Consolidating a hybrid regime: the case of Georgia under Shevardnadze and Saakashvili.

1 Consolidating a hybrid regime: the case of Georgia under Shevardnadze and Saakashvili. Samuele Dominioni Introduction This paper aims to further investigate hybrid regimes, which are becoming a more and more analysed topic in political studies. After the path-­‐ breaking article by Thomas Carothers (Carothers, 2002) where he claims that many of the regimes that were considered usually in “transition” were actually proved highly durable and did not move neither toward autocracy nor democracy, other scholars started to be interested in this particular phenomenon as such. In this paper I stem from the definition of Hybrid regimes provided by Leonardo Morlino: “A hybrid regime is always a set of ambiguous institutions […] lacking as it does one or more essential characteristics of that regime but also failing to acquire other characteristics that would make it fully democratic or authoritarian” (Morlino, 2008:7), in order to investigate how incumbents hold and strengthen power in this peculiar political and institutional environment, without forcefully become never fully authoritarian or fully democratic..

Accuracy, gender and race in tort trials : a (behavioral) law and economics perspective

This thesis contributes to various streams of literature in the behavioral law and economics of tort law and judicial decisionmaking. Each chapter addresses a selected topic in this area from either a theoretical or an empirical perspective. The overarching theme of the thesis is the study of the interplay between accuracy and behavioral law and economics. The analysis reveals that, if carefully considered, behavioral law and economics can have an important role in policymaking as it sometimes allows to better predict: i) the effect of legal rules and courts’ practices on the behavior of regulatees; ii) how legal rules will be enforced by courts. The analysis shows also that the pursue of accuracy at trial does not necessarily lead to welfare improvements

The polluter-pays principle in climate change law: An economic appraisal

There is a lively debate among scholars and policymakers on whether either consumers or producers should be seen as responsible for pollution caused in the production and consumption of traded goods. In this article, we argue that, in conformity with intuitive conceptions of causation, the economic incidence of a Pigouvian tax can be seen as a measure of the relative contribution to pollution of consumers and producers. Taking this perspective on the polluter-pays principle can help increase ambition in climate change action because it reduces the relevance of the question “Who is the polluter?” in climate change negotiations and enables a focus instead on the issue of “What can be done?” to reduce carbon emissions

Trust spillovers among national and European institutions

In this article, we study spillovers in political trust between the national parliaments of15 Member States and the European Commission, the European Parliament and theEuropean Central Bank in the period 2000–2015. We show that in most instancesspillovers between the national parliaments and the European Commission and theEuropean Parliament are bidirectional, asymmetric, and change over time and place.A corollary of these findings is that simultaneously achieving high level of trust ininstitutions at different levels of governance may require a deeper understanding ofthe complex inter-institutional relationships that exist in the EU multilevel governancesetting

Does increasing public trust in the EU's institutions undermine support for national institutions?

Several studies have identified a link between the public’s trust in national institutions and their trust in the EU’s institutions. Yet the effect of this link is unclear, with some studies finding that an increase in trust in national institutions boosts trust in the EU’s institutions, and other studies identifying the opposite relationship. Drawing on a new study, Goran Dominioni, Alberto Quintavalla, and Alessandro Romano explain that the relationship between trust in national and EU institutions is bilateral, almost always asymmetric, and that spillover effects change over time

A quantitative study of the interactions between oil price and renewable energy sources stock prices

In this article, we apply an integrable nonautonomous Lotka-Volterra model to study the relationship between oil and renewable energy stock prices between 2006 and 2016. The advantage of this innovative approach is that it allows us to study the simultaneous interaction among n stock indices at any point in time. In line with previous studies, we find that the relationship between oil and renewables is characterized by major structural breaks taking place in 2008 and around 2013. The first structural break might be caused by the financial crisis, whereas more studies are required to advance a hypothesis on the causes behind the second structural break. Our main finding is that oil is always in a predator-prey relationship with wind, whereas it proceeds in mutualism with solar after 2012. Moreover, we find that solar and wind proceed in mutualism between 2008 and 2013 but have a rivalrous interaction before (competition) and after (predator-prey) that period. We explore the possible reasons behind these patterns and their policy implications

Trust spillovers among national and European institutions

In this article, we study spillovers in political trust between the national parliaments of15 Member States and the European Commission, the European Parliament and theEuropean Central Bank in the period 2000–2015. We show that in most instancesspillovers between the national parliaments and the European Commission and theEuropean Parliament are bidirectional, asymmetric, and change over time and place.A corollary of these findings is that simultaneously achieving high level of trust ininstitutions at different levels of governance may require a deeper understanding ofthe complex inter-institutional relationships that exist in the EU multilevel governancesetting

A mathematical approach to study and forecast racial groups interactions: deterministic modeling and scenario method

Globalization and migratory fluxes are increasing the ethnic and racial diversity within many countries. Therefore, describing social dynamics requires models that are apt to capture multi-groups interactions. Building on the assumption of a relationship between multi-racial dynamics and socioeconomic status (SES), we introduce an aggregate, contextual, and continuous index of SES accounting for measures of income, employment, expected life, and group numerosity. After, taking into account that groups’ SES assumes the form of a logit model, we propose a Lotka–Volterra system to study and forecast the interaction among racial groups. Last, we apply our methodology to describe the racial dynamics in the US society. In particular, we study the kind and the intensity of Asians–Blacks–Natives–Whites interactions in the US between 2002 and 2013. Moreover, we forecast the evolution of groups’ SES and how interracial relations will unfold between 2013 and 2018 and in three alternative stylized scenarios

The public do not understand logarithmic graphs used to portray COVID-19

Mass media routinely portray information about COVID-19 deaths on logarithmic graphs. But do their readers understand them? Alessandro Romano, Chiara Sotis, Goran Dominioni, and Sebastián Guidi carried out an experiment which suggests that they don’t. What is perhaps more relevant: respondents looking at a linear scale graph have different attitudes and policy preferences towards the pandemic than those shown the same data on a logarithmic graph. Consequently, merely changing the scale on which the data is presented can alter public policy preferences and the level of worry, even at a time when people are routinely exposed to a lot of COVID-19 related information. Based on these findings, they call for the use of linear scale graphs by media and government agencies

Towards an equitable transition in the decarbonization of international maritime transport: exemptions or carbon revenues?

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is considering the implementation of a carbon pricing instrument in international shipping. One of the most contentious point of debate on the implementation of carbon pricing in the sector concerns how to ensure an equitable transition. This article analyzes in-depth the advantages and disadvantages of two key potential approaches to address equity considerations in the design of a market-based-measure for international shipping: exemptions, and the strategic use of carbon revenues. This in-depth analysis has two main aims: i) it tests arguments presented in the literature on the relative benefits and risks of exemptions and carbon revenues use against up-to-date empirical research; ii) it adds to existing research by identifying benefits and drawbacks related to these two approaches that have so far been overlooked in the literature. The analysis reveals that an adequate use of carbon revenues is likely to deliver greater climate benefits than exemptions, both within maritime transport and beyond. The analysis also reveals that, while exemptions have some potential merit in addressing equity considerations, they also have various drawbacks. Overall, this research suggests that carbon revenue use should be the primary approach to addressing equity considerations in the decarbonization of international maritime transport. The article concludes by suggesting principles necessary to ensure that the distribution of carbon revenues supports the equitable transition