SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

D'Amato, Alessio; Valentini, Edilio.

This paper addresses the issue of whether the powers of monitoring compliance and allocating tradeable emissions allowances within a federation of countries should be appointed to a unique federal regulator or decentralized to several local regulators. To this end, we develop a two stage game played by environmental regulator(s) and the polluting industries of two countries. Regulator(s) choose the amount of emission allowances to be issued and set the level of monitoring effort to achieve full compliance, while regulated firms choose actual emissions and the number of permits to be held. We identify various, possibly conflicting, spillovers among states in a decentralized setting. We show that cost advantage in favor of local regulators is not sufficient...

An Interdisciplinary Approach to White-collar Crime in the Food Sector

Palavras-chave: Emissions Trading; Environmental Federalism; Enforcement; Monitoring Cost; Environmental Economics and Policy; F18; K42; Q53.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/46654

Hirschauer, Norbert; Musshoff, Oliver; Scheerer, Sebastian.

The probability that buyers are deceived with regard to the quality or safety of purchased products (moral hazard) increases with the profits which suppliers can earn through opportunistic behaviour. It decreases with the probability and level of losses that result from disclosure of malpractice. It also decreases with protective factors rooted in the suppliers' social contexts - such as values, emotional bonds etc. - that shield them from yielding to economic temptations. This paper describes how a systematic analysis of economic incentives and social context factors can be provided through an interdisciplinary approach which combines the analytical powers of microeconomics (game theory) and criminology (control theories). The approach is discussed with...

Advocatus, et non latro? Testing the Supplier-Induced-Demand Hypothesis for Italian Courts of Justice

Palavras-chave: Asymmetric information; Behavioural food risks; Control theories; Game theory; Moral hazard; Opportunistic malpractice; Agribusiness; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; A13; K32; K42.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25688

Buonanno, Paolo; Galizzi, Matteo M..

We explore the relationship between litigation rates and the number of lawyers, in a typical supplier-induced demand (SID) frame. Drawing on an original panel dataset for the 169 Italian courts of justice between 2000 and 2007, we first document that the number of lawyers is positively correlated with different measures of litigation rate. Then, using an instrumental variables strategy we find that a 10 percent increase of lawyers over population is associated with an increase between 1.6 to 6 percent in civil litigation rates. Thus, our empirical analysis supports the SID hypothesis for the Italian lawyers: following an increase in their relative number, lawyers may exploit their informational advantage to induce clients to access to courts even when...

Transfer of Institutions: Actors and Constraints - The Russian Case in a Global Context

Palavras-chave: Lawyers; Litigiosity; Causality; Labor and Human Capital; F22; J15; K42; R10.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/90903

Oleinik, Anton.

Modernity is usually thought as a complex society with clearly differentiated spheres of everyday life. It means, in particular, that economic rules do not interfere with the norms structuring political, social, scientific and other interactions. The complex, differentiated society sharply contrasts with a "small" and homogeneous "pre-modern" society. The process of modernization, i.e. differentiation of the spheres of everyday life, can take various forms. In an advanced country it relies on internal forces. Modernization in this context looks like an evolutionary, "bottom-up" development. In a backward country (Russia and Germany in the first half of the 20th century), modernization requires a strong governmental (from the top to the bottom)...

Migration Restrictions and Criminal Behavior: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Palavras-chave: State bureaucracy; Economic backwardness; Catch-up modernization; Conservative modernization; Opportunism; Institutional constraints; Power; Authority; Invidious comparison; Institutional importation; Democracy; Shared mental model; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; A13; A14; B15; B25; B52; D73; H83; K42; N40; O17; P21; P37; P51.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/26333

Mastrobuoni, Giovanni; Pinotti, Paolo.

We estimate the causal effect of immigrants' legal status on criminal behavior exploiting exogenous variation in migration restrictions across nationalities driven by the last round of the European Union enlargement. Unique individual-level data on a collective clemency bill enacted in Italy five months before the enlargement allow us to compare the post-release criminal record of inmates from new EU member countries with a control group of pardoned inmates from candidate EU member countries. Difference-in-differences in the probability of re-arrest between the two groups before and after the enlargement show that obtaining legal status lowers the recidivism of economically motivated offenders, but only in areas that provide relatively better labor market...

Geographical Distribution of Crime in Italian Provinces: A Spatial Econometric Analysis

Palavras-chave: Immigration; Crime; Legal Status; Labor and Human Capital; F22; K42; C41.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/115723

Cracolici, Maria Francesca; Uberti, Teodora Erika.

For a long time social sciences scholars from different fields have devoted their attention to identifying the causes leading to commit criminal offences and recently lots of studies have included the analysis of spatial effects. Respect to the Italian crime phenomenon some stylized facts exist: high spatial and time variability and presence of “organised crime” (e.g. Mafia and Camorra) deep-seated in some local territorial areas. Using explanatory spatial data analysis, the paper firstly explores the spatial structure and distribution of four different typologies of crimes (murders, thefts, frauds, and squeezes) in Italian provinces in two years, 1999 and 2003. ESDA allows us to detect some important geographical dimensions and to distinguish crucial...

State executions, deterrence, and the incidence of murder

Palavras-chave: Crime; Spatial Econometrics; Labor and Human Capital; C21; K42.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/6381

The Complex Interaction of Markets For Endangered Species Products

Zimmerman, Paul R..

This study employs a panel of U.S. state-level data over the years 1978-1997 to estimate the deterrent effect of capital punishment. Particular attention is paid to problems of endogeneity bias arising from the non-random assignment of death penalty laws across states and a simultaneous relationship between murders and the deterrence probabilities. The primary innovation of the analysis lies in the estimation of a simultaneous equations system whose identification is based upon the employment of instrumental variables motivated by the theory of public choice. The estimation results suggest that structural estimates of the deterrent effect of capital punishment are likely to be downward biased due to the influence of simultaneity. Correcting for...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Capital punishment; Deterrence; Executions; Murder; K42; H00.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43889

Fischer, Carolyn.

Economic models of trade in endangered species products often do not incorporate four focal arguments in the policy debate over trade bans: 1) law-abiding consumers may operate in another market, separate from illegal consumers, that trade would bring online; 2) legal trade reduces stigma, which affects demand of law-abiding consumers; 3) laundering may bring illegal goods to legal markets when trade is allowed; 4) legal sales may affect illegal supply costs. This paper analyzes systematically which aspects of these complicated markets, separately or in combination, are important for determining whether limited legalized trade in otherwise illegal goods can be helpful for achieving policy goals like reducing poaching.

”Thou shalt not covet ...”: Prohibitions, Temptation and Moral Values

Palavras-chave: Endangered species; Black markets; CITES; Poaching; Stigma; Environmental Economics and Policy; K42; Q21; D11.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10525

Cervellati, Matteo; Vanin, Paolo.

We propose a theory studying temptation in presence of both externally and internally sanctioned prohibitions. Moral values that (internally) sanction prohibited actions and their desire may increase utility by reducing self-control costs, thereby serving as partial commitment devices. We apply the model to crime and study the conditions under which agents would optimally adhere to moral values of honesty. Incentives to be moral are non- monotonic in the crime premium. Larger external punishments increase temptation and demand for morality, so that external and internal sanctions are complements. The model helps rationalizing stylized facts that proved difficult to explain with available theories.

The Economics of Endangered Species Poaching

Palavras-chave: Prohibitions; Temptation; Self-Control; Moral Values; Crime; Labor and Human Capital; D03; K42; Z13.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/90905

Abbott, Brant.

When No Law is Better than a Good Law

Palavras-chave: Endangered species; Poaching; International trade; Environmental Economics and Policy; International Relations/Trade; K42; Q56; Q57.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37707

Bhattacharya, Utpal; Daouk, Hazem.

This paper argues, both theoretically and empirically, that sometimes no securities law may be better than a good securities law that is not enforced. The first part of the paper formalizes the sufficient conditions under which this happens for any law. The second part of the paper shows that a specific securities law - the law prohibiting insider trading - may satisfy these conditions. The third part of the paper takes this prediction to the data. We find that the cost of equity actually rises when some countries enact an insider trading law, but do not enforce it.

Is Certification a Promising Way to Ensure Sustainable Resource Use? An Analysis Based on the Concept of 'Self-Enforcing Contracts'

Palavras-chave: Insider trading; Cost of capital; Emerging markets; Securities law; Enforcement; International Development; G15; G18; K22; K42.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/51184

Lippert, Christian.

In the past decade several certification schemes have been developed in order to promote sustainable resource use, especially in foreign countries where it is impossible to rely on direct enforcement of process standards. Based on the concept of 'Self-Enforcing Contracts' a model is developed simulating the simultaneous market equilibrium for certified natural resource units and physically identical units produced without observing certain environmental standards. The model along with some empirical evidence from tropical forestry yields that very likely certification will fall short in ensuring sustainable resource use. Basic natural resource management has to be primarily steered by governments and administrations, not by market forces.

Understanding and Managing Behavioural Risks -The Case of Food Risks Caused by Malpractice in Poultry Production

Palavras-chave: Renewable resources and conservation; Demand and supply; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy; Q21; B52; D62; K42; L14.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/24563

Hirschauer, Norbert; Zwoll, Stefan.

The probability that actors in economic relationships break rules increases with the profits they thus expect to earn. It decreases with the probability and level of short- and long-term losses resulting from disclosure. It also decreases with the level of social context factors and intrinsic values which shield actors from yielding to economic temptations. This paper assesses the relative merits of various scientific approaches concerned with risks in economic relationships and outlines their contribution to the study of opportunistic rule-breaking. Since the identification of (misdirected) economic incentives faced by firms and individuals represents the starting point for a systematic analysis of opportunism in any field, we also outline a microeconomic...

Monitoring and Enforcement: Is Two-Tier Regulation Robust?

Palavras-chave: Asymmetric information; Control theories; Economic misconduct; Game theory; Moral hazard; Principal-agent model; Opportunism; Protective factors; Relational risks; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; A13; K32; K42.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10287

Kathuria, Vinish; Sterner, Thomas.

The regulation of industrial pollution is clearly difficult in a rapidly industrializing, low-income setting. In addition to the general lack of resources for monitoring and enforcement, authorities must deal with the asymmetric nature of the information and multiple nonpoint sources of pollution. In this study we look at efforts to regulate chemical plants in Ankleshwar, in the Indian state of Gujarat. The plants are located in an industrial estate, which provides interesting preconditions for a form of two-tier regulation, in which an industry association becomes an intermediary between the government and individual firms: it monitors its members' pollution and promotes compliance with the government's environmental regulations. The Indian agency...

Conscription and Crime: Evidence from the Argentine Draft Lottery

Palavras-chave: Industrial estate; Two-tier monitoring; Common property resource; Industry association; Nonpoint sources of pollution; Political Economy; Q25; P28; K42.

Ano: 2002

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10669

Galiani, Sebastian; Rossi, Martin A.; Schargrodsky, Ernesto.

We estimate the causal effect of mandatory participation in the military service on the involvement in criminal activities. We exploit the random assignment of young men to military service in Argentina through a draft lottery to identify this causal effect. Using a unique set of administrative data that includes draft eligibility, participation in the military service, and criminal records, we find that participation in the military service increases the likelihood of developing a criminal record in adulthood. The effects are not only significant for the cohorts that performed military service during war times, but also for those that provided service at peace times. We also find that military service has detrimental effects on future performance in the...

Estimating the Value of Antitrust Investigations: A Case Study in Agriculture

Palavras-chave: Military Service; Violent behavior; Crime; Labor and Human Capital; K42.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/90907

Coatney, Kalyn T.; Tack, Jesse B..

The goal of our analysis is to enhance the understanding of the value of antitrust regulatory activities, specifically the impact of investigations of anticompetitive behavior. The results suggest that prices significantly increased as soon as the targets of the investigation were made aware they were being investigated. Higher prices are suggestive of a more competitive market outcome, which in turn suggests that the benefits of an investigation begin accruing immediately upon awareness by the offending party. The higher prices remained as long as the investigation was open. After the investigation was closed, market prices systematically declined to the same low pre-knowledge state.

Juvenile Delinquency and Conformism

Palavras-chave: Antitrust; Auctions; Agricultural and Food Policy; Demand and Price Analysis; K42; D44; C23.

Ano: 2011

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/103548

Patacchini, Eleonora; Zenou, Yves.

This paper studies whether conformism behavior affects individual outcomes in crime. We present a social network model of peer effects with ex-ante heterogeneous agents and show how conformism and deterrence affect criminal activities. We then bring the model to the data by using a very detailed dataset of adolescent friendship networks. A novel social network-based empirical strategy allows us to identify peer effects for different types of crimes. We find that conformity plays an important role for all crimes, especially for petty crimes. This suggests that, for juvenile crime, an effective policy should not only be measured by the possible crime reduction it implies but also by the group interactions it engenders.