微量物证匹配的描述:一个法律视角

本文描述了用于规范法庭科学证言的英美证据法，这些法庭科学证言主要是解释微量物证之匹配的重要性。本文根据即将出版的维基百科全书法庭科学卷部分改编。     

社会行为的进化:个体与群体选择--演进经济学对"人的利己性"的反思

本文从生物进化的个体和群体选择角度,并在引入博弈论的基础上,探讨人是利己还是利他.人的利己性假设是西方主流经济学的基本假设之一,如果这一假设被否定,那建立在该基本假设基础上的主流经济学大厦就岌岌可危,因此,本文的意义大大超过文章本身.     

Can Needs-Based Grants Improve Local Transit Performance? Varying Effects by Level of Control

Needs-based grant programs are budgeting systems that tie grant dollars to the needs of the grantees as determined by objective indicators. Although performance improvement is not an explicit goal of such grants, the associated awards could work as incentives for grantees to meet the grant criteria. In other words, grantees seek to improve their performance to fulfill the criteria, even though the grant-makers intend such grants to support the existing operational needs of the grantees. This study tests these assertions in the context of the small transit intensive cities (STIC) grant that was established as a needs-based grant system by the federal government to support small local transit agencies operating with unusually high service demands. This study argues that these systems would have a stronger impact on indicators over which grantees have more control. This study tests these assertions using a difference-in-differences analysis of 290 transit agencies over 17 years. The findings show that STIC is effective in improving grantee performance, at least on the indicators which are more amenable to control.     

An economic approach to social choice — II

There is a formal equivalence between games, societies, and economies. Lindahl equilibrium for a game or society corresponds to competitive equilibrium for the equivalent economy. Results on existence and optimality of competitive equilibrium thus apply to the theory of games and societies. The “core” for a game or society as derived by extension from the core of an economy is “too large” to be interesting. An example illustrates that the α-core may be disjoint from the set of Lindahl equilibria. However, if the power of coalitions to inflict negative externalities is suitably restricted, Lindahl equilibria must be in the α-core.     

Functional Actorness? Border Security in the EU and Turkey

The European Union (EU) has fortified its external borders using a number of measures including the creation of new institutions and networks such as FRONTEX and EUROSUR. In non-EU countries such as Turkey, border security is being reorganized with EU support and cooperation. By combining the literature on EU actorness and neo-functionalism, I provide a theoretical toolkit to critically unpack these new developments through conceptualizing multiple dimensions of what I call functional actorness. The contribution analyzes how the functional transformation of EU and Turkish border security has produced a number of side effects which are critically appraised.