TAX SHARING IN AUSTRALIA AND WEST GERMANY*

Abstract: Certain aspects of the new Australian tax sharing arrangements are analysed against the background of West German experiences. Emphasis is laid on Federal-State relations in outlining the basic characteristics of the German machinery and the Australian arrangements. Compared to the Australian situation, the tax sharing base in West Germany is much broader and has indeed contributed to the safeguarding of State autonomy to a large extent. On the other hand, the German States have no individual power to legislate on taxes or tax surcharges. Although tax sharing is a powerful instrument in mitigating financial imbalances in a federation, it tends to conflict with the idea of a centrally controlled stabilization and distribution policy. In Germany, tax sharing is complemented by a complex coordination machinery stabilizing joint decision making of the Federal government and the States. In areas such as demand management, financial planning and allocation policies there seems to be need for such complementary arrangements, since tax sharing alone cannot achieve sufficient coordination among the different administrative levels of a federation.     

Clinical and forensic examinations of glycemic marker 1,5-anhydroglucitol by means of high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Postmortem diagnosis of diabetes and a diabetic coma can be difficult because of the lack of characteristic morphological findings. 1,5-Anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG), the 1-deoxy form of glucose, competes with glucose for reabsorption in the kidneys. Therefore, diabetics with a permanent hyperglycemia show significantly lower serum concentrations of 1,5-AG than non-diabetics. A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric method for the determination of 1,5-AG in serum and postmortem blood was developed and validated according to international guidelines. Linearity was given between 1μg/ml and 50μg/ml. Recovery rates ranged between 70.8% and 89.8%, the limit of quantification of the procedure was 0.20μg/ml, limit of quantification was 0.55μg/ml. Serum of 199 diabetics and 116 non-diabetics and femoral blood of 31 diabetic and 27 non-diabetic deceased was measured. Average concentrations were significantly (p<0.001) higher in non-diabetics compared to diabetics ante and postmortem. Seven of the diabetics may have died because of a hyperglycemic coma indicated by a sum formula of Traub>450mg/dl. 1,5-AG average concentrations in these deceased were not significantly different to diabetics which did not die because of a diabetic coma. Concentrations of 1,5-AG give a hint for not well controlled diabetes antemortem and postmortem and can be assumed as an additional and alternative information postmortem to the measurement of HbA1c or fructosamine.     

The Dark Sides of Artificial Intelligence: An Integrated AI Governance Framework for Public Administration

ABSTRACT

As government and public administration lag behind the rapid development of AI in their efforts to provide adequate governance, they need respective concepts to keep pace with this dynamic progress. The literature provides few answers to the question of how government and public administration should respond to the great challenges associated with AI and use regulation to prevent harm. This study analyzes AI challenges and former AI regulation approaches. Based on this analysis and regulation theory, an integrated AI governance framework is developed that compiles key aspects of AI governance and provides a guide for the regulatory process of AI and its application. The article concludes with theoretical implications and recommendations for public officers.     

Herrschaft des Gesetzes, Freiheit, Demokratie

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Superimposition of ante- and post-mortem photographs of tattoos as a means of identification--a case report

With the rising number of tattooed people tattoos have become increasingly important for the identification of unknown corpses. Tattoos can be helpful in both phases of the identification process, either by providing clues to the identity of an unknown person or body or as a means of verifying a postulated identity. In the presented case, an ante-mortem photograph of a tattoo was available although it was of poor quality. The respective skin region of the body was photographed from the same angle as the tattoo on the ante-mortem photograph. When superimposing the two photos, the tattoos were found to match and the identity of the body could be verified.     

Earth system governance: a research framework

The Earth System Science Partnership, which unites all major global change research programmes, declared in 2001 an urgent need to develop “strategies for Earth System management”. Yet what such strategies might be, how they could be developed, and how effective, efficient and equitable such strategies would be, remains unspecified. It is apparent that the institutions, organizations and mechanisms by which humans currently govern their relationship with the natural environment and global biochemical systems are not only insufficient—they are also poorly understood. This article presents the science programme of the Earth System Governance Project, a new 10-year global research effort endorsed by the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). It outlines the concept of earth system governance as a challenge for the social sciences, and it elaborates on the interlinked analytical problems and research questions of earth system governance as an object of study. These analytical problems concern the overall architecture of earth system governance, agency beyond the state and of the state, the adaptiveness of governance mechanisms and processes as well as their accountability and legitimacy, and modes of allocation and access in earth system governance. The article also outlines four crosscutting research themes that are crucial for the study of each analytical problem as well as for the integrated understanding of earth system governance: the role of power, knowledge, norms and scale.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Acceptance of E-Procurement in the German Public Sector

The increasing governmental spending and simultaneously declining income of municipality are two of the most significant challenges of the 21^st century. The introduction of the Internet and innovative information and communication tools over the last few decades have led to a cost saving and efficiency advantage in many areas. By far, public administration has not fully profited from these opportunities and advantages. This article seeks to understand the underlying barriers of technology implementation, namely e-procurement, within the public administration area by analyzing the key barriers of central decision makers within the organization. The empirical findings of 289 respondents from the German public administration show that the barrier typologies are identified and that they have a strong impact on the resistance of implementation. However, the collected data could not verify the theoretically postulated relationship between high resistance and low implementation of the new technology.