores the significance of the Indian Sarus Crane for the epic scene.     

Sea grant — A new university-industry cooperative program for development of ocean technology

Companion papers by Drs. Horn and Doelling have described the objectives of the National Sea Grant College Program and the breadth of activities presently sponsored, ranging from research and education through information and technology transfer. Dr. Doelling in particular has dealt with the university-industry interface and a specific attempt at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a mutually profitable dialog on current problems in ocean engineering and related university research. This paper deals with a planned program aimed at the development of new ocean technologies through university research in cooperation with industry.     

Cecily Rose,Michael Kubiciel and Oliver Landwehr: The United Nations Convention Against Corruption—A Commentary

Liverpool Law Review -