Inequality aversion and antisocial punishment

Antisocial punishment-punishment of pro-social cooperators-has shown to be detrimental for the efficiency of informal punishment mechanisms in public goods games. The motives behind antisocial punishment acts are not yet well understood. This article shows that inequality aversion predicts antisocial punishment in public goods games with punishment. The model by Fehr and Schmidt (Q J Econ 114(3): 817-868, 1999) allows to derive conditions under which antisocial punishment occurs. With data from three studies on public goods games with punishment I evaluate the predictions. A majority of the observed antisocial punishment acts are not compatible with inequality aversion. These results suggest that the desire to equalize payoffs is not a major determinant of antisocial punishment

Origin and age of the Eisenkappel gabbro to granite suite (Carinthia, SE Austrian Alps)

AbstractThe northern part of the Karawanken plutonic belt is a gabbro–granite complex located just north of the Periadriatic lineament near the Slovenian–Austrian border. Petrographic and geochemical studies of the Eisenkappel intrusive complex indicate that this multiphase plutonic suite developed by a combination of crystal accumulation, fractional crystallization and assimilation processes, magma mixing and mingling. The mafic rocks are alkaline and have within-plate geochemical characteristics, indicating anorogenic magmatism in an extensional setting and derivation from an enriched mantle source. The mafic melts triggered partial melting of the crust and the formation of granite. The granitic rocks are alkalic, metaluminous and have the high Fe/Fe+Mg characteristics of within-plate plutons. Temperature and pressure conditions, derived from amphibole-plagioclase and different amphibole thermobarometers, suggest that the analysed Eisenkappel gabbros crystallized at around 1000±20°C and 380–470MPa, whereas the granitic rock crystallized at T≤800±20°C and≤350MPa. Mineral-whole rock Sm–Nd analyses of two cumulate gabbros yielded 249±8.4Ma and 250±26Ma (εNd: +3.6), garnet-whole rock Sm–Nd analyses of two silicic samples yielded well-constrained ages of 238.4±1.9Ma and 242.1±2.1Ma (εNd: −2.6)

A conceptual approach to the use of Cost Benefit and Multi Criteria Analysis in natural hazard management

International audienceDecision-making for protection measures against natural hazards entails major complexities for final decision makers. The issue in question does not only implicate a variety of criteria that need to be considered but also scarce financial resources make the allocation decision a difficult task. Furthermore, these decisions appear to be multidisciplinary in nature. Stakeholders from experts over politicians and the public are among the affected parties in making and dealing with the consequences of such decisions. In order to capture the complexity that arises when incorporating the varieties of interests as well as impacts protection measures have on the environment, the economy and society, transparent and multidisciplinary decision support techniques are needed. This paper looks at how Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), a tool already applied to decisions concerning protective measures, and Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA), even though new to the field as such but already successfully practiced in other environmental areas, perform according to the abovementioned criteria. A conceptual overview of the methodologies will be given along with a discussion of the respective strengths and weaknesses. Looking at past applications, this overview gives an analysis about the potential of socio economics in its contribution to natural hazard research

Overconfidence and career choice

People self-assess their relative ability when making career choices. Thus, confidence in their own abilities is likely an important factor for selection into various career paths. In a sample of 711 first-year students we examine whether there are systematic differences in confidence levels across fields of study. We find that our experimental confidence measures significantly vary between fields of study: While students in business related academic disciplines (Political Science, Law, Economics, and Business Administration) exhibit the highest confidence levels, students of Humanities range at the other end of the scale. This may have important implications for subsequent earnings and professions students select themselves in

Spatial distribution of PAH concentrations and stable isotope signatures (δ13C, δ15N) in mosses from three European areas – Characterization by multivariate analysis

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations and N, C stable isotope signatures were determined in mosses Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. from 61 sites of 3 European regions: Île-de-France (France); Navarra (Spain); the Swiss Plateau and Basel area (Switzerland). Total PAH concentrations of 100-700 ng g-1, as well as δ13C values of -32 to -29‰ and δ15N values of -11 to -3‰ were measured. Pearson correlation tests revealed opposite trends between high molecular weight PAH (4-6 aromatic rings) content and δ13C values. Partial Least Square regressions explained the very significant correlations (r > 0.91, p < 0.001) between high molecular weight PAH concentrations by local urban land use (<10 km) and environmental factors such as elevation and pluviometry. Finally, specific correlations between heavy metal and PAH concentrations were attributed to industrial emissions in Switzerland and road traffic emissions in Spain

Legislation of direct-to-consumer genetic testing in Europe: a fragmented regulatory landscape

Despite the increasing availability of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing, it is currently unclear how such services are regulated in Europe, due to the lack of EU or national legislation specifically addressing this issue. In this article, we provide an overview of laws that could potentially impact the regulation of DTC genetic testing in 26 European countries, namely Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Emphasis is placed on provisions relating to medical supervision, genetic counselling and informed consent. Our results indicate that currently there is a wide spectrum of laws regarding genetic testing in Europe. There are countries (e.g. France and Germany) which essentially ban DTC genetic testing, while in others (e.g. Luxembourg and Poland) DTC genetic testing may only be restricted by general laws, usually regarding health care services and patients’ rights

Heavy metal and nitrogen concentrations in mosses are declining across Europe whilst some “hotspots” remain in 2010

In recent decades, naturally growing mosses have been used successfully as biomonitors of atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and nitrogen. Since 1990, the European moss survey has been repeated at five-yearly intervals. In 2010, the lowest concentrations of metals and nitrogen in mosses were generally found in northern Europe, whereas the highest concentrations were observed in (south-)eastern Europe for metals and the central belt for nitrogen. Averaged across Europe, since 1990, the median concentration in mosses has declined the most for lead (77%), followed by vanadium (55%), cadmium (51%), chromium (43%), zinc (34%), nickel (33%), iron (27%), arsenic (21%, since 1995), mercury (14%, since 1995) and copper (11%). Between 2005 and 2010, the decline ranged from 6% for copper to 36% for lead; for nitrogen the decline was 5%. Despite the Europe-wide decline, no changes or increases have been observed between 2005 and 2010 in some (regions of) countries

Permian high-temperature metamorphism in the Western Alps (NW Italy)

During the late Palaeozoic, lithospheric thinning in part of the Alpine realm caused high-temperature low-to-medium pressure metamorphism and partial melting in the lower crust. Permian metamorphism and magmatism has extensively been recorded and dated in the Central, Eastern, and Southern Alps. However, Permian metamorphic ages in the Western Alps so far are constrained by very few and sparsely distributed data. The present study fills this gap. We present U/Pb ages of metamorphic zircon from several Adria-derived continental units now situated in the Western Alps, defining a range between 286 and 266 Ma. Trace element thermometry yields temperatures of 580-890°C from Ti-in-zircon and 630-850°C from Zr-in-rutile for Permian metamorphic rims. These temperature estimates, together with preserved mineral assemblages (garnet-prismatic sillimanite-biotite-plagioclase-quartz-K-feldspar-rutile), define pervasive upper-amphibolite to granulite facies conditions for Permian metamorphism. U/Pb ages from this study are similar to Permian ages reported for the Ivrea Zone in the Southern Alps and Austroalpine units in the Central and Eastern Alps. Regional comparison across the former Adriatic and European margin reveals a complex pattern of ages reported from late Palaeozoic magmatic and metamorphic rocks (and relics thereof): two late Variscan age groups (~330 and ~300 Ma) are followed seamlessly by a broad range of Permian ages (300-250 Ma). The former are associated with late-orogenic collapse; in samples from this study these are weakly represented. Clearly, dominant is the Permian group, which is related to crustal thinning, hinting to a possible initiation of continental rifting along a passive margin