Higher Fines—Fewer Traffic Offences? A Multi-Site Observational Study

Assess the impact of a 100-per cent increase of fines on compliance with speed-limits (50 km/h) and parking regulations in urban areas. Norm violations were measured through standardized observations in all five major cities in Switzerland before and after fines had been raised by 100 % or more at two pre- and two post-intervention periods. The speed of 20,000 cars was measured, and 10,000 parked cars were controlled. Levels of police controls remained stable over the entire period, but enforcement activity varied considerably across cities. Violations of parking regulations decreased by 32 %. Speed-limit violations remained unaffected in the longer run by higher fines. When cities without relevant enforcement activity were excluded, a reduction by 17 % was observed. No causal inferences can be drawn given the absence of a control area. However, the data suggest that higher fines deter traffic violations, provided enforcement activity remains at relevant levels.     

Regime Instability,Leader's Affiliation,and Organizational Culture: Why Are Military Dictatorships More Likely to Initiate Militarized Interstate Disputes? An Empirical Analysis, 1975–2006

Prior studies find that military dictatorships display a high propensity to initiate militarized interstate disputes (MIDs). Yet, there is little agreement on which feature of military regimes can best explain this behavior. This article distinguishes between three potential causes: coup risk, the dictator's affiliation with the military, and the military's influence on politics. Using recent data on authoritarian regimes, I find that, whereas coup risk is a strong predictor of conflict initiation, the dictator's affiliation does not affect his foreign policy. Furthermore, I find tentative evidence that the military's influence on domestic politics has a negative effect on MID initiation. These findings thus challenge the view that military regimes' foreign policy is due to the military's organizational culture: the relationship between military regimes and dispute initiation seems to be due to factors that simply happen to add up in military autocracies but are essentially unrelated to regime type.     

How Do Adolescents Manage Information in the Relationship with Their Parents? A Latent Class Analysis of Disclosure,Keeping Secrets,and Lying

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - The use of disclosure and concealment strategies by adolescents in the relationship with their parents may have important implications for their adjustment. Few...     

Calculating the frequency of occurrence of a blood type for a 'random man'.

A scheme is offered for the calculation of blood group frequencies for mixed racial populations. The issue of which population to model is discussed. Consideration is also given to the racial composition of the desired survey and to the rule of mutual independence. The scheme can in many cases be applied to existing data.     

Attheraces v British Horseracing Board: What price abuse of dominance?

Legal context: This article concerns the interplay between the competitionrules (abuse of dominance) and intellectual property; the extentto which dominant companies are free to set the price for accessto their IP; and excessive and discriminatory pricing. Key points: The Court of Appeal of England and Wales held that the BritishHorseracing Board (BHB) had not breached the competition rules.It overturned the High Court's decision that the BHB had chargedexcessive prices for access to its database of information.The Court of Appeal found that in determining whether a priceis excessive (and therefore a breach of competition law), itis not sufficient to look only at the level of the dominantcompany's return on its costs. This ‘cost +’ assessmentis only one element of the analysis which must be carried out. Practical significance: This case is apparently good news for IP owners, as it suggeststhat the legal test for showing excessive pricing is very high.However, the case also suggests that bringing a private actionto enforce the competition rules will remain extremely difficult.This may have a chilling effect on the development of the lawand in some cases may be to the public's detriment.     

Mediation within the French Industrial Relations Context: The SFR Cegetel Case

This article examines the introduction of mediation in the French industrial relations context, as illustrated by the case of the SFR Cegetel collective agreement on social dialogue, which was signed in June 2002. This article provides an overview of relevant French legislation and explores why mediation is used so infrequently in France to settle labor conflicts, examines the growing interest in mediation in France as exemplified in the implementation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs in several firms, and analyzes the barriers and incentives to mediation as well as the impact of internal mediation on the relations between management and employees.
We conclude that while inherited customs and lack of information curtail the use of mediation, disputants increasingly favor mediation as an option when they wish to gain time or when the situation is filled with especially acute open conflict. In addition, we conclude that the introduction of mediation favors a more participatory style of management, improves relationships between management and employees, and induces a better social dialogue within the firm.     

Operational parameters in the stolen property system

The operational steps involved in the theft of property are identified and discussed with central attention being given to the criminal receiver of stolen goods—the “fence”. Both the likely and unlikely divisions of labor in the stolen property marketplace are analyzed as are the functional progressions of events in the theft industry. The analysis is based on a field research project.