The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine motivating factors for why public and private actors initiate costly and risky civil actions to recover loss due to corruption…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine motivating factors for why public and private actors initiate costly and risky civil actions to recover loss due to corruption in an era of increasing multilateral consensus and cooperation against corruption and organised crime.
Design/methodology/approach
Research into recent global trends and types of civil lawsuits against corruption is conducted. Several cases, particularly from Canada, Hong Kong, the USA and the UK, are used to illustrate the attractions and difficulties of civil litigation. The implications of the recent international treaties on corruption are analyzed. Qualitative findings are made on a range of motivational factors that lie behind different types of civil actions against corruption.
Findings
The paper notes an apparent rise in interest in civil actions against corruption and describes five types of actions brought by governments and companies. Civil actions are indicative of the want of better alternatives to recovery. While recent anti‐corruption treaties help to remove barriers to civil actions, the treaties themselves cannot explain the increased interest in civil lawsuits. Full explanation lies in the empowering effect of suing, the political significance of these lawsuits particularly for a new regime suing to recover plundered property from the old regime, and the ease by which a lawsuit can be launched.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature in identifying types of civil actions against corruption, the practical and political motivations behind civil actions, and the positive relationship between international cooperation regimes and civil actions.
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Certain elements of Hayek’s work are prominent precursors to the modern field of complex adaptive systems, including his ideas on spontaneous order, his focus on market processes…
Abstract
Certain elements of Hayek’s work are prominent precursors to the modern field of complex adaptive systems, including his ideas on spontaneous order, his focus on market processes, his contrast between designing and gardening, and his own framing of complex systems. Conceptually, he was well ahead of his time, prescient in his formulation of novel ways to think about economies and societies. Technically, the fact that he did not mathematically formalize most of the notions he developed makes his insights hard to incorporate unambiguously into models. However, because so much of his work is divorced from the simplistic models proffered by early mathematical economics, it stands as fertile ground for complex systems researchers today. I suggest that Austrian economists can create a progressive research program by building models of these Hayekian ideas, and thereby gain traction within the economics profession. Instead of mathematical models the suite of techniques and tools known as agent-based computing seems particularly well-suited to addressing traditional Austrian topics like money, business cycles, coordination, market processes, and so on, while staying faithful to the methodological individualism and bottom-up perspective that underpin the entire school of thought.
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Sarah N. Mitchell, Antoinette M. Landor and Katharine H. Zeiders
Research has shown that for young adults, marital attitudes (e.g., desire, importance, and expectation) are associated with relationship quality. However, how this association…
Abstract
Research has shown that for young adults, marital attitudes (e.g., desire, importance, and expectation) are associated with relationship quality. However, how this association plays out for young adults of color is less known. Additionally, the influence of skin tone perception on the relationship between marital attitudes and relationship quality remains understudied. To explore these associations, the authors examined African American and Latinx young adults (N = 57, Mage = 20.71 years, SD = 1.28; 75.4% female) attending a Midwestern university. Exploratory results indicated that marital expectations were positively associated with relationship quality in that young adults who expected to marry one day, reported greater relationship satisfaction, commitment, and intimacy in their current relationships. Additionally, skin tone perception moderated the association between marital attitudes and relationship quality in two ways (i.e., between expectations and satisfaction and between importance and intimacy). Collectively, findings suggest that differing levels of marital attitudes and skin tone perception contributes to young adults’ perceptions of relationship quality. Considering these psychological factors of attitudes, skin tone perception, and relationship quality, together with systemic racial/ethnic discrimination, the authors discuss future research and practice considerations.
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Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely…
Abstract
Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.
Jean-Baptiste Coulomb, Fabrice Larceneux and Arnaud Simon
The authors analyzed annuitization preferences when retired people extract cash from their homes. Based on 2,608 viager (home reversion) transactions, the authors study the…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors analyzed annuitization preferences when retired people extract cash from their homes. Based on 2,608 viager (home reversion) transactions, the authors study the relations between annuitization, negotiation, cash extraction, age, gender and marital status.
Design/methodology/approach
A database comprising 2,608 transactions is used. The three-stage least squares (3SLS) and moderation models are implemented, with a focus on potential adverse selection issues.
Findings
The authors found that difficulties in selling a property generally result in increased annuitization. The single men's group endures gender inequality, suffering from limitations in their possibility to extract wealth and annuitize, as well as an additional price discount during negotiation. Young single men, as compared to young single women and young couples, must consent to a substantial price reduction if they prefer a high down payment and limited price reductions if they prefer annuities. Elderly single men, as compared to young single men, have less capacity to negotiate, a concern that is reinforced when they prefer annuities.
Originality/value
Among the home equity conversion products, the academic real estate literature has intensely analyzed the reverse mortgage. The viager is distinct from a mortgage in that it consists of the true sale of a property without bank involvement. This product deserves reinforced attention in an aging continental Europe. It exists in numerous countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc.).