The Donor Problem: An Experimental Analysis of Beneficiary Empowerment

Donors often rely on local intermediaries to deliver benefits to target beneficiaries. Each selected recipient observes if the intermediary under-delivers to them, so they serve as natural monitors. These recipients may, however, withhold complaints to ‘thank’ the intermediary for selecting them. Furthermore, the intermediary may distort selection (for example, by picking richer recipients who feel less entitled) to reduce complaints. We design an experimental game representing the donor's problem. We compare two institutions. In one treatment the intermediary selects recipients. In the other selection is random – as by an uninformed donor. In our data random selection dominates delegation of the selection task to the intermediary. Selection distortions are similar but intermediaries divert more when they have selection power (correctly anticipating that gratitude for selection will reduce complaints). Our results identify a problem in combining selection and delivery tasks. The insights are also applicable to social funds, decentralisation and participatory projects.     

DISARMAMENT AND BIG BUSINESS: THE CASE OF KRUPP, 1918–1925

Well before 1914, the Krupp Steel Foundry in Essen had gained a world-wide reputation as a major producer of heavy weaponry. The disarmament procedures set in train initially by the armistice and thereafter by the Versailles Treaty would, therefore, impact massively on one of Europe's few large-scale steel producers, whether in terms of output or with regard to its influence in German politics. This article analyses such developments during the early 1920s, with special reference to the activities of the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission (IMCC), including their impact on production and on the workforce at the Krupp factories in Essen. It also investigates efforts by Krupp's management (and also German politicians) to evade military restrictions and also to maintain expertise in the production of heavy weaponry.     

A widow's revenge: Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik,neo‐conservatism and the German federal election of 1994

In the course of the 1994 election campaign, Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik of the late 1960s and early 1970s became an issue. Brandt's widow Brigitte Seebacher‐Brandt attempted to rewrite the history of Ostpolitik and Brandt's role in German politics from a neo‐conservative point of view. She suggested that Herbert Wehner, the SPD ‘s former parliamentary leader, had been instrumental in forcing her husband's resignation in 1974, and, above all, may have been a spy. Seebacher‐Brandt alleged that Wehner actively collaborated with the East in shaping Ostpolitik. If this was so, Ostpolitik may have delayed German unification instead of contributing to it. Brandt's widow attempted to take revenge on the generation of 1968; the generation now largely in charge of the SPD. She accused them of still believing in their leftish anti‐national ideas and lacking enthusiasm for German unification. She has also never forgiven the SPD for not integrating her as ‘one of us’ when she married Willy Brandt. Wishing to rescue Brandt's reputation from her demolition of Ostpolitik she has attempted to depict him as a politician who was thinking along patriotic and national lines when he embarked upon Ostpolitik while downplaying his long‐standing left‐wing credentials.     

The Berlin morgue of 1886--the 125-year-old morgue of Berlin-Mitte

On 1 March 1886, a new morgue built along the lines of the Paris morgue, was opened in Berlin, Germany. Experts from many European countries were interested in the new building with its modern design and equipment. As the morgue, the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Berlin University accommodated in the same building also acquired international reputation. However, neither the scientific nor the economic achievements of this long-standing institution could prevent the closure of this historic site in Berlin-Mitte after almost 125 years.     

Suffocation due to foreign body aspiration visualized by post-mortem CT

The aspiration of a foreign body is a high-risk event in the life of an infant or toddler, which needs fast clinical diagnosis and therapy. If the respiratory tract is massively obstructed, the aspiration can be fatal, as shown in the case of an 18-month-old child. The little boy choked on a fragment of a hazelnut shell. Besides radiography and bronchoscopy, a CT scan can be of special value to visualize the foreign body. Based on the data obtained, a virtual bronchoscopy can be calculated. Compared with conventional radiography, the advantages of computed tomography are better image quality, higher indicative value and the possibility to exactly localize the foreign body in the respiratory tract. In the presented case, the nutshell could be visualized in the larynx before autopsy.     

Undetected and detected child sexual abuse and child pornography offenders

Current knowledge about risk factors for child sexual abuse and child pornography offenses is based on samples of convicted offenders, i.e., detected offenders. Only few studies focus on offenders not detected by the criminal justice system. In this study, a sample of 345 self-referred pedophiles and hebephiles was recruited from the community. All participants met DSM-IV-TR criteria for pedophilia or hebephilia (paraphilia not otherwise specified), were assured of confidentiality, and self-reported lifetime sexual offending against prepubescent and/or pubescent children. Two sets of group comparisons were conducted on self-report data of risk factors for sexual reoffending. Measures of risk factors address the following dimensions identified in samples of convicted offenders: sexual preferences (i.e. co-occurring paraphilias), sexual self-regulation problems, offense-supportive cognitions, diverse socio-affective deficits, and indicators of social functioning (e.g., education, employment). Men who admitted current or previous investigation or conviction by legal authorities (detected offenders) were compared with those who denied any detection for their sexual offenses against children (undetected offenders). Group comparisons (detected vs. undetected) were further conducted for each offense type separately (child pornography only offenders, child sexual abuse only offenders, mixed offenders). Although there were more similarities between undetected and detected offenders, selected measures of sexual-self regulation problems, socio-affective deficits, and social functioning data demonstrated group differences.