Biographische Erfahrungen und politische Einstellungen zwischen Jugend und Lebensmitte

The research aims at explaining the development of political attitudes between youth and midlife by biographical experiences. The sample is a cohort of 1596 former German high school students. The social origin and the political socialization of this cohort has been surveyed at age 16, and the life history as well as political attitudes at age 30 and 43; because of its educational privilege the cohort could extend its youth until age 30. As for political attitudes which may typically change between youth and midlife, value claims and their counter-part, the acknowledgement of societal constraints, are examined. The aim of the research is attained through three steps. First, it is examined if biographical experiences up to age 30 determine value claims, over and above the starting conditions of the “formative years”. As expected, occupational experiences lower value-claims, even if social origin and political socialization are controlled for. Second, it is examined if value-claims shrink between age 30 and 43 and the acknowledgement of societal constraints grows — which is confirmed. Third, it is examined, if at age 43 value claims are determined by occupational experiences between age 30 and 43 even when value-claims at age 30 are controlled for — which again is confirmed. The conclusion is that political attitudes after the “formative experiences”, in spite of their high stability, are still determined by occupational experiences.     

The dark side of price cap regulation: a laboratory experiment

In a nutshell, price cap regulation is meant to establish a quid pro quo: regulators are obliged by law to intervene only at rare, previously defined points in time, and only by imposing an upper bound on prices; firms are meant to justify regulatory restraint by adopting socially beneficial innovations. In the policy debate, a potential downside of the arrangement has featured less prominently: the economic environment is unlikely to be stable while the cap is in place. If regulators take this into account, they have to decide under uncertainty and also anticipate how regulated firms will react. In a lab experiment, we manipulate the degree of regulatory uncertainty. We compare a baseline when regulators have the same information as firms about demand with treatments wherein they receive only a noisy signal and another when they know only the distribution from which demand realizations are taken. In the face of uncertainty, regulators impose overly generous price caps, which firms exploit. In the experiment, the social damage is severe, and does not disappear with experience.     

Neonaticides in Hamburg, Germany, from 1998 to 2008

In the analyzed period from 1998 to 2008, the autopsies performed at the Hamburg Institute of Legal Medicine included 13 cases in which an investigation for neonaticide had been initiated by the public prosecutor. The killed neonates showed a nearly equal distribution between both sexes. The most common method of neonaticide was suffocation. Most of the perpetrators were young, unmarried primipara with an average educational background. Almost all of them were suffering under psychological stress and had negated their pregnancy. In most cases, birth and neonaticide happened alone in their flat, and there was no medical attendance in any case. In the cases brought to court the women were charged with manslaughter (Section 212 German Criminal Code) and those found guilty were always granted a mitigated sentence pursuant to Section 213 Criminal Code.     

Bumping into a knife--exculpatory statement or (tragic) accident?

Assessing stab wounds is a common task in forensic medicine. Quite often an accused claims that the victim bumped into the knife. Taking into account all the facts ascertained in the investigations conducted, such a statement can be rapidly disproved in most cases. The present case of a 14-year-old boy fatally wounded by his mother with a kitchen knife examines the aspect of walking into a knife. It is an example that this statement cannot always be regarded as implausible and that every single case has to be reconstructed in detail on the basis of all the investigation results.