The Unemployment–Output Tradeoff in Transition Economies: Does Okun's Law Apply?

This paper investigates whether an Okun-type relationship between output and unemployment is taking hold in formerly planned economies as they move towards the market. Using a first-differences variant of Okun's Law, we test for its presence in 25 transition countries divided into groups of ``reform leaders'' and ``reform laggards.'' For leaders, represented by the 10 European Union (EU) accession countries, Okun's Law is detected in both 1991–94 and 1995–2000 periods. For laggards, represented by the remaining group, it is present only for the later period and only when countries affected by wars are removed from the sample. A comparison of unemployment–output elasticities and unemployment levels in EU candidates and EU members themselves indicates that their labor markets might be converging.     

The onset of adult offending: A neglected dimension of the criminal career

The conventional wisdom in criminology is that adult onset of offending is a rare event. Closer examination of the extant literature that use official records, however, reveals that an average of 50 percent of adult offenders initiate offending at age eighteen or older. Although criminological research has investigated late onset offending in adolescence, there is little research on adult onset offending and the correlates of adult offending. Using police contact and interview data from the 1942 and 1949 birth cohort data from Racine, WI, this study investigated the correlates of crime for adult onset and persistent offenders. The results show that employment is the only correlate to affect the probability of adult offending differently for previously delinquent and nondelinquent offenders. This article concludes by highlighting the neglect of research on adult offenders, specifically the large percentage of adult onset offenders, and calling for more research on this topic.     

Politics Lost, Politics Transformed, Politics Colonised? Theories of the Impact of Mass Media

In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the literature on the relationship between politics and mass media, mainly in discrete topic areas such as the impact of mass media on electoral behaviour, the emergence of new forms of political communication, or media political economy. At the same time, this diverse literature has often focused on a single general issue, typically characterised in terms of the 'transformation' of politics. Despite this common theme, there has been relatively little attempt to connect and compare the different approaches. Looking at the theoretical differences in the new literature on politics and mass media reveals three perspectives – pluralist, constructivist, and structuralist. These approaches have too often tacitly co-existed, instead of more competitively striving to advance knowledge in the three main topic areas above.     

Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of forensic science casework in the People's Republic of China.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis for the purpose of individualization is now being used in casework in the People's Republic of China. This report describes the use of the multilocus minisatellite probe 33.15 to solve three cases, including two homicides and a rape. In the third case, fetal tissue was analyzed to prove that the alleged rapist was, in fact, the father. In each case, analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) resulted in a positive match. The probability of chance association of the DNA fingerprint was calculated as 5.6 x 10(-12), which is similar to the figures reported in the literature.     

The individuality of fibres used to provide forensic evidence--not all blue polyesters are the same.

Fibres used in forensic casework suffer from a disadvantage common to other forms of trace evidence--it is not possible to state with absolute certainty that they originate from a specific source. Target fibre studies, population studies and research on 'blocks of colour' have effectively demonstrated the polymorphism of textile fibres (particularly man-made ones) and have shown that when a fibre is believed to have a specific putative source, the chance that it has originated from a different source purely by coincidence is extremely remote. A study by Houck MM (Houck MM, Inter-comparison of unrelated fibre evidence. Forensic Science International 2003; 135: 146-149) has shown that no coincidental matching fibres were recovered from items of clothing examined in 20 unrelated crimes. The study involved over two million comparisons. This work goes a step further, and using the example of blue polyester fibres shows that even within a very narrow segment of the whole general fibre population, many examples of a specific colour/type of man-made fibre taken from random sources can be compared and the chance of any two being the same is very low. These studies should help to show the specificity and value of transferred fibres in providing forensic evidence.     

The Trilateral cooperation

Legal context: The relatively informal agreements setting up the TrilateralCooperation (TC) among the world's three most important patentoffices are contrasted with formal multinational treaties suchas the Patent Law Treaty and the abortive Substantive PatentLaw Treaty. Key points: After its inception in 1983, the TC concentrated initially ondeveloping and implementing standards for electronic storageand retrieval of prior art documents, and facilitation of searching.This was later extended to electronic sharing of priority documentsand to standardization and searching of DNA sequence databases.More recently emphasis has been placed on harmonization of searchingand examination procedures, and working groups have comparedthe approaches of the Trilateral Offices (TOs) to the patentabilityof claims in areas of new technology. Encouragingly, the resultsare usually the same, although the specific objections raisedmay differ. The ultimate goal is to reach a situation in whicha claim allowed by one TO would be accepted by the others withoutfurther examination. Practical significance: The TC has already facilitated search and examination, leadingto lower costs and shorter pendency times than would otherwisebe the case. Further progress depends on harmonization of substantivepatent law, which in turn depends on the willingness of theUSA to accept a first-to-file system.     

Naturschutz bei der Ausbringung von gentechnisch veränderten Organismen – Teil 1

Die Ausbringung von gentechnisch ver?nderten Organismen (GVO) in das Freiland – namentlich in Gestalt von gentechnisch modifiziertem Saatgut – erfolgt im Wege der (meist experimentellen) Freisetzung oder des gro?fl?chigen Anbaus. Die damit verbundenen Umweltrisiken werden mittels der Freisetzungsgenehmigung und der Genehmigung des Inverkehrbringens (IVB) kontrolliert. Nach Erteilung der IVB-Genehmigung finden zus?tzlich Kontrollen beim Ausbringen des GVO statt. Das gilt nach den allgemeinen Regeln des Wirtschaftsverwaltungsrechts insoweit, wie die Einhaltung der Genehmigung zu überwachen ist. Hinzu kommt jedoch, dass die Genehmigung des Inverkehrbringens, die für alle Standorte in der EU gilt, m?glicherweise nicht alle Risiken der konkreten Ausbringung erfassen kann und deshalb nachgeschaltete sog. nachmarktliche Ma?nahmen notwendig werden. Dieses Problem entsteht in ?hnlicher Weise bei den sog. vereinfachten oder differenzierten Verfahren der Freisetzungsgenehmigung, wenn die Genehmigung erteilt wird, aber die Ausbringungsstandorte noch offengelassen werden. Auf allen vier genannten Stufen – bei der Freisetzungsgenehmigung, der IVB-Genehmigung, den nachmarktlichen Ma?nahmen und den vereinfachten/differenzierten Verfahren – stellt sich die Frage, inwieweit dafür gesorgt wird, dass die Schutzgüter des Naturschutzrechts vor Sch?den bewahrt werden. Weitergehend ist denkbar, dass manche Fl?chen von GVO ganz freigehalten werden. Das Schutzziel best?nde dabei nicht in der Bewahrung der Umwelt vor Sch?den, sondern in der Koexistenz naturnaher ?kosysteme mit menschlich st?rker beeinflussten ?kosystemen. Für die Koexistenz gentechnikfreier konventioneller und organischer Landwirtschaft ist dies anerkannt. Für die Koexistenz gentechnikfreier Naturgebiete ist der Gedanke erst noch zu entwickeln. Hieraus ergeben sich für diesen Beitrag die folgenden Fragen: (1) Inwieweit sind Naturschutzbelange zu beachten a) bei der Freisetzungsgenehmigung b) bei der Genehmigung des IVB von GVO c) bei der Kontrolle des Ausbringens nach IVB-Genehmigung d) bei der Kontrolle des Ausbringens nach einer im vereinfachten oder differenzierten Verfahren erteilten Freisetzungsgenehmigung? (2) Inwieweit ist Gentechnikfreiheit mancher Gebiete als eine besondere Art von Naturschutz zul?ssig? Die vier ersten Fragen richten sind auf Regime der Vermeidung von Umweltsch?den (dazu unten B), die letzte Frage auf ein Regime der Koexistenz naturnaher ?kosysteme mit gentechnikverwendender Landwirtschaft (dazu unten C). Vorab ist das einschl?gige Recht zu bestimmen (A).