Refining the Concepts of Territorial Revenue Assignment,Substate Fiscal Self-rule and Territorial Fiscal Balance

Fiscal federalism has offered a template for understanding intergovernmental fiscal relations. Yet when politicians are involved in day-to-day decentralization it may happen that some of the normative elements of fiscal federalism do not fit reality. Substate entities may go beyond the own-source paradigm and have a practical interest in alternative forms of fiscal self-rule. To better understand this pragmatism a threefold stage model of territorial revenue assignment is presented drawing on some insights offered by Germany’s fiscal constitution. Within this framework a reassessment of the role of territorial levels as levels during vertical revenue assignment is undertaken, a new typology of fiscal self-rule is introduced, and finally a theory of multiple territorial fiscal balance points is outlined, including the one based on the real domain of substate own policy-making.     

‘Growth oriented’ corporate governance reform – can it solve Japan's performance puzzle?

Abstract

Recent governance reforms in Japan aim at promoting ‘the establishment of an environment that supports appropriate risk-taking by the senior management.’ The article evaluates the reforms on the basis of two questions: do the reforms tackle the right issues? And will they be effective? The Japanese economy faces indeed a performance puzzle. Despite Japan's strong efforts in the field of research and development, its excellent work force and abundant financial capital, the economy is performing poorly in terms of productivity. The performance puzzle seems to be closely related to the way large Japanese companies are governed, namely by boards filled with internally promoted lifetime employees. However, the correlation between board composition and performance is spurious. Both are influenced by a third factor, which manifests itself in the predominance of in-house careers. In-house careers determine the composition of boards and have, over the last twenty years, had a negative impact on economic performance. The governance reforms do not address the root of Japan's performance puzzle. They may nevertheless provide an important stimulus for redesigning the way Japanese corporations recruit, train and promote future leaders.     

The state in industrial relations: A cross–national analysis of developments and socioeconomic effects

This is a comparative study of the three main roles of the state in industrial relations: the state as employer in the public sector, state intervention in private–sector–wage bargaining, and the procedural role of defining a legal framework for industrial relations. Based on data from 20 OECD countries, the article's analytical focus is twofold. For each of these roles, the paper examines whether there is a convergence towards neoliberal regulation in response to the shift from demand–side to supply–side policies, and whether neoliberalism is superior to alternative regulation forms in terms of performance. No evidence of such dominance of neoliberalism can be found. The upshot is that developments of state regulation are as much path–dependent as its socioeconomic effects are contingent on a country's context.     

Validation of an ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) method for the detection of heroin and cocaine on incriminated material

The validation of a qualitative ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) procedure for the detection of trace amounts of heroin and cocaine on incriminated material using a vacuum cleaner for sampling is presented. The limit of detection, the limit of decision, selectivity and robustness were determined. As an approach, robustness was determined using ionizational interferences and matrix effects. By using this simple sampling procedure, a positive result for incriminated clothes needs a contamination of 250ng cocaine and 1000ng heroin, respectively.     

Unzumutbare Gesetzgebung: Die neue Gastgartenregelung der Gewerbeordnung

Nach dem neuen § 76a GewO müssen bestimmte (durch Betriebsweise, G?stezahl und ?ffnungszeiten definierte) Gastg?rten vor Betriebsaufnahme nicht mehr genehmigt, sondern nur mehr angezeigt werden. L?rmbelastungen der Nachbarn spielen im Anzeigeverfahren keine Rolle, sondern k?nnen, allerdings nur bei Gesundheitsgef?hrdungen, zu nachtr?glichen Auflagen führen. Diese Regelung ist gleichheitswidrig, ua weil sie den Kreis genehmigungsfreier Gastg?rten viel zu weit zieht, den Nachbarn unzumutbare Bel?stigungen zumutet und ohne ausreichende sachliche Rechtfertigung vom allgemeinen Betriebsanlagenstandard abweicht.     

General,social, and academic self-concepts of gifted adolescents

Seven hundred seventy-two male and female adolescents (between the ages of 12 and 15) participated in a study concerning the identification and socioemotional situation of various subgroups of gifted students (N=94). In this article only the results concerning general, social, and academic selfconcepts of gifted adolescents are reported. A distinction is made between four groups: two groups of gifted achievers (one with high (N=22) and another with below average creativity questionnaire scores (N=45), a group of gifted underachievers (N =27), and a control group (N=74). The multiple and hierarchical model of self-concept by Shavelson et al.serves as a framework for our approach. The most striking differences are found between gifted achievers and gifted underachievers. The latter demonstrate very low academic self-concept and high test anxiety scores, an external locus of control, and low scores on school well-being and motivation. A positive self-concept in all areas seems to be the driving force for achievements, which are in accordance with high potential intellectual aptitudes. Similar results were reported by Feldhusen.Received M.A. from University of Nijmegen. Research Interests: cognitive development of adolescents, giftedness, and sociometric status.Received Ph.D. from the University of Bonn, Germany. Research interests: early indicators of giftedness, gifted education, and developmental processes of gifted children and adolescents.     

Immundefiziente Labortiere im System des Tierschutzrechts

Natur und Recht - Zucht und Haltung immundefizienter Labortiere wurden bislang nicht als Tierversuch gewertet, soweit die Tiere mit an Sicherheit grenzender Wahrscheinlichkeit nicht aufgrund des...     

Collaboration as successful strategy against right-wing populism? The case of the centre-right coalition in Austria, 2000–2007

The article represents the first systematic study of the reactions of political parties and the media as well as national and transnational civil society actors to the rise and inclusion in government in 2000 of the Austrian right-wing populist Freedom Party (FPÖ). Specifically, it investigates the effectiveness of strategies aimed at ostracizing populist actors versus “defanging” them through incorporation in public office. The article finds that turning the FPÖ into a pariah has not been effective in moderating the party or curbing its success. Incorporation in public office has been more effective, however, leading to the near collapse of the FPÖ and the split of the party. Yet, the cause for such an outcome may be found less in the strategy itself by imposing some intrinsic mechanism of moderation but rather in the incompetence and inexperience of populist party politicians unfamiliar with public office. Exclusionary strategies have also the undesirable effect of playing into the narrative of populist actors of being persecuted by the political establishment thereby offering them another means of mobilization. The article concludes that the revival of the FPÖ shows that no strategy can yield lasting success unless the demand-side causes underlying radical right-wing populism are addressed.