Haftung des Nachbarn und des Bauunternehmers wegen Grundwasserentzuges

Begünstigte Personen bei einem Vertrag mit Schutzwirkung zu Gunsten Dritter sind Dritte, deren Kontakt mit der vertraglichen Leistung bei Abschluss des Vertrages vorhersehbar war und die der Vertragspartner entweder erkennbar durch Zuwendung der Hauptleistung begünstigte oder an denen er ein sichtbares eigenes Interesse hat oder denen er selbst offensichtlich rechtlich zur Fürsorge verpflichtet ist. Es entspricht st?ndiger Judikatur, dass die Haftung des ausführenden Werkunternehmers, also des faktischen Sch?digers, bei Emissionen (§ 364a ABGB) oder Grundstückssetzungen (§ 364b ABGB) neben die Haftung des "Mittelsmannes" (Grundstückseigentümers) tritt. Auch der Entzug von Grundwasser wird den genannten Normen des Nachbarrechts unterstellt.     

Wife beating in South Africa: an imbalance theory of resources and power

This article develops an imbalance theory to explain physical violence against women in intimate relationships in South Africa. The theory proposes four typologies: dependence, compensation, submission, and transgression, through which imbalances in resource contribution and power distribution between spouses are hypothesized to contribute to violence. The dependence hypothesis suggests that economic dependence of the wife will lead to more violence. The compensation hypothesis argues that the husband will use force to compensate for his inability to live up to the male-provider norm. The submission hypothesis suggests that violence will increase due to the submission of women in male-dominated families. Finally, the transgression hypothesis argues that men in female-dominated families will use force to punish their wives for supposedly transgressing the gender norm of male dominance. Empirical evidence provided some support for the dependence, submission, and transgression hypotheses.     

Martyrs’ Last Letters: Are They the Same as Suicide Notes?

Abstract: Of the 800,000 suicides worldwide every year, a small number fall under Emile Durkheim’s term of altruistic suicides. Study on martyrdom has been limited. There has to date, for example, been no systematic empirical study of martyr letters. We examined 33 letters of Korean self‐immolators, compared with 33 suicide notes of a matched sample of more common suicides. An analysis of intrapsychic factors (suicide as unbearable pain, psychopathology) and interpersonal factors (suicide as murderous impulses and need to escape) revealed that, although one can use the same psychological characteristics or dynamics to understand the deaths, the state of mind of martyrs is more extreme, such that the pain is reported to be even more unbearable. Yet, there are differences, such as there was no ambivalence in the altruistic notes. It is concluded that intrapsychic and interpersonal characteristics are central in understanding martyrs, probably equal to community or societal factors. More forensic study is, however, warranted.     

When state‐level institutions cannot tell the whole story: An inquiry into municipal variations in quality of government

The lion's share of comparative research on corruption, good governance, and quality of government (QoG) has been cross‐country. However, a growing body of literature has begun to explore within‐country variations observed at the subnational level regarding corruption and social trust. The existence of such variations implies that state‐level institutions are not capable of telling the entire story and that quality of subnational‐level institutions might be important determinants of within‐country variations regarding, for instance, trust. This article delves into the Swedish case, an egalitarian country that scores high in international indices on lack of corruption and social trust; hence, a “least likely case” of subnational variations in both QoG and trust. Using two unique data sets, we find variations in both municipal QoG and social trust. In line with theory, we find that “local QoG” is associated with individual levels of community trust. This finding—in a low‐corrupt, high‐trust egalitarian society—strengthens the universality of the QoG‐perspective.     

Antwort auf die Replik von Marc Bühlmann,Wolfgang Merkel,Lisa Müller und Bernhard Weßels zum Forumsbeitrag von Thomas Müller und Susanne Pickel

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Bribery and public procurement: an experimental study

A procurement contract is granted by a bureaucrat (the auctioneer) who is interested in a low price and a bribe from the provider. Procurement is thus a multi-dimensional bidding contest with one-dimensional type space (the privately known cost). The optimal price and bribe bid is derived based on an iid private cost assumption. In the experiment, bribes are negatively framed to capture that society is better off if bribes are rare or low. Although bid prices are lower than predicted, behavior is qualitatively in line with the linear equilibrium prediction. When bribes generate a negative externality, there is a significant increase in the variability of the data.     

Medical care of individuals residing in substance abuse and recovery homes: an analysis of need and utilization

The current study examined medical care need and utilization patterns among a substance abusing and recovering population (n = 876), investigating factors such as employment and drug use categories (e.g., pharmaceutical use, cocaine use, heroin use, alcohol use). It was found that those who were unemployed needed and utilized greater medical care than those who were employed. Results indicated that heroin, cocaine, and/or alcohol use was not predictive of medical care need or utilization, whereas pharmaceutical drug use was predictive of medical care need and utilization. Trauma and risky use of substances were not significant predictors of medical care need or utilization whereas the suicide severity composite was significant. Potential implications for misuse of medical services (e.g., to obtain pharmaceutical drugs of use) and federal medical care expenditure allocation are discussed.     

Mechanismen institutionellen Wandels im deutschen Kapitalismus

In the debate on the convergence of Rhenish capitalism towards the Anglo-Saxon model there is a growing consensus on the emergence of hybrid institutional configurations which combine elements of both systems. Our paper traces the mechanisms and driving forces leading to varying degrees of convergence with Anglo-Saxon standards and institutions by comparing the changes in two areas of German corporate governance regulation, namely internal corporate governance and accounting. Whereas existing institutions were coupled with Anglo-Saxon elements in the case of internal corporate governance (?layering“), traditional standards and institutions were substituted for new ones in the case of accounting (?displacement“). We argue that the varying degree of convergence can be explained by the different preferences of key national actors, such as companies and trade unions, in the two cases and the varying exogenous pressures for reforms. Our study highlights the importance of a meso-level analysis of causal mechanisms for the explanation of institutional change in modern capitalism.     

Tilgungsfrist von im Verhältnis des § 31 StGB stehenden Verurteilungen,Umfang des Entschlagungsrechts

Das Gesetz sieht für die Berechnung der Tilgungsfrist eine privilegierende Regelung für Verurteilungen, die im Verh?ltnis des § 31 StGB stehen, ausschlie?lich darin, dass diese als eine Verurteilung gelten, deren Tilgungsfrist unter Zugrundelegung der Summe der verh?ngten Strafen nach § 3 TilgG zu bestimmen ist. Eine "Einrechnung" der Zeit seit dem Vollzugsdatum der vorangegangenen, im Verh?ltnis des § 31 StGB stehenden Verurteilung, kennt das Gesetz nicht, sondern setzt den Beginn der Tilgungsfrist einheitlich mit dem Zeitpunkt fest, zu dem alle Freiheits- oder Geldstrafen und die mit Freiheitsentzug verbundenen vorbeugenden Ma?nahmen vollzogen sind, als vollzogen gelten, nachgesehen worden sind oder nicht mehr vollzogen werden dürfen. § 157 Abs 1 Z 1 StPO billigt ua jenen Zeugen ein Entschlagungsrecht zu, die sich im Zusammenhang mit einem gegen sie geführten Strafverfahren der Gefahr aussetzen würden, sich über ihre bisherige Aussage hinaus selbst zu belasten, ohne dass insoweit zwischen gerichtlicher und kriminalpolizeilicher Vernehmung unterschieden würde. Einem Zeugen, der bei seiner vorangegangenen kriminalpolizeilichen Vernehmung als Beschuldigter ein Gest?ndnis abgelegt hat, steht in diesem Umfang kein Entschlagungsrecht nach § 157 Abs 1 Z 1 StPO zu. Eine in der Hauptverhandlung trotz Widerspruchs der Verteidigung erfolgte Verlesung der Aussage des gest?ndigen, blo? polizeilich vernommenen Zeugen begründet keinen Versto? gegen § 252 Abs 1 Z 3 StPO. Die Beurteilung der Glaubwürdigkeit von Zeugen steht grunds?tzlich dem Gericht zu, eine Hilfestellung durch Sachverst?ndige kommt nur in Ausnahmef?llen, wie bei Entwicklungsst?rungen oder geistigen Defekten unmündiger oder jugendlicher Zeugen, in Betracht.