Robbing the Riches: Capital Flight,Institutions and Debt

Capital flight undermines economic growth and the effectiveness of debt relief and foreign aid, and sometimes drains more resources from poor countries than does debt service. In an analysis of a large panel of developing and emerging market countries using annual data for 1970–2001, we show that both institutions and macro policies robustly affect capital flight. Our study also supports the existence of a revolving door relationship between debt and capital flight. More notably we find countries with weak institutions have a greater propensity to accumulate debt because weak institutions spur capital flight, which, in turn, creates a financing need.     

EU police and judicial cooperation before the Treaty of Lisbon: strengthening of the weakest link?

Abstract

Three key questions arise from the encroachment of the European Union (EU) on national prerogatives in the administration of justice: What factors contribute to the weakest link collective action problem attending police and judicial cooperation within the EU? What were the substantive and institutional goals of the EU in this policy domain? What accounts for the rising level of police and judicial cooperation despite the persistence of barriers to cooperation and incentives to defect? This article first establishes the fundamental incentives and obstacles to cooperation in matters of transnational security threats in post-Westphalian Europe. It then proceeds to explore the evolution of police and judicial cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs between 1999 and 2009, to assess national contributions to police and judicial cooperation, and to consider the potential impact that the changes introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, Stockholm Programme and European Investigation Order. A final question is considered in the conclusion: Did the level and extent of police and judicial cooperation that emerged between 1999 and 2009 give rise to a community of practice that in turn fostered a nascent community of identity resilient enough to mitigate the weakest link technology of public goods production endemic to this policy domain?     

Representation through Participation: A Multilevel Analysis of Jury Deliberations

Fully participatory jury deliberations figure prominently in the idealized view of the American jury system, where balanced participation among diverse jurors leads to more accurate fact‐finding and instills public confidence in the legal system. However, research more than 50 years ago indicated that jury‐room interactions are shaped by social status, with upper‐class men participating more than their lower‐class and female counterparts. The effects of social status on juror participation have been examined only sporadically since then, and rarely with actual jurors. We utilize data from 2,189 criminal jurors serving on 302 juries in four jurisdictions to consider whether—and in what conditions—participation in jury deliberations differs across social groups. Our results indicate the continuing importance of social status in structuring jury‐room interactions, but also reveal some surprising patterns with respect to race and gender that depart from earlier research. We also find that contextual factors including location, case characteristics, and faction size shape the relationship between social status and participation. We conclude with a critical discussion of our results and urge other researchers to take into account contextual factors when examining how individual juror characteristics shape what happens inside the jury room.