Conditional Punishment: A Comparative Analysis of the Electoral Consequences of Welfare State Retrenchment in OECD Nations, 1980–2003

Do incumbent parties that retrench the welfare state lose votes during the next election? That is the guiding question for our paper. We analyse elections and social policy reforms in 18 established OECD democracies from 1980 to 2003. We show that there is no strong and systematic punishment for governments which cut back welfare state entitlements. The likelihood of losing votes is the same for governments that retrench the welfare state as for those that do not. Rather, electoral punishment is conditional on whether governments have the chance to stretch retrenchment over a longer period of time, and whether social policy cuts are made an issue in the electoral campaign. If other political parties and the mass media do not put the theme on the agenda of the campaign, and if the retrenchment can be carried out in small steps during a longer governmental term, governments may considerably reduce welfare state effort without fear of major electoral consequences.     

Tenure Insecurity,Gender, Low-cost Land Certification and Land Rental Market Participation in Ethiopia

There is a renewed interest in whether land reforms can contribute to market development and poverty reduction in Africa. This paper assesses effects on the allocative efficiency of the land rental market of the low-cost approach to land registration and certification of restricted property rights that was implemented in Ethiopia in the late 1990s. Four rounds of a balanced household panel from 16 villages in northern Ethiopia are analysed, showing that land certification initially enhanced land rental market participation of (potential) tenant and landlord households, especially those that are headed by females.     

Suicidal gunshot to the head while driving a car

A severe traffic accident occurred on the German autobahn. According to eye witnesses, the car had changed from the left to the right lane at 160 km/h before crashing into a thicket at full speed. In the car, a sports pistol was found in the footwell of the driver's side. The emergency doctor who performed the external examination of the victim's body found a gunshot wound in the region of the driver's right lower jaw. As the prosecutor released the body without further examination, the family of the suicide asked for an autopsy, which demonstrated a lethal suicidal gunshot to the head; toxicological tests proved a previous consumption of cocaine.     

Hold-ups and Asymmetric Information in a Technology Transfer: the Micronas Case

In 1980 three Finnish companies established a research joint venture as a separate firm in order to develop semiconductors. We study the initial stages of the project focusing on the two evident sources of difficulty associated with an international technology transfer. One is a hold-up problem and the other asymmetric information on the quality of the technology. We develop two simple models that capture some features of the contract governing the technology transfer, and conclude that both problems were present, but hold-up problems were considered a more serious threat.     

Die Beweislastverteilung bei der Geltendmachung von Störerausgleichsansprüchen nach § 24 Abs. 2 Bundes-Bodenschutzgesetz

§ 24 Abs. 2 BBodSchG normiert seit dem 1. 3. 1999 einen Ausgleichsanspruch zwischen mehreren Verantwortlichen gemäß BBodSchG. Besonders problematisch ist im Rahmen des Ausgleichsanspruchs die dem Anspruchsteller obliegende Beweislast. Der Beitrag nimmt im Anschluss an die erste Rechtsprechung des LG Hannover , des OLG Celle und des Bundesgerichthofes zu Beweiserleichterungen Stellung zu den vorgeschlagenen Lösungsmodellen.

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