Structural change, technology, and economic growth: Brazil and the CIBS in a comparative perspective

Schumpeterian growth theory stresses the role of structural change in long run growth. Countries which increase the share of technology-intensive sectors in their economic structures benefit more from technological learning and innovation. In addition, they are more able to respond to changes in the international markets and to compete in sectors whose demand grows at higher rates. The paper compares Brazil (and to a lesser extent the CIBS group of countries) from the point of view of the direction and intensity of structural change. It is suggested that structural change has been relatively weak in Brazil and that this has been associated with a less dynamic growth performance since the 1980s.     

Sexual fantasies and sensation seeking among psychopathic sexual offenders

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between psychopathy, sensation seeking behavior and sexual fantasies in a sample of 199 participants from a maximum security forensic hospital. Psychopathy, measured by the Psychopathy Checklist – Revised (PCL-R), and several sensation seeking and sexual fantasy measures were utilized. Results indicated that, in agreement with previous research, sexually deviant psychopaths are more likely to offend against adults than children. Likewise, psychopaths showed some tendency to score significantly higher on sexual sensation seeking measures than nonpsychopathic sexual offenders. Furthermore, a relationship between psychopathy and overall sexual fantasies existed but there were not specific patterns among psychopaths and nonpsychopaths with regard to specific categories of sexual fantasies.     

Repression and incitement: A critical demographic,feminist, and transnational analysis of birth control in Estonia, 1920–1939

This article addresses the role of inheritance in the economic well-being of widows in early modern urban Holland. It discusses marital property law and inheritance law, as well as inheritance practices, by analysing marriage contracts and wills. The egalitarian distribution of property and the strong commitment to the nuclear family embedded in law was strengthened by wills. Widows benefited from these tendencies. A comparison with English law points to the strong position of Dutch widows. The legal system enabled widows to continue the household after the death of their spouses and in this respect their situation was remarkably similar to that of widowers.     

Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior of Public Research Institutions

The purpose of this article is to analyze the organizational behavior of public research organizations based on their human resources development and management. The study here focuses on the largest Italian public research body. The pyramid of R&D people shows the irregular spatial structure of the research personnel per macro regions and the index of seniority indicates older research personnel in the North and Central Part of Italy than in the South Italy. The analysis of human resources displays organizational weaknesses and threats for public research labs generated by research policy based on shrinking public research lab budgets and downsizing of research personnel. Some critical human resource management implications are discussed in order to improve the strategic change and research performances of public research institutions in turbulent and fast-changing markets.     

The EU in Somalia: Furthering Peacemaking and Reconciliation

Since the Transitional Federal Institutions were established after the 2002 Nairobi Conference, the situation in Somalia has seen two drastic about-turns – in opposite directions. In June 2006, starting out from Mogadishu, the Islamic Courts rapidly extended their control over most of south-central Somalia. Now, after the Ethiopean military intervention, the Transitional Government is trying to establish itself in the capital and to effectively exercise its formal authority for the first time. But the military defeat of the Courts has not solved the problems that initially made their success possible. Only reconciliation can create real stability and the European Union can contribute to achieving this. A peaceful and stable Horn of Africa is in the EU's interest, given the risks of it becoming a breeding ground for Al Qaeda-like organisations and a source of immigration. Somalia could also become a test case for solving the problems of a failed state by peaceful means, and an example of the EU's willingness and ability to have an effective dialogue with the Islamic world. Success in Somalia would strengthen the EU as a regional player with Arab and Muslim countries.     

Unusual findings in a death caused by a car fire

Witnesses detected a burning car in the parking lot next to a discotheque in the early morning hours. After the fire had been extinguished, the charred body of the 23-year-old car owner was found in the driver's seat. The young man had been a guest of the discotheque the previous night and consumed plenty of alcoholic drinks. The traces left by the fire on the car suggested that the fire had started in the passenger compartment. At autopsy, greyish-brown discoloration and induration of the mucosa of the respiratory tract were found in addition to massive aspiration of soot and signs of soot swallowing. The macroscopic and histological findings pointed to a chemical burn of the airways probably caused by chlorine gases developing when the covering of the passenger compartment was burning. Chemical burns due to inhalation, aspiration and swallowing of soot are all signs of vitality, so that a smoldering fire must have gone on for a while inside the car with the windows closed. The most probable cause of the fire is that clothing or textile material in the car was set on fire by a burning cigarette.