Introduction to special section on the biological standard of living

In December 2008 the WOG Historical Demography organised a workshop at Ghent University that covered a wide range of topics from fertility trends and kinship characteristics to health issues. The presentations and discussions that took place at the workshop provided the inspiration for this special section on the biological standard of living. The articles in this section offer valuable contributions for three of those biological measures: height, mortality and cause of death. The introduction to the section demonstrates the significance of this particular kind of evidence for our understanding of social and economic history. Exploring and analysing the well-being of populations is one of the most interesting and main challenges of social scientists. As the articles in this special section show, using historical evidence on the health and height of a population is extremely important for our understanding of certain socio-economic processes, but also extremely complex.     

Physical stature and biological living standards of girls and young women in the Netherlands,born between 1815 and 1865

This is the first study in Dutch anthropometric historiography that describes and analyzes the development of the biological standard of living of girls and young women from the perspective of female adult stature. It is shown that adult stature of women, imprisoned in the second half of the nineteenth century and born between 1815 and 1865, slightly increased, approximately 1cm. From 1850 onwards stature of women born in the cities notably increased. Development of female adult stature was compared to that of male stature; both were quite similar. No circumstantial evidence was found that girls or young women were on a disadvantage with respect to nutrition and (medical) care.     

The standard of living of widows: Inventories as an indicator of the economic situation of widows

This article examines the standard of living of widows in two rural areas, South West Finland and Central Sweden, in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and among first generation migrants to Stockholm between 1680 and 1750. The principal sources used are the inventories of a person's possessions that were taken after their death, supplemented in the case of the rural populations by retirement contracts (which were not used by urban populations in the Nordic countries). Wealth is measured in three ways: examination of the type and value of the property listed in the inventory, calculating what goods might be purchased with a given inheritance, and a comparison of the inventories of widows with those of married women and with men. A range of factors, it was discovered, determined how much property a widow might own at her death. These factors included her age and whether there were children entitled to a share of the family's property but also the impact of inheritance law which awarded widows a larger share of marital property in towns than in the countryside and included the house which in rural areas was considered to belong to the family and not to any one individual. Analysis of this evidence suggests that the widows of farmers were likely to be economically secure due to the provisions in their retirement contracts which provided them with housing, food and care until their death. The situation of the widows of the landless was considerably more precarious. Some might even have nothing to inherit from their husbands.     

The standard of living of widows: Inventories as an indicator of the economic situation of widows

This article examines the standard of living of widows in two rural areas, South West Finland and Central Sweden, in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and among first generation migrants to Stockholm between 1680 and 1750. The principal sources used are the inventories of a person's possessions that were taken after their death, supplemented in the case of the rural populations by retirement contracts (which were not used by urban populations in the Nordic countries). Wealth is measured in three ways: examination of the type and value of the property listed in the inventory, calculating what goods might be purchased with a given inheritance, and a comparison of the inventories of widows with those of married women and with men. A range of factors, it was discovered, determined how much property a widow might own at her death. These factors included her age and whether there were children entitled to a share of the family's property but also the impact of inheritance law which awarded widows a larger share of marital property in towns than in the countryside and included the house which in rural areas was considered to belong to the family and not to any one individual. Analysis of this evidence suggests that the widows of farmers were likely to be economically secure due to the provisions in their retirement contracts which provided them with housing, food and care until their death. The situation of the widows of the landless was considerably more precarious. Some might even have nothing to inherit from their husbands.     

Facing death in the early days of life: Inequality between the sexes in enlightenment demographic thought

The first measurements of differential mortality by sex took place at the end of the seventeenth century. Once its existence has been clearly shown during the eighteenth century by the works of Struyck, Kersseboom, Süssmilch, Deparcieux and others, what analysis emerged? If one of the two sexes benefited from a longer life, was this rule valid in all places and for all ages? All the demographers observed that such a difference began during infancy and childhood. How can it be explained that children were not equal in the face of death? Why did so many boys die before their teenage years? We can find several types of explanation: the will of God, the natural order, the biological constitution and the social habits of children of more than one year old.     

Facing death in the early days of life: Inequality between the sexes in enlightenment demographic thought

The first measurements of differential mortality by sex took place at the end of the seventeenth century. Once its existence has been clearly shown during the eighteenth century by the works of Struyck, Kersseboom, Süssmilch, Deparcieux and others, what analysis emerged? If one of the two sexes benefited from a longer life, was this rule valid in all places and for all ages? All the demographers observed that such a difference began during infancy and childhood. How can it be explained that children were not equal in the face of death? Why did so many boys die before their teenage years? We can find several types of explanation: the will of God, the natural order, the biological constitution and the social habits of children of more than one year old.     

Paths toward autonomy: The living conditions of fostered children in western France in the early 20th century

In order to test the validity of widespread notions about the unhappy lives of abandoned French children placed in foster care around the turn of the 20th century, the article uses the case files and inspectors' reports of the Romorantin agency to analyze the nature of fosterage: the children's continuing links to their biological parents, to their foster families, and with the Assistance publique system, which administered the fosterage system and the agency. The Romorantin agency was located in Sologne in the center of France, 120 miles south of Paris, and placed out in the countryside only children “abandoned” in Paris. The analysis suggests that although the lives of fostered children were characterized by constraints and, at times, mistreatment, in many respects, these children were able to experience more autonomy and choice to shape their lives than their peers in “normal” families. A close reading of the sources shows their lives to have had less of the stereotyped unhappiness usually attributed to them.     

Gender differences in the dispersal of children in northern Sweden and the northern USA in 1850

In the course of time families disperse and kin relationships change. In this study gender differences in spatial dispersion of adult children from their fathers were investigated in two areas of the world in 1850: the Skellefteå region in northern Sweden and the northern part of the USA, both largely rural populations. The results from the Skellefteå region where data on both genders were available were used to estimate gender differences among a native born population in the northern USA where women were often not followed in the sources after marriage. Most adult children resided in the same place as their fathers, but the distances separating relatives were greater in the USA. However, the proportion of adult sons living in the same locality as their fathers was the same in both. More daughters than sons were located elsewhere in Skellefteå and probably also in the USA. Although sisters in Skellefteå joined each other in places separate from their parents, men lived in patrilineal clusters to a greater extent than women due, in part, to patrilineal inheritance and virilocal marriages. Various reasons for these patterns are discussed and their implications for kin networks discussed.     

浅谈远程活体指纹信息登记查询工作站

远程活体指纹信息登记查询工作站是指纹自动识别网络系统的一个重要组成部分,连接着各级远程指纹工作站和违法犯罪人员的信息系统,是集信息采集、数据共享、远程传输和查询比对等多功能一体化的一种网络产品。使用该工作站可以大大提高基层公安机关采集指纹信息工作效率。     

Juror adjustments to the reasonable doubt standard of proof

The standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt is based on the law's primary motivation to avoid false conviction even at the expense of increasing the probability of false acquittal. Individual jurors, however, have common sense motivations to make factually correct decisions by avoiding both types of error. As a result jurors may interpret the standard of reasonable doubt correctly but deviate from that interpretation in predictable ways when they apply the standard in court. This study makes three hypotheses: (1) jurors are less confident when deciding on acquittal than when deciding upon conviction, (2) conviction is associated with a downward adjustment of the interpreted stringency of the standard at the time of application, and (3) a highly stringent interpretation of the standard is associated with a severe downward adjustment of that stringency at the time of application. The study asked 260 juror-eligible participants to examine a trial scenario. The participants first interpreted the stringency of the legal standard on a probability scale. They then judged the probability of the defendant's guilt, decided on a verdict, and rated their confidence in that verdict. The findings strongly supported all three hypotheses. Application and implication of the study were discussed.     

中国"反贫困"社会救助法律制度——农村最低生活保障制度实施的制度障碍分析

中国农村最低生活保障制度的建立是"反贫困"进程推进的必然结果,也是促进社会公平,构建和谐社会的必然要求.虽然我国早在20世纪90年代初期就开始了农村低保的试点工作,但各地农村低保制度在实施过程巾遇到了诸多障碍,很多地区的农村低保工作都处于基本停滞状态.我国各地地方政府应拓宽农村最低生活保障资金来源渠道,科学划定农村最低生活保障线,合理选择农村最低生活保障救助对象,不断完善本地区的相关制度,推进农村低保工作的顺利进行.     

制约与解释--生活场景对法律生命的考量

人与社会存在的固有事实与本来逻辑显示,内含秩序与正义两大终极价值的法律与人的生活场景紧密结合在一起.法律的存在也是一个过程,具有断裂的可能性.人的生活场景是由自然性的物质世界、社会性的物质世界、文化世界、关系世界构成的统一体,决定着法律的生成、运作与进化;法律也不断地解释着人的生活场景,法律的生命在解释的过程中体现出来.在此过程中,法律必须具有深厚的亲和力.     

自愿适用脑死亡标准的法律设计

自愿适用脑死亡标准是指根据完全民事行为能力人的真实意思表示，尊重其意愿，对其适用脑死亡标准作为死亡判断标准。自愿适用脑死亡标准具有自愿性、科学性和复杂性。预立自愿适用脑死亡标准意思表示制度对自愿适用脑死亡标准有一定的制度意义。     

Farm transmission and the commercialization of agriculture in northern Maine in the second half of the 19th century

The transition to capitalism has been one of the most discussed issues in the historiography of the rural United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the typology, and the “market revolution” construed upon it, are problematic. The article explores some of these problems by examining the commercialization of eastern Canadian agriculture, which was a prolonged process starting in the beginning of the 19th century in the St. Lawrence–Great Lakes axis and ending during the 1960s in the outlying parts of Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritime Provinces. It is difficult to identify clear trends in the numbers yielded by evidence from this region for the time period in question. Highly commercial farms were more likely than the others to transfer all their property to their children. Deficit farmers were much more likely than the others to transfer all their property to outsiders. But the data do not support the view that farmers who were keen on turning their farms into moneymaking businesses adopted property transmission practices that were markedly different from the others. And before the 1830s, there was really no need to have strategies in place because land was plentiful.     

平等与合理差别——兼论统一人身损害赔偿标准立法

人身损害赔偿标准的多重性,是我国人身损害赔偿立法的基本特点。科学、合理的赔偿标准,是人身损害赔偿制度科学性的重要体现。在确定具体的赔偿标准时,应在承认合理差别的基础上追求法律规则的平等性与公正性。     

活体鉴定400例放射学特点分析──兼论法医临床学与放射学的关系

为探讨法医临床学鉴定与放射学的关系，本文对４００例活体鉴定就放射学检查的有关问题进行回顾性研究。结果表明：２６６例进行了放射学检查（占６６．５％），其中Ｘ线１７６例（６６．２％），ＣＴ４３例（１６．１％），两者均有的４７例（１７．７％）。放射学检查部位中，Ｘ线以四肢为多，ＣＴ以颅脑为多。误诊率为９．０２％，放射学检查与致伤原因之间有一定关系，轻微伤中不必要的ＣＴ检查多见。并就放射学误诊的法律后果及不必要的放射学检查问题进行了讨论。本文从法医临床学的角度对放射学进行了评价，指出在活体鉴定中可以应用放射学知识协助证明损伤、推断损伤形成机制、个人识别及研究损伤时间。因此法医学鉴定人必须有放射学理论和技术方面的知识。作者还试图提出法医临床放射学。     

论保险人说明义务的履行方式与标准——以对我国司法实务的考察为中心

保险人说明义务的履行方式与标准因免责条款与其余一般条款而存在差别,其中,保险人对免责条款的说明义务可分解为提醒义务与主动解释义务。而对一般条款的说明义务仅限于被动的解释义务。保险人并不承担证明投保人已正确理解保险条款的义务。     

Introduction to the special issue on the importance of Simple Rules for a Complex World

European Journal of Law and Economics -