Sudden Cardiac Death in Brazil: Study Based on Physicians' Perceptions of the Public Health Care System

Background: There are no available statistical data about sudden cardiac death in Brazil. Therefore, this study has been conducted to evaluate the incidence of sudden cardiac death in our population and its implications. Methods: The research methodology was based on Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgment, whose premise is that the more an A stimulus differs from a B stimulus, the greater will be the number of people who will perceive this difference. This technique allows an estimation of actual occurrences from subjective perceptions, when compared to official statistics. Data were collected through telephone interviews conducted with Primary and Secondary Care physicians of the Public Health Service in the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo (MASP). Results: In the period from October 19, 2009, to October 28, 2009, 196 interviews were conducted. The incidence of 21,270 cases of sudden cardiac death per year was estimated by linear regression analysis of the physicians responses and data from the Mortality Information System of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, with the following correlation and determination coefficients: r = 0.98 and r2= 0.95 (95% confidence interval 0.81.0, P < 0.05). The lack of waiting list for specialized care and socioadministrative problems were considered the main barriers to tertiary care access. Conclusions: The incidence of sudden cardiac death in the MASP is high, and it was estimated as being higher than all other causes of deaths; the extrapolation technique based on the physicians perceptions was validated; and the most important bureaucratic barriers to patient referral to tertiary care have been identified. (PACE 2012; 35:13261331)

Prenatal and Neonatal Adaptations with a Focus on the Respiratory System

Contents Among the modifications that occur during the neonatal period, pulmonary development is the most critical. The neonate's lungs must be able to perform adequate gas exchange, which was previously accomplished by the placenta. Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome is defined as insufficient surfactant production or pulmonary structural immaturity and is specifically relevant to preterm newborns. Prenatal maternal betamethasone treatment of bitches at 55days of gestation leads to structural changes in the neonatal lung parenchyma and consequently an improvement in the preterm neonatal respiratory condition, but not to an increase in pulmonary surfactant production. Parturition represents an important challenge to neonatal adaptation, as the uterine and abdominal contractions during labour provoke intermittent hypoxia. Immediately after birth, puppies present venous mixed acidosis (low blood pH and high dioxide carbon saturation) and low but satisfactory Apgar scores. Thus, the combination of physiological hypoxia during birth and the initial effort of filling the pulmonary alveoli with oxygen results in anaerobiosis. As a neonatal adaptation follow-up, the Apgar analysis indicates a tachypnoea response after 1h of life, which leads to a shift in the blood acidbase status to metabolic acidosis. One hour is sufficient for canine neonates to achieve an ideal Apgar score; however, a haemogasometric imbalance persists. Dystocia promotes a long-lasting bradycardia effect, slows down Apgar score progression and aggravates metabolic acidosis and stress. The latest data reinforce the need to accurately intervene during canine parturition and offer adequate medical treatment to puppies that underwent a pathological labour.

Fourier´s law from a chain of coupled anharmonic oscillators under energy conserving shot noise.

We analyze the transport of heat along a chain of particles interacting through anharmonic potentials consisting of quartic terms in addition to harmonic quadratic terms and subject to heat reservoirs at its ends. Each particle is also subject to an impulsive shot noise with exponentially distributed waiting times whose effect is to change the sign of its velocity, thus conserving the energy of the chain. We show that the introduction of this energy conserving stochastic noise leads to Fourier's law. That is for large system size L the heat current J behaves as J ‘approximately’ 1/L, which amounts to say that the conductivity k is constant. The conductivity is related to the current by J = kΔT/L, where ΔT is the difference in the temperatures of the reservoirs. The behavior of heat conductivity k for small intensities¸ of the shot noise and large system sizes L are obtained by assuming a scaling behavior of the type k = ‘L POT a Psi’(L’lambda POT a/b’) where a and b are scaling exponents. For the pure harmonic case a = b = 1, characterizing a ballistic conduction of heat when the shot noise is absent. For the anharmonic case we found values for the exponents a and b smaller then 1 and thus consistent with a superdiffusive conduction of heat without the shot noise. We also show that the heat conductivity is not constant but is an increasing function of temperature.

The firm. Techno-organizational changes, industrial relations and performances. An enquiry on Reggio Emilia local industrial system

It is not unknown that the evolution of firm theories has been developed along a path paved by an increasing awareness of the organizational structure importance. From the early “neoclassical” conceptualizations that intended the firm as a rational actor whose aim is to produce that amount of output, given the inputs at its disposal and in accordance to technological or environmental constraints, which maximizes the revenue (see Boulding, 1942 for a past mid century state of the art discussion) to the knowledge based theory of the firm (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005), which recognizes in the firm a knnowledge creating entity, with specific organizational capabilities (Teece, 1996; Teece & Pisano, 1998) that allow to sustaine competitive advantages. Tracing back a map of the theory of the firm evolution, taking into account the several perspectives adopted in the history of thought, would take the length of many books. Because of that a more fruitful strategy is circumscribing the focus of the description of the literature evolution to one flow connected to a crucial question about the nature of firm’s behaviour and about the determinants of competitive advantages. In so doing I adopt a perspective that allows me to consider the organizational structure of the firm as an element according to which the different theories can be discriminated. The approach adopted starts by considering the drawbacks of the standard neoclassical theory of the firm. Discussing the most influential theoretical approaches I end up with a close examination of the knowledge based perspective of the firm. Within this perspective the firm is considered as a knowledge creating entity that produce and mange knowledge (Nonaka, Toyama, & Nagata, 2000; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005). In a knowledge intensive organization, knowledge is clearly embedded for the most part in the human capital of the individuals that compose such an organization. In a knowledge based organization, the management, in order to cope with knowledge intensive productions, ought to develop and accumulate capabilities that shape the organizational forms in a way that relies on “cross-functional processes, extensive delayering and empowerment” (Foss 2005, p.12). This mechanism contributes to determine the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, it also shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves. After having recognized the growing importance of the firm’s organizational structure in the theoretical literature concerning the firm theory, the subsequent point of the analysis is that of providing an overview of the changes that have been occurred at micro level to the firm’s organization of production. The economic actors have to deal with challenges posed by processes of internationalisation and globalization, increased and increasing competitive pressure of less developed countries on low value added production activities, changes in technologies and increased environmental turbulence and volatility. As a consequence, it has been widely recognized that the main organizational models of production that fitted well in the 20th century are now partially inadequate and processes aiming to reorganize production activities have been widespread across several economies in recent years. Recently, the emergence of a “new” form of production organization has been proposed both by scholars, practitioners and institutions: the most prominent characteristic of such a model is its recognition of the importance of employees commitment and involvement. As a consequence it is characterized by a strong accent on the human resource management and on those practices that aim to widen the autonomy and responsibility of the workers as well as increasing their commitment to the organization (Osterman, 1994; 2000; Lynch, 2007). This “model” of production organization is by many defined as High Performance Work System (HPWS). Despite the increasing diffusion of workplace practices that may be inscribed within the concept of HPWS in western countries’ companies, it is an hazard, to some extent, to speak about the emergence of a “new organizational paradigm”. The discussion about organizational changes and the diffusion of HPWP the focus cannot abstract from a discussion about the industrial relations systems, with a particular accent on the employment relationships, because of their relevance, in the same way as production organization, in determining two major outcomes of the firm: innovation and economic performances. The argument is treated starting from the issue of the Social Dialogue at macro level, both in an European perspective and Italian perspective. The model of interaction between the social parties has repercussions, at micro level, on the employment relationships, that is to say on the relations between union delegates and management or workers and management. Finding economic and social policies capable of sustaining growth and employment within a knowledge based scenario is likely to constitute the major challenge for the next generation of social pacts, which are the main social dialogue outcomes. As Acocella and Leoni (2007) put forward the social pacts may constitute an instrument to trade wage moderation for high intensity in ICT, organizational and human capital investments. Empirical evidence, especially focused on the micro level, about the positive relation between economic growth and new organizational designs coupled with ICT adoption and non adversarial industrial relations is growing. Partnership among social parties may become an instrument to enhance firm competitiveness. The outcome of the discussion is the integration of organizational changes and industrial relations elements within a unified framework: the HPWS. Such a choice may help in disentangling the potential existence of complementarities between these two aspects of the firm internal structure on economic and innovative performance. With the third chapter starts the more original part of the thesis. The data utilized in order to disentangle the relations between HPWS practices, innovation and economic performance refer to the manufacturing firms of the Reggio Emilia province with more than 50 employees. The data have been collected through face to face interviews both to management (199 respondents) and to union representatives (181 respondents). Coupled with the cross section datasets a further data source is constituted by longitudinal balance sheets (1994-2004). Collecting reliable data that in turn provide reliable results needs always a great effort to which are connected uncertain results. Data at micro level are often subjected to a trade off: the wider is the geographical context to which the population surveyed belong the lesser is the amount of information usually collected (low level of resolution); the narrower is the focus on specific geographical context, the higher is the amount of information usually collected (high level of resolution). For the Italian case the evidence about the diffusion of HPWP and their effects on firm performances is still scanty and usually limited to local level studies (Cristini, et al., 2003). The thesis is also devoted to the deepening of an argument of particular interest: the existence of complementarities between the HPWS practices. It has been widely shown by empirical evidence that when HPWP are adopted in bundles they are more likely to impact on firm’s performances than when adopted in isolation (Ichniowski, Prennushi, Shaw, 1997). Is it true also for the local production system of Reggio Emilia? The empirical analysis has the precise aim of providing evidence on the relations between the HPWS dimensions and the innovative and economic performances of the firm. As far as the first line of analysis is concerned it must to be stressed the fundamental role that innovation plays in the economy (Geroski & Machin, 1993; Stoneman & Kwoon 1994, 1996; OECD, 2005; EC, 2002). On this point the evidence goes from the traditional innovations, usually approximated by R&D investment expenditure or number of patents, to the introduction and adoption of ICT, in the recent years (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2000). If innovation is important then it is critical to analyse its determinants. In this work it is hypothesised that organizational changes and firm level industrial relations/employment relations aspects that can be put under the heading of HPWS, influence the propensity to innovate in product, process and quality of the firm. The general argument may goes as follow: changes in production management and work organization reconfigure the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, they shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves; cooperative industrial relations may lead to smother adoption of innovations, because not contrasted by unions. From the first empirical chapter emerges that the different types of innovations seem to respond in different ways to the HPWS variables. The underlying processes of product, process and quality innovations are likely to answer to different firm’s strategies and needs. Nevertheless, it is possible to extract some general results in terms of the most influencing HPWS factors on innovative performance. The main three aspects are training coverage, employees involvement and the diffusion of bonuses. These variables show persistent and significant relations with all the three innovation types. The same do the components having such variables at their inside. In sum the aspects of the HPWS influence the propensity to innovate of the firm. At the same time, emerges a quite neat (although not always strong) evidence of complementarities presence between HPWS practices. In terns of the complementarity issue it can be said that some specific complementarities exist. Training activities, when adopted and managed in bundles, are related to the propensity to innovate. Having a sound skill base may be an element that enhances the firm’s capacity to innovate. It may enhance both the capacity to absorbe exogenous innovation and the capacity to endogenously develop innovations. The presence and diffusion of bonuses and the employees involvement also spur innovative propensity. The former because of their incentive nature and the latter because direct workers participation may increase workers commitment to the organizationa and thus their willingness to support and suggest inovations. The other line of analysis provides results on the relation between HPWS and economic performances of the firm. There have been a bulk of international empirical studies on the relation between organizational changes and economic performance (Black & Lynch 2001; Zwick 2004; Janod & Saint-Martin 2004; Huselid 1995; Huselid & Becker 1996; Cappelli & Neumark 2001), while the works aiming to capture the relations between economic performance and unions or industrial relations aspects are quite scant (Addison & Belfield, 2001; Pencavel, 2003; Machin & Stewart, 1990; Addison, 2005). In the empirical analysis the integration of the two main areas of the HPWS represent a scarcely exploited approach in the panorama of both national and international empirical studies. As remarked by Addison “although most analysis of workers representation and employee involvement/high performance work practices have been conducted in isolation – while sometimes including the other as controls – research is beginning to consider their interactions” (Addison, 2005, p.407). The analysis conducted exploiting temporal lags between dependent and covariates, possibility given by the merger of cross section and panel data, provides evidence in favour of the existence of HPWS practices impact on firm’s economic performance, differently measured. Although it does not seem to emerge robust evidence on the existence of complementarities among HPWS aspects on performances there is evidence of a general positive influence of the single practices. The results are quite sensible to the time lags, inducing to hypothesize that time varying heterogeneity is an important factor in determining the impact of organizational changes on economic performance. The implications of the analysis can be of help both to management and local level policy makers. Although the results are not simply extendible to other local production systems it may be argued that for contexts similar to the Reggio Emilia province, characterized by the presence of small and medium enterprises organized in districts and by a deep rooted unionism, with strong supporting institutions, the results and the implications here obtained can also fit well. However, a hope for future researches on the subject treated in the present work is that of collecting good quality information over wider geographical areas, possibly at national level, and repeated in time. Only in this way it is possible to solve the Gordian knot about the linkages between innovation, performance, high performance work practices and industrial relations.

The Enhanced Single-dish Control System and wide surveys of compact sources

The Italian radio telescopes currently undergo a major upgrade period in response to the growing demand for deep radio observations, such as surveys on large sky areas or observations of vast samples of compact radio sources. The optimised employment of the Italian antennas, at first constructed mainly for VLBI activities and provided with a control system (FS – Field System) not tailored to single-dish observations, required important modifications in particular of the guiding software and data acquisition system. The production of a completely new control system called ESCS (Enhanced Single-dish Control System) for the Medicina dish started in 2007, in synergy with the software development for the forthcoming Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT). The aim is to produce a system optimised for single-dish observations in continuum, spectrometry and polarimetry. ESCS is also planned to be installed at the Noto site. A substantial part of this thesis work consisted in designing and developing subsystems within ESCS, in order to provide this software with tools to carry out large maps, spanning from the implementation of On-The-Fly fast scans (following both conventional and innovative observing strategies) to the production of single-dish standard output files and the realisation of tools for the quick-look of the acquired data. The test period coincided with the commissioning phase for two devices temporarily installed – while waiting for the SRT to be completed – on the Medicina antenna: a 18-26 GHz 7-feed receiver and the 14-channel analogue backend developed for its use. It is worth stressing that it is the only K-band multi-feed receiver at present available worldwide. The commissioning of the overall hardware/software system constituted a considerable section of the thesis work. Tests were led in order to verify the system stability and its capabilities, down to sensitivity levels which had never been reached in Medicina using the previous observing techniques and hardware devices. The aim was also to assess the scientific potential of the multi-feed receiver for the production of wide maps, exploiting its temporary availability on a mid-sized antenna. Dishes like the 32-m antennas at Medicina and Noto, in fact, offer the best conditions for large-area surveys, especially at high frequencies, as they provide a suited compromise between sufficiently large beam sizes to cover quickly large areas of the sky (typical of small-sized telescopes) and sensitivity (typical of large-sized telescopes). The KNoWS (K-band Northern Wide Survey) project is aimed at the realisation of a full-northern-sky survey at 21 GHz; its pilot observations, performed using the new ESCS tools and a peculiar observing strategy, constituted an ideal test-bed for ESCS itself and for the multi-feed/backend system. The KNoWS group, which I am part of, supported the commissioning activities also providing map-making and source-extraction tools, in order to complete the necessary data reduction pipeline and assess the general system scientific capabilities. The K-band observations, which were carried out in several sessions along the December 2008-March 2010 period, were accompanied by the realisation of a 5 GHz test survey during the summertime, which is not suitable for high-frequency observations. This activity was conceived in order to check the new analogue backend separately from the multi-feed receiver, and to simultaneously produce original scientific data (the 6-cm Medicina Survey, 6MS, a polar cap survey to complete PMN-GB6 and provide an all-sky coverage at 5 GHz).

Second law analysis and simulation techniques for the energy optimization of buildings

The research activity described in this thesis is focused mainly on the study of finite-element techniques applied to thermo-fluid dynamic problems of plant components and on the study of dynamic simulation techniques applied to integrated building design in order to enhance the energy performance of the building. The first part of this doctorate thesis is a broad dissertation on second law analysis of thermodynamic processes with the purpose of including the issue of the energy efficiency of buildings within a wider cultural context which is usually not considered by professionals in the energy sector. In particular, the first chapter includes, a rigorous scheme for the deduction of the expressions for molar exergy and molar flow exergy of pure chemical fuels. The study shows that molar exergy and molar flow exergy coincide when the temperature and pressure of the fuel are equal to those of the environment in which the combustion reaction takes place. A simple method to determine the Gibbs free energy for non-standard values of the temperature and pressure of the environment is then clarified. For hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and several hydrocarbons, the dependence of the molar exergy on the temperature and relative humidity of the environment is reported, together with an evaluation of molar exergy and molar flow exergy when the temperature and pressure of the fuel are different from those of the environment. As an application of second law analysis, a comparison of the thermodynamic efficiency of a condensing boiler and of a heat pump is also reported. The second chapter presents a study of borehole heat exchangers, that is, a polyethylene piping network buried in the soil which allows a ground-coupled heat pump to exchange heat with the ground. After a brief overview of low-enthalpy geothermal plants, an apparatus designed and assembled by the author to carry out thermal response tests is presented. Data obtained by means of in situ thermal response tests are reported and evaluated by means of a finite-element simulation method, implemented through the software package COMSOL Multyphysics. The simulation method allows the determination of the precise value of the effective thermal properties of the ground and of the grout, which are essential for the design of borehole heat exchangers. In addition to the study of a single plant component, namely the borehole heat exchanger, in the third chapter is presented a thorough process for the plant design of a zero carbon building complex. The plant is composed of: 1) a ground-coupled heat pump system for space heating and cooling, with electricity supplied by photovoltaic solar collectors; 2) air dehumidifiers; 3) thermal solar collectors to match 70% of domestic hot water energy use, and a wood pellet boiler for the remaining domestic hot water energy use and for exceptional winter peaks. This chapter includes the design methodology adopted: 1) dynamic simulation of the building complex with the software package TRNSYS for evaluating the energy requirements of the building complex; 2) ground-coupled heat pumps modelled by means of TRNSYS; and 3) evaluation of the total length of the borehole heat exchanger by an iterative method developed by the author. An economic feasibility and an exergy analysis of the proposed plant, compared with two other plants, are reported. The exergy analysis was performed by considering the embodied energy of the components of each plant and the exergy loss during the functioning of the plants.

The abuse of intellectual property rights and regulations in China: a law and economic analysis

From the institutional point of view, the legal system of IPR (intellectual property right, hereafter, IPR) is one of incentive institutions of innovation and it plays very important role in the development of economy. According to the law, the owner of the IPR enjoy a kind of exclusive right to use his IP(intellectual property, hereafter, IP), in other words, he enjoys a kind of legal monopoly position in the market. How to well protect the IPR and at the same time to regulate the abuse of IPR is very interested topic in this knowledge-orientated market and it is the basic research question in this dissertation. In this paper, by way of comparing study and by way of law and economic analyses, and based on the Austrian Economics School’s theories, the writer claims that there is no any contradiction between the IPR and competition law. However, in this new economy (high-technology industries), there is really probability of the owner of IPR to abuse his dominant position. And with the characteristics of the new economy, such as, the high rates of innovation, “instant scalability”, network externality and lock-in effects, the IPR “will vest the dominant undertakings with the power not just to monopolize the market but to shift such power from one market to another, to create strong barriers to enter and, in so doing, granting the perpetuation of such dominance for quite a long time.”1 Therefore, in order to keep the order of market, to vitalize the competition and innovation, and to benefit the customer, in EU and US, it is common ways to apply the competition law to regulate the IPR abuse. In Austrian Economic School perspective, especially the Schumpeterian theories, the innovation/competition/monopoly and entrepreneurship are inter-correlated, therefore, we should apply the dynamic antitrust model based on the AES theories to analysis the relationship between the IPR and competition law. China is still a developing country with relative not so high ability of innovation. Therefore, at present, to protect the IPR and to make good use of the incentive mechanism of IPR legal system is the first important task for Chinese government to do. However, according to the investigation reports,2 based on their IPR advantage and capital advantage, some multinational companies really obtained the dominant or monopoly market position in some aspects of some industries, and there are some IPR abuses conducted by such multinational companies. And then, the Chinese government should be paying close attention to regulate any IPR abuse. However, how to effectively regulate the IPR abuse by way of competition law in Chinese situation, from the law and economic theories’ perspective, from the legislation perspective, and from the judicial practice perspective, there is a long way for China to go!

Quantifying the Economics of Medical Malpractice - A View from a Civil Law Perspective

Life is full of uncertainties. Legal rules should have a clear intention, motivation and purpose in order to diminish daily uncertainties. However, practice shows that their consequences are complex and hard to predict. For instance, tort law has the general objectives of deterring future negligent behavior and compensating the victims of someone else's negligence. Achieving these goals are particularly difficult in medical malpractice cases. To start with, when patients search for medical care they are typically sick in the first place. In case harm materializes during the treatment, it might be very hard to assess if it was due to substandard medical care or to the patient's poor health conditions. Moreover, the practice of medicine has a positive externality on the society, meaning that the design of legal rules is crucial: for instance, it should not result in physicians avoiding practicing their activity just because they are afraid of being sued even when they acted according to the standard level of care. The empirical literature on medical malpractice has been developing substantially in the past two decades, with the American case being the most studied one. Evidence from civil law tradition countries is more difficult to find. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the empirical literature on medical malpractice, using two civil law countries as a case-study: Spain and Italy. The goal of this thesis is to investigate, in the first place, some of the consequences of having two separate sub-systems (administrative and civil) coexisting within the same legal system, which is common in civil law tradition countries with a public national health system (such as Spain, France and Portugal). When this holds, different procedures might apply depending on the type of hospital where the injury took place (essentially whether it is a public hospital or a private hospital). Therefore, a patient injured in a public hospital should file a claim in administrative courts while a patient suffering an identical medical accident should file a claim in civil courts. A natural question that the reader might pose is why should both administrative and civil courts decide medical malpractice cases? Moreover, can this specialization of courts influence how judges decide medical malpractice cases? In the past few years, there was a general concern with patient safety, which is currently on the agenda of several national governments. Some initiatives have been taken at the international level, with the aim of preventing harm to patients during treatment and care. A negligently injured patient might present a claim against the health care provider with the aim of being compensated for the economic loss and for pain and suffering. In several European countries, health care is mainly provided by a public national health system, which means that if a patient harmed in a public hospital succeeds in a claim against the hospital, public expenditures increase because the State takes part in the litigation process. This poses a problem in a context of increasing national health expenditures and public debt. In Italy, with the aim of increasing patient safety, some regions implemented a monitoring system on medical malpractice claims. However, if properly implemented, this reform shall also allow for a reduction in medical malpractice insurance costs. This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 provides a review of the empirical literature on medical malpractice, where studies on outcomes and merit of claims, costs and defensive medicine are presented. Chapter 2 presents an empirical analysis of medical malpractice claims arriving to the Spanish Supreme Court. The focus is on reversal rates for civil and administrative decisions. Administrative decisions appealed by the plaintiff have the highest reversal rates. The results show a bias in lower administrative courts, which tend to focus on the State side. We provide a detailed explanation for these results, which can rely on the organization of administrative judges career. Chapter 3 assesses predictors of compensation in medical malpractice cases appealed to the Spanish Supreme Court and investigates the amount of damages attributed to patients. The results show horizontal equity between administrative and civil decisions (controlling for observable case characteristics) and vertical inequity (patients suffering more severe injuries tend to receive higher payouts). In order to execute these analyses, a database of medical malpractice decisions appealed to the Administrative and Civil Chambers of the Spanish Supreme Court from 2006 until 2009 (designated by the Spanish Supreme Court Medical Malpractice Dataset (SSCMMD)) has been created. A description of how the SSCMMD was built and of the Spanish legal system is presented as well. Chapter 4 includes an empirical investigation of the effect of a monitoring system for medical malpractice claims on insurance premiums. In Italy, some regions adopted this policy in different years, while others did not. The study uses data on insurance premiums from Italian public hospitals for the years 2001-2008. This is a significant difference as most of the studies use the insurance company as unit of analysis. Although insurance premiums have risen from 2001 to 2008, the increase was lower for regions adopting a monitoring system for medical claims. Possible implications of this system are also provided. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the main findings, describes possible future research and concludes.

Reexamining the Role of Incarceration and Stigma in Criminal Law

One of the ways by which the legal system has responded to different sets of problems is the blurring of the traditional boundaries of criminal law, both procedural and substantive. This study aims to explore under what conditions does this trend lead to the improvement of society's welfare by focusing on two distinguishing sanctions in criminal law, incarceration and social stigma. In analyzing how incarceration affects the incentive to an individual to violate a legal standard, we considered the crucial role of the time constraint. This aspect has not been fully explored in the literature on law and economics, especially with respect to the analysis of the beneficiality of imposing either a fine or a prison term. We observed that that when individuals are heterogeneous with respect to wealth and wage income, and when the level of activity can be considered a normal good, only the middle wage and middle income groups can be adequately deterred by a fixed fines alone regime. The existing literature only considers the case of the very poor, deemed as judgment proof. However, since imprisonment is a socially costly way to deprive individuals of their time, other alternatives may be sought such as the imposition of discriminatory monetary fine, partial incapacitation and other alternative sanctions. According to traditional legal theory, the reason why criminal law is obeyed is not mainly due to the monetary sanctions but to the stigma arising from the community’s moral condemnation that accompanies conviction or merely suspicion. However, it is not sufficiently clear whether social stigma always accompanies a criminal conviction. We addressed this issue by identifying the circumstances wherein a criminal conviction carries an additional social stigma. Our results show that social stigma is seen to accompany a conviction under the following conditions: first, when the law coincides with the society's social norms; and second, when the prohibited act provides information on an unobservable attribute or trait of an individual -- crucial in establishing or maintaining social relationships beyond mere economic relationships. Thus, even if the social planner does not impose the social sanction directly, the impact of social stigma can still be influenced by the probability of conviction and the level of the monetary fine imposed as well as the varying degree of correlation between the legal standard violated and the social traits or attributes of the individual. In this respect, criminal law serves as an institution that facilitates cognitive efficiency in the process of imposing the social sanction to the extent that the rest of society is boundedly rational and use judgment heuristics. Paradoxically, using criminal law in order to invoke stigma for the violation of a legal standard may also serve to undermine its strength. To sum, the results of our analysis reveal that the scope of criminal law is narrow both for the purposes of deterrence and cognitive efficiency. While there are certain conditions where the enforcement of criminal law may lead to an increase in social welfare, particularly with respect to incarceration and stigma, we have also identified the channels through which they could affect behavior. Since such mechanisms can be replicated in less costly ways, society should first try or seek to employ these legal institutions before turning to criminal law as a last resort.

The Effectiveness of the Clean Development Mechanism – A law and economics analysis

Climate change has been acknowledged as a threat to humanity. Most scholars agree that to avert dangerous climate change and to transform economies into low-carbon societies, deep global emission reductions are required by the year 2050. Under the framework of the Kyoto Protocol, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is the only market-based instrument that encourages industrialised countries to pursue emission reductions in developing countries. The CDM aims to pay the incremental finance necessary to operationalize emission reduction projects which are otherwise not financially viable. According to the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol, the CDM should finance projects that are additional to those which would have happened anyway, contribute to sustainable development in the countries hosting the projects, and be cost-effective. To enable the identification of such projects, an institutional framework has been established by the Kyoto Protocol which lays out responsibilities for public and private actors. This thesis examines whether the CDM has achieved these objectives in practice and can thus be considered an effective tool to reduce emissions. To complete this investigation, the book applies economic theory and analyses the CDM from two perspectives. The first perspective is the supply-dimension which answers the question of how, in practice, the CDM system identified additional, cost-effective, sustainable projects and, generated emission reductions. The main contribution of this book is the second perspective, the compliance-dimension, which answers the question of whether industrialised countries effectively used the CDM for compliance with their Kyoto targets. The application of the CDM in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is used as a case-study. Where the analysis identifies inefficiencies within the supply or the compliance dimension, potential improvements of the legal framework are proposed and discussed.

Birth, Development and Progressive Institutionalization of the Ombudsman in the Russian Legal and Political System

One of the current trends in governance and legal development in Russia is aimed at establishing a modern, efficient and internationally harmonised system of safeguards of human rights and civil liberties. A fairly recent addition to this system has been the institution of ombudsman as a public authority specialised in promoting and protecting human rights and civil liberties. The introduction of this institution as well as its formalisation at the constitutional and legislative levels has been increasingly relevant and important, as it raises the dealings between the state and the individual to a new level. As an independent public institution resolving conflicts between citizens and government authorities, the ombudsman makes steps, within the scope of his jurisdiction, to restitute individual rights, and helps to enhance the reputation of government. The present work describes and assesses the birth, development and institutionalization process of the Ombudsman Office in the Russian Federation, at federal and regional levels, with a particular emphasis on the role of international references and cooperation for institution building. Ombudsmen have done a magnificent job in demonstrating value with the resolution of individual and systemic complaints; subsequent improvements to government; and economic savings by mitigating litigation costs.

La coazione all'adempimento mediante la tecnica delle misure coercitive indirette

La tesi intende offrire una riflessione in merito all’utilizzo della tecnica delle misure coercitive indirette quali strumenti di coartazione della volontà dell’obbligato al fine di indurlo all’esatto adempimento in presenza di statuizioni giudiziali il cui contenuto si sostanzi in prestazioni a carattere infungibile o in un dovere di astensione dal porre in essere determinati comportamenti, che non possono trovare esecuzione secondo le ordinarie forme previste dal Libro Terzo del Codice di procedura civile. Il lavoro prende le mosse dall'analisi storico-comparatistica dello sviluppo dell'esecuzione processuale indiretta nei principali ordinamenti giuridici europei, per poi soffermarsi sulle singole misure coercitive indirette disciplinate dal legislatore italiano nel corso degli anni al fine di far fronte alle esigenze di tutela emergenti in specifici settori del diritto. Segue un'attenta disamina in ordine alla disposizione di cui all'art. 614-bis c.p.c., con cui è stata introdotta per la prima volta nel nostro ordinamento una misura coercitiva indiretta a carattere generale in materia di esecuzione degli obblighi di fare infungibile e di non fare.

The Application of European Competition Law in Arbitration Proceedings

This work provides several policy proposals capable to strengthen the private enforcement of EU competition law in arbitration. It focuses on the procedural law aspects that are permeated by legal uncertainty and that have not yet fallen under the scrutiny of the law and economics debate. The policy proposals described herein are based on the functional approach to law and economics and aim to promote a more qualified decision making process by: adjudicators, private parties and lawmakers. The resulting framework of procedural rules would be a cost-effective policy tool that could sustain the European Commission’s effort to guarantee a workable level of competition in the EU internal market. This project aims to answer the following broad research question: which procedural rules can improve the efficiency of antitrust arbitration by decreasing litigation costs for private parties on the one hand, and by increasing private parties’ compliance with competition law on the other hand?Throughout this research project, such broad question has been developed into research sub-questions revolving around several key legal issues. The chosen sub-research questions result from a vacuum in the European enforcement system that leaves several key legal issues in antitrust arbitration unresolved. The legal framework proposed in this research project could prevent such a blurry scenario from impairing the EU private enforcement of competition law in arbitration. Therefore, our attention was triggered by those legal issues whose proposed solutions lead to relevant uncertainties and that are most suitable for a law and economics analysis.

Fighting corruption with pyramids: A Law and Economics approach to combating corruption in post-socialist countries

Corruption is, in the last two decades, considered as one of the biggest problems within the international community, which harms not only a particular state or society but the whole world. The discussion on corruption in law and economics approach is mainly run under the veil of Public choice theory and principal-agent model. Based on this approach the strong international initiatives taken by the UN, the OECD and the Council of Europe, provided various measures and tools in order to support and guide countries in their combat against corruption. These anti-corruption policies created a repression -prevention-transparency model for corruption combat. Applying this model, countries around the world adopted anti-corruption strategies as part of their legal rules. Nevertheless, the recent researches on the effects of this move show non impressive results. Critics argue that “one size does not fit all” because the institutional setting of countries around the world varies. Among the countries which experience problems of corruption, even though they follow the dominant anti-corruption trends, are transitional, post-socialist countries. To this group belong the countries which are emerging from centrally planned to an open market economy. The socialist past left traces on institutional setting, mentality of the individuals and their interrelation, particularly in the domain of public administration. If the idiosyncrasy of these countries is taken into account the suggestion in this thesis is that in public administration in post-socialist countries, instead of dominant anti-corruption scheme repression-prevention-transparency, corruption combat should be improved through the implementation of a new one, structure-conduct-performance. The implementation of this model is based on three regulatory pyramids: anti-corruption, disciplinary anti-corruption and criminal anti-corruption pyramid. This approach asks public administration itself to engage in corruption combat, leaving criminal justice system as the ultimate weapon, used only for the very harmful misdeeds.

Oxide thermoelectrics via a glass-ceramic route

Thermoelektrizität beschreibt die reversible Beeinflussung und Wechselwirkung von Elektrizität und Temperatur T in Systemen abseits des thermischen Gleichgewichtes. In diesen führt ein Temperaturgradient entlang eines thermoelektrischen Materials zu einem kontinuierlichen Ungleichgewicht in der Energieverteilung der Ladungsträger. Dies hat einen Diffusionsstrom der energiereichen Ladungsträger zum kalten Ende und der energiearmen Ladungsträger zum heißen Ende zur Folge. Da in offenen Stromkreisen kein Strom fließt, wird ein Ungleichgewicht der Ströme über das Ausbilden eines elektrischen Feldes kompensiert. Die dadurch entstehende Spannung wird als Seebeck Spannung bezeichnet. Über einen geeigneten Verbraucher, folgend aus dem Ohm'schen Gesetz, kann nun ein Strom fließen und elektrische Energie gewonnen werden. Den umgekehrten Fall beschreibt der sogenannte Peltier Effekt, bei dem ein Stromfluss durch zwei unterschiedliche miteinander verbundene Materialien ein Erwärmen oder Abkühlen der Kontaktstelle zur Folge hat. Die Effizienz eines thermoelektrischen Materials kann über die dimensionslose Größe ZT=S^2*sigma/kappa*T charakterisiert werden. Diese setzt sich zusammen aus den materialspezifischen Größen der elektrischen Leitfähigkeit sigma, der thermischen Leitfähigkeit kappa und dem Seebeck Koeffizienten S als Maß der erzeugten Spannung bei gegebener Temperaturdifferenz. Diese Arbeit verfolgt den Ansatz glaskeramische Materialien mit thermoelektrischen Kristallphasen zu synthetisieren, sie strukturell zu charakterisieren und ihre thermoelektrischen Eigenschaften zu messen, um eine Struktur-Eigenschaft Korrelation zu erarbeiten. Hierbei werden im Detail eine elektronenleitende (Hauptphase SrTi_xNb_{1-x}O_3) sowie eine löcherleitende Glaskeramik (Hauptphase Bi_2Sr_2Co_2O_y) untersucht. Unter dem Begriff Glaskeramiken sind teilkristalline Materialien zu verstehen, die aus Glasschmelzen durch gesteuerte Kristallisation hergestellt werden können. Über den Grad der Kristallisation und die Art der ausgeschiedenen Spezies an Kristallen lassen sich die physikalischen Eigenschaften dieser Systeme gezielt beeinflussen. Glaskeramiken bieten, verursacht durch ihre Restglasphase, eine niedrige thermische Leitfähigkeit und die Fermi Energie lässt sich durch Dotierungen in Richtung des Leitungs- oder Valenzbands verschieben. Ebenso besitzen glaskeramische Materialien durch ihre Porenfreiheit verbesserte mechanische Eigenschaften gegenüber Keramiken und sind weniger anfällig für den Einfluss des Sauerstoffpartialdruckes p_{O_2} auf die Parameter. Ein glaskeramisches und ein gemischt keramisch/glaskeramisches thermoelektrisches Modul aus den entwickelten Materialien werden konzipiert, präpariert, kontaktiert und bezüglich ihrer Leistung vermessen.