Environmental dispute resolution and hazardous waste cleanups: A cautionary tale of policy implementation

New York State experimented with replacing their litigation-oriented system for achieving toxic dump site cleanup with one promising to lower transaction costs through alternative dispute resolution. Our analysis of outcomes is informed by three generations of implementation work focusing on (1) the motivations and incentives shaping individual behavior, (2) the larger organizational and political factors associated with variation across cases, and (3) the generic properties of policy implements. This mosaic approach to explanation produces, we believe, a more lifelike picture of use to policy makers for understanding the dynamic and interrelated nature of their choices.     

THE CHURCH REPORT'S ANALYSIS OF VERTICAL AND CONGLOMERATE MERGERS: A REPLY TO COOPER, FROEB, O'BRIEN, AND VITA

I respond to concerns raised by James Cooper, Luke Froeb, DanO'Brien, and Michael Vita regarding the analysis of verticaland conglomerate mergers contained in my report to the EuropeanCommission. I address their arguments that the raising rivals'costs literature does not support an aggressive stance on verticalmergers; that market power is a necessary, but not a sufficient,condition for a non-horizontal merger to raise antitrust concerns;and that efficiencies intrinsic to a non-horizontal merger shouldbe treated in the second step of the proposed structured ruleof reason framework.     

Are you ready for the cure?

The Clinton health-care plan will soon be unveiled. Here is an inside look at what it contains so far.     

Exemplary Lives and the Normative Theory of Culture

This article defends an essentialist account of culture against the recent turn toward nonessentialism in contemporary liberal multiculturalism. It does so by drawing on Friedrich Nietzsche's early period and argues that Nietzsche provides an alternative to the dominant tradition of Volk conceptions of culture that derive from J. G. Herder. Nietzsche's alternative—what I call the “Exemplar Account” of culture—defines culture in terms of the patterns of human excellence that constitute it. This alternative overcomes standard concerns about essentialism by embracing the nonessentialist insight into the fluidity and variability of any culture's beliefs, values, and practices, yet holds that exemplary lives transcend the flux of culture and individuate one culture from another. I suggest in conclusion a practical benefit of this conception of culture for contemporary multiculturalism—namely, it fares better than other conceptions in fostering integration among diverse cultures, a pressing worry facing the current project of multiculturalism.     

A simpler solution for offshoring personal information?

This article looks at the European Commission’s recent revisions to the controller-processor model clauses to allow the transfer of personal data to processors and sub-processors based outside of the EEA. These new sub-processing provisions are the subject of a recent opinion by the Article 29 Working Party that is both helpful and is likely to ease the use of these clauses. However, many of the other problems associated with the use of these clauses remain, especially the lengthy and bureaucratic filing and approval requirements mandated under many national laws.     

Behind the consociational screen: Politics in contemporary Switzerland

Existing approaches do not aid understanding of current developments in Switzerland because of their acceptance of consociationalism. This is less convincing and relevant than has been appreciated. Despite being redefined as decision‐making or consensus politics, it still ignores the nationally minded realities of Swiss political culture and its new problems. Instead of consociationalism eliminating political divisions in Switzerland new environmental issues and forces emerged from the 1970s. These now constitute a new element in Swiss politics at odds with the prevailing political culture. Yet they are also influenced by this and further growth depends on its adaptability.