Zur Entwicklung der Vermögensungleichheit in Deutschland

For a long time, the social policy discussion in Germany has been heavily dominated by income inequality and poverty risk rates, while at the same time the analysis of personal wealth distribution was underdeveloped, last but not least due to a severe lack of appropriate data. Using representative micro data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), this paper analyzes individual level information on net wealth for 2002 and 2007. This five year period saw a pronounced increase in both income and wealth inequality. More detailed analyses by SES reveal significant differences in wealth holdings by migration status, education level, region, income level as well as across age groups. This cross-sectional perspective is being enriched by panel analyses focusing on correlates of individual wealth holdings as well as on determinants of wealth mobility. Using a multivariate regression framework we find clear indication for the relevance of the individual employment and income career as well as a sustaining importance of intergenerational transmission (by means of bestowals and inheritance) for both wealth accumulation and mobility.     

美国模范刑法典导论

美国法学会1962年通过的《模范刑法典》在美国刑法法典化的历史中发挥了最重要的作用。自颁布至今,该法典一直是美国刑法典改革的主导力量,也是美国刑法学研究的催化剂。该法典内容上包括总则、具体犯罪的规定、处遇和矫正、矫正组织四编,总体上采用了“原则性实用主义”的进路。该法典的创新之处体现在:全面的总则、分析性的结构、充分界定犯罪、使用限定的术语、法典条款的解释体系、犯罪体系,以及某些具体规则的创新,如犯罪要件、不完整犯罪和同谋犯、正当事由、免责事由等。     

Storage time for criminal trace evidence

The article discusses the question if and under what conditions trace evidence may be stored for DNA analysis. The authors report on several cases in which methodological improvements or even the introduction of DNA technology itself helped to identify the perpetrator or to rule out a suspect, who may already have been wrongly convicted, many years after the offence. Under medical and scientific aspects these cases seem to speak in favour of unlimited storage. German law does not contain explicit regulations on the storage of trace evidence of unknown origin, although it seems admissible under existing law. In view of a minor need of protection as against a high interest in the preservation of trace evidence, storage for an unlimited period of time seems necessary.     

Veto players,market discipline,and structural fiscal consolidations

Public Choice - Based on a sample of 16 Western OECD countries we show that although veto players with heterogeneous political preferences reduce the probability of a structural fiscal...     

What Do Voters Want From Their Local MP?

This article summarises the findings from a study of what constituents want from their local Member of Parliament. 1 We make use of a survey technique known as conjoint analysis, wherein we present a national sample of British voters with profiles of hypothetical MPs who vary randomly in their characteristics, activities and behaviour. We find that voters like MPs who are independent from the party line and who do not focus exclusively on national policy work. MPs' gender and experience matter far less to constituents. Overall, voters want a Parliament made up of strong‐minded MPs who see their role as that of a constituency representative. This has important implications for parliamentary democracy in Britain.     

Das System des deutschen Artenschutzrechts und die Auswirkungen der Caretta-Entscheidung des EuGH auf den Absichtsbegriff des § 43 Abs. 4 BNatSchG

Das Artenschutzrecht ist eine ausdifferenzierte, völker-, europa- und nationalrechtlich geprägte Rechtsmaterie. Ausgangspunkte einer Prüfung sind Schutzstatus der Art und die Handlung, die vorgenommen werden soll. Bei Eingriffen in besonders geschützte Arten durch Land-, Forst- oder Fischereiwirtschaft sowie durch zugelassene Eingriffe ist § 43 Abs. 4 BNatSchG eine Schlüsselnorm, die absichtliches Handeln voraussetzt. Absichtlich sind gezielte Beeinträchtigungen von Tieren und Pflanzen, nicht absichtlich sind Beeinträchtigungen, die sich als unausweichliche Konsequenz rechtmäßigen Handelns ergeben. An dieser Auslegung hat sich durch die Caretta-Entscheidung des EuGH nichts geändert.     

Constituency Demands and Limited Supplies: Comparing Personal Issue Emphases in Co‐sponsorship of Bills and Legislative Speech

Parliamentary party groups typically comprise members of parliament (MPs) with diverse preferences and different personal issue emphases. At the same time, speaking in plenary debates is a scarce resource controlled and allocated by parliamentary party group leaders. This has led recent research to investigate how speakers for plenary debates are selected. This contribution connects with this literature by asking whether MPs’ personal issue emphases deviate from their parliamentary party groups’ issue emphases. In order to answer this question, the issue emphases which individual MPs devote to a set of issues in an open access parliamentary instrument is measured and compared to the emphases MPs devote to these issues in speeches. The results for the 2005–9 legislative period of the Norwegian Storting indicate that MPs differ in how closely aligned their issue emphases are in these two instruments and that these differences vary in a way consistent with theories on candidate selection and individualized MP behaviour.