Do political variables affect fiscal policy adjustment decisions? New empirical evidence

We test eight hypotheses on political factors influencing the likelihood that a fiscal policy adjustment occurs. We employ a panel discrete choice model for 20 OECD countries for the period 1970–2003. Two different definitions of fiscal adjustments are used to capture the differences between rapid and gradual adjustments. We find that these types of fiscal adjustment are primarily driven by economic factors and are hardly affected by political variables. The likelihood that a rapid adjustment takes place is only influenced by upcoming elections, while the likelihood that a gradual adjustment takes place increases in case of broad policy reform.     

Halogenated solvent interactions with N,N-dimethyltryptamine: formation of quaternary ammonium salts and their artificially induced rearrangements during analysis

The psychoactive properties of N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) 1a are known to induce altered states of consciousness in humans. This particular attribute attracts great interest from a variety of scientific and also clandestine communities. Our recent research has confirmed that DMT reacts with dichloromethane (DCM), either as a result of work-up or storage to give a quaternary N-chloromethyl ammonium salt 2a. Furthermore, this was observed to undergo rearrangement during analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with products including 3-(2-chloroethyl)indole 3 and 2-methyltetrahydro-beta-carboline 4 (2-Me-THBC). This study further investigates this so far unexplored area of solvent interactions by the exposure of DMT to other halogenated solvents including dibromomethane and 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE). The N-bromomethyl- and N-chloroethyl quaternary ammonium derivatives were subsequently characterised by ion trap GC-MS in electron and chemical ionisation tandem MS mode and by NMR spectroscopy. The DCE-derived derivative formed at least six rearrangement products in the total ion chromatogram. Identification of mass spectrometry generated by-products was verified by conventional or microwave-accelerated synthesis. The use of deuterated DCM and deuterated DMT 1b provided insights into the mechanism of the rearrangements. The presence of potentially characteristic marker molecules may allow the identification of solvents used during the manufacture of controlled substances, which is often neglected since these are considered inert.     

Schadenersatzpflicht des Antragstellers bzw seines Rechtsanwalts bei (angeblich) missbräuchlichem Konkursantrag?

Die Bestimmung des § 408 ZPO, die für mutwillige Prozessführung einen eigenen Schadenersatzanspruch statuiert, ist im Konkursverfahren nicht anwendbar; es ist aber nicht zweifelhaft, dass ein missbr?uchlich gestellter Konkursantrag eine Schadenersatzpflicht des Antragstellers bzw seines Rechtsanwalts begründen kann. Missbr?uchlichkeit eines vom Gl?ubiger gestellten Konkurser?ffnungsantrags ist anzunehmen, wenn der Schuldner oder eine andere Person mit dem Konkursantrag ungerechtfertigt unter Druck gesetzt werden oder ein verfahrensfremder Zweck erreicht werden soll.     

How Aspiration to Office Conditions the Impact of Government Participation on Party Platform Change

Considerable ambiguity exists regarding the effect of government/opposition status on party platform change. Existing theories predict that (1) it has no effect, (2) opposition parties change more, (3) opposition parties change more after several spells in opposition, and (4) parties’ responses vary because of different goal orientations. We propose that a party's aspiration to office, measured by its historical success or failure in entering office, determines a party's reaction to being in opposition or government. We hypothesize that, because of loss aversion, parties with low office aspiration change more when they are in government than when they are in opposition. Conversely, parties with high office aspiration change more as opposition party than as government party. We find evidence for these hypotheses through a pooled time‐series cross‐sectional analysis of 1,686 platform changes in 21 democracies, using the Comparative Manifesto Data and an innovative measure of party platform change.     

Keine Vollstreckbarkeit eines Beschlusses auf Urkundenvorlage

Ein Beschluss, mit dem der Streitrichter einem Antrag auf Urkundenvorlage gem § 82 ZPO stattgab, ist kein Exekutionstitel nach § 1 Z 1 EO.     

30 Jahre FFH-Richtlinie – Erfolge und Defizite beim Schutz des europäischen Naturerbes

Natur und Recht - Im Jahr 1992 wurde von der Europäischen Gemeinschaft die FFH-Richtlinie beschlossen. Seither sind drei Jahrzehnte vergangen, gleichwohl gibt es bis heute Defizite bei der...     

Demographic socialization and reproductive behavior in a transitional context: a macro–micro perspective

This paper analyzes the impact of individuals’ socialization in a given demographic context on their later reproductive behavior in 19th century Geneva. To assess this socialization effect on the fertility of first generation immigrants, I combine family reconstitution data with Coale’s aggregate indexes of marital fertility. I then run two-level Poisson regression models predicting age-specific fertility rates as a function of individual characteristics at the lower level and as a function of province-level fertility at the higher level. The results show a strong socialization effect among couples who were already married when arriving in Geneva, whereas among immigrants who arrived as singles and who got married in Geneva the impact of demographic socialization turns out much weaker.