Shareholder value in an adverse environment: the German case

The German political economy has often been cited as a classical case of non-shareholder value orientation. Its productionist, long-term, consensus orientation has often been contrasted with the 'Anglo-Saxon approach'. The influence of shareholders who press for shareholder value and the importance of the equity market have traditionally been low. But there are signs of change. In this article we describe some of these changes and try to assess the dynamics of this change process. First we show that the limited role of the equity market for company financing and for private household savings still provides a very narrow base for a shareholder value economy in Germany. The central pillars of the German system of corporate governance - the dominating role of banks, the system of co-determination and the company centred management system - are not crumbling. Change in the direction of shareholder value is therefore limited.     

Post-mortem forensic neuroimaging: correlation of MSCT and MRI findings with autopsy results

Multislice-computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are increasingly used for forensic purposes. Based on broad experience in clinical neuroimaging, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were performed in 57 forensic cases with the goal to evaluate the radiological methods concerning their usability for forensic head and brain examination. An experienced clinical radiologist evaluated the imaging data. The results were compared to the autopsy findings that served as the gold standard with regard to common forensic neurotrauma findings such as skull fractures, soft tissue lesions of the scalp, various forms of intracranial hemorrhage or signs of increased brain pressure. The sensitivity of the imaging methods ranged from 100% (e.g., heat-induced alterations, intracranial gas) to zero (e.g., mediobasal impression marks as a sign of increased brain pressure, plaques jaunes). The agreement between MRI and CT was 69%. The radiological methods prevalently failed in the detection of lesions smaller than 3mm of size, whereas they were generally satisfactory concerning the evaluation of intracranial hemorrhage. Due to its advanced 2D and 3D post-processing possibilities, CT in particular possessed certain advantages in comparison with autopsy with regard to forensic reconstruction. MRI showed forensically relevant findings not seen during autopsy in several cases. The partly limited sensitivity of imaging that was observed in this retrospective study was based on several factors: besides general technical limitations it became apparent that clinical radiologists require a sound basic forensic background in order to detect specific signs. Focused teaching sessions will be essential to improve the outcome in future examinations. On the other hand, the autopsy protocols should be further standardized to allow an exact comparison of imaging and autopsy data. In consideration of these facts, MRI and CT have the power to play an important role in future forensic neuropathological examination.     

Überhangmandate bei der Bundestagswahl 2009 – das ewige Menetekel

Surplus mandates are a peculiarity of the German electoral system. Surplus mandates emerge when a party gains more constituency seats than the total amount of seats to which it is entitled according to the proportionality principle as determined by its share of second votes. Until Reunification in 1990, surplus mandates were only negligible phenomena. However, since then their number and relevance has dramatically increased. In the federal election of 2009, 24 surplus mandates emerged, more than ever before. This increase is foremost the consequence of the changed structure of the party system, which is now an established 5-parties-system with two comparatively minor big parties. Surplus mandates are on the one hand a problem of constitutional law while on the other hand they represent a violation of fundamental principles of fairness and justice. One solution for all these problems would be to create two-member-districts for the representatives who are directly elected on the first vote.     

The Permissive Law of Practical Reason in Kant's Metaphysics of Morals

Law and Philosophy -     

Verfassungsrechtliche Spielräume für das Naturschutzgesetzbuch des Umweltgesetzbuches

Der Beitrag setzt sich mit den Spielr?umen des Bundes zur Neugestaltung des Naturschutzrechts im Rahmen der laufenden Erarbeitung des Naturschutzgesetzbuches zum Umweltgesetzbuch (UGB-I) auseinander. Auf der Basis der konkurrierenden Gesetzgebungskompetenz des Bundes für das Naturschutzrecht werden insbesondere Fragen des Regelungsumfangs, der abweichungsfesten Kerne sowie Zust?ndigkeitsfragen er?rtert. Zum Schluss wird ein Optimierungsvorschlag für die Eingriffsregelung unterbreitet.     

Metropolitan Governance in Deutschland: Normative,utilitaristische, kommunikative und dramaturgische Steuerungsansätze

Der Aufsatz beschreibt die historische Entwicklung und die jüngsten Formen politischer Steuerungsansätze in sechs westdeutschen Großstadtregionen. Es sind dies die Regionen Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Frankfurt, Stuttgart und München. Zu diesem Zweck wird im theoretischen Teil eine zweidimensionale Typologie von Formen der Metropolitan Governance entwickelt. In der ersten Dimension werden Governance‐Formen nach dem Strukturmuster der Interaktion unterschieden, in der zweiten Dimension werden die Governance‐Formen aufgrund der zugrundeliegenden Handlungstheorie (normatives, utilitaristisches, kommunikatives und dramaturgisches Handeln) differenziert. Mit Hilfe der dadurch gewonnenen acht Idealtypen wird im darauf folgenden empirischen Teil gezeigt, dass bis in die 1970er Jahre normative Steuerungsformen die Diskussion beherrschten und diese in den 1980er Jahren durch ein utilitaristisches Paradigma in Frage gestellt wurden. Seit Beginn der 1990er Jahre wurde verstärkt auf kommunikative und dramaturgische Governance‐Formen gesetzt, auf deren Grundlage können sich aber ganz unterschiedliche Governance‐Schwerpunkte und z.T. auch ausdifferenzierte “Governance‐Landschaften” in den verschiedenen Stadtregionen etablieren.     

What difference can they make? Assessing the social impact of corporate codes of practice

As retailers in the North increasingly adopt codes of practice containing social and/or environmental provisions in global supply chains, there is a need for rigorous assessment of their social impact. Moving beyond the rhetoric, it is important to establish the actual impact of such codes on poorer workers, their families, and other local stakeholders. This paper sets out the key methodological and conceptual issues arising in such an assessment as identified by a three-year study on the South African wine industry. It reviews the different motivations and approaches employed by code bodies, donors, academics, and practitioners, and highlights the lack of workers' voices in the debate on corporate responsibility as well as some of the early research findings. Finally, it explains how the inherent power inequalities in global supply chains make it more difficult to adopt a truly empowering approach to assessing the impact of codes of practice.     

All for one and one in all: private military security companies as soldiers,business managers and humanitarians

With governments increasingly contracting private military and security companies (PMSCs) to perform military and police-related tasks, international relations scholars have made attempts to better understand PMSCs and to investigate the reasons for the boom of private security. Rather than focusing on the services these companies offer, which has been a common approach, we offer an identity-based explanation for their surge. We show that PMSCs eclectically assume identities related to the military, business managers and humanitarians, independent of the services they perform, their market segment or their location on the battlefield. This finding points to an important yet little-noted dimension in the private security industry. Although companies are heterogeneous, they also appear increasingly homogeneous because they incorporate a similar set of identities. On the one hand, this enables PMSCs to adapt to any context, client or employee, and, on the other hand, it has constitutive qualities, contributing to an important source of power for the respective companies. These multiple identities contribute to a norm of what a superior security provider should look like.