Interest Groups and Investment: A Further Test of the Olson Hypothesis

Mancur Olson's institutional sclerosishypothesis may be evident in the effects ofinterest groups on investment in physicalcapital. To test this proposition, we usecross sectional data on 42 countries forwhich information on the number of interestgroups is available to estimate the effectof those groups on the share of GDP thatgoes into physical investment. The resultsindicate that interest groups have adifferent effect on physical investment inOECD and non-OECD countries. In the OECDcountries, we find support for thehypothesis that interest groups harminvestment in physical capital. Indeveloping countries, interest groupseither have no effect on physicalinvestment or they have a slight beneficialimpact.     

THE IMPACT of FINANCIAL SERVICES GLOBALIZATION UPON the CARIBBEAN COMMON MARKET

This article tests three hypotheses concerning the policy effects of foreign exchange market liberalization and exchange controls in the three Caribbean Common Market countries of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados during the 1990s. It concludes that these cases do not show either monetary or fiscal policy to be particularly effective, when foreign exchange markets are liberalized before a functional bank regulatory system is put in place. These cases also imply that given the challenges posed by financial services globalization, the need for informed judgment by governments regarding the pace and scope of financial sector liberalization will remain critical, particularly within small developing countries.     

§ 4 Parteiengesetz – eine Bestimmung von der Politik für die Politik

Der Beitrag widmet sich dem für Parteispenden ma?geblichen § 4 des Parteiengesetzes mit dem Ziel, die Struktur der Bestimmung zu erl?utern und ihre Schw?chen offen zu legen. Dabei wird der Versuch unternommen, aufzuzeigen, inwieweit der Gesetzgeber eine für die politische Praxis günstige Regelung getroffen hat, die bereits aufgrund ihres Abwendungsbereichs nicht geeignet ist, politische Transparenz zu erzeugen, sondern umfassende Verschleierungsm?glichkeiten bietet und fast schon forciert.     

Bericht über die 32. Fachtagung der Gesellschaft für Umweltrecht

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Pseudo-Stab Wounds: Putrefactive Dehiscence of Remote Surgical Incisions Masquerading as Stab Wounds

Abstract:  Artifacts due to decomposition can be mistaken for antemortem injury leading to an incorrect suspicion of foul play. We describe an instance of postmortem wound dehiscence that mimicked antemortem stab wounds. A man with a history of colon cancer and substance abuse was found dead. There were advanced putrefactive changes and multiple defects of the anterior torso that resembled stab wounds. Subsequent investigation revealed that 11 months earlier, he had a laparoscopic-assisted colon resection that involved surgical incisions corresponding in location and size to the above defects. Putrefactive gases may cause bloating of the body. This distension may cause recent and remote healed incisions to dehisce. Correlation of these "defects" at autopsy with the antemortem clinical history is crucial in determining their etiology.     

Development of a Nomenclature System for a Canine STR Multiplex Reagent Kit*†

Abstract: Despite the popularity of dogs in US households, canine DNA evidence remains largely untapped in forensic investigations partially because of the absence of well‐defined forensic short tandem repeats (STRs), lack of standardized and validated PCR protocols, STR reagent kits, and poorly developed nomenclature. A nomenclature system was established based on internationally recognized recommendations for human forensic STRs for a recently developed canine STR reagent kit. Representative alleles were sequenced from each of the 18 STRs and the sex‐typing marker included in the kit. This study also reflects on the impact of point mutations, insertions, and deletions within and outside the STR core repeat structures. An understanding of the STRs’ sequence and repeat structures will enable development of a robust and reliable allele nomenclature and improve the accuracy and precision of allele fragment sizing in canine forensic profiling. The expected allele sizes have been calculated, and their repeat stuctures defined based on sequence information.