Emission Trading Restrictions with Endogenous Technological Change

In this paper we use a simple climate model for endogenous environmental technical change in order to analyse the effects on equity and efficiency of placing different degrees of restrictions on trade in the market of pollution permits. The model is obtained by incorporating in Nordhaus and Yang (1996)'s RICE model a notion of induced technical change close to the one proposed in Goulder and Mathai (2000). With the help of such a model, we assess the pros and cons of introducing ceilings on emission trading. In particular, we analyse both the cost effectiveness and the distributional effects of placing restrictions of trading emissions. The analysis takes into account the role of environmental technical change that could be enhanced by emission trade limitations. However, this effect is shown to be offset by the increased abatement cost induced by the larger than optimal adoption of domestic policy measures when ceilings are made binding. Hence, our analysis provides little support for quantitative restrictions of emission trading, even when these restrictions actually have a positive impact of technical change. Even in terms of equity, ceilings find no justification within our theoretical and modelling framework. Indeed, we find that flexibility mechanisms in the presence of endogenous technical change increase equity and that the highest equity levels are achieved without ceilings, both in the short and in the long run.     

Italian Ultras Today: Change or Decline?

The authors describe a particular form of football hooliganism, namely the behaviour displayed by particular groups of young fans - in Italy the so-called ultras - consisting of acts of vandalism and systematic aggression to the detriment of similar opposing groups both within and, above all, outside the stadiums. The development over the last decade is outlined and the authors try to explain the current situation and the most recent changes. They show that, in spite of the diminishing number of incidents in the last years, this violence is changing appearance: on the one hand, it turns against the police; on the other hand it declines into pure vandalism and juvenile deviance. An important moment was the crisis caused by the death of an ultras in 1995, which marked a turning point between the 'old way' of the ultras and the new developments. A brief comparison is made with the English situation, both on the appearance of hooliganism as well as on the preventive policies, the police and the legislation on acts of hooliganism and sports violence.Italian Association of Sport for All     

Analysis of 11 tetrameric STRs in wild boars for forensic purposes

STR profiling of animal species has a wide range of applications, including forensic identification, wildlife preservation, veterinary public health protection and food safety. We tested the efficacy of a multiplex PCR-based assay including 11 porcine-specific tetrameric STRs in a population sample of wild boars (n = 142) originating from Piedmont (North West Italy). Multiple deviations from Hardy–Weinberg expectations were observed, mostly due to a reduction in observed heterozygosity indicative of a high degree of inbreeding. A value of θ of 0.046 and an inbreeding coefficient of 0.089 were estimated. Combined power of discrimination and probability of exclusion values for the STR panel were 0.9999999999996 and 0.99989. In order to test the suitability of the method for meat traceability purposes, a domestic pig reference sample (n = 412), consisting of commercial lines commonly used in the meat production process, was also typed. A Bayesian cluster analysis carried out using the observed genotypes, showed a percentage of correct subspecies assignment of individual samples of 0.974 for wild boars and 0.991 for pigs, thus demonstrating the usefulness of the multiplex STR-typing system for discrimination purposes.     

Populism and technocracy: opposites or complements?

Although populism and technocracy increasingly appear as the two organising poles of politics in contemporary Western democracies, the exact nature of their relationship has not been the focus of systematic attention. This article argues that whilst these two terms – and the political realities they refer to – are usually assumed to be irreducibly opposed to one another, there is also an important element of complementarity between them. This complementarity consists in the fact that both populism and technocracy are predicated upon an implicit critique of a specific political form, referred to in this article as ‘party democracy’. This is defined as a political regime based on two key features: the mediation of political conflicts through the institution of political parties and a procedural conception of political legitimacy according to which political outcomes are legitimate to the extent that they are the product of a set of democratic procedures revolving around the principles of parliamentary deliberation and electoral competition. This argument is made through a close analysis of works by Ernesto Laclau and Pierre Rosanvallon, chosen as exemplary manifestations of the contemporary cases for populism and technocracy, respectively.     

On regional security governance once again: how analysis of the Southern Caucasus can advance the concept

Already introduced to the academic and political debate some years ago, the concept of “security governance” still needs to be clarified. In particular, four main shortcomings need to be overcome to make the concept more useful for an assessment of current security dynamics: in the first place, attention has been devoted more to “governance” than to “security”, while failing to consider the role of the understandings and perceptions of the actors involved in the governance system. Second, the literature on the actors (governmental or not) involved is still fragmented. Third, the literature on security governance has too often been detached from reflections on regionalism, while it would be useful to further explore the relationship between cognitive definitions of regional and security dynamics. Fourth, the literature has predominantly focused on Europe and the transatlantic area, overlooking processes of “region-building” in security terms in other “unexpected” geographical spaces. After proposing avenues to overcome the current gaps in the literature, the Southern Caucasus is chosen as a case study to show the different instances of security governance emerging, thanks to definitions of the region in security terms that have involved regional and external actors, of a state and non-state nature.     

End-of-Life Decisions in Albania: The Call for an Ethical Revision

Liverpool Law Review - While in Western European countries, the end-of-life decisions have become a matter of public policy, this paper provides a detailed analysis of end-of-life decisions in...     

Why and How Civil Defense Militias Emerge: The Case of the Arrow Boys in South Sudan

This article uses a collective-action framework to study the mobilization of the Arrow Boys (AB), a community defense militia in South Sudan. Drawing on general collective-action explanations, this article argues that the mobilization of the AB was facilitated by two factors: (1) a strong overlap of the fighter's private and the community's public benefit and (2) close social relationships and expectations within the community. The article supports these theoretical claims by, first, examining the scope conditions under which the AB formed and, second, drawing on individual interviews with AB members from Western Equatoria in South Sudan.     

Multi-level governance in the EU and EU democracy: Democratic legitimacy,democratic accountability and transparency of the European offices of the English local authorities in Brussels

This paper seeks to examine the role and functions of the representative offices of English local authorities in Brussels by considering the democratic legitimacy (i.e. linkage to elected councillors or mayors), accountability and transparency of the office’s activities. The study demonstrates that the offices differ in their governance arrangements and funding, which has a direct impact on the approach to democratic legitimacy and accountability, noting that those offices which rely most heavily on direct funding from a single authority or a combined authority have the closest links to the authorities concerned. The transparency of the offices varies considerably, with clear distinctions between offices that are creatures of contract or where offices are an emanation of the authority concerned. The pattern here is less dependent on the pattern of funding of the office and depends more on the availability of resources and the approach adopted by the office itself.     

Longitudinal Associations between Maternal Involvement,Cultural Orientations,and Prosocial Behaviors Among Recent Immigrant Latino Adolescents

Prosocial behaviors (i.e., actions that benefit others) are important markers of healthy social functioning, and understanding the factors that predict such outcomes among recent immigrant Latino adolescents is important. The current study examines the longitudinal associations between maternal involvement and prosocial behaviors via collectivism values. Data comes from a longitudinal project (Construyendo Oportunidades Para los Adolescentes Latinos) of 302 recently immigrated U.S. Latina/o adolescents (53.3% male, average age?=?14.51 years old). The current study uses data from three times points across 2 years. The results demonstrated that maternal involvement was positively associated with collectivism values. Collectivism was positively associated with changes in prosocial behaviors. There was also partial support for a reverse-causal model. Discussion focuses on the links among parenting, cultural values, and prosocial behaviors among immigrant U.S. Latina/o adolescents.