Regulation with Placebo Effects

A growing scientific literature supports the existence of placebo effects from a wide range of health interventions and for a range of medical conditions. This Article reviews this literature, examines the implications for law and policy, and suggests future areas for research on placebo effects. In particular, it makes the case for altering the drug approval process to account for, if not credit, placebo effects. It recommends that evidence of placebo effects be permitted as a defense in cases alleging violations of informed consent or false advertising. Finally, it finds that tort law already has doctrines such as joint and several liability to account for placebo effects. Future research on placebo effects should focus on whether awareness of placebo effects can disable these effects and whether subjects can control their own placebo effects

Habeas Bargaining

Habeas Bargaining: This paper asks whether defendants exchange their habeas rights in return for shorter sentences much as they do with their trial rights in plea bargains. It finds that federal defendants frequently do so when they plead guilty and that some state and federal prisoners even do so after conviction and sentencing if they have identifiably serious state or federal habeas claims. However, such "habeas bargains" are not as common as ordinary plea bargains. The paper offers a number of explanations, e.g., that state prosecutor offices are structured such that they do not internalize the benefits of habeas bargains and that the rigidity of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and mandatory minimums in federal criminal statutes rules out many sentencing compromises at the federal level. However, it ultimately finds that there are a significant number of cases where bargains could have been struck but were not because the parties simply did not think to trade habeas rights. The paper concludes with a recommendation that defense attorneys and prosecutors more frequently consider bargaining over habeas rights because such deals can mitigate the growing overall cost of habeas litigation. Moreover, courts ought to treat the resulting agreements much as they do plea agreements, i.e., screen them ex ante with Rule 11-type colloquies and enforce them ex post so long as they are voluntary and knowing

Testing for Placebo Effects Using Data from Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trials

This paper proposes a test for the existence of placebo effects, as described by the so-called expectancy theory. This theory, which is the dominant medical theory of how placebo effects operate, posits that health outcomes rise in individuals' beliefs about the probability that they are getting a beneficial treatment and their beliefs about the efficacy of that treatment. Blinded, randomized, controlled trials provide near-perfect environments in which to test this theory because they offer objective, controlled manipulations of subjects' beliefs about treatment. If the expectancy theory is correct, outcomes in trials offering a higher probability of receiving an experimental treatment should be superior to outcomes in trials offering a lower probability of receiving that treatment, conditional on treatment assignment. The paper applies this test to data from over 200 trials of anti-ulcer medications and finds robust evidence of placebo effects in trials of H2-blockers (e.g., Zantac, Tagamet and Pepcid) and of proton-pump inhibitors (e.g., Prilosec, Nexium, and Prevacid). Indeed, trials of H2-blockers manifest placebo effects that are 50 percent as large as the physiological effects of these medications. Because placebo effects are not confined to clinical trials, this result suggests that the standard difference-in-means estimator of treatment effects may seriously underestimate the efficacy of anti-ulcer medicationsPlacebo effects, randomized controlled trials, informed consent, blinding, self-selection, expected utility, ulcer

Habeas Bargaining

Habeas Bargaining: This paper asks whether defendants exchange their habeas rights in return for shorter sentences much as they do with their trial rights in plea bargains. It finds that federal defendants frequently do so when they plead guilty and that some state and federal prisoners even do so after conviction and sentencing if they have identifiably serious state or federal habeas claims. However, such "habeas bargains" are not as common as ordinary plea bargains. The paper offers a number of explanations, e.g., that state prosecutor offices are structured such that they do not internalize the benefits of habeas bargains and that the rigidity of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and mandatory minimums in federal criminal statutes rules out many sentencing compromises at the federal level. However, it ultimately finds that there are a significant number of cases where bargains could have been struck but were not because the parties simply did not think to trade habeas rights. The paper concludes with a recommendation that defense attorneys and prosecutors more frequently consider bargaining over habeas rights because such deals can mitigate the growing overall cost of habeas litigation. Moreover, courts ought to treat the resulting agreements much as they do plea agreements, i.e., screen them ex ante with Rule 11-type colloquies and enforce them ex post so long as they are voluntary and knowing.

The Effect of Joint and Several Liability on the Bankruptcy Rate of Defendants: Evidence from Asbestos Ligation

The Effect of Joint and Several Liability on the Bankruptcy Rate of Defendants: Evidence from Asbestos Litigation - Under the doctrine of joint and several liability, if two defendants jointly share a liability and the first becomes insolvent, his unpaid liabilities may be reallocated to the second, solvent defendant. While the second defendant's assets may be sufficient to cover his own share of the liability, they may be insufficient to also cover the first defendant's unpaid liability. As a result the first defendant's insolvency may trigger the second defendant's insolvency (White 2002, Cupp 2003). The purpose of this paper is to quantify the pressure that one defendant's bankruptcy places on the solvency of co-defendants in the context of mass torts subject to joint and several liability. The specific tort we examine is asbestos poisoning. We choose this example because of the large number of companies -- over 61 since 1982 (Stiglitz et al. 2003) -- that have gone bankrupt due to asbestos litigation and the even larger number of companies -- perhaps as many as 8,000 (Brickman 2004) -- that have been named as defendants in asbestos suits. Using 10-K data from a number of large asbestos defendants and a data set of all judgments in asbestos trials, we estimate that the mean per-claim payments by major defendants grew an additional 5 to 10 percent annually or 56 to 157 percent altogether between 1990 and 2002 due to the bankruptcy of jointly liable defendants during this period. To put it another way, if no companies had gone bankrupt between 1990 and 2002, the asbestos liabilities of solvent defendants might have been less than two-fifths their present size.This result is also a contribution to the literature on bankruptcy and on mass torts. First, numerous scholars have suggested tort claimants ought to be given superpriority in bankruptcy to reduce their exposure to the risk of a defendant's insolvency. We demonstrate that, with joint and several liabilities, this risk is actually reallocated to jointly liable but solvent defendants. Tort superpriority would reallocate some of this risk to other creditors, which seems neither fair nor efficient. Second, in the debate over how to compensate victims of mass tort -- case-by-case litigation, class actions, valuation in bankruptcy, or legislative trust -- one criticism of piecemeal litigation has been that it leaves the plaintiff bearing the risk of defendant insolvency. Our findings provide evidence otherwise in the case of joint and several liabilities

Prioritization, security and relay selection in network coded multiple access relay networks

Wireless communication is undoubtedly one of the most significant advancements by the mankind for improving quality of life. Information is transmitted from one point to another via electromagnetic waves. After Shannon\u27s landmark paper ``A Mathematical Theory of Communication\u27\u27 in 1948, significant advancements have occurred in providing reliable point to point wireless communication. With ever growing need for reliable high speed links, Cooperative communication and Network coding have emerged as viable technologies to bridge the gap. In today\u27s wireless network, different users have different demands for reliability based on their respective application. In this context, we propose flexible network coding scheme to adapt to user needs. We develop coding rules which achieve maximal diversity of the system, yet provide differentiated class of service to the users. The proposed scheme can be adjusted to accommodate the dynamic changes in quality of service(QoS) demand of users. Second we consider the issue of security in multiple access relay network. Security has always been a primary concern in wireless networks due to it broadcast nature of transmission. The intermediate relay nodes in a wireless network could be modified by adversary to transmit corrupted information. We propose a novel iterative packet recycling methodology which gives performance improvement over traditional approach of discarding received corrupted packets at the destination. Finally, we consider the problem of choosing relay for transmission. We propose a novel selection scheme which provides balanced relay utilization and reduces relay switching rate compared to the traditional selection algorithms. This cuts down energy wastage at the relay and improves the overall network lifetime

A Study On Cultural Factors Affecting Team Effectiveness Among Multi-Cultural Teams In The Context Of Knowledge Management

In view of the escalating interests in the study of diverse workforce, this study is undertaken to explore the effect of cultural factors on team effectiveness in the context of knowledge management. This study looks at the knowledge sharing aspect of knowledge management. The role of the organization as a moderator between the two factors and in encouraging knowledge sharing is also examined. The objective of this research was to study the cultural factors that positively contributed towards team effectiveness and assisted in the process of knowledge sharing among team members. It also examined the cultural factors that inhibited the progress of these teams and hinders the process of knowledge sharing among team members. The sample chosen for this study comprised of middle management personnel representing the three major races; Malays, Chinese and Indians from three American multi-national companies located in Northern Kedah and Perlis. The findings confirmed that cultural factors do contribute towards team effectiveness and assisted in the process of knowledge sharing. The findings concurred that there was a positive correlation between Islamic work ethics and team effectiveness. The relationship between ingroup/outgroup interpersonal relationship, power distance and 'gotong-royong and budi' values and team effectiveness were partially supported. No significant relationship was found between collectivism, self vs collective interests, concern for face and team effectiveness. However the role of the organization significantly moderated the relationship in Islamic work ethics, 'gotong-royong and budi' values, and ingroup/outgroup interpersonal relationship and team effectiveness and contributed towards knowledge sharing. Organizational role significantly moderated the relationship between Concern for face and team effectiveness although this relationship was found to hinder knowledge sharing among team members. The relationship between collectivism, self vs collective interests were partially supported. It was observed that management had to play lead role in cultivating these traits so that members willingly give up their personal interests over collective interests and share their knowledge without feeling threatened. The relationship between power distance and team effectiveness were found to be not significant and this is important as it will not hinder knowledge sharing. This study was significant as it shows the impact of cultural factors on team effectiveness in the context of knowledge sharing. Another important finding was the significant relationship between 'gotong-royong and budi' values, Islamic work ethics and team effectiveness and its positive contribution towards knowledge sharing. These factors need to be further explored, as they will provide valuable insight into the work behavior patterns of the Malaysian workforce particularly in the context of knowledge management

Learning During a Crisis: the SARS Epidemic in Taiwan

When SARS struck Taiwan in the spring of 2003, many people feared that the disease would spread through the healthcare system. As a result, outpatient medical visits fell by over 30 percent in the course of a few weeks. This paper examines how both public information (SARS incidence reports) and private information (the behavior and opinions of peers) contributed to this public reaction. We identify social learning through a difference-in-difference strategy that compares long time community residents to recent arrivals, who are less socially connected. We find that people learned from both public and private sources during SARS. In a dynamic simulation based on the regressions, social learning substantially magnifes the response to SARS.