The Effect of the Kyoto Protocol on Carbon Emissions

Since 1997, CO₂ emissions have continued to rise in many countries despite their emission caps under the Kyoto Protocol (Kyoto). Failure to meet promised targets, however, does not imply that Kyoto has been pointless. Whether Kyoto has made a difference relative to the counterfactual of “No Kyoto” is an empirical question that requires an instrumental variables strategy. We argue that countries’ ratification of the statutes governing the International Criminal Court is a valid instrument for ratification of Kyoto commitments. In our panel fixed effects estimations, the instrument easily passes weak identification and overidentification tests. It can be plausibly excluded from our second‐stage equations and does not cause CO₂ emissions. Our estimates suggest that Kyoto ratification has a quantitatively large (about 10 percent) and robust, though only moderately statistically significant, negative effect on CO₂ emissions. We also show that higher fuel prices and a different energy mix in Kyoto countries support this result.     

China and Vietnam on the road to the market

Adopting an analytical approach grounded in the literature on the impact of industrial relations (IR) systems on foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions, this article assesses the workplace practices in Hong Kong-invested garment factories in the regulated IR system in Cambodia. Cambodia opened up FDI in 1993. The country has attracted FDI in light manufacturing, mainly in the export-orientated garment and footwear sectors. The USA is the largest trade partner of Cambodia in garment exports because of a unique agreement, US-Cambodia Trade Agreement on Textile and Apparel. The Agreement granted a quota for Cambodian garment export in return for better compliance with international labour standards. The trade agreement and private sector initiatives have combined to bring about a “labour advantage” in Cambodia. This labour advantage will continue to be its competitive edge in a post-Multifibre Agreement world, and other developing countries may well follow Cambodia's model.     

The Belief in a Just World and Personality: A Meta-analysis

Several meta-analyses using twelve studies were conducted, combining different forms of the belief in a just world (BJW) and the five-factor model in order to determine possible relationships between personality factors and individual differences regarding justice. As expected, the general (n = 2579) and personal (n = 1346) forms of BJW were negatively associated with neuroticism, and positively associated with extraversion and agreeableness. Summary effect sizes for neuroticism, extraversion, and agreeableness were r = ?0.08, r = 0.10, and r = 0.09 concerning the general BJW, and r = ?0.25, r = 0.18, and r = 0.10 concerning the personal BJW, respectively. Although no causality could be determined, possible interpretations of the relationships include BJW as a personal resource that increases emotional stability, BJW and extraversion’s reciprocity in the developmental process, and trust as an origin of both agreeableness and just world beliefs. In addition, the associations were significantly stronger when the personal BJW was used, as opposed to the general form, but only regarding neuroticism and extraversion. Attitudes concerning others and their well-being may explain the differential gap of associations when using BJW for the self or for others.     

Girl Members of Deviant Youth Groups,Offending Behaviour and Victimisation: Results from the ISRD2 in Italy and Switzerland

Although a lot of research has been conducted on the delinquency of boys who are members of gangs, only a few quantitative studies have analysed the involvement of girl gang members in delinquency and its link with victimisation. In this study, the prevalence rates of girls who are members of gangs in Italy and in Switzerland are shown. We compared the Italian data (N = 5.784) and Swiss data (N = 3.459) from the second wave of the International Self-Reported Delinquency Study (ISRD-2); the population used for this comparison was made up of teenagers from the ages of 13 to 16. Members of deviant youth groups accounted for 5.7% of the Italian sample and 4.7% of the Swiss sample; in both countries, about a third of gang members were girls. In general, girls who are members of gangs commit more delinquent acts than both girls and boys who are not members of gangs. Girl gang members are also more often victimised than girls and boys who are not members of a deviant youth group.     

Attitudes,Perceptions, and Preferences of Individuals from Temuco (Chile) About Denture Marking

Denture marking (DM) helps identify edentulous people with different methods. Analyzing perceptions and attitudes of denture wearers would enable understanding of the practical aspects, an analysis still absent in South America. Fifty‐three individual candidates for removable dentures were instructed on disaster victim identification (DVI) and the usefulness of DM for this purpose. They were physically shown eight DM systems and a questionnaire to which they responded by highlighting preferences in those systems. Although 98.11% did not know that dentures could be marked, only 9.43% denied interest in some type of DM. The 90.57% would mark their dentures with some system, preferring the inclusion of QR codes or a micro SIM card. The proven weaknesses of DVI and propensity for disaster mean this community in Chile is an opportunity to implement DM systems. Obstacles may come not from patients but from their dentists, educational institutions, or a lack of public policies.     

The difficult issue of age assessment on pedo-pornographic material

The issue of juvenile pornography has seen an increase in the past few years of the number of expert opinions requested to forensic pathologists, paediatricians and other various experts within the forensic and medical fields concerning the age of represented individuals. Regardless of the entity of the problem, no actual method exists which can allow us to give an objective and scientific answer, particularly in the postpubertal stage. Using parameters related to sexual maturation can be very dangerous. Nonetheless some experts still insist with similar types of “expertises”. This study aims at verifying the ability of different experts in assessing age of postpubertal individuals represented in pornographic material. Results underline the difficulties and major uncertainties of age evaluation by visual observation of photographic material particularly when the subjects have reached the sexual maturation stage – and therefore in verifying whether the individual is above or below 18 years of age (an important age limit for most European countries as far as this type of crime is concerned). Furthermore the study stresses the need both to search for an alternate approach and to apply extreme caution in judicial evaluation.     

法国高等教育战略政策：大学与现实社会的相互作用

报告分析了科学研究的两种模式 ,即纯理论研究模式和应用研究模式 ,认为这两种模式只有在互动的情况下才能长期存在下去。报告还介绍了法国大学的发展史和在不同历史时期的作用 ,其中对不同层次的法国高等教育进行了描述 ,在此基础上报告提出了大学应具有的三方面使命。最后 ,介绍了法国高等师范学校的发展历程和巴黎高师办学的基本情况