Penalty

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting

Kinds of Penalty

  • death penalty
  • energy penalty
  • wage penalty

  • Terms modified by Penalty

  • penalty cost
  • penalty function
  • penalty method
  • penalty parameter
  • penalty term

  • Selected Abstracts


    ON REDUCING WHITE SUPPORT FOR THE DEATH PENALTY: A PESSIMISTIC APPRAISAL

    CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2005
    STEVEN E. BARKAN
    [source]


    THE DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUGS IS A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW; EFFICACY,WHETHER REAL OR IMAGINED,PROVIDES NO EXCUSE

    ADDICTION, Issue 12 2009
    RICK LINES
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    REJECTING THE DEATH PENALTY: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE TRADITION

    THE HEYTHROP JOURNAL, Issue 3 2008
    E. CHRISTIAN BRUGGER
    First page of article [source]


    The Additive Nature of Energy Penalties in 10-Vertex nido -(Car)boranes

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2005
    Farooq A. Kiani
    Abstract A structural increment system, i.e. quantitative rules that govern the relative stabilities of 10-vertex nido -boranes and-carboranes, has been determined. Density functional theory computations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d) level with ZPE corrections were carried out for 81 different boron hydride and carborane structures from [B10H12]2, to C3B7H11 to determine their relative stabilities. A set of eleven disfavored geometrical features that destabilize a cluster structure relative to a hypothetical ideal situation were identified and weighted by so-called energy penalties. The latter show good additive behavior and allow us to reproduce the DFT computed relative energies mostly with an accuracy of 6.0 kcal,mol,1. Some unknown 10-vertex nido- carboranes that are thermodynamically more stable than their known isomers are also identified. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005) [source]


    A Defense of Stiffer Penalties for Hate Crimes

    HYPATIA, Issue 2 2006
    CHRISTOPHER HEATH WELLMAN
    After defining a hate crime as an offense in which the criminal selects the victim at least in part because of an animus toward members of the group to which the victim belongs, this essay surveys the standard justifications for state punishment en route to defending the permissibility of imposing stiffer penalties for hate crimes. It also argues that many standard instances of rape and domestic battery are hate crimes and may be punished as such. [source]


    Enforcing Financial Penalties: The Case of Confiscation Orders

    THE HOWARD JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Issue 4 2010
    KAREN BULLOCK
    Abstract: Financial penalties are the most widely used sentence in England and Wales, but present difficulties for enforcement. This article examines the enforcement of confiscation orders , a relatively poorly understood financial penalty. Drawing on interviews with actors in the confiscation order process this article examines the processes through which confiscation orders are enforced. It is argued that enforcement is the result of an interaction of factors which include the initial decision making of police officers, financial investigators and prosecutors; the accuracy of information about offenders' financial affairs; enforcement powers, intelligence and operational support; and, the behaviour and attitudes of the offender. [source]


    Human motion reconstruction from monocular images using genetic algorithms

    COMPUTER ANIMATION AND VIRTUAL WORLDS (PREV: JNL OF VISUALISATION & COMPUTER ANIMATION), Issue 3-4 2004
    Jianhui Zhao
    Abstract This paper proposed an optimization approach for human motion recovery from the un-calibrated monocular images containing unlimited human movements. A 3D skeleton human model based on anatomy knowledge is employed with encoded biomechanical constraints for the joints. Energy Function is defined to represent the deviations between projection features and extracted image features. Reconstruction procedure is developed to adjust joints and segments of the human body into their proper positions. Genetic Algorithms are adopted to find the optimal solution effectively in the high dimensional parameter space by simultaneously considering all the parameters of the human model. The experimental results are analysed by Deviation Penalty. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Hyperbolic Penalty: A New Method for Nonlinear Programming with Inequalities

    INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 6 2001
    Adilson Elias Xavier
    This work intends to present and to analyze a new penalty method that purposes to solve the general nonlinear programming problem subject to inequality constraints. The proposed method has the important feature of being completely differentiable and combines features of both exterior and interior penalty methods. Numerical results for some problems are commented on. [source]


    A Global Moratorium on the Death Penalty

    NEW PERSPECTIVES QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2009
    BERNARD KOUCHNER
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Murdering Myths: The Story Behind the Death Penalty , By Judith W. Kay

    RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 3 2007
    Lloyd Steffen
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    The Biblical Truth About America's Death Penalty , By Dale S. Recinella

    RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 1 2007
    Judith W. Kay
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    High-Dimensional Cox Models: The Choice of Penalty as Part of the Model Building Process

    BIOMETRICAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010
    Axel Benner
    Abstract The Cox proportional hazards regression model is the most popular approach to model covariate information for survival times. In this context, the development of high-dimensional models where the number of covariates is much larger than the number of observations ( ) is an ongoing challenge. A practicable approach is to use ridge penalized Cox regression in such situations. Beside focussing on finding the best prediction rule, one is often interested in determining a subset of covariates that are the most important ones for prognosis. This could be a gene set in the biostatistical analysis of microarray data. Covariate selection can then, for example, be done by L1 -penalized Cox regression using the lasso (Tibshirani (1997). Statistics in Medicine16, 385,395). Several approaches beyond the lasso, that incorporate covariate selection, have been developed in recent years. This includes modifications of the lasso as well as nonconvex variants such as smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) (Fan and Li (2001). Journal of the American Statistical Association96, 1348,1360; Fan and Li (2002). The Annals of Statistics30, 74,99). The purpose of this article is to implement them practically into the model building process when analyzing high-dimensional data with the Cox proportional hazards model. To evaluate penalized regression models beyond the lasso, we included SCAD variants and the adaptive lasso (Zou (2006). Journal of the American Statistical Association101, 1418,1429). We compare them with "standard" applications such as ridge regression, the lasso, and the elastic net. Predictive accuracy, features of variable selection, and estimation bias will be studied to assess the practical use of these methods. We observed that the performance of SCAD and adaptive lasso is highly dependent on nontrivial preselection procedures. A practical solution to this problem does not yet exist. Since there is high risk of missing relevant covariates when using SCAD or adaptive lasso applied after an inappropriate initial selection step, we recommend to stay with lasso or the elastic net in actual data applications. But with respect to the promising results for truly sparse models, we see some advantage of SCAD and adaptive lasso, if better preselection procedures would be available. This requires further methodological research. [source]


    WAGE PENALTIES AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION: AN UPDATE USING THE GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY

    CONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 2 2009
    BRENDAN CUSHING-DANIELS
    This study uses data from the 1988 to 2006 General Social Survey (GSS) to examine the effects of sexual orientation on earnings. Previous research using the GSS has found that lesbians earn 18%,23% more than similarly qualified heterosexual women and that wage penalties for gay men are slightly larger than the premia for lesbians. Using behavioral definitions of sexual orientation based on the previous year and the previous 5 yr of sexual activity, we find the familiar wage premia/penalties for lesbian/gay workers in our ordinary least squares estimations, but we find that these wage differences are falling over time. Furthermore, in contrast to the earlier results, for our regressions over the entire sample period, correcting for differential selection into full-time work reduces the estimated penalties for unmarried gay men and eliminates the entire wage premium for all lesbians. There is now a sizeable, though imprecisely measured, penalty for some lesbians. (JEL J1, J3, J7) [source]


    THE MIRACLE OF THE CELLS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF INTERVENTIONS TO INCREASE PAYMENT OF COURT-ORDERED FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS,

    CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2008
    DAVID WEISBURD
    Research Summary: In this article, we present findings from an experimental study of an innovative program in fine enforcement developed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) of New Jersey, termed Project MUSTER (MUST Earn Restitution). The project was initiated by the New Jersey AOC as a response to concerns among probation personnel that probationers sentenced to monetary penalties often failed to meet their financial obligations. The program sought to increase payment of court-ordered financial obligations among probationers who are seriously delinquent in paying fines, penalties, and restitution, and was designed to "strengthen the effectiveness of restitution and fine sanctions by forcing those offenders who have the ability to make regular payments to do so." Project MUSTER relied on a combination of intensive probation, threats of violation to court and incarceration, and community service. We find that probationers sentenced to Project MUSTER were significantly more likely to pay court-ordered financial obligations than were those who experienced regular probation supervision. However, probationers sentenced to a second treatment group, in which the only intervention was violation of probation (one part of the MUSTER program), had similar outcomes to the MUSTER condition. These findings suggest that the main cause of fine payment was a deterrent threat of possible incarceration, which is often termed the "miracle of the cells." Policy Implications: Our study shows that it is possible to gain greater compliance with court-ordered financial obligations and that such compliance may be gained with a relatively simple and straightforward criminal justice intervention. Threats of violation of probation are an effective tool for gaining compliance with financial obligations. Given the growing interest in monetary penalties as an alternative to incarceration, these findings have particular policy importance. [source]


    UNITED STATES V. BOOKER AS A NATURAL EXPERIMENT: USING EMPIRICAL RESEARCH TO INFORM THE FEDERAL SENTENCING POLICY DEBATE,

    CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 3 2007
    PAUL J. HOFER
    Research Summary: In United States v. Booker, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the federal sentencing guidelines must be considered advisory, rather than mandatory, if they are to remain constitutional under the Sixth Amendment. Since the decision, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has provided policy makers with accurate and current data on changes and continuity in federal sentencing practices. Unlike previous changes in legal doctrine, Booker immediately increased the rates of upward and downward departures from the guideline range. Government-sponsored downward departures remain the leading category of outside,the-range sentences. The rate of within-range sentences, although lower than in the period immediately preceding Booker, remains near rates observed earlier in the guidelines era. Despite the increase in departures, average sentence lengths for the overall caseload remain stable, because of offsetting increases in the seriousness of the crimes being sentenced and in the severity of penalties for those crimes. Analyses of the reasons that judges reported for downward departures suggest that treatment of criminal history and offender characteristics are the two leading areas of dissatisfaction with the guidelines. Policy Implications: Assessment of changes in sentencing practices following Booker by different observers depends partly on competing institutional perspectives and on different degrees of trust in the judgment of judges, prosecutors, the Sentencing Commission, and Congress. No agreement on whether Booker has bettered or worsened the system can be achieved until agreement exists on priorities among the purposes of sentencing and the goals of sentencing reform. Both this lack of agreement and an absence of needed data make consensus on Booker's effects on important sentencing goals, such as reduction of unwarranted disparity, unlikely in the near future. Similarly, lack of baseline data before Booker on the effectiveness of federal sentencing at crime control makes before-after comparisons impossible. Despite these limitations, research provides a sounder framework for policy making than do anecdotes or speculation and sets valuable empirical parameters for the federal sentencing policy debate. [source]


    SPECIAL SECTION: EVALUATION OF THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN CANNABIS INFRINGEMENT NOTICE SCHEME,PHASE 1: Community attitudes towards cannabis law and the proposed Cannabis Infringement Notice scheme in Western Australia

    DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 4 2005
    JAMES FETHERSTON
    Abstract Western Australia (WA) became the fourth Australian jurisdiction to adopt a prohibition with civil penalties scheme for minor cannabis offences when its Cannabis Infringement Notice (CIN) scheme became law on 22 March 2004. Previous criminological research has demonstrated the importance of public attitudes towards the law in determining the effectiveness of legislation. This survey represents the first phase of a pre-post study that attempted to gauge public attitudes towards the legal status of cannabis, the proposed legislative reforms surrounding the drug and their likely effects. A random telephone survey of 809 members of the WA population was conducted prior to the implementation of the new laws with a view to exploring contemporary views of the existing legal status of cannabis, attitudes to the proposed legislative model and respondent perceptions of its likely effects. Despite cannabis being viewed negatively by large numbers of the sample, criminal penalties for minor cannabis offences were viewed as inappropriate and ineffective. Once explained, the proposed civil penalty scheme was viewed as ,a good idea' by 79% of the sample, despite significant differences due to personal experience of cannabis use, political affiliation, religiosity and age of offspring. Most believed that the legislative change would not result in changes to levels of cannabis use (70%) or ease of obtaining cannabis (59%). These data suggest that prior to its implementation the new legislation was highly acceptable to the majority of the community. These baseline data will be compared with data to be collected at the post-change phase of the study to allow empirical observations of attitudinal and behavioural changes occurring in the community. [source]


    Autumnal moth , why autumnal?

    ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 6 2001
    Toomas Tammaru
    Summary 1. As for some other spring-feeding moths, adult flight of Epirrita autumnata (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) occurs in late autumn. Late-season flight is a result of a prolonged pupal period. Potential evolutionary explanations for this phenological pattern are evaluated. 2. In a laboratory rearing, there was a weak correlation between pupation date and the time of adult emergence. A substantial genetic difference in pupal period was found between two geographic populations. Adaptive evolution of eclosion time can thus be expected. 3. Metabolic costs of a prolonged pupal period were found to be moderate but still of some ecological significance. Pupal mortality is likely to form the main cost of the prolonged pupal period. 4. Mortality rates of adults, exposed in the field, showed a declining temporal trend from late summer to normal eclosion time in autumn. Lower predation pressure on adults may constitute the decisive selective advantage of late-season flight. It is suggested that ants, not birds, were the main predators responsible for the temporal trend. 5. Egg mortality was estimated to be low; it is thus unlikely that the late adult period is selected for to reduce the time during which eggs are exposed to predators. 6. In a laboratory experiment, oviposition success was maximal at the time of actual flight peak of E. autumnata, however penalties resulting from sub-optimal timing of oviposition remained limited. [source]


    A practical protocol to assess impacts of unplanned disturbance: a case study in Tuggerah Lakes Estuary, NSW

    ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION, Issue 2003
    A. J. Underwood
    Summary Environmental managers are often confronted with unplanned or accidental disturbances that may lead to environmental impacts. Procedures for detecting or measuring the size of such impacts are complicated because of the lack of data available before the disturbance and because of the intrinsic variability of most natural measures. Here, a protocol for detecting impacts is illustrated for single-measure variables (numbers of individual species) and multivariate measures (relative abundances of invertebrates in assemblages). The present paper describes a case concerning drainage of acidified water into an estuary due to construction of a drainage channel in an area of wetland for which there had been no prior investigations (i.e. no ,before' data). The spatial extent of any impact was also unknowable. Sampling was, therefore, designed to allow for impacts of only a few tens of metres (using control sites 50 m from the mouth of the channel) and impacts covering much larger areas (500 m and 1 km from the mouth of the channel). Invertebrates in the mud around the channel and in control sites were sampled in replicated cores and the amount of seagrass in each core was weighed. Average abundances of invertebrate animals and weights of seagrass were compared, as was variation among samples in potentially impacted and control sites (using univariate analyses of variance). Sets of species were compared using multivariate methods to test the hypothesis that there was an impact at one of the scales examined. In fact, there was no evidence for any sort of impact on the fauna or seagrasses; the disturbance was a short-term pulse without any obvious or sustained ecological response. One consequence of the study was that the local council was able to demonstrate no impact requiring remediation and no penalties were imposed for the unapproved construction of the channel. The implications of this type of study after an environmental disturbance are discussed. The present study identifies the need for clear definition of relevant hypotheses, coupled with rigorous planning of sampling and analyses, so that reliable answers are available to regulators and managers. [source]


    Default and Punishment in General Equilibrium,

    ECONOMETRICA, Issue 1 2005
    Pradeep Dubey
    We extend the standard model of general equilibrium with incomplete markets to allow for default and punishment by thinking of assets as pools. The equilibrating variables include expected delivery rates, along with the usual prices of assets and commodities. By reinterpreting the variables, our model encompasses a broad range of adverse selection and signalling phenomena in a perfectly competitive, general equilibrium framework. Perfect competition eliminates the need for lenders to compute how the size of their loan or the price they quote might affect default rates. It also makes for a simple equilibrium refinement, which we propose in order to rule out irrational pessimism about deliveries of untraded assets. We show that refined equilibrium always exists in our model, and that default, in conjunction with refinement, opens the door to a theory of endogenous assets. The market chooses the promises, default penalties, and quantity constraints of actively traded assets. [source]


    The Additive Nature of Energy Penalties in 10-Vertex nido -(Car)boranes

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2005
    Farooq A. Kiani
    Abstract A structural increment system, i.e. quantitative rules that govern the relative stabilities of 10-vertex nido -boranes and-carboranes, has been determined. Density functional theory computations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d) level with ZPE corrections were carried out for 81 different boron hydride and carborane structures from [B10H12]2, to C3B7H11 to determine their relative stabilities. A set of eleven disfavored geometrical features that destabilize a cluster structure relative to a hypothetical ideal situation were identified and weighted by so-called energy penalties. The latter show good additive behavior and allow us to reproduce the DFT computed relative energies mostly with an accuracy of 6.0 kcal,mol,1. Some unknown 10-vertex nido- carboranes that are thermodynamically more stable than their known isomers are also identified. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005) [source]


    Developing co-management in an artisanal gill net fishery of a deep hydro-electric reservoir in Sri Lanka

    FISHERIES MANAGEMENT & ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
    S. NATHANAEL
    Abstract Victoria, is a recently (1984) impounded, deep, hydro-electric reservoir in Sri Lanka with an established commercial fishery. Participatory appraisal of the fishing community revealed decreasing reliance on fishing income with many fishermen moving away to supplementary occupations because of declining fish catches. Illegal fishing and theft of fishing gear resulting from open access, difficulties encountered in enforcing fisheries regulations and the need for fishermen to find alternative sources of income during low water levels are the major management problems. The top,down centralized management approach previously practised was ineffective in addressing any of these issues. Therefore, the possibilities and limitations for introducing co-management as an alternative management strategy were discussed. Financial hardship coupled with perceived benefits through state sponsored welfare schemes caused a positive attitude change among fishermen, making them respond favourably to fishery management. Establishing a licensing system for controlled access, ensuring greater user-group participation through equitable distribution of state sponsored benefits among members, attempting to enforce penalties for illegal fishing linked with surprise checks to enforce management regulations, and obtaining stakeholder perceptions regarding management issues are some of the recent steps taken by the Fishermen's Co-operative Society which would positively contribute towards developing effective co-management in this reservoir. [source]


    Geodetic imaging: reservoir monitoring using satellite interferometry

    GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2002
    D. W. Vasco
    Summary Fluid fluxes within subsurface reservoirs give rise to surface displacements, particularly over periods of a year or more. Observations of such deformation provide a powerful tool for mapping fluid migration within the Earth, providing new insights into reservoir dynamics. In this paper we use Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) range changes to infer subsurface fluid volume strain at the Coso geothermal field. Furthermore, we conduct a complete model assessment, using an iterative approach to compute model parameter resolution and covariance matrices. The method is a generalization of a Lanczos-based technique which allows us to include fairly general regularization, such as roughness penalties. We find that we can resolve quite detailed lateral variations in volume strain both within the reservoir depth range (0.4,2.5 km) and below the geothermal production zone (2.5,5.0 km). The fractional volume change in all three layers of the model exceeds the estimated model parameter uncertainty by a factor of two or more. In the reservoir depth interval (0.4,2.5 km), the predominant volume change is associated with northerly and westerly oriented faults and their intersections. However, below the geothermal production zone proper [the depth range 2.5,5.0 km], there is the suggestion that both north- and northeast-trending faults may act as conduits for fluid flow. [source]


    All modes lead to home: assessing the state of the remittance art

    GLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 1 2009
    EMMANUEL YUJUICO
    Abstract The art of sending remittances overlaps with migration, technological innovation and marketing , three of globalization's driving forces. All things being equal, the role of innovation with regard to remittances is to reduce transaction costs in making these transfers. Yet, other aspects of the marketing mix come into play apart from the price of sending remittances such as product user-friendliness, the location of senders and beneficiaries, and the promotion of these technologies. In this article, I assess the state of the remittance art in terms of meeting the needs of remittance senders and beneficiaries and future directions that this domain may take due to further diffusion of innovations. Remittance technologies represent a promising direction in which cutting edge technology is harnessed to focus on developing world concerns. By enlisting the talents of the world's foremost product and service designers, private sector initiatives such as these can play a role in helping ease poverty's penalties. [source]


    Do League Tables Contribute to the Development of a Quality Culture?

    HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2000
    Football, Higher Education Compared
    The increasing use of league tables to summarise the relative performance of universities suggests an explicit analogy with association football. The extent to which this analogy is useful is explored through a comparison between the operation of the Premier and Nationwide Football Leagues and Universities and Colleges in England and Wales. This comparison considers issues such as what the league tables actually measure, how performance is linked to rewards or penalties, what mechanisms are available for improving performance, and what similarities there are between the locations of more or less successful football clubs and universities. [source]


    A Defense of Stiffer Penalties for Hate Crimes

    HYPATIA, Issue 2 2006
    CHRISTOPHER HEATH WELLMAN
    After defining a hate crime as an offense in which the criminal selects the victim at least in part because of an animus toward members of the group to which the victim belongs, this essay surveys the standard justifications for state punishment en route to defending the permissibility of imposing stiffer penalties for hate crimes. It also argues that many standard instances of rape and domestic battery are hate crimes and may be punished as such. [source]


    Self evolution algorithm to minimize earliness and tardiness penalties with a common due date on a single machine

    IEEJ TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2008
    Wei Weng Non-member
    Abstract Earliness and tardiness penalties are designed for such scheduling problems where the popular Just-In-Time (JIT) concept is considered to be of significant importance. In this paper, a self evolution (SE) algorithm is proposed to solve the problem of single-machine total earliness and tardiness penalties with a common due date. Up to now, no specific attention has been paid to straddling V-shaped schedules of such problems, which may be better than pure V-shaped schedules for the early due date cases; and no specific discussions have been made on the start time setting of the first job in a schedule. Therefore, in this research, efforts have been made on digging out the straddling V-shaped schedules, improving the efficiency of setting the start time of a schedule, and reducing the execution time. In addition, a new RHRM approach is proposed to create the initial solution for evolution, which helps in achieving the fast contingency of the algorithm. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been tested on 280 benchmark instances ranging from 10 to 1000 jobs from the OR Library, and the results show that the proposed SE algorithm delivers much higher efficiency in finding optimal or near-optimal solutions with both better results in total penalties and significant execution time reduction. Copyright © 2008 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source]


    From subordination to parity: an international comparison of equity securities law claims in insolvency proceedings

    INTERNATIONAL INSOLVENCY REVIEW, Issue 3 2007
    Janis Sarra
    Securities law claims in insolvency proceedings raise important questions of allocation of risk and remedies. In the ordinary course of business, equity claims come last in the hierarchy of claims during insolvency. What is less clear is whether this should encompass claims arising from the violation of public statutes designed to protect equity investors. Discerning the optimal allocation of risk is a complex challenge if one is trying to maximize the simultaneous advancement of securities law and insolvency law public policy goals. From a securities law perspective, there must be confidence in meaningful remedies for capital markets violations if investors are to continue to invest. From an insolvency perspective, creditors make their pricing and credit availability choices based on certainty regarding their claims and shifting those priorities may affect the availability of credit. The critical question is the nature of the claim advanced by the securities holder and whether subordination of securities law claims gives rise to inappropriate incentives for corporate officers within the insolvency law regime. A comparative analysis reveals that the U.S. has provided a limited statutory exception to complete subordination through the fair funds provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act by allowing SEC claims for penalties and disgorgement to rank equally with unsecured claims even though the funds are distributed to shareholders. The U.K. and Australian schemes permit shareholders to claim directly as unsecured creditors for fraudulent acts and misrepresentation by the issuer. In contrast, Canadian law is underdeveloped in its treatment of such claims. The paper canvasses the policy options available to reconcile securities law and insolvency law claims, including a discussion of the appropriate gatekeeping role for regulatory authorities and the courts, and the need for a framework that offers fair and expeditious resolution of such claims. If the public policy goal of both securities law and insolvency law is to foster efficient and cost-effective capital markets, it seems that the systems need to be better reconciled than currently. The paper also examines the codified response to the time and resources consumed in various common law tracing claims by customers in a securities firm insolvency. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    The Importance of Auditing Topics to Chinese Auditors

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 2 2001
    Ronald A. Davidson
    This paper describes the recent history of auditing in China and reports on a survey of Chinese auditors and accounting academics on the importance of a number of auditing topics. We find that Chinese auditors are concerned about their professional responsibilities and legal liabilities, probably resulting from the recent instances of the imposition of severe penalties for breaking the law. We also find that Chinese auditors appear to be more concerned with what we might refer to as the traditional financial audit approach, and are not yet at the stage of using a risk-based audit approach. [source]


    Finding an Adequate Job: Employment and Income of Recent Immigrants to Israel

    INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 2 2003
    Haya Stier
    Summary The study examines the early market experience of recent immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union (FSU) and their mobility patterns a few years after migration. The Labour Utilization Framework, proposed by Clogg and Sullivan (1983), was analysed to identify the employment difficulties immigrants experienced upon arrival, their short-term mobility in the labour market, and the income consequences of their disadvantaged position in the market. Using a panel study of immigrants who arrived in Israel during 1990, we found that although most of them found employment, only a minority did not experience employment hardships. Four years after their arrival, most immigrants were still employed in occupations for which they were over-qualified, and only a small portion of the group managed to find adequate employment. Women had more severe employment hardships and a lower rate of mobility into the better positions. For men and women alike, almost any deviation from a stable adequate employment entailed wage penalties. [source]


    Rational Migration Policy Should Tolerate Non-zero Illegal Migration Flows: Lessons from Modelling the Market for Illegal Migration

    INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 1 2002
    Horst Entorf
    The debate on the immigration policies in OECD countries has turned its attention towards illegal migrants. Given that migration flows are determined by immigration laws, the probability of potential detection, penalties for unauthorized migrants and their employers, and income differences between sending and receiving countries, this paper presents a new approach to the problem of illegal migration, grounded on the economic theory of illegal behaviour. The framework considers the interaction of potential migrants, citizens, employers, and the government. After introducing the supply function of illegal migration and its determinants, the trade-off between social costs and benefits of preventing and combating illegal migration is demonstrated. This trade-off results in an optimal level of migration larger than zero. A complete "market model" of illegal migration is offered by presentation of a demand curve of illegal migration, based on the tolerance of the society towards clandestine foreigners. Equilibrium forces predict a non-zero level of illegal migration. The rule of law of our legal systems, according to which any illegal activity has to be reduced to zero, bears the danger of producing inefficient disequilibria. A reasonable policy of wanted and unwanted migration should address the question of how to allocate scarce resources. Ignoring social optima and equilibrium forces means to abandon public resources that could be used for other public assignments, such as schooling or foreign aid, for instance, i.e., measures that could strike the problem of illegal migration at its root. [source]