Innovations, externalities and the problem of economic progress

In modern industrial societies innovativeness is seen as a source of economic growth and welfare increases. Following this assessment economic research presently focusses almost exclusively on the question of how to elicit innovations. Yet innovative economic activities have always also meant losses, sometimes even hardship, to some members of society, and incalculable risks. The present paper tries to develop a more balanced picture by acknowledging these less pleasant implications. Whether, and under what conditions, the permissive regime which modern societies have adopted towards innovations can be justified is discussed within the framework of a contractarian approach.     

Some empirical evidence on rent-seeking

We tested for the capture of net gains by winners in rent-seeking competitions, using the most prominent announcements of government favors in the Canadian economy over a twelve-year period. Stockholders' returns were not significantly different from zero. One possible explanation is that government assists firms only when assistance creates political gains. Refusing to transfer economic rents to firms maximmizes the resources available to serve political purposes. This kind of behavior by government officials would imply that government has market power, which is consistent with several well-known theories of government.     

Physische Attraktivität und Wahlerfolg. Eine empirische Analyse am Beispiel der Wahlkreiskandidaten bei der Bundestagswahl 2002

Even if there is a vast body of literature on the attractiveness stereotype, little is known about the effects of the physical attractiveness of politicians. This holds true especially with regard to the relationship between physical attractiveness and electoral success. Taking the German Federal Election of 2002 as an example, the effect of the attractiveness of the candidates in the constituencies on their personal votes is analyzed. The attractiveness is judged by a group of raters on the basis of photographs used by the candidates for their self-representation. By means of multiple linear regression analysis it can be shown that the physical attractiveness of the candidates in the constituencies has a statistically significant and politically relevant impact on the share of votes they receive.     

Conceiling the cadaver in masonry and cement

Encasing with concrete and/or bricks are relatively rare forms of hiding or disposing of a body; criminologically, cases of this kind are often treated as "matters involving a missing person" at first. The article describes the circumstances and findings of 2 cases in which bodies were encased with concrete. Under the aspects of reconstruction it is of importance that bodies may be preserved quite well in concrete, which allows not only identification of the victim but also determination of the cause of death even after a prolonged post-mortem interval, the more so as occasionally tools used for committing the offense are also encased together with the body.     

The Public Sector In An In-Between Time: Searching For New Public Values

A number of new governance structures has been introduced in the Danish public sector. These include contract agencies, user boards, boards of directors, marketization, corporatization, involving voluntary organizations in public services, EU-funded state border crossing co-operation, and Europeanization in many forms. Despite their obvious dissimilarities, these governance structures have one thing in common: they challenge the foundations of the public sector and territorial representative democracy by blurring the distinctions between politics and administration; between public and private; and between national and international. If politicians and voters are deprived of the capacity to make these distinctions, political responsibility is bound to fade away. Also, each new governance structure down-loads degrees of indeterminateness in the public sector since they may interact in unforeseen ways and introduce new actors, roles and practices in the public sector. This may cause the development of a more flexible public sector marked by 'local' appropriateness and adaptability but also by a multitude of inconsistent models and principles. To avoid the latter, a general discourse on values and their institutional requirements and the invention of public 'domains' is needed.     

Migration to and from East Germany: the latest studies

A review of the literature on migration affecting East Germany is presented. The focus is on recent studies on the period during and since reunification. The authors note that, although the overall trend since 1945 has been of large-scale out-migration, levels of in-migration from West Germany have increased since 1990.