Regulating balance sheet audit: A game theoretical analysis

Summary  The decision situation implicit to balance sheet audit is modelled as a game theoretical model and examined for its behavioural implications. Possible types of decisions are identified as Nash equilibria. The basic game model is characterized by an equilibrium in mixed strategies. Its properties are discussed in detail with respect to alternative scenarios of statutory audit. The regulatory propositions of separation between audit and consulting, on the one hand, and the rotation of auditors, on the other, are analyzed in the context of the game. It turns out that these measures may have contradictory effects on the quality of the balance sheet audit and it depends on the specification of regulatory details and the reaction of the agents whether the one or the other effect dominates in the end. Another proposition to enhance the audit performance is the extension of the liability of statutory auditors. Prerequisites for the success of this measure are that either no professional liability insurance exists or that, if otherwise, deductibles are calculated as a fixed percentage of the loss. The examples refer to German legal rules, however, similar legal rules are valid for most of the developed market economies.     

Versuch/Vollendung im Strafprozess

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The value of skull-photo superimpositions in identifying corpses found in domestic settings

The identification of decomposed corpses found in domestic settings is frequently problematic because comparative material for methods such as forensic odontostomatology, comparative X-ray analysis, or DNA analysis, is not available. In the case presented here, a photograph from an old, expired passport could be used to successfully identify a "domestic setting" corpse in a skull-photo superimposition. In an additional DNA analysis, 13 STR-loci could be amplified from tissue samples taken from the corpse. DNA comparison with the presumed brother of the deceased yielded a probability of 97.09% for siblingship. Y-STR-analysis was, therefore, performed. The results showed that all of the systems for the presumed brother and the corpse conformed, with the exception of the DYS390 locus, in which allele 21 was found for the corpse and allele 22 for the brother. Despite the rapid development of other identification procedures, skull-photo superimpositions remain an important means of identification. Last not least this is due to the increasing ubiquity of personal photo documents in the age of digital photography. The validity of the results from a DNA analysis in an identification process depends largely on the authenticity of the samples available for comparison and the degree to which the DNA from the corpse is preserved. In the case presented by the authors, positive identification of the corpse solely on the basis of the DNA analysis would not have been possible. Numerous constellations can be imagined for decomposed corpses found in domestic settings for which skull-photo superimpositions may be the only possible option for identifying the corpse.     

Criteria for the classification as a "domestic-setting corpse"--a literature search and review to define the term

In German medical and media circles (daily routine, specialist literature, press, novels), the term "domestic-setting corpse" is frequently used, but the term is only vaguely defined. The authors thus decided to perform an in-depth study of the literature, including historic textbooks and all German- and English-language medicolegal journals, going as far back as their first issues, in an attempt to more clearly define the term. Inclusion criteria used in the search were a post-mortem interval of at least 24 hours prior to discovery and discovery of the corpse in a domestic setting. In the literature, 37 cases that complied with the above-mentioned inclusion criteria were found. These cases frequently described "advanced decomposition", often "unclear cause of death" and "problems in identification". These characteristics can thus be considered as being additional pointers in the definition. However, we suggest that the two general defining characteristics of a "domestic-setting corpse" are a post-mortem interval of more than 24 hours before discovery and the discovery of the corpse in a domestic setting.     

The design of international trade agreements: Introducing a new dataset

Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have been proliferating for the last twenty years. A large literature has studied various aspects of this phenomenon. Until recently, however, many large-N studies have paid only scant attention to variation across PTAs in terms of content and design. Our contribution to this literature is a new dataset on the design of trade agreements that is the most comprehensive in terms of both variables coded and agreements covered. We illustrate the dataset’s usefulness in re-visiting the questions if and to what extent PTAs impact trade flows. The analysis shows that on average PTAs increase trade flows, but that this effect is largely driven by deep agreements. In addition, we provide evidence that provisions that tackle behind-the-border regulation matter for trade flows. The dataset’s contribution is not limited to the PTA literature, however. Broader debates on topics such as institutional design and the legalization of international relations will also benefit from the novel data.     

"Natural" death of a person under the care of a custodian

An ambulance service doctor was called to the death of a 76-year-old woman and attested cardiac arrest and psycho-organic brain syndrome as the cause of death on the death certificate. At the second external examination mandatory before cremation, extensive hematomas were detected on the right thorax and multiple haematomas in the face and on the forehead. The autopsy initially ordered by the public health officer revealed serial rib fractures and a fractured skull. After notifying the prosecutor, a forensic autopsy was ordered and death was found to have been caused by fat embolism following massive blunt force to the thorax with serial rib fractures and haematopneumothorax. After that, the adopted son, who had been appointed care custodian for the woman, and his wife were suspected, because they had given contradictory explanations for the injuries. At first, they were only suspected of failure to render assistance, but in the end they were both charged with murder. Only because of the second external examination prescribed by the law still in force could the errors of the improper first external examination be corrected.     

Laudatio: Verleihung des Theodor Eschenburg-Preises an Prof. Dr. Gerhard Lehmbruch am 25. September 2003 auf dem Kongress der Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft in Mainz

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