What is regulation? An interdisciplinary concept analysis

The concept of regulation is believed to suffer from a lack of shared understanding. Yet, the maturation of the field raises the question whether this conclusion is still valid. By taking a new methodological approach towards this question of conceptual consolidation, this study assesses how regulation is conceived in the most-cited articles in six social science disciplines. Four main conclusions are drawn. First, there is a remarkable absence of explicit definitions. Second, the scope of the concept is vast, which requires us to talk about regulation in rather abstract terms. Third, scholars largely agree that ‘prototype regulation’ is characterised by interventions which are intentional and direct – involving binding standard-setting, monitoring and sanctioning – and exercised by public-sector actors on the economic activities of private-sector actors. Fourth, while there is considerable variation in research concerns, this variation cannot be attributed to disciplinary differences. Instead, our findings support the portrayal of the field as interdisciplinary, including a shared conception of regulation

A randomized trial of multivitamin supplementation in children with tuberculosis in Tanzania

Children with tuberculosis often have underlying nutritional deficiencies. Multivitamin supplementation has been proposed as a means to enhance the health of these children; however, the efficacy of such an intervention has not been examined adequately. 255 children, aged six weeks to five years, with tuberculosis were randomized to receive either a daily multivitamin supplement or a placebo in the first eight weeks of anti-tuberculous therapy in Tanzania. This was only 64% of the proposed sample size as the trial had to be terminated prematurely due to funding constraints. They were followed up for the duration of supplementation through clinic and home visits to assess anthropometric indices and laboratory parameters, including hemoglobin and albumin. There was no significant effect of multivitamin supplementation on the primary endpoint of the trial: weight gain after eight weeks. However, significant differences in weight gain were observed among children aged six weeks to six months in subgroup analyses (n=22; 1.08 kg, compared to 0.46 kg in the placebo group; 95% CI=0.12, 1.10; p=0.01). Supplementation resulted in significant improvement in hemoglobin levels at the end of follow-up in children of all age groups; the median increase in children receiving multivitamins was 1.0 g/dL, compared to 0.4 g/dL in children receiving placebo (p<0.01). HIV-infected children between six months and three years of age had a significantly higher gain in height if they received multivitamins (n=48; 2 cm, compared to 1 cm in the placebo group; 95% CI=0.20, 1.70; p=0.01; p for interaction by age group=0.01). Multivitamin supplementation for a short duration of eight weeks improved the hematological profile of children with tuberculosis, though it didn't have any effect on weight gain, the primary outcome of the trial. Larger studies with a longer period of supplementation are needed to confirm these findings and assess the effect of multivitamins on clinical outcomes including treatment success and growth failure. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT00145184

The consumer scam: an agency-theoretic approach

Despite the extensive body of literature that aims to explain the phenomenon of consumer scams, the structure of information in scam relationships remains relatively understudied. The purpose of this article is to develop an agency-theoretical approach to the study of information in perpetrator-victim interactions. Drawing a distinction between failures of observation and failures of judgement in the pre-contract phase, we introduce a typology and a set of propositions that explain the severity of adverse selection problems in three classes of scam relationships. Our analysis provides a novel, systematic explanation of the structure of information that facilitates scam victimisation, while also enabling critical scrutiny of a core assumption in agency theory regarding contract design. We highlight the role of scam perpetrators as agents who have access to private information and exercise considerable control over the terms and design of scam relationships. Focusing on the consumer scam context, we question a theoretical assumption, largely taken for granted in the agency literature, that contact design is necessarily in the purview of the uninformed principal

Evaluation of Cybercrime Economy via MCDM and Decision Tree Approaches: The Case of Zonguldak

One of the most important economic problems that developed/ing countries are facing today is the informal economy. Unregistered economic activities are generally defined as all economic activities that are not included in national accounts. The informal economy has an informal structure as well as a criminal structure. Cyber-attack/s (CA) are increasing day by day as an important part of the informal economy due to the economic effects they produce. Credit card fraud, emptying a bank account, cryptolocker viruses that can be used to encrypt data on the user’s computer, the use of websites and e-commerce sites such as DDOS attacks, espionage, information smuggling, and many new computing crimes can be given as examples in this field. This study aims to evaluate the relations/determiners of CA-damages and information technology (IT) investments to firms’ economics and present the findings to the researchers/decision makers. In this sense, IT investments and CA/CA costs to 321 Zonguldak firms having more than 20 employees in 2016 have been surveyed by Turkish Statistical Institute. According to CA-damage severity indexes generated via TOPSIS, statistical methods and decision tree approaches supported by regression analysis are used in the analysis. According to the analysis, CA-damage increased as IT investments increased. IT investments dimensions’ existence of “website/mobile applications” and “IT policy implementation” accepted the main CA-damage determiners. Meanwhile, the firm’s less usage of firewalls/IPS/IDS indicates that CA are not fully understood, and the security policies’ application is also important along with its preparation. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG